The incident in Linyuan City reached the Zhu Family only on the second day. After passing through layers of reports, the news finally landed on Gavin Zhu's desk.
Gavin Zhu's first reaction was to suspect the other clans in Linyuan City, but he quickly dismissed the idea—none of those families had the guts to stand against the Zhu Family.
Still, this matter couldn’t be taken lightly. It concerned the Zhu Family’s prestige and reputation, and he also needed to give Zach Zhu’s relatives an explanation. So Gavin Zhu called all the clan elders together for a meeting.
A quarter of an hour later, in the Zhu Family’s council hall.
“Investigate! This must be thoroughly investigated—no matter who’s involved, we can’t let anyone off!” one elder said, waving his hand with agitation.
“Exactly! We can’t let this kind of precedent be set!” another elder chimed in.
The rest of the elders quickly voiced their agreement—they all meant the same thing: this matter must be thoroughly investigated.
With that, Gavin Zhu issued an order for a Sigilforge martial artist to lead five Core Formation experts to Linyuan City for a full investigation.
The leader of the team was Martin Zhu, whose seniority was a full generation higher than Gavin Zhu. His cultivation had reached mid Sigilforge Realm, and those accompanying him to Linyuan City were all top Core Formation experts.
In addition, there were more than twenty Divine Sea martial artists. After all, the Divine Sea experts in Linyuan City had all had their dantians crippled, and someone still had to run errands, so bringing a group of Divine Sea martial artists was necessary.
Every member of the group rode a top-quality horse with Demonic Beast bloodline. The eight hundred li from Hongtian City to Linyuan City would take them at most an hour and a half.
Half an hour later.
The Zhu Family’s party entered a mountain gorge.
Just as they all entered the gorge, a ripple appeared in the void. The Zhu Family’s group was shocked to find themselves suddenly shifted onto a grassy plain.
“What’s going on?”
“Where are we?”
Immediately, the Divine Sea martial artists all started to panic.
“Don’t panic—this is a formation! Everyone gather around me!” Martin Zhu, experienced as he was, barked coldly. At his command, the martial artists quickly calmed down and rushed toward him.
Martin Zhu’s face darkened as he released his spiritual sense to investigate. He was instantly startled—this formation was far beyond any he’d encountered before. No matter how exquisite the arrays he’d seen in the past, a sweep of his spiritual sense would always reveal some flaws.
But this formation was seamless, as if it were a natural part of the world. Even with his spiritual sense fully extended, he couldn’t find the slightest flaw. Realizing he’d run into a true array master, he called out in a deep voice, “I am Martin Zhu of the Zhu Family. Which esteemed expert is playing a joke on us? Please show mercy and remove the formation—I will see to it that you are richly rewarded!”
“This is no joke!”
Suddenly, a young voice rang out, and a white-robed youth appeared several dozen meters away. Martin Zhu vaguely felt that this young man looked familiar.
Martin Zhu squinted and asked, “Who are you, young man? Why make trouble for us?”
Ian Song chuckled, his gaze suddenly turning cold. “Oh, it’s not that I’m making trouble for the Zhu Family—it’s the Zhu Family that wants to kill me.”
“You’re that little beast from the Chu Family?”
Martin Zhu was shocked and blurted out. Back when Thomas Chu and Lydia Zhu were hiding in a mountain village, he was the one who led the team to bring them back to the Zhu Family. No wonder the boy looked familiar—on closer inspection, he did resemble Thomas Chu by seven or eight tenths.
“I wouldn’t dare call myself a beast—why don’t you keep that for yourself?” Ian Song shook his head.
“What exactly do you want?” Martin Zhu demanded.
Ian Song slowly swept his gaze over the Zhu Family crowd. “You know how my father died, don’t you? Today, I’m here to collect a little interest.”
“Die, you little beast!”
At that moment, Martin Zhu suddenly reached out without warning. A massive blood-red hand formed above Ian Song’s head, and even the air froze under its shadow.
This blood-red hand was none other than the Zhu Family’s secret technique—Heaven-Tyrant Grasp!
Just as Ian Song was about to be caught, Martin Zhu’s lips curled into a cold smile. If the boy had stayed hidden, he’d have been hard to deal with. But now that he’d come out to show off, he was simply courting death.
But in the next instant, Martin Zhu’s smile froze—because Ian Song’s body shattered with a loud crack, turning into countless motes of light that vanished into the void, leaving the huge hand grasping at empty air.
“Damn it!”
Seeing this, Martin Zhu couldn’t help but curse Ian Song’s cunning.
Just then, Ian Song’s figure suddenly appeared in midair, looking down on them from above. His gaze was cold and merciless, like that of a god.
Suddenly, Ian Song formed an incantation with his hands.
Instantly, the Zhu Family crowd felt the air grow thick and sticky, making every movement incredibly difficult.
“You little beast, do you really think this broken array can trap me? Once I break your pathetic formation, I’ll make you pay!” Martin Zhu roared, divine flames surging around him as his aura exploded. In a flash, he tore free from the restraints of the air and unleashed dozens of punches at the void.
“Boom boom boom!”
Each punch struck the void with a thunderous crash, like giant drums being pounded.
But after dozens of punches, the void remained unchanged—the formation space was utterly unmoved.
“Stop wasting your strength. You’ll never break my formation!”
Ian Song shook his head calmly and formed another incantation. The air grew even thicker, and waves of pressure appeared out of nowhere, pressing down on everyone. All the Zhu Family’s Divine Sea martial artists were crushed to the ground; only five Core Formation experts could barely resist, but each one’s face turned red with effort.
Only Martin Zhu had a bit of strength left, though his power was greatly diminished.
Just then, countless wind blades suddenly appeared all around, numbering in the thousands—enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
With a casual gesture, Ian Song sent most of the wind blades shooting toward Martin Zhu.
A smaller portion flew at the remaining people.
“Puff puff puff!”
“Aaaah!”
Agonized screams rang out as the wind blades pierced the dantian of every Zhu Family martial artist except Martin Zhu.
Hearing the cries around him, Martin Zhu’s face turned so dark it seemed to drip water. Yet he was powerless to help, as he could barely handle the thousands of wind blades himself.
In the sky above, Ian Song watched the scene with a cold, almost playful expression.
“Boom boom boom!”
Martin Zhu kept blasting the wind blades away, but they seemed endless—every shattered blade was instantly replaced by more, and the new ones were even stronger.
“No! I can’t keep this up, or I’ll run out of origin energy!”
Making up his mind, the sigil in his dantian suddenly blazed with radiant light. With a sweep of his hands, he easily tore open the void, planning to escape by breaking through space.
“Foolish. Victor Zhu tried the same thing, and look how he ended up…”
Ian Song shook his head disdainfully. Sure enough, Martin Zhu tumbled out of the void not far away, battered and in miserable shape.