"Young friend, this pill is for you. Consider it fate that you came here."
A hoarse voice slowly drifted out from the valley, reaching the ears of the rapidly approaching crowd.
It was Xiao Jietian who spoke, a faint, cryptic smile playing on his lips.
Approximately five breaths later—
Several figures descended into the valley.
Leading them were two elders, followed by a group of others. On the chests of some elders' robes was embroidered an identical red emblem.
The emblem was the same as the one worn by the two elders Xiao Jietian had previously killed—clearly marking them as members of Tianbei City's Hong Family.
More and more people arrived, but upon seeing the Hong Family members already present, they chose to keep their distance and observe from afar.
The Hong Family members could not sense any aura from Xiao Jietian at all—as though he were an ordinary mortal.
They had also heard the earlier voice and assumed the pill was a gift from some alchemist who had already left. There were no cauldrons or other people around, so they concluded the alchemist must have departed.
One of the two leading Hong Family elders—a yellow-faced man in red robes—looked at the pill in Xiao Jietian's hand and spoke with commanding arrogance:
"Boy, hand over the pill in your hand to us!"
His tone was filled with overbearing authority.
"You want to steal my pill? With just you few wastes?"
Xiao Jietian casually put the pill away and looked at them with a faint, mocking smile.
Seeing his action, the Hong Family members immediately flew into a rage. The yellow-faced elder's expression turned even uglier:
"Boy, you are truly courting death. This item is not something you can possess. If you hand it over obediently, I might consider leaving you a complete corpse."
"Chen'er, kill him and take the pill!" The elder's eyes flashed with killing intent as he spoke to a young man beside him.
He himself vigilantly scanned the surroundings, guarding against the possibility of Han Fei from the Han Family arriving.
"Boy, remember this young master's great name—Hong Chen. To die by my hand is your honor. Also, in your next life, open your eyes wider. Not everyone is someone you can provoke."
Hong Chen sneered, stomped his foot, and his figure instantly transformed into a streak of lightning. A thunderball crackled in his palm as he charged toward Xiao Jietian.
"Noisy."
A contemptuous whisper escaped Xiao Jietian's lips. He looked at Hong Chen—who wore a ferocious grin—with an utterly unperturbed expression.
Xiao Jietian raised a single finger. It was an ordinary finger—no trace of poison or fluctuation—but a sudden chill surged through Hong Chen's heart.
That finger lightly tapped the thunderball in Hong Chen's palm.
The thunderball—which had seemed full of momentum and destructive power—shattered in mid-air, turning into scattered specks of electric light that dissipated in the wind.
Xiao Jietian's finger continued forward, passing through Hong Chen's palm and directly touching his glabella.
Hong Chen's ferocious expression froze permanently on his face.
A faint light flashed.
Then—this arrogant Young Master of the Hong Family suddenly exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist!
The surrounding onlookers gasped. Everyone stood dumbfounded, as though their souls had been shaken out of their bodies.
They had watched with their own eyes as Hong Chen went from majestic arrogance to instant annihilation—without the slightest chance to resist.
Seeing Hong Chen reduced to a blood mist—not even a complete corpse remaining—the middle-aged man who had stood beside him instantly turned ashen. His gaze toward Xiao Jietian was filled with venomous hatred.
He was Hong Chen's biological father—the current patriarch of the Hong Family, Hong Li.
"You little beast! How dare you kill my son! I will make you pay with your life for my son's death!"
Hong Li was now enveloped in overwhelming killing intent. His eyes turned bloodshot like a demon's. Ever since his son joined the Wind and Thunder Pavilion, he had been his greatest pride and the hope of the entire family.
Now, his son had died right before his eyes—not even a complete corpse left behind. Fury and hatred completely consumed his mind.
"I will make you know what true suffering is!!"
He instantly unleashed a surge of Dou Qi, using his strongest Dou Technique to attack Xiao Jietian.
Xiao Jietian's expression remained completely unchanged. He extended a hand forward. A giant hand formed entirely of lightning appeared out of thin air and reached toward Hong Li.
The moment Hong Li's Dou Qi touched the lightning palm, it vanished instantly—like a mouse meeting a cat.
Seeing this, the red-robed elder quickly moved to save Hong Li.
If another key descendant of the family died now, the Hong Family would truly decline.
"Boy, if you dare act, my Hong Family will pursue you to the ends of the earth!" the red-robed elder shouted loudly.
Xiao Jietian showed only disdain. He clenched his outstretched hand. The lightning giant hand completely enveloped Hong Li and rapidly tightened.
"Ahhh—!!"
Hong Li's screams grew more and more miserable as the giant palm squeezed.
"Ah—you deserve to die!!"
The red-robed elder, hearing the screams, became like an enraged lion—hair and beard flying in fury.
After Hong Li's screams finally stopped, the lightning giant palm slowly dissipated, leaving only a puddle of blood on the ground.
"Holy cow… Hong Li was a Half-Step Dou Zong, and he was instantly killed in one strike—so brutally too."
"This young man's strength is definitely at the Dou Zong level—otherwise he couldn't have instant-killed him like that."
"This young man killed both Hong Chen and Hong Li. You know, Hong Chen was an inner disciple of the Fenglei Northern Pavilion. It seems he's going to clash with the Fenglei Northern Pavilion."
"I just don't know what the Hong Family will think. A Grade 8 Pill is tempting, but now they've lost two future pillars. Tsk tsk tsk."
The surrounding onlookers, seeing the Hong Family father and son perish in less than half a minute from their arrival, all wore expressions of wanting to watch the drama unfold.
Watching the show, enjoying the spectacle, and minding their own business—these are major human instincts in any world.
"Ahhh—you little bastard! I want you dead!!"
The red-robed elder erupted with the aura of a Five-star Dou Zong. His eyes turned blood-red.
"Hong Tianxiao, calm down!"
The grey-robed elder immediately stopped the red-robed elder. He moved his lips slightly, sending a voice transmission to Hong Tianxiao.
It is unknown what the grey-robed elder said, but although Hong Tianxiao briefly calmed down, his gaze toward Xiao Jietian remained ice-cold.
"This Elder is Elder Yun of the Fenglei Northern Pavilion. Who are you, and where do you come from?"
The grey-robed elder looked at Xiao Jietian with apprehension and questioned him coldly.
There was no other reason—Xiao Jietian's appearance and temperament were exceptionally outstanding. He looked exactly like a young master from a major power.
Moreover, the strength he had displayed—capable of instantly killing a Half-Step Dou Zong—meant his power was at least Mid-level Dou Zong.
Such strength at such a young age was unheard of—not just in the Fenglei Northern Pavilion, but even in the main pavilion.
"Who I am… you are not yet qualified to know."
Xiao Jietian glanced disdainfully at Shen Yun—a mere peak Four-star Dou Zong.
Shen Yun looked at Xiao Jietian with gloomy eyes, his body trembling with anger. He had always been high and mighty. In the entire Northern Region of the Central Continent, who dared to cross the Wind and Thunder Pavilion? Who didn't respectfully address him as Elder?
Looking across the entire Northern Region of the Central Continent—who dared touch a person from my Wind and Thunder Pavilion?
"Boy, are you challenging the authority of our Fenglei Northern Pavilion?"
The grey-robed elder spoke coldly.