Chapter 70: Storming the Su Family
BOOM!
The courtyard gates exploded inward in a shower of splintered wood and shattered stone. Two figures strode through the wreckage with absolute impunity, their spiritual auras rippling through the air like heat waves distorting space itself.
The sound of crumbling masonry and crunching gravel marked their passage like a declaration of war.
"Where is Su Tianhao?" one of the figures demanded, his voice like thunder rolling across the evening stillness.
Su family guards and servants scrambled out of their path, bowing hastily. "P-Patriarch's orders... Young Master Tianhao is not to be disturbed..."
The intruders didn't slow. Their footsteps devoured the distance as they marched toward the main residence with singular purpose. The air vibrated with their impatience, the very atmosphere growing heavier with mounting tension.
---
At the main entrance to the Su family residence, dozens of guards stood frozen in defensive formation. Their faces had gone pale, hands trembling—not from exhaustion, but from the overwhelming spiritual pressure that blanketed the courtyard like a thundercloud ready to unleash devastation.
At the center of the grand courtyard, Fifth Elder Su Yuan stood like a scholarly sentinel before the guards. His white robes fluttered softly in the evening breeze, yet his refined aura radiated fierce determination—the only thing preventing these guards from collapsing under the oppressive atmosphere.
Then the two intruders emerged fully into view.
The first was a middle-aged man with weathered features and long black hair streaked with grey. His aura was deceptively calm yet utterly suffocating—like standing in the eye of a storm, knowing devastation surrounded you on all sides.
Beside him strode a chubby middle-aged man in luxurious robes, a cold sneer playing across his fleshy lips. His entire demeanor radiated unmasked arrogance, as if he owned not just this courtyard, but everything his eyes could see.
Ye Shiming and Ye Bao Kang—First Elder and Third Elder of the Ye family respectively.
"Elder Ye Shiming, what is the meaning of this intrusion?" Su Yuan's voice cut through the tension like a blade, cold and measured despite the circumstances. "This is the Su family estate—not your domain for displays of arrogance."
"Hmph! So the Su family only sent someone like you to greet distinguished guests?" Ye Bao Kang sneered with cold dismissiveness, his piggy eyes scanning Su Yuan as if appraising livestock.
"You—!" The guards bristled with anger at the blatant disrespect.
Fifth Elder Su Yuan was the scholarly pillar of the Su family—the strategic mind behind many of their successes. Not just these guards, but even Patriarch Su Huiqing showed him genuine respect. Seeing him treated so dismissively naturally incurred their rage.
But they didn't dare act. They could feel it instinctively—these two intruders were far from simple.
"Bring out Su Tianhao!" Ye Shiming called out, his voice laced with barely contained wrath that made the air itself seem to tremble.
"Su Tianhao?" Su Yuan raised an eyebrow, a deep frown creasing his normally composed features. "So that's what this is about? You came to cause trouble at our gates simply because Su Tianhao defeated your son in fair combat?"
His tone carried incredulity mixed with contempt.
"If I don't take revenge, how would I face my son?" Ye Shiming growled, his words dripping with paternal fury. "How could I call myself his father?"
"Oh?" Su Yuan's eyebrow arched higher. "What kind of reasoning is that? If anyone is to blame, blame your son for not knowing his own limits. He actually dared to challenge Little Tian when he was clearly outmatched."
"What did you say?" Ye Shiming snapped, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits as killing intent leaked from his gaze like poison.
BOOM!
His aura exploded outward without warning, sending stones and debris flying in all directions. The sheer force of his spiritual pressure caused several guards to stumble backward despite their formation.
"4th level Martial Master Realm?!" Su Yuan's eyes widened in shock.
According to his intelligence, Ye Shiming had only been a 3rd level Martial Master with five-star talent. For someone at his realm and with that level of cultivation potential, breakthroughs within the Martial Master Realm naturally required years—sometimes decades—of accumulated cultivation.
It had only been three years since Ye Shiming's last known advancement. This rapid progress was unnatural.
Seeing Su Yuan's shocked expression, Ye Bao Kang's face split into a mocking smile, his eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction.
"Quickly bring out that bastard Su Tianhao!" Ye Bao Kang's voice boomed across the courtyard. "How dare he lay hands on our Ye family's number one young master?!"
His own spiritual pressure flared to life—clearly inferior to Ye Shiming's overwhelming power, but still formidable enough to make the guards' knees buckle.
---
Inside the main residence, Su Huiqing's face darkened like gathering storm clouds as he rose sharply from his seat. The teacup in his hand cracked under the sudden surge of his spiritual energy.
"The Ye family dares to act like this on my doorstep?" he growled, his crimson spiritual aura beginning to ripple through the walls like waves of heat. "Do they think the Su family has no fangs?"
But before he could take another step toward the courtyard—
A voice echoed from the entrance, calm yet carrying an edge sharp enough to cut steel.
"What's going on here?"
All heads turned as one.
Su Tianhao stepped into the courtyard's torchlight, his azure outer robe flowing behind him despite its disheveled state. His golden eyes gleamed like twin suns beneath the rising moonlight—cold and unwavering.
"You came for me," he said flatly, his voice carrying across the silent courtyard. "Then let's talk."
"You're Su Tianhao?" Ye Bao Kang's eyes narrowed into calculating slits as they landed on the young man's figure, assessing him like a butcher examining livestock.
"So this is the boy who humiliated Jie'er..." Ye Shiming sneered, his gaze raking over Su Tianhao's appearance with undisguised contempt. "Hmph. As expected—what a wild, undisciplined brat."
Indeed, Su Tianhao's appearance did little to inspire confidence in decorum. His long black hair hung disheveled from his recent spar, his torso still glistened with sweat, and his outer robe hung loosely open over his bare chest. Combined with the fierce anger radiating from his golden eyes, his presence gave off a wild and untamed aura—like a young beast yet to be broken.
"Little Tian," Su Yuan's expression eased slightly upon seeing Su Tianhao's arrival, though worry still creased his brow.
Following immediately behind Su Tianhao, two more figures entered the courtyard—Su Lei with his hand resting on his sword hilt, and the young female servant from earlier, her face pale but determined.
Su Tianhao's gaze swept indifferently across the many eyes fixed upon him. When his golden stare reached Su Yuan, he nodded once in respectful greeting before turning to face Ye Shiming directly.
Ye Shiming's eyes flashed with barely contained killing intent as their gazes locked.
"Old man, what do you really want?" Su Tianhao's voice cut through the tension like a blade—cold, direct, and utterly fearless.
"How disrespectful!" Ye Bao Kang roared with impotent fury, his jowls quivering with indignation. "How dare you address Elder Ye Shiming in such a manner!"
"Bao Kang, don't you think you're being rather shameless—yelling at a young man like that?"
A new voice resonated through the courtyard, catching everyone off guard.
There, standing beneath the rising moonlight like a figure from legend, was a middle-aged man with a robust yet refined frame. A long sword rested strapped across his back, and his silver-streaked black hair fluttered gently in the evening breeze.
"Master!" Su Lei called out in pleasant surprise, his eyes lighting up with relief. His master's appearance—and more importantly, that sword on his back—showed he had come prepared for battle.
"Third Elder!" The guards called out in greeting, their morale visibly lifting.
Ye Bao Kang's expression darkened considerably at the newcomer's appearance. He didn't dare continue his outburst—according to widespread rumors, Su Minghe's strength was in no way inferior to Ye Shiming's, even after the First Elder's recent breakthrough.
"Elder Su Minghe," Ye Shiming said, his tone shifting to something more measured. "You're not about to stand in the way of justice, are you?"
"Justice?" Su Tianhao's voice exploded across the courtyard before anyone else could respond, sharp and cutting. "What kind of twisted justice is that?!"
All eyes immediately snapped to him.
Su Tianhao remained utterly indifferent to their stares as he continued, his voice carrying righteous fury that resonated with truth. "Your son arrogantly came to disturb my peace that evening! Not only did he publicly accuse me of cultivating a demonic technique—but even after I was proven innocent, he refused to apologize! Instead, he proclaimed a match solely to beat me down in public!"
His golden eyes blazed with cold fire. "So your son can bare his fangs at others whenever he pleases, but others cannot defend themselves when attacked? Is that your definition of justice?"
Hearing Su Tianhao's words, the guards—emboldened by Su Minghe's presence—couldn't help but voice their agreement.
"Exactly! How can you possibly call this justice?!"
"Your arrogant son publicly humiliated our Young Master with false accusations, yet not only did he refuse to apologize—he then challenged him to a fight!"
"At that time, Young Master Tianhao's strength wasn't widely known. Everyone present knew Ye Wenjie was planning to crush our Young Master publicly!"
"Instead of disciplining your own son's behavior, you came to the Su family estate to cause trouble?"
"Like father, like son!"
The crowd's criticism grew louder, voices overlapping in a chorus of condemnation.
Ye Bao Kang's face flushed crimson with rage, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles turned white.
BOOOOM!!!
Ye Shiming's spiritual aura exploded completely—without restriction whatsoever.
As First Elder of the Ye family and older brother to the Patriarch himself, he was accustomed to living a lofty existence—doing whatever he wanted, taking whatever he desired. How could someone of his status tolerate being criticized by mere guards? Common servants daring to question him?
It was an insult beyond bearing.
"SU! TIAN! HAO!"
He roared like a wounded bear, his voice carrying such force that several guards stumbled backward. His aura became overwhelmed by violent killing intent—thick and oppressive, threatening to go berserk.
Without any warning, he suddenly charged at Su Tianhao with blinding speed—faster than most present could even react.
His hands transformed into terrifying claws, spiritual energy coalescing around them. A massive spectral eagle claw manifested above him, wreathed in pale-green Wind Qi that created turbulent waves in the air. The atmosphere became completely chaotic, dust and loose debris swirling in the violent currents.
"Eagle Talon Rend!"
Ye Shiming's killing technique descended like judgment from an angry god.
Su Tianhao's face went deathly pale in an instant. In that crystalline moment of terror, it felt as if he stood directly on death's doorstep—nothing but an ant before his imminent execution.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. He could see the spectral claw descending, feel the Wind Qi tearing at his skin even before contact. But his body refused to respond, frozen under the overwhelming pressure of a Martial Master's killing intent.
"NOOO!!!" Su Lei shouted in absolute horror, his voice cracking with desperation.
Yet he couldn't move at all. He was closest to Su Tianhao, and Ye Shiming's oppressive aura had rendered him completely immobile—his body simply refusing to obey his commands, as if his muscles had turned to stone.
"Little Tian!" Su Yuan cried out in dread as he propelled himself forward with everything he had.
His scholarly mind raced through potential solutions, techniques he could deploy, angles he could exploit—but even as his body moved, even as his spiritual energy surged, he knew with sickening certainty that he wouldn't make it in time.
The distance was too great. The attack too fast.
Su Minghe was equally helpless despite his strength. He was the farthest from Su Tianhao's position, and while he wasn't any weaker than Ye Shiming in raw power, the sudden attack had caught everyone completely off guard.
By the time his body could react, it would be far too late.
A sinister light flashed through Ye Shiming's eyes—he could already envision Su Tianhao's throat being torn open, blood spraying across the courtyard stones. The satisfaction of revenge was almost tangible.
Just when Ye Shiming's spectral claw was mere inches from Su Tianhao's exposed throat—
A terrifying aura suddenly crashed down upon the entire courtyard like a hammer striking an anvil.
Oppressive. Domineering. Absolutely overwhelming.
The temperature of the surrounding air spiked several degrees in an instant, as if someone had opened a furnace door directly into the courtyard.
Whoosh!
The wind stirred violently as a crimson flash cut through the air like a meteor, materializing into a figure clad in flowing crimson robes—standing directly between Ye Shiming and Su Tianhao.
Su Huiqing!
With a casual wave of his hand—so effortless it seemed almost contemptuous—Su Huiqing completely shattered Ye Shiming's manifested eagle claw. The spectral construct exploded into dissipating motes of green light.
The built-up momentum behind Ye Shiming's charge vanished as if it had never existed, the First Elder stumbling backward from the sudden reversal of force.
"Aaaah!" Su Tianhao gasped heavily, sucking in air like a drowning man breaking the surface. It felt as if his soul had just returned to his body after being forcibly ejected.
His legs trembled, threatening to give out beneath him. Cold sweat drenched his back despite the chills running down his spine.
Meanwhile, Ye Shiming's expression turned absolutely ugly as he stared at Su Huiqing's imposing figure. His earlier confidence had evaporated like morning dew under the blazing sun.
Su Huiqing's eyes blazed with volcanic fury, his voice dripping with venom that made even the stones seem to shudder.
"Ye Shiming, you dare bring death to my doorstep? You want to take my son's life right before my eyes?"
He took one step forward and the temperature rose even higher. His crimson spiritual aura began manifesting visibly around him—tongues of flame-like energy licking at the air.
"I'll show you what happens to those who dare threaten my family."
The weight of his presence became suffocating. Ye Shiming involuntarily took a step backward, his face draining of color as he realized the gravity of his miscalculation.
Su Huiqing wasn't just angry.
He was enraged beyond reason.
"You've crossed a line, Ye Shiming," Su Huiqing continued, his voice dropping to a low, menacing growl that somehow carried more threat than his earlier shout. "Now—you'll face the consequences."