A series of explosions erupted one after another, shaking the entire Lingxiao City like the thunderous roars from the Nine Heavens.
The fierce flames, mixed with violent shockwaves, swept through everything, almost uprooting half of the Wang Family completely.
Countless debris and soil were swept into the dust, thrown hundreds of meters into the sky, and then plummeted to the ground, smashing through roofs, collapsing attics, and breaking trees and flowers.
The ensuing rolling dust further enveloped the area for hundreds of meters in darkness, lingering for a long time.
Gu Jinlai could clearly feel the fierce flames biting at his body like fiery snakes.
Despite the protection of his Treasure Armor, he still felt his skin burning hot.
However, the Great Sun True Demon Body was highly resistant to heat damage.
If not for the extremely intense flames created by the explosions, he would barely feel such scorching heat.
Even so, with the dual defense of the cellar and the Treasure Armor, the flames caused only negligible damage to his body.
After about ten breaths, when the surrounding flames and shockwaves had gradually dissipated, Gu Jinlai pushed aside the giant rocks above his head and, with a leap, jumped out of the cellar.
By then, half of the Wang Family had almost been reduced to ruins, and the buildings and lofts where the explosives were hidden were leveled to the ground, leaving only remnants and broken walls everywhere.
The dozens of experts from the Fang and Zhao families who had invaded the Wang Family were also shredded to pieces in the series of violent explosions.
There were indeed a few who survived the explosion.
As Gu Jinlai moved forward, passing a dust-covered area, he suddenly stomped his foot.
The ground cracked, blood splattered.
The weak scream abruptly stopped.
He continued forward.
Smoke, flames, dust, and the surrounding debris did not obstruct his vision at all.
He didn’t need to search one by one.
Red and yellow lights, just like that, glaringly displayed in front of him.
Just like the person he had just stepped on, who was almost completely buried under collapsed bricks and dust, but was still plainly visible in front of him.
Accompanied by a series of faint collision sounds that could hardly be called a fight, it continued intermittently for three minutes, and then the Wang Family fell completely silent.
Half a minute later, Gu Jinlai, wearing his tattered War Armor, walked out from inside.
His figure gradually shrank, making room in the wide Treasure Armor, and then he easily took off the War Armor, tossing the almost completely shattered armor aside.
In the distance, seeing Gu Jinlai coming out of the Wang Family, Gu Chaoyang, Su Nanxing, and others immediately approached him with respect and awe.
In that moment, they fully realized the power of the Heavenly Master profession.
The Patriarch had merely used the Co-spirit Technique to refine and upgrade what was originally only used for fireworks, giving it the power to split mountains, destroy cities, and drain pools.
Such flames that shook the entire city...
Even the Primordial Spirit Monarch might not do better.
Gu Chaoyang thought about how he once advised the Patriarch, urging him to reconsider the path of the Heavenly Master.
Looking back now, how ridiculous it seemed.
The Patriarch acted with other deep meanings, and what right did he, a younger generation, have to doubt?
From now on, they would just need to obey the Patriarch’s words and follow his orders.
"The timing was ultimately a bit rushed, we didn’t manage to rescue some valuable items from the Wang Family in time, and this might result in a loss of millions."
Gu Jinlai glanced back at the Wang Family estate, which was now mostly rubble, feeling somewhat regretful.
But moments later, he had already buoyed his spirits: "Although the Wang Family has been leveled, the Zhao and Fang families remain, and their wealth is not less than the Wang’s."
"Patriarch, shall we then proceed to the Zhao and Fang families?"
Gu Chaoyang asked somewhat excitedly.
Gu Jinlai glanced in the direction where the Zhao and Fang families resided: "However, before that, it seems the Meteor Star Guard who were sitting on the fence can now clearly see who the victor of this great battle is. Go and send a message to the Meteor Star Guard. I’m giving them a chance to redeem themselves. By dawn, I want to hear that the remnants of the Fang and Zhao families have been eliminated."
After a moment, he added, "Let Su Nanxing go with you."
Gu Chaoyang solemnly clasped his hands.
The Fang Family and the Zhao Family mobilized their elites, taking advantage of the moment Gu Jinlai attacked the Wang Family, attracting the attention of everyone in the city.
However, when the deafening explosions lit up the night sky of Lingxiao City from the Wang Family, everyone had a foreboding feeling in their hearts.
Minutes later, as Gu Jinlai emerged from the Wang Family while Zhao Yi, Fang Zheng, and dozens of other elites remained silent, everyone realized...
The Fang Family and Zhao Family were doomed.
Along with the destruction of the Wang Family...
Lingxiao City was changing.
This news was immediately relayed to Qin Guichuan and Yang Shengping, the two Vice Garrison Commanders, by several Deputy Commanders of the Meteor Star Guard.
For a moment, the two Vice Garrison Commanders turned pale, their hands trembling slightly as they held the report.
"How could this happen, how could this happen?"
"After Gu Jinlai had supposedly exhausted himself killing Fang’s Governor and his men, he plunged into the Wang Family and was subsequently surrounded and attacked by the elites of the Fang and Zhao Families... yet he still managed to turn the tables? How is that possible..."
The two Vice Garrison Commanders were in a state of panic.
"We all overlooked one crucial piece of information about Gu Jinlai; he is a Heavenly Master, a Heavenly Master with Artifact Refining Skill, skilled at creating strange objects. It must have been such objects that changed the course of the battle and led to the complete annihilation of the elites of both the Fang and Zhao Families."
The Heavenly Master’s physical body was weak, but over the past century, countless battles had been altered by the artifacts forged by the Heavenly Master.
The world’s most elite equipment today—the Cloud Wing Arrow Cart, the Fire Dragon Cannon, the Heavenly Feather Army, the Ironclad Warship—weren’t they all created by the Heavenly Master?
One single oversight had led them to this predicament.
At that moment, footsteps were heard outside the door.
Immediately afterward, a dozen Meteor Star Guards in the Gang Condensation Realm entered.
The two leading them...
Were none other than Gu Chaoyang and Su Nanxing.
Seeing this, Qin Guichuan abruptly stood up, "Zhang Feng, Li Feiyang, you..."
"You must have received the news about the Wang Family. The wise adapt, and we brothers do not wish to accompany you two in facing death."
The man known as Zhang Feng said.
"Li Feiyang, didn’t I save your life? You’re betraying me too?"
Yang Shengping turned his gaze toward another Gang Condensation peak cultivator.
"You did save my life, but you’ve forgotten my family name, I am a Li!"
Li Feiyang coldly stared at Yang Shengping, "You surely didn’t think I would be deceived by your hypocritical acts. If not for preserving the last vestige of the Li Family’s bloodline, why would I compromise and serve under my enemy?"
Yang Shengping looked at the several Gang Condensation cultivators surrounding him, feeling as if the chill was about to swallow him whole.
"Gentlemen, take action. We still have the Fang Family and Zhao Family to deal with."
The leaders, Li Feiyang and Zhang Feng, exchanged a glance, and the next moment, a dozen men drew their swords.
Without a sound, Su Nanxing also moved through the crowd, attempting a surprise assassination.
Half an hour later, a large number of Meteor Star Guards mobilized from East City, South City, and North City, gathering over a thousand men, and charged toward the Zhao Family.
Despite their numbers being only half of those of the Zhao and Fang Families, the weakest of the Meteor Star Guards possessed Cultivation of refining organs and blood exchange.
With the elite equipment of the Meteor Star Guard, each one was a fierce warrior.
A thousand fierce warriors facing the demoralized Zhao and Fang Families...
Plus the aid of local smaller forces.
In one night, the Fang and Zhao Families were defeated.
Since the Meteor Star Guard had already secured the city gates, the remnants of the families couldn’t leave the city, and almost all of their direct lineage was nearly exterminated.
Just as they had once collaborated to obliterate the City Lord’s Li Family.
When the morning sunlight of the next day bathed the earth, it finally brought calm to the turbulent Lingxiao City all night.
After years of oppressive panic, the city was reborn.