The stronger fist wins

According to Cruz's memory, girls who were taken by former members of the Lava Stream Sect with low status, were generally brought to the mansion where the geniuses of the five cities had gathered before the hunt. As much as he hated them, he had to be thankful for how organized they were or else he would have wasted much time looking for them. Before he entered the building, Shui stood a distance away and examined it using the Omniscient Eyes art. This way he was able to see into the building without alerting any of occupants' senses.

As he looked through the 'occupied' rooms, Shui was able to quickly spot Ria. The fact that she was forced into this position made him angry but thanks to her old job in the red-light district it seemed that Ria was still being treated decently here. However, Shui didn't think it would be the same for Ali.

After he looked at all of the rooms in use, Shui went down to the basement where he finally spotted Ali. She was asleep, and while she didn't have any serious injuries Shui could see rope marks on her wrists and bruises on her face. He didn't want to imagine what she had gone through, but just the idea he had, nearly triggered another city-wide drop in temperature.

Now that he had confirmed their locations, Shui made his move. This would be where his fight began.

He raised his hand and used mental control to grasp a cloud. He then shaped that cloud into the symbol for 'Thunder' and directed his divine energy towards it. As the cloud suddenly turned dark and rumbled with ominous sounds, everyone looked up at the sky to witness it. They all witnessed the moment lightning shot down and shattered the green dome that had caged them.

"What?!"

"Yes!"

"Finally!"

"We're free. We're free!"

While a large commotion started throughout the city, Shui launched himself toward the room that Ria was in.

"Huh?"

"Who-!"

Her customers who had been looking outside with pale faces, shouted at Shui in bewilderment and anger. In response, Shui merely glanced at them and as men who were only in the Mortal Realm, that was enough for them to freeze.

After dealing with them, Shui turned towards the young lady who looked dazed as she stared at him with one hand over her soft mounds and a bed cover over her lower body. Shui was glad that she was still the same slender beauty that he remembered, but her current attire made it hard for him to keep staring at her so he shifted his gaze and asked, "Are you okay, big sis?"

"Is it, really you, Shui?"

"I don't think it's been that long but did you forget my face already?"

"Shui!"

Indifferent to her state of dress, Ria jumped to embrace him. Shui couldn't help feeling a bit of joy as he felt her chest press against his, but he still remembered why he was here.

While tears ran down her cheeks, Shui held her shoulders and gently pushed her off him.

"Sorry, but I still need to get big sis Ali."

"Of course you should, wait, no, you have to leave Shui! It's dangerous!"

With swollen eyes, Ria begged Shui to leave, but rather than get upset, this time he embraced her.

"Big sis, you're family to me and I can't let my family suffer like this. Trust me, I'll definitely get us all out of here."

If Ria knew what Shui's cultivation was she wouldn't have to question whether he was strong enough or not, but even without that knowledge his warmth was able to make her put her faith in him.

"Okay."

Once they separated once more, Shui tilted his head towards the two frozen males and asked, "So, what do you want me to do with them?"

And then, while wiping her eyes and in a completely unaffected tone she replied, "Kill them."

"Got it."

Just like that Shui glanced at them again and they dropped to the ground like puppets that had their strings cut. Despite being in her late twenties, Ria's face still had an innocent charm to it, but her background made her very used to this sight.

Rather than bring Ria with him, Shui had her stay in the room and he sealed it up with talismans. He then ran straight towards the basement where Ali was. The strongest person in the mansion was only in the Soul Realm so Shui didn't need to stop for a second to take care of anyone who tried to stop him.

In a short time, Shui made it to the small room where Ali was. She was asleep while dressed in nothing but a plain loose dress so Shui tried his best not to wake her as he healed her wounds with a potion. He sighed in relief looking at her fading bruises before gently lifting her up and returning to Ria.

In the time he was gone, Ria had put on her clothes and took anything of value off of the two cold corpses on the floor. She showed a smile when she saw Shui but quickly changed to a worried expression at the sight of Ali.

"Ali! Is she okay?"

"Yeah, I gave her a potion so she should be fine. Here, take this."

Shui handed Ria a loose cloak and placed a 'Conceal' talisman on Ali.

"Do you know where big sis Jeanne and the others are staying?"

"Yeah, I was the one who found the place for us."

"Good, head there. I can still detect your positions so I can rush to your side if anything happens."

"What about you?"

Shui paused before answering and gently embraced Ria.

"I'll be fine."

He then gave her Ali and pushed the two away with wind that landed them safely outside the mansion. Now that he had rescued his big sisters, Shui could fully devote himself into defeating the invaders.

"Lily, can you hear me?"

"Young Master! Was that you?!"

"Correct. I'm about to start my attack, can I count on your help?"

"Of course!"

From Lily, Shui detected a fervour he had never seen from her before so he had no reservations in giving her orders.

"Good. While I wreak havoc, I need you to rescue Jacob of the Wright family as well as the mayor."

"Jacob was really imprisoned?"

"You knew?"

"Not exactly, he sent a letter saying that he couldn't protect us anymore. I wasn't sure what to think of it but I figured that he ended up in some sort of trouble."

'Not bad Jacob.'

Shui nodded his head in approval of Jacob's notice. Though it was because Shui had implanted the urge for him to protect them, he would still be able to resist by being less thorough. However, his choice to try his best at protecting them made Shui proud of giving him the role.

"That's right, but I'll leave the reason why for later."

After sending her their locations, Shui stopped their telepathic communication and boldly scanned the mansion with his spiritual senses. By now, many suspected that someone had broke in so this confirmed their fears. Although even the strongest among them couldn't tell what his cultivation was from his spiritual sense, it was powerful enough to fill them with dread.

Those who were smart were the first to run but as they were just in the Mortal Realm, Shui could kill them with his mental control. The ones who saw the attempted escapees get their heads ripped off froze in place, some even wet themselves. This same fear was present in the kidnapped girls as well. After all, how could they be sure that this mysterious expert would spare them? However, the ones who had completely fallen into despair had sparkling eyes. Finally, they would be free from the pain of living.

"All men, I shall spare you if you cripple yourselves."

Once this statement entered the minds of everyone inside the building, everyone understood that the expert had come here to save the women. If they got rid of their cultivation, the men could live, but who wouldn't doubt that? With his strength it likely wouldn't matter but, for any cultivator it was hard to say that life was more important than the cultivation they had built up. This was especially the case for those who didn't want to die. Therefore, most of the men were unable to choose between life and their cultivation and tried to pick a third option.

About ten seconds after he gave them the ultimatum, several men tried to grab a woman to use as a hostage. Unsure if he could hear them, they shouted their demands.

"If you don't let me go I'll kill-"

"Useless."

However, not a single one of them had the ability to make demands when he could kill them easier than swatting a fly. In a short period, only five men remained and of them, only one was in the Mortal Realm. Among the men in the Soul Realm, the one who supervised the business going on here and was a former core disciple of the Lava Stream Sect begged with a shaky voice.

"Wa, wait! I'm a core disciple, I can give you anything you want if you just spare my life."

By mixing the threat of his status with the lure of money, he hoped that Shui would at least hesitate and give his seniors time to figure out what was happening here, but little did he know that now that there were only five men Shui could afford to read the minds of each of them.

"Very well, I see you have made your choices."

Then, tapped his feet on the floor and wood poked out from the ceiling to puncture the rest of the men.

"Fools, I would have let them go too. Though they would have only died in the hands of someone else."