Chapter 12: Shattering a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Weapon with a single finger

The orb he possessed leaped into vibrant red and blue light in his hands as Ji Kun loosened his spiritual energy. An overwhelming aura shrouded him as the air around him seemed to shimmered, suffusing the surroundings with its enormous pressure, which could be felt by anyone there.

Though Ji Kun only reached the Soul formation realm and could not yet truly open up the true power of a Fifth Grade spiritual weapon, the force with which he radiated could send shivers down the spines of every member of the Xian family. The brothers exchanged uneasy glances, all too aware of the dangers that surrounded them.

"Fifth Grade Spiritual Weapon?" Xian Wu;s eyes shook with despair. This weight alone sounded crushingly heavy. It was the hallmark of a true power! A mere disciple wielding such formidable force left them feeling utterly helpless. How could they possibly resist against such a monstrous weapon?

"Hahaha, go to hell!" Ji Kun roared, releasing the orb as his laughter boomed through the air. The raw energy shot forward, a comet of light streaking dead for Xiao Chen.

"Head of the clan, go on! If you will save the green hills, you don't have to fear the firewood!" The elder leapt in front of Xian Yue, opening wide his arms embracing him, protecting him from the coming destruction with a sacrifice act of bravery.

The Xian family knew that they had to fight hard to preserve a Soul formation realm strongman. With time, there could be more powerful folk in the future, much stronger, of course, than those disciples from the Scarlet Moon Sect. Xian Feng's sacrifice was something desperate; it was for his clan patriarch's Xian Yue survival amidst impossible circumstances.

This act of valor stirred in Xian Yue a convoluted whirlpool of emotions. He felt gratitude but also helplessness. Shaking his head, he stretched out and pulled the elder back, then, with a calm resolve, extended his right hand lightly, pointing toward the incoming ball of energy.

The orb exploded in a deafening explosion and released a shower of debris, sending fragments flying in all directions. The spiritual energy shockwave shot outward, engulfing Ji Kun and slamming him backward from the recoil of that Fifth Grade weapon he had used.

To the surprise of the Xian family, all the turbulent energy dissipated harmlessly when it came close to Xian Yue. It was as if the energy was repelled by some invisible force. The First Elder and others stood in stunned silence, their eyes wide as they digested what they just saw. Xian Yue had destroyed a Fifth Grade spiritual weapon with but a flick of his finger!

They knew no one at the corresponding cultivation level could do such a thing. A practitioner at the golden core realm would never be able to destroy a Third Grade spiritual weapon—how could Xian Yue, at his soul formation level, surpass the might of a Fifth Grade spiritual weapon?

"What plane does this Fifth Grade spiritual weapon even correspond to?" The realization struck them all. The Soul formation realm corresponded to Fourth Grade weapons, but if Xiao Chen could dismantle a Fifth Grade weapon with such ease, what did that imply about his cultivation?

"Why the shocked expressions?" Xian Yue asked, a glint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "Did I ever claim to be in the Soul formation realm?"

"What level of cultivation really are you at?" the elder pressed, confusion and awe mixed in his tone. "How could you so effortlessly obliterate a spiritual weapon at the Fifth Grade?"

"I'm really an invincible cultivator!" Xian Yue declared with a serious mien, without a shred of uncertainty.

"Enough of that! Forget I said anything!" The elder waved his hand dismissively. "Even an ordinary person wouldn't buy it. You're not even twenty yet; how can you claim invincibility? What kind of power does it take to be truly invincible? Not even those on the Heavenly Dao Golden List would dare to call themselves that, right?"

"Unless you're the very strongest," he muttered, still grappling with the implications.

"Look! This guy is dead!" Xian Yin's voice stabbed through the air as he pointed out Ji Kun's corpse. A shard of the Fifth Grade spiritual weapon was lodged between his eyebrows, making him entirely bereft of life.

"He actually died by his own weapon! I never expected that!" Xian Yue commented with a mix of incredulity and satisfaction washing over him while he gazed at Ji Kun's corpse.

"What do we do now? Two disciples from the Scarlet Moon Sect have died here, and they won't let this go lightly! Ji Kun was a direct disciple of the second elder; we might even provoke the elders!" one of them voiced his concerns.

"Well, shall we leave?" Xian Wu said with an uneasy glimmer in his eyes at Xian Yue. "We'll just hide for a few hundred years. They will forget, and we can come back in peace."

"It's not a matter of them; it's just the Scarlet Moon Sect, after all. I won't care about those guys!" Xian Yue flicked his shoulder nonchalantly and pushed away their concerns.

"Do you even know who the strongest person in the Scarlet Moon Sect is?" Xian Wu pressed, bewildered.

"I have no idea!" Xian Yue replied.

"If you don't know, then why disregard the possibility?" Xian Wu asked incredulously.

"Because I'm invincible!" Xian Yue reiterated with unyielding confidence.

".". The silence that followed was palpable, leaving the elder and the others at a loss for words.

Upon entering his house, Xian Yue's eyes met the swaths of bodies strewn all over the ground; and the frown he had been harboring deepened even further at the sight. With a wave of his hand, a golden light burst brightly forth, engulfing the bodies. In one instant, it broke down the corpses to nothingness-no trace remaining behind. Even the blood spots on the ground had vanished without leaving any trace of ever having been there, as if the atrocities that just a moment before had taken place in this battle never existed.

Their eyes and faces paled. They looked at each other, stunned, as if in awe of Xian Yue's methods. It was impossible for them to understand the level of power he wielded. They could not help but question what realm Xian Yue actually belonged to. How was it possible that they had not known that he had been cultivating to such an extraordinary level?

With that, Xiao Chen sits down in the clan leader's chair. With a wave of his hand, dozens of treasure boxes materialize around him, spoils claimed from the three families recently defeated.

Though these treasures were beneath Xian Yue's notice, he knew how important they could be to his clansmen. "These are the fruits of war from the last campaign," he said to the assembly. "Though trifling to myself, they can add strength to our clan. We cannot waste what we can take.".

"Patriarch, how is it that you seem to collect so many treasure chests?" the elder asked curiously. "I knew that already; however I didn't get a chance to ask. What's your secret?"

"Oh, nothing but a tiny trick," replied Xian Yue, soft laughter in his voice. "Just have to make a pocket space for all these things."

"Pocket space? How does one make it?" asked Xian Wu.

Ah, well, you'll learn how to open it as you grow stronger. It's not something I can explain in detail now, Xian Yue said while stroking his chin thoughtfully.

The elders exchanged a glance, realizing they had much to learn about power and realms. Some abilities came naturally as one ascended through cultivation just like divine consciousness manifested once reaching the Soul Palace realm.

"As for these resources, " Xian Yue said, finally steering the attention back to the agenda. "the elders will see to their distribution. All clan members who participated in this battle will receive their share of spoils!"

"In addition, we must upgrade the cultivation resources we give our clansmen every day: spiritual stones, elixirs, and the likes. As long as there are many resources, it makes their paths to cultivating smoother," he pointed out.

"And there's no need to hide the skills we acquired through the three families. We shall let this be public knowledge, everyone should learn if they want to!" He dismissed the idea of keeping the skills to himself, because he knew that when he signed new, powerful abilities into the system, the ones he had now would be outdated.

Consent nods went down the lines of the elders and Xian Yue, who surrendered to the leadership authority of Xian Yue. To them, for being the newly inducted head of the clan, they were willing to accept whatever his orders were because the spoils of the three families would shoot up the status of their clan.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the city, Yan Tianshan, who lost consciousness, was helped back to the city lord's mansion by sympathetic passersby. Confusion clouded his thoughts—why hadn't the Xiao family kill him? Had they forgotten him or let him live?

His pale face and anguished heart said all the dialogue that those fists clenched, with bulging muscles beneath rough skin. Veins bulged on his forehead; his features contorted in a ferocious expression.

His son had been killed, a grim loss weighed heavy in his heart, and now even Ji Kun, the proud disciple of the Scarlet Moon Sect, had lost his life. That knowledge filled him with a storm of rage and grief which was certainly to have its consequences.