The End Of The Jun Branch

Thankfully, her body did not need to doze for long to be in top condition. Still, by the time she awoke, a blush stole itself on her face whenever she thought of what had occurred. She knew about matters of procreational nature, of course. After all, some of her reading material had mentioned such things. That didn't change the fact that being made to listen to her new friend 'enjoying herself' for hours on end was embarrassing.

'Are they really that into each other? I mean, aren't they supposed to stop after one or two times? What they're doing is a bit excessive, isn't it?'

While her train of thought might apply to regular people, cultivators clearly weren't limited by the same physical restrictions. Acknowledging this, she heaved a helpless sigh.

'Looks like I'll need to grow used to it. I can't exactly tell them to... stop doing it. I mean, what if they're trying for a baby? Hindering that would be an inexcusable offence.'

Slapping her cheeks to snap her mind out of the gutter, she eventually dissipated the raunchy images which had clogged up her thoughts. Fortunately, she was quick to adapt, so even when she encountered the pair of lovebirds later, she didn't act particularly oddly. Other than subconsciously glancing at them more often.

When Theodore put his serious game face on, everyone quickly focused on the bloody task to come.

"I have marked every single location in this city which houses those deserving of death. One of my Talents allows me to teleport, so we'll be raiding all of these places as quickly as possible. The two of you will follow behind and take care of yourselves. Do not steal my kills, alright? The only exception to this is Han Junhao, who I'll reserve for you, Mei'er. After all, he's extremely likely to have been the one who murdered your parents."

Grasping her hand tightly in a supportive manner, his gaze turned solemn.

"Time to move out! We'll begin with the Outer City. The two of you will guard the gates that I'll teleport us to, while I'll be busy killing. Pack up any valuables which you can find."

After making sure that everyone was properly equipped and had multiple bags as well as weapons with them, Huizhong City's 'cleansing' began!

Whether it be garrisons, guard posts, barracks, municipal buildings, casinos, slave markets or torture chambers–nothing even remotely like them could escape his slaughter.

There were far too many notifications popping up at every second to pay any attention to them, so he simply left them all for later. For now, he rejoiced at the fact that with every person he killed, he would be able to walk a little bit further on the path which he had plotted for himself.

His conscience utterly unblemished, just like his clothes, he waded in and out of hordes of the most vile human beings imaginable, ending their existence. While not all of them were entirely irredeemable, he wouldn't split hairs in this case–if one became a soldier of the Hans, one's life was forfeit. After all, looking less closely here only benefited him. Also: Who could stay wholly innocent in such an environment?

Xie Mei and Han Junqiao initially paled a bit at the ruthlessness of his slaughter, but they quickly adapted. Both of them had already been exposed to some of the worst which anyone could ever encounter, so after getting over the initial revulsion, they grew increasingly numb to the sight of evildoers experiencing deserved annihilation.

From time to time, one or two of them attempted to make a run for it, but the women could easily hold them back. All the while, the bags that they had brought along with them got filled with money and expensive jewellery one by one.

As for the slaves kept in the majority of locations which they visited, most of them still chose to follow in the footsteps of those who they had encountered before, begging for death. Yet there was also a considerable number who opted for freedom. Only after they had promised to hide for an hour or two did the three of them leave.

All of them had long since vastly surpassed human limits, so within one hour, the entire Outer City had been dealt with. The Inner City didn't fare much better, although Han Junqiao felt it a lot more difficult to keep her murderous urges at bay. The disgust, guilt and regret she experienced whenever she saw someone who she was related to truly tormented her. If she had known about all of this earlier, how many atrocities could she have prevented?

But there was no use beating herself up over it. Before she knew it, the majority of the Inner City had fallen silent and the rest of the Imperial Han Family members finally wised up to the enemy attack.

"Who dares!?"

Infuriated, his head practically steaming in anger, Han Junming shot out of the innermost palace, charging straight in the direction of the most recent slight disturbance. Following behind him were a few other strong members of the Jun branch, including his wife and eldest son, who had also reached the very limit of the Tri-Culmination Realm!

"... Junqiao?! What are you doing over there? You bastard! What did you do to my daughter?!"

Noticing the apple of his eye the moment that he arrived at the current scene of slaughter, he felt like he was trapped in an illusion. After all, how could his daughter, who he always had protected deep underground be here? He would know if she had left!

Therefore, after double-checking his senses and finding nothing amiss, the only explanation was that this powerful young man currently slaying his kin without bothering to shoot him a glance was at fault! Knowing that others could technically be enslaved on the level of the Status Panel–which went far beyond any method that they usually made use of–he feared the worst.

"Oh? It's the Storage Ring guy. Thank you for delivering yourself to me!"

As soon as these words left his lips, Theodore had already appeared next to Han Junming and sliced him apart with a single slash of his blade. The unassuming ring adorning his finger had been taken off and stuffed into his pocket.

Shooting a glance at the dying man, his smile widened.

"I should also thank you for having such an outstanding daughter. While you're not worthy of my respect, I'm in a great mood today. So don't worry, I'll take very good care of her."

Deliberately infuriating him with his words, making sure to let the man think the absolute worst, he chose to properly end him here before he could flare up unnecessarily. With one more slash, Han Junming's upper half was split down the middle once again, but this time from top to bottom. All that was left in the eyes which were rapidly losing their vitality was deep hatred and despair.

"Darling! You, how dare you?! A lower lifeform like you dares to take the lives of its betters?!"

Screeching in uncontrollable fury, Han Junming's wife charged over, her gaze murderous beyond compare. Yet even in the face of someone who had managed to eliminate her husband, who was considerably stronger than her, she didn't show any fear or reverence. Instead, from the bottom of her heart, she and all other Hans looked down upon the one eradicating them with an attitude of absolute superiority.

"... I'm glad Qiao'er's voice didn't take after yours, shrill hag."

Not bothering to play around with his prey any more than this, he shook his head and dispatched her with a swift attack. He had long since made sure to single out Han Junhao–which wasn't particularly difficult, considering how famous he was.

In this manner, while more and more of Huizhong City's ruling caste bit the dust, one man charged after Theodore with bloodshot eyes all along. Two hours later, only two Imperial Han Family members were still alive in the Inner City: Han Junqiao and Han Junhao.

"Here, for you."

Having broken all of the man's limbs and severely restrained him, Theodore dropped him in front of Xie Mei, leaving his exact fate in her hands. After that, he went to deal with the slaves and pick up anything useful to him, only paying slight attention to this place in case something unexpected happened.

"... so, it's you. The bastard who killed mom and dad...!"

Muttering to herself with tears streaming down her cheeks, Xie Mei grabbed the blade sheathed at her side, gritting her teeth. Hearing her words, the crippled man perked up, sneering at her in contempt.

"So you're the spawn of one of the worthless trashes that I got rid of? At least you don't look all too shabby. I wonder, was your mother also as gorgeous as you? If so, I definitely had my way with her before the end!"

"SHUT UP! Fucking die already, y-you disgusting pig!"

Overcome with hatred, she shouted the worst words that her rather inexperienced mind could think of and stabbed him multiple times, both in the torso and heart, as well as in the groin region. His grunts and screams of pain made her feel vindicated, but the revolting, lustful grin on his lips caused the loathing within her to rise to unprecedented levels.

"Heh! Is that... all you've... got!? Just you wait. Even... even if it's not me. One day, we descendants of the Divine Dragon... will ravage... and kill you, too!"

Despite having been cut into multiple pieces already, he still managed to squeeze out a hateful curse before breathing his last. If Xie Mei had instantly ended his life, then she wouldn't have had to listen to this drivel, but her desire to make him suffer had backfired on her in the end.

"... you really think highly of yourself, vermin. You should be glad you're already dead, else I'd make you suffer far longer than this!"

Stabbing him hundreds of times more, until even his general shape had become hard to distinguish, she spat on him and then walked away, not bothering to shoot him or her entirely blood-drenched clothes and blade another glance.

If there was one good thing which had come of all of this, it was that many of the inhibitions that she had had when it came to killing her enemies had completely vanished now. Previously, there had always been a voice at the back of her head cautioning her, asking her to be considerate even of the worst filth which she had encountered. But now, this part of her too had snapped. With both her conscious as well as her subconscious united in the effort of eradicating her foes, never again would she have to face this hurdle.

'... still, what now?'

Feeling empty now that the murderer of her parents had met his end, she looked up at the sky, silently staring into the distance, no particular thought in mind.

She didn't know how long she stood there, or that Han Junqiao had been guarding her side all along with a concerned expression on her face. But eventually, she felt a familiar, warm embrace snapping her back to reality.

"Sorry for making you wait, Mei'er. I'm done here now. Let's return home, alright?"

Unknowingly, a radiant smile stole itself on her lips as she burrowed into Theodore's arms, staining him too in the blood of her enemy.

'... that's right. How could I be so stupid? In the future, I'll be with Theo–forever and always. Where he is, there my home will be.'

"... okay!"