The End Of The Mo Branch

This entire while, all preparations for the 'cleansing' had progressed smoothly. Not only had the Arrays been completed on schedule, but he had also put a few contingency measures in place. After all, no matter how likely he was to succeed, he couldn't afford to be complacent.

Although he had been cultivating for around seven hours every day and had reached the 29,197th realm of the Body Refinement Stage, Theodore was extremely far from reaching the current limit which his Endurance would allow. The Energy concentration was still more than sufficient for him to go further, as well. He was currently a bit stronger than a regular peak Core Formation Stage expert–at least Standard Attribute-wise.

In comparison to his companions, it almost felt as if his progress had ground to a halt, as everyone but Li Shuying had improved significantly, to the point that both Xie Mei and Han Junqiao were now only a tiny bit weaker than him on paper. The former had just stabilized herself at the Unification Realm, whereas the latter had made it to the peak of the Elevation Realm.

But the one who left them all in the dust was Vigdis, who had reached the absolute pinnacle of the Golden Core Realm! For now, she was focusing on further elevating the quality of her core, as the lacking Energy concentration made it impossible for her to break through to the Soul Sculpting Stage. In terms of Standard Attributes, she had overtaken Theodore by close to nine times! Even her own Endurance was twice as high as his.

Of course, if he utilized his Intraworld Teleportation Talent, then she still wouldn't be able to harm him–but that aside, why would she attempt to do so in the first place? Her rise to significantly increased power was a good thing, as he had now gained a strong 'thug' at his side who could eliminate those who he–at the moment–was still unable to get rid of.

The main reason as to why he was lagging behind was that although his progress was steady, the Body Refinement Stage's realms were a slow grind. Nobody was meant to spend a significant amount of time immersed in them. Despite already having sped up as much as possible, while he was in this cultivation stage, he could not properly exhibit his outstanding aptitude to its fullest extent.

Last but not least amongst them, Li Shuying had finally arrived at the peak of the Skin Refinement Realm! She was a bit faster than everyone had expected, bringing a smile to their faces.

In the morning, the five of them assembled at home, double-checking if they had forgotten anything. To prepare for the worst, they had already stuffed their only available Storage Ring full of everything that they valued or might need.

"Looks like there is nothing that we overlooked. Great! Then follow me. I'll activate the Arrays now."

Walking to the middle of their home's Energy Gathering Array–which he had connected to the city-spanning ones and fashioned into their nucleus–Theodore inserted a long-prepared rune-engraved bone rod in the ground. With its addition, an almost imperceptible wave of Energy rippled outwards, becoming less and less prominent the further that it travelled. The moment when it entirely disappeared, the eyes of everyone in the city glazed over, and they froze in their tracks. Not a single movement could be observed any longer!

Only at a place deep below the city centre, multiple people struggled for a while before succumbing to the Arrays' effects as well. This didn't escape Theodore, who was informed of the slight resistance by his creation, causing his eyebrows to raise in amusement.

'Seems like my guess was right. They have a few Soul Sculpting Stage ancestors hidden away. But fortunately, none of them are particularly outstanding, and they can all still easily be controlled.'

Informing the girls about this as they moved out, they heaved a collective sigh of relief. Even Vigdis would prefer to avoid facing any opponents who could pose a threat to her–and some of these living fossils might have been able to do just that.

Contrary to the last time in Huizhong City, Jingshan City's cleansing proceeded in an orderly, silent fashion. There was no panic on anyone's face, no painful screams, and no desperate battle. With nobody able to even realize that they were in danger, it went as smoothly as it possibly could.

As they were stuck in a dream which they were unable to wake up from and their bodies invisibly shackled, all the scum of the city swiftly met their end. It had been far too easy to find all those who deserved to be put down, as in the Imperial Han Family's cities, they could openly display their depravity and boast about their wrongdoings. Rather than the underbelly of society, they were its face.

Whilst Theodore was reaping lives like wheat, Xie Mei, Han Junqiao and Vigdis gathered everything that they could possibly need and brought the now freed slaves and victims to a big plaza, where Li Shuying was waiting for them. There, they would stay until the Arrays' effects would be lifted once the Mo branch and their lackeys had successfully been eliminated. Just like all those in Huizhong City, they would be allowed to choose between freedom and a painless, quick death.

Even the very few Attribute Points that they could provide him with would add up over time, which was why Theodore went out of his way to organize such an event to begin with. Otherwise, he would have simply ignored them and let them figure out the way forward on their own when the dust had settled.

Although he had got significantly faster than before, due to Jingshan City's remarkable size, it still took him around five hours to finally arrive at the centremost palace of the Inner City, which he had left for last. As he wandered its halls and slew its inhabitants without a change in his expression, followed by his Servants, he carefully searched it for the passage leading underground.

Fortunately, due to his markedly improved perception, it didn't take long for him to find it. One of the bookshelves in Han Mowei's study also functioned as a secret door to the world underneath–a timeless classic.

A minute of dashing through the winding, downward-sloping, spiral-shaped hallway later, the group of four entered an enormous subterranean cavern which housed dozens of incredibly beautiful, delicately sculpted mansions. Compared to the singular but relatively large room in which Han Junqiao had been staying, this was a night and day difference!

Most of the buildings down here were occupied by the Soul Sculpting Stage elders of the Mo branch. They had originally been sent out to provincial capitals when they were younger, where they managed to break through. Upon their return home, they became the secret guardians of their family, meditating and resting here until the day when they were needed. Occasionally, they would teach a promising descendant or two who would then take their place in the future.

In this generation, other than Han Mocheng–who had his own subterranean mansion, courtesy of his father–there were another five youngsters living down here with their teachers and ancestors. As for the elderly folks in question, there were more than 30 of them!

The higher a cultivator's realm, the longer they would be able to live. With sufficient time, it was no wonder that the Mo branch could build up such a collection of family-protecting elders. This state of affairs only further showcased just how far the Jun branch had fallen, as they didn't even have a singular protector any longer!

Dealing with these Soul Sculpting Stage men and women required for Theodore to pay proper attention to what he was doing. He couldn't simply slash them randomly, as most of their bodies would be able to handle an attack of his. Their vulnerable parts like the eyes still allowed him direct access to their brains, though, so all he needed to do was to target his attacks more precisely.

However, actually getting rid of them wasn't this easy. In the Soul Sculpting Stage, cultivators would reinforce their souls to the point that they would most definitely not immediately enter the cycle of reincarnation after the demise of the physical vessel. Instead, they would stick around for varying amounts of time, enabling some to even refashion their flesh and bones so that they might live anew. They could also take over another person's body, but that was considered to be a last resort.

Even in their soul form, the Mo branch's elders could not escape the influence of Theodore's Illusion Array, causing them to hover in place, entirely unguarded and unable to act. Had he been able to utilize his own soul already, he could have directly obliterated them here, but simply waiting for their time to run out would also suffice.

As his prey properly bit the dust one by one, there eventually was only a singular building left to clear out. Relying on his perception and the previous feedback that his Arrays had given him, he knew that the elder in here was by far the strongest, possibly even at the peak of the Soul Sculpting Realm! And yet, he had not been able to escape its influence either.

Leaving the toughest bone to chew on for last, Theodore had the others wait outside as he opened the door and walked up to the incredibly old figure seated atop a grandiose throne. This person had aged to the degree that it was hard to tell whether they were a man or a woman–even most of their draconic features had got ground away by time. Oftentimes, people joked about having one foot in the grave, but this one here looked like a corpse which had been buried for hundreds of years yet stubbornly refused to obediently decompose.

Not lowering his guard in the slightest, Theodore observed his surroundings cautiously, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Reassured, he teleported right next to the living fossil and plunged his blade deep into the left eye socket!

The skull's resistance was a bit tougher to handle than he would have liked, but he still dealt enough damage to the brain for the elder's soul to separate from their corpse, confirming their death. It was at this moment that Theodore's instincts were sounding the alarm bells.

Contrary to all the others, once this soul saw the light of day, it immediately shrugged off the influence of the Illusion Array! Fortunately, the Imprisonment Array still kept it in check, otherwise Theodore's companions might have got possessed by this expert.

'You sorry fool! You will rue this day–the day on which you dared to offend the Imperial Han Family!'

Transmitting this information to him, an aged voice resounded in his mind. Had he not allowed it to 'speak' to him, it would have been impossible for this soul to interact with him in any way at all. Fortunately, he did not fear its influence whatsoever, which was why he chose to 'hear' it out. After all, the bad feeling in his stomach was still increasing in intensity...

'Is that it? Do you have anything else to say?'

Despite his nonchalant expression in response to this threat, deep inside, he was preparing himself to flee at a moment's notice.

'Hmph. Just you wait. There will be no escape!'

Having chosen its last words, the soul in front of him chose to combust, activating a runic symbol which had been hidden deep within. There was nothing that he could do about it–even anyone capable of directly manipulating Energy would be powerless to stop it. Just like earlier, without having advanced to the Soul Sculpting Stage and making use of his own soul, it was impossible for him to intervene!

'Fuck! It's a distress signal!'

Immediately recognizing it for what it was, he retreated promptly, ignoring the still self-destructing soul of his enemy, which sported a vengeful grin. He teleported right next to the others, then brought them to Li Shuying's side.

In the same instant, an unprecedented threat tore at his heart and soul, causing him to furrow his brows and clench his teeth in pain. The outermost Alarm Array layer which he had made his Arrays project far outside of the city went off for less than a fraction of a microsecond before it was destroyed.

As he was choosing the next destination to teleport them all to, a seemingly random coordinate entered his mind. Recognizing that following this call would be an unnecessary risk, he altered it slightly and disappeared from the spot.

Less than a microsecond after the five of them had vanished, a stately man in a graceful but ferocious general's uniform appeared in mid-air a few tens of kilometres above Jingshan City, the aura which he was subconsciously exuding shattering all of Theodore's Arrays.

"So this state is infested as well. What a chore."