Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Chapter 416: Chapter 297: The Lie Siblings

That disciple from the Mechanical Master Gu Family was truly remarkable. Even under those circumstances, he managed to find an escape route, leading a group of disheveled survivors to safety. It could be said that without this Gu Family disciple, not a single one of those mighty Sword Emperors and Sword Sects who went down would have made it back up.

The three people from the Jingwu Family were the luckiest of all!

Because their family background was something the Qin Family could not afford to offend, they all survived. They were in a wretched state, however. Even "Young Master Xibei" had her hair down in disarray, and anyone who wasn’t blind could see she was a woman. After they escaped, the proud and calm expressions they once wore were long gone. The cruel reality and bloody slaughter had utterly crushed the pride they held for coming from a super family.

So-called dignity, pride, grace, and nobility were fragile beyond belief in the face of the savage eyes, cold, sharp teeth, and the foul, fishy stench coming from the mouths of those High-Tier Magical Beasts.

Compared to their lives, none of that mattered at all! One could believe that under those circumstances, this young lady from a super family would have unhesitatingly given up her chastity, her very innocence, just to survive.

Because she had been scared out of her wits!

The four Sword Sects from the Tianshan Sun Family who entered these Ancient Ruins were all wiped out, with no survivors.

From the Dragon Valley Gou Family, five Sword Emperor Powerhouses and one High-tier Sword Sect were all annihilated, killed in an attack by the Western Li Family.

Of the five from the Yanzhao Yu Family, all were wiped out except for one Middle-Tier Sword Emperor.

Of the twelve from the Zichuan Zhe Family, only six of their nine Sword Emperor Powerhouses remained; the three Sword Sects were all annihilated.

Of the eleven from the Western Li Family, only four of their eight Sword Emperor Powerhouses remained. One died fighting the Zhe Family, while the rest were killed by the tide-like army of Magical Beasts. Of their three Sword Sect experts, only Li Yan was left, clinging to life. He was severely injured, and it was uncertain how many years it would take for him to recover.

Of the ten from the Snowfield Zhu Family, all their Sword Sects were wiped out, but all their Sword Emperor Powerhouses survived. With six remaining, it could be considered a great fortune in the midst of misfortune.

Of the thirteen from the Qin Family, the Sword Emperor Powerhouses fought to the death to protect Qin Feng and Qin Zhaoran. Since those two ran at the very front, they were spared. However, both were badly injured and would need at least a year and a half to recover. Of the other eleven Sword Emperor Powerhouses, four died, leaving seven.

Compared to the treasures they obtained, these Ancient Ruins could only be described as a demonic pit!

The two Sword Venerable Powerhouses from the Qin Family who had gone down to search found nothing after looking all over without any guidance, so they returned the way they came. If the two of them had encountered that terrifying Magical Beast army, the outcome would have been uncertain.

According to the survivors’ recollections, the Magical Beast army was interspersed with many Tier Eight Magical Beasts. To think, back on the Sea Domain Song Family’s island, a single Tier Eight Deep Sea Poison Dragon had emerged unscathed from the siege of more than a dozen Sword Emperor Powerhouses. In the end, it was the Song Family’s old ancestor, Song Xi, who had to personally intervene to slay it.

If there were dozens of Tier Eight beasts among that army of over a thousand Magical Beasts, then even if the two Qin Family Sword Venerables had gone down, they would have just been sending themselves to their deaths.

For these people to have escaped, it could be said, was a stroke of incredible luck. Moreover, even the three young Sword Sects from the Jingwu Family were endlessly grateful to the Gu Family disciple.

Without that Gu Family disciple, not a single one of them would have escaped.

This outcome quickly spread throughout the island. Those who were still waiting to see what treasures would be unearthed were all left dumbfounded. No one could have imagined that in a place like this, on the Qin Family’s own island, a set of Ancient Ruins could possess such lethal power! If not for the heavy losses the Qin Family had also suffered, these people might have even thought it was a Qin Family conspiracy. But no family would sacrifice the lives of four Sword Emperor Realm Powerhouses to frame another—unless they were insane!

Meanwhile, those who hadn’t been qualified to enter and had initially felt resentful were now secretly rejoicing. They were lucky they hadn’t gone in. Almost none of the Sword Sect Powerhouses who entered this time made it back alive, to say nothing of a group like them, who were below the rank of Demon Sword Master!

And that was on top of the volley of arrows that had killed more than seven hundred people right when the ruins first opened!

These Ancient Ruins were truly a murderous, demonic pit! To have buried so many powerhouses—this was likely a first in all of history.

Because every family had suffered heavy losses, many of the originally third-rate sects now saw a glimmer of hope. As a result, a very interesting phenomenon occurred at this exchange gathering: the smaller the family, the more active they became. Meanwhile, the major families and sects that had suffered heavy losses were all dispirited. Some even began proposing to leave early to return to their families, regroup, and plan their next steps. The Qin Family had no excuse to stop them; after all, even the Qin Family itself was now severely weakened.

Therefore, a Sword Venerable old ancestor of the Qin Family quietly slipped away to the Ten Thousand Year Flood Dragon’s island, wanting to ask Lord Divine Dragon to take action. Although the Qin Family had also suffered great losses this time, the other prestigious families had lost even more! If they could seize this opportunity to eliminate all the remaining High-tier Martial Artists, then, aside from a few super families, the Qin Family... would secure an undisputed position as overlord!

As for the prestigious families like the Sea Domain Song Family that hadn’t sent any High-tier Martial Artists to the gathering, that didn’t matter. The Qin Family was a family with three Sword Venerable Powerhouses!

And, in the near future, that number was set to increase!

However, when the Qin Family’s Sword Venerable old ancestor went to the island where the Ten Thousand Year Flood Dragon resided, he found no trace of its aura whatsoever. Helpless, he could only return. Qin Zhaoran was the kind of person who could take things in stride. Besides, in a situation like this, what could he do even if he couldn’t let it go? Did he have the guts to blame Lord Divine Dragon?

So, the members of the various prestigious families and sects began to leave in large numbers. Three days later, the entire Qin Family Island fell quiet, and all the Qin Family disciples returned to their former way of life.

But whether this Qin Family was still the same Qin Family of the past, no one could know.

This time, a single Saint-level Sword Skill was found in the Ancient Ruins. After the Qin Family made a copy, it was taken away by the three from the Jingwu Family. They hadn’t even asked for it; the Qin Family had offered it on their own initiative. The three Jingwu Family disciples, having just escaped with their lives, were already feeling quite emotional. They hadn’t expected the Qin Family to be so sensible. Thus, they couldn’t help but promise that after returning to their family, they would certainly put in a few good words for the Qin Family’s bid to become the Alliance Leader.

With this, Qin Zhaoran’s goal was achieved. Did he really want to just hand over the Saint-level Sword Skill? That would be a joke! But countless people had seen him, Qin Zhaoran, obtain it. Rather than wait for the super families to come knocking, it was better to throw this hot potato away now and stop others from coveting it.

It had to be said that in this regard, Qin Zhaoran possessed a boldness that most people lacked.

Three Mid-tier Celestial-level Sword Skills were also found and were distributed among the Zhe Family, the Li Family, and the Snowfield Zhu Family. There were also a dozen or so Earth-level Sword Skills, which were divided among the other participating families and sects. The Qin Family had largely achieved its objective. The other families and sects had suffered grievous casualties, and since Lord Divine Dragon was absent for some unknown reason, the Qin Family’s proactive gesture of goodwill at this time could make those families and sects weep with gratitude. Qin Zhaoran had played his cards perfectly!

A gathering that was meant to be unprecedentedly grand thus came to a hasty conclusion. But the events that took place would be spoken of for thousands of years to come.

On the deck of an extremely luxurious ship stood three young people—two men and one woman. They were the three young Sword Sects from the Jingwu Family. The surname of the Jingwu Family was Lie.

The eldest was the current heir apparent of the Lie Family, named Lie Yang. The woman beside him was his half-sister, Lie Qing, and the other young man was Lie Yang’s cousin, Lie Que.

Lie Yang possessed the strength of a Tier Six Sword Sect. So young, his future could be said to be limitless. Some even said he could enter the Holy Sanctuary within a hundred years.

Lie Qing possessed the strength of a Tier Three Sword Sect and was also a young expert of this generation of the Lie Family. She was enchanting and beautiful, with every reason to be proud.

Lie Que shared the same grandfather as Lie Yang and also held a considerable position among the younger generation of the Lie Family, having reached the realm of a Tier Five Sword Sect.

At this moment, Lie Yang was comforting his young half-sister. The three were once again dressed in noble attire, but the radiant, high-spirited light in their eyes from when they first arrived was long gone.

Lie Yang said, "Lie Qing, it’s over now, so don’t dwell on it anymore. In truth, this was a good lesson for us. No matter how strong a person is, there will be times when they are no match for powerful Magical Beasts."

Lie Qing’s expression was somewhat numb, and she didn’t speak. She had been truly terrified. At that moment, she had felt as if the Death God was standing right over her, ready to take her life at any second. Never before had she been so afraid.

The feeling of being threatened by death was simply too terrifying!

Lie Que, however, smiled dismissively and said, "Brother, let’s not talk about that. The Qin Family is quite perceptive, knowing to present the sword skill to us. Not bad at all!"

"Not bad my ass!"

Lie Yang suddenly swore, then said with a fierce expression, "By doing that, they just transferred all the pressure onto us! Do you really think the Qin Family had good intentions? Don’t just assume that because we’re a super family, others don’t dare to provoke us. In reality, a tall tree catches the wind! After we get back to the family this time, it’s best we keep a low profile."

As Lie Yang spoke, he couldn’t help but think of a beautiful figure, and his heart warmed. ’Are you okay?’

Ever since meeting that ordinary woman from the Mortal World a year ago, Lie Yang’s heart, which had been calm for over twenty years, had been in constant turmoil. She was so pure and kind, so beautiful and enchanting... The thought of her made him feel an arrow-like urgency to return.

However, the one thing that made him uneasy was that the woman’s heart was already occupied by a man from the Mortal World...

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