Chapter 176: Inner City Overlords, Shattered Soul Lamp and The Wrath of the Zhao Family

Far away from the chaotic scene in the outer city, deep within the heavily guarded and spiritually dense Inner City of the Jade City, stood a large and magnificent estate.

This was the main residence of the Zhao Family.

In the Jade City, the division between the outer area and inner area was not just a matter of wealth, it was a literal separation of classes, as vast as the distance between the heavens and the earth. The inner city was the domain of true dragons and hidden tigers, where the air itself was thick with refined spiritual energy without any use of arrays. And among the few families that ruled this inner city, the Zhao Family was undoubtedly one of the absolute apex predators.

The Zhao Family’s area of expertise was mainly in the monopolization of High Tier Spiritual Ore Refining and the operation of the prestigious Cloud Auction House. They controlled the flow of the most precious materials in the entire region. If a cultivator wanted to buy a Top Tier Spiritual Artifact, a rare Earth Fire Essence, or a Centuries Old Spiritual Herb, they had to go through the Zhao Family’s auction house and pay the exorbitant Zhao tax if the rarity is high.

Their dominance over the other Tier 4 families was absolute and almost tyrannical. The other families were nothing more than well fed dogs and vassals, entirely dependent on the scraps the Zhao Family threw them in the outer and middle area. If the Zhao Family pointed their fingers at a family, that family would be economically strangled and physically erased from the Jade City within a week or two, without a single other family related to the sect daring to intervene.

The reason for this unshakeable arrogance and dominance was simple. The Zhao Family had a mountain they could lean on.

The Patriarch’s father, the family’s supreme ancestor, Zhao Wuji, was an Inner Sect Elder of the Cloudwater Sect!

As everyone knows that the Cloudwater Sect is the absolute overlord of this entire vast region, a Top Tier righteous sect with a lineage stretching back hundreds of thousands of years. Having an Inner Elder in such a sect meant that the Zhao Family possessed a protective umbrella that could easily shield them from the wrath of the heavens.

With such a terrifying background, the later generation of the Zhao Family acted arrogantly, especially their young master who ran wild and tyrannical in the city, treating the lives of outer city cultivators like weeds.

At this moment, inside the grand main hall of the Zhao Family, a high level family meeting was underway.

Patriarch Zhao Feng, a middle aged man with a sharp, hawkish face and an aura of Peak Stage of Foundation Establishment Realm, sat on the patriarchal throne. He was casually sipping a cup of rare spiritual tea, listening to the family elders discuss how to raise the prices of spiritual ores in light of the recent heavenly phenomenon rumors. The atmosphere was relaxed, some of them filled with the arrogant confidence of untouchable overlords.

Suddenly, the doors of the grand hall were pushed open with a loud bang.

A guard, who was supposed to be stationed at the outer perimeter of the manor, stumbled in. His face was as pale as a sheet, his clothes were drenched in sweat, and his legs were trembling so violently that he could barely stand. He collapsed onto the floor, kowtowing frantically.

"Patriarch! Great Patriarch! Disaster! A massive disaster has struck!" the guard shrieked, his voice cracked with sheer terror.

The relaxed atmosphere in the hall instantly vanished. Few elders frowned in unison, their expressions turned ugly at this blatant display of cowardness.

Patriarch Zhao Feng’s eyes also narrowed slightly, a cold, dangerous light flashed through his pupils. He slammed his teacup onto the table, the porcelain cracked under his sudden surge of spiritual energy.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Zhao Feng’s voice was like a thunderclap, echoing with enormous pressure. "The dignity of the Zhao Family is thrown to the dogs by your cowardly appearance! You are a guard of My Zhao Family, yet you act like a frightened rat! If you cannot give me a satisfactory reason for this disgrace today, I will have your entire clan executed!"

The guard trembled even harder, his forehead smashed against the floor until it bled. He knew that the Patriarch’s temper was notoriously explosive, especially regarding the family’s dignity.

"Patriarch... spare my life!" the guard cried out as his voice shaked uncontrollably. "It is not that I want to disgrace the family, but... but the news is too shocking! The... the soul lamp of Elder Hu, the protector assigned to the Third Young Master... it.. it just shattered!"

Clatter!

Several elders dropped their teacups in shock.

The hall fell into a dead silence.

Elder Hu was an Early Stage Core Formation expert! He was specifically assigned to protect the Third Young Master, Zhao Kuang, who was currently out in the city enjoying himself. For a Core Formation Realm expert’s soul lamp to shatter, it meant he had been killed including his soul which is completely destroyed!

"Who Dares?!" Zhao Feng’s face instantly turned a terrifying shade of purple. The spiritual energy in his body exploded, cracking the pillars of the hall. "Who dares to kill my son’s protector?! Did he encounter an ambush in the wilderness? Was it a rival family from the inner city trying to provoke us?!"

His mind raced through the possibilities. If it was a rival families from the inner city family, the Zhao Family would immediately declare a blood war and wipe them out. If it was a wilderness beast, he would slaughter every beast within a thousand miles.

The guard swallowed hard, his body shrinked under the Patriarch’s terrifying aura. He trembled violently as he forced out the next words.

"N... no, G-Great Patriarch... i-it wasn’t the wilderness, and it wasn’t the i-inner city..."

"Then where?!" Zhao Feng roared, his killing intent filling the room.

"The... the blood connection was sensed in the... the o-o-OUTER Area," the guard stammered out, squeezing his eyes shut as if expecting a blow. "Specifically... in the outer city."

The silence in the hall returned once again, but this time, it was the silence of baffled disbelief.

"The outer city?" an elder muttered, his face twitched slightly. "A shabby area like that? Are you telling me that some outer city trash or maybe a some nameless rogue cultivator, killed Elder Hu?"

"Impossible!" another elder slammed the table. "Elder Hu is a Core Formation expert bought by ourr ancestor at heavy price as a slave! Even if he was caught off guard, how could a bunch of outer city ants kill him without him sending a single message?!"

Zhao Feng’s chest heaved violently, his eyes turned bloodshot. The sheer absurdity of the situation made his rationality snap. A Core Formation elder of the Zhao Family, protected by the Zhao Family’s supreme backing, killed in the filthy, rat infested outer city by some unknown?

This price was heavy, too heavy.

This was not just a murder, this was a direct slap in the face of the Zhao Family! It was a slap in the face of the Cloudwater Sect!

"Hah... hahahahaha!" Zhao Feng suddenly let out a series of cold, manic laughs. The spiritual energy around him turned out of control.

"Good... very good," Zhao Feng’s voice was dripping with a murderous intent that made the elders shiver. "The outer city trash actually dare to bare their fangs at my Zhao Family. To think that because they are in the outer city, the law of the inner city doesn’t apply to them?"

He stood up, his Peak Stage Foundation Establishment Realm aura fully unleashed, shaking the entire grand hall.

"Pass down my orders!" Zhao Feng’s voice roared and it spread through the entire area. "Gather the Zhao Family’s enforcers! Wake up the Armor Guards! Today, I am going to personally visit outer area of the Jade City!"

His eyes flashed with a ruthless light. He was angry but not a brainless fool, if one can kill a Early Stage of Core Formation Realm cultivator, then he has to take this entire thing seriously, doesn’t matter if it’s single person or a bunch of scums gathered together.

He still has the Cloudwater Sect to rely on.

"If they want to play the role of a dragon, I will peel their scales! If they refuse to kowtow and beg for mercy, I will flatten their enite family into dust! I will slaughter every single living creature, from the oldest to the youngest, and hang their heads on the city gates to show everyone what happens when you offend the Zhao Family!"

With a wave of his sleeve, Zhao Feng transformed into a streak of light, bursting through the roof of the hall and shooting directly toward the outer area city with gaurds, leaving behind a hall full of terrified elders after hearing his vicious words.