Chapter 177: The Bloodline Soul Tracing Art and A Sinister Trap

High above the outer city, the clouds were torn apart by a streak of blinding light.

Patriarch Zhao Feng was not flying on a normal spiritual ship. He was standing on top of a massive, condensed cloud of mist, using the Zhao Family’s supreme secret technique, the Bloodline Soul Tracing Art. In his hand, a glowing talisman was vibrating violently, pointing directly towards the location of his son’s blood essence.

The aura of a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, combined with the murderous intent of the Zhao Family lineup was fully unleashed. The sheer spiritual pressure radiating from them caused the clouds to literally boil.

Below him, the cities were thrown into absolute chaos. Cultivators on the streets stopped in their tracks, looking up at the sky with faces full of terror. They could feel the suffocating, tyrannical aura descending upon them.

"Is that... Patriarch Zhao of the inner city?!"

"His aura is so terrifying! It’s like a demon descending! Who actually provoked him?!"

"Look at the direction! He’s heading towards the outer city’s commercial district!"

But no one dared to follow them. The pressure was too heavy, it felt as if looking at the cloud for too long would cause their eyes to bleed.

In the blink of an eye, the light descended.

BOOM!

A massive shockwave erupted in the sky above Heaven’s Table. The spiritual clouds were forcefully blown apart, and a group of over fifty cultivators descended from the sky, landing heavily in the streets and the courtyard outside the restaurant.

They were the Zhao Family’s enforcers and the Elite Armor Guards. Each of them was at least at the Early to Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, with a few slave elders at the Early Core Formation realm.

They wore heavy armor that emitted a cold, metallic gleam, their weapons were drawn and radiating sharp killing intent.

At the very center stood Patriarch Zhao Feng. His hands were behind his back, his face as dark as iron, his eyes sweept over the modest building of Heaven’s Table like a predator looking at a corpse.

The moment the Zhao Family landed, the entire surrounding area fell into a dead silence.

Inside the restaurant, the previously bustling hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The cultivators who were dining just moments ago were now frozen in their seats. No one dared to even breathe loudly, let alone talk.

A rogue cultivator at a corner table accidentally bumped his cup, making a slight clink sound. Instantly, several Armor Guards snapped their heads toward him, their eyes flashed with murderous intent. The rogue cultivator’s face turned deathly pale, and he instantly slapped himself across the face as if he’s had done some great mistake, trembling so hard he almost fell off his chair.

No one dared to speak and no one dared to move either. The sheer dominance and tyrannical reputation of the Zhao Family in the inner city had completely crushed their courage. They knew that if they made a single wrong move, they would be slaughtered on the spot.

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Meanwhile, the massive spiritual fluctuation caused by Zhao Feng’s arrival had not gone unnoticed by other forces.

In the bustling streets of the middle city, a group of young cultivators dressed in the elegant, flowing blue and white robes of the Cloudwater Sect were just finishing their business at a Spiritual Tool Refining shop. These were not ordinary Outer Sect Disciples, they were the Inner Sect Disciples, the true geniuses and future pillars of the sect.

Their leader, a handsome young man named Lin Feng, was casually twirling a jade folding fan when he suddenly stopped. He looked up at the sky, his eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed the violent aura tearing through the clouds in the distance.

"Senior Brother Lin, what’s wrong?" a junior asked.

"Look at that aura," Lin Feng pointed his fan at the streak in the sky. "That’s the cloud mist of the Zhao Family. Patriarch Zhao Feng is actually moving somewhere, and he’s releasing his full aura. He must be heading to the outer city, it seems something happened that requires his attention."

A beautiful female disciple beside him chuckled lightly. "The Zhao Family? They are just a group of nouveau riche merchants. Why is that old man making such a big fuss? Should we go take a look? It might be amusing."

"Since we have nothing else to do, let’s go," Lin Feng smiled, closing his fan. "If the Zhao Family is in trouble, we, as the disciples of the Cloudwater Sect, should naturally go and supervise."

With a wave of his hands, the group of inner disciples summoned their flying swords and streaked into the sky, following the trail of the aura.

On their way to the outer city, they happened to pass by a plaza where a group of outer sect disciples was gathered. Seeing the inner sect seniors flying in such a hurry, the outer disciples immediately sensed an opportunity.

"Senior Brother Lin! What is the emergency? Did a great danger appear in the city?" an outer disciple shouted respectfully from the ground.

Lin Feng paused his sword slightly, looking down. "The Zhao Family Patriarch is making a move in the outer city. There might be a situation that requires the sect’s attention. Since you juniors are free, follow us. If there is a battle, you can at least lend a hand and earn some merit."

Hearing this, the outer disciples’ eyes lit up. Earning merit in front of the inner sect seniors was a rare opportunity! Without hesitation, dozens of outer disciples drew their swords and joined the convoy, forming a massive procession of Cloudwater Sect disciples flying toward the outer city.

Along the way, some of the more cautious disciples tried to use voice transmission talismans to rush ahead and ask the Cloudwater Sect’s stationed Elders in the city for details about the situation.

However, whenever they tried to catch up to the front to ask the stationed elders, they found that the sect’s stationed elders were always flying at the very front, moving at a blazing speed that the juniors simply couldn’t catch up to.

Their transmission messages were also blocked by the dense, chaotic spiritual energy of the city’s defensive arrays by Zhao Feng’s overwhelming demand.

"Senior brothers they are moving too fast! We can only follow from behind!" the disciples muttered, speeding up their flying swords, completely unaware of the true nature of the storm they were flying into.

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At the very front of the massive procession, flying side by side were two retired elders of the Cloudwater Sect.

They could clearly sense the dozens of Cloudwater Sect disciples flying closely behind them.

A normal person would be annoyed by a group of noisy juniors tailing them. But Zhao Feng ordered them to didn’t shoo them away. In fact, they didn’t even try to speed up and leave them behind.

Instead, looking at the blue and white robes fluttering in the wind behind him, their faces slowly relaxed. The corners of their mouth curled up, forming a cold and utterly ruthless smile.

’Hmph, an arrogant guy or whoever they are who dared kill the elder of Zhao Family,’ one of them thought. ’ They think they can hide in this shabby area and act recklessly? They think they have some hidden backing that makes them unafraid of our Zhao Family?’

After patriarch ordered them they knew that the person or group inside the city must be incredibly strong or have a terrifying background to dare to act so brazenly in the outer city. If they just charged in blindly, their family might suffer unexpected losses.

But now, everything was different.

That’s right. This was exactly Zhao Feng’s plan Zhao Feng. He deliberately released his full aura and deliberately made a massive commotion. He knew that the Cloudwater Sect disciples, especially those Inner Sect brats, would definitely come to watch the show.

Now, the eyes of the entire Cloudwater Sect are on this place. If they are just some hidden expert, they won’t dare to act recklessly now and If they dare to resist the Zhao Family in front of the Cloudwater Sect disciples, it will be seen as a direct provocation against the sect itself! They will be labeled as an enemy of the Cloudwater Sect!

It was a brilliant and ruthless trap of Zhao Feng was using the name and the presence of the Cloudwater Sect disciples as an impenetrable shield and a sharp sword. He was forcing his unknown opponent into a corner where they couldn’t fight back without offending the absolute overlord of the region.

"You old fox, you’re moving a bit slow," one of the Cloudwater Sect elders beside him chuckled, completely unaware that he was being used as a pawn. "Are you afraid the target has already run away?"

"How could he run?" Another replied smoothly, his voice carried confidence. He looked down at the city as his smile widened. "The rat is trapped in the jar. Today, I will let the young masters of the sect see how the Zhao Family handles the trash in this city."

With a final they too stepped off the flying swords and landed on the stone pavement right in front of Heaven’s Table with their killing intent spread out openly.