Chapter 501 - 497: Off for Revenge!

Thanks to the support of various Elixirs, the Qin Family’s development was unprecedentedly fast. Large numbers of outstanding disciples were cultivated, and the family’s overall strength rose by several levels.

Qin Suo believed that if the current Qin Family were to return to Profound Island, they could easily become its overlords. Of this, there was no doubt!

However, a great weight still pressed on Qin Suo’s heart, making him feel as if he couldn’t breathe.

It was the tragic massacre of the Qin Family’s branch on Profound Island.

If this grievance went unavenged, Qin Suo felt he would never eat or sleep in peace for the rest of his life. Recently, he often dreamed of Qin Yu, covered in blood, coming to collect a debt. In the dream, Qin Yu would cry that Qin Suo had abandoned them; otherwise, how could they have been wiped out?

Every time Qin Suo startled awake from these nightmares, he couldn’t understand why he was having them. ’When we left, they were the ones who insisted on staying behind. Besides, it was Qin Li who made the decision to move the family. That Qin Yu doesn’t dare go pester Qin Li, yet he comes to bother me...’ But Qin Suo also understood the principle that one dreams of what one thinks about during the day. It was highly likely that he harbored a deep sense of guilt toward Qin Yu and the others; otherwise, he wouldn’t be dreaming of them.

This hatred was deeply etched in Qin Suo’s heart. He swore that he would personally lead his people to destroy the Iron-blooded Hall! He would avenge his dead clansmen, openly and honorably!

Although the group from the Iron-blooded Hall that Qin Li had executed that day were all culprits, they weren’t all of them. It was far from enough to quell the fury in Qin Suo’s heart.

Thank heavens Qin Li had returned; otherwise, there would have been a bloody battle here as well.

After thinking it over and over, Qin Suo decided he had to talk to Qin Li about his idea.

"Brother, look, most of the younger disciples in our family have improved tremendously. Their strength is no less than that of any Mysterious Land. The only thing they lack is combat experience. Isn’t it... isn’t it time to take them out and let them get some training?" Qin Suo stated his idea cautiously.

He was afraid Qin Li would misunderstand. Control over troops, whether in a family or a nation, was always a sensitive issue. Although Qin Suo was the Patriarch and Qin Li had never shown any interest in power, everyone in the Qin Family knew who truly called the shots. There was only one person!

And that was Qin Li!

But Qin Li truly had no intention of competing with Qin Suo for authority. The power of a single family had long since ceased to be of any consequence in Qin Li’s eyes. Otherwise, he could have become the Purple-eyed King or the Palace Master of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace. Although completely controlling either would be difficult, it wasn’t as if Qin Li had no confidence at all.

The most fundamental reason was that Qin Li himself simply had no interest in such power!

"Haha, Brother, why even ask me? It is indeed time for the Qin Family to go out and face the world. In the next few days, I will set up a massive Illusion Array in the mountains outside. Even if someone comes looking for trouble, they won’t be able to attack us easily. Furthermore, Bai Zhongshan and the others will see another great boost in their strength in a short time. So, even if someone does manage to break in, there’s nothing to fear. As long as we’re not facing the entire elite force of a family or Sect, we’ll be fine!"

A faint look of pride appeared in Qin Li’s eyes as he continued, "It’s also time we let people know that the Qin Family are not pushovers. Anyone who wants to take advantage of my Qin Family had better be prepared to suffer a great loss!"

"Yes, that’s right!" Qin Suo was extremely excited by Qin Li’s words and exclaimed, "Anyone who tries to take advantage of our Qin Family will suffer a great loss!"

With that, he looked at Qin Li with a grin and said, "Brother, about that Iron-blooded Hall..."

Qin Li glanced at Qin Suo in surprise. "Don’t tell me you want to personally lead the men to take revenge, Brother?"

Qin Suo nodded heavily. "The branch family members were our kin, too!"

Qin Li sighed softly. ’Although those people had asked to stay behind, which was tantamount to splitting from the family and showing disloyalty, they were still fundamentally from the same root. They were clansmen with ties that couldn’t be broken, like bones connected by sinew.’

With that thought, Qin Li said coolly, "I remember saying that even a servant of the Qin Family is not someone they can afford to provoke. They killed a great number of our branch family disciples, so naturally, we will not let them off! The Iron-blooded Hall... Fine. Let’s go pay them a visit and see what kind of lion’s den it really is!"

...

The Dianchi Kingdom, which bordered the Celestial Lake Kingdom, was a small, prosperous nation rich in resources. Its people lived in peace and contentment, its Royal Family was benevolent, and its taxes were so low as to be almost unnoticeable.

The common folk here ate fish and meat with all three daily meals; their standard of living was almost unbelievably high!

However, that was in the past. Ever since the entire Royal Family was suddenly annihilated three months ago, the citizens of the Dianchi Kingdom had fallen on hard times. The new Royal Family ordered them to cultivate a plant called Blood Hemp.

This plant was highly toxic. It couldn’t be eaten, nor could it be sold for money, and the price offered by the Royal Family was extremely low.

Beginning three months ago, the people of the Dianchi Kingdom fell from heaven straight into hell. Their standard of living had plummeted by an unknown degree.

Moreover, the new Royal Family’s rule was extremely brutal. Never mind the common people; even members of the Royal Guard would be killed on the spot for the slightest show of dissatisfaction.

It wasn’t that no one had resisted. When the Royal Family was exterminated, armies all over the Dianchi Kingdom immediately rebelled. Many able-bodied commoners also joined the military, vowing to avenge the Royal Family.

However, in the eyes of the new Royal Family, this resistance was laughably childish. In less than three days, all the uprisings across the country were crushed, and vast numbers of soldiers were slaughtered to the last man!

In the New Emperor’s own words: "They’re all a bunch of trash. Keeping them around is a burden. Since they’re rebelling, we might as well kill them all!"

So savage, so vicious—how could this be a normal human King? He was clearly a butcher with blood-soaked hands!

The people of the Dianchi Kingdom fled in droves. But if caught, the crime was punishable by death. Even so, countless people still tried to escape.

Countless people couldn’t understand how this once-enviable kingdom had changed into this almost overnight!

Later, someone with inside knowledge offered an explanation that was close to the truth. They said that, fundamentally, it was the Blood Hemp plant that had doomed the Dianchi Royal Family and destroyed the nation’s peace and prosperity!

The reason was simple: for thousands of miles around, only the soil of the Dianchi Kingdom was suitable for growing this toxic plant! It couldn’t survive if planted anywhere else.

The people who would become the new Royal Family had previously negotiated with the old one, demanding that the former Royal Family order all citizens of the nation to plant this substance.

The King at the time happened to know about Blood Hemp. Its seeds could be ground into a powder and inhaled, which was highly addictive. Once hooked, a person who went a single day without it would be tormented to the brink of death.

And the sap of the Blood Hemp was a deadly poison; a single drop the size of a pinprick could kill even a powerful expert!

Therefore, planting this substance, which brought nothing but harm, was originally strictly forbidden in the Dianchi Kingdom!

Because of this, the King of the Dianchi Kingdom refused to issue the order and was killed on the spot. The murderers then tried to force other members of the Royal Family to issue the command, promising to install whoever complied as the new emperor.

What the murderers hadn’t expected was that out of the several hundred members of the Dianchi Kingdom’s Royal Family, not a single one was willing to bow to them!

Even royalty in the secular world had their own integrity!

How could they bow their heads to a pack of demons?

In the end, the entire Dianchi Royal Family was slaughtered! From the most ancient elders to the infants in their cradles, not a single one escaped the butcher’s blade.

This incident shocked even the neighboring countries. However, after a while, all dissenting voices vanished completely. No one even dared to speak of the matter publicly anymore.

Nevertheless, rumors began to circulate that the ones who had massacred the entire Dianchi Royal Family were a Sect called the Iron-blooded Hall. This Sect was said to come from a very mysterious place, and every one of its disciples possessed a powerful strength that made people Tremble!

No one dared to oppose them!

Plunged into deep suffering, the people of the Dianchi Kingdom found their pleas to heaven and earth went unanswered. Their beautiful life was a thing of the past, and all that remained for them now was endless pain!

As for what this Blood Hemp was actually being used for, no one knew. Perhaps only the members of the Dianchi Kingdom’s new Royal Family knew the truth.

Qin Li brought along Shangguan Shiyu, Leng Yao, She She, Bai Zhongshan, and Bai Zhonghuo. With the exception of Leng Yao, all of them had already broken through to the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation Realm. Bai Zhongxue and the Golden Eagle had actually broken through as well, but their breakthroughs were very recent and not yet stable, so they were still in seclusion.

More than seven months had now passed since Qin Li’s return to the family. Qin Suo was champing at the bit for revenge, eager to destroy the Iron-blooded Hall. That was why Qin Li, after setting up a massive Illusion Array, had quietly led this group here to find them.

This time, Qin Suo had brought thirty elite disciples of the Qin Family!

These elite disciples had all, without exception, entered the Venerable Realm. Furthermore, with the aid of Elixirs, they had reached the strength of an Earth Venerable!

This force alone was almost enough to sweep across the entire Profound Island!

Qin Suo, who had also reached the Human Venerable Realm, had sworn to avenge the family’s dead clansmen this time. He was different from Qin Li. In Qin Li’s heart, there were only those closest to him, because his soul, after all, belonged to another world. Thus, even though he would avenge the deceased Qin Family members, his desire to do so was not as intense as Qin Suo’s.

This was because Qin Suo had grown up with many of those who had died!

The tavern was very large, yet it was cold and deserted. Seeing a group of nearly forty people, the Shopkeeper and his staff were both surprised and a little frightened.

It was obvious at a glance that these were no ordinary people. But this was the Imperial City of the Dianchi Kingdom, and the Dianchi Kingdom of today was not like the one of old. In the past, never mind forty people, even merchant caravans of several hundred were a common sight.

Now, however, the merchant caravans that dared to pass through the Dianchi Kingdom were few and far between, and large-scale ones had vanished entirely.

The reason was the new Royal Family. They would, at best, confiscate the goods of passing caravans and, at worst, simply annihilate them. There were no rules to follow and no reason to be had!