In the darkness of the night over Sheng Province, the Yuan family estate had already become a sea of fire. Towering flames roared into the sky, and from within that inferno Murong Xiaoya's figure walked slowly out.
Of the entire Yuan family, not one person remained. Their bodies were consumed by the fire, leaving not a bone behind.
Murong Xiaoya did not look back once. Her figure shifted, and she was gone from the long street before the estate without a trace.
The common people and martial world wanderers of the nearby streets had all been stirred by the commotion at the Yuan estate, and many of them crouched hidden in the shadows watching from a distance.
At the sudden sight of the Yuan estate now burning, one and all were filled with shock and bewilderment.
None of them could understand how the Yuan family, who had just wiped out the Murong family in such triumphant fashion, had come to such a turn of events in the blink of an eye.
Murong Xiaoya did not pause in her path of vengeance. In less than half an hour she had gone on to destroy the Zhu and Cen families, the remaining two of the city's four great martial households, one after the other.
The family heads, patriarchs, and every clansman and disciple of both families were killed to the last. No one could stop Murong Xiaoya, and not one of them could withstand even a single move against her.
Every place she passed was left as mountains of corpses and seas of fire.
...
The Bai family estate.
A figure burst into the estate at speed and came to a sharp stop only when it reached the entrance of a main hall, crying out in alarm, "Patriarch, something terrible has happened. The Yuan, Zhu, and Cen families are in trouble."
Inside the hall sat four people. One was white-haired and frail with age, the sole surviving patriarch of the Bai family.
The second was Bai Changfeng's younger brother, who, following Bai Changfeng's death, the clan had already been considering as his replacement as family head.
Seated at the head of the room, however, was a middle-aged man in a dark cloud-peak robe and mountain-treading boots, his features stern, carrying an air of cold detachment.
The last of the four was Mei Yanyu. Upon learning of the Murong family's destruction, he had understood that from this night onward the balance of power among the major martial factions of Sheng Province had shifted. He had therefore decided to call on the four great martial households through the night to establish new terms between them, and the Bai family was his first stop.
At that moment, having heard the report from the person who had just arrived, all four people in the hall immediately furrowed their brows.
The Bai family patriarch fixed his gaze on the newcomer and rebuked him sharply, "There is a distinguished guest from Falling God Peak present. Mind your manners."
Meanwhile, Bai Changfeng's younger brother quickly rose from his seat, stepped up to the newcomer, and asked in a lowered voice, "Why such alarm? What has happened to the other three families?"
At this, the newcomer's face still showed no sign of composure returning. He said urgently, "The estates of all three families have been set ablaze, and our informants found that not a single person from any of them has come out. It is as though..."
He paused, then continued in a trembling voice, "It is as though everyone in the three families is dead."
At those words, the brow of Bai Changfeng's younger brother furrowed even deeper, and the other three in the hall had naturally heard every word just as clearly.
The Bai family patriarch immediately demanded in a sharp voice, "Are you certain of what you saw?"
The newcomer shook his head at once. He was one of the informants the Bai family had sent to keep a covert watch on the Cen family, a precaution taken against the possibility of the Cen family acting on some treacherous impulse following Bai Changfeng's death.
But when he had returned along with the other informants to report, he had been shocked to find that all three great families had been engulfed in fire, and had rushed at once to report it.
"Could it be that all three families suffered fires at the same time?"
The middle-aged man seated at the head of the room spoke. The Bai family patriarch and Mei Yanyu exchanged a glance, both understanding in their hearts that no such coincidence could exist.
"Perhaps the surviving remnants of the Murong family are behind this. Pass word down, have the household staff prepare water storage as a precaution against fire."
Bai Changfeng's younger brother considered briefly, then gave the instruction to the newcomer.
Hearing this, the newcomer blinked, looked at the people before him, and immediately felt as though he had not made himself clear. He hurried to add, "It is not a case of fires breaking out. The estates of all three great families are on the verge of burning to the ground entirely."
"More importantly, not one person from any of the three families has come out to fight the flames..."
He was still speaking loudly when he suddenly cut off mid-sentence.
At that moment, the three who had been seated in the hall, Mei Yanyu among them, shot to their feet and turned together toward the entrance of the hall.
At some point, a black-robed young woman had appeared outside the hall. She had come without a sound. If not for the heart of the person who had been speaking suddenly bursting open, they would not have noticed her presence at all.
"Who goes there?"
"Murong Xiaoya?"
The Bai family patriarch and Mei Yanyu spoke at almost the same instant. At the sound of the name Murong Xiaoya, a look of confusion crossed the aged face of the Bai family patriarch.
Bai Changfeng's younger brother explained, "Patriarch, she is Murong Hong's youngest daughter."
Hearing this, the Bai family patriarch narrowed his eyes slightly, and killing intent filled his gaze at once, "A remnant of the Murong family dares to come here. She truly has no fear of death."
At the same time, Murong Xiaoya's gaze moved across the four people inside the hall.
Beyond the two members of the Bai family, the other two were not unfamiliar to her. One she had seen just that very day, and the other was the person in charge of Falling God Peak's station within the city.
"I have already destroyed the other three great families. What does the Bai family have to say about that?"
Murong Xiaoya withdrew her gaze and looked calmly at the Bai family patriarch as she spoke.
At those words, the expressions of all four people in the hall shifted.
Bai Changfeng's younger brother glanced at the clansman whose heart had burst open and was already dead, then asked in a cold voice, "The fires at the three families' estates were your doing?"
Murong Xiaoya said nothing. She simply raised her hand slightly from a distance.
In an instant, Bai Changfeng's younger brother felt his entire body seized by a force of scorching, overwhelming heat, and he was slowly lifted from the ground.
And in that moment, he discovered with complete terror that no matter how desperately he tried to circulate his martial True Qi to break free from that force, he could not do it at all.
"You..."
His face was etched with horror. At that moment, the Bai family patriarch let out a sharp cry, "You are seeking death!"
With that he raised his hand directly and reached through the air toward Murong Xiaoya outside the hall.
But the moment he moved, he suddenly discovered that the True Qi of heaven and earth around him had been entirely burned away by a red-gold firelight that had appeared without warning.
In that moment, despite being a Heaven-Human level martial artist, he could not drive even the slightest trace of the surrounding True Qi.
The Bai family patriarch's expression changed sharply, and he immediately moved to channel the vast martial True Qi within his own body to strike again.
Yet, just like Bai Changfeng's younger brother, he found his entire body locked in place by a force that burned through flesh and blood, unable to move so much as a fraction, and he too began rising slowly and involuntarily into the air.
"How... is this... possible... just who exactly... are you?"
The Bai family patriarch and Bai Changfeng's younger brother cried out in shock and disbelief, both finding it impossible to accept that this youngest daughter of Murong Hong possessed strength as terrifying as this.