Whoosh~
Thousands of people landed, their gaze forward.
A misty valley stretched just out of reach, black and violet, sinister and creepy.
A jacked-up old man walked into the thick mist with a smile. At some point, Li Jingtian looked back at Zhuo Fan, "Hell Valley sure is cautious, activating their 5th-grade array already. We'll need at least a day to break it."
"Which house doesn't have misgivings in these troubled times? It's all within my calculations."
Zhuo Fan went to the front and investigated the mist with a mocking gaze, "As for punching through, it won't take that long."
Zhuo Fan's right eye flashed in a double golden halo, [Divine Eye of the Void's 2nd stage, Void Annihilation!]
Whoosh~
A vibrating ray shot out of Zhuo Fan's eye and into Hell Valley.
Followed by a series of booms and bangs, the mist trembled twice before lifting completely.
Li Jingtian looked at Zhuo Fan in glee and a thumbs up, "He-he-he, that's our Steward Zhuo. Breaking an array like this is so damn convenient!"
"When it comes to arrays relying on space, you just have to burst their bubble and the array would unravel by itself. That's what this move of mine is all about. There's nothing great about it." Zhuo Fan casually said.
But Li Jingtian sighed inside, [If it's that easy, do you see anyone else doing it?]
Zhuo Fan's every move was simple yet astonishing to anybody who witnessed his feats.
Li Jingtian held Zhuo Fan in even higher regard.
"The array is open, attack!" Zhuo Fan motioned.
Li Jingtian led the charge, taking thousands of Bone Tempering cultivators and rare Profound Heaven ones deeper inside.
The men shouted and roared, the black cloud unleashing a frenzied raid on the valley, swallowing it.
The patrols couldn't even shout as the massive influx of people was in their face. The shock and fear was buried so deep inside that they were reduced to standing there dumbly rather than sound the alarm.
[Oh gods above, what the hell is this? Did the array fail for so many to come in? How did they all get in so fast?]
They were so out of it, they simply waited for the attackers to reap them.
The only reaction out of the patrols was when spiritual weapons pierced their chests.
The cries became wails as blood and gore splattered everywhere. Their bodies slumping lifeless.
The assault kept on charging unimpeded.
"Enemy attack!"
A final shout rose up every disciple, discovering their home was invaded and they shouted out in panic.
Zhuo Fan's timing was excellent, catching them at their lowest, finishing off the panicking Hell Valley disciples.
Oh, there were some brave defenders popping every now and then to stem the tide, but they didn't even get to take out their demonic treasures as a group of elite youths surrounded them for a second, then left behind a mangled body as they moved on to the next target.
The captains in this assault were the stalwart guards Zhuo Fan had Captain Pang train in the Wraith Art ten years ago. This was their first sortie of this scale, and for some, their very first kill.
Yet they all took to it like fish to water, showing no remorse.
Unlike the wretched and excruciating torture called training, watching the friends around them fall one by one, the killing here was a breeze.
Zhuo Fan had sent them to hell to come back as fiends that not even the likes of a cruel and bloody war could shake.
"These kids will be the cornerstones of the house!" Zhuo Fan stood on a distant peak, watching and analyzing the situation.
Li Jingtian nodded in praise, "Steward Zhuo, the training of all those years has paid up, ha-ha-ha…"
Zhuo Fan closed his eyes, tuning in to the natural symphony around him, of cries, wails, pleadings, slumping bodies in their own blood, forming a sweet melody to his ears and bringing an innocent and genial smile to his lips.
These sounds gave the signal for the Luo clan's expansion, Luo clan's march to rule them all with an iron fist.
It was what he had hoped and aimed for. This goal of his was finally taking shape…
Meanwhile, a stone gate flew open as a bloody and filthy Hell Valley disciple plopped inside, blood gurgling from his throat.
The four elders inside cried, "What is going on out there?"
"Enemy… attack…" The disciple gave his very life uttering those two words. His head slumped, his life gone.
All that remained were eyes filled with horror, further unnerving the men.
"This is absurd! Just what the hell is going on? Who are the ignorant fools that dare set foot in Hell Valley?" The leader roared.
Another said, "But why has there been no reaction from the array? Has it been breached?"
The four panicked. It had to be done swiftly for these elders to not notice until now that they had been invaded.
[What power must've done this?]
The four released their Discerning Fields.
Their mind's eye view had them all gasping.
They saw a swarm of people shouting as they killed anyone they saw. Their ten thousand disciples couldn't muster a token of resistance against a meager few thousand.
The four's senses looked further and noticed two men on a hill.
One was in the 3rd layer of Profound Heaven Stage and was ignored, turning to the peak Radiant Stage expert next to him. The four men felt like crying.
The number of peak Radiant Stage experts in Tianyu could be counted on one hand. How come one of them has come to Hell Valley?
The High Venerable was in the 5th layer while the rest were only in the 4th. Not even together could they hope to beat that freak.
"For god's sake, who the hell is it? Regent Estate or imperial family? What did we do to have them wipe us out?" One complained.
High Venerable shook his head, "No, Valley Lord said we're still allied with Regent Estate. As for the imperial family, it's now stuck dealing with problems cropping up in the last thousand years. It won't come. And that Radiant Stage expert's aura feels familiar…"
"High Venerable, do you know him?" The rest shouted.
High Venerable shuddered and sighed, "How could I ever forget? We all know him. Didn't we witness him clashing with Huangpu Fenglei on the eve of the Luo clan's ceremony?"
"Mad Dipper?" They all cried.
High Venerable nodded depressed, "What's worse, what other Profound Heaven expert do you know of who stands by his side? It's Zhuo Fan, that demonic steward of Luo clan. We all saw him taking Li Jingtian and Huangpu Fenglei's all out attacks like nothing. We have no hope of winning!"
The other three's hearts sunk to the bottom, their faces ashen.
They couldn't even handle one of them.
The four old men felt like weeping.
[Zhuo Fan has finally struck! We get it that you have to attack at some point, but why come to us? Wasn't the Regent Estate always against you at every turn?]
[We've already lost enough elders to you, so why come back for more? Think we're pushovers now, is that it?]
They all felt like heaven had beset them with the greatest grief in the world.
But reality came knocking and they had to man up to the danger.
High Venerable's eyes flashed with resolve, "Old third, you are the fastest. Fly to Valley Lord and report the situation. We three will buy you time."
"Elder brother!" Old third teared up.
But High Venerable nodded with a reassuring smile.
Zhuo Fan had his eyes turned to the source of those Discerning Fields, "Oh, four senses have picked us up. So what's taking those geezers so long to come out? Are they scared and huddled together?"
"He-he-he, totally!" Li Jingtian laughed…