"Director, two more brothers... have been killed!"
Gu Cheng, with a gaunt face, sat in a small room, listening to his subordinate's report.
"I know," Gu Cheng waved his hand powerlessly, his spirit exhausted. The Liu family's strength was truly overwhelming. They, who were responsible for creating disturbances, were now almost all dead.
The reporting member of the Zhuxie Division sighed, got up, and left to continue gathering intelligence.
"Brother Fang, you must succeed!" Gu Cheng looked towards the Liu family's direction. After such a long time, the Liu family still showed no signs of activity.
Gu Cheng had a premonition of something ominous.
Outside the courtyard wall of the Liu family ancestral home.
Fang Ming and the members of the Zhuxie Division were hiding here. He had already sent a signal to Young Master Liu. As long as Young Master Liu received it, he would come to meet him.
One minute, two minutes...
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, but Young Master Liu was still nowhere to be seen.
"Brother Fang, has something happened to the person who was supposed to meet us?" some of the Zhuxie Division members, impatient, asked Fang Ming.
Fang Ming's brow furrowed. He looked up at the sky above the Liu family ancestral home. Not a single bird could be seen, let alone the figure of Young Master Liu.
"I'm not sure either. I arranged to meet him here. I don't know why he hasn't come," Fang Ming began to suspect that Young Master Liu had been acting all along, using this method to trick him into bringing the Zhuxie Division members here.
But if that were the case, the Liu family would likely have ambushed them here, not letting them wait for half an hour.
Excluding the possibility of Young Master Liu's deception, there could only be one other possibility—Young Master Liu had met with an accident!
But given Young Master Liu's status in the Liu family, how could he possibly have an accident?
"Let's wait for another cup of tea's time. If he still doesn't come, we'll charge in directly," Fang Ming said with a grave expression.
"Alright." The Zhuxie Division members had no objections. After all, this was a sneak attack on a behemoth like the Liu family, and caution was never misplaced.
"Screech!" As soon as they finished speaking, a bird's cry that echoed through the heavens suddenly rang out.
A monstrous bird of enormous size struggled to emerge from a spatial rift, its body engulfed in flames. Blood stained its body, and several clumps of unknown viscous fluid clung tightly to it.
As soon as the strange bird appeared, it spread its wings and took flight. Sharp gales began to swirl around it, instantly slicing the viscous fluid into pieces, which fell from its body.
Behind the strange bird, a crab monster and many slime monsters also emerged from the rift, encircling the strange bird in the sky.
"Is that Young Master Liu?" Fang Ming exclaimed, shocked. The resentment emanating from the strange bird was clearly Young Master Liu's. Was this his true form?
"Strange? The Liu family patriarch is actually fighting with Young Master Liu?" a Zhuxie Division member who recognized the identities of the two monsters exclaimed in shock.
This was something that, in their understanding, was utterly impossible!
"What did you say? That crab is the Liu family patriarch?" Fang Ming quickly asked the other person.
"Yes, I won't mistake it. That crab-like monster is the Liu family patriarch, and that strange bird is Young Master Liu," the person explained.
Fang Ming's heart sank upon hearing this, and he cried out, "Bad!"
The Zhuxie Division members looked at Fang Ming strangely. Wasn't infighting among the Liu family's high-ranking members a good thing? Why was Fang Ming so distressed?
"Let's go save Young Master Liu quickly!" Fang Ming shouted to everyone. He then arranged for Nannan and Qingmian, "Nannan, you go contain the Liu family patriarch. Qingmian, you rescue Young Master Liu at the opportune moment."
"Understood, Fang Ming," Nannan replied with a smile. She then transformed into a stream of light and soared into the sky, rapidly approaching Young Master Liu's direction.
The Zhuxie Division members were stunned for a moment, and then some of them gasped. They understood who Fang Ming's contact person was, and they looked at Fang Ming in shock. They then looked at the sky and, one after another, used their mystic arts to fly into the sky, engaging in combat with the Liu family patriarch.
"Die!" the Liu family patriarch roared, spewing a fireball the size of a house towards Young Master Liu. Young Master Liu was already at the end of his rope. He had escaped too late, and his injuries were too severe to dodge this attack!
"Boom—!" The sky-filled flames brutally struck Young Master Liu, instantly engulfing him.
The Zhuxie Division members providing support from below quickly cast various mystic arts to resist the aftermath of the attack, but some weaker Zhuxie Division members were still sent flying by the impact.
The Liu family patriarch's strength was evident!
After a long while, the flames dispersed.
The Liu family patriarch frowned as he looked at the unharmed little girl before him. Young Master Liu had already disappeared.
"You are... one of those three outsiders?" The Liu family patriarch cautiously stared at Nannan. He felt a faint sense of crisis emanating from Nannan, a warning akin to an animal facing its predator.
"Die!" Nannan's expression was cold. She opened her small hand, and countless strands of hair behind her shot out like myriad sharp swords towards the Liu family patriarch.
Seeing this, the Liu family patriarch quickly dodged. His cheeks bulged, and he spat out another torrent of flames to meet Nannan's attack.
However, it was clear that the Liu family patriarch's strength was inferior to the Blood Relative King of the underground ancient tomb. His flames could not harm Nannan's hair at all; instead, Nannan's hair pierced through the flames and lunged towards the Liu family patriarch.
The surrounding dark guards quickly protected their master, one after another blocking in front of the Liu family patriarch and using their bodies to reduce the power of Nannan's attack. Nannan's hair strung dozens of dark guards like candied hawthorns. Then, with old strength gone and new strength yet to arise, the Liu family patriarch dodged the blow.
"Swish, swish, swish..." Nannan moved her hair coldly, and dozens of ferocious dark guards were instantly torn apart, turning into tiny pieces scattered across the sky.
The Liu family patriarch retreated a few steps in terror. What kind of monster was this! How could this outsider be so powerful?
Seeing an opportunity, Nannan attacked again. A water sword instantly condensed in her hand. Her hair moved first, followed closely by her body. The Liu family patriarch could not dodge at all. Nannan's strength was a crushing force against him!
"Pfft!" Countless strands of hair and the water sword in Nannan's hand fiercely pierced the Liu family patriarch's body. His massive form was now fixed in the sky, like a puppet strung with threads.
The Zhuxie Division members who had gone up to provide support in mid-air stood frozen, watching this scene. Their long-awaited revenge plan had been so easily accomplished by them?
"Swish, swish, swish..." Nannan danced her hair, and the Liu family patriarch's body was also cut into pieces. At the same time, in various areas of the Liu family ancestral home below, rays of light suddenly illuminated.
"Thump, thump, thump..." Deafening heartbeats echoed from underground, as if something terrifying was awakening.
After killing the Liu family patriarch, Nannan's expression became solemn. She stared at the Liu family ancestral home beneath her feet. She sensed a fluctuation at the same level as her second stage.
There was a Nether Fiend underground in the Liu family ancestral home! And it was a fully formed Nether Fiend, not a half-baked one like Nannan who could only last an hour.
Fang Ming naturally also sensed the changes in the Liu family ancestral home. A terrifying aura made him feel suffocated, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead. His body uncontrollably transformed into its fiend seed form; this was his body's instinct!
"Nether... Nether Fiend?" Fang Ming gasped, shocked. Could it be the Painter? Was the Painter hiding underground in the Liu family ancestral home all this time?
And then he fled with Nannan.
The Zhuxie Division members were jolted awake by Fang Ming's shout and immediately scattered like birds, each displaying their unique skills. In the blink of an eye, they had vanished.
Such a terrifying being, whose mere unconscious aura could instill fear in their hearts, was likely so powerful that even the fully formed Zhuxie Division would be like ants before it, let alone the dozens of them present.
The plan to sneak attack the Liu family had failed!
However, there was still a gain. At least, from the current perspective, the Liu family patriarch had been eliminated by them, no, by Miss Nannan.
At this moment, everyone in the entire city felt this suffocating sense of fear and looked towards the direction of the Liu family.
Gu Cheng stood up in shock, his gaze filled with horror as he looked towards the Liu family.
"What... what kind of monster is this..." Gu Cheng stammered.
Suddenly, he recalled this feeling. He had experienced it before, and his eyes widened. It was Miss Nannan!
He had felt this same sensation the first time he saw Nannan. It was a superior-species overwhelming dominance, like that of a god to a human!
The Liu family actually harbored such a terrifying being!
"Gather at the ancient tree outside the city." The Zhuxie Division's unique transmission sounded in Gu Cheng's ear. He didn't dare to think further and quickly left the area, heading towards the outskirts of the city.
...
Liu Family.
The terrifying aura threw the entire Liu family into panic. They themselves didn't know what was beneath their ancestral home, let alone outsiders.
They hid in their rooms in fear, not daring to resist in the slightest.
However, the aura came and went quickly. After only a few minutes, the underground fell silent again, and the Liu family members dared to come out and investigate the situation.
"The Patriarch has ordered all branch leaders and high-ranking officials to immediately proceed to the ancestral hall to discuss matters." Dark guards appeared beside the Liu family's high-ranking officials, conveying the message.
"Patriarch?" Some of the high-ranking officials who had just witnessed the aerial battle were confused. Wasn't the Patriarch just killed? They had already prepared to divide the family fortune. Where did this Patriarch suddenly appear from?
However, they dared not disobey the dark guards' orders. They quickly tidied their appearance and rushed to the ancestral hall. Soon, hundreds of people gathered in the main hall of the ancestral hall. The Liu family patriarch sat unharmed in the seat of honor, with a cup of hot tea emitting wisps of steam beside him.
This left those who had just witnessed the battle stunned. What exactly was going on?
Moreover, the Liu family patriarch before them gave them a different feeling. If the previous Liu family patriarch gave them a feeling of class separation, the current Liu family patriarch gave them a feeling of species separation. His gaze upon them seemed to regard them as ants!
Some Liu family members, combining this with the recent events, vaguely guessed something, and cold sweat began to bead on their foreheads.
"From today onwards, I will take over the Liu family. Who opposes?"
The Liu family patriarch said indifferently.