After heavily injuring Venerable Mi Hong, Nie Yun let out a long sigh of relief. Only then did he feel his head spin and a sharp pain in his lungs from his ragged breathing.

Logically, his current strength was still inferior to Venerable Mi Hong’s, making it impossible for him to win a straight fight. The only reason he had defeated him in a single move was by employing psychological warfare to its absolute limit.

From the moment his opponent laid down the Forbidden Wave Primordial Qi Array, Nie Yun guessed that he must be wary of his nonexistent master. So, with a great shout, he reversed his Nameless Technique to simulate the aura of a Heaven-Seizing Creation Secret Realm Powerhouse, throwing his enemy’s mind into chaos and seizing the opportunity to strike.

Otherwise, in a real fight, he probably would have been killed on the spot before he could even make a single move!

It wasn’t that Venerable Mi Hong was a coward for being frightened by Nie Yun’s words. Rather, the intelligence he had received painted Nie Yun’s master as someone truly terrifying, planting a seed of invincibility in his mind from the very start. Coupled with the powerful aura generated by the reversed Nameless Technique, it caused him to make a momentary mistake.

In a duel between masters, there is no room for error. To make such a colossal blunder... well, the winner takes all. Naturally, his defeat was absolute!

"Where are my parents being held?"

Forcing himself to endure the discomfort from overexerting his power, Nie Yun reached out and grabbed Venerable Mi Hong.

An Ultimate Venerable Powerhouse possessed an extremely strong life force. Even with shattered internal organs and a broken Qi Sea, he wouldn’t die right away.

"The winner takes all. You defeated me with a scheme, and I accept my loss completely!" Venerable Mi Hong was surprisingly frank, showing no intention of taking his own life. Nevertheless, Nie Yun was still cautious. With a flurry of finger taps, he sealed all the acupoints on Mi Hong’s body. With so many points sealed, it would be impossible for him to commit suicide, even at his peak, let alone in his current state.

"It’s true, I was the one who sent people to capture your mother, your brother, and the others! My goal was to obtain the Phecda Sword!"

"So it was you? Where are they?" Nie Yun’s eyes lit up, and his fingers gripping Venerable Mi Hong’s body suddenly tightened.

Ever since his parents were taken, he had been searching for answers. Now that someone had finally confessed, the excitement surging through his heart was palpable.

"That day, I went to the Luo Family and happened to overhear two of their juniors talking about the Luoo Qu Tomb. That’s when I got the idea!" Venerable Mi Hong said lightly, ignoring Nie Yun’s question. His tone was like he was confiding in an old friend, which was incredibly bizarre.

’Two juniors from the Luo Family? Could he mean Luo Yu and Luo Cheng? No, that can’t be right. They didn’t know I went to the Luoo Qu Tomb...’

’Since my rebirth, the only members of the Luo Family I’ve crossed paths with are Luo Yu and Luo Cheng. One’s a Tracking Master, the other a Healer. How could they have known I went to the Luoo Qu Tomb?’

’I bet those two were resentful after I taught them a lesson and hired people to investigate me in Luoshui City. Considering I killed King Tong, and King Ning deliberately spread the news after he fled, it wouldn’t have been hard for them to find out...’

With a flash of insight, Nie Yun understood.

He had been reborn for too short a time and hadn’t yet established an ironclad influence in Luoshui City. As a result, the city was teeming with all sorts of people. With the Luo Family’s power in the Divine Wind Empire, it would have been easy for them to sneak a few agents in without anyone noticing!

With a prepared party scheming against an unsuspecting one, it was only natural that they could find out everything they wanted to know.

Realizing all this, Nie Yun shook his head.

In his past life, he had been a lone wolf. To avoid having any attachments, he had always done everything by himself. This led to him becoming disconnected from society, seen as an oddball by others. Now, it was clear that to protect his parents and family, he couldn’t rely on himself alone!

If he had taken complete control of Luoshui City from the start, he would have noticed any suspicious activity, and his parents and the others would never have been captured!

"Luoo Qu was the most famous Ultimate Venerable Powerhouse on the Qi Sea Continent hundreds of years ago. Back then, a hundred Ultimate Venerables fought over the Phecda Sword. After he obtained it, he vanished without a trace. When I unexpectedly stumbled upon this information, I was naturally ecstatic and decided to make my move!"

As he said this, Venerable Mi Hong coughed up a mouthful of blood, his expression indescribably strange.

"A hundred Ultimate Venerables fought over the Phecda Sword? What kind of secret is connected to this thing?" Nie Yun froze.

"So, I joined forces with the Assassin Union and the Imperial Family to capture your parents and Luoo Zhanhao, forcing them to reveal the whereabouts of the Phecda Sword!"

"Where are they now?" Nie Yun asked urgently.

"Where? They’re at..." Venerable Mi Hong’s voice trailed off.

"Hmm?" Nie Yun frowned and leaned in closer.

"At... Go to hell!" Venerable Mi Hong’s face suddenly became savage. An Ultimate Venerable Talisman Jade Token had appeared in his palm at some point, and he hurled it at Nie Yun.

"Hmph!"

Nie Yun was already on guard. His palm shot out to meet it, and a powerful surge of True Qi blasted toward the jade token.

He knew that an Ultimate Venerable Talisman Jade Token contained the full power of an Ultimate Venerable and was infinitely destructive. The slightest misstep would mean death. Holding nothing back, he unleashed all of his True Qi, forming a scorching torrent of energy.

WHOOSH!

When the True Qi Ball collided with the jade token, it didn’t explode as he had expected. Instead, the token disintegrated into dust on impact, while the powerful force of his own attack blasted a massive crater into the ground where they stood.

’Damn it!’

Seeing this, Nie Yun instantly understood what had happened.

The object Venerable Mi Hong had thrown wasn’t an Ultimate Venerable Talisman Jade Token at all. It was a deliberate ploy to seek death by tricking Nie Yun into killing him!

Faced with a supposed Ultimate Venerable Talisman, Nie Yun had naturally used his full power. With all his meridians severed and his Qi Sea destroyed, how could Mi Hong possibly withstand such an attack?

Gazing down at the mangled remains of Venerable Mi Hong, whom he had just blasted to bits with a single palm strike, Nie Yun felt a surge of frustration.

He had been on the verge of learning the whereabouts of his parents and the others, but now, just like that, the lead was cut off again!

’Wait, that’s not right! If Venerable Mi Hong was behind this, why were there people from the Floating Heaven Continent? And how could the Demon Race and the Divine Holy Continent be involved?’

As he got to his feet, Nie Yun suddenly figured out the key point.

The Mi Tian Sect was just a minor sect in the Divine Wind Empire. How could it possibly have ties to people from the Floating Heaven Continent? And how could it be involved with the Demon Race?

He hadn’t paid close attention when Venerable Mi Hong was speaking earlier, but thinking back now, it was likely that Mi Hong hadn’t been telling the whole truth.

"Do you three have anything to say?"

With Venerable Mi Hong dead, Nie Yun grabbed the three remaining, heavily injured men, his eyes filled with cold indifference.

"I-I don’t know anything! Please, spare me..."

"I don’t know either! It was all Venerable Mi Hong’s doing..."

"I was just following orders, I don’t know the details..."

The three Ultimate Venerables, knowing death was imminent, frantically waved their hands in denial.

"Since you don’t know anything, there’s no point in keeping you around. All of you can die!"

With a cold snort, he unleashed the power in his palm. The three Ultimate Venerable Powerhouses—Fengg Yu, Luo Tianxiang, and Mo Yanqing—were blasted into pulp by the surging True Qi, deader than dead.

Since there was no use in keeping them alive, he might as well kill them!

The seeds of hatred had already been sown. To expect them to give up on revenge if he showed them mercy? That was just a pipe dream!

After disposing of the Four Great Venerables, who represented the pinnacle of martial power in the Divine Wind Empire, Nie Yun finally sat down cross-legged and began to frantically absorb Spiritual Qi to heal his injuries.

PS: Next Chapter, we’re annihilating the Divine Wind Empire’s Imperial Family... It’s a new day, please vote with your monthly tickets!

If the monthly tickets go crazy, Lao Ya will go crazy too! More Chapters, and more after that! Don’t you all want to read 100,000 words in a single day?

If you dare to vote, Lao Ya dares to post!

Right here, Lao Ya makes a promise: if we can break into the top three of the monthly ticket rankings this month, I will absolutely release 100,000 words in a single day!

Are you up for the challenge? If you are, start voting now! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)