Zheng Jia Ru was surprised that his punch hadn’t shattered the opponent’s bloody palm, while the person lurking in the shadows of the space rift was even more shocked by the strength displayed by these three young people. These ants he had once considered insignificant and easily crushed had now grown into beings he had to take seriously.

"Are you Pei Yan?" A deep and resonant voice eventually questioned from within the space rift.

"It’s me. The three of us here are the remnants lucky enough not to have died by your hand that night! You didn’t see me then, but you surely remember these two!" As Pei Yan spoke, Xia Yu and Zheng Jia Ru had already landed back on the ground, their heads held high, eyes gleaming with a combative spirit as they looked at the space rift.

"Hehehe, I remember! I recall that the strongest one was already killed by me at the time, leaving a few messengers behind out of carelessness. I never expected them to grow into threats substantial enough to affect my family today, interesting!" After a cold laugh, Delacuri responded calmly, without anger.

"Oh? What’s interesting?" Pei Yan deactivated his mecha state. Despite appearing unburdened in the arena, his battles with the Blood Fiend and the subsequent clashes, along with previous bindings and the heavenly tribulation, had left him internally injured, needing time to heal and adjust to his newly awakened state. Pei Yan chose not to hide this and instead showed himself boldly before the enemy, naked from the waist up, revealing sturdy muscles and scars. As he moved his painfully sore, almost collapsing bones, he looked up with interest at the sky and asked.

"It’s interesting because this matter once again deeply taught me the lesson that one should always eliminate the root when doing things in the future!"

Delacuri’s words made Pei Yan chuckle. He gave a thumbs up towards the sky and clapped repeatedly, praising, "Good! Well said, truly worthy of a senior! Following your wisdom, shouldn’t we adopt the same mindset to deal with your son now?"

"It’s up to you; doesn’t he wish for death? By doing this, you’re fulfilling his wish!"

This response somewhat surprised Pei Yan. Indeed, the Plane Cultivators treated familial ties rather lightly. For these powerful beings, long life meant that cultivating heirs was merely a matter of time; mess up with one and they could always raise another. Perhaps these two heirs weren’t as important to Delacuri as he had imagined?

No! This thought only flashed through Pei Yan’s mind before he dismissed it. If they weren’t important, Delacuri wouldn’t have risked breaking the space rift to rescue them personally or even with a clone. Regardless of his genuine interest, Pei Yan couldn’t think along the lines of their guidance.

Thinking this, Pei Yan shrugged indifferently and said, "Since the senior is so open-minded, we have nothing more to say. We’ll take him back and do with him as we please, whether killing or cutting."

Saying this, Pei Yan exerted a bit more pressure on Radu, whose blood was almost semi-coagulated, causing him to spew a sticky clot of blood onto Pei Yan’s boots. Pei Yan looked at Radu with disgust, wiping his foot on Radu’s tattered clothes before pretending to cuff him.

"Pei Yan!"

"Huh? What is it?" Pei Yan asked with a puzzled expression, slightly lifting his head after hearing an angry shout from the rift.

"I remember you have a companion under the Blood Curse, right? Hehehe, you really are capable, surviving my Blood Curse till now! Don’t you want to save him?" The humiliation from witnessing his son being tortured exposed Delacuri’s loss of control. After calming his rage, he seized upon the core issue to threaten.

"I do! But will wanting work? Or are you planning to mercifully lift the Blood Curse yourself?" Pei Yan continued with his cuffing task, letting out a cold snort. "Since you can’t do either, what’s the point of telling me these things?"

"You went through such trouble to capture my son. Isn’t it for threatening me?"

"Hey, don’t put it so harshly!" Having secured the restraining ring on Radu, Pei Yan stood up, placing his hands on his lower back and stretching his waist with a smile. "A threat? Not quite! A transaction or collaboration sounds more fitting." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Hahahaha!" Instead of a sinister laugh, Delacuri let out a hearty laugh before coldly stating, "Collaboration? Transaction? Or is it a hostage exchange? Pei Yan, are you so sure I’ll agree to your terms?"

"I’m not certain!" Pei Yan pulled out a cigarette, lighting it, and took a deep puff, dropping the ash onto Radu below. He exhaled slowly towards the sky and continued leisurely, "You might think I’m provoking your authority, then refuse my negotiation based on your son’s life, immediately activating the Blood Curse to end my friend’s life and that poor Du Guangyuan’s life. If you do so! My following words are the true threat."

"I’ll immediately dismember your two sons. Believe me, that’s not difficult for a mechanical body, and then I’ll take these two pieces of flesh and, with the entire Investigation Hall, turn the Magic Realm upside down. No matter in which rat hole your family hides, no matter how reliable you think your backing is, I’ll drag you out, then force you to swallow these pieces of meat in front of your entire clan, as promised!"

Pei Yan’s words cut through the space like a cold wind. The amiable impression he left in the Immortal Palace Disciple’s minds was completely wiped away by this speech. Seeing the ferocity radiating from him, Shen Mengyan felt an intense fear, deeply grateful for the teacher’s far-sighted caution. This was the true face of the legendary God of Slaughter.

"Young man, I’ve heard a lot of harsh words! Yours don’t seem too original!"

"You can try if you don’t believe me!"

"Uh~ Ah~ Ah!"

Responding to Delacuri, Pei Yan said no more, lifting a foot to brush across Radu’s cheek, letting the sharp blade in his heel slice off Radu’s left ear amid his wailing screams. Pei Yan bent down to pick up the bloodied ear, still radiating heat, and crushed it in his palm. When he opened his hand again, the ear had turned into a lump of flesh.

Pei Yan smiled as he bent down in front of everyone, pressing into Radu’s screaming mouth to push the flesh inside. With a firm palm strike, Radu’s throat spasmed as he swallowed the flesh.