Chapter 121: Annihilation of Ashvele

The scorching heat radiating from the descending blood-red sun was something even Core Formation Realm experts had never experienced in their lives.

The moment Rhain released the sphere, an irrepressible instinct of pure, unadulterated terror seized the hearts of everyone below

"FALL BACK! EVERYONE FALL BACK!"

Without a single second of hesitation, Cassian, Aurelian, the Solari Patriarch, and all the invading Spirit Manifestation experts blurred away from the epicenter with blinding speed.

Vulcan, Aldric, and others didn’t need to be told twice.

They immediately backed away to the very edge of the district.

In the blink of an eye, the entire battlefield was evacuated by anyone who had the strength to run.

Everyone... except one man.

Patriarch Brycen Ashvele did not take a single step back.

He could have run.

With his Level 7 Core Formation cultivation, he could have easily escaped the epicenter of the blast.

But he didn’t.

He couldn’t.

Because right behind him were the sobbing remnants of his people.

Behind him was his shivering son, Orion.

"I AM THE PATRIARCH OF THE ASHVELE CLAN! I WILL NOT ABANDON MY CLAN!"

His Level 7 Core Formation aura erupted like a raging storm.

He thrust both of his hands upward into the sky, channeling every ounce of his power to form a towering, hundred-foot-thick emerald barrier above his family.

PATRIARCH!"

Knylee’s eyes teared up.

Refusing to let his Patriarch stand alone, Kynlee dragged his wounded body forward.

He placed his bloody hands on Brycen’s back, pouring every last drop of his Level 4 Core Formation essence into the emerald barrier.

"Father!"

Orion fell to his knees, looking up at his father’s broad back, fighting desperately to hold up the sky, his eyes full of tears.

In those last seconds, an ocean of regret filled Orion’s soul.

It all started from that damn Greymist Town.

If only he hadn’t gone there.

If only he hadn’t allowed his wife’s petty grievances and the Barlowe family’s pathetic grudges to dictate his actions!

If only he hadn’t looked down on that Essence Condensation youth with contempt.

If only he hadn’t made an enemy of that demon!

His Ashvele Clan had flourished for over three centuries.

They were the undisputed titans of Mirravele City.

And now?

Because of a single, foolish misstep, entire foundation of his ancestors was crumbling into dust before his very eyes.

He had invited the god of death directly to their doorstep.

He had doomed them all.

"I... I am the sinner of the Ashvele Clan!"

But his wails of regret were utterly useless.

In this brutal world, there was no value of regret.

The blood-red sphere touched the emerald barrier.

Sizzle—

The power of Heavenly Flame, channeled through the monstrous, bottomless abyss of the Abyssal Sovereign Physique, was fundamentally not something a Core Formation Realm expert could endure.

"Im... possible..." Brycen’s scream of disbelief was swallowed by the deafening sound of explosion.

The heat washed over him, instantly vaporizing his flesh, his bones, and his Core Formation essence into nothingness.

Behind him, Orion, Kynlee, and the remaining Ashvele members were erased from existence before they could even register the pain.

And then, the blood-red sphere touched the ground.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

An ear-piercing, catastrophic boom echoed through the night.

The sound itself was so loud that it ruptured the eardrums of thousands of cultivators miles away, sending them collapsing to the ground in agony.

An ocean of blood-red fire exploded outward in a 360-degree shockwave of pure destruction.

The shockwave tore through the streets, instantly flattening the surrounding pavilions, and shattering the glass of every single building within a dozen miles.

Spirit Manifestation armies were blown away like dry leaves in a hurricane, tumbling through the air and crashing heavily into the distant ruins.

And from the epicenter of the blast...

A colossal mushroom cloud of swirling fire and ash rose into the sky.

It surged upward with terrifying velocity, tearing through the clouds, ascending hundreds of kilometers into the stratosphere.

The blazing pillar of fire painted the dark night sky into a eerily crimson.

It was so impossibly huge that it cast a bloody daylight over the entirety of Mirravele City and the vast mountain ranges beyond.

Thousands of citizens who had been cowering behind locked doors and shuttered windows felt the ground shake beneath them.

People stumbled into the streets, their faces tilted upward, their eyes reflecting the colossal mushroom cloud that now dominated the northern skyline.

"What... in the name of every god... Is that?"

"The northern district... the Ashvele estate... it’s gone."

"Gods above... it’s all gone. There’s nothing left."

In the eastern district, the Gilded Sparrow teahouse rattled on its foundations.

Declan Rowe stood at his window, staring at the mushroom cloud.

"He actually did it.."

Miles away from the destruction, Cassian, Aurelian, Solas, everyone looked up at the bleeding sky.

The three-century-old titan of Mirravele City had been erased.

Rhain stood calmly atop Kiki’s back, his dark robes fluttering gently in the superheated winds.

Not a single trace of the Ashvele Clan remained.

"Well," Rhain murmured, his dark grey eyes reflecting the embers of the red inferno. "It’s finally settled."

He felt a profound sense of relief.

All this while, his mind had been strung as tight as a bowstring.

If he had made a single mistake...

The price he would have had to pay was something he could not even imagine.

Rhain’s dark grey eyes shifted downward.

Vulcan, Aldric, and other Core Formation experts stood amidst the rubble.

Even with their immense strength, they were staring at the towering mushroom cloud with pale faces.

"Aldric. Vulcan."

Rhain’s calm voice descended from the sky.

The eight experts jolted, and immediately snapped out of their daze.

"Master!" Aldric responded with a trace of fear.

"You did well tonight," Rhain stated, offering a rare word of praise. "You followed my commands perfectly and proved your loyalty. I am a man who remembers those who are useful to me."

Vulcan and others bowed in unison, "To serve the Master is our life’s greatest honor!"

Rhain gave a faint nod.

"Ashvele Clan has been erased. Our business here is concluded for tonight," Rhain ordered calmly. "You all may leave now."

"We hear and obey, Master!"

The eight Core Formation experts nodded.

Rhain also urged Kiki to leave this place of destruction, but just then an anxious voice came.

"Please, wait!"

Cassian took a cautious step forward, his Level 7 Core Formation aura entirely suppressed.

He did not dare to project even a single ounce of hostility toward the dark-robed figure hovering above.

Rhain looked down at the City Lord from the clouds, and asked coldly, ’What is it City Lord?"

"Senior," Cassian hesitated a moment before speaking, "You have already unleashed your wrath. Ashvele Clan has been utterly destroyed, I do not have the qualifications to question your strength, nor do I intend to challenge you... but as the City Lord of Mirravele City, I must atleast have the right to know what wrong Ashvele Clan did to suffer such devastation of their clans?"

Before Rhain could even open his mouth to reply, a furious scoff echoed from the ruins below.

"City Lord Cassian!"

Aldric, who had been about to depart with Vulcan and the other experts, abruptly stopped in his tracks.

He turned around, his Core Formation aura erupting with righteous indignation.

"You ask for a reason?" Aldric sneered. "I will tell you the reason! It was their own boundless foolishness and arrogance that buried them tonight!"

Cassian frowned in confusion. "Master Aldric... what do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I say!" Aldric spoke in a furious tone, "They sent a team of Spirit Manifestation assassins to kill my Master. I ask you, Cassian! Is daring to assassinate a Grandmaster Rank Alchemist enough of a reason for a clan to be exterminated?"

A Grandmaster Alchemist?

Aurelian, and others look up at Rhain with incredible expression.

The rumors that had been wildly circulating through the city over the past few days instantly flooded their minds.

The mysterious expert who refined flawless Rare-Grade pills with Pill Veins.

The supreme being who summoned a Pill Tribulation right inside the Alchemy Guild.

The man whose mere presence forced Aldric to expel over a hundred Ashvele alchemists without a second thought.

So this was the legendary Grandmaster Alchemist that caused all this.

It all made sense now!

How in the world did nine Core Formation experts suddenly materialize out of thin air to crush the Ashvele Clan?

How could anyone command such an earth-shattering force?

Because he was a Grandmaster Alchemist!

To a Grandmaster, summoning a small army of top-tier Core Formation experts was as easy as snapping his fingers.

If the Ashvele Clan had actually dared to harm such supreme existence...

The Alchemy Association Headquarters would have dispatched Domain Master Realm to eradicate entire Ashvele Clan.

Even their Mirravele City would have been heavily punished for such a crime.

Cassian’s back was soaked in cold sweat.

He was the City Lord.

It was his duty to maintain order and ensure the safety of all esteemed guests within his borders.

If a Grandmaster Rank Alchemist would have been assaisnated in his city, under his watch, his own head would be the first to roll.

Without a single shred of his imposing dignity, Cassian immediately bent down to bow, "Grandmaster! Please, forgive my supreme ignorance! I was completely blind to your identity!"

Cassian kept his head bowed as he spoke with an apologetic tone.

"I am deeply ashamed that a supreme being of your stature was threatened within the borders of my territory. Ashvele Clan’s treacherous actions are a stain upon Mirravele City, and their destruction tonight was a mercy compared to the sins they committed against you!"

Cassian looked up, his eyes pleading, "Grandmaster, it is an unforgivable failure on my part that you experienced such hostility here. Please... I beg you to grant me the opportunity to make amends. Allow me the honor of hosting you at my Pavilion, so that I may atone for this grave oversight."