Ethan delivered a casual, backhanded slap across the leader’s arrogant face. The sheer, ungodly force of the impact exploded the man’s skull like a ripe melon. Every single one of his teeth tore free, ripping through his cheeks in a shower of white bone and crimson spray as his neck snapped completely in two. He slammed horizontally into the brick hearth, dead before his body even hit the floorboards.

"Kill him! Grab the women!" another thug screamed in sheer panic.

Two of the closest gamberros instinctively lunged downward, their dirty, claw-like hands reaching out to grab Mary and Louisa by their hair to use them as shields.

"Don’t touch them," Ethan whispered, his voice a freezing, abyssal hiss.

Before their fingertips could even graze a single strand of the women’s hair, a flash of silver light cleaved the air. SLICE! SLICE! Both of their arms were severed cleanly at the shoulders, flying into the ceiling before spraying a fountain of dark blood over the bound, terrified captives below. The two thugs fell backward, clutching their empty, spurting sockets as they let out high-pitched, agonizing shrieks.

What followed in the small living room was a nightmare. Ethan’s eyes remained completely gelid—two cold, unyielding purple crystals—as he glided through the space like a phantom. He didn’t use a single shred of spiritual energy; he butchered them using nothing but pure, terrifying physical violence.

"Mercy! Please, mercy!" a man begged, dropping to his knees as he threw his hands up.

Ethan’s boot snapped forward, crushing the man’s sternum inward until his ribs pierced his own lungs, silencing the plea in an instant. Another thug attempted to leap through the broken window, but Ethan caught him by the ankle, slamming him repeatedly against the wooden floorboards until his entire upper torso was reduced to a mangled pulp of bone and meat.

The air grew heavy, thick, and suffocating with the copper stench of fresh intestines and arterial spray. The walls, the ceiling, and the simple furniture were completely repainted in a continuous sheet of deep crimson.

Just then, young Roy came bursting through the shattered doorway, his training katana drawn, his face still pale but his body entirely re-knit by the potent health potion. He had rushed in blindly, completely prepared to fight to his absolute last breath to defend his mother and sister.

But the moment his boots cleared the threshold, he completely froze, the sword slipping from his numb fingers.

There was no fight left to participate in. The entire interior of his home had been transformed into a literal slaughterhouse of divided flesh, severed limbs, and broken spines. Standing perfectly upright in the exact center of the absolute carnage was Ethan. His midnight-black Star Iron combat suit was pristine, the blood effortlessly sliding off the polished alloy plates as he casually shook his plain iron blade clean.

He didn’t look like a human cultivator anymore. To young Roy, looking at the freezing, majestic aura radiating from the youth’s flawless features, Ethan stood amidst the sea of blood and scattered meat like an ancient, undisputed God of Death.

Ethan casually slid his iron sword back into its leather scabbard. Walking over the mangled remains of the thugs, he knelt beside the trembling, naked figures of Mary and Louisa. With a couple of swift, precise flicks of his fingers, he sliced cleanly through the coarse ropes binding their wrists and ankles.

The moment the constraints fell away, the fragile dam of their psychological restraint completely broke. Primal panic and absolute terror consumed them.

"Ethan! Oh god, Ethan!" Louisa shrieked, her voice completely hysterical as she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Mary followed a split second later, letting out a raw, broken sob as she lunged into his chest, her bare arms clutching his broad shoulders with a terrifying, white-knuckled desperation. Both women were hyperventilating, their entire bodies shaking violently as they wept against his chest. Ethan could feel the sheer, suffocating weight of their despair radiating through their skin—the horrific realization of how close they had come to a fate worse than death.

"It’s over," Ethan murmured, his voice dropping into a deep, incredibly smooth, and comforting baritone. He raised his large hands, gently rubbing the small of Mary’s back while resting his other palm against Louisa’s damp hair, holding them firmly against his solid chest to ground them. "You are completely safe now. The vermin have been erased."

He allowed them to cling to him for a long minute until their frantic breathing began to steady under his calm presence. Turning his head slightly over Louisa’s shoulder, his freezing purple eyes locked onto the stunned boy standing near the shattered threshold.

"Roy," Ethan commanded softly, his voice cutting through the remaining whimpers in the room. "Go into the back bedrooms. Bring out a set of clean, dry clothes for your mother and your sister. I believe we will need to find another place to sleep tonight."

"Y-Yes, brother Ethan!" Roy stammered, snapping out of his daze. He hurriedly stepped over the pools of crimson, sprinting into the back hallway to escape the suffocating stench of the slaughterhouse.

A moment later, Roy returned with two bundles of simple, clean cotton garments. By then, Mary and Louisa had slightly calmed down, their frantic weeping reducing to quiet, rhythmic sniffling, though they still absolutely refused to untangle themselves from Ethan’s body, clinging to his midnight-black armor like two desperate, helpless little sloths.

Recognizing their state of emotional paralysis, Ethan didn’t bother trying to force them to walk. He slid his powerful arms beneath their knees and lower backs, effortlessly hoisting both naked women into his embrace simultaneously. He carried them down the dark hallway and stepped into the small, steamed washroom, with Roy following closely behind carrying the clothing.

Working together in the dim light of the washroom, Ethan and Roy began the quiet process of cleaning them. Ethan dipped a clean cloth into the warm basin, gently wiping away the splatters of dirty thug blood from Mary’s mature, trembling thighs and Louisa’s pale, delicate shoulders. Once the crimson was completely washed away, they carefully helped the two women slide into their undergarments and clean tunics.

-------------------

From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??