At the same time, an elder of the Shi Family secretly instructed dozens of the family’s elite disciples, warning them not to take anything lightly.

Shi Lan and Shi Qing were both elite members of the Shi Family, with formidable strength, having reached the Earth Flower Realm, yet they met their end delivering a message to Book Fragrance Mountain, which indicated that the Li Family still had some substantial foundations!

“Damn Li Family, killing two of our clansmen, once we catch their entire clan, we will drain their blood and essence! We’ll make them beg for life and death!”

A group of Shi Family disciples, each with a glint of cold light in their eyes and a heart full of murderous intent, felt incensed to have lost two of their elites to such a downtrodden noble house like the Li Family. They clenched their fists and were eager to strike a crushing blow to the Li Family!

The Magistrate of Mysterious Stone City looked up at the sun in the sky, noticing that it was now noon. He announced with a booming voice, “The time has come, bring the prisoners up!”

Before long, three men, shackled in iron chains, wearing black hoods and prison garb, were escorted along a heavily guarded path toward the Execution Grounds, where their hoods were removed.

Underneath the hoods were three young, pale faces.

These three were the young disciples of the Li Family, captured by the Shi Family.

All three were fresh blood of the Li Family, with exceptional talents, always training abroad, completely unaware that the Shi Family had set their sights on them. Not long before, their whereabouts were discovered by the Shi Family, who then sent experts to capture them alive and forced them to write a letter before sending a pair of Shi Family brothers to deliver it to Book Fragrance Mountain.

Indeed, these three were Li Family disciples and not substitutes, because first, the Shi Family was confident in capturing any Li Family rescuers, and second, if substitutes were used, the Li Family, secretly observing, would realize they were not the real persons and would likely not appear, making things more complicated.

“These young prisoners… they look young… Looking frail and scholarly, do they really seem like villains who’ve committed heinous crimes?”

The commoners watching the execution from a distance whispered to each other upon seeing the appearances of the three Li Family members. Since the three had been brought up with the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, they did not seem to be extremely vicious individuals.

“You can’t judge by appearances, knowing someone’s face does not mean you know their heart. They may look harmless, but that doesn’t mean they are not full of malice inside,” one spectator commented.

Others believed that despite the Li Family youths’ benign appearances, they had likely committed blood-soaked crimes.

“I hope… Father and the others don’t come!”

The youngest among them, Li Zhengao, his face pale, prayed silently. He was Li Song’s son, and he knew very well that martial arts experts from various noble houses were hidden all around them. If Li Song and the others showed up, the outcome would be grim!

“Eh? Why is there fog rolling in?”

Suddenly, a dense fog appeared out of nowhere around the execution platform, so thick that one couldn’t see their own hand in front of them, astonishing everyone present.

“They’ve come indeed!”

The dozens of Shi Family disciples were overjoyed, knowing that this was the work of Li Family experts coming to the rescue!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

A painting scroll floated above the execution platform, flashing with lightning and roaring with thunder, accompanied by a torrential downpour that knocked the soldiers on the platform into disarray.

The person who acted was none other than Li Song and others. With their Li Family’s bloodline divine skill, as long as they had prepared in advance, they could easily summon the forces of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning and the beasts of the field and sky!

“Caw! Caw!”

In the midst of the storm, the fog churned as numerous pitch-black crows emerged from nowhere, flying towards Li Zhengao and the other two, attempting to carry them away from the area.

But was it really that easy?

“Dream on!”

Despite the chaos, many Shi Family disciples were focused. They only needed to keep their eyes on the three Li Family members to trap them easily.

With a furious roar, a Shi Family martial artist lunged forward, his right fist unleashing a tremendous force like a thick wall of air, pressing and bearing down upon what lay before him.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The onrushing crows exploded one after another into splashes of black ink that stained the ground.

“What?”

But soon, the Shi Family Martial Artist’s expression changed. From within the fog, a black-clothed youth emerged, light as a feather, stepping on a pitch-black crow. Effortlessly dodging the thrust of air from the punch, he landed gracefully in front of the martial artist.

“Puh!”

The Shi Family Martial Artist was just about to raise his left hand to do something when he met the youth’s gaze. The look in the young man’s eyes was as sharp as a knife, piercing directly into his soul.

His Sea of Consciousness trembled, vision darkened momentarily and in that brief instance, he felt an agonizing twist in his Dantian as Su Changkong’s palm, sharper than any blade that slices iron as if it were mud, pierced through it!

“Make one more move and I’ll kill him!”

With one hand gripping the Shi Family martial artist’s neck, Su Changkong issued a thunderous warning that left everyone around them dizzy. Dozens of Shi Family disciples clad in battle armor surged from the crowd, instinctively halting in their advance, wary of making a move.

“This person… Is he from the Li Family? He captured Shi Feng so easily?” The Shi Family martial artists were inwardly shocked. The captured Shi Feng had reached the Earth Flower Realm and was considered elite, but against this black-clothed youth, he was instantly overpowered and taken prisoner. They were clearly not at the same level.

“Father!”

At that moment, Li Zhengao exclaimed softly as the figure of Li Song emerged from the midst of the fog right beside them. Li Xue and Li Mo stayed hidden and did not reveal themselves, offering distant support and coordination instead.

Meanwhile, Su Changkong’s face showed a trace of seriousness; he could feel the ground trembling slightly beneath him. In the fog, a towering figure stepped forward; more than two meters tall, this figure, even in dark battle armor, could not conceal the rock-hard muscles that were firmer than stone or iron beneath it!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel