The Blood Guard Hall had suffered devastating losses, and the surviving Blood Guards were submerged in grief and solemnity.
In addition to the Blood Guard Hall, several of the clan's older elders had also all perished in battle.
Yang Zhen, the First Seat of the Elder Hall, had been brutally killed at the hands of the Carefree Divine Sect.
One could say that this calamity had slashed the Yang Family's elite fighting strength by nearly half—the greatest blow in their history.
The Yang Family was far from alone in this. Nearly every one of the Eight Great Families of Zhongdu had suffered the same fate.
Fortunately, Wu Zheng had no intention of wiping them all out. With absolute confidence in his own strength, he believed that the people of Zhongdu couldn't possibly pose any real threat to him. After the initial wave of slaughter, he sealed the power of the various families' experts and ordered them to submit and serve him.
He had his eye on their labor resources.
Whether he brought these people to the Tongxuan Continent as forced laborers or sold them as slaves, it would be a considerable fortune.
It was precisely because of this that the Eight Great Families of Zhongdu had not been destroyed entirely—they had been left with a sliver of hope.
"Ninth Brother, this Wu Zheng is extraordinarily capable, with earth-shattering strength. Can the people you brought really handle him?" Yang Zhao asked with some concern.
"Indeed, I never imagined there could be someone so powerful in this world," several of the older members chimed in worriedly.
"Whether they can handle him or not—seeing is believing." Yang Kai chuckled, then cocked his ear and listened for a moment before nodding. "They're already back."
"Who's back?" Yang Zhao asked, startled.
A stunning figure flashed into the great hall, wrapped in a bone-piercing chill. Han Fei appeared.
In her hand she held a blood-dripping head. She walked straight in, tossed the head casually onto the ground, and bowed to Yang Kai. "Master, I have not failed your trust!"
"Well done." Yang Kai nodded gently.
Every gaze in the great hall fell upon that head rolling on the ground. Staring at those wide-open eyes that had lost all luster, Yang Zhao slowly straightened up. He said in a low, tense voice, "It's Wu Zheng!"
"He's really dead?"
"Good riddance!" The eyes of the Yang Family members lit up, their spirits soaring.
They looked at Han Fei again, and every gaze was filled with reverence and gratitude.
Earlier, when Li Rong had arrived to eliminate the experts Wu Zheng had brought, she had been swift and decisive. Before anyone could react, those disciples of the Carefree Divine Sect had died without understanding what hit them. They hadn't witnessed Li Rong's methods and didn't know just how formidable she was.
But now, seeing with their own eyes that Wu Zheng's head had been carried in by Han Fei, they understood all too well just how remarkable this cold, elegant woman truly was.
For a moment, they felt an unreal sensation, as if caught in a dream. Many even moved closer, wanting to examine carefully whether it truly was Wu Zheng's severed head.
Once they confirmed it, their bodies trembled.
"Ninth Brother, this lady is..." Yang Zhao gazed at Han Fei hesitantly, his expression peculiar.
"We are the Master's subordinates," Han Fei explained proactively, to prevent anyone from getting the wrong idea.
"Subordinates..." Yang Zhao's face twitched slightly, and he didn't know what to say.
Ninth Brother had been gone for over ten years without a word, and now he returned with subordinates this powerful, sweeping away the invaders and saving all of Zhongdu. In contrast, Yang Zhao himself—the head of the Yang Family—had been completely helpless when the enemy attacked. Comparing the two, Yang Zhao couldn't help but feel somewhat dejected.
"Still, this is wonderful now. With a lady this capable, our Yang Family won't have to fear being bullied again."
"That's right, Ninth Brother—are you staying this time?" The brothers began asking one after another.
Yang Kai shook his head.
Dong Suzhu, seated beside Yang Kai, turned pale and involuntarily gripped his hand. "Kai'er, you're leaving again?"
Yang Kai smiled. "I do intend to leave, but this time I'm taking all of you with me."
"Taking all of us?" Yang Zhao frowned.
"That's right. I want everyone to come with me to the Tongxuan Continent. To leave Zhongdu behind."
The great hall fell silent. Zhongdu was their home, their roots. Yang Kai's words asked them to abandon everything, and they couldn't help but feel reluctant.
Yang Kai naturally understood their feelings. He stood up and said, "In the past, our Yang Family was the dominant force here—the foremost of the Eight Great Families, one of the top powers under heaven. But now the situation has changed. The passage between this world and the Tongxuan Continent has been opened. Wu Zheng came this time, but next time it could be someone else. Staying in Zhongdu is no longer safe."
"Someone else will come?" Many faces changed. They had not grasped the severity of the situation at all.
They thought that with Wu Zheng dead, they could rest easy, never realizing that was far from the truth.
According to Yang Kai, this place had already become a morsel that every powerhouse wanted a bite of.