CHAPTER 584: FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOUR, THE DEBT COLLECTORS ARE HERE!

"Big brother, let me toast to you!"

In a banquet hall of the Guan Family, a burly middle-aged man walked towards the head of the table with a golden cup in his hand, slightly unsteady. Seated at the head was none other than the Guan Family Head, Guan Yu.

This man was named Guan Yin, and aside from Guan Yu, he was the second strongest member of the Guan Family, with power only a step away from the Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm.

From this, it could be seen that the number of top-tier powerhouses among the three great families in Imperial City was fewer compared to the top three sects. After all, powerful sects like Qingshan Sect and Jade Pot Sect had at least three or four at the Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm.

Guan Yin was extremely fond of drinking and had a volatile temperament. He had once killed a princely heir of another family in a drunken brawl, which sadly led to the eradication of that entire family. A lamentable and pitiable affair.

The Guan Family had long been colluding with the Royal Family, specifically with the former Crown Prince, now King Xuan Jiuding. During the reign of Xuan Haoran, the Guan Family could not have been so arrogant.

This time, in the joint operation to obliterate Jade Pot Mountain by the three great families of Imperial City, no one expected that Shen Xingmou of the Heaven Rank Third Realm would send everyone rolling down Jade Pot Mountain in disgrace. This was indeed a shame and humiliation for these great powers.

And yet, precisely tonight, the Guan Family had set up a banquet, attempting to dilute the failure against Jade Pot Sect and restore the Guan Family’s usual dominance. Especially Guan Yin, with alcohol rising to his head, he was ignoring everything else.

"Guan Yin, times are troubled; you should drink less!"

Seeing Guan Yin’s state, Family Head Guan Yu frowned, and for some reason, he felt a vague unease, as if something big was about to happen.

"Big brother, you’re being too cautious. We’re the Guan Family, one of the three great families of Imperial City. Who would dare to provoke us? They must be tired of living!"

Although Guan Yin was drunk, he retained a bit of sobriety. As soon as he said this, the powerhouses of the Guan Family around him agreed, deeply convinced. As one of the three great families of Imperial City with close ties to the Royal Family, indeed, it had been many years since anyone dared to cause trouble for the Guan Family.

Swoosh!

Yet at this moment, a whistling sound suddenly came from the entrance, and Guan Yu’s expression changed dramatically. He vaguely saw what seemed to be a lean human figure.

"Guan Yin, be careful!"

Guan Yu, as the strongest in the Peak of Spirit Vein Realm of the Guan Family, was quick to shout a warning. His body instantly exuded a dense Meridian Qi, clearly ready to take action.

But that shadow was so fast, almost in the blink of an eye, it had already approached Guan Yin’s rear. But at this moment, the second strongest of the Guan Family’s eyes regained their clarity.

Alcohol, to these practitioners of the Spirit Vein Realm, was merely a pastime. When there was nothing serious to deal with, without suppressing it with Meridian Qi, it could numb the nerves and enter a hazy state.

But once faced with sudden danger, Guan Yin instantly used Meridian Qi to disperse the alcohol and regained the demeanor befitting the second strongest of the Guan Family. The anger and disdain on his face clearly showed he did not take the sneak attacker seriously.

As Guan Yin just said, this was the Guan Family, and he was a genuine cultivator at the Late Stage of Spirit Vein Realm, only one step away from reaching the Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm. At least on the Hidden Dragon Continent, there was probably no one who could kill him in one strike.

"Who would have thought there really are fools tired of living!"

Combining his previous words, Guan Yin ignored the warning from the Family Head and instantly operated his Meridian Qi, intending to obliterate this reckless intruder with a single strike.

"Guan Yin, don’t try to take it head-on, dodge it quickly!"

Just as Guan Yin harbored this thought, another loud shout from Family Head Guan Yu reached him. He then saw a familiar black glow that seemed to pass over his forearm and then over his neck.

"How..."

There was a slight pain at the elbow, and then Guan Yin saw the ground getting farther and farther away, and then the whole world turned upside down, plunging into darkness.

Before his death, Guan Yin didn’t realize what had happened, but all the powerhouses of the Guan Family, including Guan Yu, had their expressions change dramatically, because they clearly saw how Guan Yin died.

It was an unremarkable Wooden Sword that, with a mere light swipe, severed Guan Yu’s arm and head. The blood from his neck gushed out like a fountain, lifting his head skyward, which was the very moment he saw the world inverted.

With one strike, the assailant killed Guan Yin, the second strongest of the Guan Family at the Peak of the Late Stage Spirit Vein Realm. Although the attacker had taken them by surprise and Guan Yin had been overconfident and negligent, the strength of the assailant was still not to be underestimated.

"Who are you, sir?"

At this moment, the Guan Family Head Guan Yu did not immediately strike to avenge Guan Yin, but instead asked with a heavy voice, the sound filled with a hint of covert fury.

This is the Guan Family, where no one has died for many years, let alone the second-highest expert of the Guan Family, Guan Yin. Guan Yu believed that after today, the overall strength of the Guan Family would probably drop by a large margin.

Yet, before the identity of the newcomer was clear, Guan Yu had to consider the entire Guan Family clan. If that person was a powerhouse of the Heavenly Rank Third Realm like Shen Xingmou, then even if the entire Guan Family joined forces, they probably wouldn’t be enough to withstand even a single finger of theirs.

In Guan Yu’s view, if the newcomer was indeed an unmatched powerhouse who also held a personal grudge against Guan Yin, then there was probably no choice but to turn a blind eye.

After all, Guan Yin had been arrogant over the years and offended many. It was not impossible that some of the humiliated families had spent a great deal of money to find a strong cultivator to take revenge on their behalf.

"Heh heh, Guan Yu Family Head, it has barely been a month since we last saw each other, do you not recognize me, Yun Xiao, anymore?"

Hearing Guan Yu’s deep questioning, the black-clad young man turned his head and let out a light laugh, then he swiped his hand over his face, revealing a countenance all too familiar to everyone.

"Yun Xiao?!"

Seeing the face that was extremely familiar apart from the attire, all members of the Guan Family were taken aback, particularly the Family Head Guan Yu, who felt a supreme wave of anger involuntarily rising within him.

"Yun Xiao, you’re actually not dead!"

These words were nearly squeezed out from between Guan Yu’s teeth. He remembered his two sons, Guan Tong and Guan Hu, had died because of Yun Xiao, and he had long harbored bone-deep hatred for this youth.

Guan Yu had clearly seen Yun Xiao being taken away by Shen Xingmou that day, and judging by that person’s attitude, it seemed unlikely that Yun Xiao would be spared. But unexpectedly, in less than a month’s time, this youngster had come back alive, and it seemed that he was slightly different from when he was at Jade Pot Sect.

"Thanks to the Family Head’s blessing, I was lucky not to die!"

Despite the smile on Yun Xiao’s face, his tone turned icy cold the next moment as he said, "Since I am not dead, some blood debts should be claimed from the Guan Family!"

The so-called blood debts naturally referred to the incident where the five major powers besieged Jade Pot Sect. Even though Jade Pot Sect managed to escape by a stroke of luck, it was severely weakened.

Many of Jade Pot Sect’s genius Stewards died in that battle, and although Yun Xiao wasn’t close to those people, as a Disciple of the Sect Master of Jade Pot Sect, claiming blood debts for them was his unshirkable responsibility.

"Hmph, with just you, you dare to claim debts from my Guan Family?"

The infuriated Guan Yu, upon seeing Yun Xiao, was no longer so worried. After all, half a month ago, when Yun Xiao was in Jade Pot Sect, he was only in the early stage of the Spirit Vein Realm.

Although Yun Xiao had just slain Guan Yin, who was in the late stage of the Spirit Vein Realm, with lightning-fast speed, Guan Yu, after glancing at the wooden sword in Yun Xiao’s hand, merely thought that Guan Yin had been caught off guard and that was it.

After all, the incident just now had happened too quickly, so quickly that even Guan Yu had not clearly sensed Yun Xiao’s true cultivation level, and still regarded him as the youth who was only in the early stage of the Spirit Vein Realm.

Here lies the Guan Family stronghold; aside from Guan Yu, a peak powerhouse of the Spirit Vein Realm, and the now-dead Guan Yin, there are as many as five clan members who have reached the late stage of the Spirit Vein Realm. As one of the three great families of the Imperial City, their overall strength is indeed formidable.

With Yun Xiao alone and brazenly claiming to come and collect debts, this truly made Guan Yu’s new and old hatred surge in his heart. Since this youngster had walked into his net, it was time to take his life and thus avenge his two sons.

"All Guan Family members, heed my command, tear this insolent brat to pieces to demonstrate the might of our Guan Family!"

With these thoughts passing through his mind, Guan Yu no longer wanted to waste another word with this youth. At his command, numerous Guan Family members attending the banquet had already surrounded Yun Xiao.

"Be cautious of that wooden sword in his hand!"

After issuing his command, Guan Yu reminded them, for Guan Yin, who was in the late stage of the Spirit Vein Realm, couldn’t withstand the power of that sword. If they were caught off guard, wherever it struck would be severed from the body.

As he called out verbally, a hint of extreme greed appeared in Guan Yu’s eyes, thinking if he could obtain that wooden sword, perhaps the position of the foremost among the three great families of the Imperial City might have to be reconsidered.

However, what Guan Yu failed to notice was that the young man surrounded by many Guan Family members showed no hint of fear, but instead revealed a mocking smile, which was quite strange.

To Yun Xiao, who had broken through to the middle stage of the Spirit Vein Realm, facing these cultivators of the same late stage of the Spirit Vein Realm, or even those of the Guan Family in the middle stage, was nothing more than a bunch of clay chickens and pottery dogs.

"If that’s the case, then let my Dragon Taming Sword drink its fill of the blood of revenge today!"

Seeing the Guan Family members closing in, a flash of cold light crossed Yun Xiao’s eyes, and then with a slight flick of his wrist, the Dragon Taming Sword drew a dark gleam as it slashed towards the first Guan Family member in the late stage of the Spirit Vein Realm.