One more catty, one more attribute point

As soon as Wang Xindong's voice faded, the bright study was plunged into a weird silence.

Jin Mingxi's impassive face showed an expression of disbelief, her mouth agape. It took her a moment to realize she had lost her composure and her rosy lips pursed.

Li Daoxuan frowned deeply and set the envelope he had been opening back down.

"Are you certain?" he countered.

"Certain," Wang Xindong replied, "It was first discovered by a grain-supplying caravan. They reported it to the authorities, then I sent someone to see personally."

"The scene... it was simply bodies everywhere, too ghastly to endure."

The revival of demons, the dead—it was all too common.

But for a family that controlled demonic powers to be annihilated like this was quite rare.

Especially since the Luo Family had quite a few strong individuals in the Demon Embryo Realm, their overall strength wasn't the weakest among the seven great families of Baihua County.

Even if the Demon Suppression Bureau had reasons to target them, they would have to plan carefully.

"Who could have done this?" Jin Mingxi asked, a look of astonishment on her face.

The other families, unlikely?

The Demon Suppression Bureau, even less likely.

Demons... this possibility wasn't small, but the major demons of the Sky Demon Alliance were constantly under surveillance by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

No abnormalities were detected.

"Perhaps a high-ranking individual within the Luo Family lost control," Li Daoxuan guessed, "I haven't seen the Family Head of the Luo Family for quite some time. Since the incident in Changqing County, I surmised his condition was abnormal and it seems I was right."

"But if it were a mutation that went mad, the entire family wouldn't have been annihilated," Jin Mingxi said. "There would have been a couple of survivors."

"There are traces of human involvement in this matter."

"Who could this person be?"

Li Daoxuan fell silent; his mind flashing through images of various individuals, dismissing each one.

Just then, Wang Xindong spoke again, "The report I received showed a large number of mummified corpses inside the Luo Family's fortress, seemingly drained of life by a Yin Body Tai Sui."

Yin Body Tai Sui had once been held in the Demon Suppression Tower; they had records of all its unique abilities.

Thus at the scene, they recognized it immediately.

"The Yin Body Tai Sui is dead," Jin Mingxi said softly.

"But if someone successfully fused with the demon's corpse, they could still inherit a portion of a demon's abilities," Wang Xindong said.

With that,

there was no need to continue; it was clear who was responsible.

"Truly ruthless," Li Daoxuan looked out the window; this was the inner city, but the location was high enough to see the distant river bustling with ships, glittering with the fragmented gold of the morning light.

*

*

*

Inside a training room at the Demon Suppression Bureau.

The room was spacious, with a large Tai Chi and Eight Trigrams pattern on the rough, bluestone floor.

The surrounding walls were engraved with numerous intricate fate diagrams, a censor placed in the corner, its fragrance curling up, leaving shadows in the sunlight streaming through the skylight.

Su Li sat cross-legged in the center of the room.

Her gaze was calm, fixed on a mural on the wall in front of her.

The mural depicted staggered layers of icebergs, rising high in a circular formation, with an icy sun at the very center.

She immersed her consciousness into the mural, leaving only a trace of clarity to maintain herself.

Her consciousness seemed to be in a boundless glacier.

The bone-chilling sensation spread not only through her soul but gradually throughout her entire body.

Su Li's originally pale skin turned even paler, almost transparent, eventually covered in a thin layer of frost.

Her pupils turned a blue color.

In her eyes, hexagonal ice crystals started to grow outwards.

As the frost was about to cover her whole body, Su Li quickly picked up a small jar placed beside her.

She tilted her head back and drank all the medicine in one gulp.

Visibly, her body temperature rose rapidly, her skin turned red, and white smoke began to emit.

Su Li closed her eyes, enduring the discomfort of both ice and fire, and guided her strength to stimulate the growth of mutated tissues.

For an hour.

"Phew..."

Only then did Su Li exhale a heavy breath, clenched her fists, her face showing a trace of joy.

She had finally succeeded in mastering the second technique of the Overlord Dragon Eight Phases Secret Skill, Cold Ice Charm.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead.

Su Li left the training room and casually picked up a booklet from the shelf.

On the booklet, there was recorded some information about the estates within Baihua County.

Changqing County had suffered a great calamity, and order had collapsed.

Su Li had been thinking about bringing her family there as soon as possible, and in recent days, she had entrusted others to find a suitable residence. The matter was gradually taking shape.

However...

The prices for residences in the inner city were expensive.

Before making the final decision, she still needed to discuss it with Su Heng.

With that thought, Su Li pushed the door and walked outside, lifting her head to see a figure in red clothes holding an oil-paper umbrella, floating towards her.

"So you are still looking for a suitable house in the inner city," Xiaoqing glanced at the booklet in Su Li's hand.

"Mhm," Su Li nodded. Your adventure continues at m-v-l-e-mpyr

"Is it because of the Luo Family that you are in such a hurry?" Xiaoqing asked.

Su Li was silent, her face losing some of its post-breakthrough lustre, and after a long silence, she nodded, "That's part of the reason."

Although her master had already said he would take action against the Luo Family,

using this opportunity to completely annihilate them was hardly possible.

The feud was already set.

Su Li worried they would attack her family, or even use it as leverage, which is why she had been so intent on this matter.

Compared to safety, spending more Silver was trivial.

"Then you don't have to be so anxious anymore," Xiaoqing pursed her lips and said softly.

"Why?" Su Li pinched her face, puzzled.

"The Luo Family has been annihilated by a mysterious person," Xiaoqing puffed her cheeks, struggling out of Su Li's grasp, and crisply replied.

"What!?" Su Li's eyes widened, and she dropped the booklet on the ground without even realizing.

*

*

*

"Have you seen it? A centuries-old noble family, just a slight mishap and they are completely annihilated, no different from the ordinary people we disdain the most,"

On the walls of Luo Family's fortress.

Two elders, one tall and one short, were conversing.

The tall elder was as thin as a stick, while the short elder was as round as a ball.

In the golden morning light, from a distance, these two standing together looked like the lowercase letter "b", which gave an amusing impression.

The tall, thin elder was named Ximen Xing, and the short, round elder was called Zhou Batong.

They were respectively the Family Heads of two great Demon Suppression families.

"The critical issue is, who exactly did this!" Zhou Batong's brow was furrowed, his voice tinged with unease, "Whoever it is, we need an explanation."

"Does it matter who did it?" Ximen Xing looked at the bodies scattered beneath the wall, speaking leisurely, "I think it's not important at all."

"What's important is, a great era is approaching, demons are resurrecting, and powerful individuals are emerging. Our families, because of our ancestors' protection, have stepped ahead on this path.

That's both good and bad.

If we are strong, then all is well, but if we show even a slight sign of weakness, in an instant, it could lead to our families being wiped out, doomed forever!" Ximen Xing said coldly.