Chapter 74: Ashvele Clan
Chapter 74: Ashvele Clan
The bone-breaking pressure rolling off the middle-aged man standing behind swept across the massive plaza like a hurricane.
It was an aura completely fundamentally different from the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
"Core... Core Formation Realm!"
An old Spirit Manifestation Realm man’s voice trembled as he uttered those words.
The words dropped like a thunderclap.
Core Formation Realm!
In the entirety of the Outer Frontier, an expert at this realm was regarded no less than a god.
And now, one was standing right in their courtyard.
Harmon, Dorris, Kory, Silas, and Amos felt an invisible mountain press down on their spines.
Harmon gritted his teeth, his hand instinctively dropping to the hilt of his blue sword.
"The Ashvele Clan," Harmon muttered, a layer of cold sweat instantly beading on his forehead.
They had come.
And they had come far faster than anyone could have ever anticipated.
Down in the VIP seating area, Fenwick was shaking so violently that the wooden chair beneath him groaned.
"Oh, gods... why are they here..." Fenwick murmured, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
An elderly man, equally terrified, asked with a trembling voice, "Merchant Luo... do you know them?"
Fenwick nodded his head with laboriously, "That young man... He is the sole heir and young master of the Ashvele family!"
"Orion Ashvele!"
"And the middle aged man behind him...he is Master Hayden."
Orion Ashvele’s furious gaze swept across the terrified crowd, treating the gathered Spirit Manifestation experts like mere insects.
Beside him, the beautiful young woman—Soren’s daughter, Evolet—sobbed hysterically, her beautiful face twisting with hatred.
Husband," she wept, clutching Orion’s arm with trembling hands. "The Barlowe estate was in ruins when we arrived! They slaughtered my entire family! They must have killed my father too! You must kill all of them today."
Orion patted her hand gently.
"I will ask only once," Orion’s voice echoed across the plaza like the judgment of a god. "Who destroyed the Barlowe family? Hand over my father-in-law, Soren, and I might be merciful enough to leave your corpses intact!"
Under the petrified gazes of thousands of people, Rhain slowly stood up from his seat, and looked down at Orion.
"It was me," Rhain stated flatly. "I destroyed the Barlowe family."
Every single person in the plaza felt their blood freeze.
If they had known that the Barlowe family was directly connected by marriage to the towering Ashvele Clan of Mirravele City, they wouldn’t have attended this ceremony even if someone held a blade to their throats!
Now, they were trapped in the same courtyard as a wrathful Core Formation expert.
They cursed their miserable luck, staring at Rhain as if looking at a dead man
Hearing the confession, Orion’s sharp gaze snapped toward the dais, locking onto Rhain.
"Essence Condensation Realm? Level 3?" Orion scoffed, his voice dripping with condescension. "In a remote, garbage dump like Greymist Town, your realm might be considered somewhat decent. But in Mirravele City? You are nothing but an average dog."
Orion waved his hand dismissively, his eyes full of contempt.
"You are not even qualified to talk to me. Whoever is actually behind the destruction of the Barlowe family, step forward now!"
Thud.
Without a single second of hesitation, Harmon Vael took a heavy step forward, placing himself firmly behind Rhain.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Dorris, Kory, Silas, and Amos moved in perfect unison.
Eight Spirit Manifestation Realm experts stood shoulder-to-shoulder directly behind the white-robed youth, their stances clearly indicating their unquestionable loyalty.
At the exact same time, a slender figure hurried onto the central stage.
Seris arrived right beside Rhain.
Her pale purple eyes were wide with deep worry as she looked at the Core Formation expert standing below.
The instant Seris stepped into Orion’s line of sight, his furious expression flickered.
His gaze locked onto her face, and for a brief, unmistakable moment, his eyes widened.
A greedy, undisguised hunger flashed through Orion’s pupils.
He had seen countless beauties in Mirravele City.
But even Liana, the most acclaimed beauty of the younger generation in Mirravele City, paled in comparison to the girl standing on that dais.
How could there be such a beautiful lady in this remote place? She is as beautiful as fairy.
Orion thought, his eyes narrowing with possessive desire.
Standing beside him, Evolet caught the shift in his gaze immediately.
Evolet’s tear-streaked face twisted with ugly jealousy.
She aggressively tugged on Orion’s sleeve.
"Husband!" Elara said aggrievedly, her eyes red with venom. "My father!"
Orion snapped out of his daze, clearing his throat to mask his greed.
"Of course, my dear."
He turned his sharp gaze back to the dais.
"Is my father-in-law alive or dead?" Orion demanded, his voice hardening once more.
Rhain looked down at him. "He is alive."
Rhain simply raised his hand and gave a slight signal.
A moment later, the heavy clanking of metal echoed from the side of the grand hall.
Two Azure Cloud elders dragged a figure out onto the dais.
It was Soren.
He was bound head to toe in thick chains, looking battered and miserable.
But the moment Soren’s bruised eyes saw the people standing in the plaza, a look of wild, euphoric ecstasy exploded on his face.
"My dear Evolet! Son-in-law! Master Hayden!"
Tears streamed freely down his hollow cheeks as he thrashed against his chains. "You came! Thank the gods, you came!"
He raised a trembling finger and pointed it directly at Rhain.
"Kill him! Kill this demonic bastard and slaughter every single person in this sect!"
Evolet looked at her hysterical father, and then turned her venomous, hateful gaze toward Rhain.
"Why?" she screamed, her voice breaking. "Why did you murder my family? What did they ever do to you?"
Rhain looked at her, and walked forward, stopping at the very edge of the dais.
"Your family tried to harm me, Rhain said, his voice carrying no anger, no remorse, only the cold recitation of facts. "They attempted to slaughter every member of the Azure Cloud Sect and the Graves family. They tried to hurt the people I care about."
He looked at her without a single shred of pity.
"That is why I killed them."
Elara’s mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Her fingers trembled at her sides.
He shifted his dark grey irises, locking onto Soren.
"And the only reason I kept him alive..." Rhain gestured casually to the chained Soren, "...was because he was entirely too confident that your Ashvele family would protect him."
Then Rhain turned his gaze directly to Hayden.
"It is a pity that only you came," Rhain said, his tone carrying genuine disappointment. "It would have been far better if all the experts of the Ashvele family had come today. I could have destroyed you all at once."
The words dropped into the plaza like a lit match into a barrel of gunpowder.
The entire crowd was thoroughly paralyzed.
No one had ever expected Rhain to say something so unfathomably insane!
"He’s insane," the old man hissed, his voice trembling with naked terror. "He’s absolutely insane! He’s going to get us all killed!"
Fenwick had gone so pale he looked like a corpse. His round body trembled like a leaf in a hurricane. "We’re finished... we’re all finished... why did I come here... why did I open my fat mouth..."
The crowd cursed Rhain in their minds, completely terrified that the Core Formation expert’s wrath would annihilate the entire mountain, wiping them out as collateral damage.
Even Harmon and Dorris, standing firmly behind Rhain, felt their hearts clench. Not from doubt in Rhain — but from the sheer, reckless audacity of openly threatening a Core Formation power to their face.
Hayden, who had remained silent with his hands clasped behind his back, finally narrowed his eyes.
A murderous light ignited within his pupils.
"What an arrogant, ignorant frog at the bottom of a well," Hayden sneered, his voice vibrating with lethal intent.
He took a single step forward.
BOOM!
The ground cracked beneath his foot. The entire mountain shuddered.
Hayden released the oppressive pressure of the Core Formation Realm.
"You have not even stepped into the Spirit Manifestation Realm, yet you dare to boast about destroying the Ashvele family?"
The pressure descended upon the plaza like the wrath of an angry god.
Hundreds of cultivators in the lower seats collapsed outright, their faces slamming into the stone as their bodies were pinned.
Behind Rhain, the unified wall of Azure Cloud Sect and Graves family Spirit Manifestation experts buckled.
Seris staggered, her face going white. The oppressive force pressed against her lungs, squeezing the breath from her body.
In the center of it all, Rhain stood.
A pitch-black suppression aura erupted from his body, forming a dome of dark essence around him that ground against Hayden’s Core Formation pressure like tectonic plates colliding.
The stone beneath Rhain’s feet fractured in a spiderweb of cracks.
His white ceremonial robes whipped violently in the competing winds of the two auras.
For the first time, Rhain felt an invisible weight pressuring his shoulders.
The gap between Essence Condensation and Core Formation was not one realm. It was two entire major realms — a chasm so vast that no amount of Sovereign-grade physique or peerless foundation could fully bridge it through brute force alone.
But he still stood straight, not retreating even an inch.
Seeing this, Orion Ashvele was thoroughly enraged by Rhain’s disrespect.
"Master Hayden!" Orion roared, pointing a furious finger at the dais. "Kill everyone! Slaughter this entire pathetic sect! But leave that guy alive! I will personally torture him until he begs for death!"
Orion’s eyes flicked greedily toward the pale Seris. "And capture that silver-haired girl for me unharmed!"
Hayden let out a cold snort.
"As you command, Young Master."
But before Hayden could unleash his power, Rhain slowly raised his right palm.
A beautiful blue lotus, delicately filled with intricate silver veins, materialized out of thin air.
It rotated slowly, hovering just inches above his palm.
Spirit-Ascension Lotus.
Rhain looked at Hayden.
"You don’t deserve for me to use this," He said quietly. His voice cut through the howling winds of their clashing auras. "But you’ve left me no choice."