Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 318: 174, Final Chapter: Death of the Blood Demon_2

His eyes, already devoid of tears, could only stare with wide-open gaze...

His mouth agape, he wanted to shout something, but nothing would come out...

He looked up at the ash-filled sky, his expression numb and frozen...

Hou Yuduan, suspended in mid-air, with his vacant and lifeless eyes, just stood there gazing dumbly at the ash-filled sky. Dozens of breaths passed, and his overburdened body could no longer maintain the strength to keep him aloft.

A wave of dizziness surged through his mind. Hou Yuduan's vision darkened, and his body, finally devoid of strength, plummeted toward the ground.

A figure in green rapidly rushed from the ground and caught Hou Yuduan in mid-air.

Hou Yuxiao carried Hou Yuduan on his back and used True Qi to sense his condition. His face instantly darkened, and after a long silence, he finally looked up furiously at Ji Yanzhi and said in a deep voice, "Why would you drive a wedge between me and my brother?"

After Maiden Hong's death, Ji Yanzhi had also dispelled his Heartfelt Divine Sword. He, too, was at the end of his strength, his physical body completely destroyed, and his lingering spirit slowly dissipating, clearly on the path to the Yellow Springs, death not far away.

Nevertheless, Hou Yuxiao still wanted a clear answer.

His purpose for deliberately causing a rift between him and Old Fifth...

Unfortunately, Ji Yanzhi just looked down at him indifferently, turned his head away, and obviously did not intend to answer the question. As he watched his own spirit slowly dissolve, there was no fear on Ji Yanzhi's face. Instead, he appeared relieved.

Filled with remorse for his younger sister, Hong Linger, he had lived for over a thousand years, his guilt and dedication to Confucianism allowing him no respite from the agony and torment, every day and night.

If not for his commitment to Confucianism, which kept him concerned for the common people and driven to contribute more to this chaotic world, he would have long since chosen death.

Death to him was a release.

"I should have died, surviving for more than thirteen hundred years was truly reluctant.

Before dying, to leave such an outstanding seed for our Confucian Sect shows that heaven has not been unkind to me, Hong Xiufu.

In life, there is little joy; in death, there is no fear.

In this life, Hong Xiufu has no regrets towards Linger, the Confucian Sect, or heaven and earth!

Ha ha ha ha..."

In the final moments of his life, Ji Yanzhi laughed heartily, his laughter filled with boldness.

Maiden Hong's declaration of no resentment before her death indicates the remorse he had harbored for over a thousand years and at last earning his sister's forgiveness, thereby absolving any regrets towards Linger.

As the Mountain Chief of Yangzhou Academy, he spent his life cultivating and propagating Confucianism, leaving behind a legacy of sacrificing himself for righteousness. He created an uncut jade like Hou Yuduan and a remarkable student like Tian Fazheng, giving him the right to proudly claim he had no regrets towards the Confucian Sect.

All his life, he practiced and preached the Confucian ideals of loyalty to the sovereign and service to the people. In his youth, he protected the citizens of Zhaoyang and upheld the dignity of the Divine Dynasty, sacrificing his loved ones. As he aged, he entered the academy to teach, growing from a mere Confucian into a Great Confucian. Though he never reached the level of a Sub-saint and his life halted here, he believed he remained true to his heart, holding no guilt towards the Great Yu Dynasty, the people of the world, and… this piece of heaven and earth.

Watching Ji Yanzhi completely vanish between heaven and earth, Hou Yuxiao's somber face showed no change, but in response to those last mighty words before death, it grew even more solemn.

A person like Ji Yanzhi, who regarded life and death with such indifference, had a definite purpose behind everything. From the moment he set foot in Tongling, he must have considered both the success and failure of his breakthrough and the subsequent responses. The way events had unfolded to this point, it was highly likely all within his calculations.

At this point, Hou Yuxiao could roughly deduce the course of today's events, but he just couldn't understand why Ji Yanzhi would pit him against Hou Yuduan before his death...

It made sense for Ji Yanzhi to admire Hou Yuduan, but what was Hou Yuxiao in his eyes? Merely a Martial Artist with the cultivation of a Second Realm Grandmaster, and the Family Head of the Hou Clan. Not to mention in the eyes of Ji Yanzhi, even the six great experts below probably wouldn't give him a second glance.

Was it necessary for a Great Confucian and Taoist Expert to purposely disgust him?

As Hou Yuxiao pondered, he had already descended to the ground. Hou Yucheng and Hou Yu Jie rushed over immediately to take Hou Yuduan from his back.

"Old Fifth is gravely injured. Yu Jie, take him out of the city first. Have Third Mother arrange treatment for him. Second Elder, hurry and get the Hou Clan's forces in order..."

Hou Yu Jie wasted no time. Carrying Hou Yuduan, he rushed in the direction of the western city.

Hou Yucheng's face initially froze in confusion. With both the Blood Demon and Ji Yanzhi dead, the turmoil in Tongling should also be ending — why still organize the troops?

But following Hou Yuxiao's gaze to the surviving soldiers of Xuzhou outside the city, Hou Yucheng suddenly understood and quickly turned back to organize the Hou Clan's forces.

Hou Yuxiao looked up at the projections of the three grand figures in the sky, his eyes slightly concentrated.

The Blood Demon and Ji Yanzhi were indeed dead.

But the matters in Tongling likely wouldn't end so simply...

The atmosphere across the field had started to turn, the projections of the three supreme beings had not yet completely faded, and they were merely exchanging glances, their expressions impassive, unreadable in joy or sorrow. Master Fanyin, Zen Master Yuan Kong, and Moxuzi, the three were also looking at each other, only in their eyes, the hints of confrontation were unmistakable.