With that said, Xue An focused the strength in his arm and whipped the serpent up in the air. He swung the monster around like a whip, then aimed it at the trees that towered nearby. With a sudden move, he flicked and swung hard against the trees.
Boom.
There was a loud cracking noise. The trees, that were so thick that normal men would struggle to wrap their arms around them, simply broke apart from that single blow.
This was an earth-shattering and heaven-shaking scene that stunned the entire crowd.
The sea serpent seemed to have been knocked unconscious. But in the blink of an eye, the sea serpent awoke angrily and flew into a rage. It opened its bloody mouth wide to bite Xue An.
Xue An sneered, and with one hand still holding on to the serpent’s tail, he reached out his other hand and grabbed the horn on the serpent’s head.
Bam.
There was a loud, muffled sound.
Xue An had pried off one of the serpent’s horn using his bare hands.
With a deafening roar, the sea serpent went completely berserk.
Xue An, on the other hand, remained calm and in control of the situation.
What a joke.
He had already slain multiple members of the ancient race of dragons that have been around since the beginning of the universe. This common and impure sea serpent was nothing compared to what he had faced in the past.
Everyone else in his company however, quickly retreated a few steps back, their faces pale in terror.
Chen Rushi stared at Xue An’s back as he stood strong and proud. Her eyes brightened in awe and amazement at this extraordinary sight.
Huo Heming noticed her staring at Xue An, and could not help but let envy and hatred fill him up.
Where the hell did this kid come from? How could he be so powerful? No way. He had to think of a way to get rid of him!
Meanwhile, Xue Xiang and Xue Nian were feeling a little worried. “Way to go, Papa,” they cheered.
Immediately, the sea serpent turned its attention to the two sisters. It seemed to have figured out the weak spot and so, unexpectedly went straight for the young girls.
Xue An grunted coldly. How dare this monster even think about attacking his two daughters!
Then you might as well go to hell!
But just as he was about to break the spine of the sea serpent with a single blow, Huo Heming pushed the two little girls forward.
Xue Xiang and Xue Nian were completely caught off guard and stumbled into the deep pool.
Xue An let out an angry roar as he jumped straight into the water.
The sea serpent thought that it had made a narrow escape. It opened its bleeding eyes and cast a sweeping look at the crowd of people on the bank. Then it sank into the pool as well.
All this happened within the span of a few seconds.
It was so fast that no one even had time to recover or even react.
Meanwhile, Xue An and the sea serpent had disappeared into the water.
All eyes turned to Huo Heming.
Huo Heming simply scratched his head, smiled sheepishly. He said, “I was just afraid that the snake was going to hurt the two little girls. I was going to push them out of the way, but I guess I used a little too much strength!”
Chen Rushi’s face clearly showed that she was very unhappy, but she remained calm like the still waters of the lake. She did not bother to listen to his explanation at all.
Xue Lan, on the other hand, was already in tears.
“Brother An, Brother An! Nothing must happen to you!” Xue Lan then pointed at Huo Heming and gave him a tongue lashing. “You bastard, it’s all your fault. You brought harm to the two little girls and even implicated my Brother An!”
Huo Heming’s face darkened.
He was not the least interested in the life and death of some little mountain village girl.
“Nonsense! Men, grab her and tie her up. I will deal with her later!” Huo Heming noticed that Xue Lan was quite good-looking and felt desire stirring in his heart. That was why he ordered his men to capture her.
Meanwhile, Song Yi was frowning in disapproval.
This Young Master Huo was truly a vicious character.
But he had taken his money, so he could not offend him either.
Instead, Song Yi had begun collecting the precious medicinal herbs near the lake.
This tranquil place was barely touched and was enriched by the nourishment of the Dragon Qi from the sea serpent. Because of these reasons, the medicinal herbs here were all extremely precious.
Through all this, Huo Heming was greatly satisfied with what he had accomplished.
Hmph, so what if Xue An was powerful? He just made a brainless move by jumping into the cold, bottomless lake!
With just a little plotting and trickery, he had triumphed by killing the father and his two daughters.
But just as he was gloating, the pool of water started to bubble up again.
Not only that, the lotus flower that was in the center of the lake suddenly withered and became a pile of ash, all in the blink of an eye.
Huo Heming was greatly taken aback. “Mr. Song, what’s going on?”
Song Yi, with a solemn expression, opened his mouth to say something.
But then, Xue An, as well as Xue Xiang and Xue Nian, slowly rose out of the water.
This trio of a father and his two daughters calmly stepped out of the water. They were completely dry. It seemed as if they were magical beings.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Finally, Song Yi spoke up, his voice trembling in awe. “Look… Look beneath their feet!”
The people’s eyes looked over altogether.
What they saw beneath the feet of these three people, namely Xue An and his two daughters, was an unexpected sight. It was the head of the monstrous sea serpent.
They rose out of the water while standing on top of a dragon!
What an incredible sight!
Huo Heming and everyone else around him were just standing there in amazement.
It was so incredible that Song Yi fell to the ground on his knees with a thud.
He knew better than anyone else. Xue An was a man that should not be provoked.
Song Yi had been painstakingly cultivating his powers for several decades. Only recently had he managed to step into the realm of patriarch, albeit barely. He was still as far as thousands of miles away from reaching the realm of the unfettered.
Any malevolent demon could easily claim his life, let alone a sea serpent.
And yet this strange man, on the other hand, had subdued a sea serpent in the water.
Meanwhile, the sea serpent seemed to be calm and submissive, as if it was willingly obeying Xue An. It did not dare to show even the slightest hint of disobedience. The serpent’s eyes even seemed to look as if it was feeling some degree of relief.
It was as though it was an honor to have Xue An standing on its head.
The fact that Song Yi was kneeling down shocked many people.
In Middle Capital, Song Yi was also considered to be one of the top leading figures, and yet, here he was, down on his knees, just like that.
Huo Heming was trembling as he quietly attempted to back away unnoticed.
But then, Xue An cast him a look of indifference.
Huo Heming felt as if he had lost control of all the muscles in his body.
With a thud, Huo Heming fell on his knees.
Although the sea serpent’s body was still immersed in the water, its head was already poking out of the lake. Xue An stood regally atop of it as he condescendingly looked down at the crowd. He smiled.
“The fact is, you should be feeling honored right now. I’ll let you watch as your body is burned to ashes!”
Huo Heming felt a tremor in his entire being. He wanted to speak but could say nothing at all. He could only look pleadingly at Song Yi, who was kneeling by his side.
Song Yi hesitated for a moment, then said, “Master, this Young Master Huo is a member of the Huo family of Middle Capital after all. Though he has acted very recklessly today, please show mercy and spare him this time, Master. I think, the Huo family will reward you handsomely to thank you in time…”
Xue An cast a look at Song Yi. “Do you know why you are unable to inch towards further progression over the years?” he said softly.
Song Yi shook from head to toe and lowered his head in deference.
Xue An continued indifferently. “Because you’re always indulging in earthly power and wealth. For a cultivator, the most important thing is to go against Heaven’s wishes. You can forget about your attempt to rely on the earthly power to cultivate as that will only backfire!”
Song Yi felt as though he was struck by lightning. Kneeling on the ground, he muttered to himself.
“Go against Heaven’s wishes… Go against the odds?”
“Yes! Go against Heaven’s wishes. If Heaven refuses to yield to me, then I’ll destroy this heaven! This is what makes a cultivator!” Xue An said and pointed straight ahead.
A white flame appeared on the tip of Huo Heming’s little finger and started to burn and grow.
This flame burned very slowly, but its temperature was intense. Because of this, anything the fire touched was immediately reduced to ashes and then scattered in the wind.
Huo Heming was in great pain but still, he could not move a single muscle in his body. Even as the fire grew and spread across his body, he could not even cry out in misery.
He could only watch, helplessly, as his own body gradually burned and disintegrated into flying specks of ash, floating in the wind.
This entire process lasted for a single minute. Finally, the flame engulfed Huo Heming in his entirety and burned him into ashes.
It was a brutal yet beautiful scene.
When it was finally over, Xue An waved his hands and recovered his two daughters.