After a thousand years of cultivation, he returns at the pinnacle!

Puppetry?

Liu Mingxuan's pupils contracted sharply. Although he had never heard of such a skill before, the name alone was enough to tell him the answer.

He understood everything, and abruptly took a step back, a chilling aura emanating from him: "Jiang Chen! How dare you!!!"

"dare?"

Jiang Chen chuckled softly.

"When you threatened me with my parents just now, why didn't you ask yourself if you dared to do it?"

He gently raised his hand, his index finger twitching slightly.

The next moment, Liu Ruyan moved.

She lunged at her father with astonishing speed. The corpse, which had been cold just moments before, now unleashed speed and power no less than that of an S-rank Awakened.

"Like smoke!!!"

Liu Mingxuan roared fiercely, but dared not actually attack his daughter. He could only desperately dodge, his ice-elemental spiritual power condensing into layers of ice walls in front of him, trying to block the crazed body.

But Liu Ruyan completely ignored those ice walls.

Her body shattered layer after layer of ice barriers, sharp ice blades slicing across her flesh, leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds, but she felt nothing. There were no screams, no pain, not even a change in expression.

She lunged at her father again and again, her hands like iron clamps trying to strangle him.

"Ruyan! Wake up!! I'm your father!!!"

Liu Mingxuan's voice was already trembling with sobs.

He had dominated Jiangzhou for twenty years without ever suffering a defeat, but now he was forced to flee in a sorry state by his own daughter.

It's not that I can't beat them, it's that I can't bring myself to do it.

That's his daughter!!!

She was his daughter, whom he held in his arms, taught her to walk, and took her to school!

How could he bear to hurt her even a little bit?!

But Liu Ruyan wouldn't stop.

Under Jiang Chen's control, she was merely a perfect puppet, a mindless, emotionless walking corpse who only knew how to execute orders.

Finally, Liu Mingxuan was cornered.

His back was pressed against the cold wall, and in front of him was that familiar yet unfamiliar face. It was his daughter, her features unchanged, but devoid of any warmth.

"Ruyan...please...wake up."

Liu Mingxuan's voice was hoarse and broken, and tears streamed down his cheeks. He couldn't believe that his daughter couldn't have a peaceful end.

He hated Jiang Chen's cruelty and his own incompetence.

Liu Ruyan stood in front of him, her empty eyes staring at him silently.

Then, she raised her hand.

The hand that once poured him tea, massaged his back, and clung to his arm affectionately has now transformed into the sharpest knife.

puff!

The sound of flesh being pierced was exceptionally clear in the silent reception room.

Liu Mingxuan lowered his head, looking at the hand piercing through his chest. His ice-type spiritual energy surged wildly, attempting to heal the fatal wound, but the strange power that had invaded his body was devouring his life force at an unstoppable speed.

He slowly raised his head and looked at his daughter.

Liu Ruyan remained expressionless.

Not a single drop of blood splattered on her face.

"Like smoke..."

Liu Mingxuan's lips trembled as he uttered his last sound.

His eyes were filled with despair and helplessness, perhaps regretting that he had angered someone he shouldn't have, and perhaps his mind was already filled with fantasies.

He still had many things to say, such as wanting to be father and daughter again in the next life, but unfortunately, he could no longer make a sound.

Those eyes, once as sharp as a hawk's, slowly closed.

Liu Mingxuan, the head of the Liu family in Jiangzhou, was one of the most dazzling geniuses at the awakening ceremony twenty years ago, and he has now perished.

He died at the hands of his own daughter.

Liu Ruyan withdrew her hand, and Liu Mingxuan's body slumped down, falling at her feet. Liu Mingxuan's eyes were not completely closed, as if they still held a trace of resentment and longing.

Liu Ruyan looked down at him.

A fleeting ripple appeared on that empty face.

The fluctuation was so brief and subtle that it made one wonder if it was an illusion. But in that instant, something seemed to be shimmering in her eyes.

Are they tears?

Or was it the last remaining shred of consciousness before death?

Nobody knows.

The next moment, Jiang Chen snapped his fingers, and Liu Ruyan's body, along with Liu Mingxuan's corpse on the ground, turned to ashes at the same time.

The two piles of ashes were mixed together, and from that moment on, the father and daughter were never separated.

Inside the reception room, apart from the bloodstains and broken frost on the floor, there was no one alive.

In the distance, commotion arose from other courtyards of the Liu family. More guards were on their way, along with members of the Liu family's collateral branches, the elderly, women, and children.

Jiang Chen looked in that direction, his gaze calm.

He lifted his foot and stomped it lightly.

boom!!!

The entire Liu family mansion trembled violently.

Centered on Jiang Chen's feet, invisible ripples spread wildly.

Wherever it went, pavilions and towers collapsed and crumbled, artificial hills and ponds evaporated and dried up, and precious flowers, plants and trees withered instantly.

The guards who were rushing to the scene, the clansmen who were hiding in the courtyard, and the elderly, women and children who were still asleep, all turned to dust in an instant.

Beneath the collapsed building, Jiang Chen calmly walked through the Liu family's hall, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

The moment Jiang Chen stepped out of the Liu family's main residence, flames engulfed him, and a sea of ​​fire blazed behind him.

Jiang Chen stood in the center of the ruins, his clothes fluttering, untouched by any dust.

He took one last look at the land, then turned and left.

Behind him stood a once prominent Awakened family in Jiangzhou.

Now, nothing has been left behind.

"Come out."

Jiang Chen's voice rang out indifferently in the evening breeze.

A moment of silence followed.

Then, five figures slowly emerged from the shadows at the edge of the ruins.

The man in the lead was over forty years old and had a burly build.

His aura was sharp as a knife, and with each step he took, the scorched earth beneath his feet exploded with fine lightning.

Lin Zhenting.

The head of the Lin family, a lightning-type S-rank awakener, awakened in the same year as Liu Mingxuan twenty years ago, and was recognized as the strongest fighter in that year.

Behind him were four elite guards from the Lin family, all at least A-rank. At this moment, all five of them stared at Jiang Chen, their expressions varying—shock, apprehension, disbelief, and deep fear.

They certainly have reason to be afraid.

The Liu family mansion covers an area of ​​100 acres, has been passed down for three generations, has more than 100 guards, and the patriarch is an S-level expert who has been famous for 20 years.

Overnight, it was razed to the ground.

Looking across the entire Jiangzhou, there are indeed forces capable of doing this, but those forces are all Awakened families with a history spanning centuries and profound foundations, and they no longer operate openly.

But the boy in front of us is a well-known person without superpowers. But now, the judgment of this person should be different.

Lin Zhenting stared intently at Jiang Chen, his body crackling with electricity.

He received news that something had happened at the Liu family and immediately led his men there. Along the way, he considered countless possibilities: an invasion by a foreign enemy? An internal rebellion? An awakened beast tide? Until intelligence told him that the Liu family had brought Jiang Chen to their home today, he figured it must be because of the previous bombing.

Even so, Lin Zhenting at the time did not connect this variable with Jiang Chen.

But now...

That incompetent person who was ridiculed by the whole world.

The murderer whom his son hated to the core.

That insignificant person he originally planned to deal with personally in a few days.

At this moment, he stood right in front of him, while behind him, flames soared into the sky.

Lin Zhenting took a deep breath, suppressing his shock. Having weathered many storms, he quickly regained his composure and asked in a low voice, "Jiang Chen? Did you do all this?"

His voice carried on the night wind, exuding the unique aura of an S-class Awakened.