My little sect, which disappeared a thousand years ago, has become a sacred site!

That was the only relatively flat area in the entire ruins of the Wei family mansion.

At this moment, only one figure remained on the open ground.

She was a little girl who looked only seven or eight years old.

She wore tattered clothes that were already stained beyond recognition with blood and dust. Her small body was curled up, kneeling on the ground, trembling incessantly.

She seemed to want to shrink herself down and become less noticeable.

Her face was covered in blood and tears, and her eyes were empty and desperate, like a frightened young animal on the verge of collapse.

She had several deep wounds that exposed bone, and her breath was extremely weak; she was barely holding on by a survival instinct.

Around her lay the bodies of several adults, their postures suggesting they had all died trying to protect her in their final moments.

The ten Tianxiao Sect cultivators seemed to have finished "sweeping" and were gathering in the center of the open space from all directions.

The black-robed elder at the head of the group, a mid-stage Mahayana cultivator, swept his sinister gaze across the entire barrier, confirming that apart from the trembling little girl kneeling on the ground, there was no other sign of life.

A cruel yet satisfied smile appeared on his face as he slowly walked towards the little girl.

Spiritual energy began to gather in his hands, clearly intending to deliver a fatal blow to this last "escaped fish" before quickly retreating.

Just as the old man in black robes was about to strike—

In the center of the open space, the space beside the little girl rippled slightly like water.

The next instant, a figure in black appeared silently, standing between the little girl and the old man in black robes.

There were no fluctuations of spiritual energy, no traces of spatial tearing, and not even a wisp of wind.

The black-robed old man's pupils suddenly contracted, and his steps came to an abrupt halt!

His hair stood on end, and a strong sense of crisis instantly gripped his heart!

"Who goes there?!"

He shouted sharply, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible surprise.

The other nine Tianxiao Sect cultivators reacted instantly, quickly forming a battle formation to surround Gu Changyuan and the little girl, their eyes filled with vigilance and horror.

None of the ten of them noticed this person approaching beforehand! How did he enter the barrier?!

Gu Changyuan ignored the Tianxiao Sect cultivators around him who were on high alert, and didn't even turn around to look at them.

He slowly bent his right knee, kneeling on one knee, so that his height was level with that of the huddled, trembling little girl.

Then, he stretched out his right hand, palm up, in front of the little girl.

His movements were light and slow, carrying a gentleness and tranquility that seemed out of place in the surrounding bloody purgatory.

He looked into the little girl's eyes, filled with fear and despair, almost unfocused, and spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, but it carried a strange, serene power that could penetrate all noise and fear:

"Would you like to leave with me?"

It is not an order, nor an act of charity, but rather an invitation to choose.

The little girl, who was originally immersed in boundless fear and sorrow, seemed to be awakened by this sudden, calm and gentle voice.

Her empty eyes shifted slightly, focusing on the clean, slender, outstretched palm in front of her.

It was as if a drowning person had grasped at the last straw, or as if they had seen a glimmer of light in the endless darkness.

The little girl's body stopped trembling violently. With the last bit of strength in her body, she placed her small hands, covered in blood and dirt, trembling yet incredibly firm, in Gu Changyuan's palm.

Then, she raised her head, her empty eyes, which had finally regained a faint glimmer of light, looked at Gu Changyuan, and squeezed out a very weak but incredibly clear response from deep within her throat:

"Um."

Before she could finish speaking, her tense mind finally relaxed, and her body, which had been holding on, lost its last bit of strength. She fell forward limply like a puppet with its strings cut.

Gu Changyuan caught her petite and light body steadily, feeling the faint breath of life coming from his arms.

He carefully held her in his arms and slowly stood up.

Only then did he turn around, his gaze calmly sweeping over the ten Tianxiao Sect cultivators who surrounded him, their expressions filled with surprise and uncertainty.

"This person belongs to someone else." Gu Changyuan's voice was calm and indifferent. "You can all get out of here."

"Arrogant!"

"presumptuous!"

"Where did this arrogant fool come from! Daring to interfere in the affairs of my Heavenly Cloud Sect?!"

After a brief moment of shock, the members of the Tianxiao Sect were enraged! They had roamed the Southern and Northern Regions, committing countless acts of annihilation and massacre, and had never been so looked down upon before.

Gu Changyuan sighed softly, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes: "Since that's the case, then, all of you, go to hell."

The moment the words fell, before the ten cultivators of the Heavenly Firmament Sect could even react, an invisible force swept across the entire area.

"Pfft—Pfft—"

A series of crisp cutting sounds rang out, and the bodies of ten cultivators were neatly cut in half at the same time.

Their upper bodies crashed heavily to the ground, blood gushing out, and as they lay there, they felt their life force rapidly draining away.

The ten Mahayana and Integration cultivators who had just been so aggressive and disregarded human life now stared wide-eyed, their pupils filled with endless shock, bewilderment, and the deep-seated fear and regret that they finally realized before their deaths.

They couldn't even see how the other party made their move! They didn't sense even a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation.

What kind of terrifying being is this? Why... would it appear here?!

Unfortunately, their questions will never be answered.

Life force vanished rapidly like a burst dam, the sparkle in his eyes dimmed quickly, and finally died out completely.

Gu Changyuan didn't even look at the ten rapidly cooling corpses; he simply raised his right foot and lightly stomped on the ground.

An invisible force swept over.

The ten corpses, along with the blood and severed limbs that were sprayed everywhere, vanished without a trace in an instant.

Having done all this, Gu Changyuan, holding the sleeping little girl in his arms, took a step forward, and his figure disappeared from within the barrier.

Almost at the same time he left, Su Yunhao led a group of experts from the Su family and finally arrived outside the barrier.

Their expressions were grave as they prepared to join forces to attack the barrier and force their way in to investigate.

Just then, the space around them rippled slightly, and Gu Changyuan appeared out of thin air beside them, holding an unconscious little girl.