Upon stepping outside the hall, the Fu Family's inner citadel was already completely empty. Not a single person remained — only patches of bloodstains on the ground bore witness to what had occurred.
It seemed the direct-line cultivators of the Fu Family had truly been wiped out entirely. Even their corpses had been reduced to drifting ash.
However, some cultivators flew up on their artifacts to hover high above the Fu Family citadel and scanned the surroundings. They quickly discovered that the ordinary mortals and lower-ranked outer-line disciples living in the outer citadel, some distance away, were still alive and unharmed.
They appeared to have no inkling of the catastrophe that had befallen the inner citadel and went about their business as usual.
It seemed the perpetrator either disdained these people as beneath his notice, or felt that exterminating the direct line was sufficient to effectively end the Fu Family for good.
Having witnessed such a shocking upheaval, these cultivators naturally dared not linger here any longer.
The majority of rogue cultivators immediately mounted their artifacts and fled the area.
The remainder exchanged a few hushed words before departing one by one as well.
The annihilation of the Fu Family — whether to those on friendly terms or those who had been hostile — was an event of tremendous consequence.
Once word spread, a storm of turmoil was all but inevitable!
Moreover, two Protectors of the Mo Flame Gate had perished here as well. Regardless of whether the person who had destroyed the Fu Family was truly a Nascent Soul cultivator, the Mo Flame Gate would certainly take some form of action!
What these cultivators needed to do was carry the news back to their respective families and sects as quickly as possible, so they could seize the advantage in the coming upheaval or prepare in advance for whatever situations might arise.
But shortly after the last few cultivators had hastily departed the Fu Family citadel, a group of unfamiliar green-robed cultivators arrived from outside, making their way into Purple Dao Mountain at a leisurely pace.
When they saw the Fu Family citadel standing with its restrictions thrown open and no one to manage them, they were struck with bewilderment.
By now, the outer-line disciples in the outer citadel had finally discovered the catastrophe in the inner citadel, and the entire Fu Family citadel descended into chaos.
Seeing the Qi Condensation cultivators below clamoring in every direction, each one panicking and beside himself, the green-robed cultivators still hovering above the citadel exchanged glances of mutual consternation.
The news that the Fu Family — the foremost clan in all of Yuanwu Country — had been exterminated by a mysterious Nascent Soul cultivator in a single day spread throughout the entire Yuanwu Country cultivation world within a matter of days.
Every faction in Yuanwu Country, large and small, was thrown into an uproar.
Since two Mo Flame Gate Protectors who had come to offer birthday congratulations had also met their end in the debacle, the Mo Flame Gate's leadership flew into a rage. They dispatched large numbers of men to hunt for the mysterious killer and publicly declared that the sect's Nascent Soul ancestor wished to meet this expert who so brazenly disregarded the Mo Flame Gate.
Anyone with discerning eyes could see at a glance that the Mo Flame Gate was more likely than not posturing — that the whole matter would probably fizzle out without resolution.
After all, according to those cultivators who had witnessed the events, these two Mo Flame Gate Protectors had been far too close to the Fu Family. They had then recklessly thrown themselves forward without any regard for their own safety, only to run straight into a Nascent Soul cultivator seeking vengeance. That could only be considered their own misfortune.
One had to remember that after the Nascent Soul cultivator destroyed the Fu Family, he simply brushed himself off and left Yuanwu Country immediately. Even with all its influence, how could the Mo Flame Gate possibly track down the killer?
Furthermore, once a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul stage, defeating one was manageable enough, but killing or trapping a Nascent Soul cultivator was extraordinarily difficult. Without three or four fellow Nascent Soul cultivators joining forces, or the deployment of some powerful restrictive formations, the idea was not even worth entertaining.
The Mo Flame Gate could never possibly mobilize that many Nascent Soul cultivators just to avenge two Core Formation Protectors. And even if they were willing, those old monsters at the Nascent Soul stage would not lightly take action over something like this.
Even so, the entire cultivation world of the Yuanwu Kingdom was still shaken by this event to a considerable degree.
The spirit mines, marketplaces, and other benefits that the Fu family had occupied would naturally once again be carved up and redistributed among the various powers.
However, this had little to do with Han Li.
Rather than leaving the Yuanwu Kingdom early as others had expected, he appeared days later atop an inconspicuous, nameless little hill.
Enveloped in a faint green glow, he hovered in the air, gazing blankly at the mist-shrouded slopes of the hill below, a faint look of nostalgia on his face.
"It's been over a hundred years. Nothing has changed here at all. But since the restrictions still exist, does that mean another cultivator has claimed this place?" Han Li muttered a few words to himself, his expression unchanged.
After using the flying swords transformed from his three-colored Gold Devouring Beetles to annihilate the cultivators of the Fu family fortress that day, Han Li had taken the severed head of the Fu family patriarch and flown directly here — to the nameless little hill where Xin Ruyin had once lived in seclusion.
Back then, he had considered himself a friend of both Xin Ruyin and Qi Yunxiao. Now that he had avenged them both, he intended to use the Fu family patriarch's head as a brief offering here, finally bringing this matter to a proper close.
But to his complete surprise, Xin Ruyin's former dwelling appeared to have been occupied by other cultivators, and a trace of suspicion rose in Han Li's heart.
After a brief moment of thought, Han Li descended and flew directly toward the restrictions guarding the hillside.