Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

"I told you earlier to hide first and not to hurry back. If you had listened to me, how could you have ended up like this, ah..."

A voice filled with helplessness suddenly rose from the darkness of the night, causing Lu Yuanhao to frown sharply. A flash of sharpness in his eyes, his sword movements became even faster.

Whoosh... whoosh

However, two fierce punches attacked from the right. Lu Yuanhao's back bristled, his pupils shrank suddenly, and the longsword originally aimed at Tian Honglu's neck abruptly changed direction, blocking his side as the Protective Gang Qi surged out.

Bang...

It appeared to be a collision between a fist and a longsword, but in fact, it was a clash between two forms of Gang Qi. In an instant, dust flew around, and the noise was terrifying.

Lu Yuanhao was forced back a good three to five meters. He looked up at the overly refined-looking young man opposite him and a hint of fear arose in his pupils.

"Who is this? State your name."

The young man in white retracted his fist, his left hand slowly moving behind his back. Lifting his head, he revealed a refined and amiable smile, looking at Lu Yuanhao.

"Zhaoyang... Hou Yuduan!"

......

At the Third Watch of the Hai Hour, in Zhaoyang City, on Pingyang Street.

This place was about three miles from the East City Gate. At the center of the street was a square approximately two miles square, and right now over five hundred people were crowding the square.

Hou Fei, leading thirty riders from the Upper Hou Gate's Kui Sector, stood at the forefront. Behind him were Hou Ying and Hou Cun, leading over a hundred people from the Lower Hou Sect's twelve sections. Although they had no horses, all were dressed in black, stern-faced, their presence in the darkness quite formidable.

In the square, aside from the people of the Hou Family, another three hundred or so people had gathered. They all had a vital energy about them, some strong and some weak, but the important thing was that they were all martial artists.

"Fourth Master, we have gathered three hundred seventy-two martial artists from Changle Street and Dongkang Street, including over fifty from the Green Wolf Gang. Everyone is here!"

Hou Yujie nodded slightly. He already knew the number of martial artists present by briefly sensing how many streams of vital energy were there, but only Hou Fei could confirm their names and cultivation status.

"Not a single Warrior of the Tenth Level of Body Opening. There are three at the ninth level, six at the eighth level, thirteen at the seventh level, and sixteen at the sixth level. I won't even mention the rest—there are a total of three hundred and eight warriors from the first to third levels!"

Hou Yujie's eyebrows furrowed immediately. He had long known that the strength of Zhaoyang County was lacking, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad.

Out of a total count of 372, there were 308 warriors at levels one to three. There were only 38 above the sixth level, meaning there were only 26 warriors between the fourth and sixth levels.

They were supposed to defend the city, and such weakness would not do!

"Fourth Master, you were too ruthless when you called people over earlier. If you hadn't killed those five, we would have had five more eightfold martial artists by now..."

Hou Fei showed a helpless expression. The Family Head had ordered them to gather the city's martial artists, and those martial artists were each more defiant than the last, hardly the type to meekly follow their recruitment.

Besides, with a great battle raging outside the city, the purpose of the Hou Family's gathering was obvious. These people were well aware of it, and many were even packing up their valuables to flee. They had no intention of listening to them.

So, Hou Yujie made an example of a few to force compliance!

"If I hadn't killed those five, would these three hundred-plus be squatting here obediently? What use is strength if they won't follow orders? When one needs to be killed, kill them, otherwise, once we reach the East City Gate, they won't be there to help us defend but to cause trouble..."

A faint cold light flickered in Hou Yujie's eyes, his gaze sweeping over the more than three hundred people below. Many with anger on their faces lowered their heads under his scrutiny.

Rumble... rumble...

Suddenly, the ground shook. Everyone turned to look as, at the end of Feiyun Street, more than a dozen riders led a crowd of over two hundred people rushing towards them. Leading them were Gao Cheng and Gao Hu from Happy Forest.

"Fourth Master, the remaining fifty-two members of Flying Eagle Sect, plus ninety-eight of us from Happy Forest, as well as one hundred and fifty-two wandering martial artists from around Feiyun Street, a total of three hundred and two have all arrived!

"I am the only Warrior of the Tenth Level of Body Opening. There is Gao Hu at the ninth level, four at the eighth level, nine at the seventh level, eleven at the sixth level, and out of the remaining 276, only 19 have a cultivation above the fourth level. The other 257 have a cultivation between the first and third levels."

This strength was even worse than that of Changle Street and Dongkang Street combined!

Adding 302 to 372, and including the 194 people from the Hou Family, the total came to 868 people.

Hou Yujie's brow furrowed as he looked around at everyone, calculating everyone's cultivation in his mind. A shadow spread across his face.

"Fourth Master, the Third Watch of the Hai Hour is almost over. The Family Head might already be waiting at the East City Gate. Shall we set off now?"

Hearing Hou Fei step forward to ask, Hou Yujie looked up at the moon's position in the sky and nodded firmly. Hou Fei immediately circulated his vital energy, turned around, and shouted at everyone.

"Everyone, head to the East City Gate!"

These martial artists were already a ragtag group, and many were unwilling to be gathered up in the middle of the night. Seeing the crowd start to move, quite a few of them began thinking unkind thoughts.

When a warrior of the Six Levels of Body Unsealing passed through an alley, his eyes darted around. Seeing that those from the Hou Family were far away, he took advantage of the shadows, leaped up, and tried to slip away.

Splat...

Unexpectedly, he lunged straight into a hidden soft sword, his neck pierced clean through. His pupils barely had time to widen in shock before he died.

Many who were stronger than him and shared his intentions witnessed this scene and shuddered.

Emerging slowly from the darkness, Hou Yujie, adorned in a dark red outfit, stood behind the soft sword.

"If anyone else dares to try to flee like him, I won't just take your life. Anyone in Zhaoyang City who has any relation to you, they will all have to die!"

Hou Yujie's voice was slightly sharp, soft yet penetrating, as if echoing in everyone's ears. Everyone trembled and swiftly followed the flow of people, heading toward the East City Gate.

As they hurried along, they even started monitoring the people beside them...

"Didn't you hear what Fourth Elder said? If one person runs away, all related will be implicated!"

Zhaoyang City is only about twenty square li in size, and although the arrival of more than eight hundred people was slightly chaotic, the distance was too short, and they quickly reached the East City Gate.

The East City Gate had already gathered a considerable number of Martial Artists, and the sight of Hou Yujie leading over eight hundred people, with their dense, vigorous qi, instantly attracted everyone's attention.

"That's the People of the Hou Family! Isn't that Fourth Elder leading them?"

"Why are there so many Martial Artists? What are they coming here for!"

"They're not here to defend the city, are they? What a joke, this handful of people, defending against the Mountain Sword Sect? Impossible."

"Who says they came to defend the city? Maybe... heh heh."

"You can't be serious!"

..........

Hou Yujie, looking around and seeing that at least one hundred more Martial Artists had gathered, and realizing that most of these people were Warriors of at least the Fourth Level or higher, suddenly understood why the Cultivation of the ones they had gathered was so low.

With such commotion at the East City Gate, all the more formidable Martial Artists in the city had taken advantage of the night to come early to see what was happening.

"Fourth Master, the rage of the crowd is hard to defy. The few hundred people behind us are still holding back their anger. If we offend all these onlookers as well, these more powerful individuals might lead a revolt, which could lead to an uprising!"

Hou Yujie, having just shown a fierce expression while looking at the onlookers, was interrupted by Hou Fei, who had guessed his intentions.

"I know, let's wait and see the situation first. Eldest brother should be here soon."

Hou Yujie left Hou Ying and Hou Cun, along with more than two hundred people from both the Hou Clan and Happy Forest, to continue staying below, watching the group of Martial Artists, while he himself went up the East City Wall with Gao Cheng and Hou Fei.

Seeing the thousand or so elite disciples of the Mountain Sword Sect outside the city gates, the three of them felt a chill in their hearts and a solemn look filled their eyes.

"More than a hundred Warriors above the Sixth Level, with the rest of the Sect Members all being above the Third Level, at least thirty individuals at the same Tenth Level as me, and there are five whose Cultivation I can't see through—absolutely Gang Qi Realm masters. As a third-rate power, just this group alone is enough to overwhelm the entirety of Zhaoyang County!"

Gao Cheng spoke with a hint of fear in his voice, but he wasn't scared—it was the sheer power disparity that sent chills down his spine.

Setting aside the Tenth Level Warriors, adding the 194 people from the Hou Clan, they had a total of 867 people. The Warriors above the Sixth Level only numbered 76 in total, and there were 69 Warriors above the Third Level; the remaining 722 people were all below the Third Level, with the majority being First Level Warriors.

The thousand or so Martial Artists of the Mountain Sword Sect in front of them did not have a single one below the Third Level, not to mention that there were over a hundred Warriors with Cultivation above the Sixth Level.

There was no need to compare the high-end combat power!

"The winner will be decided soon, and I'm afraid Cheng Yue is going to lose..."

Hou Yujie uttered in a low voice, and Gao Cheng and the others turned their heads to look down at the city gate tower, seeing two figures entwined in combat, their pupils immediately revealing a hint of horror...

The silhouette of the sword edge was filled within a radius of more than ten meters, the silver light shining brilliantly like an eagle spreading its wings. It was the visual effect caused by Tian Linong wielding the Three-feet Edge at such a fast speed. The sand and stones flew off the ground, multiple sword shadows filled the air, and the Sword Qi slashed by the Dan Gang Vigorous Path would create a terrifying gully five to six meters deep as soon as it hit the ground.

"The strength of the Gangqi Third Realm Bao Dan Period is too strong, this has already exceeded the realm of mortals. I'm afraid if demons came, they couldn't stop these Sword Qi either!"

"Worthy of being a Tiger List expert, Guixin Sword Tian Linong."

"So powerful, yet ranked only at 496th. Is the Righteous Path Tiger List really this terrifying!"

"Cheng Sizheng's strength is not weak either..."

In the night, exclamations echoed one after another until someone mentioned Cheng Yue, currently battling Tian Linong. Everyone turned to look at Cheng Yue and suddenly felt a chill, their eyes showing uniform admiration.

Although Cheng Yue's Enlightened Gang Qi had already been shattered by Tian Linong and he had sustained numerous injuries, the fierceness in his eyes hadn't diminished at all, standing proudly like a lone wolf in front of the city gate.

To withstand the onslaught of Tiger List expert Tian Linong for the span of three watches is an achievement that, for Cheng Yue who was not yet thirty and only at the Qi Gathering Second Realm, Collecting Evil Phase, was enough to astonish everyone present.

"After tonight, you will surely have a place on the New Star Ranking of the Demon Path!"

The remnants of Tian Linong's profound Sword Qi gradually dissipated as he let out a sincere praise.

However, this praise caused Cheng Yue's pupils to suddenly contract, and an unprecedented look of seriousness appeared on his face.

Tian Linong, holding the Three-feet Edge, drew thirteen golden sword edges in the air. The sword edges came together to form the silhouette of a golden mountain, and afterwards, with a flick in the void, the Core Essence Qi followed that light spot and suddenly surged forward, creating an eye-dazzling Sword Qi over ten meters long that came soaring through the air.

"The premise is... that you can survive!"

The sword light entered his pupils, reflecting Cheng Yue's face full of dread. Facing Tian Linong's Sword Qi, his body, already at its limit, finally felt dread. He spurred the Enlightened Gang Qi, no longer daring to block the city gate, and leapt straight up onto the city wall.

At that moment, no one dared to mock Cheng Yue. After all, of all those present, none dared to face Tian Linong directly, and to withstand for three solid watches, there was no one else but Cheng Yue.

But as Cheng Yue jumped onto the city wall, the Sword Qi also lost any blockage, and a hint of cold light appeared in Tian Linong's pupils. The Three-feet Edge pressed on relentlessly, aimed straight at the East City Gate.

The East City Gate, forged from a thousand layers of fine iron, normally could not be destroyed by an ordinary Warrior of the Gang Qi Realm, but Tian Linong, how could he be an ordinary person!

The Core Essence Qi Energy surged, the sword light carried an overwhelming force, and it roared onto the city gate.

Bang

A thunderous sound erupted, and the East City Gate fell to the ground.

At the third watch of the Hai Hour, Zhaoyang County, the gates wide open...