Chapter 2403: Chapter 2401: Take Me Away Chapter 2403: Chapter 2401: Take Me Away “You certainly have some nerve–are you truly blind to the reputation of the Monohorse Hall?”

An elderly man, slightly hunched, walked in slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. Seven or eight individuals followed him closely, and one of the Green family Elders instantly recognized Ethan Smith.

“Ethan Smith, you murdered the Saint of my Green family. No one, not even the heavens, will save you!”

His face twisted in terrifying murderous intent.

“Noise!”

With a flicker of green light, that Green family Elder’s pupils lost focus. His **Divine Soul** was obliterated instantly by Ethan’s Green Sword.

The old man acted as though he hadn’t noticed the development. Pinching his nose, he said, “Where’s that awful stench coming from? How revolting.”

“Elder Si Yun, this is the Prince of the Holmes Royal Family, the one whose offspring has already been sent to the Carney family,” said one of the Carney family cultivators in a low voice.

“Since an offspring already exists, why not just kill him outright? Why leave him to disgust others?”

Si Yun furrowed his brows deeply and stepped outside.

“Supreme Elder, he *is* of the royal family, after all. Perhaps we could extract some secrets of the Holmes Royal Family from him first,” said the Carney family cultivator softly.

“Treasures from that useless royal family? They’re no better than pigs and dogs in my eyes. If not for his ability to commune with the secrets of the Path of Heaven, I would’ve slaughtered that mutt already. Qin brat, come out and die,” Si Yun said impatiently.

“He’s a Prince of the Holmes Royal Family, just an ordinary mortal. Using such methods against him–don’t you feel filthy?”

Ethan Smith asked in quiet indignation, his voice tinged with disbelief. It was as if they had turned a person into nothing more than livestock before his eyes.

*He dared not even imagine what kind of horrors Frederick Cohen and the others had endured in the Skywater Prison at the hands of the Wilson family.*
A surging wave of fury welled up, threatening to consume him entirely.

“These people are pigs and dogs to me. When my Carney family was exterminated by members of the Demon clan, no one came forward to raise a flag or shout slogans. This is the path of cultivation. Enough with the lecture–come out and meet your death,” Si Yun remarked with impatience.

“Prince, watch carefully as I bring judgment to these swine.” Ethan said softly.

“Make your move now, or you’ll never get the chance,” he added coldly.

“Good, good! I’ve encountered my share of arrogant people in my life, but never have I seen someone of the True Saint Fourth Grade act so brashly!”

Si Yun laughed heartily, though his expression quickly hardened. Suddenly, the heavens shifted and roared into an unnatural transformation. A once cloudless blue sky turned into the depths of an impenetrable night.

A massive, luminous full moon hung low in the heavens, seemingly within arm’s reach.

The **Moonlight Power** cascaded down from above, its glow layering upon itself like radiant halos. Each thread of moonlight carried unyielding force that bore down upon Ethan’s body.

In but a thought, the **Rule of Heaven and Earth** was set in motion.

*This level of mastery–Ethan had only encountered it once before. It was when he faced Joab Banks in Black Platform city.*
*This was a Tribulation Transcending Realm of the previous Path of Heaven, utterly unlike Finlay Taylor or Chad Wilson.*
The sound of rushing wind howled.

Si Yun let a smirk slip across his face amidst the oppressive celestial landscape.

With but a thought, he vanished and appeared behind Ethan in the moonlight, his fist emanating the tremendous power of the stars as it hurtled toward Ethan’s back.

It was too fast. Within this domain governed by the Rules of Heaven and Earth, a single thought allowed Si Yun to traverse the moonlit paths. Escape was all but impossible.

Ethan countered instinctively, striking with his palm and sneering coldly. “An ‘Old Thing’ from a past Path of Heaven, and yet you’ve not even condensed your Divine Soul Statue? Strutting about with a mere first-tier Tribulation Crossing Realm–are you not ashamed?”

His voice was indifferent, yet brimming with contempt. The power Si Yun wielded was slightly stronger than the celestial artifact-wielding Finlay Taylor, but it posed no substantial threat to Ethan.

“Oh, so you’re an insolent brat through and through. Very well–I won’t kill you immediately. I’ll turn you into a writhing worm, subject you to slow, meticulous torment. In the depths of the Purgatory Ninth Layer, I have all the time and methods to make you beg for death.” Si Yun’s grin grew twisted with malice.

His body abruptly straightened as if stepping on moonlight itself. With no visible fluctuation of spiritual energy, Si Yun’s figure soared high into the celestial realm, where his fist merged with the moonlight.

For a fleeting moment, the moon’s glow seemed to intensify.

Terrible **Starforce** erupted in a violent explosion, shaking the world below. Entire patches of ground caved in slightly under its sheer might, and even a cultivator at the Peak form of True Saint Realm couldn’t withstand its immense pressure–their calves burst into blood mist in an instant.

“This technique is the Carney family’s immortal scripture’s ‘Tribulation Crossing Technique,’ known as ‘Moonlight Strike,'” Si Yun declared coldly before vanishing again, his body reappearing just before Ethan.

A punch resplendent with **Moonlight Power** barreled into Ethan.

Ethan extended his palm and grasped his wrist with the other hand. In an instant, the vast **chaotic qi** stored within him surged violently into his palm.

A swirling vortex spiraled outward, forming within the center of his hand, until a rune-like **Origin Character** emerged, indistinct and grotesquely warped.

Yet, in the very moment it appeared, all the gathered **Moonlight Power** was devoured by its consuming presence. With unrelenting speed, the Origin Character struck Si Yun, whose face twisted in abject terror.

In brief disorientation, Si Yun unleashed a desperate burst of power in an attempt to escape.

The Origin Character detonated on Si Yun’s body, wreaking havoc as the **Power of Space** coursed through him, reducing flesh and bone alike into nothing but fine powder. In the blink of an eye, the battle was decisively ended. The Monohorse Hall members barely had a chance to react before Si Yun lay sprawled on the ground like a mangled corpse, his life status indeterminate.

“What a prize–a Xuanwu Soft Armor, a mid-grade defensive divine artifact for Tribulation Crossing. No wonder it spared your life,” Ethan remarked with a cold sneer, lifting the motionless Si Yun by the collar.

“Ethan, what do you intend to do? This is the Supreme Elder of the Carney family! He’s been holding the line against the Demon clan in Purgatory, a great service to our Hominini. Are you planning to oppose the Hominini, to declare yourself an enemy of the Monohorse Hall?”

Before the words could finish, his head was violently kicked off by Salena Carpenter, dropping from the heavens like a blood-soaked melon.

Frederick Cohen descended with a grim smirk, holding a severed head–Ji Wankong’s.

“Gramps is here. What were you saying earlier? I didn’t catch it.”

“Leave no one alive,” Ethan said flatly, dragging Si Yun into the building.

“Where’s the Prince’s offspring?”

“Of course, he’s tucked away in a secret location. He’s alive, naturally. After all, we need him to produce spiritual stones. Hahaha!” Si Yun cackled madly, seemingly reeling in his defiance.

A strand of **Soul Nightmare qi** plunged into Si Yun’s **Sea of Knowledge**, transforming once inside into a ferocious ghost that began tearing voraciously at his Divine Soul.

“Ahhh!” Si Yun’s face contorted with agony as his body writhed violently on the floor.

Ethan watched coldly. *The Soul Nightmare Heart Skill offered myriad methods of torment far surpassing any physical torture. The soul and the flesh were inexorably linked–but it was the soul that suffered the brunt of pain most acutely.*
*Punishments targeting the soul–those were the truly horrific.*