Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Alvin's pupils trembled violently, his mind going completely blank.

That was the accumulated foundation of Moon Goddess Temple, built up over generations!

Dozens of Immortals, plus seven Quasi-Ascendant Lords — aside from the Grand Elder in seclusion, this was the absolute peak of the entire Sect's fighting force!

And it was all gone, just like that, with one casual palm strike?

Brad's legs gave out beneath him, and he dropped to his knees hard in the pool of blood.

His whole body shook, a suspicious wet stain spreading across the front of his pants — an utterly pathetic sight.

This was the enforcement elder who had just been screaming about turning people into mincemeat, and now he couldn't even lift his head.

"Spare... spare me..."

Brad's teeth chattered so hard he could barely get a full sentence out.

He finally understood why Mira had said coming down the mountain was a death sentence.

They hadn't picked a fight with some ordinary person. They had provoked a demon so far above them they had no right to even look up at him.

Endless regret crashed over him like a wave, swallowing him whole.

That pitiful Sect pride of theirs — in the face of absolute power, it was nothing but a sick joke.

Too bad he figured that out way too late.

Victor didn't even bother glancing at Brad. He walked straight toward Alvin, stepping through the blood-soaked floor.

The sharp sound of each footstep hit like a death knell.

Alvin kept backing away until his shoulders slammed into the cold wall behind him — nowhere left to go.

"Stay back!" His voice cracked, raw with terror.

"What the hell are you?"

Victor stopped right in front of him, a calm smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I said it when I walked in the door." He flicked his nails casually. "I'm the one who came here to kill you."

Alvin's last mental wall crumbled. His knees buckled and he dropped to the floor at Victor's feet, every last shred of his Palace Master dignity gone.

"Don't kill me! I was wrong! Moon Goddess Temple should never have crossed you!"

He clutched Victor's leg and broke into desperate, sobbing pleas.

"I'll hand you the Palace Master position! Everything in the Sect's treasury is yours!"

"Just let me live — I'll be your servant, whatever you want!"

The Palace Master of Moon Goddess Temple had been reduced to a dog begging for scraps.

Sect dignity, a thousand-year legacy — none of it meant anything when death was staring him in the face.

But even so, Victor had no intention of letting him go.

"Too late," Victor said quietly.

Then he brought his palm down onto Alvin's head.

A surge of violent Qi tore through Alvin in an instant, snuffing out his life force entirely.

The mighty Palace Master of Moon Goddess Temple died on the spot, his eyes frozen wide open.

Seeing this, Brad spun around and bolted.

He hadn't made it more than a few steps before Victor knocked him flat.

"I heard you gave the order to cripple my limbs first, then drag me back to Moon Goddess Temple to be executed by slow dismemberment. That right?"

Brad slammed his forehead against the floor. "No, no, that wasn't me — that was Alvin's order, not mine!"

Victor let out a quiet sigh. "Is that so? Then I'll at least make it quick."

He tapped his foot lightly against Brad's vital point.

Brad let out a muffled grunt and crumpled at the entrance of the Drunken Sage Tavern, still and silent.

With everything handled, Victor pulled out his phone and called Mira.

"Deputy Palace Master Collins? Alvin and the others are all dead. Send someone to the Drunken Sage Tavern to clean things up."

Mira sighed on the other end. "Mr. Ashford, the people who came down the mountain with Alvin were never going to make it back anyway. I'll get someone over there right away."

"Also, the people who persecuted the Wells family in Riverton all those years ago..."

"They're all in there too."

"Good. What about the Fire Spirit Core?"

"About that — the orb is hidden at a secret location we have in Riverton."

Victor's brow lifted slightly.

"I thought I wiped out all your locations in Riverton."

"You wiped out the ones registered on the dark web. Moon Goddess Temple has seven or eight locations that only insiders know about. Brad and the others didn't even know they existed. You can head straight there and pick it up."

Victor nodded and ended the call, then glanced at his phone.

Mira had already sent over the address.

The moment he saw it, a meaningful smile crossed his face.

"Well hidden."

He muttered to himself, then walked straight to the front door of the location.

Mira must have already given them a heads-up, because the door was unlocked and slightly ajar.

A young man in a blue robe stood respectfully outside, holding an antique lacquered box with both hands.

When Victor approached, the man bowed immediately.

"Sir, this is the Fire Spirit Core you came for."

"If you'd had this attitude from the beginning, I wouldn't have had to wipe out your Sect," Victor said flatly.

The caretaker's face fell into a look of quiet, helpless resignation.

"You're too kind. Moon Goddess Temple stopped being the healing Sect it once was a long time ago. If anything, what you did today may have been for the better."

That's when it clicked for Victor — why Brad and the others had no idea these locations existed.

The people here had kept their conscience intact. They refused to go along with the rest.

"Alright. Let me take a look at the Fire Spirit Core."

The lacquered box opened slowly.

A ruby-red orb, roughly the size of a pigeon's egg, rested quietly on a silk cushion. Its glow was subtle but alive, like something breathing beneath the surface.

The orb held an extraordinarily refined concentration of Spiritual Energy — an absolute treasure for anyone who practiced a fire-attribute Cultivation Technique.

Unfortunately, his own was water-attribute. The two were naturally opposed.

Not that it mattered. Even if he had cultivated fire, he wouldn't have touched it.

This belonged to Ruby. He wasn't going to take something that wasn't his.

He pulled out his phone and called her.

"Come to the hotel on the outskirts of the city. I have something for you."

A startled pause came from the other end.

"What did you say?"

"I found your Fire Spirit Core."

"I'll be right there." Her voice wavered slightly, trembling with disbelief and barely-contained hope.

Twenty minutes later, Ruby's car pulled up to the estate in a rush.

The moment her eyes landed on that deep red glow, they filled with tears she couldn't hold back.

She took the lacquered box with trembling hands, teardrops falling one after another onto the back of her hand.

"The Fire Spirit Core... the Wells family's Fire Spirit Core..."

She sank to her knees right there, clutching the box, sobbing without a sound.

Ten years of blood and hatred. Ten years of running and loss. In this moment, it all seemed to dissolve — as if finding this orb had quietly washed everything away.

Victor said nothing. He stood to the side and let her have her moment, letting all those years of grief and relief pour out of her at once.

It took a long while before Ruby finally cried herself quiet.

She stood up and bowed to Victor — a deep, solemn bow.

"I will never forget what you've done for me as long as I live."

"From this day on, my life is yours."

Victor waved a hand, his tone easy. "You don't have to say that. I just did what needed to be done."

"By the way — where are you planning to go from here?"

"The ones responsible for everything in Moon Goddess Temple are dead now. The rest have already fallen in line."

"They won't give you any more trouble."

Ruby shook her head gently.

"There's nothing left for me here. I'd rather come back to Atlanta with you. I'm not much good at most things, but intelligence gathering and working in the shadows — that I can do."

"I can help you deal with the Allen family."

"Alright."

Victor nodded, then brought her along as he headed to Moon Goddess Temple.

Mira was already waiting at the main gate when they arrived.

The moment Victor appeared, everyone dropped to one knee in unison.

"We greet you, my lord!"

"On your feet." Victor raised a hand slightly, his voice calm.

"Yes, my lord!"

Mira stood and glanced over at Ruby, then at the Fire Spirit Core held tightly in her hands. Something complicated passed through her eyes.

"Brad had it coming. All that evil he did — this was the only way it was ever going to end."