The colossal mountain, heaped from several mineral stars, rivaled a small life-star in size, certainly no diminutive mass, its weight even exceeding that of most life-stars.

From within the mountain, distinct sounds of crushing and violent roars now emanated. The Chen family members watched the shifting mining area with apprehension, each guessing at the chaos unfolding inside.

"Retreat! Everyone fall back!"

Chen Rong and Chen Lei shrieked in unison, urging the clansmen away from the mining zone. Every face among the Chen family paled, instinctively backing away at high speed.

As they retreated, the commotion inside the mine grew more terrifying. Huge boulders were being blasted skyward, yet they strangely vanished. The onlookers watched in horror as the massive mining area, constructed from several meteorites and mineral stars, began to visibly shrink!

Looking closer, they realized it wasn't shrinking; rather, rocks were simply disappearing, as if an overly corpulent man were undergoing rapid liposuction, swiftly emaciating. This was clearly deeply unsettling.

Everything surpassed the Chen family's comprehension. Bewildered, they could only flee further, terrified of being caught in the fallout and vanishing as inexplicably as the stones.

Soon, the once enormous mining area had reduced its volume by nearly threefold! It was only then that countless fine spatial fissures began to manifest internally, through which many vanishing stones could be dimly seen.

"Chen family, retreat a hundred li away!" Shi Yan's voice suddenly boomed out, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Chen Rong froze, a flicker of hesitation crossing his mind.

"Patriarch," an avaricious elder from the Chen family couldn't help but murmur, his eyes blazing toward the mine, "There might be a supreme treasure inside! This must be the sign of a major treasure about to emerge. That mining area belongs to our Chen family; him ordering us to stand aside clearly shows he intends to monopolize the great treasure!"

Hearing this, more Chen family members felt their hearts stir, their gaze towards the mine growing fanatical. Such is human nature: when life is threatened, one thinks only of survival. Yet, once personal safety is assured, wicked thoughts germinate, sprout, and cloud judgment.

At this moment, many Chen clansmen believed a supreme treasure was about to surface, and they felt it should belong to the Chen family.

Chen Rong, too, became irresolute, torn between obeying the order to leave and staying to see the outcome, perhaps negotiating with Shi Yan to demand a share of the forthcoming treasure. At least... a taste of the spoils? he subconsciously thought.

He already knew that Laiteka and the God Clan members had all been slain, but he did not know Shi Yan was the one who destroyed them. Since Shi Yan appeared to be only at the first heaven of the Origin God realm and hadn't disclosed his identity, coupled with the Chen family's traditionally closed intelligence network, Chen Rong erroneously assumed someone else had eliminated Laiteka.

Consequently, he did not harbor bone-deep terror toward Shi Yan. With his life no longer in immediate danger, the temptation of the supreme treasure made him somewhat lose self-control.

"Retreat!" Chen Lei snapped, the scarred planes of her face twisting with extreme urgency. She possessed far greater foresight than Chen Rong. She knew Shi Yan's terrifying nature, screaming, "Obey him! Otherwise, you will bring utter disaster upon the Chen family!"

"That treasure should belong to our Chen family! At least, we should know what it is, and at least... take a small share?" The instigator spoke again, glaring coldly at Chen Lei. "Are you perhaps taken with that man? Don't delude yourself; with your looks, it's impossible!"

The words struck Chen Lei, leaving her utterly cold. She looked at him in disbelief. "Uncle Hongda, how could you say such a thing?"

Chen Hong, a second heaven of the Void God realm and a senior figure in the clan, kept his expression hard. "Is it not true? If you weren't smitten with him, why would you constantly defend him? Why haven't you considered fighting for the Chen family's interests? You were the one who brought him here, weren't you?"

Many Chen family members also looked at Chen Lei with surprise. Aside from those who had long followed her and the mine slaves working at the site, the other Chen clansmen wore expressions of suspicion, their faces grim. They suspected Chen Lei had discovered the great treasure while overseeing the mine and traded it for Shi Yan’s help in eliminating the God Clan overseers.

Chen Lei looked at their faces and eyes, her heart turning to ash. Her final gaze fixed on Chen Rong. "There are some people we simply cannot afford to offend. For the sake of the Chen family, I hope you will consider this gravely."

"I know what I'm doing," Chen Rong frowned. "We will just observe from a distance, see what supreme treasure emerges, and try our best to claim something. If we truly can't... then so be it." Chen Rong's eyes flickered.

"Things that should belong to our Chen family—even if he is tyrannical, he should at least let us sip some of the broth?" Chen Hong licked his lips.

Chen Lei despaired. She wasn't foolish; she saw the avarice in Chen Rong's heart. Now that the threat from the God Clan was gone, Chen Rong yearned to stretch his muscles, and this "supreme treasure" presented a massive opportunity.

"If you trust me, leave with me," she sighed mournfully, turning and walking away with an expression of utter hopelessness.

Many mine slaves and the guards who followed her departed in silence, trailing her until they were completely gone.

Chen Rong and the remaining Chen family members withdrew slightly, yet still stared fixedly toward the mining area—they had not retreated the full hundred li as Shi Yan commanded.

"Patriarch!" Chen Hong gazed greedily ahead. "When a supreme treasure emerges, there are often celestial anomalies. That person... is only a first-heaven Origin God. Activating the treasure will consume immense energy. Should we...?"

"Silence!" Chen Rong sharply rebuked him.

Chen Hong scrutinized him for a few moments, his mind shifting slightly. He nodded repeatedly in compliance, but he had already made up his mind internally.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The mining zone continued its violent transformation. Gradually, clusters of clouds floated in from the far distance, settling above the mine. Thunder and lightning roared within the clouds, and arcs of lightning shot out from the mine's interior, enveloping the area in a tempestuous chaos of energy.

Amidst the thunder and lightning, a massive, silver, dragon-shaped skeletal frame gradually emerged. The thick stones covering the bones were all precious Wind-Thunder Stones, which shattered and scattered around.

Shi Yan and Ouyang Luoshuang, both appearing as balls of light enveloped in dazzling radiance, their true forms obscured, hovered above the silver draconic skeleton, constantly shifting positions as if meticulously examining something.

"This, this is! This is!" Chen Hong stuttered, staring at the gigantic dragon skeleton in overwhelming shock, unable to form a complete sentence.

"A skeleton of at least a Rank Thirteen Demon Beast! Heavens, the lightning power emanating from that skeleton is simply... simply world-shaking! This is absolutely a supreme treasure! An unimaginable supreme treasure!" One of the Chen family members couldn't help but shriek.

"Patriarch!" Chen Hong looked at Chen Rong, his eyes burning with undisguised greed.

Chen Rong's heart was also moved; his gaze heatedly fixed on the skeleton of the Primordial Thunder Dragon. Suddenly, he spoke in a deep voice, "Sir, this territory is guarded by my Chen family. Our family has overseen this place for thousands of years; the mountain belongs to us. I beg you, considering the Chen family's long period of hardship, grant our family just a tiny fraction of that demon body's skeleton. The entire Chen family will be eternally grateful!"

Within the sphere of light, Shi Yan paused, looked towards Chen Rong from a distance, and frowned. "I told you to retreat a hundred li. Did you not hear me?"

"This is my Chen family's domain; are we not allowed to stay and observe?" Chen Hong snapped.

Shi Yan looked at him strangely from afar. In a voice laced with profound mockery, he stated, "So, it's avarice for treasure. Truly laughable. A group of ants who barely survived are immediately plagued by greedy thoughts, trying to compete for food with an elephant. Heh heh."

As his words faded, a shaft of moonlight shot out from Ouyang Luoshuang's light sphere, striking Chen Hong like a falling meteor. Chen Hong instantly shattered like brittle glass; his divine body exploded, dying before he even comprehended the swiftness of his end.

Chen Rong shuddered, then jolted violently back to his senses, screaming, "We're leaving now!" He had never anticipated such ruthlessness. He thought he could bargain, that the opponent would be severely weakened while activating the supreme treasure, offering him a sliver of opportunity. But now, he was filled with regret, intense regret!

"I will clear them out for you. You focus on what you're doing," Ouyang Luoshuang called out sharply. Her form, like moonlight, suddenly swept over. Immediately, countless flows of lunar light descended like feathered arrows. Those remaining Chen family members who had lingered were successively blasted into fragments by her, pulverized into pieces.

Shi Yan let out a wry smile, not sparing the fallen Chen family members a second glance. He said casually, "Then I thank you. It saves me from being distracted." With that, he resumed channeling his profound principles, systematically dissolving the remaining stone fragments clinging to the Primordial Thunder Dragon, allowing the creature's true skeletal form to be fully revealed.

"We were wrong! We were wrong! Please spare us!" Chen Rong shrieked heart-wrenchingly, begging desperately. In this moment, he realized that throughout his life, he was nowhere near as insightful as his sister, Chen Lei. He knew he had misjudged yet again.

It was too late. Shi Yan paid him no mind, and where Shi Yan was silent, Ouyang Luoshuang would not cease her actions. In her eyes, the Chen family's recent behavior was utterly despicable. Exterminating those greedy and shameless remnants was a necessary act of clarity, purifying her state of mind. Thus, Chen Rong and the others were fated to die one by one.

Far in the distance, Chen Lei and a group of ragged figures watched from afar as the moonlight shot out like arrows. Grief etched her face, her heart tearing, yet she gritted her teeth and commanded sternly, "None of you are to go closer!"

"Lady Lei!" A guard shouted fiercely.

"I beg you, leave some lineage for the Chen family, don't go there to die," Chen Lei clutched her chest. "This is their self-sought demise. I told them long ago that some people are not to be provoked; the moment they harbored greed instead of gratitude, their end was sealed."

Her words brought silence to her company. They knew that before the God Clan enslaved them, Chen Rong and Chen Hong were hardly paragons. It was only after prolonged subjugation that their disposition softened, but once the God Clan's pressure vanished, their true nature began to reassert itself, leading them back to their old ways. This time, however, they had encountered someone far more ruthless and cold-blooded than the God Clan. Their tragedy was thus predetermined.

... (To be continued) RQ