On the mountain where the Tian family resided, Li Xiaotian appeared halfway up the slope, a few hundred meters from the Tian family manor.
Li Xiaotian gauged the direction and his demonic sword materialized in his hand. He swiftly swung it towards the ground.
In the blink of an eye, a hole appeared. He couldn't enter the underground palace directly, but he could choose to go in from beneath.
This method would take some time, but with Li Xiaotian's strength and the demonic sword's sharpness, digging an underground passage wouldn't take long.
The demonic sword hummed, as if it had a consciousness, exhibiting a trace of resistance. It was a top-grade Heavenly Soldier, and its first action after ten thousand years was to dig a hole.
Li Xiaotian disguised the entrance and then entered, continuing to dig.
After about ten minutes, a commotion suddenly erupted from the Tian family manor, followed by a terrifying aura.
Li Xiaotian, who was digging, smiled coldly upon sensing this. It seemed the Tian family had discovered the guard's body.
This was good. It would make them nervous, and hopefully, draw out the Tian family ancestor, leaving him with no obstacles when entering the underground palace.
Ignoring the commotion outside, Li Xiaotian continued digging. He sensed some life fluctuations and knew he must be close to the underground palace.
A few more minutes passed, and with a soft sound, Li Xiaotian immediately stopped. Before him was a black wall.
Li Xiaotian smiled, carefully sensing the activity inside. There were people within!
He resisted the urge to immediately break open the palace, then moved towards another direction, all the while carefully sensing the movements inside.
Only after finding a place where no one was did he prepare to breach the palace.
"Ding!" With a light sound, Li Xiaotian looked at the black wall before him with surprise, his heart filled with astonishment.
Although he hadn't used any energy just now, merely a casual stab with the demonic sword, it was known that the demonic sword was a top-grade Heavenly Soldier. In terms of sharpness alone, it could break through anything.
Li Xiaotian examined the wall before him closely and then his heart leaped. This was a material comparable to a Heavenly Soldier. He couldn't help but feel shocked.
A single Tian family had the luxury of using materials capable of forging Heavenly Soldiers to construct a palace!
No wonder they went to such great lengths to move the entire Tian family manor. They were reluctant to part with these materials!
At the same time, Li Xiaotian frowned. With the Tian family's strength, it seemed impossible for them to possess such precious materials.
It appeared that the Tian family truly harbored a great secret, just as he had suspected.
"Hum!" Li Xiaotian channeled a trace of energy and swung the demonic sword. This time, the black wall parted like paper, easily cleaved by the demonic sword.
As soon as he broke through the palace wall, Li Xiaotian smelled a faint scent of blood. It was very subtle; if not for Li Xiaotian having cultivated blood sea techniques, he likely wouldn't have noticed it.
It was a room only about five to six square meters in size. There was only a bed inside, and the furnishings were very simple.
Li Xiaotian frowned. This was a prison. He carefully sensed everything in the room. The room had clearly been cleaned, but some areas still had residual bloodstains, and the blood scent was still very fresh, suggesting that a prisoner had been held here recently.
It seemed to be only King level strength. Li Xiaotian deduced the owner's strength from the blood scent.
The Tian family had imprisoned a King level martial artist here, Li Xiaotian murmured inwardly, then scanned the surroundings with his mind.
The situation around him instantly appeared in his mind. This was a prison, and besides the cell he was in, there were people imprisoned in all the other cells.
What was the Tian family doing? Li Xiaotian was filled with confusion. The strength of the people imprisoned in these cells was very weak, the strongest being at the peak King level, and the weakest were like ordinary people.
Li Xiaotian's expression gradually grew grim. He had a bad feeling about this. With the Tian family's power, if these imprisoned people were their enemies, they would have killed them long ago. It was redundant to imprison them with such effort.
More importantly, all these people were modern people!
A few minutes later, Li Xiaotian captured a Tian family guard and quickly searched his memories.
Instantly, Li Xiaotian's expression turned grim, and his entire body was filled with killing intent.
"Tian family, you deserve to die!" Li Xiaotian whispered, his killing intent growing stronger.
When demonic beasts devoured humans, it was instinct, so Li Xiaotian harbored little animosity towards them; it was merely a difference in stance.
However, what the Tian family had done was more brutal than any demonic beast, and they could not even be called human!
This underground palace held hundreds of people, all of them modern individuals secretly captured by the Tian family and imprisoned here.
But they all had one thing in common: after the great changes in the world, their bloodlines had been activated. Like Ye Qingmei, they were descendants of invincible powerhouses.
The Tian family captured these individuals, forcing them to cultivate continuously. When someone reached the peak King level, the Tian family would extract the essence and blood from their bodies containing the invincible bloodline.
In essence, the Tian family treated these people like livestock, raising them and waiting for someone to become a peak King before harvesting them.
Li Xiaotian's face was grim as he tried his best to control himself, fearing he might lose control and go on a killing spree.
The most important thing now was to rescue his daughter and expose everything that had happened here.
The Tian family's actions had crossed the bottom line for humanity. Once news of this incident spread, someone would surely come to deal with the Tian family!
Li Xiaotian moved quickly. With one guard missing, he was sure the Tian family would discover it soon, and his time was limited.
Li Xiaotian arrived at a room. This room was different from the prison cells; it was spacious, with over a dozen young figures lying inside. Perhaps the Tian family considered these children not a threat, so they were confined together.
In the room, Li Xiaotian's daughter, Tiantian, slept on her small bed. Her face was pale, and her small body was curled up, trembling slightly.
Seeing this, Li Xiaotian's heart ached fiercely. He should have come sooner.
Li Xiaotian gently picked up Tiantian. As if sensing something, Tiantian happened to open her eyes at that moment.
Feeling someone pick her up, Tiantian initially trembled with fear. But upon seeing the person's face, she froze.
"Are you Daddy?" Tiantian asked timidly, her eyes flickering with expectation and fear. She was afraid it was a dream.
"Tiantian, my good daughter, Daddy is late!"
Li Xiaotian whispered, hugging his daughter tightly. His heart ached as if it were bleeding, thinking how long his daughter had endured this hell.
"Daddy is sorry, Tiantian."
Li Xiaotian gritted his teeth tightly. He was not a qualified father!
"Daddy, are you really Daddy?" Tiantian asked softly, wanting to recognize Li Xiaotian, but also afraid it wasn't real. No one could imagine what she had been through in the past six months at such a young age.