Heaven, Earth, Me Chapter 1657. Fate of the Eight Guardians.

Han, Wu, Murong, Bai, Feng, Shen, Qin, and Ye families. The eight pillars of their empire, and the most influential. Having used the wealth left behind by the original eight guardians and their weight in their culture, these eight families stood at the very top of the world for over a million years.

Being at the top was not a matter of competitiveness, but a matter of course. Even in a changing society, their names re-emerged even when they sometimes faced opponents who wanted to break the status quo.

The sole reason was that they were protected by the will of the original guardians, and because, as long as they followed the base desires of those guardians, one could gain strength rapidly.

Even then, over a million years was far too long. So, beyond the aforementioned, there needed to be something else. What was this something? An interesting but also quite ingenious method.

Han, Wu, Murong, Bai, Feng, Shen, Qin, and Ye. These eight surnames were not passed down by blood. They were passed down by strength.

So, if there was a family who could take down, for example, the Han Family, they could do so and steal the surname. What was prohibited was extermination of the previous family. What was always targeted was the very top of the families.

Some people might think of abusing their surnames... and they did. Yasenia’s first encounter was proof of that. But because of the nature of the eight families, powerhouses who took over lasted for several thousand years, allowing for the civilization to keep a sense of balance.

Moreover, the duty passed down from generation to generation, and the prophecy kept the last bastion of greed in check, preventing collapse.

It was the same for the current guardians. They were powerful leaders with immense influence and were basically unmatched.

Yet these eight powerhouses and families were about to face the consequences of their arrogance.

In the Ye state, Guardian Ye returned and took over his rightful seat. As the strongest and also a guardian, the leader of the Ye Family could do nothing to prevent it. In the first place, while the guardians spent most of the time in the Guardian Tower, they were not completely absent.

So, none of their "takeovers" were forceful or unexpected. Every Immortal Level powerhouse felt the change when Yasenia and the others defeated the Abyssal Human. Seven months had passed since then, and most of the chaos had settled.

"Lady Ye, there is a visitor."

Guardian Ye frowned. "Who? I wasn’t expecting anyone."

The female guardian had a graceful figure, easily evident in her body-fitting clothes. Even then, there was a touch of an authoritarian aura about her, commanding respect from all who saw her.

Throughout the entire exchange with Yasenia’s group, she had been one of the few who chose not to act and to follow the others. Not because she was afraid, but because Murong Xianyu was something like the de facto leader.

"It is someone who names themselves..."

BANG!

The doors were flung open, and Yasenia entered with a cold face. "It is me. Couldn’t you have used your Spiritual Sense to sense something like that?"

"Bold! Who do you think you are to speak like that to Guardian Ye!"

Yasenia flicked her finger, and a powerful shockwave shot through compressed air toward the person who spoke.

With a violet explosion, that person’s head exploded, their body slumping down like a marionette whose strings were cut.

Guardian Ye froze for a moment, her previous cold face changing for a bit before returning to normal. "What might Madam Yasenia need?"

That question made the others in the room pause, their faces full of disbelief. One of her retainers was killed, yet their esteemed Guardian Ye didn’t even dare to raise her voice and continued to act respectfully.

Yasenia’s golden slit eyes glanced over to her. "I’ve come to get my due payment."

Guardian Ye asked, confused. "Didn’t you receive those treasures from the treasury?"

"Those? Those were rewards for killing the thing you couldn’t. What I want is a reward from you. You can refuse, of course."

Yasenia smiled faintly, daring her to refuse. Guardian Ye was somewhat lost, to be honest. ’What could she possibly get from me?’

Guardian Ye had seen and observed this group during the Abyssal Human hunt. Yasenia continued to approach, reaching in front of her with Anna and Eve in tow. "You have a face of someone who doesn’t know what they owe."

Guardian Ye admitted it. "Yes, Madam Yasenia. Nothing in my possession feels like it would be of help for someone of your caliber."

Yasenia chuckled. "Wrong. The thing I want is something to appease this burning feeling at the bottom of my chest. Your life."

The retainers around were stunned, looking up at Yasenia as if she were crazy. None of them dared to speak, though. They had seen the result of someone running their mouths when they shouldn’t.

Meanwhile, Guardian Ye became utterly baffled. "W-Why? I don’t recall offending Madam Yasenia?"

Yasenia glanced at her and smiled coldly. "Guardian Ye did nothing. That’s the truth. Yet, that is exactly the problem. You trapped us here. You didn’t tell us about the treasury. You didn’t try to stop your companions from interrupting with the Abyssal Human hunt. You, like the other seven, are individuals I truly can’t stand."

Guardian Ye’s heart sank, and she quickly bowed. "M-Madam Yasenia. Please, mercy."

Attacking? Resisting? Don’t joke around. Guardian Ye has seen Yasenia fight in person. Her figure overwhelming the Abyssal Human with that ultimate skill was still vivid in her mind.

Yasenia looked down without a trace of mercy. Forgive her? Why should she?

Were Yasenia not strong, she would’ve been forced to stay trapped in this place for several thousand years until the Abyssal Human became weak.

Were Tatyana not someone completely outside the norm, their asinine and arrogant choice to enter the seal during the Abyssal Human’s fight would’ve ended in a tragedy. Their presence and Guardian Marks caused the Abyssal Human’s fuzzy mind to sharpen, aiding in his self-awakening.

Just their presence almost caused an irreversible problem. So, what if Tatyana had not sealed them away and their figures would’ve been caught by the Abyssal Human?

All eight guardians had placed Angel, Cecile, Andrea, Evelyn, Kali, Tatyana, and every single precious person Yasenia held dear close to her heart in actual mortal danger.

The fact that Yasenia was not ripping off their heads straight away was because Yasenia didn’t want them to die without knowing their sins. She was going to make absolutely sure they knew despair and knew the heart-pounding emotions of dread Yasenia once felt when they uselessly appeared on the battlefield.

So, with cold anger flowing through her veins, Yasenia grabbed her hair and lifted her up. "You don’t know, right? Let me tell you, then, the reason for your death."

Yasenia’s tail flashed, piercing through Guardian Ye’s chest but not killing her. "Your sins are interrupting our fight. Your sins are not giving us the tools necessary to fight. Your sins are doing nothing where you could’ve intervened. And, beyond all of them, your sin is placing my lovers into mortal danger with your foolishness and ego. Those are your sins. That is the reason for your death."

Fear consumed her.

"M-Mercy! P-Please, restrain your anger, Madam Yasenia! I-I will compensate with everything I have!"

Guardian Ye spoke fearfully, forcing down the scream of pain from being impaled by Yasenia’s dragon tail. Her voice was full of restrained feelings, but never reaching the point of foolishly trying to fight back. The dragon in front of her was not a monster that she could defeat or even damage.

Yasenia looked at her, not a ripple of emotion surfacing in her usual warm, golden slit eyes. "Mercy is for those whose actions are not harsh enough to be condemned. Those who are truly guilty deserve not mercy... but punishment."

Her hand transformed into a dragon claw as she tore into her throat, grabbing her spine. Then, her arm pulled up as her tail, impaling her through, pulled down.

Guardian Ye gurgled, her eyes full of terror and pain. "M-Mer-gough-cy."

RIIPPP!!

Blood splattered all around, none of it touching Yasenia’s skin or dress. After throwing her mutilated corpse to the sides, Yasenia turned around while presenting her hand to Anna. Anna used a handkerchief to clean her hand while Eve did the same with her tail.

The people inside trembled in fear, their bodies seizing up like small prey in front of a large predator. They were hoping, hoping that if they held their breath and didn’t move, they would not be targeted.

Some of them were furious, wanting revenge and to act up regardless of consequence. After all, there were loyal people among the retainers. Sadly, each time one of them was about to move, a maid would become a blur and return to her place in a fraction of a second.

So, the sound of indignation was not a shout of anger, but the wet sound of heads and blood rolling onto the ground.

After she was cleaned, Yasenia left the place without giving a second glance to the rest of the Ye family. Once outside, she stepped onto Draheart in her sword form and flew off, followed by everyone else.

Sword flight was faster than flying by oneself, but it was much less controllable. So, it was good to travel short distances. As for long distances, the best were treasures like flying ships or teleportation arrays.

Regardless, Yasenia visited all the families one by one. When she arrived at the Wu family, she coincidentally met Wu Lan Xin, the cute girl who protected and guided her when she entered the city.

"Lady Yasenia?"

Yasenia paused for a moment, looking at her for a few seconds and then speaking. "Your elder has committed a mistake. Today, I am here to kill him. I am sorry to someone who helped me, so if you find it unbearable, resent me. I will accept your resentment."

Wu Lan Xin looked up with a confused face and tried to follow as Yasenia walked deeper into the Wu Family state. "W-Wait! Lady Yasenia? What do you mean?"

Yasenia didn’t answer anymore, and a few moments later, after making sure that Guardian Wu knew what he had done wrong, she killed him. This time, Guardian Wu tried to resist, so Anna and Eve restrained him until Yasenia finished explaining and causing his heart to be filled with terror.

Wu Lan Xin saw Yasenia leaving and quickly hurried toward the main auditorium. When she saw Guardian Wu’s corpse, her face went blank.

Finally, Yasenia moved and reached the Murong family’s state. Surprisingly, Murong Xianyu was standing in front of the doors, her eyes bleeding and broken. Clearly, she had used Fate divination on Yasenia as a final resort.

"You’ve arrived."

She had become blind, but she wouldn’t mistake Yasenia’s aura. Yasenia didn’t feel the slightest bit of pity toward her.

"I have. You seem to know your wrongs. So, I will give you a painless death."

"...Is there truly no way for forgiveness, Madam Yasenia?"

Yasenia stepped forward, reaching out and placing her hand on her head. Looking down at the one-head-shorter woman, Yasenia spoke ruthlessly and without a single hint of mercy. "There is not. You’ve endangered my family. Your only path is either a painful death or a painless death. You, who at least know your place, will receive my mercy and be sent painlessly."

Murong Xianyu looked at Yasenia, her eyes filled with cracks as they bled. Whether they were tears or pure bleeding, only she herself knew. "I understand. Thank you for your mercy."

Yasenia’s soul surged, and she detonated Murong Xianyu’s soul.

BOOM!

Her body turned stiff for a second, and then she died. The death was instantaneous. With her death, all eight guardians met their end.