Chapter 78: Kill Him Cleanly

Amidst the absolute silence, a miserable and shrill cry rang out.

Chen Chuanying, who was in the middle of meditation, felt his heart jump violently; he immediately recognized that this was unmistakably the voice of Daoist Yu.

His expression changed drastically as he grabbed the Soul-Startling Bell, rose abruptly, and dashed out of the room. Almost at the same time he emerged, Elder Qin Zekun from the west side room next door also pushed open his door and rushed out in a hurry.

At this moment, the screaming continued incessantly. The two exchanged glances and then arrived simultaneously before the door of the east side room, asking in shock and suspicion:

"Junior Brother Yu!? What has happened?"

However, inside the unlit room, Daoist Yu seemed to be suffering from immense agony; aside from his continuous, hoarse screaming, he was completely unable to respond.

The situation was bizarre, yet within their mental perception, there was no other person's aura in the room before them besides Daoist Yu.

Chen Chuanying's expression was cold and stern. With a wave of his hand, the Soul-Startling Bell flew out, and with just a light strike against the wooden door, it shattered with a boom.

As the door broke, a thick, bloody stench rushed toward them. He stepped inside cautiously with the Soul-Startling Bell leading the way, while Elder Qin Zekun followed closely behind, fully on guard.

Then, they immediately saw Daoist Yu's figure collapsed on the floor in the inner room. Both his arms and both his legs had been severed; he lay in a pool of blood like a human pig, screaming repeatedly!

What?!

Seeing such a situation, both Chen Chuanying and Qin Zekun were horrified and stepped forward together:

"What is going on!"

"Who hurt you!?"

Among the three, although Daoist Yu had the weakest cultivation in Daoist Arts, he was still a veteran mid-level mage who had stepped into the Fourth Realm long ago, possessing a powerful soul and keen perception.

Yet at this very moment, looking at Daoist Yu's tragic injuries, it was clear that someone had managed to get close to him and inflict them.

But in this world, who could bypass the perception of a Fourth Realm Daoist expert to severely injure him right under their noses, and then leave before they arrived!?

And at this moment.

The two's shocked and angry questioning finally allowed Daoist Yu to regain a sliver of clarity amidst his extreme agony. He lifted his head with a twisted expression and roared with all his might: "Ca, careful, someone—"

Swish!

Almost at the same time he spoke, behind Chen Chuanying and Qin Zekun, a dazzling golden light suddenly tore through the darkness and shot over at extreme speed!

And this time.

Almost the instant before the golden light appeared, Chen Chuanying sensed something first. His expression changed abruptly, and his figure flashed to hide behind the door wall of the inner room, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Meanwhile, although Qin Zekun nearby also sensed it and flashed away in instant horror, his movements could not outpace the rapidly shooting golden light; in a single instant, his left arm was severed at the root!

Qin Zekun's body trembled violently, and he let out a muffled groan. Just as he was about to turn and counterattack, the golden light flashed again, and in a blink, it severed one of his legs at the knee!

Having lost an arm and a leg in barely a blink or two, the severely wounded Qin Zekun could not even maintain his balance. He collapsed to the ground, blood spraying wildly from his severed limbs just like Daoist Yu.

"You monster!"

In the blink of an eye, Qin Zekun—who had successfully stepped into the Fifth Realm thanks to the opportunity of refining the Soul-Startling Bell and whose cultivation was second only to his own—had become a cripple. Chen Chuanying, who had narrowly avoided the sneak attack, felt his eyes split with rage.

Almost at the same time Qin Zekun fell, Chen Chuanying, leaning behind the door wall, swung his large sleeve violently. Several cold glints shot out like cold stars, covering the position from which the golden light had come in the outer room.

However, when the several cold glints arrived, even though there was clearly no one in the darkness of the outer room's corner, a sword hum suddenly rang out, causing the Flying Star Needle to fly off in a spray of sparks.

There really is someone!

Is it Qingyike!?

Chen Chuanying was shocked and horrified. Without a second thought, he surged his soul power, instantly casting the Soul-Startling Bell and striking it toward the source of the disturbance.

Whether now or just before, although he could not see any figure, his highly concentrated perception could vaguely feel that there seemed to be an invisible person in the outer room.

He did not know what means this person had used to achieve this, nor why they could emit that strange golden light, but he immediately associated it with the other party's identity:

Qingyike!

Based on past events, he finally understood why the other party could kill Magistrate Qin under Daoist Yu's day-and-night protection, and how the other party could break into the Jingwu Division dungeon and escape with ease.

So the other party possessed such inconceivable means!

In extreme horror, Chen Chuanying now pinned all his focus on the Soul-Startling Bell. Controlling the bell, it flew out in an instant and shook violently!

Ding-a-ling!

As the Soul-Startling Bell shook rapidly, the eerie bell sound instantly enveloped a radius of nearly ten feet. In the outer room, it sounded as if thousands of ghosts were wailing, as if the underworld had descended.

The next moment, Chen Chuanying vaguely heard a slight sound from the darkness, as if someone had been suppressed by the bell sound.

The enemy still had not revealed their tracks. With a ruthless expression, he roared wildly: "If the King of Hell wants you to die at the third watch, who dares to keep you until the fifth! Go to your death!"

Then, biting his tongue, he formed hand seals without reservation. He then saw the Soul-Startling Bell floating in the void suddenly turn violent, shaking three times intensely:

Ding-ling, ding-ling, ding-ling!

Pain, despair, malice, resentment...

As the bell sound vibrated, it was as if countless desperate, wronged souls were shouting and roaring in his ears. The extreme cold, ferocity, and evil thoughts poured and seeped into one's ears and even the seven orifices, turning into a vast, surging impact that seemed as if it would tear a person's soul to shreds!

And at the same time.

Qin Zekun, who had been severed of an arm and a leg and was lying on the ground unable to stand, roared fiercely while gritting his teeth in pain. With all his soul and intent poured into it, a Flying Star Needle that had been refined for decades shot out from the sleeve of his severed limb, piercing toward the area shrouded by the bell sound like a meteor!

With the Soul-Startling Bell suppressing and the Flying Star Needle whistling to pierce, the attack from two Fifth Realm—or even Five Realms Peak—upper-level mages was terrifying in its momentum.

However, the next moment.

Hum—

Just as such a violent offensive was launched, a streak of extremely dense golden light suddenly erupted in their line of sight!

The golden light vaguely formed a human shape, as if a heavenly god had descended or the Buddha had arrived. The golden light it radiated was impervious to all arts and untouchable by all evil!

Subsequently, the whistling Flying Star Needle that had come through the air collided with the golden light and was suddenly repelled and sent flying, causing Qin Zekun to let out another miserable cry;

At the same time, under the shroud and shaking of the Soul-Startling Bell, that terrifying bell sound like ghosts wailing and the surging evil thoughts attacking the soul directly also vanished like melting snow!

What!?

The erupting golden light condensed into a human figure. Chen Chuanying, who had never seen such a miraculous and shocking scene, felt his mind shake violently, as if struck by a thunderbolt!

Before he could have any other thoughts amidst his horror, he saw the golden human figure suddenly raise its hand. A condensed golden light shot out and struck the Soul-Startling Bell hard, causing it to vibrate violently and fly off horizontally.

And under this strike, Chen Chuanying, whose mind was pinned to it, was immediately implicated. His vision went black, his head throbbed with pain, and blood surged out from his seven orifices all at once!

Completely failing to expect that the Soul-Startling Bell would be broken by someone so easily, Chen Chuanying's liver and gallbladder were split asunder amidst the trauma to his mind and spirit.

But before he could make any other reaction.

Amidst a flash of golden light, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower body; shockingly, his legs had been severed by some unknown object and separated from his body, causing him to collapse to the ground in an instant!

Those who specialize in Daoist Arts are naturally relatively frail in body; even as the Temple Master of Youxian Temple, Chen Chuanying immediately began to howl and scream in agony under such a heavy blow.

However, the figure who illuminated the entire room like a god descending to earth remained cold and ruthless, unmoved, and as he flicked his fingers repeatedly, several more streaks of golden light flashed past.

Subsequently, the remaining intact limbs of Elder Qin Zekun, who was still recovering from the backlash to his mind and spirit on the side, were all severed!

It took only the blink of an eye.

Chen Chuanying and Qin Zekun, like the Daoist Yu, had also become human sticks; fresh blood gushed from their wounds, pools of blood spread, and their screams shook the heavens.

Only at this moment.

Did the golden-light figure in the room calmly collect the Soul-Startling Bell, the Flying Star Needle, and other Dharma Artifacts that had fallen to the ground.

Afterwards, the light all over his body quickly receded, revealing a cold figure wearing a Night Suit.

It was precisely Lu Yuan.

"Is this bell what you prepared to deal with me?"

He stared at the Soul-Startling Bell in his hand that had surprisingly not been cracked by the 【Generating Light】, looked at the three human sticks on the ground who had no power to resist, and sneered with a chilling tone:

"This thing doesn't seem like much. How does it feel now that you used living people for Blood Sacrifice to a Dharma Artifact, only to become human sticks yourselves?"

After learning of the existence of these three from Li Zhenguang, he had the other party lead the way and personally found this place.

However, after sneaking in, the three were not at this location.

But after searching for a while, Lu Yuan discovered a site suspected of being used for blood-stained Dharma Artifacts in the cellar, and subsequently discovered dozens of buried corpses in the back garden!

Lu Yuan had inspected them with the Earth Walking Technique; among these corpses were men and women, old and young, and even children no more than seven or eight years old. All of them had their tongues cut out, their eyes gouged out, and their bodies had become mummified as if all their blood had been drained; the misery of their deaths was beyond description.

It was precisely because he saw these miserable corpses.

Lu Yuan, who originally had no intention of acting immediately, could not control the baleful energy in his heart; he immediately lurked in this courtyard, and only after the three returned did he strike fiercely, defeating them one by one.

It must be said that the Chen Chuanying before him also had some ability, and the Dharma Artifact he practiced was indeed strange and vicious; if it weren't for his own Dharma Power having greatly increased recently, it would have been truly difficult to deal with.

And at this moment.

Seeing Lu Yuan's figure appear out of thin air.

In the pool of blood, Chen Chuanying, now a human stick, was struck as if by lightning amidst his roaring, and he hissed in disbelief:

"Invisibility, Golden Light Incantation? Dharma Technique, Supernatural Power??"

On the side, Qin Zekun and the Daoist Yu had the exact same expression; the shock they received even overwhelmed the pain in their bodies, and they muttered in low voices:

"It actually turned out to be a Dharma Technique...!?"

"Impossible, this is impossible...!"

By the end, the three of them already had ferocious expressions and were hoarse, as if their worldview had collapsed.

After all, in this current era, Martial Arts and Daoist Arts are gradually declining, especially those like them who practice Daoist Arts, which have almost gone extinct among the common people.

And although Daoist Arts have the name of Daoist Arts, in reality, they are nothing more than methods specifically for training the divine soul and intent, along with Illusion Technique means; they are a hundred and eight thousand miles away from Dharma Techniques and Supernatural Powers that can manipulate wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

True Dharma Techniques, even to them, were merely things that existed in legends.

Who could have imagined that the mysterious Qingyike before them would actually master such an inconceivable technique?

Lu Yuan, however, had no time to waste words with them:

"Who is supporting you in performing Blood Sacrifices to Dharma Artifacts here? Is it the Commander of the Jingwu Division, Suo Helie!?"

The three still looked at him with twisted and strange expressions, and no one answered.

Not until Lu Yuan flicked his finger, and a narrow streak of golden light cut another piece of flesh from Chen Chuanying's severed limb, did the other party come back to his senses and howl in pain.

"That's right, it is indeed Suo Helie. Without his support, we would never have been able to find so many Blood Sacrifice materials born in the Yinyinnian Yinyue Yiri."

Completely ignoring the pain, Chen Chuanying still stared fixedly at Lu Yuan, showing no intention of begging for mercy, his expression urgent:

"The winner is king and the loser is the villain; it is not unjust to fall into the hands of someone like you. Ancient texts once recorded that in the ancient era, there were Qi Refiners who could eat clouds and consume Qi; I always thought that was just a legendary myth compiled by the ancients... Before we die, can you tell us how you cultivated this Dharma Technique and Supernatural Power?"

On the side, Qin Zekun, who was lying in a pool of blood and had lost too much blood, also had a weak breath and smiled miserably:

"To hear the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening. Your Excellency's Supernatural Power is astonishing; why the need to be secretive when facing three dead men? Why not let us be ghosts who understand the truth?"

Except for the Daoist Yu, who had already lost too much blood and was in his final moments, the two who knew they could not escape, after their horror and resentment, instead revealed a great thirst to know how the Qingyike had cultivated this Dharma Technique and Supernatural Power.

However, facing the two, Lu Yuan said indifferently:

"You are not worthy to know!"

Saying this, he took a fire-starter from his bosom, struck it to light it, threw it directly onto the curtains, and then turned and walked outside.

"No—"

Behind him, raging flames quickly ignited, and the three Daoist Arts experts in the room, now human sticks and completely unable to move, issued the final roars and pleas of their lives.

Yet Lu Yuan stood outside the side room, watching indifferently, watching the fire grow larger and larger, then engulfing the three, causing them to scream and roll in flames, enduring extreme pain without any dignity of experts.

After a short while, the screams and struggles of the three gradually faded, and they gradually turned into charred corpses. Lu Yuan's eyes reflected the firelight, and he sneered:

"You got off easy."

Given what these three had done, killing them directly was too easy for them.

But his time was limited, and he had no time for the delicate work of death by a thousand cuts; he could only sever their limbs and then burn them alive with raging flames, which was the only way to barely vent some of his evil anger.

However, these three alone were not enough.

Behind him, the firelight soared to the sky; he turned and walked out of the courtyard, his gaze sweeping around, and he called out in a low voice:

"Li Zhenguang."

The voice rippled through the dark night, and then, at the corner of the residence wall, a figure poked their head out, timid and shrinking, with obvious immense fear in their voice:

"Y-Your Excellency, are those three experts from Youxian Temple inside the masterminds behind the robbery?"

Previously, intimidated by the prestige of the Qingyike, he had only been able to agree to lead the way and brought him to this place.

However, after arriving here, Qingyike still did not relent and let him go, instead requiring him to wait outside.

Once a traitor, always a traitor; fearing that Qingyike might be dissatisfied and sneak to his bedside at night to cut off his head, he could only obey and steel himself to wait outside, but just now he heard continuous, shrill screams coming from within, which truly made one's heart tremble with fear.

And now, the appearance of Qingyike clearly represented the final result.

"Correct, it is indeed their doing."

Lu Yuan said slowly:

"To deal with me, they refined an Evil Artifact. This artifact seemingly requires dozens of people born on a Yinyinnian Yinyue Yiri to be completed, so they sent people to disguise themselves as fortune tellers to obtain their Birth Date and Time, and after screening them, they secretly abducted them here to refine the evil weapon.

The abducted people have all met a tragic end; there are currently over forty corpses buried in the back garden. You can bring men to dig them up later and give the families of the missing persons an explanation."

"Is this really true!?"

Although Li Zhenguang was greedy for money, he still had a shred of conscience left; his eyelids twitched wildly, and he gritted his teeth, saying:

"Youxian Temple is also a Daoist temple officially sanctioned by the imperial court; how could they dare to commit such an unconscionable act!"

"Just the three of them alone would not have the ability to pull this off in Fengyang Prefecture."

Lu Yuan only gave a cold laugh:

"Therefore, I still need you to help me do one last thing."

Li Zhenguang's heart skipped a beat; as if he had already thought of something, his face immediately turned miserable:

"Y-your Excellency, what help do you need from me?"

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes:

"Do not worry, it is very simple."

(End of this chapter)