Can We Kill Them All?

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping rapidly over the many Azure Parasol Sect disciples present.

These Azure Parasol Sect Outer Sect Disciples were all Qi Refining cultivators. Most were in the Late Stage Qi Refining, and three had already reached Peak Qi Refining, only a step away from breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

Such strength was already considered impressive among Rogue Cultivators, but within a sect, they were merely the lowest level, only one rank above servant disciples.

According to Xie Yun, investigating traces of the Demonic Path was no simple task.

Demonic Path Cultivators possessed countless methods, often using curse arts and secret techniques that damaged the Divine Soul. Even when facing a Demonic Path Cultivator with a lower cultivation level, one had to be exceedingly cautious.

Yet there was not the slightest hint of solemnity on the faces of these Azure Parasol Sect Outer Sect Disciples. All of them looked down from on high as they sized up the many Rogue Cultivators, and some even made lewd comments about the female cultivators in the crowd. This further confirmed Lu Yan's suspicions.

The Azure Parasol Sect Outer Sect Disciples knew very well that searching for Demonic Path Cultivators was merely a pretext. Damaging the reputation of Azure Valley Market was the true objective. Under such circumstances, there naturally could not be any real danger.

A commotion broke out among the Rogue Cultivators. After a while, an elderly Late Stage Qi Refining cultivator dressed in yellow stepped out from the crowd.

The old cultivator cupped his hands toward Xie Yun and said:

"My name is Bai Kang, and I am from the Jade Forest Bai Family.

"Our Bai Family's young patriarch entered the Azure Parasol Sect many years ago and has now become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Azure Parasol Sect. I hope, Senior, that for the sake of our young master, you might let this old man leave. Would that be possible?"

Bai Kang's words immediately caused another stir among the Rogue Cultivators.

"The Jade Forest Bai Family?"

"That's the Noble Family with two Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding it!"

"Old Bai is actually from the Bai Family? Why have I never heard of this?"

"Heh, this old man Bai has stayed in Azure Valley Market for several years, yet no one ever knew he was from the Bai Family.

"Now that he's facing an investigation, he suddenly revealed his identity and wants to muddle through. I'm afraid he's hiding something significant."

Bai Kang paid no attention to the people behind him. Instead, he looked at Xie Yun respectfully, already having some idea of what the result would be.

The Bai Family was a Noble Family that had been passed down for five hundred years, and it still had an Inner Sect Disciple of the Azure Parasol Sect among its ranks. Xie Yun should give them that much face.

He could tell that Xie Yun was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. It was not worth offending a Noble Family over such a minor matter.

But who could have expected that after Xie Yun heard Bai Kang announce his identity, a look of delight would suddenly appear on his otherwise indifferent face?

"Impudent!"

The vast magic power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator erupted in an instant. An enormous hand formed from a sea of magic power came crashing down heavily upon Bai Kang.

Bai Kang, whose face was still blank with confusion, had not even had time to react before he was violently crushed beneath that giant hand of magic power. His body instantly became a heap of flesh and blood, leaving behind a handprint several yards wide upon the earth.

After killing Bai Kang, Xie Yun rebuked him righteously in a ringing voice:

"A Demonic Path Cultivator actually dared to impersonate someone from the Jade Forest Bai Family and use Junior Brother Bai's name to escape this investigation.

"If Junior Brother Bai were to learn of this, he would certainly draw his sword and cut you down on the spot!

"As Junior Brother Bai's fellow sect senior brother, I naturally cannot stand by and watch a Demonic Path Cultivator who has borrowed Junior Brother Bai's name continue to wreak havoc upon the world."

As he spoke, Xie Yun gestured with his right hand, and the Storage Bag amid that heap of flesh and blood flew into his grasp.

Magic power dispersed the blood and scraps of flesh covering the Storage Bag. Xie Yun sent his Divine Soul into it and examined its contents.

After a while, the smile vanished from Xie Yun's face. He gave a cold snort and said in a low voice:

"As expected, he was a Demonic Path Cultivator!"

With that, Xie Yun took several talismans out of the Storage Bag.

"This talisman is called an Essence Talisman. It is drawn using a cultivator's essence as the catalyst, and after being used, it can increase the efficiency of circulating one's cultivation technique.

"But because excessive consumption of essence damages a cultivator's foundation, this talisman was long ago banned from circulation on the market. It is absolutely a Demonic Path talisman!"

Xie Yun's speech immediately left the many Rogue Cultivators with strange expressions on their faces.

Among Rogue Cultivator markets, the Essence Talisman had another name: the Blood Selling Talisman.

Although the circulation of Essence Talismans had been expressly forbidden, the things were simply too expensive. Some Rogue Cultivators who truly could not survive would sell off part of their essence. It was scarcely different from mortals selling their blood.

The Rogue Cultivators all knew very well that the people who bought Essence Talismans were generally Noble Families and sect disciples.

Only disciples born into such great powers, yet lacking in talent, would use Essence Talismans to assist and accelerate their cultivation, thereby creating the false image of a cultivation prodigy.

Demonic cultivators, on the other hand, could not care less about something as insignificant as Essence Talismans. What they wanted was far more than mere essence. Flesh, souls, and even corpses after death would not escape them.

In the eyes of the Rogue Cultivators, linking Essence Talismans with Demonic Path Cultivators was pure nonsense. From the sect's perspective, however, it could still count as a reasonable explanation.

Having witnessed the entire process, Lu Yan now completely understood Xie Yun's intentions.

Bai Kang had possessed Essence Talismans. Once that was exposed, it might implicate the Bai Family's young patriarch, so he had brought up his background in an attempt to escape the investigation.

Bai Kang's actions had led Xie Yun to believe that he truly possessed something related to the Demonic Path. Xie Yun wanted to use that item to pin a stigma on Azure Valley Market and establish the legitimacy of this investigation.

With the struggle over the True Inheritance involved, Xie Yun did not care in the slightest about a mere Foundation Establishment Noble Family or an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple.

But to reduce trouble, Xie Yun still claimed that Bai Kang was a Demonic Path Cultivator, deliberately severing the connection between Bai Kang and the Jade Forest Bai Family, as well as between Bai Kang and the Bai Family's young patriarch.

After killing Bai Kang, Xie Yun found only the Essence Talismans. But the value of the Essence Talismans could only barely provide an explanation to his superiors; they could not completely prove that Azure Valley Market had allowed Demonic Path Cultivators to run rampant.

The only benefit was probably that after killing Bai Kang, Xie Yun had intimidated the many cultivators present.

Even if those cultivators had other backers behind them, they now no longer dared to reveal them on their own, saving quite a bit of trouble.

The restless crowd gradually quieted down. Some Rogue Cultivators with clean backgrounds walked to the market entrance and voluntarily handed their Storage Bags to the Azure Parasol Sect Outer Sect Disciples for inspection.

Most of those who still remained where they were, like Bai Kang, had unclean backgrounds.

Lu Yan was naturally among them.

As the crowd gradually thinned, the Outer Sect Disciples found two more people among the Rogue Cultivators and branded them as Demonic Path lackeys.

One of them had several artifacts with extremely heavy yin energy in his Storage Bag, apparently obtained by excavating some yin tomb.

The other had a tattered Dharma robe tainted with Demonic Path aura. It looked as though it had been stripped from a corpse.

Anyone with eyes could see that these two Rogue Cultivators had no connection to the Demonic Path whatsoever, yet they were still branded as Demonic Path people. This caused many Rogue Cultivators to feel the sorrow of the rabbit dying and the fox mourning.

As for Lu Yan, he was surveying all the cultivators at the market entrance, silently calculating.

If I use the Hundred Soul Banner, can I kill everyone here?