Extermination and Gains

Chen Yuan reined in the Source of Killing Intent and circulated his inner force to suppress the surging blood and qi within his body.

He then stood where he was, watching the scene of the Zhu brothers tearing each other apart with great interest.

Though Zhu Chengan was severely injured, he was still a Qi Forging Realm martial artist.

Moreover, he had already resolved to die. His attacks were all offense and no defense, and in an instant, he forced Zhu Chengze into mortal danger.

As Zhu Chengze desperately resisted, he roared at Chen Yuan, "Kill him! Kill him now! You said you wouldn't kill me! You go back on your word!"

"I did say I wouldn't kill you, but I never said I wouldn't let someone else kill you."

Chen Yuan looked at Zhu Chengze with a half-smile. "If you can kill Zhu Chengan, then naturally I'll keep my promise and won't make another move against you."

Zhu Chengze's face filled with despair.

No matter how foolish he was, he knew that Chen Yuan had played him!

Zhu Chengan burst into mad laughter. "You schemed every last detail and betrayed my Zhu Family—what did it get you? You still got played by someone else!

"You wanted to live? Wishful thinking! Today, we die together!"

As soon as the words fell, Zhu Chengan threw all caution aside, burning his blood and qi as he charged at Zhu Chengze.

At the moment his blood and qi were nearly exhausted, Zhu Chengan drove a palm into Zhu Chengze's body.

The tyrannical palm force of the Black Fiend, Fire Cloud Palm erupted in an instant, even piercing straight into the other man's chest cavity!

Zhu Chengze collapsed to the ground with unwillingness written across his face. Zhu Chengan's blood and qi were completely spent as well, and the two corpses, still connected, crashed to the ground together.

"Tut, tut. You two really were brothers bound heart to heart."

Chen Yuan gently shook his head, speaking words of cold mockery.

When he entered the Zhu Family's rear courtyard, the ground there was likewise littered with corpses.

Zhu Chengze had likely used some excuse to gather them together, then begun his slaughter.

The affairs of this world had never been about fearing too little, but rather fearing inequality.

The Zhu Family's Five Tigers sounded impressive, but once disparities arose within, cracks naturally followed.

Chen Yuan made a circuit through Zhu Family Manor, quickly finding the Zhu Family's treasure vault.

Though several large locks hung on it, none could withstand Chen Yuan's Azure Dragon Blooddrinker. With a single slash, they shattered to pieces.

The vault contained plenty of treasure, but not many truly valuable items.

The Zhu Family's foundation was still too shallow. There were very few treasures related to martial arts within the vault; most were merely gold, silver, and jewels.

By the looks of it, they had been plundered after the Zhu Family destroyed small clans such as the Chu Family.

These things were of little use to Chen Yuan and were not as convenient to carry as banknotes.

Thus, Chen Yuan took only some gold bars and banknotes, leaving behind the jewels that were too bulky and difficult to turn into cash.

After searching through the vault, Chen Yuan finally found the Heavenly Star Divine Casket in an inconspicuous corner.

It looked like an iron block three chi long and one chi wide, engraved with patterns of constellations and exquisitely crafted.

Yet although it was called a casket, it did not have the slightest crack or seam. Calling it an iron block would not have been wrong either.

There were also many messy marks along its bottom, likely left behind by the Chu Family's attempts over the years to force it open.

However, this item was made from Cold Iron, which could only be mined from Frozen Earth Ore in the Far North. It had excellent amplifying and conducting effects for ice-attributed inner force, and its material was incomparably tough—the finest material for forging Mystic Weapons.

Judging by its texture, it was almost solid inside. Trying to chop it apart was basically impossible.

He found a bundle and strapped the heavy Heavenly Star Divine Casket onto his back. Chen Yuan then searched the vault carefully once more and unexpectedly found two additional good items.

One was a small porcelain bottle containing pills, carefully placed by the Zhu Family inside an exquisite sandalwood box.

The five small words "Radiant Extreme Qi-Congealing Pill" were written beneath the bottle, though only one pill remained inside.

Pills produced by Medicine King Valley were universally acknowledged in the martial world to be of exceptional quality. Of course, other top factions also possessed their own pill formulas and alchemists dedicated to refining pills.

This Radiant Extreme Qi-Congealing Pill was specifically used by the Radiant Extreme Sect's disciples who had reached the Qi Forging Realm to strengthen their inner force and true qi.

If a Blood-Shifting Realm martial artist consumed this pill, it could also increase the chance of breaking through to the Qi Forging Realm.

This pill had been brought back from the Radiant Extreme Sect by Zhu Chengzong. There had originally been five pills in the bottle, and Zhu Chaofeng had consumed four before finally entering the Qi Forging Realm.

Zhu Chaofeng had been reluctant to consume the last pill, intending to save it for his fourth brother, Zhu Chengzu.

The eldest and second brothers had already entered the Qi Forging Realm, so consuming the Radiant Extreme Qi-Congealing Pill would merely be icing on the cake.

If Zhu Chengzu consumed it when he was stuck at the bottleneck of breaking through to the Qi Forging Realm, his chance of success would be greater.

Yet the pill he had been unwilling to consume had now benefited Chen Yuan instead.

The other item was an exquisitely made black invitation embossed in gold.

When Chen Yuan opened it, he found that it was an invitation to the Demon-Sealing Conference, soon to be held in Demon-Sealing Valley.

A thoughtful look appeared in Chen Yuan's eyes as he looked at the invitation.

Demon-Sealing Valley was not far from North Sea Market. South of North Sea Market was Ningzhou, while Demon-Sealing Valley lay at the border between Youzhou and Ningzhou.

Demon-Sealing Valley was the name of a place, but it was also considered a faction.

It was said that a thousand years ago, an ancient Demonic Beast broke free from its seal in the place where Demon-Sealing Valley now stood, wreaking havoc across the region.

At the time, there was an expert known as the Three Absolutes Venerable. His cultivation combined the three paths of Daoism, Buddhism, and demonic arts, and he personally moved to suppress the Demonic Beast.

However, that ancient Demonic Beast was extraordinarily powerful. It could only be suppressed, not completely slain.

Thus, the Three Absolutes Venerable transformed himself into a formation, hoping to use the power of time to suppress and wear it away.

But as the years changed, the formation suffered repeated impacts from demonic qi and began to sustain damage.

The Three Absolutes Venerable therefore had his three disciples stand guard around Demon-Sealing Valley, reinforcing the formation once every ten years.

Those three disciples did not possess the Three Absolutes Venerable's talent and could not cultivate all three paths of Daoism, Buddhism, and demonic arts. Each inherited only one of his ultimate techniques.

More than a century passed in this way, yet the Demonic Beast's strength exceeded all expectations, and it still could not be completely destroyed.

Furthermore, every ten years, the formation loosened slightly, allowing the Demonic Beast's power to leak out.

Beneath Demon-Sealing Valley happened to lie an ancient battlefield, with countless living beings buried underground.

When the Demonic Beast's power leaked out, it caused strange changes in the ancient battlefield. Those corpses buried beneath the earth transformed into Corpse Monsters and assaulted the formation.

At first, the three disciples could still repair the formation and slay those Corpse Monsters.

But as the three disciples gradually grew old and their blood and qi declined, while their descendants became increasingly inferior to their forebears, they began to find themselves unable to cope.

Left with no choice, the three disciples convened the Demon-Sealing Conference, seeking help from nearby factions to suppress the Corpse Monsters while they themselves reinforced the formation.

If the Demonic Beast escaped, the surrounding factions would suffer as well. Thus, upon receiving the invitations, the nearby factions all came to help.

After slaying the Corpse Monsters, however, the surrounding factions discovered that these Corpse Monsters left behind spiritual pills containing the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth after death.

As long as the demonic qi on the spiritual pills was purified with inner force and true qi, one could directly refine the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth within, strengthening both inner force and physique.

With that, the martial world factions that had originally come merely out of obligation became far more motivated.

After that Demon-Sealing Conference, those three disciples also died while reinforcing the formation. Their descendants remained behind to continue guarding Demon-Sealing Valley and became known as the Three Demon-Sealing Clans.

From then on, the Demon-Sealing Conference held once every ten years became customary.

Nearby martial world factions and some powerful Rogue Cultivators were invited to help suppress outbreaks of demonic qi, while the Three Demon-Sealing Clans were responsible for reinforcing the formation.

The spiritual pills obtained by killing those Corpse Monsters belonged to those people, with both sides taking what they needed.

Throughout the region along the border of Ningzhou and Youzhou, the Three Demon-Sealing Clans had an excellent reputation.

After all, their ancestors had sacrificed themselves to suppress the Demonic Beast and could be called heroes.

Though the Three Demon-Sealing Clans themselves counted as a faction, not a single clansman had ever left Demon-Sealing Valley to take part in martial world disputes.

And now, the Three Demon-Sealing Clans still guarded Demon-Sealing Valley to suppress the Demonic Beast. It was hardly surprising that they enjoyed such a good reputation.

When Chen Yuan had previously asked Wen Rou about news from the martial world, she had mentioned that the Demon-Sealing Conference was about to be held. It now seemed that the time was indeed drawing near.

Moreover, this Demon-Sealing Conference was large in scale. Even an emerging faction on the Zhu Family's level had received an invitation.

Chen Yuan had not participated in the Demon-Sealing Conference in the original plot, but he knew what happened there.

The Demon-Sealing Conference was not so simple, and neither were the Three Demon-Sealing Clans.

This Demon-Sealing Conference was rather dangerous, so Chen Yuan had not originally planned to make a trip there.

He had killed members of the Murong Clan and seized the Seven Kill Stele, so he definitely could not remain in Youzhou.

Chen Yuan's original plan had been to go to Ningzhou and use a suitable point in the plot to join the Ningzhou Martial Suppression Hall.

Ningzhou was a major province, with an area three times that of Youzhou. However, it was a place where dragons and snakes mingled, making it somewhat chaotic.

At the same time, Ningzhou contained many opportunities and cultivation techniques from the original plot that could be seized.

The Martial Suppression Hall was Ningzhou's greatest faction, but its interior was even more complicated. Various forces were intertwined there, making it ideal for Chen Yuan to hide his identity.

Now that he had successfully obtained the "Inner Scenery Deity Visualization Method," once he could fully control the Blood Fiend Power of the Seven Kill Stele, his combat strength would surely soar.

Now that he had obtained an invitation through this stroke of luck, he could make a detour to the Demon-Sealing Conference and take a chance there.

It was dangerous, certainly, but wealth and honor were sought amid danger—the greater the risk, the greater the opportunity.

After putting away the invitation and confirming that there was nothing else worthwhile in the vault, Chen Yuan found a large chest, stuffed the heads of Zhu Chaofeng and his three sons inside, and headed straight down the mountain.

The people of Lone Mountain City had all heard the sounds of slaughter from the Zhu Family, but they did not dare cautiously come to investigate until the following morning.

When they arrived, they saw the gates of Zhu Family Manor standing wide open, with horribly mutilated corpses lying everywhere within.

The entire city of Lone Mountain City found it hard to believe.

The Zhu Family, which had only recently dominated Lone Mountain City and whose power had nearly reached its peak, had been exterminated by a single person just like that?

Amid their fear, the people also felt a measure of satisfaction.

The Zhu Family had acted ruthlessly and tyrannically. They had long since become deeply dissatisfied with them.

At the same time, everyone sighed inwardly that one could not be too ruthless in conduct and action. When things reached an extreme, they reversed; sooner or later, retribution would come.

The Zhu Family simply did not understand the principle of leaving others a line of mercy. They had taken everything too far, and that was why they had met such an end today.