C41 Killing Void Refining!

The Killing Saber in Qin Buyi's grasp swiftly dimmed and vanished from sight.

Yet, in the realm of his sea of consciousness, the vanished blade reappeared, with Divine Consciousness from within flooding into its form.

In an instant, the blade gleamed a brilliant gold, radiating an overwhelming and pure aura of death.

"Whoosh!"

A palm-sized golden Killing Saber materialized before Qin Buyi and, in the blink of an eye, lunged at Zhang Yuan.

"Chi!"

Caught off guard, Zhang Yuan could only watch as the Killing Saber pierced his sea of consciousness.

"Boom!"

Inside Zhang Yuan's mind, the relentless blade of the Killing Saber furiously cleaved through his thoughts.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"...

The cacophony of explosions echoed, the severe agony within his sea of consciousness driving Zhang Yuan to his knees, his hands pounding at his skull.

By the ninth slash, a cacophony of shattering echoed from within Zhang Yuan's mind.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

The sounds of fracturing grew more frequent and urgent...

"Bam!"

Unable to endure the onslaught, Zhang Yuan's sea of consciousness shattered in a violent burst.

Lying on the ground, Zhang Yuan gasped for air, his breaths shallow and labored, his eyes vacant as they fixed on Qin Buyi.

Qin Buyi summoned back the Killing Saber, approached Zhang Yuan, and with a swift motion, brought the blade down.

"Killing Swordsmanship: Slaughter!"

The Killing Saber, vibrating tens of thousands of times in a mere second, made a clean cut across Zhang Yuan's neck.

"Chi!"

His head tumbled to the ground.

To his last breath, Zhang Yuan couldn't fathom how Qin Buyi's power had surged so dramatically in such a short span.

Even the wounds he had anticipated would take a month to mend had miraculously healed so swiftly.

Having collected all the Storage Rings, Qin Buyi shattered the window and departed from the Cultivator Association headquarters.

In the wake of his departure, chaos engulfed the entire headquarters of the Cultivator Association.

The news of Qin Buyi's execution of the Woo family's heir and Void Refining Early Period cultivator Zhang Yuan spread like wildfire.

In S City, Lan Tianhe sat in the local branch of the Cultivator Association, leisurely sipping tea.

Abruptly, an aide burst in, a look of panic on his face, and handed Lan Tianhe an urgent report.

Lan Tianhe received the intelligence report, his brow furrowed briefly before he erupted into hearty laughter.

"Haha, I knew I was right about him."

"Qin Buyi has really stirred the pot; the Wu family's overt power in the secular world is now all but depleted. What I didn't anticipate was the rapid advancement of his cultivation."

"The Cultivator Association's headquarters in the capital are vacant. I need to devise a plan to get my Lan family in there. Opportunities like this don't come often."

In the capital, Yinyue was momentarily frozen as she digested the freshly delivered intelligence report.

"I can't believe it. He actually killed Zhang Yuan," Yinyue exclaimed, her voice tinged with shock.

Meanwhile, Lan Wenhao had also received the news.

He let out a boisterous laugh, his voice laced with a hint of vindication:

"Those from the Kunlun Secret Realm have always been so haughty; looks like they've finally met their match."

"The Penglai Secret Realm is about to open, and Martial Marquis is on the run, gravely wounded. Zhang Yuan has been slain."

"If the Kunlun Secret Realm gets wind of this, they'll be fuming."

Within the Kunlun Secret Realm, Zhang Feng, one of the three great masters of Void Refining Perfection, was engaged in a game of chess with Woo Qiankun, the patriarch of the Woo family.

Suddenly, Zhang Feng's heart seized with panic, his hand hovering mid-move.

Woo Qiankun, sitting opposite, noticed the distress and inquired, "Brother Zhang, what's the matter?"

With a "Bang!" the chess piece between Zhang Feng's fingers shattered to dust, trickling down from his hand.

In that instant, Zhang Feng's Divine Consciousness had detected the extinguishing of his grandson Zhang Yuan's Life Lamp.

This signified Zhang Yuan's death.

As Woo Qiankun looked on, bewildered, a Woo family disciple entered and presented him with a Jade Talisman.

Upon probing the talisman with his Divine Consciousness, Woo Qiankun immediately grasped the cause of Zhang Feng's disarray.

He then learned of Martial Marquis's flight, his Divine Consciousness severely wounded and his whereabouts unknown.

A fierce killing intent radiated from Woo Qiankun as he declared icily, "To inflict such grievous harm upon my son, Qin Buyi, you are marked for death!"

"Qin Buyi, once I capture you, I'm going to turn you into an oil lamp and watch you die in agony!" Zhang Feng's eyes seethed with hatred.

After losing his son in his middle age, Zhang Yuan was the only grandson left to Zhang Feng, who had devoted all his efforts to raising him.

But to his fury, he could never have anticipated that within mere days of leaving the Kunlun Secret Realm, his grandson would be murdered.

Woo Qiankun and Zhang Feng exchanged a glance before simultaneously departing from the Kunlun Secret Realm.

As Qin Buyi soared through the air, he tossed all the storage rings he had acquired into the System Mall for recycling.

Ding! The System Mall is now calculating the value of the items...

Ding! Calculation complete. Total value: 100 system points.

"That's it?" Qin Buyi exclaimed, taken aback.

His surprise was understandable; after raiding the Kunlun Sect twice, he had always come away with a hefty bounty.

Yet this time, after slaying a cultivator in the early stages of Void Refining, as well as a direct descendant of the Woo family, he had netted a mere 100 Merchant Points.

"System, are you skimming points off the top?" Qin Buyi asked, suspicious.

"Please refrain from defaming a system that is fair, kind, and just. Do it again, and you'll face the wrath of my lightning," the system responded with moral fervor.

"Fair, kind, and just? Which of those words even remotely applies to you?" Qin Buyi couldn't resist scoffing.

No sooner had Qin Buyi spoken than a bolt of purple lightning began to coalesce ominously above his head.

"Wait, I take it back! You're the epitome of fairness, kindness, and justice," Qin Buyi hastily recanted.

The threatening purple lightning above him gradually faded away.

Qin Buyi breathed a sigh of relief; being struck by that thing was no laughing matter.

"System, this tendency of yours to resort to action rather than words, when will you ever change?" Qin Buyi chided.

"I'll consider changing when you become stronger than me," the system replied nonchalantly.

Qin Buyi was left utterly speechless by the system's retort.

He continued his search within the System Mall and quickly found the item he was looking for.

Fourth Rank Heavenly Tracker (One-time use item): Endowed with formidable tracking capabilities, it can effortlessly reveal the whereabouts of anyone in hiding. Value: 100 System Mall points.

After some contemplation, Qin Buyi decided to hold off on advancing his cultivation level.

One hundred System Mall points could indeed significantly boost his cultivation, especially since they were equivalent to ten attribute points.

But he realized that using those points to purchase the Heavenly Tracking would likely yield far greater returns. With it, he could locate and eliminate the Martial Marquis, an outcome that would surely surpass the value of the hundred points spent.

Without hesitation, he exchanged for the Heavenly Tracking, which resembled a compass with a red needle at its center.

Qin Buyi meticulously reviewed the instructions for using the Heavenly Tracking. Holding the device, he focused on the Martial Marquis's features and essence.

The compass needle whirred into motion, spinning rapidly. Within about ten seconds, it came to a halt, pointing eastward.

Following the needle's direction, Qin Buyi took to the skies.

Half an hour later.

He arrived at an unnamed mountain range and descended from above, his gaze landing on the Martial Marquis, who was meditating by a pond to heal his injuries.

Feeling Qin Buyi's presence, the Martial Marquis's eyes snapped open, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "How on earth did you find me here!"