C52 Secret Realm Core

"Cut the crap. No sane person could stand the way you talk."

The System's voice carried a hint of hurt: So what do you want from me then?

"Damn it! You're still using that nauseating tone?" Qin Buyi snapped.

I don't want to, but I just can't help it.

Qin Buyi scoffed, "Don't give me that. You can't change? Yeah, right. You're clearly doing it on purpose."

The System was truly...

Frustrated with the System's intransigence, Qin Buyi swiftly shifted the conversation, "Just tell me what the Secret Realm Core is used for."

You need to pay if you want answers.

"Pay you? After you've grossed me out? You owe me a free answer this time," Qin Buyi retorted brazenly.

After a brief contemplation, the System conceded, sensing that its previous tone had been off-putting, and grudgingly admitted:

The Secret Realm Core offers numerous advantages, the most significant being the rapid ascension to Master of the Secret Realm.

Additionally, you, the host, have two missions tied to the Secret Realm. With the Secret Realm Core's aid, the difficulty of these missions will plummet.

"How so?" inquired Qin Buyi.

Firstly, the war mission: Obliterate the Kunlun Secret Realm. It's not as simple as just disbanding the inhabitants of the Kunlun Secret Realm.

You must utterly annihilate the Kunlun Secret Realm. The System elaborated with patience.

Qin Buyi seemed to grasp the concept, yet he remained perplexed, "Completely annihilate it?"

The System, seeing Qin Buyi's continued confusion, chided him:

What a dense host. It's been laid out plainly, and you still don't get it? Whether you blow up or demolish the secret realm, that counts as total annihilation.

This time, Qin Buyi got it and nodded for the System to proceed.

The same holds true for the Epic mission of acquiring the Penglai Secret Realm; you must become its master.

The usual path to becoming the master of a secret realm is long and slow to show results. It's doubtful you'd manage to complete the mission within the deadline.

It's highly recommended that you exchange for the Secret Realm Core—it's guaranteed to be worth your while.

I'm off to binge-watch my shows. Don't bother me unless it's important.

Qin Buyi had already made up his mind to get the Secret Realm Core before the system could even finish its pitch.

Setting everything else aside, the system's assurance of its value was all Qin Buyi needed to impulsively make the exchange.

The last time the system touted something as valuable was when Azure was hatching. Back then, Qin Buyi felt duped.

But in hindsight, the system hadn't overstated a thing. Without Azure's support in the recent battle, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Moreover, the Secret Realm Core could ease the difficulty of war missions. Without a second thought, Qin Buyi made the swap.

Qin Buyi toyed with the Secret Realm Core in his hand.

The Core was no larger than an olive pit, radiating a spectrum of light.

Azure approached, its dragon head tilting this way and that, examining the Core with curiosity.

Seeing Azure's fascination, Qin Buyi tossed the Core to him, cautioning, "Here, play with this—but don't eat it, okay?"

Azure caught the Secret Realm Core, its hundreds of feet long body dwarfing the tiny Core.

With a dragon's cry, Azure shrank rapidly until it was merely the size of a hand.

Clutching the Secret Realm Core in its claws, the hand-sized Azure was the picture of a child delighted with a new toy, eagerly trailing behind Qin Buyi.

Every so often, Azure would balance the Core on its head or give it an affectionate lick, thoroughly enjoying itself.

Meanwhile, Qin Buyi soared ahead, his heart twinging as he watched his hefty two thousand store points vanish in an instant.

Simultaneously, he mulled over his next move.

"Water Moon Secret Realm, Fire Cloud Secret Realm, you're both on my list," Qin Buyi mused, his eyes flickering with a hint of lethal intent.

He had no intention of sparing either the Water Moon Secret Realm or the Fire Cloud Secret Realm.

There was no ill will between them, yet they sent assassins to ambush and attempt to take Qin Buyi's life.

The feud was now set in stone. Qin Buyi resolved to first take care of the Kunlun Secret Realm before seeking retribution from the Fire Cloud and Water Moon Secret Realms.

Hovering above the Kunlun Sect, Qin Buyi gazed downward, his voice echoing across the expanse:

"Effective immediately, the Kunlun Sect is hereby dissolved. All members have fifteen minutes to depart. Those who choose to stay will share the Sect's fate."

Upon hearing Qin Buyi's declaration, the Kunlun Sect disciples scattered as if pardoned from a death sentence.

In that brief span, their emotions had soared and plummeted like a roller coaster ride.

For two days following Qin Buyi's announcement of the Sect's dissolution, they were left undisturbed.

Then, two days later, their spirits lifted as they saw Ancestor Kunxu arrive with reinforcements.

To the Kunlun Sect disciples, it was as if they were blind wanderers in the night suddenly bathed in light.

Many wept with relief, their eyes fixed on the aerial combat, shouting encouragements and praises.

But the subsequent turn of events crushed their hopes bit by bit.

At the battle's onset, a True Dragon hundreds of feet long materialized in the sky, terrifying the less experienced disciples to the point of incontinence.

Soon after, the reinforcements brought by the Ancestor were slain.

And just moments before, they had witnessed the unthinkable: the fall of Kunxu, the venerated elder of the Kunlun Sect.

Many disciples wiped their eyes, murmuring in disbelief:

"How can this be? How could the Ancestor fall?"

"This must be a dream, it has to be."

"Please, let this nightmare end. The Ancestor is unbeatable, how could he fall to an enemy?"

Yet, some disciples, steadfast in their loyalty to the Kunlun Sect, refused to leave. They glared at Qin Buyi in the sky with fury in their eyes, only to be swiftly knocked out and carried away by their peers.

As the reverberations of Qin Buyi's clash with Ancestor Kunxu reached them, many disciples were left with internal injuries, the disparity in their powers as vast as the chasm between heaven and earth.

Confronted with the formidable Qin Buyi, a veritable god of death, the disciples of the Kunlun Sect had no desire to stay and meet their end.

They were equally reluctant to provoke Qin Buyi—a man fiercely devoted to the Kunlun Sect—and risk bringing down lethal retribution upon themselves.

Qin Buyi watched in silence as the Kunlun Sect disciples scattered in all directions, fleeing like a flock of startled birds.

Within a mere fifteen minutes, the once-thriving Kunlun Sect compound was deserted.

Qin Buyi lifted his Killing Saber and brought it down with a vengeance upon the Kunlun Sect below.

"Killing Swordsmanship: Extermination!"

A moon, spanning thousands of meters in diameter, materialized, with tens of thousands of Killing Saber phantoms swirling within.

"Strike!" commanded Qin Buyi.

The phantoms of the Killing Saber descended upon the Kunlun Sect's structures.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

"Boom!"...

As the moon vanished, the entire Kunlun Sect compound lay in ruins.

Azure, clutching the Secret Realm Core in its talons, watched Qin Buyi wield his saber with bubbling excitement.

"Master, you're incredible. I want to join in!"

"Azure Dragon Battle Technique: Dragon Breath!"

Azure unleashed a dragon's breath upon the already devastated Kunlun Sect ruins.

Once Azure's breath had ceased, the ruins of the Kunlun Sect were utterly transformed into charred wasteland.

Lan Linglong flew to Qin Buyi's side, gazing down at the destruction wrought by man and dragon, and remained without words for a long stretch of time.