CHAPTER 36: YU LINGLONG

"My Golden Core is in the heavens!" Qi Yuan roared, hefting his giant sword and unleashing the Eight Summer Slashes.

The knife came down in a wild storm of eight savage arcs, each one shrieking through the air, as if cleaving the world apart.

Elder Yu Feng's chest tightened. The pressure crashing down on him was so suffocating and immense that he dared not meet it head-on! Finally, realization hit him.

The boy isn't even at the Core Formation realm! A Foundation Establishment realm cultivator crushing a Core Formation realm cultivator? Such things are simply unheard of! Monsters of this sort belong to rumors, not reality!

Qi Yuan shot back quickly, as though afraid to be exposed. "No, I am Core Formation. I have a Golden Core!"

Three men were trading blows like school children brawling in the yard. Their flashy techniques barely turned heads, yet their bickering was entertaining. The scene would've been so comical if it weren't so deadly.

Qi Yuan battered both elders, driving them back step by step. In less than ten breaths, he'd dominated the fight completely.

In desperation, Elder Yu Feng tried a desperate Dao technique. His eyes widened in horror as another truth struck him. "You... you're not Foundation Establishment at all! Run! This thing isn't even human!"

Qi Yuan gave a cold grin. "That's right. I'm no mere Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, I'm at Core Formation!"

He crushed even the notion of flight. His sword swept down, rending heaven's gate itself. In a single blinding stroke, the two elders burst into fragments. No corpses, no ceremony, they just scattered into pieces.

Everything happened so fast. In barely a dozen breaths, two Core Formation realm elders lay dead.

The Black Mountain Sect only had seven Core Formation elders, including its sect master. Black Chicken Ancestor had died, and two more followed suit, leaving only four. Nearly half their strength had been cut away in the blink of an eye.

At last, the remaining members stirred. Some abandoned their seclusion, others stopped spectating, all gathering at the mountain gate. Leading them was the sect master himself, Black Wind Daoist.

The hair of the man in plain gray robe was snow-white, yet his face seemed uncannily youthful. The odd contrast made him seem both ancient and ageless. It was almost laughable that a man of such years still claimed a godfather.

At his side stood Yu Linglong, draped in black gauze. Her gaze lingered on Qi Yuan with open curiosity, her lashes fluttering as she tossed him a playful wink.

The remaining two Core Formation realm elders were grim-faced, their teeth gritted. Their eyes locked tightly on Qi Yuan.

Black Wind Daoist surveyed the shattered ruins on the ground, unfazed. He glowered, calmly saying, "Aren’t you going too far by storming my sect? The Black Mountain Sect may be small, but Black Rooster Demon is my stepfather. If you leave now, I can still let this matter rest. Our sect wiped out your entire clan. Now, you’ve killed three of our Core Formation realm elders. Let us consider the score settled."

Black Wind Daoist knew when to bow his head, weakness disguised as magnanimity.

Qi Yuan didn’t reply. He simply studied the assembled cultivators, weighing the quickest way to kill them.

Black Wind Daoist pressed on. "Cling to your grudge if you must, but don’t mistake us for ripe fruit ready to be squeezed. When deer face the hunter, the outcome is never assured. Do you realize how strong Black Rooster Demon is?"

Qi Yuan arched his brow. "After massacring my family, you dare threaten me? What, do you think I grew up eating rainbow and ice cream?"

Black Wind Daoist froze, caught off guard.

Yu Linglong giggled behind her veil, teasing. "You’re so energetic, Little Brother! If you spare the Black Mountain Sect, I’ll sacrifice myself for the sect, and accompany you for one passionate night."

Black Wind Daoist furrowed his brow, yet said nothing.

Qi Yuan barked out, "Resorting to seduction?! Despicable. I’ll wipe your sect off the map!"

He’d wasted enough words. Besides, talking was boring, and he’d never won a single argument in his entire life!

Black Wind Daoist's eyes chilled. "So, you’ve chosen death."

Wasting no time, the sect master drew out a flag from his sleeve and hurled it into the air. "Form the array!"

The sect's great array roared to life.

Every Qi Refinement realm disciple went as pale as parchment. The Foundation Establishment realm stewards fared a little better, but even they wavered. In contrast, the four Core Formation realm elders flushed with vigor, their auras surging into a tempest.

The cruel array drained the cultivation of disciples and stewards alike, feeding their life force to the Core Formation realm elders. In a heartbeat, their strength leapt another level higher.

Qi Yuan's eyes narrowed. Raising his giant sword, he slashed with all his might.

Black Wind Daoist didn’t flinch. With the array supporting him, he felt as though he’d stepped into the late stage Core Formation realm. A smooth, gleaming Golden Core floated before him.

His opening move was his strongest, unleashing his core’s full might.

"Take this!" he screamed.

The Golden Core—the crystallisation of all essence of Dao—was everything for a Core Formation realm cultivator. Black Wind Daoist was certain he could win.

"My Golden Core is mid rank three, also known as the Heavy Iron Golden Core! It’s harder than steel, unbreakable to even Nascent Soul realm cultivators! Your techniques are exquisite, your killing moves endless, your battle sense sharper than ours. If we traded blows, you’d take us out one by one. So, I’ll fight using my Golden Core! It’s more than enough to shatter your myriad tricks!"

Black Wind Daoist knew that Qi Yuan had superior battle sense. It was a shameless tactic, but he could only exploit his higher cultivation realm to suppress Qi Yuan. Against lower realms, it was all but unstoppable.

However, Qi Yuan brightened at the sight. His eyes lit up. "That tiny thing? It’s barely the size of a football. You really think it can suppress me?"

The battle could’ve lasted longer had the Black Wind Daoist fought fair. Yet, to reveal his Golden Core? That was another matter entirely.

After all, Qi Yuan's blade specialized in splitting Golden Cores.

He unleashed his greatest technique once more. "Heaven-Cleaving Sword!"

The radiance of the sun and moon gathered around him, condensing into his frame. His giant sword cracked apart, shattering like glass. In its place, the humble shape of a vegetable knife was revealed.

Black Wind Daoist froze. A vegetable knife...?

He barely had time to register the absurdity when his instincts screamed in warning. His heart thrashed in his chest, and he reflexively withdrew his Golden Core.

It was too late. The knife came down on it. Neither clang of metal nor thunderous impact resounded. It was as if the knife had sliced a soft-boiled egg. With a single stroke, Qi Yuan split Black Wind Daoist's Golden Core clean in two.

The old man's eyes bulged. His lips trembled as though to speak, yet no sound came. His aura plummeted like a falling star, life force spilling out of him in torrents.

"Impossible..." he said in a faint, choking voice.

His Heavy Iron Golden Core was basically an egg-sized solid mountain! How could something so heavy and indestructible be shattered by a vegetable knife?!

Qi Yuan looked down at him coldly. "I’m not strong by any means. Your core is just too small."

He was already reflecting. Next time I form a Golden Core, I'll make sure it's bigger. What's the point of refining something the size of an egg, only to have it split in one swing?

Wordlessly, he lifted the knife high and bared its edge without restraint. "Die!"

Closing in on the three remaining Core Formation realm elders, Qi Yuan unleashed a barrage of Eight Summer Slashes. He couldn’t care less if he struck disciples in passing.

At first, the three elders fought cautiously, afraid of harming their disciples. Ten breaths into the clashes, desperation took over. They stopped caring, plunging the battlefield into chaos.

Weaker Qi Refinement realm disciples were obliterated in the crossfire. Foundation Establishment realm stewards fell in heaps—some died instantly, others screaming with broken bones and torn limbs.

Qi Yuan unleashed his Heaven-Cleaving Sword again, splitting another elder in two in one devastating arc.

The second elder, gravely wounded, was struck from behind. Yu Linglong seized the chance to devour his Golden Core, using it to mend her own shattered cultivation. When the dust cleared, only Yu Linglong remained. Blood streaked her black veil, and her tattered robes bared pale skin and the curve of her breast.

Trembling, her eyes glistened with tears as she gazed at Qi Yuan. Her voice was soft and quivering, yet laden with allure. "Great sir, won’t you spare me?"

With a snort, Qi Yuan slashed again, the knife shrieking down.

Desperately, she appealed once more. "The sect is no more! Why insist on killing me? I may be an elder, but I’ve never held loyalty to the Black Mountain Sect!"

"Die, Demoness."

Her heart seized with terror. She was going to die at this rate!

Driven into a corner, she cried out, "Let me tell you a secret!"

Qi Yuan didn't even slow down.

"Please!" Her voice broke. "I have the Violet Bamboo Physique, yet I’ve never lost my yin essence. Black Rooster Demon has been coveting it for a long time. He poured resources into me, grooming me for Nascent Soul so he could dual cultivate with me once I ascended. He seeks to seize my virgin essence and break through to the fabled Violet Palace realm."

For the first time, Qi Yuan paused. "Violet Palace?"

Yu Linglong’s heart leaped at his hesitation. Her voice softened. "If you bed me now, you can break into the Nascent Soul realm immediately. If you wait until I ascend to the Nascent Soul realm, you can seize my yin essence and break into the Violet Palace realm..."

Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, thoughts flashing. So, she’s nothing more than the Black Rooster Demon's chosen cauldron. All the more reason she cannot be allowed to live. A Nascent Soul old monster’s bad enough... but Violet Palace?

His grip on the knife hardened. "Which means, I mustn’t let you live!"

The knife flashed, and Yu Linglong’s head flew from her shoulders. A second swing split her Golden Core to shards. She was dead.

Qi Yuan looked down at her corpse, laughing. "Good thing she told me, or I’d have killed her and run, leaving Black Rooster Demon to come scavenging. Who knows if he could’ve used her flesh to step into Violet Palace?"

Not taking chances, he pulled out a flask of corpse-dissolving water. He poured it over her remains, melting her flesh to a puddle.

"Black Rooster Demon can’t take her yin essence now. Probably. Still, better be safe than sorry."

Lighting a fire, he set the puddle aflame, burning it dry. Then, he scooped the ashes and soil into his storage bag. Only then did he turn toward the sect's gate.

Murderous intent blazed in his eyes. "Some disciples are still alive, I'll finish them, then take their sect's books and get out."

The sect's great array had drained most of its disciples dry, leaving shriveled husks behind. A handful still lived, but Qi Yuan wouldn’t be merciful.