"He is my younger brother."

The middle-aged man coughed and said, "Did you kill my brother?"

"Sort of," Lin Yue replied indifferently.

"Good." The middle-aged man coughed a few more times and then said, "His jade pendant is missing. I suppose it's with you now?"

"It's with me." Lin Yue nodded slightly.

"You're very honest. I won't ask you why you killed him then."

After coughing into a handkerchief several times, the man continued, "Now, put down my brother's jade pendant and I'll make your death quick. Otherwise, after I kill you, I will exterminate your entire Lin Family, and you can't blame me then."

"You want the jade pendant?" Lin Yue raised an eyebrow slightly.

This jade pendant is indeed extraordinary; when he discovered it during the day, he guessed it might be a clue. Unexpectedly, the clue had come to find him so soon.

The middle-aged man glanced at him, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the handkerchief, and said slowly, "I gave you the chance to put down the jade pendant, but you didn't take it. It seems the Lin Family will be exterminated."

As he spoke, over a dozen corpse drivers sprang into action from behind Lin Yue in the alleyway.

Although they moved somewhat stiffly, they were much faster than a running person, clearly because corpse refining allowed them to exert more power, much more than the explosive power of an ordinary person.

Then—

"Bang bang bang bang—"

A series of dull thuds rang out, accompanied by the cringe-worthy sound of snapping tendons and breaking bones. One after another, the corpse drivers swiftly fell to the ground.

The middle-aged man's pupils suddenly constricted.

Under the moonlight, the young man had become a blur, his figure constantly weaving and dodging among the refined corpses. Any corpse that came into contact with him had its tendons snapped and bones broken, with several of them having their chests completely caved in, almost penetrated.

"Is this...even human?" the middle-aged man muttered.

These corpse drivers were only the most ordinary, but they were still a bit sturdier than ordinary people and much stronger.

Yet, in front of this man, they seemed as fragile as paper.

The man immediately looked towards a tall and burly refined corpse behind him and shouted in a low voice, "Kill him!"

The huge corpse driver stepped quickly, rushing towards Lin Yue with great speed. The wind blowing his cloak aside revealed slightly bronze-tinted skin.

"Hmm?"

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow, "A bronze corpse? Mortals are actually able to refine a bronze corpse?"

His figure suddenly blurred, accelerating in an instant.

The tall and burly corpse driver found Lin Yue had swiftly moved past him. By the time it turned its head, Lin Yue had already appeared next to its master, with one hand on the master's shoulder.

"Everyone stop," the middle-aged man said, taking a deep breath.

Every refined corpse came to a halt, frozen in place.

"You do know what's good for you."

Lin Yue looked at the middle-aged man indifferently, casually slapped him, breaking both arms, and finally stopped.

Sweat appeared on the man's forehead, but he endured without making a sound.

He just looked at Lin Yue and said in a low voice, "I had done my investigations beforehand, and you haven't learned any martial arts. How can you be so strong? The strongest Jianghu masters I've seen are nowhere near your level."

"Do you think you still have the right to ask questions?" Lin Yue said calmly.

Although he was merely a mortal, he had refined his body to the limits of the mortal realm. Even without martial arts knowledge, competing in an athletics competition, he would be at a world-class athlete's level.

Let alone having his refining energy perfected into a threadlike "Perfect Unity," which made his strength ten times what it was originally, how could these lowest-grade corpse drivers possibly withstand him?

To be precise, only this bronze corpse could barely be considered the lowest-grade. The other refined corpses were not even at the basic level of bronze corpses.

In Great Yong, within the Demon Path, there exists a Corpse Refining Sect.

But even at the Five Elements Heavenly Barrier level, one could only refine a bronze corpse, which possessed great strength and iron-like skin, albeit slow in speed.

This middle-aged man was but a mortal, and he had managed to refine a bronze corpse?

"Did you refine this bronze corpse?" Lin Yue asked directly.

"Yes," the man replied gravely, "But I didn't expect you to be so fast, not even engaging it in combat?"

Lin Yue asked again, "How did you refine it?"

"I am a Corpse Driver, a disciple of the Buddha Mother's teachings."

The man continued, "Of course, I prayed to the Buddha Mother to bestow great power to help me refine this zombie with iron skins and bronze bones."

"What do you want the jade pendant for?" Lin Yue asked.

"For my own use."

The middle-aged man said gravely, "It was I who lost to my younger brother that year, and I let him have the Jade Pendant. But he was incompetent. Despite acquiring the Jade Pendant blessed by the Buddha Mother and having the prospect of contracting with the Buddha Mother, he was still so useless. Now that he's dead, of course, I must take back the Jade Pendant."

"For your own use? A contract?" Lin Yue was intrigued and asked, "What does 'contract' mean? Are there any special changes?"

The middle-aged man looked at Lin Yue with a touch of surprise and skepticism before he caught on, "So... you have never worshiped a deity? Are you a pure martial artist?"

He suddenly understood.

The ghostly movements and martial arts of the other party were not derived from the power gained after worshiping a deity!

But from pure martial arts?

Could it be that martial artists could also be so powerful?

He found it somewhat incomprehensible.

"Worshiping a deity..."

Lin Yue pondered for a moment, then suddenly tossed the Jade Pendant in his hand back to the man, stating indifferently, "How do you use this Jade Pendant? Show me a demonstration."

...

Half an hour later.

The life had left the middle-aged man's body, and he lay on the ground powerless, slowly closing his eyes.

Lin Yue watched the Killing Buddha Mother Jade Pendant in his hand thoughtfully, then suddenly smiled.

"So that's how it is..."

He had roughly realized where the powerhouse of this Yanfu World had gone.

The answer was...

Those native Divine Spirits, brought into the Yanfu World by its sovereign, were the Ancient Strong People.

They must all be Proving Realm powerhouses; otherwise, they wouldn't have lived this long.

Just now, when the middle-aged man used this Jade Pendant, it attracted a vast will. This time, he clearly felt that will, and it was definitely at the Proving Realm.

However...

Despite being such a powerful will, it seemed restrained in a way, merely providing a trifling amount of power according to the man's sacrificial ritual, barely enhancing a Corpse to the Copper Corpse level.

For Proving Realm powerhouses, those with the capacity to overturn seas and rivers, even the strongest Corpse Refining Skill of the Demon Path that produced the Emperor Corpse could not contend with a Proving Realm powerhouse; the highest they could reach was the Saint Level.

Just for the sake of a mortal, to specially reduce such a small amount of power to create a Copper Corpse?

It was too much trouble.

Therefore...

This must be the restriction of the world rules; the extraordinary beings of this Yanfu World can only exert power through this means!

That is the rule.

According to Lin Yue's understanding of the Yanfu sovereign's philosophy, he could roughly comprehend why the Yanfu sovereign would establish such rules for the Yanfu World.

The sovereign of Yanfu wanted the world to be in suffering, as people in suffering need more faith, a spiritual pillar.

And the Proving Realm powerhouses of the Yanfu World, transformed into various Divine Spirits, are the spiritual pillars for all beings.

In the past, the Yanfu World was frequently in a state of natural and man-made disasters, with constant suffering.

But people who steadfastly believed in their Divine Spirits could receive real feedback, which was the true hope they could cling to.

Thus, in the past, there were many believers in the Yanfu World.

But now... it's different.

The Ancient World is attacking the Yanfu World.

He somewhat understood the reasons behind the birth of the West Continent Alliance; it's highly likely related to the Ancient World.

The West Continent Alliance has more free and advanced cultural ideas, all kinds of technology that benefit humanity, allowing people to free themselves from suffering.

This runs counter to the philosophical concepts of the sovereign of Yanfu.

Thus...

This so-called attack is actually the deprivation of faith!

As for the so-called contractors with Divine Spirits...

Lin Yue suddenly smiled.

He had roughly understood where his own body's power had gone and also had some idea of how to use the power of his own body.