"My Golden Core... is in the heavens!"
Qi Yuan let out a great roar, hefting his great sword and flailing with wild chops!
Elder Xuanfeng felt a chill grip his heart. Sensing immense danger, he dared not meet the strike directly.
In truth, his shock went even deeper.
"You're not an Origin Core cultivator!"
At last, he realized something.
The shock in his heart turned into sheer horror.
Not an Origin Core cultivator, yet thrashing an Origin Core cultivator with ease!
Was there such a Foundation Establishment cultivator in this world?
This was simply monstrous!
"No, I am Origin Core! I have a Golden Core!" Qi Yuan hastily argued.
Needless to say, the three-way clash looked utterly comical, like primary schoolers brawling and squabbling.
The magical duel failed to hold the Black Mountain Sect disciples' attention, but the bickering proved quite entertaining.
Brandishing the great sword, Qi Yuan pummeled the two of them.
In less than ten breaths, he completely dominated the situation.
All of a sudden, as Elder Xuanfeng cast a dao art, he seemed to sense something, and his eyes went wide.
He realized something: "You're not Foundation Establishment either!"
Having shouted this, he suddenly roared, "Run! This isn't human!"
"Right, I'm not Foundation Establishment, I'm Origin Core!"
Naturally, Qi Yuan gave the Origin Core elders no chance to flee.
With a downward stroke cleaving open the heavenly gate, his sword hacked both Origin Core elders straight into pieces.
Even the step of dismembering them was rendered redundant.
It all happened far too fast.
Barely a dozen breaths after clashing with Qi Yuan, both Origin Core elders were slain.
Counting the sect master, the Black Mountain Sect only had seven Origin Core True Persons in total.
Patriarch Baiji was dead.
Two more had just perished.
In other words, only four Origin Core elders remained in the Black Mountain Sect.
Nearly half the sect's core strength had been wiped out.
At this moment, the other powerhouses within the Black Mountain Sect finally stopped spectating—or emerged from secluded cultivation—and arrived before the mountain gate.
The one in the lead was none other than the sect master of the Black Mountain Sect, Daoist Heifeng.
Dressed in grey robes, he had white hair and a youthful complexion. He looked exceptionally old, making it difficult to fathom that someone of such advanced years had taken a foster father.
Yu Linglong stood beside Daoist Heifeng, peering curiously at Qi Yuan and casting alluring glances at him from time to time.
The remaining two Origin Core elders glared somberly at Qi Yuan.
Daoist Heifeng surveyed the ruins on the ground, his gaze unshifting. "Your storming of our mountain gate goes a bit too far. Though our Black Mountain Sect is a modest sect, Old Demon Black Chicken is this old man's foster father. If you depart now, this matter shall be settled. Back then, our Black Mountain Sect exterminated your clan, and now you have slain three Origin Core elders of our Black Mountain Sect. That is more than enough to wipe the slate clean."
Daoist Heifeng knew when to yield, showing weakness to Qi Yuan.
Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan made no move. He sized up the Black Mountain Sect cultivators, pondering how best to slaughter them quickly.
Seeing Qi Yuan remain silent, Daoist Heifeng continued, "If you persist in entangling with us, our Black Mountain Sect is no soft persimmon either. When the time comes, whose hand the deer falls by remains to be seen! And Old Demon Black Chicken is my foster father—do you understand what that means?"
Hearing this, Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow. "You killed my whole family, and now you threaten me? Do you honestly think I grew up on Cornetto ice cream?"
Daoist Heifeng froze.
To the side, draped in black gauze, Yu Linglong giggled with enchanting allure. "Little brother is quite amusing. If you are willing to spare the Black Mountain Sect, this one... is willing to spend a night of passion with you for the sect's sake."
Daoist Heifeng frowned slightly, but said nothing.
Upon hearing her words, Qi Yuan declared loudly, "You've even resorted to a honey trap—despicable as expected! Today, I shall wipe out your entire sect without fail!"
Qi Yuan didn't want to wage a war of words any longer and moved directly to attack.
Verbal sparring was utterly boring.
More importantly, Qi Yuan was terrible at trash talk and had never won an argument in his life.
Seeing this, Daoist Heifeng's face turned chilly. "It seems you truly have a death wish!"
Wasting no words, Daoist Heifeng pulled out a formation flag and tossed it into the air.
"Form the array!"
In that instant, he activated the sect's grand protective array.
In an instant, the faces of all the Qi Refinement disciples turned deathly pale.
The Foundation Establishment deacons fared slightly better, but their faces were pale as well.
In contrast, the four Origin Core elders had flushed, healthy faces, and their auras swelled immensely.
The Black Mountain Sect's grand array drained cultivation from the bodies of all the disciples and deacons, channeling it into the Origin Core elders.
In moments, the elders' strength rose to a whole new level.
Qi Yuan watched them and swung the great sword with full force.
Daoist Heifeng remained calm and composed. Right now, he felt as if he had reached the late Origin Core stage. A round, gleaming Golden Core flew forth.
"Take my blow!"
From the very first move, Daoist Heifeng unleashed his strongest strike with the Golden Core.
The Golden Core was the most precious thing to an Origin Core cultivator, the convergence of their dao arts.
Unleashing this technique, Daoist Heifeng looked as if victory were already in his grasp.
"The Golden Core I formed belongs to the middle three ranks—the Heavy Iron Golden Core! This core is exceedingly tough; even a Divine Infant cultivator could not shatter it in short order. Your techniques are exquisite, your lethal strikes endless, and your combat experience far exceeds ours. If we become entangled in battle with you, you will surely defeat us one by one. Therefore, I shall use my Golden Core to crush all techniques with pure might!"
Daoist Heifeng lacked combat experience; his greatest advantage was having a cultivation realm superior to his foe's.
Thus, he chose the safest move: suppressing his opponent with his Heavy Iron Golden Core.
It was a shameless tactic, capable of ruthlessly crushing cultivators of lower realms.
Yet when Qi Yuan saw the Golden Core, his eyes lit up instead. "It's not even as big as a soccer ball, and you think you can crush me with it?!"
If Daoist Heifeng had fought Qi Yuan fairly with spells and techniques, the clash might have dragged on for quite some time.
But pulling out his Golden Core?
Then pardon me!
Qi Yuan's blade specialized in hacking Golden Cores!
Heaven-Cleaving Sword-Drawing Technique!
Qi Yuan once again unleashed his ultimate skill.
The radiance of the sun and moon seemed to coalesce upon him.
At that moment, the giant sword shattered, revealing the shape of a kitchen cleaver beneath.
Seeing this, Daoist Heifeng was dumbfounded.
A kitchen cleaver?
Yet before he could dwell on his confusion, frantic alarm bells rang within his heart.
Subconsciously, he tried to recall his Golden Core.
However, it was all too late!
The kitchen cleaver chopped into the Golden Core without even the sound of clashing metal.
Just like a cleaver slicing into an egg, it hacked Daoist Heifeng's Golden Core clean to pieces.
Daoist Heifeng's eyes bulged wide. He tried to speak, but no words would come. His aura plummeted wildly; he was not long for this world.
"How... could this be!"
Daoist Heifeng could not comprehend it.
His Golden Core had been cleaved apart by a kitchen knife.
That was a Heavy Iron Golden Core!
A Golden Core as heavy as a mountain!
Such immense weight condensed down to the size of an egg spoke to its terrifying nature!
Qi Yuan looked at Daoist Heifeng and said coldly, "It's not that I'm too strong; it's that your Golden Core is too small."
Inwardly, Qi Yuan reflected on this.
When he formed his own Golden Core in the future, he had to make sure it was massive. He couldn't be like Daoist Heifeng, forging one merely the size of an egg, only to get it chopped apart in a single blow.
Finished speaking, he held the cleaver, no longer concealing it. "Die!"
He charged toward the remaining three Origin Core cultivators.
Hacking wildly about, he had no need to care whether his cleaver caught other disciples.
At first, the three Origin Core elders fought with restrained hands and feet, fearful of killing their own disciples.
Yet after barely a dozen breaths, they threw caution to the wind and battled Qi Yuan like madmen.
In moments, the Black Mountain Sect's Qi Refinement disciples and Foundation Establishment deacons were either killed or wounded.
Meanwhile, cleaver in hand, Qi Yuan unleashed the Heaven-Cleaving Sword-Drawing Technique once more, slaying another Origin Core elder.
As for the other Origin Core elder, who was already gravely wounded, Yu Linglong ambushed him from behind and swallowed his Origin Core to restore her own cultivation.
Now, among all the Origin Core elders of the Black Mountain Sect, only Yu Linglong remained.
Her black gauze was splattered with blood and her garments were in tatters, exposing a broad swath of smooth, fair skin across her heaving chest.
She looked at Qi Yuan with a pitiful gaze, her eyes brimming with bewitching charm. "Could you spare this little woman's life?"
"Hmph!" Qi Yuan ignored her, hacking furiously with his cleaver.
Seeing this, Yu Linglong continued, "Your quarrel is with the Black Mountain Sect, and its people are nearly all dead. Why tangle with me? Though I am an elder of the Black Mountain Sect, I hold no affection for it."
"Vixen, die!"
Dread filled Yu Linglong's heart. If this continued, she would surely die in less than ten breaths.
Hardening her resolve, she blurted out, "I have a secret I can share with Fellow Daoist!"
Qi Yuan paid no attention.
Yu Linglong grew frantic. "In truth, I possess the Purple Bamboo Physique! To this day, I have never lost my primordial yin and remain completely chaste! Old Demon Black Chicken covets my primordial yin and has poured mountains of resources into nurturing me, all to raise me to the Divine Infant realm. Once I reach Divine Infant, dual cultivating with me to take my primordial yin will give him a chance to step into the legendary Purple Mansion realm! If you are willing to spare my life, I will gladly become your servant and offer my primordial yin to you, helping you attain the immortal fortune of the Purple Mansion realm!"
Hearing this, Qi Yuan paused. "Purple Mansion?"
Seeing his reaction, Yu Linglong rejoiced inwardly. "As long as you are willing to share the clouds and rain with me, you can step into the Divine Infant realm today! And if you wait until I grow to the Divine Infant realm before spending spring nights with me, you can aspire to enter the Purple Mansion!"
Seeing that Qi Yuan had stopped attacking, her voice grew even softer and more seductive.
Watching her, Qi Yuan's thoughts raced. "Doesn't that mean you're Old Demon Black Chicken's cultivation resource? All the more reason you cannot be left alive! Old Demon Black Chicken at the Divine Infant realm is already terrifying enough, let alone at the Purple Mansion realm!"
Saying so, he lopped off Yu Linglong's head with a single chop of his cleaver.
Instantly, Yu Linglong's head flew through the air, and with another slash, Qi Yuan shattered her Golden Core.
Yu Linglong was dead as dead could be.
Looking at Yu Linglong's corpse, Qi Yuan muttered, "Scared the life out of me. Good thing she mentioned having the Purple Bamboo Physique. Otherwise, if I killed her and ran off, Old Demon Black Chicken might have come along and salvaged her body. Who knows if that corpse could still help someone step into the Purple Mansion realm?"
Thinking this, Qi Yuan took out a bottle of specially prepared corpse-dissolving water and poured it over Yu Linglong's body.
Instantly, Yu Linglong dissolved into a puddle of liquid.
"Now Old Demon Black Chicken shouldn't be able to take her primordial yin, right?
"No, still not safe enough!"
Qi Yuan lit a fire, dried the puddle completely, and shoveled the soil from the spot into his storage bag.
After busying himself for a while, Qi Yuan looked out over the Black Mountain Sect, killing intent surging in his eyes. "A few disciples are still alive. I need to clean them up properly, carry off their Library Pavilion, and get out of here fast!"
When Daoist Heifeng activated the array, and later when Yu Linglong and the other Origin Core elders fought desperately against Qi Yuan, they had forcefully drained the disciples dry to boost their own strength.
Many disciples had been turned into mummified husks, but a small number clung to life.
Naturally, Qi Yuan had no intention of sparing them.
Chapter 36