Chapter 48: Can I Just Kill Them All?

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes, his gaze swiftly sweeping over the many disciples of the Green Wu Sect present.

All of them were outer sect disciples, each at Qi Refining realm—most at the late stage, with three of them already at the peak of Qi Refining, only a step away from Foundation Establishment.

Such strength might be respectable among loose cultivators, but within the sect, they were barely above servant disciples—still the bottom rung.

According to Xie Yun, tracking demonic cultivators was no easy task.

Demonic cultivators were notorious for their unpredictable and dangerous methods. They often employed soul-harming curses or secret arts, making them threats even to those with higher cultivation.

Yet these Green Wu Sect outer disciples showed no sign of caution. Instead, they wore arrogant expressions, surveying the loose cultivators with disdain. Some even ogled the female cultivators among the crowd.

This only confirmed what Lu Yan already suspected.

These outer sect disciples clearly knew that this so-called “search for demonic cultivators” was nothing but a pretense. The real goal was to tarnish the reputation of Green Valley Market. And if there was no real danger, then naturally they wouldn’t treat it seriously.

Amid the unrest among the loose cultivators, a hunched, yellow-robed Qi Refining late-stage cultivator stepped forward from the crowd.

The old cultivator cupped his hands respectfully toward Xie Yun and said:

“I am Bai Kang, a member of the Yulin Bai Clan.

Years ago, our young clan master joined Green Wu Sect and now serves as an inner sect disciple. I hope you, Senior, would allow this old man to leave on account of our young master.”

His words caused an immediate stir among the crowd.

“Yulin Bai Clan?”

“That’s a cultivation family with two Foundation Establishment cultivators!”

“Old Bai is from the Bai Clan? Why haven’t I heard this before?”

“Heh! Old Bai’s been in Green Valley Market for years, and no one ever knew he was part of the Bai Clan. Now, with this search underway, he suddenly reveals his identity to try and sneak through? Clearly he’s hiding something.”

Bai Kang ignored the chatter behind him and continued to gaze respectfully at Xie Yun. He already had a good idea of how this would go.

The Bai Clan was a five-hundred-year-old cultivation family, with a direct descendant serving as an inner sect disciple in Green Wu Sect. Surely Xie Yun wouldn’t make an enemy over such a minor issue.

But to everyone’s shock, Xie Yun’s cold expression suddenly turned gleeful the moment he heard Bai Kang’s name.

“Impudent!”

A wave of surging Foundation Establishment power exploded from him. His boundless mana condensed into a giant hand that came crashing down.

The dumbfounded Bai Kang didn’t even have time to react before the enormous mana palm struck him with a thunderous boom, crushing him into a pool of flesh and blood. A massive handprint several meters wide was imprinted into the ground.

After killing Bai Kang, Xie Yun declared righteously:

“A demonic cultivator dares to impersonate a member of the Yulin Bai Clan, using Bai-shidi’s name to try and escape scrutiny?

If Bai-shidi knew, he would’ve drawn his sword and cut this man down on the spot!

As Bai-shidi’s senior brother, I cannot allow someone like this to sully his name and continue harming the world.”

As he spoke, Xie Yun waved his hand, drawing Bai Kang’s storage pouch into his grasp.

With a surge of mana, he cleansed the blood and flesh from the pouch and then extended his divine sense into it.

A moment later, the smile faded from Xie Yun’s face. He let out a cold snort and said solemnly:

“Just as I thought—he was a demonic cultivator!”

He then pulled several talismans out from the storage pouch.

“This is a Vital Essence Talisman, drawn using a cultivator’s vital energy to boost cultivation speed.

But excessive use damages a cultivator’s foundation, so these have long been banned from circulation. Without a doubt, these are demonic talismans!”

Xie Yun’s announcement left many loose cultivators with strange expressions.

They knew Vital Essence Talismans by another name: Blood-Selling Talismans.

Though officially banned, these talismans fetched high prices. Some desperate cultivators would sell off part of their vital energy—just like mortals selling blood.

Every loose cultivator here knew who really bought those talismans—disciples from cultivation clans and sects.

Only those born into great sects but lacking talent would resort to Vital Essence Talismans to fake the image of a cultivation prodigy.

As for true demonic cultivators? They wouldn’t care for mere vital energy. They wanted flesh, souls, and even corpses after death.

To the loose cultivators, connecting the talismans to demonic cultivators was laughable. But from the sect’s perspective, it made for a convenient excuse.

Lu Yan, having observed the entire situation, now completely understood Xie Yun’s motive.

Bai Kang carried Vital Essence Talismans. If discovered, it could implicate the Bai Clan’s young master—now an inner sect disciple.

Fearing this, Bai Kang had tried to invoke his background to avoid inspection.

This tipped off Xie Yun, confirming that the man was hiding something. By exploiting this, he could pin demonic activity on Green Valley Market, justifying this entire search operation.

In the eyes of someone vying for a true disciple’s seat, Xie Yun didn’t care about offending a mere Foundation Establishment clan or inner sect disciple.

To avoid complications, he simply declared Bai Kang a demonic cultivator and publicly severed all ties between Bai Kang and the Bai Clan or its young master.

After the killing, all Xie Yun found were the Vital Essence Talismans. Their value was barely enough to justify his actions to higher-ups—but not enough to fully condemn Green Valley Market for harboring demonic forces.

Still, it served one important purpose: it intimidated the crowd.

Even those with backgrounds wouldn’t dare speak up now, saving Xie Yun a lot of trouble.

The rowdy crowd quieted.

Some cultivators with clean records stepped forward, handing over their storage pouches for inspection.

Those still standing back, like Bai Kang earlier, clearly had something to hide.

Lu Yan, of course, was among them.

As the number of cultivators dwindled, the outer sect disciples found two more among the crowd to accuse as demonic collaborators.

One had several magic artifacts heavily infused with yin energy, likely obtained from looting a ghost tomb.

The other possessed a tattered robe with faint demonic traces—clearly stripped from some corpse.

Anyone with sense could see that neither had anything to do with the demonic path. Yet both were labeled as such anyway.

Many of the remaining loose cultivators now wore expressions of quiet dread, hearts sinking with that peculiar sorrow born of witnessing others fall—“the rabbit dies, and the fox mourns.”

As for Lu Yan, he calmly studied every cultivator at the market gate.

In his heart, he silently calculated:

“If I unleash the Hundred Souls Banner… can I kill everyone here?”

(End of Chapter)