Burial Furnace

Wang Hu's face instantly turned ugly.

Saintess of the Holy Maiden Sect, Liu Ruxue!

She was a renowned prodigy in the Western Continent, possessing the cultivation level of Foundation Establishment at a young age, and was also the Holy Maiden of the Holy Maiden Sect.

Let alone a mere Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator like him, even a Foundation Establishment Level 3 cultivator would have to treat Liu Ruxue with utmost respect.

If this old man is really Liu Ruxue's relative, then if he harms him, Liu Ruxue will definitely not let him off.

"Tiger, what he said... seems to be true." The bald man leaned close to Wang Hu's ear and whispered, "We inquired about it yesterday, and it's true that Liu Ruxue helped him open that shop."

Wang Hu's expression turned even uglier.

He quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Finally, he angrily asked, "Old man, you run your crematorium, I collect my protection money, and we'll keep to ourselves. Why are you interfering in my affairs?"

"I didn't intend to interfere in your affairs," Zhang Yuan said calmly. "But I'll protect Old Man Xia's family. He sold me this shop cheaply; he did me a favor. My motto, Zhang Yuan, is to repay kindness. I don't care if you collect protection money from others, but Old Man Xia's share is waived."

"Damn it!" Wang Hu's face turned green with anger. "A thousand taels of silver a year! You think you can just waive it like that?"

"So what do you want?" Zhang Yuan looked at him calmly. "How about you go and confront Liu Ruxue?"

Wang Hu was speechless.

He hesitated for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "Fine! I'll give you face and not take Old Man Xia's protection money! But you'd better not mess with me again, otherwise—even if you have Liu Ruxue backing you up, I can still make you regret it!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeve and left with the three of them.

Zhang Yuan watched their retreating figures, a faint smile playing on his lips.

The name Liu Ruxue is really useful.

We must drive the enemy out of our country's borders!

……

Wang Hu returned home, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

He kicked over the table in front of him, and cups, plates, and bowls smashed all over the floor with a loud crash.

"Damn it! A mere Qi Refining Level 1 old geezer dares to shit on my head! I'll kill him sooner or later." He cursed through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with rage.

"Tiger, let's forget about it. He's Liu Ruxue's relative."

"Let it go? How could that be!" Wang Hu sneered, a venomous glint in his eyes. "I can't openly attack him, but I have plenty of ways to make him pay a heavy price."

"What method?" The three bald men's eyes lit up immediately.

Wang Hu beckoned the three closer, then lowered his voice and said, "We can get some corpses and secretly leave them in front of his shop tonight. He runs a crematorium, right? He can't just ignore the corpses delivered to his door, can he? If he does, he'll have to use spirit stones to activate the array. Once or twice is fine, but if it happens too often, he definitely won't be able to handle it, and he'll have to close down and get out of business sooner or later!"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" The bald man gave a thumbs-up, his face full of admiration. "Tiger, that move of yours was absolutely brilliant!"

"Let him suffer in silence, forced to swallow his anger!"

"Haha, look at his shabby appearance, he probably won't last long before he goes bankrupt!"

"Let's not delay, let's go get the body now!" Wang Hu waved his hand and led the three of them out the door.

After walking for most of the day, the four of them ventured deep into the dense forest and arrived at the entrance of a hidden cave.

The cave entrance was pitch black, emanating a strong stench of blood and decay.

Wang Hu took out a luminous pearl from his storage bag and went inside first.

Dozens of corpses lay scattered in the cave, some wearing Taoist robes, some wearing tight-fitting clothes, some shirtless, and some with mutilated limbs, their deaths extremely tragic.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and corpses, making one want to vomit.

"Tiger... how come so many people are dead here?" The bald man covered his nose, his voice trembling.

While skillfully examining the corpse, Wang Hu said, "There used to be a giant python demon beast in this cave, whose strength was comparable to the late Foundation Establishment stage."

Its demon core is valuable, its skin is valuable, its bones can be used to forge weapons, and its meat is highly nutritious. Therefore, cultivators constantly come to hunt it.

Most people died from the giant python's poisonous mist. Later, the giant python was killed, but the cultivators fought a chaotic battle for its demon core, resulting in the deaths of another group.

The survivors looted all the treasure and left, leaving the bodies unattended.

So the four of them, suppressing their disgust, put all the corpses in the cave into storage bags and then returned to Aoki Town.

That night, Zhang Yuan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

"Sigh, no business again tonight." He stared at the ceiling, somewhat depressed.

Suddenly I smelled an odd odor.

The taste was very faint, almost imperceptible, but Zhang Yuan's five senses were now much more acute than those of ordinary people, and he still managed to detect it.

It's the smell of a corpse.

He sat up abruptly and listened intently to the sounds outside.

In the stillness of the night, all was quiet except for a few distant barks of dogs.

But the stench of the corpse grew stronger and stronger.

Zhang Yuan quickly put on his shoes, opened the shop door, and looked outside.

Then, he froze.

In the open space in front of the gate, numerous corpses were piled up haphazardly.

Some were wearing tattered Taoist robes, some were shirtless, some had missing limbs, and some had ferocious faces.

A quick glance revealed at least thirty bodies.

Several stray cats crouched not far away, their green eyes fixed on the corpses, emitting low whimpers.

Zhang Yuan stared in disbelief, speechless for a long time.

Then, his face turned ashen, and he began to tremble, as if he were furious to the extreme.

Holy crap!

He let out a furious roar, the sound carrying far through the silent night sky.

"What kind of heartless bastard dumped so many corpses in front of my shop! They didn't even bother to put them in body bags! Have they no sense of public decency?!"

He stomped his feet, waved his fists, and cursed as if he had suffered a great injustice.

But deep down, he was already overjoyed.

Thirty corpses of monks.

This is it! We're rich now!

He cursed and swore as he bent down and carried the corpses one by one to the backyard.

The movements were rough, as if they wanted to throw the corpses on the ground and stomp on them.

It took him nearly half an hour to move the thirty corpses.

After he finished moving everything, he closed the shop door, bolted it, let out a long breath, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Then, he threw the bodies one by one into the furnace.

"boom--"

Dark golden flames ignited, engulfing the corpses in the furnace.

The flames surged, intense and violent.

Each flicker of the flame represents a corpse turning to ashes.

Each time the flames were extinguished, it meant that a wisp of primordial power flowed into Zhang Yuan's body.

His lifespan began to increase at a rate visible to the naked eye.

One month, two months, three months...

Six months, one year, two years...

When the last wisp of primordial power merged into his body, Zhang Yuan gained a full ten years of lifespan!

Adding the previous eleven years, he now has a lifespan of more than twenty years!