Burial Furnace

It was the middle of the night.

The sky was overcast, thick clouds obscured the stars, and the entire town of Qingmu was shrouded in darkness.

Only a few dim lanterns in the distance swayed in the night breeze, casting a faint light.

Zhang Yuan affixed a concealment talisman, instantly shielding his breath, heartbeat, and respiration.

Like a ghost, he moved silently through the dark streets and soon arrived at Wang Hu's residence.

The room was lit, and the dim yellow light shone through the window paper, casting a blurry shadow on the floor.

Zhang Yuan crept closer, pressed himself against the wall, and listened intently.

Voices could be heard coming from inside the house, though they were hushed, but in the quiet night, they were still clearly audible to him.

"Tiger, we sent so many corpses over, and that old man cremated them all. He looked furious, but didn't seem to be seriously injured." It was the bald man's voice. "I suspect his business is actually doing very well; he's made a lot of spirit stones."

"That's not all," the tall, thin man continued. "I suspect there's something strange about his corpse-dissolving formation. How could an ordinary cremation formation be so fast? And the price is so low. I suspect he might have a special magical artifact."

"Furthermore," the bald man added, "I heard that Boss Li from the Spirit Talisman Pavilion also gave him trouble, demanding he buy ten intermediate-level talismans every month. He actually agreed immediately. What does that mean? It means he's rich!"

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Then, a sinister voice rang out: "Tiger, why don't we kill him now? Throw his body into the furnace and burn it, and nobody will know. Then all his wealth, and that corpse-transforming artifact, will be ours. Even if Liu Ruxue investigates, how could she possibly trace it back to us?"

"That's right!" the tall, thin man chimed in. "Tiger, he's made so many spirit stones; he might break through to the second level of Qi Refining soon. When that happens, he definitely won't let us go. We must strike first and nip him in the bud!"

Another silence followed.

Then, Wang Hu's voice rang out, filled with greed and ruthlessness: "That makes sense. Damn it, I've put up with him for too long! A mere old geezer at the first level of Qi Refining dares to meddle in my business and cut off my source of income! Let's do it!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.

Luckily I came to take a look, otherwise I might have really been tricked to death by them.

At the same time, he also became more vigilant.

Even low-level thugs like Baldy could suspect that he possessed extraordinary treasures, so those more knowledgeable cultivators would probably be even more likely to see through his deception.

He must find a way to cover up the secret of the Immortal Transformation Furnace as soon as possible.

The best solution is to contact Liu Ruxue and ask her to help set up a real corpse-dissolving formation to deceive others.

In this world, the only person he could trust was Liu Ruxue.

Unfortunately, so many days have passed and Liu Ruxue has still not appeared.

"Let's go, let's go kill him right now!" Wang Hu's voice rang out.

Then, the door was pushed open.

Wang Hu was the first to step out, followed closely by the bald man, the tall, thin man, and the short, stout man.

Zhang Yuan hid in the shadows beside the door, pressed against the wall, motionless.

The concealment talisman was very effective; his aura was completely hidden, and the four of them did not even notice his presence.

The moment Wang Hu stepped across the threshold, Zhang Yuan made a move.

He did not use any talismans.

Those talismans are all quite valuable; it would be a waste to use them on someone like Wang Hu.

He threw a punch straight at Wang Hu's temple!

Swift as lightning, powerful as thunder!

The power of the second level of Qi Refining erupted completely at this moment!

Wang Hu was only at the second level of Qi Refining, and he had been indulging in wine and women for many years, so his foundation was weak and his strength could only be considered as low as the bottom among those of the same level.

All he could think about was rushing into the crematorium, killing Zhang Yuan, and seizing the treasures; he never imagined there would be someone lying in ambush at the entrance.

By the time he sensed the approaching danger, it was too late.

He wanted to dodge, retreat, or activate his protective qi, but it was too late.

"boom--"

Zhang Yuan's fist slammed solidly into his temple.

Wang Hu felt a loud buzzing in his head, his vision went black, and he fell to the ground.

He was bleeding from all seven orifices, his eyes were blacking out, and he was writhing in pain, trying to struggle to get up.

But Zhang Yuan didn't give him a chance at all.

He raised his foot and kicked down hard.

"boom--"

He kicked Wang Hu in the temple.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang—"

Four consecutive kicks.

Every kick carried Zhang Yuan's full strength.

Wang Hu's body twitched a few times, then remained completely still.

His eyes were wide open, staring intently at Zhang Yuan, his eyes filled with disbelief.

This old geezer who was only at the first level of Qi Refining has actually broken through to the second level of Qi Refining?

How dare he strike first?

He was filled with regret, wondering why he had kept sending corpses instead of just killing him.

Otherwise, how could I have ended up in such a state?

Then, his consciousness was plunged into eternal darkness.

All of this happened too fast; from the moment Zhang Yuan threw the punch to Wang Hu's death, it was only a matter of two or three breaths.

The bald man, the tall, thin man, and the short, stout man watched helplessly as Wang Hu fell, terrified out of their wits.

"Oh my god!"

The three screamed and turned to run back into the house, trying to escape through the back door.

How could Zhang Yuan possibly let them go?

He lightly touched the ground with his toes and chased after it like a gust of wind.

In an instant, he caught up with the short, chubby guy who was lagging behind.

A punch landed squarely on his back.

"Click—"

A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out.

The short, stout man grunted and flew out, crashing heavily into the wall. He slid down like a painting and remained motionless.

Zhang Yuan continued his pursuit.

The tall, thin man had already run to the back door.

Zhang Yuan kicked out, sending a nearby stool flying and hitting the tall, thin man squarely on the back of the head.

The tall, thin man's vision went black, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

The last one is bald.

He had already rushed out the back door and was running wildly along the alley.

But how could an ordinary person outrun a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining?

Zhang Yuan caught up with him in a few leaps and punched him on the back of the neck.

Before the bald man could even scream, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Zhang Yuan carried the three corpses to Wang Hu's body, took off the storage bag from his waist, and opened it.

Inside were over a hundred low-grade spirit stones, a luminous pearl for lighting, and a longsword.

The sword is about three feet long, with a bluish-gray blade engraved with simple patterns and emanating a faint spiritual energy.

Inferior Buddhist implements.

Although its grade is not high, it is already considered a pretty good weapon for Zhang Yuan at this point.

He stored the contents into his Shadowless Ring, and then put the four corpses into his storage bag.