Burial Furnace

"We can't tolerate this any longer. We have to shut down his crematorium as soon as possible," Zhou Lie said through gritted teeth. "But I can't kill him, otherwise the Holy Maiden Sect will definitely assume that I was behind it, and my fate will be unimaginable."

He paced back and forth in the backyard, his brow furrowed, racking his brains for a solution.

The moonlight shone on his face, making his gloomy face appear even more ferocious.

Soon, he came up with an evil plan.

He immediately burst into a grotesque laugh, which sounded particularly jarring in the quiet night.

He immediately began making arrangements, summoning several trusted subordinates and giving them instructions in a low voice.

The men nodded repeatedly and then disappeared silently into the night.

Night was falling.

Zhang Yuan remained calm and composed, in a very good mood.

Tonight, we've already completed three transactions, cremating three Foundation Establishment corpses and three Qi Refining corpses.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

Five rogue cultivators wearing bronze masks entered.

Each of them was burly and had a calm demeanor; all of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage and exuded a very powerful aura.

Their footsteps were light, landing silently, like a group of ghosts.

Bronze masks concealed their faces, revealing only pairs of cold eyes that gleamed with a chilling light under the illumination of the luminous pearls.

Without saying a word, they each took a corpse from their storage bags and threw it into the stove.

Dark golden flames rose up and engulfed the five corpses.

However, Zhang Yuan sensed that these corpses were not very fresh—after being thrown into a furnace and burned to ashes, he used his divine sense to perceive the condition of the corpses.

However, their cultivation levels were all very high; four of the corpses were at the Foundation Establishment stage, and the other was at the Golden Core stage.

The flames burned for a moment, and the five corpses turned to ashes, adding seven years to his lifespan.

However, they didn't give any spirit stones at all, and instead ran out of the cremation hall and the crematorium as fast as they could.

It seemed like they were trying to skip out on the bill, but they were also afraid of the terrifying array in the cremation hall.

Zhang Yuan's heart tightened immediately, and he quickly chased after him.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Those five rogue cultivators didn't run away; instead, they stood outside arrogantly.

They picked their noses and poked their ears, acting all high and mighty, standing there nonchalantly as if they were certain Zhang Yuan wouldn't dare do anything to them.

"Five fellow Daoists, a total of four mid-grade spirit stones and two high-grade spirit stones," Zhang Yuan said in a deep voice.

"What did you say? You want spirit stones? Don't you know who I am?"

"When have the five of us brothers ever spent spirit stones?"

"You, a weakling in the Qi Refining stage, dare to ask us for spirit stones?"

"I'm not giving you spirit stones, what are you going to do about it?"

"Grandpa won't give us spirit stones, so come and kill us!"

The five were incredibly arrogant, and their voices were exceptionally loud, carrying far into the quiet night and reaching most of Qingmu Town.

Their purpose was clear—to tell everyone that old men in the Qi Refining stage could be bullied.

From now on, when people cremate corpses, they won't need to give spirit stones at all.

Anyway, they were all wearing masks, so no one could know who they were.

Even with the Holy Maiden Sect as his backer, it's useless for Zhang Yuan.

If this continues, crematoriums will have to close down.

"The old man running the crematorium is in trouble. If it's not handled properly, he won't be able to keep it running."

"Didn't Duan Tian say that old man was a reclusive master? A powerful figure in the Mahayana stage? Let's see what he does."

Almost all the cultivators released their divine senses to monitor the situation.

Even some cultivators who were still awake quickly gathered from all directions to watch the spectacle.

The crowd grew larger and larger, completely surrounding the open space in front of the crematorium.

Duan Tian was one of them.

He stood in the crowd, arms crossed, with no sign of worry on his face.

Only he was certain that Zhang Yuan was a Mahayana cultivator who could easily handle the matter.

So he watched expectantly, wondering what methods his senior would use to deal with these fools.

"In the cultivation world, the strong are respected. If I don't have the strength, I'll be bullied and won't be able to open a crematorium."

A sudden realization dawned on Zhang Yuan.

If I chicken out tonight, I won't be able to do business.

These people dared to act so recklessly because they knew he was just an old man in the Qi Refining stage.

Therefore, with a thought, his Xuan Scale Armor appeared on his body.

The jet-black armor instantly covered his entire body, gleaming with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight.

The Ink Scale Sword appeared in his hand, its blade shimmering with an inky light in the night, radiating a sharp killing intent.

His face was indifferent, his gaze icy as he looked at the five rogue cultivators and asked, word by word, "Are you truly unwilling to give spirit stones?"

"Hahaha, this old man is about to lose his temper. He's quite wealthy, isn't he? A low-grade spiritual artifact."

"Hehehe, we're not giving you spirit stones, go ahead and do it."

"Come, come, let Grandpa see what you've got up your sleeve!"

The five rogue cultivators simultaneously grinned maliciously.

They were already clad in armor, all of them low-grade spirit armor.

Swords also appeared in their hands, all of them low-grade spirit swords, their blades gleaming with a chilling light.

They emanated a chilling killing intent, so intense it seemed almost tangible, causing the surrounding temperature to drop several degrees.

As soon as Zhang Yuan makes a move, they will kill him without hesitation and then flee.

Once the masks are removed, no one can possibly know who they are.

"Then you'll regret it."

Zhang Yuan's voice was icy cold, as if it came from the deepest hell.

He moved instantly.

No one saw how he drew his sword.

A faint silver ray of light flashed through the air, so thin it resembled a spider's thread and was almost invisible in the moonlight.

But this slender ray of light contained an aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

That was a combination of the Heaven-Deceiving Sword Technique and the Life-Reducing Technique of Heaven and Earth.

He unleashed five sword strikes in one go.

But the five swords appeared almost simultaneously, as if time had been divided into five parts, with a sword light flashing in each part.

The five rogue cultivators were naturally on guard. Their divine senses were firmly locked onto Zhang Yuan's every move, and their true essence had been poured into the spiritual swords in their hands, ready to block or counterattack at any time.

Their divine senses detected that Zhang Yuan's sword was aimed at their legs.

Therefore, the direction they block is also their legs.

But it didn't work.

It's completely blocked.

Then they felt a chill on their necks, and five enormous heads fell off instantly, the cuts as smooth as a mirror.

Blood shot into the sky, appearing particularly dazzling under the moonlight, like five red fountains.

The five headless corpses collapsed into pools of blood after a long while, twitched a few times, and then remained still.

Zhang Yuan, on the other hand, only lost five months of his life.

Compared to his lifespan of over five hundred years, it was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

Besides, burning these corpses later will give him a few years of life.

Not only did they not suffer any losses, but they actually made a fortune.

He would only rapidly deplete his lifespan if he encountered a terrifying being capable of withstanding his two attacks.