Chapter 11: Killing Curse
Chapter 11: The Killing Curse
The next day, Lü Yang waited in his cave dwelling for an entire day.
No one came.
The three black-clad figures might as well not have been disciples of the Primordial Saint Sect at all—their deaths caused not a single ripple. No one even came to investigate.
Lü Yang sighed inwardly. He wouldn't foolishly assume the Saint Sect—which monitored all disciples through their Life Lamps—hadn't noticed their deaths. It now seemed that "mutual slaughter among disciples" was simply an unspoken rule here. As long as things didn't escalate too publicly, no one would bother investigating thoroughly.
After all, the ways of demonic sects were unpredictable.
A death could be a silencing, a robbery, or punishment for knowing too much... What if an investigation uncovered something inconvenient?
Better not to look too closely.
"Truly worthy of the Saint Sect..."
Having reached this conclusion, Lü Yang set aside his concerns and began looting.
The disciple tokens shocked him first—each contained a full 400 Contribution Points, an absurdly high amount.
"So they were seasoned criminals."
Frowning, he searched further. Among miscellaneous items, only one secret manual titled Qi Concealment Technique caught his interest.
These assassins had been exceptionally skilled at suppressing their qi. Had Lü Yang not recently broken through, gaining qualitative leaps in both qi and spiritual sense, he might never have detected their approach. This proved the technique's value—clearly their trump card.
"More importantly, it's unrelated to the Saint Sect!"
Sect techniques were recorded exclusively on disciple tokens. That this was a physical manual meant it came from the trio's personal fortunes.
No need to worry about the sect having countermeasures.
"Like receiving a pillow when drowsy—how fortunate they died!"
With genuine gratitude, Lü Yang properly buried the three, giving them peaceful rest.
Then a thought struck him:
"If this Qi Concealment Technique is so refined yet not sect-taught, where did they obtain it? Could there be greater fortune behind it?"
Instantly, his mind raced with possibilities.
But soon he reined in his greed, eyes cooling. "No hurry. These three... perhaps next lifetime we'll be friends."
Opportunities would come!
After the burials, Lü Yang checked his token for the Sword Pill refinement materials Yun Miaoqing had mentioned.
"To refine a Sword Pill: three taels of gold essence, three of jade marrow, two of cinnabar, and two of sword qi—ten taels total. Forge with true fire, quench with divine water to purge impurities, then temper slowly with sword incantations until harmonized with the refiner's essence, qi, and spirit."
As he reviewed the method and checked prices, his expression darkened.
"Gold essence, jade marrow, cinnabar, sword qi—100 Points per tael. Divine water—500 Points per gourd. True fire—500 Points per strand..."
"Two thousand Points!?"
His jaw clenched. Yun Miaoqing had said Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion disciples received a Sword Pill from their masters upon reaching Qi Refining.
Yet the Primordial Saint Sect demanded 2,000 Points?
An ordinary disciple would need twenty years of backbreaking labor to save that much!
Damnable demonic sect!
This exorbitant price instantly deflated his earlier windfall euphoria, brutally reminding him of his poverty.
"These 400 Points suddenly seem rather useless."
By his plan, next restart would prioritize cultivation. Anything acquired this lifetime would be left behind.
Thus spending the Points on items was meaningless.
As for cultivation—the gap between mid and early Qi Refining was vast. Even burning all 400 Points wouldn't push him to fifth-layer Qi Refining.
"Seems they can only buy techniques."
Unlike treasures, techniques as knowledge could carry over. With this decided, Lü Yang headed straight for the Library Pavilion.
"Well, if it isn't you?"
The elder at the entrance actually remembered him, looking surprised. "Back for more techniques? Seems fortune smiles."
"Your auspicious words manifest, Senior Brother."
After clasping hands, Lü Yang entered with clear purpose—to find a powerful life-or-death divine ability.
Soon he locked onto a target.
"Killing Curse: 300 Points."
This ability was unique, resembling Buddhist silent meditation. It required nurturing killing intent within one's chest, tempering it daily with qi until fused with life force.
Normally, the user could speak freely. But when unleashed, a single shouted "Kill!" would explosively release all accumulated killing intent—shattering souls, unstoppable. However, once expended, the user would die too. A mutual destruction technique.
"Perfect! Kills others and myself—exactly what I need!"
With the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes, Lü Yang feared not death, but being unable to die. The Book couldn't be activated voluntarily—only upon death.
Thus he desperately needed a suicide technique.
After exchanging Points for the manual, he immediately sat cross-legged to study it.
"Killing Curse stores qi in the chest, with killing intent as its core. The purer the intent, the more devastating the curse."
"When heaven's killing intent stirs, stars shift; when earth's killing intent stirs, dragons rise; when man's killing intent stirs, heaven and earth overturn. Thus killing intent divides into three: celestial, terrestrial, and human. Celestial and terrestrial are rare—once a century. But human killing intent is everywhere, with weapon-borne intent being supreme..."
In the library, Lü Yang began refining killing intent.
"Fortunately, materials are readily available..."
Human killing intent was best drawn from weapons used by murderous individuals. Coincidentally, he still had the trio's blades.
He extracted their killing intent, slowly refining it within himself.
Instantly, Lü Yang felt as if a thousand knives were scraping his bones—excruciating. Yet he clenched his jaw, not daring to open his mouth.
This was the critical moment. Opening his mouth would release the qi—and certain death!
After an eternity, the killing intent in his chest finally stabilized, fully integrated with his qi. A single thought could unleash it.
"I wonder how powerful it is..."
Anticipation flashed across his face. He resolved to test the curse before dying this lifetime.
Returning to the entrance, he found the elder cursing violently.
"Dog-fucked bastard... luckier than a shit-stomping fly..."
The old man trembled as he gripped a disciple token, face twisted with indescribable emotion.
Lü Yang approached curiously. "Senior Brother? What happened?"
"What happened?" The elder glared, hurling the token down with a sneer. "It's everywhere—see for yourself!"
Without another word, he flopped back into his rocking chair, sulking.
Baffled, Lü Yang checked his own token's news feed—and understood.
"Merit Pool Jackpot Finally Won!"
"New disciple Xiao Shiye caught the colored Merit Fish! True Person publicly awarded ten billion grand prize! After claiming it, Xiao Shiye entered seclusion—current whereabouts unknown!"