Outside the courtyard, the mob of Demonic Cultivators exchanged glances of dismay. They were completely baffled.

Wu Renjie frowned, cupping his hands around his mouth to shout at the silent house.

“If you didn’t find anyone, quit stalling and get out here! What are you dawdling for?”

Silence.

No matter how loud he yelled, the house remained dead quiet. It was like shouting into a void.

Panic began to ripple through the crowd. The eeriness of the situation was getting to them.

“Why is there no movement from the squad?” one disciple muttered, his voice trembling. “Is there… something strange about that house?”

“Do you think…” another whispered, his face pale, “Do you think a powerful Senior is hiding inside?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” someone immediately shouted back, though their voice lacked conviction. “This is the Outer Sect! Why would a Sect Elder hide in a dump like this?”

“Exactly! If it were a Saint Sect Senior, they would have come out and crushed us the moment we started cursing. Why hide inside playing tricks?”

Chi Yinghu rubbed his bald head, his expression dark and contemplative.

“It’s likely a trap array,” he rumbled. “A maze formation. That’s the only thing that could trap a group of men so silently without a single fluctuation of battle Qi.”

The explanation was logical, and the crowd latched onto it like a lifeline.

“Senior Brother Chi is brilliant! That must be it!”

“No wonder he dared to claim Grade A Courtyard No. 1. The bastard has some skills with formations.”

“Too bad he ran into us. Formation or not, today he dies a miserable death!”

“He’s just turtling up inside his shell,” another sneered, trying to sound brave. “With this many of us, we can crack that turtle shell with one finger each!”

Wu Renjie nodded slowly, turning to Chi Yinghu.

“It’s not just my men anymore. Your subordinates are trapped in there too.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Since neither of us trusts the other, let’s stop playing games. We swarm it together. Break the formation, then drag him out.”

Chi Yinghu’s eyes glinted with cold malice.

“Agreed. I have a ‘Soul-Piercing Awl’—a Top Grade Magical Artifact designed specifically to shatter formations. It will come in handy.”

He looked at Wu Renjie. “But once we’re in, the target is mine. I need to teach him the consequences of offending Chi Yinghu.”

“Fine by me,” Wu Renjie replied with a ferocious grin.

After I deal with the unlucky bastard inside, Wu Renjie thought, gripping his weapon, I’ll have a nice, bloody deathmatch with Chi Yinghu to decide who really runs Blood Refining Peak!

“Charge!”

With a roar, the two tyrants led their combined forces—hundreds of Demonic Cultivators—surging toward the gate of Grade A Courtyard No. 1 like a tidal wave.

[Unknown amount of time later]

Swoosh!

A flash of silvery-white light cut through the air inside the main room.

Qi Yuan materialized out of thin air, the teleportation so smooth it didn’t even disturb the dust motes.

He stretched his arms, feeling refreshed and invigorated. His spirit was high.

As the saying goes: A short separation beats a honeymoon.

His brief reunion with Bai Xirou had been… productive. The dual cultivation session had been passionate and lingering, netting him cultivation gains equivalent to half a month of bitter grinding. He felt fantastic.

“Home sweet—”

The smile froze on his face.

Qi Yuan stood there, blinking, unable to comprehend the scene before his eyes.

The spacious main hall was gone. In its place was a slaughterhouse.

The floor was carpeted in layers of severed limbs, torsos, and shattered heads. There wasn’t even a clean spot to put his foot down. The furniture was buried under a mountain of gore.

He looked out the open door. The courtyard was even worse. Corpses were piled up in heaps, stacking against the walls like firewood.

A rough visual estimate put the body count in the hundreds.

Judging by their robes, every single one of them was an Outer Sect Disciple of Blood Refining Peak.

But the most bizarre part?

Despite the sea of carnage, there was no smell. The metallic tang of blood was completely absent from the air, as if it had been sucked dry.

Am I hallucinating? Did I dual cultivate too hard?

Qi Yuan rubbed his eyes vigorously.

The corpses remained.

“What the hell…”

His gaze landed on the table, where the Abyssal Condensation Sword was lying motionless, pretending to be an ordinary weapon.

Qi Yuan marched over, picked up the sword by the hilt, and shook it violently.

“What happened here?!” he roared. “Why are there so many dead people in my yard?!”

He was furious. He had been gone for less than half a day! How did this cursed sword manage to commit such a heinous crime in a few hours? Looking at the sheer volume of bodies, it looked like it had wiped out the entire population of Blood Refining Peak!

Buuuuurp.

The sword let out a loud, satisfied belch.

Sensing Qi Yuan’s killing intent, the sword spirit panicked and projected a hasty defense.

“Master Qi! Didn’t you give the order? You explicitly said: ‘Kill anyone who breaks in!'”

The sword vibrated indignantly. “These were bad guys! They tried to break in and steal your stuff! Following your wise instructions, This Sword killed them one by one. I didn’t let a single fish slip through the net!”

Qi Yuan’s eyes bulged. “You… you mean you didn’t go out hunting? These people came here? All of them?”

“That’s right!”

The Abyssal Condensation Sword wiggled proudly, like a puppy presenting a dead bird.

“Master Qi gave the order, so how would Little Sword dare to disobey? I swear to the Heavens, I never left the courtyard! Not even half a step!”

“Don’t forget Little Sword for future jobs like this! The harvest was bountiful today… oh, and I saved your share of the loot!”

Holy shit.

Qi Yuan stood paralyzed, realizing the sword wasn’t lying.

I knew the culture in the Demonic Sect was bad, but I didn’t think it was this bad!

He had barely left the house, and hundreds of people had tried to rob him? It really was a den of thieves.

I’m just a Novice! I haven’t even flaunted my wealth! Are these guys desperate from poverty? Why did they swarm me like hungry locusts?

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He recalled the sect rules he had read earlier.

Rule: Trespassers in a private cave dwelling may be killed by the owner without penalty.

Technically, he was in the right. He was the victim here. There should be room to maneuver.

He looked at the mountain of corpses again.

But… this is a massacre.

Would the Sect really turn a blind eye to hundreds of dead disciples just because of a technicality?

He needed professional legal advice. Immediately.

Qi Yuan shoved the sword into his system inventory and pulled out a communication talisman. He activated it.

A moment later, Ji Chan’er’s soft, alluring voice drifted out.

“Qi Yuan? What do you need?”

“Fairy Ji,” Qi Yuan said, his voice serious. “I have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

Qi Yuan took a deep breath and chose his words carefully.

“Uh… I have a friend. He’s an Outer Sect Disciple in the Demonic Sect.”

“Okay…”

“Hypothetically,” Qi Yuan continued, “if this friend accidentally killed some other Outer Sect Disciples, what would the penalty be?”

Ji Chan’er paused for a moment, then replied casually.

“Killing an Outer Sect Disciple without a deep background isn’t a big deal. The sect encourages competition. Even if he’s caught, usually it’s just a fine. He’ll have to pay some Spirit Stones to the sect.”

She added a warning tone. “Of course, the Enforcement Hall is strict about payment. If he can’t pay the fine within the deadline… he’ll die a very ugly death.”

Qi Yuan exhaled, his shoulders slumping in relief.

Just a fine.

As expected of the Demonic Sect. Murder is just a transaction here.

“Wait,” Ji Chan’er asked curiously. “Who exactly did your ‘friend’ kill? Do you need me to say a few words to the Enforcement Hall for him?”

Qi Yuan looked at the carnage around him. He sighed.

“To be honest… on his first day in the sect…”

“Yes?”

“He slaughtered the entire Blood Refining Peak.”

Silence.

The communication talisman went completely dead.