noveltune Chapter 54 Pulling up the weeds and removing the roots, scraping away the very soil
Chapter 54 Pulling up the weeds and removing the roots, scraping away the very soil
"Boom—!"
The deafening roar shook the crumbling bronze hall to the point of collapse, sending up a flurry of snowflakes. Lu Yuan's kick landed without any fancy moves, yet it carried the terrifying power of a Mahayana stage physical body. The white marble floor instantly blasted open a crater more than ten meters in diameter, sending rubble flying like cannonballs, crashing into the broken walls and sending dust flying everywhere.
The hundred-meter-thick rock layer underground was as brittle as a sour soda cracker under the crushing force of his peak Golden Core body, utterly vulnerable. The crisp sound of the rock layer shattering continued, and dust billowed upwards, but as soon as it approached within three feet of Lu Yuan, it was fiercely repelled by an invisible protective aura, not even a trace of it touching the hem of his clothes.
Lu Yuan's figure was as light as a feather as he slowly descended into the deep pit, his clothes remaining perfectly still, as if he were walking on flat ground rather than in a hundred-meter abyss. At the bottom of the pit, a colossal door forged entirely from deep-sea silver stood prominently, its panels covered with densely packed spirit-locking array patterns, the patterns shimmering with a faint spiritual light, exuding an indestructible aura.
Such a defense would be the trump card of any secret sect on Earth—even a martial arts master at the peak of the Transcendent Realm couldn't break a single piece of the paint on it, let alone break through the spirit-locking array, even if they set up a mortar and bombarded it for three days and three nights.
Lu Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids, his expression as indifferent as if he were looking at an ordinary stone slab. He slowly raised his right hand, flicked his fingers slightly, and his fingertips gently landed on the door panel.
"Snap—!"
A sharp, piercing cracking sound rang out. The deep-sea silver gate, strong enough to withstand the impact of a nuclear bomb, crumbled layer by layer from the point of impact, breaking into a pile of metal fragments the size of fingernails in the blink of an eye, gleaming with a cold luster, leaving no room for resistance.
The moment the gate shattered, a rich, almost tangible medicinal fragrance surged out, carrying with it spiritual energy that choked and made one's nose tingle—it was the terrifying aura of countless rare and precious herbs piled together.
Lu Yuan stepped inside, his expression still calm, but a faint warmth flickered deep in his eyes—this treasure trove was just enough to gather the ingredients for Qingxue's Marrow Cleansing Pill.
This is an underground space the size of three basketball courts. The walls are inlaid with hundreds of fist-sized luminous pearls, whose white light pours down, illuminating the entire treasure vault as bright as day, making even the cracks in the stones on the ground clearly visible.
In the very center of the space, tens of thousands of neatly cut low-grade spirit stones were piled up, their lustrous sheen radiating a rich spiritual energy. Although Lu Yuan considered this spiritual energy to be utterly impure, even inferior to the scraps he used for cultivation, on this Earth, where communication between heaven and earth was severed and spiritual energy was scarce, this was undoubtedly a fortune that would drive any cultivator or martial arts master mad with envy and drive them to fight tooth and nail for it.
On the left side of the rosewood shelf, hundreds of jade boxes with seals were neatly arranged. The seals were engraved with simple restrictions to prevent the loss of the medicinal herbs' spiritual energy. On the right side, various kinds of knives, spears, swords, and halberds were piled up. The weapons shimmered with a faint magical artifact luster. Although most of them were low-grade magical artifacts, they were still rare treasures in the Earth's martial arts world.
Lu Yuan walked straight to the sandalwood shelf on the left, casually lifted the lid of a jade box without hesitation. Inside the jade box, a ginseng root, entirely blood red with seven leaves, lay quietly. Its roots were plump, and it carried the unique icy and snowy aura of Kunlun Mountain. Its spiritual energy was restrained, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary plant.
"Seven-leaf blood ginseng, a thousand years old, barely enough to be used as a catalyst for the Marrow Cleansing Pill." Lu Yuan gently brushed his fingertips across the ginseng leaves, his tone flat, without the slightest surprise—such medicinal materials were nothing more than discarded waste when he was cultivating immortality.
As soon as he finished speaking, he lightly touched the Nine Heavens Storage Ring on his wrist with his fingertips. The next second, the air in the entire treasure vault suddenly sucked in, forming an invisible suction force that swept through the entire space.
The mountain of spirit stones, the hundreds of jade boxes on the shelf, all the magical artifacts on the right, and even the sandalwood shelf holding the medicinal herbs were all swept away by the suction force in a fraction of a second, disappearing completely without a trace. The Kunlun Sect's wealth accumulated over hundreds of years was looted, leaving not even a piece of wood for the other party.
Lu Yuan's gaze swept over the empty treasure vault. He was about to turn and leave when his eyes suddenly stopped on a stone platform at the deepest part of the vault. Previously, this place had been blocked by mountains of spirit stones, but now that the spirit stones had been taken away, the things on the stone platform were finally revealed.
It was a palm-sized black non-metallic fragment with jagged edges, as if it had been forcibly torn apart. Its surface was covered with dried dark green marks, exuding an ancient and eerie aura that seemed completely out of place on Earth.
A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes. He stepped forward and gently pinched the fragment between two fingers. The moment his fingertips touched the fragment, the golden core within his body throbbed violently and uncontrollably. A faint yet familiar aura from the cultivation world flowed into his body through his fingertips.
"This isn't from Earth." Lu Yuan traced the dark green marks on the fragment with his fingertips, his eyes narrowing slightly. "This is the blood of a high-level demon beast from the cultivation world. It died no more than five hundred years ago."
He casually tossed the fragment into his storage ring, his brow furrowed slightly, a hint of doubt rising in his heart: Earth had been sealed off from the heavens and earth for thousands of years, and even the lightning tribulation of the Golden Core stage could not be brought down, and cultivators had disappeared. How could the blood of a demon beast from the cultivation world five hundred years ago appear?
It seems that there are more secrets hidden beneath Kunlun Mountain than he had imagined. But then, a faint smile appeared on Lu Yuan's lips—this is good, so that he won't be too bored while guarding Qingxue in the future; at least there will be some fun to be had.
Lu Yuan lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his figure instantly rose into the air like a black streak of light, rushing straight to the surface along the path he had come from. His speed was so fast that even the air was torn apart, emitting a sharp whistling sound.
Above ground, the blizzard raged on. The four Kunlun Daoists, engulfed in the fiery flames of the Glazed Realm, were still rolling around in the snow, emitting shrill roars like leaky bellows. The agonizing pain of their souls being burned made even the thought of death unbearable. Lu Yuan didn't even lift an eyelid, as if everything before him was insignificant dust. With a flash, he transformed into a streak of light, tearing through the wind and snow, and soaring towards Jiangnan City, leaving behind only the swirling snow and the Kunlun Secret Realm reduced to utter ruins.
At the same time, eighty meters underground in Beijing, in the highest-level national defense zone.
Inside the command center, the atmosphere was so tense it was suffocating. On the large screen, a high-definition topographic map representing the Kunlun Mountains was frantically updating data. Red alarm lights flashed incessantly, and the piercing alarm sound was turned down to the lowest level, yet it still made people feel uneasy.
The radar operator's ten fingers left afterimages on the keyboard, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, his face as pale as paper, and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth—he had been so nervous that he had accidentally bitten his tongue.
"Sir! The satellite detector has malfunctioned!" The operator's voice trembled uncontrollably. He swallowed hard, his saliva stained with blood, and said with difficulty, "The elevation data of the main peak of Kunlun Mountain... three hundred meters have vanished into thin air! A full three hundred meters, as if someone had forcibly erased it!"
Standing at the back, Chu Jianguo gripped his thermos tightly, five deep finger marks etched into the stainless steel rim, his knuckles white, his face ashen. He abruptly turned to the elderly man seated in the central swivel chair, his voice hoarse: "Commander, the protective array around Kunlun Mountain can't be breached even with our latest bunker-buster bombs, and even nuclear weapons can only scratch the surface… Who did this?"
The old man slowly waved his hand, interrupting Chu Jianguo. He stood up, walked unsteadily to the large screen, his gaze fixed on the snow-capped peak that had been forcibly smoothed over. His eyes were filled with shock and solemnity, and his voice was terrifyingly calm, yet carried an undeniable authority: "From this day forward, the Kunlun lineage of China will cease to exist."
As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's hands, which were behind his back, began to tremble slightly uncontrollably. He had lived a whole life and seen countless storms, but he had never seen such terrifying power. To flatten the snow-capped peaks and destroy Kunlun with his own strength was something no human could do!
"Jianguo," the old man suddenly turned around, his cloudy eyes bloodshot, his tone urgent and solemn, "you go to Jiangnan City in person and bring those two three-thousand-year-old Tianshan snow lotuses from our warehouse to that gentleman in person."
Chu Jianguo was completely stunned, his face changing drastically: "Commander! Those two Tian Shan snow lotuses are the only medicinal herbs you have to keep alive! Your health is poor, if they're gone..."
"Enough nonsense!" the old man interrupted him sharply, his tone resolute. "These old bones of mine can still breathe for a few more years! But that man is a living Yama, capable of single-handedly tearing apart the earth's crust and destroying Kunlun!"
He pointed to the ruins on the large screen, his voice lowered, tinged with fear: "He razed Kunlun this time because the people of Kunlun touched his Achilles' heel—his sister. As long as his sister is still in Jiangnan City, he is the biggest pillar of stability in Jiangnan City, the biggest backer of our China! Anyone who dares to pull out this needle, I'll shoot them!"
The old man paused, his tone growing increasingly stern: "Immediately notify all war zones to raise the security level in Jiangnan City to the highest level, on 24/7 alert! Not even a fly carrying the virus is allowed to fly into Cloud Peak Manor! The slightest mistake will be a responsibility neither of us can afford!"
"Yes!" Chu Jianguo didn't dare to hesitate for a moment. He immediately straightened his back, answered in a deep voice, turned around and quickly walked out of the command center, not daring to delay his preparations.
Jiangnan City, Yunding Mountain Villa.
The sky was already turning a pale white, and the morning light pierced through the thin mist, illuminating the mountain path leading to the villa. Lin Zhen, wrapped in a heavy military overcoat, squatted by the door of the bulletproof Maybach, his nose red from the cold and his face haggard. Last night's one-sided massacre had terrified Zhao Tiancheng's hundreds of men, half of whom had fled overnight, while the rest huddled in the grass halfway up the mountain, not daring to even breathe, let alone approach the villa.
Lin Zhen pulled out a half-pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out and put it in his mouth, but his hand holding the lighter trembled for a long time, and he couldn't light it—the fear in his heart hadn't dissipated yet. The look in Lu Yuan's eyes when he left last night, that indifference that regarded everything as worthless, chilled him to the bone.
"Director Lin, it's dawn, and that man still hasn't returned..." A detective cautiously approached, his voice extremely low, afraid of angering Lin Zhen and also afraid of disturbing the menacing figure in the manor.
"Shut your filthy mouth!" Lin Zhen angrily threw his unlit cigarette at the detective's face, his tone volatile, but secretly filled with a sense of relief. "It's best he doesn't come back! If he really did, who knows what kind of mess he'd made of Kunlun!"
Before he finished speaking, a gentle breeze blew by, and the large iron gate of the villa swayed silently.
Lin Zhen subconsciously looked up and froze on the spot—Lu Yuan, dressed in simple casual clothes, was carrying an ordinary plastic bag containing steaming hot xiaolongbao and soy milk. He appeared out of thin air in front of the access control reader, with a tall and straight figure and a calm expression, as if he had just gone out to buy breakfast, rather than having trampled the Kunlun Secret Realm.
Lin Zhen's chin slammed into his knee with a loud thud, causing him to grimace in pain, but he didn't dare utter a sound. Every hair on his body stood on end in that instant, as if enveloped by an invisible pressure, making even breathing difficult.
There wasn't a trace of blood on Lu Yuan; even the soles of his white sneakers were clean, as if last night's earth-shattering revenge had nothing to do with him. Yet, the air within ten meters of him felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out, so oppressive it was suffocating. It felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart, making him wish he could commit seppuku on the spot to relieve the extreme pressure.
Lu Yuan turned his head, glanced indifferently at Lin Zhen who was squatting by the car, and uttered three words in a flat and calm tone: "Thank you for your hard work."
Those three words struck Lin Zhen like a thunderbolt. His legs went weak, and with a thud, his knees slammed onto the cold concrete floor, causing him to bang his head against the ground. His forehead turned bright red, and his voice trembled with barely suppressed awe: "To...to serve Mr. Lu! I would die a thousand deaths for him!"
Lu Yuan ignored him, pushed open the iron gate, and walked straight into the villa. His figure quickly disappeared at the entrance of the villa, leaving only a cold and aloof silhouette.
Only after Lu Yuan's figure completely disappeared from sight did Lin Zhen collapse to the ground, panting heavily. His back was soaked with cold sweat, his hands and feet were ice-cold, and he couldn't even stand up. He shakily pulled out his phone, and an encrypted text message from Chu Jianguo popped up on the screen. It contained only one short sentence: "Kunlun is expelled. You stay there and be a good dog. I'll bring you some meat bones right away."
Lin Zhen looked at the text message and felt a wave of nausea wash over him, but dared not utter a word of complaint. He slowly turned his head to look at the quiet villa on the mountaintop, his eyes filled with awe and shock.
Who could have imagined that the entire martial arts world of China, the Kunlun lineage that had been passed down for hundreds of years, would be completely destroyed and utterly destroyed by an eighteen-year-old boy carrying a bag of steamed buns in just one night?
This boy did it all to protect his sister and to seek justice.
Lin Zhen took a deep breath, slowly stood up, and straightened his back—from this day forward, his life, everything he had, belonged to that young killing god carrying steamed buns. As long as he could protect that man and his sister, he would be willing to serve them like a slave.