The guards were stunned by Lin Ye's words.
"Name your price?"
It was unheard of.
This was Qing Marquis Manor.
Even if the manor wasn't a giant sect…
Wanqing Marquis himself was a famed Midstream powerhouse.
Even Hundred Spirit Medicine Sect's high elders addressed him respectfully.
And this man just walked up and said—
"I want your house. Sell it."
Sell it?
Then where would Wanqing Marquis live?
And even if he wanted to sell—
who said Lin Ye had the right to demand it?
Xia Wei turned pale.
"Qing Marquis Manor… damn. Another giant."
She hurried to Lin Ye.
"Lin Ye… this one is dangerous. Let's find another place."
She regretted saying it the moment she spoke.
It sounded like they were bandits.
But Lin Ye's behavior…
was literally bandit-like.
Lin Ye didn't even glance back.
"It's fine."
He turned to the guards.
"If he won't come out…"
"I'll go in."
"You dare!"
They reached for their blades—
Lin Ye's palm sent them flying.
BOOM! BOOM!
They crashed into the manor gate and rolled inward.
Instantly, hidden figures appeared.
Fourteen Qing Shadow Guards dropped down, surrounding Lin Ye.
Earth Transformation Ninth Layer across the board.
And the leader was Heaven Phenomenon Realm.
Xia Wei's breath caught.
The Qing Shadow Guards were elite.
Their leader alone could kill her instantly.
Then—
the ground shook.
A black shadow landed.
The Uugang Panther returned, claws wet with blood.
The Fifth-Rank aura slammed outward.
Even the Qing Shadow Guards recoiled.
Then laughter echoed.
A warm wind swept through—
and the panther's murderous aura vanished.
A white-haired youth stepped out.
Green robes.
Bamboo scroll.
Gentle smile.
But the panther sniffed again…
and its eyes sharpened.
It sensed danger.
All guards bowed immediately.
"Greetings, Lord Prefect!"
Wanqing Marquis waved lazily.
"Retreat."
"Guests are guests."
"No need for hostility."
His voice was calm.
His smile perfect.
But Lin Ye stared at him.
And knew immediately—
This man was rotten.
Wanqing Marquis's so-called youth art…
came from absorbing the essence of newborn infants.
Lin Ye had seen such evil methods before.
He originally planned to simply buy the estate.
No conflict.
No blood.
But after seeing this?
He felt disgusted even imagining paying.
Wanqing Marquis smiled.
"I heard you wish to buy this estate."
"To be honest…"
"I only moved in yesterday."
"If you like it, after the convention ends, I'll gift it to you."
"Or you may stay here freely. There are many rooms."
His men were stunned.
A mansion worth millions…
handed out like candy?
Xia Wei was stunned too.
But Lin Ye's voice cut through like a blade.
"I was going to pay."
"But after seeing you…"
"I won't."
"You cultivate…"
"But you chose the filthy path."
"You think your face is worth that many babies?"
Wanqing Marquis's smile froze.
"…What?"
Lin Ye lifted his chin slightly.
"Bite him."
The panther lunged.
Wanqing Marquis finally moved—
Star River Ninth Layer Peak erupted.
Green mystic armor formed, star power descending.
But the panther's brute force was terrifying.
BOOM!
Wanqing Marquis was smashed backward.
His eyes widened.
"This beast just broke through… how can it be this strong?!"
Lin Ye's aura detonated.
He blasted Qing Shadow Guards away with pure pressure.
Cold-Iron Sword appeared in his hand.
Star River Sixth Layer surged.
He stepped—
and phantom afterimages formed as he chased forward.
Xia Wei stood frozen.
She had seen everything.
And still didn't understand.
Why did it become a fight?
Two star bridges ignited in the sky.
The entire city erupted again.
"Again?!"
"That aura… that one is nearly Moonwheel Realm!"
Tu Jinsong and Wang Kun stared from the rooftops.
Faces pale.
"That's…"
"Qing Marquis Manor."
Inside Qing Marquis Manor—
Wanqing Marquis' face darkened with fury.
His palms burst with power, and his mystic energy transformed into twisting green vines.
In an instant, they wrapped around the Uugang Panther like chains and slammed it into the ground.
BOOM!
The beast was hurled away, crashing through the courtyard screen wall and sending debris flying.
"You want to kill me… with THAT?" Wanqing Marquis roared.
But the moment his words left his mouth—
Lin Ye appeared behind him like a ghost.
A sword flashed.
Wanqing Marquis raised his own blade to block.
CLANG!
Their swords collided.
Yet Wanqing Marquis' mystic energy didn't repel Lin Ye's blade—
instead, it turned into living vines, crawling along the steel and trying to bind Lin Ye's Cold-Iron Sword.
An unusual technique.
But to Lin Ye, it was nothing new.
Wanqing Marquis was trying to wrench the weapon out of his hand.
But the next instant—
Lin Ye stepped forward instead of retreating.
His left hand lifted.
A finger shot out like lightning.
Wanqing Marquis had seen this move earlier—he knew Lin Ye's finger strike could pierce even mystic armor.
So he instinctively poured his full strength into defense.
However—
Lin Ye didn't strike.
It was a feint.
His sword surged.
The Cold-Iron blade shattered the vine bindings in a single slash.
Then Lin Ye's gaze sharpened.
"Blood Slaughter Ninefold!"
A Star-Breaker grade sword art.
Within the Nine Nether Blood Sea, Lin Ye possessed a second Star-Bridge—one that drew power from a blood-colored star.
Only those in the Star River Realm could unleash the true might of Star-Breaker techniques.
Ordinary cultivators had only one Star-Bridge.
But Lin Ye…
had two.
Two bridges.
Two stars.
Two sources of power.
The Cold-Iron Sword thrummed with terrifying force.
Lin Ye thrust once—
and nine blood-red sword streaks converged into a single deadly point, stabbing toward Wanqing Marquis in rapid succession.
Wanqing Marquis sneered.
"With your mystic energy alone… breaking my armor won't be easy."
He summoned his mystic armor.
BOOM!
A complete Green Vine Tree Armor formed around his body—layered, dense, fully shaped like bark and living wood.
Its defense was undeniably powerful.
But Lin Ye's nine sword streaks struck with ruthless precision.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Nine impacts landed in the same spot—so dense and violent that the armor began tearing apart.
CRACK!
A fissure appeared.
Wanqing Marquis' confident gaze instantly froze.
"No…!"
Then—
a surge of concealed force detonated.
Lin Ye's inner strength erupted like a second wave.
BOOM!
The Green Vine Tree Armor shattered completely.
Wanqing Marquis vomited blood.
His mystic armor was his final defense—
and when it broke, the backlash ripped through his body like poison.
Armor cultivation was life-or-death.
But Wanqing Marquis never imagined Lin Ye could crack his armor so brutally.
"You little bastard—YOU'RE DEAD!"
He howled, blood foaming from his lips.
His green mystic energy exploded outward, and he stomped forward.
The ground split.
Countless vines erupted from beneath the courtyard, whipping toward Lin Ye in all directions.
The Uugang Panther snarled.
A beam of black light shot from its mouth—
SHHHK! SHHHK! SHHHK!
The vines were severed again and again.
All the messy tricks…
were left to the beast.
Lin Ye leapt into the air.
"Blood Slaughter Ninefold!"
"Shatter-Calamity Claw!"
Nine sword streaks tore forward—
and behind them, a massive blood-claw crashed down like divine punishment.
Wanqing Marquis could only frantically summon thick vines as shields.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every defense he raised was crushed instantly.
The courtyard exploded.
The stone floor shattered.
Walls collapsed.
Buildings caved in under the shockwaves.
PUFF!
Wanqing Marquis was blasted backward, slamming into a stone pillar.
The pillar cracked—
but so did his body.
He was grievously wounded.
Lin Ye held nothing back.
For Wanqing Marquis, the pressure was unbearable.
A man nearing a hundred years old…
his talent had long stagnated.
He relied on sinister tricks and reputation to maintain his mystique—
but against Lin Ye?
There was no intimidation.
No hesitation.
Only slaughter.
"If you had real potential," Lin Ye said coldly,
"you wouldn't still be stuck in Star River Realm after a century."
Wanqing Marquis coughed violently, struggling to rise.
Lin Ye shook his head.
"Your strength is even worse than the two Star River Seventh Layers I killed earlier."
"You…!"
Wanqing Marquis' eyes filled with hatred—
then quickly shifted into desperation.
He forced himself into a pleading expression and rasped:
"You want my youth-preserving method… don't you?"
"I'll give it to you!"
"I'll spare my life, and everything is yours!"
"My storage ring… my rare spirit herbs… tens of billions in wealth!"
"I have countless treasures!"
"Just let me live, and I'll hand it all over!"
His voice turned almost pitiful.
"I'm nearly a hundred years old…"
"I only want to live peacefully for another decade…"
"Let me go."
Lin Ye walked toward him expressionlessly.
A man who lived this long—
could fabricate lies more smoothly than breathing.
And Wanqing Marquis' offer?
Meant nothing to Lin Ye.
Seeing Lin Ye unmoved…
Wanqing Marquis' gaze turned vicious.
With his last ounce of mystic energy—
he lashed out.
A vine shot across the courtyard and wrapped around Xia Wei.
"You won't take me alone—your woman—!"
THUNK!
A bolt pierced his skull.
The arrowhead blasted through his head like thunder—
his back skull exploded into gore.
Xia Wei had barely been seized before the binding vanished.
Lin Ye lowered the Gale-Piercing Crossbow.
"Trying to play me?" he said calmly.
"You're still too green."
He walked forward.
Snatched Wanqing Marquis' storage ring.
His spiritual sense swept it—
spirit stones, herbs, pills.
Lin Ye kept the herbs.
Then tossed the spirit stones—untouched—to Xia Wei.
She caught the ring.
And when she checked inside…
she nearly fainted.
"My… my heavens…"
"Twenty billion spirit stones!"
"This could buy half of Lei River City!"
Xia Wei screamed.
And in that moment, she finally understood—
why so many people became bandits.
This kind of wealth…
was faster than a lifetime of struggle.
Then she noticed more treasures.
"Lin Ye… there are also many Fourth-Grade pills inside!"
Lin Ye waved dismissively.
"Trash. Eat them yourself."
Xia Wei froze.
Fourth-Grade pills… trash?
And he was telling her to eat them like snacks?
She suddenly didn't know whether to feel honored or insulted.
She silently stored the pills away.
If Lin Ye looked down on them—
she could at least sell them later for spirit stones and herbs.
Lin Ye glanced around at the wrecked manor.
"Clean up."
"It's still livable."
He turned to the panther.
"Throw these people out. The bodies too."
The beast growled.
A wave of force rolled outward—
and the unconscious Qing Shadow Guards were lifted and flung into the alley outside.
As for Wanqing Marquis' corpse—
normally, a strong cultivator's body was an excellent tonic for feral beasts.
But the Uugang Panther refused to eat it.
Even the beast was disgusted.
Thousand Spirit City — Shocked into Silence
The city watched the green Star-Bridge vanish.
But the crimson Star-Bridge remained.
Only after that blood-red light faded did people dare breathe again.
"T-The Qing Marquis…"
"Wanqing Marquis… lost?!"
"Is he dead?!"
"My god… the Prefect of Qing Marquis Manor was killed!"
"And that boy did it!"
Some still claimed Lin Ye was from Tianming Sect—
but this didn't match Tianming's style at all.
If Tianming had moved…
Qing Marquis Manor would have been exterminated completely.
Yet Lin Ye spared the guards.
That meant—
he wasn't Tianming.
Only one fact remained undeniable:
In one night—
Lin Ye slaughtered four Star River Realm experts.
And among them…
was a famed veteran who had ruled for decades.
People's knees went weak.
Many immediately began searching for Lin Ye's identity.
But Lin Ye didn't care.
Settling In… And Refining the Body
A relatively intact courtyard remained near the corner of the manor.
Smaller, but untouched.
Lin Ye had worked all night.
Now it was time.
He sat down.
The Uugang Panther guarded the yard.
Xia Wei finally lay down to rest—
her swollen forehead still painful.
Lin Ye raised the pill.
Hundred-Forged Ironbone Pill.
He swallowed it.
It melted instantly.
Then—
the medicinal force detonated.
It felt like a waterfall made of millions of tons of steel,
crashing into his body—
surging into every bone, muscle, and organ.
Even Lin Ye—
couldn't suppress the pain.
His brows twisted.
His fists clenched.
His entire body trembled.
He coughed once—
"Kh…!"