44: One man, one flame, slaughtering all the cultivators who had fallen into the mortal realm.

Inside the cave, a dozen fierce-looking rogue Cultivators were stunned for a moment, staring at the figure that suddenly appeared.

They never dreamed that the 'fat sheep' they were plotting against would actually come knocking on their door!

And all by himself!

After a brief, deathly silence, the cave erupted in a burst of laughter.

"Hahahaha! Did I see that right? Is this kid's brain squashed? He actually delivered himself to us!"

"Boss, why wait until tomorrow! This is practically the heavens sending meat right to our mouths!"

"Kid, are you tired of living? Do you know what kind of place this is?"

The rogue Cultivators all stood up, their faces twisted with mocking and cruel smiles, surrounding Shen Yuanmo.

In their eyes, for a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment kid to dare trespass into their lair of over a dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators, this was no longer audacious, but pure foolishness.

Blood Hand, the leader, also slowly stood up. His bell-like eyes scrutinized Shen Yuanmo, a greedy glint in his gaze.

"Kid, should I say you're bold, or that you're stupid?" he sneered.

"Since you're here, obediently hand over all the Materials you bought today, and your Storage Pouch. Then kneel and kowtow three times to me, and I might consider leaving you a complete corpse."

Shen Yuanmo's expression remained unchanged.

He didn't even glance at the clamoring small fry around him.

His gaze fell calmly on Blood Hand, and he spoke indifferently.

"I came here for only two things."

"First, to take your lives."

"Second, to take your money."

As his words fell, the temperature throughout the cave seemed to drop a few degrees.

All the rogue Cultivators' laughter abruptly ceased.

The mockery on their faces instantly turned into fury.

"Presumptuous!"

"You're courting death!"

"Good! What an arrogant brat! I'd like to see what abilities you possess to dare speak so wildly in front of me!" Blood Hand was so enraged he laughed instead.

"Ghost Shadow! Iron Slaughter! Cripple him for me! Remember, I want him alive! I'll personally refine him into a Blood Slave!"

"Yes, Boss!"

No sooner had he spoken than two figures, one left and one right, shot towards Shen Yuanmo like arrows released from a bow!

The figure on the left was as swift as a ghost, leaving trails of afterimages in the air, a poisoned dagger in his hand silently stabbing towards the back of Shen Yuanmo's heart.

It was none other than the vice-leader skilled in assassination, Ghost Shadow!

And the figure on the right was even more ferocious!

He was a burly man over two meters tall, with bulging muscles, like an iron tower.

He let out a roar, his fist, as large as a cooking pot, brought with it a vicious wind that tore through the air, heading straight for Shen Yuanmo's face!

It was the other vice-leader, the Body Cultivator Iron Slaughter!

Both were skilled Mid-stage Foundation Establishment experts, working in perfect coordination, their first move a deadly strike!

The surrounding rogue Cultivators all wore cruel smiles, as if they had already seen the miserable fate of that ignorant young man, instantly severely wounded and begging for mercy.

However, the next moment, everyone's smiles froze on their faces.

Shen Yuanmo, facing the pincer attack of two experts of the same cultivation level, didn't even move.

He merely raised his right hand.

On his index finger, a golden glazed flame, pure to the extreme and the size of a bean, quietly bloomed.

Then, he flicked his finger.

"Whoosh!"

That golden flame did not shoot at either person.

Instead, it shot with incredible speed towards an inconspicuous blood crystal embedded in the cave ceiling.

"What is he trying to do?"

This thought popped into everyone's mind.

"Boom!"

A loud explosion!

The blood crystal instantly exploded the moment it touched the golden flame!

Immediately after, as if a chain reaction, all the blood crystals embedded in the cave walls began to flash violently, then exploded one after another!

The Bloodlight Soul Bewitching Formation that enveloped the entire underground mine tunnel collapsed in that instant!

"What?!" Blood Hand's sneer instantly turned into horror!

He couldn't fathom how the opponent had found the core array eye of the grand Formation with a single glance and destroyed it in such a simple and brutal manner!

In that split second of his distraction.

Shen Yuanmo's figure vanished from his spot as if teleporting.

When he reappeared, he was already in front of the Body Cultivator Iron Slaughter.

"What?!" Iron Slaughter was greatly alarmed; his proud speed was as slow as a snail in front of the opponent!

He wanted to change his move, but it was already too late.

Shen Yuanmo, with an equally simple punch, met his iron fist.

"Bang!"

A dull thud, like a drumbeat!

"Crack—!"

The sickening sound of bones cracking clearly entered everyone's ears.

Under everyone's terrified gaze, Iron Slaughter's arm, thicker than a normal person's thigh, actually snapped into pieces like a twisted rope!

That domineering, supreme Yang and supreme rigid magic power, like a destructive force, shattered his proud Protective Aura, rushed into his body, and instantly incinerated his internal organs to ash!

"Ah—"

Iron Slaughter only managed to let out a short, tragic cry before his entire body, like a broken sack, flew backward, smashing heavily against the wall, then sliding down, completely lifeless.

One punch!

It only took one punch!

Iron Slaughter, the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator renowned for his formidable Physical Body, was dead!

On the other side, the assassin Ghost Shadow's dagger was less than three inches from the back of Shen Yuanmo's heart!

A hint of savage triumph was still on his face.

But the next second, his smile froze.

Because a hand, he didn't know when, had already gripped his throat.

That hand, seemingly fair and slender, contained a terrifying power that rendered him unable to resist.

"You... who exactly are you?!" Ghost Shadow's eyes were filled with terror.

He tried to struggle, but found that all the magic power in his body was completely restrained by an invisible force, unable to move.

"Too slow."

Shen Yuanmo looked at him and calmly uttered three words.

Immediately, he exerted a slight force on his hand.

"Crack!"

Ghost Shadow's neck was easily snapped.

A golden flame emerged from Shen Yuanmo's palm, instantly engulfing Ghost Shadow's body.

Without even a cry, Ghost Shadow turned into a handful of ashes, scattering in the air.

Dead silence.

The entire cave once again fell into a deathly silence.

If Shen Yuanmo breaking the Formation earlier only shocked them.

Then now, the scene of him effortlessly instantly killing two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment vice-leaders in a flash, filled them with fear from the depths of their Souls!

The remaining dozen or so rogue Cultivators all turned pale, their legs weak, and their hands clutching their Magical Artifacts trembled incessantly.

"Run! Run!"

Someone let out a sharp, desperate scream.

Everyone awoke as if from a dream, no longer caring about their boss, and frantically turned and fled into the other mine tunnels outside the cave.

"Only thinking of running now?"

A cold glint flashed in Shen Yuanmo's eyes.

"Too late."

He clapped his hands together fiercely, then spread them outwards.

"Boom!"

Dozens of golden glazed flames, like celestial maidens scattering flowers, flew from his palms, transforming into streaks of golden light, chasing after the scattered rogue Cultivators.

"Ah—!"

"No—!"

"Mercy!"

Desperate screams echoed intermittently through the intricate mine tunnels.

But soon, silence returned.

The golden flames, as if they had eyes, accurately pursued every fleeing rogue Cultivator, piercing through their backs, instantly incinerating them to ash.

In just a few breaths.

The entire Blood Hand organization, except for its leader, was completely annihilated!

At this moment, inside the massive cave, only two people remained.

Shen Yuanmo, and the utterly terrified Blood Hand.

Blood Hand stared blankly at the scene, feeling as if he were in a nightmare.

Over a dozen subordinates, two capable lieutenants, just... gone?

Effortlessly massacred by this young man before him?

He looked at Shen Yuanmo, his coarse, fleshy face no longer holding its previous arrogance and cruelty, but only endless fear.

"You... who exactly are you?!" His voice trembled.

"I told you," Shen Yuanmo walked slowly towards him, his voice calm.

"Someone who came to take your lives and your money."

"Devil! You are a devil!"

Blood Hand let out a horrified roar; the fear of death finally jolted him out of his shock.

He slammed his Storage Pouch, and a pair of blood-stained gauntlets, exuding a strong smell of blood, appeared on his hands.

"I'll fight you to the death! Blood Demon Disintegration!"

He roared, his entire skin instantly turning blood-red, and black demonic patterns emerged on his body.

His aura, at this moment, surged steadily, showing faint signs of a Breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage!

This was his trump card, a desperate secret technique that exchanged the burning of his vital blood for a short-term surge in strength!

"Die!"

Blood Hand transformed into a streak of blood-light, carrying overwhelming Evil Qi, and punched towards Shen Yuanmo!

This punch condensed all his essence, Qi, and spirit, its power several times greater than before!

However, Shen Yuanmo's face still held that calm, unperturbed expression.

He merely raised his hand, joined his fingers into a sword, and lightly pointed at the streak of blood-light.

"Glazed True Yang, break evil."

A slender yet extremely solid golden Sword Qi erupted from his fingertip.

The Sword Qi appeared unremarkable, without astonishing power.

But the moment it touched the blood-light.

"Sizzle—"

Like a hot knife cutting through butter.

The seemingly formidable blood-colored fist-shadow was instantly pierced through and purified by the golden Sword Qi!

The madness in Blood Hand's eyes was replaced by utter horror!

He felt a supreme Yang and supreme rigid, overwhelmingly powerful force, surge through his fist and into his Meridians.

His proud Blood Evil Demonic Technique, in front of this power, was like ice and snow meeting scorching sun, instantly evaporated!

"No... impossible!"

He let out his last unwilling roar in his life.

The next moment, the golden Sword Qi pierced straight through his glabella.

His entire body stiffened in place.

The blood-light and demonic patterns on his body receded like a tide.

Then, his body, from the inside out, ignited with a layer of golden flame.

There were no screams, no struggles.

In just a moment, this notorious rogue Cultivator leader of Tianbao Market, Blood Hand of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, turned into a wisp of smoke and dissipated into the air.

Shen Yuanmo retracted his finger and surveyed the empty and messy cave.

A faint smell of charring still lingered in the air.

His Divine Sense swept out, and he quickly found the Blood Hand organization's treasure vault, hidden deep within the cave.

There were no Restrictions.

Shen Yuanmo walked in and saw a small mountain of Spirit Stones piled inside, along with various Magical Artifacts, Materials, and Medicinal Pills, a dazzling array.

Roughly estimated, there were nearly two hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones alone!

There were also several thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and some miscellaneous items of unknown grade.

"Not bad, a windfall."

Shen Yuanmo nodded in satisfaction.

With this money, the deficit for his Material purchases was basically covered.

He unceremoniously put everything into his Storage Pouch.

Having done all this, he did not linger, turning and leaving this underground lair filled with blood and death.

When he re-emerged from the dry well and returned to the surface, night still prevailed.

As if that one-sided massacre had never happened.