287: Chapter 287 Shock

"Ugh—!"

Morning Star let out a short, shrill scream.

Blood sprayed from his mouth as his body flew backward like a tattered sack, tracing a long arc through the air.

Finally, he slammed heavily onto the gravel ground over a dozen yards away.

He tumbled several more times before coming to a stop.

The longsword in his hand flew out, stabbing into the ground nearby and buzzing with vibration.

One move!

Morning Star, ranked eighteenth on the heavenly pride ranking, was defeated!

Qin Yan's figure flickered, appearing before the dying Morning Star.

A large hole had been pierced through the other's chest; his powerful vitality as a martial artist kept him from dying instantly, but his eyes were already filled with deathly gray and blankness.

He seemed unable to accept that he had been defeated so thoroughly and quickly.

Qin Yan's gaze was cold, without the slightest hint of mercy. He gave his long spear a gentle flick.

A golden flash streaked by.

A head, wearing an expression of shock and resentment, flew high into the air before rolling onto the ground.

Blood erupted from the neck of the headless corpse like a fountain.

Thus, Morning Star fell.

Qin Yan knelt down, his gaze landing on the finger of Morning Star's right hand—there, he wore a simple, emerald-green ring inlaid with a small, silver leaf-shaped gemstone.

He reached out and slid the ring off the finger.

It felt slightly cool to the touch, its texture neither metal nor jade, with faint ripples of spatial energy emanating from it.

"As expected, it's a Storage Ring."

Qin Yan felt a slight surge of joy.

But upon reflection, he felt it was only natural.

Ranked eighteenth on the heavenly pride ranking, Morning Star was a top-tier genius within the Elf Clan.

With such a prominent and noble status, it was only normal for him to possess a Storage Ring.

In fact, it would have been strange if he didn't.

He didn't try to open it immediately, choosing instead to put the ring away first.

His gaze turned toward the last few Elf Prodigies on the plaza who were trying to escape quietly.

A cold light glinted in his eyes again.

When cutting grass, one must remove the roots!

If this matter were leaked, it would surely bring unnecessary trouble.

It might even affect his subsequent plans and the fulfillment of the promise made to Princess Anya.

Without further hesitation, Qin Yan raised his spear and walked toward the remaining elves like a god of death.

With Qin Yan joining the fray, the already demoralized elves had no power to resist.

Su Liuli also tacitly blocked any possible escape routes.

Before long, the final scream came to an abrupt end.

The plaza outside Qinglin Mansion returned to a complete silence.

Yet, this silence was permeated by a thick, inescapable scent of blood and death.

The ground was strewn with the corpses of the Elf Clan, with not a single survivor left.

Only now did Qin Yan relax slightly and take out the emerald Storage Ring again.

He forced a drop of blood from his fingertip and let it fall onto the surface of the ring.

The blood was instantly absorbed, and the ring glowed with a soft emerald light for several breaths before slowly fading back inside.

Qin Yan could clearly feel a faint connection established between himself and the space inside the ring.

"Owner recognition successful."

Qin Yan understood.

If the original owner were still alive, forcing ownership would trigger a self-destruct restriction within the ring.

But since the original owner was dead, the restriction had dissipated, making the process much simpler.

He immediately probed into the interior of the ring.

The space wasn't huge, about one hundred and twenty to thirty cubic meters.

It was already quite spacious for personal use.

Inside, many items were neatly categorized:

On the left were dozens of jade bottles with clear labels: Healing Pills, qi and blood pills, Detoxification Pills, Heart-Clearing Pills, Barrier-Breaking Pills... there was a wide variety, all of High Grade quality, and among them were even three bottles labeled "grandmaster true blood."

On the right were several spare robes of luxurious material, embroidered with silver moon patterns, clearly Morning Star's daily attire.

Beside them were several pieces of armor like inner vests and bracers, all of decent quality.

At the very back were several wooden boxes.

Qin Yan opened them and found some rare spiritual materials: Moonlight Grass, Silver-thread Vine, Emerald Fruit... all treasures suitable for the Elf Clan's cultivation.

Qin Yan nodded in satisfaction.

Setting everything else aside, just those three bottles of "grandmaster true blood" could earn him quite a few academic credits if sold to the academy.

Immediately, Qin Yan transferred the holy grail of life from his bosom into the ring's space.

Then, he and Su Liuli quickly cleaned up the battlefield, collecting any potentially valuable items from the other deceased Elf Prodigies.

However, the gains were indeed limited.

After all, not everyone had a Storage Ring, and the items one could carry were limited, many of which had been destroyed during the battle.

Nevertheless, these Elf Prodigies still contributed some points to Qin Yan.

After this slaughter, Qin Yan's points had reached 25,000!

Having finished, Qin Yan looked at Su Liuli. "We shouldn't stay here long; the scent of blood will soon attract other races."

Su Liuli nodded.

Then, the two of them stopped lingering, chose a direction, and quickly left the plaza that had just witnessed a brief and bloody slaughter.

About fifteen minutes after Qin Yan and Su Liuli left.

On the plaza outside Qinglin Mansion, prodigies from other races began to arrive one after another.

They came in groups of three or five, or alone, all drawn by the energy fluctuations that had erupted earlier and the faint sounds of fighting, coming with the intent of scavenging or investigating.

Soon, more figures gathered there.

But when they stepped onto the plaza and saw the scene before them, their footsteps involuntarily halted.

The bloody scent had not yet fully dissipated.

On the bluestone ground, dozens of mangled corpses of the Elf Clan lay scattered in pools of blood.

Severed limbs, shattered armor, and broken weapons were scattered everywhere, forming a shocking scene of a Shura field.

And what caught the eye most was the relatively "complete" corpse in the center of the plaza.

"Is that... Morning Star?!"

A sharp-eyed Orc prodigy nearby cried out in alarm, his voice trembling with disbelief.

This cry was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves among the crowd.

"Morning Star? Which Morning Star?"

"Which one could it be? The Elf Clan's Morning Star! Eighteenth on the heavenly pride ranking!"

"What?! Eighteenth place? How... how could he die here?"

"Look at these wounds; the puncture in the chest is the fatal blow, clean and efficient, with almost no extra marks... this looks like he was insta-killed!"

"Hiss—!"

The sound of people sucking in cold air rose and fell.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the headless corpse, their faces filled with shock and suspicion.

Eighteenth on the heavenly pride ranking—what did that even mean?

It meant he was one of the few people standing at the very top of the Eternal Song Star Realm's younger generation!

A peerless genius capable of suppressing the same generation of an entire race single-handedly!

A seed with a high probability of entering the Great Grandmaster rank or even striving for the Venerable Realm in the future!

Such a being had actually fallen here, and in such a miserable state?

"Who did it?"

This question swirled in everyone's mind.

Everyone began to carefully observe the traces of the battlefield.

(Saying important things three times: Happy New Year, everyone~!)