157: Chapter 157 Not only kill, but also destroy the spirit.

Hot.

Scalding.

At this moment, Gu Yan's palm did not feel like it was inside flesh and blood; it felt more like it had reached into an erupting active volcano.

That Golden Core, only the size of a fist, was spinning madly, releasing a terrifying high temperature that instantly scorched the skin and flesh of his palm, emitting a "sizzling" sound of roasting meat.

"Got it."

Gu Yan's voice was hoarse as it came through his mask, carrying a bone-chilling calmness.

The moment the spikes on the soul-shattering knuckles made contact with the surface of the Golden Core, they were like leeches that had been starving for three days, biting firmly onto that layer of violent energy barrier.

A greedy hum came from inside the soul-shattering knuckles, and a black light flared up, forcibly suppressing the torrent of spiritual power that was about to explode.

"You... dare..."

Lin Canghai's eyes were wide open, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets.

He could clearly feel a cold, rough hand churning inside his Dantian; the excruciating pain of a foreign object invading and the fear of his Origin being touched caused his whole body to spasm violently.

He grabbed Gu Yan's arm with both hands, his fingernails digging deep into Gu Yan's muscles, desperately trying to pull that hand out.

But his current strength was as weak as an infant's in front of Gu Yan, who had activated his berserk mode.

"Since you want to explode, you have to ask if it agrees."

Gu Yan ignored the scratch marks on his arm, lifted his right foot, and kicked heavily against Lin Canghai's lower abdomen to gain leverage.

His five fingers curled shut.

The barbs on the soul-shattering knuckles embedded deeply into the Golden Core.

"Get... out!"

Gu Yan let out a low roar, the muscles in his arm instantly bulging, his tendons snapping like bowstrings.

Squelch.

A teeth-grinding, muffled sound followed, like pulling a radish out of the mud, or like wet fabric being violently torn apart.

The red light inside the great hall suddenly dimmed.

That terrifying pressure, which was about to destroy everything, stopped abruptly in that instant.

Lin Canghai's body suddenly straightened, then went limp like a pile of mud.

His hands hung down powerlessly, his throat emitted a "wheezing" sound like a bellows, the luster in his eyes faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his once vibrant skin instantly withered and turned gray, as if he had aged decades in an instant.

And in Gu Yan's hand.

A Golden Core, covered in blood and bits of flesh, was emitting a faint and chaotic light.

It was still pulsing, attempting to break free from Gu Yan's control, but it was firmly suppressed by the soul-shattering knuckles and could only emit bursts of mournful cries.

"So this is a Golden Core?"

Gu Yan raised the trophy in his hand and examined it.

Under the mask, those pitch-black eyes reflected the golden light; there was no awe, only the indifference of a hunter scrutinizing his prey.

[Ding! High-energy reaction source captured.]

[Item: Broken Golden Core (Lin Canghai).]

[Status: 30% activity remaining, energy extremely unstable.]

[Evaluation: Although it is a defective product, it is powerful enough to feed the System or to refine 'Blood Sha Thunder'. Host, your 'Black Tiger Steals the Heart' technique is getting more and more proficient.]

Gu Yan flicked his hand, tossing the still-dripping Golden Core into his storage ring.

"Clang."

Lin Canghai's corpse fell to the ground with a dull thud.

His eyes were still wide open, staring fixedly at the ceiling, seemingly unable to believe until his death that he, a dignified Golden Core Elder, would end his life in such a humiliating way.

"Hoo..."

Above the crossbeam, the cyan web of fire dissipated.

Jiang Wanrou's body swayed, and she fell down from above.

Gu Yan flashed over and caught her.

Her whole body was already soaked in cold sweat, her face as pale as paper, and the spiritual power within her body had been completely drained by that "Demon-Sealing Restriction" earlier.

She grabbed Gu Yan's lapels, looked at the shriveled corpse on the ground, her lips trembling several times before she managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"Re... really killed him?"

That was the Golden Core Stage! The true top-tier combat power of the Yunlan Sect!

"Killed him."

Gu Yan leaned her against a stone pillar nearby, pulled a handful of Qi-recovery pills from his robes, and stuffed them into her hand: "Take the medicine and regulate your breathing. This is just the beginning."

He stood up and walked to Lin Canghai's corpse.

Squatted down.

He skillfully slid off the dark red storage ring and then began to rummage through his body.

"This soft armor is not bad; although it's broken, the Materials can be recycled."

"The boots are also Spiritual Artifacts; although they are only Low Grade, I don't mind."

"This blade..."

Gu Yan picked up the "blood-drinking mad blade" that had fallen to the side.

The blade had already lost its luster, turning into a rusty piece of scrap metal.

This was a sign that the Lifebound Treasure had perished along with its master.

"It's ruined, what a pity."

Gu Yan shook his head and casually tossed the ruined blade into a corner.

After finishing all this, he stood up and looked around the entire great hall.

The floor was covered in the dismembered bodies of the Lin family Disciples, and the air was filled with a thick smell of blood.

The blood pool in the center was still churning, and the blood river bead above was still emitting an alluring red light.

"The Lin family is finished this time."

Gu Yan took off his mask, revealing a face stained with blood but devoid of expression.

He walked to the edge of the blood pool and looked at the floating bead.

In the battle just now, although it looked like he had crushed Lin Canghai, he had also consumed more than half of the True Qi in his body; although the blade wound on his left shoulder had scabbed over, the residual Saber Qi inside was still aching faintly.

But this did not hinder him from collecting the final trophy.

"System, how do I take this thing?"

Gu Yan pointed at the blood river bead.

[Simple. Use Lin Canghai's blood.]

[Although this old guy is dead, he must have refined related blood-links within his body to refine this bead. Didn't you get quite a bit on your hands when you dug out his heart earlier? Smear it on and try.]

Gu Yan glanced at his right hand, which had not yet dried.

It was covered in Lin Canghai's heart blood.

"Does this count as... offering a gift with someone else's flowers?"

Gu Yan sneered, reached out his hand, and without any hesitation, grabbed directly at the blood river bead that drove countless people mad.

Hum!

The originally violent red light of the Restriction on the surface of the bead, the moment it touched Lin Canghai's blood, actually became docile in an instant, as if it had met a loved one.

That terrifying pressure, sufficient to suppress and kill a Golden Core, receded like a tide.

Gu Yan's fingers touched the cold surface of the bead.

A stream of information, vast to the point of suffocation, surged frantically into his mind along his fingertips.

That was the Legacy left behind by Ancestor Blood River.

It was also the true control over this Fallen Demon Valley.