Chapter 787: An Unsatisfying End
A long, deep sigh of relief escaped Qin Yuan's spectral form as he watched the Rolls-Royce Phantom glide out of the gates of Jinxiu Mountain Villa's No. 1 estate.
The pressure Shen Anyu exerted on him was simply suffocating.
Though Wu Shenyun, a Land Immortal, and another powerful aura of comparable strength still lingered within the villa, Qin Yuan felt no particular dread. If a fight broke out and he couldn't win, could he not at least run? Against them, escape was an option.
But in front of Shen Anyu, even fleeing felt like an impossibility.
'Still,'Qin Yuan mused, his form shimmering faintly,'I've lost my physical body, Yaoyao, and my entire legion of corpse puppets. With only my divine soul remaining, dealing with that Southern Border Goddess, Wu Shenyun, will be difficult. It's best to withdraw and make preparations. I need to find some new materials... and perhaps contact a few old acquaintances for help...'
As Qin Yuan plotted his next move, two figures strolled through the villa's expansive garden. He Peng and Tan Yan had wandered into a quiet corner, and Tan Yan finally voiced her thoughts.
"He Peng, weren't you a little too... fawning, in front of Young Lord Shen just now?" she complained, a hint of embarrassment in her tone. "It was cringeworthy."
He Peng shot her a look, as if scolding a woman for her lack of vision. "What do you know?" he argued, his voice filled with a self-important eloquence. "That's Young Lord Shen, the Young Lord of Yanxia's Shen Clan! The sole heir to the Shen Corporation!"
He gestured grandly, his eyes shining with ambition. "If we can latch onto a connection with him, soaring to the heavens won't be a mere dream. A man who gives up a fortune for a bit of face will live to regret it for the rest of his life! So what if I have to act like his dog? Being Young Lord Shen's dog is the greatest honor a man like me could ask for!"
Tan Yan had only meant it as a casual remark, but as He Peng's fervent words washed over her, her own heart began to stir. Her mind painted a dazzling picture of the life they could lead if they truly managed to get close to a man like Shen Anyu.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Qin Yuan, is disgusted! Plundered +9999 Destiny Value!]
Watching the contemptible pair from the shadows, each lost in their own greedy fantasies, a cold sneer twisted Qin Yuan's ethereal features.
'What a perfect opportunity,'he thought, a venomous chill coalescing around him.'Today, I'll get rid of these two scoundrels and refine them into corpse puppets. It will be a small, satisfying release.'
The old hatred from his past life, compounded by the fresh disgust of the present moment, filled Qin Yuan's heart with a murderous intent. He desperately needed to vent the frustration he had just suffered at Shen Anyu's hands.
As He Peng and Tan Yan's car pulled out of the Jinxiu Mountain Villa residential area, Qin Yuan's divine soul sank into the earth, a shadow flowing swiftly beneath the pavement, hot on their trail.
"A strange aura?" In the villa, Wu Shenyun, still heavily injured and resting against her pillows, frowned. Her spiritual sense swept out, catching a fleeting disturbance. It felt... familiar.
"Forget it," she murmured, a soft hiss escaping her lips. "Shen Anyu must have noticed it too. If he isn't doing anything, he must have his reasons. Hmph, he doesn't treat me like one of his own at all. I was nearly torn to pieces, and he barely bats an eye~"
As if a particular thought crossed her mind, a hint of petulance colored her proud, beautiful face, and she bit lightly on her full, red lip.
In another room, Bai Bing felt it as well.
Having cultivated the Martial God Art—a supreme technique that used the path of martial arts to touch the Dao—her perception was far beyond that of ordinary martial artists, bordering on that of a true cultivator.
While Qin Yuan was lying dormant, he might have been difficult to detect. But the moment he moved, his presence was immediately flagged. And if even they could sense him, it was impossible that Shen Anyu had not.
But Shen Anyu had other plans. He was in the middle of fleecing Qin Yuan, and he was too lazy to kill him just yet. A Qin Yuan who had lost his Xiantian Spirit Corpse Yaoyao, his storage ring, and had his memories and abilities completely copied was no longer a threat worth his immediate attention.
Qin Yuan, however, was blissfully unaware that his grand, stealthy pursuit was nothing more than a clown's performance in Shen Anyu's eyes. He shadowed He Peng and Tan Yan's car, a grim smile playing on his lips.
'Heh heh... He Peng, Tan Yan, I will show you the meaning of true cruelty...'
He decided he would torture them, savor their despair, and then refine their souls into mindless puppets, enslaved to his will for all eternity.
And it wouldn't stop with them. One day, after he finally defeated Shen Anyu, he would do the same to him. He would turn Shen Anyu and every last one of his relatives into corpse puppets, grinding them under his heel.
Only then, with his vengeance complete, would his thoughts be clear and his path to power unobstructed!
The very thought of that future scene sent a thrill of ambitious excitement coursing through his soul.
BANG!
Just as Qin Yuan was preparing to emerge and exact his long-awaited revenge, the car carrying He Peng and Tan Yan suddenly and violently crashed head-on into a massive transport truck.
After a terrifying screech of tortured metal, the front of the sedan visibly crumpled like paper. He Peng and Tan Yan, caught in the front seats, died on the spot, their bodies mangled beyond recognition.
...
Qin Yuan froze.
Wait. No. He was supposed to get his revenge. He was going to torture them, kill them himself, and vent the burning hatred in his heart. He was going to refine them into corpse puppets to achieve clarity of thought.
This... they were just... gone?
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Qin Yuan's, mentality has exploded! Plundered +9999 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Qin Yuan, is furious! Plundered +9999 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Qin Yuan, is doubting his life! Plundered +66666 Destiny Value!]
...
"Dead? How could you die so easily?!"
Qin Yuan's divine soul burst from the ground, his form flickering as he shot toward the crash site. He stared at the unrecognizable remains of He Peng and Tan Yan inside the wreckage, his soul seething with a rage so deep it bordered on madness. His entire mentality had shattered.
They died so easily! How was he supposed to vent the hatred in his heart now? How could he ever achieve clarity of thought?
Since he hadn't been the one to deliver the final blow, there was no satisfaction at all!
And the bodies... they were flattened into paste. It was impossible to refine them into corpse puppets.
Qin Yuan was truly, utterly, incandescently furious. This was worse than being disgusted for a whole year!
He didn't suspect Shen Anyu. Why would he? Shen Anyu had just left, and his only instruction had been to arrange for the garden to be tended.
He could only blame fate. It was as if destiny itself had conspired to deny him his vengeance.
Ever since he had obtained the legacy of the Ancient Corpse Refining Sect, Qin Yuan's journey had been one of smooth sailing, of digging graves and reaping continuous rewards.
But now, he was being hounded by misfortune. His assassination attempt on Shen Anyu had failed. His attempt to contact Wu Shenyun at the Southern Border Witch God Sect had resulted in him being nearly counter-killed. And now, he couldn't even successfully take revenge on two mere mortals who were right in front of him.
Had his luck finally run out?
A powerful sense of foreboding washed over him, and he murmured to himself, "Is it because I've dug countless graves and stolen countless corpses? Have I ruined my virtue so completely that retribution is finally catching up to me?"
In his previous life, the hunt by Shen Anyu had begun only after he had desecrated the ancestral tombs of Yanxia's Shen Clan.
Should he stop? Should he abandon the path of grave-robbing and corpse-refining?
"No. I can't," he snarled, his resolve hardening. "If I don't dig up graves and steal corpses, I can't refine powerful puppets. How will I get Yaoyao back? How will I ever get my revenge on Shen Anyu? I have to keep digging!"
"My fate is my own to command, not heaven's!"
Qin Yuan's expression grew ferocious. He cast one last, hateful glance at the mangled bodies of He Peng and Tan Yan, then turned and vanished.
...
Miles away, Shen Anyu chuckled, his head shaking slightly in amusement as he sensed the commotion.
"I helped you get your revenge, and you're still not happy," he mused. "Truly, no good deed goes unpunished..."
That large transport truck had, of course, been arranged by him. How else could the timing have been so exquisitely perfect, so precisely calculated to drive Qin Yuan into a frenzy?
Shen Anyu held the steering wheel of the Rolls-Royce Phantom with one hand, guiding the vehicle in a new direction.
Zhang Zhiyun—the man who had slaughtered the Tianshi Sect, annihilated his master, his friends, and his family—had successfully refined the Yin Corpse Devil Sword Embryo. He had achieved perfection in the Yin Corpse Devil Swordplay and was already on the move.
"This storyline can finally be concluded," Shen Anyu said to himself, his eyes glinting with cold purpose. "After I deal with Zhang Zhiyun, I will retrieve the Yin Corpse Devil Sword..."
Thanks to Zhang Zhiyun's bloody efforts, the demonic weapon was almost complete. It lacked only one final, crucial step.
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