Chapter 43: Genuine and Authentic (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Outside the mountain forest, in the small village at the foot of the mountain.

The martial artists and villagers waiting there by order looked at the rolling smoke and dust on the mountain, thinking of the deafening roar from just moments ago.

Every one of them wore a look of relief: "Who would have thought that vicious bear was actually a Demon Beast!"

"Demon Beasts are cunning; it truly disguised itself too well! We scouted it before and were almost deceived by it!"

"Fortunately, the Inspector was meticulous in his work, letting us patrol the surrounding area for strange occurrences and personally taking action to investigate!"

"Otherwise, once this Demon Beast went on a rampage, I fear the nearby villages would have faced the disaster of total annihilation!"

The villagers nearby naturally heard the martial artists' emotional exclamations.

Before long, led by the village elders, they knelt toward the mountain forest and kowtowed, shouting various praises, regardless of whether the Immortal Master could hear them.

Thus, Su Ping packed up the wild bear's carcass, and after exiting the forest, he saw the villagers kneeling on the ground.

He also noticed that the martial artists' gazes toward him were filled with admiration amidst their fervor.

Slaying demons and eliminating devils, saving the dying and healing the wounded, rooting out the strong to support the weak.

In this territory governed by righteous Immortal Sects, these were, after all, the correct values implicitly recognized in people's hearts.

A Cultivator who is willing to do such things and truly succeeds will naturally receive heartfelt respect from others.

Su Ping nodded slightly, and after giving a few instructions for the villagers to rise, he opened his map and led most of the martial artists to another location.

Su Ping had his own little ulterior motives for doing this; with these martial artists and so many villagers as witnesses.

His Demon Beast materials would have a clear origin.

At most, some Cultivators would just think his luck was a bit good, that he could defeat every Demon Beast he encountered, and that he had successfully hunted them to obtain valuable Demon Beast materials.

Su Ping led his team around the Jinque City territory, slaughtering over a dozen wild beasts that had been plaguing the region.

Besides the wild bear, he also found a fierce tiger and a one-horned ox that possessed spirituality, which became sources for Su Ping's Demon Beast materials.

Among them, the one-horned ox seemed to truly possess a trace of a miraculous Bloodline; after being activated, its already adult-sized body grew even larger, and accompanied by its roars, its horn even crackled with streaks of electricity.

Su Ping, while surprised, immediately summoned his Spirit Beast to engage in a fight where they outnumbered the opponent.

It could also be considered giving his spirit pets more practical combat experience.

This one-horned ox had just become transcendent, so even with its innate talent, it was limited by its own experience and could not unleash its full potential.

Under the siege, it held out for over ten minutes before finally falling down unwillingly, becoming Su Ping's spoils of war.

This time, Su Ping did not immediately cut it up and pack it; instead, he deliberately changed into a cheap Dharma Robe, made it look tattered, and let a little blood spill from the corner of his mouth, appearing haggard as if injured.

Only then did he call the martial artists from afar to come and help transport the one-horned ox out of the deep mountains.

After all, under normal circumstances, how could a Mid-stage Qi Refining Cultivator like him encounter small demons so many times without getting hurt? Especially a Demon Beast like the one-horned ox, which looked far from simple.

If Su Ping had no injuries at all.

Others wouldn't suspect that Su Ping was feeding them Waste Pills, as such a thing was impossible according to their common sense.

But they would certainly start to doubt the true strength of this Inspector.

They might even go so far as to think Su Ping possessed a powerful offensive treasure, thereby bringing unnecessary trouble! Moreover, succeeding so many times in a row... being a little injured could make his peers feel better.

Those demon-hunting masters, who were mostly Outer Sect Disciples, which one of them wasn't covered in scars?

Su Ping was still very considerate of his peers' feelings.

After hunting the one-horned ox, Su Ping used the excuse of recovering from his injuries to end this mission of eliminating pests for the people.

The martial artists and villagers all expressed their understanding, and there was no lack of healers who proactively offered various strange Healing Pills.

Wealthy families in Jinque City who heard of the matter even pooled their money to build a Long-life Tablet for Su Ping.

It is foreseeable that as long as Jinque City remains.

Even if Su Ping leaves in the future, the deeds he left behind will become myths and legends, passed down through word of mouth and even adapted into operas... And for Su Ping, the benefits of high-profile Demon Beast hunting have only just begun.

In the territory of the Immortal Sect, Demon Beast materials have always been in short supply.

If nothing else, there are plenty of Cultivators who enjoy the pleasures of the palate while also strengthening their bodies.

Dishes with Demon Beast meat as the main ingredient have always been the best-selling items in restaurants within large Markets.

After his reputation spread.

This time, Su Ping didn't even need to go to other Markets to sell them cautiously himself.

Restaurants and crafting workshops with shops in the Immortal Sect Markets came to visit Su Ping of their own accord.

Of the three Demon Beasts, Su Ping kept one-tenth of the materials for each and sold the rest in exchange for Spirit Stones.

Then, at the kitchen of an Immortal Sect Market restaurant that bought the Demon Beast meat.

Several kitchen managers looked at the several hundred catties of Demon Beast meat that had been delivered, but no matter how they looked at it, they felt something was wrong with the meat.

With their extensive experience in processing Demon Beast meat, they suspected there was a problem with this meat!

This matter quickly brought the Shopkeeper to the kitchen.

"I ask you, does this thing look like Demon Beast meat?"

"It is...!"

"Good, then I ask you, does this thing smell like Demon Beast meat!"

"It smells... like it too!"

"Very well, then does this thing taste like Demon Beast meat!"

When the Shopkeeper asked this, Golden Light emerged from his right hand, and he tore off a small strip of raw meat and put it into his mouth, chewing it slowly and methodically.

The several kitchen managers looked at each other; they had naturally tasted it too, and not daring to speak recklessly, they nodded and admitted: "It is!"

"That's enough then!"

Swallowing the Demon Beast meat, the Shopkeeper waved his hand: "Since this thing looks like it, smells like it, and tastes like it, then it is genuine Demon Beast meat!"

"I know about your little doubts, but this concerns certain matters that you don't need to understand; just continue with your work."

"But... Shopkeeper, the quality of this Demon Beast meat probably doesn't even count as low-grade."

A responsible steward stepped forward, speaking up despite some trepidation.

"I know, and we won't let our customers suffer a loss!"

"Have the restaurant launch a few special dishes using this Demon Beast meat, noting that while the texture is the same, the efficacy is lower."

The Shopkeeper provided the solution he had prepared long ago.

In fact, all the families that had purchased Demon Beast materials from Su Ping had discovered the quality issues with this batch during their inspections.

However, no one suspected that Su Ping was playing tricks or adulterating them.

In this world, no one would take a Spirit Beast they had painstakingly raised and sell it for materials! Moreover, the secrets the Yun Family could know were naturally also known to them, as they all did business under the protection of powerful backers.

In their view, this was likely some powerful Demon Beast playing tricks behind the scenes, using a Secret Technique to forcibly ripen a batch of Demon Beasts to infiltrate the mortal realm of the Immortal Sect.

Yet they hadn't expected to encounter a responsible Inspector who hunted them down in advance! Although they had competition during procurement, they also had some tacit understanding, and the price had been clearly settled with Su Ping.

They had not suffered any losses because of this.

However, after this matter slowly fermented, Inspectors or family Cultivators from other cities began to imitate it.

The results were either futile, or they truly encountered Demon Beasts hiding in the deep mountains, and after a great battle, the Demon Beast often escaped! Even worse, some unlucky ones, not knowing if they had encountered an Evil Spirit or a Robber Cultivator, died and had their souls extinguished directly.

This caused this wave of imitation to come quickly and die down even faster!

It's Monday!!! (End of chapter)