Chapter 29: Slaying and Harvest!

A few people walked along the mountain village path and soon reached the back of the mountain.

Around them was a dense jungle, the weeds half a person's height, and all around were various poisonous insects.

Not even sunlight could reach the ground.

Huh…

A cold gust blew by, chilling everyone and feeling very eerie.

Lu Zhangsheng looked ahead and saw a well opening about ten meters away, but it was covered by dead wood.

"We'll go move the dead wood and take a look,"

Yue Shulan said softly.

Just as the group prepared to act, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

"Wang…"

Accompanied by a series of strange sound waves from the void, a blood‑red figure burst out from the darkness.

The opponent wore a red long dress, with jet‑black hair flowing loose, and even the facial features were blurred.

A murderous aura surged around them, terrifying indeed.

The blood‑red figure floated in the void, then rushed toward Lu Zhangsheng and the others.

"Target spotted, swiftly slay the enemy,"

Li Yunhua roared, immediately drew the long sword at his waist, and slashed forward.

His Qi and blood erupted with full force, like a small sun, radiating waves of heat.

Lu Zhangsheng also drew his waist‑long sword and struck forward fiercely.

"Zi…"

The blade scraped the void, producing a whooshing sound.

To avoid the others noticing his abnormality, he only employed strength around the Iron Skin realm.

Yue Shulan and the others, seeing this, hurriedly followed, and together they surrounded the uncanny one in the center.

"Boom boom boom…"

The uncanny one extended its claws, colliding fiercely with the group.

The group was knocked back repeatedly, faces full of shock.

"This beast possesses formidable strength,"

A chill rose in everyone's hearts.

Being able to suppress several people head‑on, this strength was already nearing that of a Refining Meat master.

Moreover, upon first contact, they felt bone‑piercing cold on their arms, and even their own Qi and blood struggled to resist.

"Everyone be careful, this is the uncanny one's unique ability; we must unleash all our Qi and blood to suppress it…"

Yue Shulan kept speaking.

Among them, Li Yunhua's Refining Skin perfect-level strength was the strongest.

Next was Yue Shulan, who had just reached Refining Skin perfect-level.

The remaining two clan youths were at Refining Skin great achievement.

As for Lu Zhangsheng's displayed strength, it was ignored by everyone, treated as merely filler.

Upon hearing this, the group immediately began to unleash all their Qi and blood, charging toward the uncanny one ahead.

"Boom boom boom…"

For a moment, both sides fought a relentless blood battle in the ruined jungle, and the group gradually suppressed the uncanny one.

Lu Zhangsheng was unhurried, using Perfect-level Fleeting Light and Shadow to maneuver slowly.

Occasionally he slashed a blade, appearing to exert all his strength, somewhat strained.

Li Yunhua, positioned not far away as the main force, constantly observed the battlefield.

Seeing Lu Zhangsheng's performance, a cold smile formed in his heart.

He gradually steered the battlefield toward Lu Zhangsheng's side.

"Ah…"

Then Li Yunhua pretended to be outmatched, darted to the side, and the uncanny one in mid‑air leapt over him, charging ferociously at Lu Zhangsheng.

"Careful!"

Yue Shulan looked anxious, but she was far away and couldn't intervene in time.

The remaining two clan youths remained indifferent, even showing a hint of schadenfreude.

"Not good."

Lu Zhangsheng feigned panic, hurriedly activated Fleeting Light and Shadow at full force, and rushed toward a nearby clan youth.

At the same time, the uncanny one followed.

"What are you doing!"

The man with a resolute face looked terrified.

But before he could react, a pitch‑black ghost hand pierced his chest; he could no longer speak, his face filled with black mist, and soon his breath ceased.

"Brother Yao!"

The remaining clan youth shouted, his face full of resentment as he stared at Lu Zhangsheng.

Lu Zhangsheng slipped aside, showing a look of lingering fear.

Inside, he was filled with cold laughter.

He had only made a slight move, yet they failed to steal the chicken and only lost rice; thinking they could plot against him was a dream.

With his Perfect-level footwork, his speed was astonishing.

Li Yunhua is merely showing off his skills before an expert.

Everything happened too fast, giving several people no time to react before they lost a companion.

Yue Shulan's face was even more strange.

She had clearly seen that scene just now.

She also felt quite refreshed in her heart.

Being able to make those high-and-mighty aristocratic youths suffer a setback is also quite rare.

Killing intent burst in Li Yunhua's eyes, and the anger in his heart was about to become uncontrollable.

He never expected that his own strike would cause the loss of an ally.

"Don't hold back, everyone; strike to kill this scoundrel with all your strength."

He roared angrily.

He immediately led the charge forward.

Lu Zhangsheng and the others closely followed behind.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

A new round of combat began again, becoming even more intense.

Even though they were missing one person, they still held the advantage; at this rate, they would be able to slay that Devious Monster in no time.

At the same time, the remaining clan disciple became wary, keeping quite a distance from Lu Zhangsheng.

Moreover, Li Yunhua intentionally or unintentionally lured the Devious Monster toward Lu Zhangsheng, but Lu Zhangsheng easily dodged each time.

Only after several attempts did he finally give up completely.

Killing intent gradually rose in Lu Zhangsheng's heart; on this return journey, he would sooner or later find an opportunity to slay his opponent.

His opponent surely harbored the same thought.

Time slowly passed. The battle between the two sides had not yet ceased.

Just as that Devious Monster could no longer hold on, a sudden change came from the edge of the well ahead.

"Roar—roar—roar—"

With a roar, an extremely bizarre figure crawled swiftly out of the ground, then lunged at the four people, its murderous aura oppressive.

"Oh no, the enemy still has reinforcements."

Everyone's faces turned pale with shock.

Lu Zhangsheng stared intently and saw that the opponent was stooped, with blood-red eyes, no longer resembling a human.

"It's Peng Yuntian; he has been refined into a living corpse."

At that moment, the others also reacted, utterly astonished.

The murderous aura of this living corpse was extremely strong; surely its strength was not weak either.

All of this happened in an instant.

"Fight for your lives."

Li Yun Tian gritted his teeth, directly took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it.

Yue Shulan and the other person did the same.

These pills were Blood Rage Pills issued by the DemonSubduingOffice; they could temporarily boost strength, but afterward would cause weakness for two days.

Seeing this, Lu Zhangsheng likewise took out a piece of black candy and swallowed it.

In an instant, everyone's aura surged greatly.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

Just then, the two sides violently collided.

The fierce impact sound echoed through the forest.

The clash of blade and black claws sent out sparks.

The two Devious Monsters were directly driven back several meters by the group, their aura chilling.

"Strike while it's sick; take its life."

Li Yunhua and the others charged forward again.

Raising his long blade, he delivered a fierce slash.

Lu Zhangsheng likewise unleashed the most powerful move from the Five Tiger Breaking Gate Sword, slashing out with a single blade.

A cold gleam flashed in the void.

"Under the effect of the medicinal pill, he continually maintained strength approaching that of a copper-skinned warrior."

"Hum—"

Their blade descended from above, like Mount Tai pressing down, with astonishing momentum.

At the blade's edge, a cold gleam welled up, sharp and unstoppable.

"Ah…… My Esteemed Lord will avenge me……"

A miserable cry rang out; the two Devious Monsters were directly chopped into several pieces, scattering a mess of dark-green bodily fluid on the ground, utterly disgusting.

Moments later, the several people sheathed their blades and stood, their faces grim.

Due to erroneous intelligence from the DemonSubduingOffice, this place actually had two Devious Monsters.

It caused the group heavy losses, and only after taking medicinal pills did they complete this mission.

Lu Zhangsheng stared at the traces on the ground, somewhat silent.

These two people were simply a pair of extreme specimens.

The man sold his sweetheart to another, while the woman refined the man into a living corpse; now they truly were companions forever.

"Does that dry well still need to be searched?"

Yue Shulan pointed at the dry well ahead and frowned.

That strange smell was truly foul.

Li Yunhua and the others all wore looks of disgust, with no intention to move.

Everyone knew that in the hiding places of the strange beings, apart from some "broken stones," nothing useful could be found.

This had already been verified by countless predecessors.

Those black stones could only emit a bit of cold qi, which would dissipate after a while, making them useless.

However, according to the DemonSubduingOffice's custom, after slaying demons they still had to clean up, and several people began to shirk.

Lu Zhangsheng, however, felt a slight stir in his heart.

"I'll go clean up then."

Under the astonished gazes of the others, Lu Zhangsheng quickly walked to the edge of the dry well, leapt, and jumped in.

Inside there was no water, only a skeleton, and the smell around it was extremely foul.

In a corner of the well bottom lay three dark-colored stones, each only fist-sized and utterly unremarkable.

Lu Zhangsheng crouched and picked up one of them with his hand.

A thread of cold qi transmitted.

"Harvested one Yin Soul Stone; absorb it?"

A familiar voice sounded, making him delighted inside.

"Absorb."

He immediately nodded.

"Source Energy Points increased by six."

A light screen quickly popped up, displaying a string of numbers.

"This effect is this strong?"

Lu Zhangsheng's heart surged with joy; one Yin Soul Stone equaled a hundred-year-old ginseng.

There were three of them here, basically a huge profit.

What other martial artists saw as junk could be used by him, adding another source of Source Energy Points in the future.

It seemed the golden finger could absorb any energetic object, with a very strong effect.

In the future, with the Pangolin exploring the mountains and forests, plus his own slaying of strange beings at the DemonSubduingOffice, the double accumulation would surely let his cultivation advance rapidly.

Soon, Lu Zhangsheng absorbed the remaining two stones as well, turning them into Source Energy Points.

Looking at the panel showing a total of 42 Source Energy Points, the fusion button behind the Iron Cloth Shirt lit up again, and he felt quite excited.

These days of exploring the mountains and forests, plus this gain, made him prosperous again.

He could hardly wait to know what the merged technique would be.

Next, Lu Zhangsheng gathered his thoughts, picked up the skeleton in the well, lightly leapt upward, and landed beside the well.

"Below, besides this skeleton, there are only a few broken stones."

He gave a slight smile and said to the several people.

The others also wore expressions of "as expected."

"To avoid complications, let us return immediately."

Li Yun Tian looked at Lu Zhangsheng's eyes with a flicker, unknown what he was thinking.

Yue Shulan also nodded.

Afterwards, everyone hurried toward the county town.

(End of chapter)