Chapter 128: The Heavenly Demon's Third Molt

"Damn, you jinxed it!"

The respect the Vice-Captains and Captains had originally held for Liu Bin had already been worn down by more than half.

Seeing Toad Lord appear now, they finally couldn't hold back and cursed out loud.

The opponent was doomed to die without a doubt; they themselves were merely following orders, and there might still be a chance to atone for their crimes with meritorious service.

But now? Not a single one of them was getting out of here!

Xiao Qiangwei's expression also shifted slightly, but in an instant, her eyes filled with uncertainty and suspicion.

This Demon Lord's appearance didn't look like it had come back to settle a score—the more she looked, the more it seemed like it was... fleeing for its life?!

The question was, near Outside Qingzhou, where else could be safer for it than Black Stone Pool.

Besides, if it was fleeing, then who was chasing it?

The next moment, her gaze instantly focused on the toad demon's head, where a sword hilt was exposed—so familiar it left her somewhat incredulous.

As if to confirm her thoughts.

A ripple of water surged, and a figure in dark robes shot into the air, a heavy punch slamming into the sword hilt!

Under that tremendous force, the long blade pierced straight through the toad demon's broad head and shot out the other side.

The one remaining eye of Toad Lord had already glazed over.

Shen Yi whipped a flying kick through the air, sending it flying outright; its massive body crashed onto the hillside, and terrifying fissures rumbled outward in all directions.

Xiao Qiangwei stared blankly at the sky, only to find the young man suddenly glance sideways at her, as if he had something to say.

She nervously loosened the Demon-Suppressing Chain in her hand.

She only heard him say casually, "Mind picking up my blade for me? Don't lose it."

Before the words had even faded, the young man suddenly lunged at Toad Lord again, his fists raining down with hurricane-like force.

Toad Lord lay sprawled on the slope, its bloated body shuddering violently from the blows, head tilted, without even the strength to writhe—yet it still shakily extended a tree-branch-like forelimb, clawing at the hillside trying to escape, looking utterly miserable.

As the young man's five fingers plunged into the toad demon's belly with a wet squelch, demonic energy erupted once more, and its enormous belly burst open with a bang.

Dust flew, minced meat filled the sky.

When he reappeared, Shen Yi had already placed the demon core in his hand into the silver bell, along with a wisp of Toad Lord's heart's essence blood, which also slipped into the bell.

【Slain Nascent Core Realm toad demon, total lifespan 4,900 years, remaining lifespan 872 years, absorption complete】

Xiao Qiangwei instinctively followed his instruction, walking in a daze to the black blade and reaching out to pull it free.

Only when the cold touch traveled from her palm did she suddenly come to her senses. She whirled around to stare at the distant dark-robed figure—let alone drowning in the cold pool, he wasn't even wet.

Watching Shen Yi walk slowly back toward the camp, the many Captains and Vice-Captains instinctively retreated two or three zhang backward, exposing Liu Bin in the middle.

"Aaauugh! Ugh!"

Liu Bin opened his mouth wide like an old lion, revealing his bloody, mangled oral cavity and a mouthful of black mud.

He madly slammed his head against the ground, as if trying to use this method to dispel the hallucination before his eyes.

How could anyone possibly come out of Black Stone Pool alive? How could anyone kill Toad Lord so easily?

If what he was seeing was real, then what was the point of all his years of garrison duty!

Xiao Qiangwei hurried back, handed the black blade over, and raised her eyes to that handsome face. She had clearly looked at it for several days already, yet now it felt even more unfamiliar.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but in the end they condensed into one dazed: "Are you alright?"

Shen Yi casually sheathed the long blade and glanced at her wrist. "Is this injury easy to treat?"

He had only originally wanted this woman to help hold the line; he hadn't expected her to fight so desperately.

"I'm fine."

Xiao Qiangwei slightly hid the ugly, bone-bare wrist behind her back. "Back in Tingyang Prefecture, General You has plenty of physicians, and rare medicines aren't lacking either."

"The demon goes to me, he goes to you—I can help escort them."

Shen Yi wasn't a stingy person; she had put in considerable effort, so the credit she deserved should be given to her.

There were no more demons here, so this group from Zhen Mo Si naturally had no reason to stay. Escorting them all back to Tingyang Prefecture together—an Elixir Formation Realm demon and an Elixir Formation Realm personal Vice-Captain—purely by merit, it should be about even.

In just a few words, Liu Bin discovered he had become "credit" on par with a demon, casually allocated by this young man with clean efficiency.

Xiao Qiangwei pressed her lips together slightly and said softly, "General You should be very willing to meet a master like you."

Quietly, her evaluation of Shen Yi had shifted from "heaven's favored son" to the more plain and unadorned "master."

The former still needed to grow; the latter was already someone who could stand on his own.

Seeing Shen Yi nod and show signs of turning to leave again, Xiao Qiangwei hesitated for a long moment before finally asking, "How did you manage to defeat Toad Lord inside Black Stone Pool?"

"......"

Shen Yi thought for a moment, then said lightly, "That's just how body tempering is. If you don't temper, you wouldn't understand."

Xiao Qiangwei tugged at the corner of her mouth and didn't press further. The two of them hadn't known each other long, and the question itself was already quite presumptuous—every demon hunter had their own trump card, and casually revealing it might cost them a chance to save their own life someday.

If it hadn't been so utterly shocking, she couldn't have brought herself to ask.

At least he was still willing to brush her off with an answer, which meant their relationship was already much better than before.

"Rest for one night, we set out tomorrow."

Shen Yi strode back along the path they had come.

The many Vice-Captains and Captains obediently followed behind, dragging Liu Bin along with them. The old general, broken and listless, let them lead him without resistance, not even daring to cast another resentful glance at the figure ahead.

Xiao Qiangwei followed quietly as well.

In front of that person, even a reminder like "the night is long and dreams are many" felt superfluous.

The premise of a cornered dog jumping over the wall was that it had to at least count as a dog.

Whether Liu Bin or this group of Zhen Mo Si runners, or even herself included, none of them could probably stir up any waves in that young man's hands.

The group returned to the wooden cabin.

Even knowing that by tomorrow, they would be escorted back to Tingyang Commandery.

But the three deputy generals still respectfully boiled water and brewed tea for Lord Shen, then quietly withdrew.

Once no one remained in the room.

Shen Yi reached out and took out the Toad Lord's inner core, unable to help feeling a touch of emotion.

This toad core was actually a full size larger than the one from the Flood Dragon Lord of Qingfeng Mountain back then, enough to replenish roughly seventy-five percent of the Heavenly Fiend outer core.

The cultivation contained within just this one core alone was comparable to the three cores of the Nascent Core Realm tiger fiend from before.

He used his divine sense to summon the panel.

【Remaining Fiend Lifespan: 2,465 years】

【Nascent Core. Immortal Fiend Nine Transformations (Rare): Entry】

If the estimate was right, after the third transformation would come the minor accomplishment realm; by then, even without relying on the Heavenly Fiend outer core, and without Xiao Qiangwei backing him up, he himself could truly suppress Elixir Formation Realm fiends.

Shen Yi swallowed the toad core into his mouth, mobilizing the fiend lifespan to pour into the martial art.

【First year, you intend to undergo the third transformation; before this, you skillfully mobilize the Death Intent, beginning to suppress and slay the residual Mountain Lord consciousness within your body】

Just as with slaying the Flood Dragon Lord's consciousness before, it had to be completely erased, only then could this innate divine ability and power truly belong to oneself.

Confining a fiend within oneself could actually, in other words, be understood as nurturing a fiend within one's body.

Nurturing a great fiend with no physical body, purely condensed from cultivation, yet still possessing consciousness.

If one did not slay it, there would also be the danger of harming oneself.

(End of chapter)