Chapter 204: Fortune Returns at the Nadir

Linjiang Commandery, Stone Gate Cliff.

He Zhen draped in a fierce wolf greatcloak, the collar embroidered with yin-yang fish patterns—he should have been an imposing personal attendant.

At this moment, flanked by a number of Captains, his expression blank and wooden, he stared at the cliff ahead like a fool.

The great demon here was extremely adept at burrowing, having hollowed out the entire mountain wall, and had occupied this place for several hundred years; no one had any good way to deal with it.

Boom!

The black-robed youth hung in midair and shattered the mountain wall with a single punch.

A blinding azure light flashed, slicing open the mountain behind and exposing a dense network of tunnels.

He closed his eyes and sensed briefly, then his body exploded into motion—a whipping kick slammed into another section of the mountain.

Under that terrifying force, a demon roughly ten zhang long scrambled out in panic, its body covered in scales; the moment its head emerged, it was crushed by the surging fist wind!

【Slain Nascent Core Realm Earth Dragon, total lifespan 4,300 years, remaining lifespan 760 years, absorption complete】

Shen Yi gripped the demon's corpse, returned to the group, then took out a ledger and began flipping through it.

After a moment, he said, slightly puzzled: "That's it?"

The Captains fell silent. He Zhen said woodenly: "That's it."

In just over ten days, General Shen had gone to eight places in a row; aside from those who fled in advance, the remaining five great demons were all slain... not one lasted past a second strike.

This is Linjiang Commandery! The place demons love to linger most!

Now there really wasn't a single one left.

"What about the Jade Liquid Realm ones?"

Shen Yi glanced sideways: "Help me gather the intelligence and send it back to the Zhen Mo General's residence."

Five Nascent Core demons, and the total harvest was only a little over two thousand years of lifespan—each one clumsier than the last; there was even one with barely sixty-some years left that still hadn't broken through to Core Embracement, worlds apart from the little demon king.

Hearing this, He Zhen couldn't help wiping a bead of sweat: "Most of the others have fled… this subordinate will go investigate at once."

Even Jade Liquid Realm matters he handles personally—could it be that the imperial court is short on funds lately? He can't shake the feeling he's about to be dismissed.

Shen Yi nodded and swept back into the long sky.

He stopped in a deserted spot, tossed down the earth dragon, then pulled five more demon corpses from the silver pouch and dropped them on the ground—among them was the little demon king.

He opened his mouth; surging blood plasma instantly coalesced, transforming into demon blood that was swallowed into his belly.

All five demons together barely condensed into a single drop.

The eight-zhang-tall Bull Demon was the smallest among them, yet its harvest was the richest—eight whole drops.

Shen Yi picked up the demon cores and stuffed them into his mouth whole.

With practiced ease he opened the panel and began deducing Tiannan Dan Shi.

It only took a few years of demon lifespan; the demon blood and demon cores, which would normally need to be slowly absorbed, were instantly devoured clean by the Dao Infant.

Shen Yi sat cross-legged and sank into inner vision.

He channeled his divine sense into the Dao Infant's body, and his field of vision changed once more.

He had become the Dao Infant within his inner core again.

Feeling the abundant strength coursing through his body—far sturdier than when he had first taken shape—he raised his fist and slammed it into the inner core!

Bang—

"This hard?"

The Dao Infant rubbed his wrist; once this inner core was smashed, he could break through to reach the Hunyuan Realm.

Clearly, his current accumulation still fell short by a ways.

After a moment's thought, he turned to look at the Yin Spirit trembling beside him: "What are you sitting there for? Get up and help."

After days on end of suppression, the Yin Spirit had clearly become far more obedient; it hurriedly stood up and gently pressed its palm against the shell, dissolving the inner core in another way.

Many hands make light work.

Soon, the Heaven-Devouring Inner Core let out a crisp crack, and a thin fissure appeared on the smooth shell.

The Dao Infant lay there panting, directing the Yin Spirit to use incense and wish-power to massage his arm.

Actually, he was only trying it out; he hadn't considered using the panel to attempt a breakthrough directly.

Cultivation insufficient, forcibly shattering the core… that should count as a premature birth, right?

……

Outside Qingzhou Zhen Mo Si, the Commander's residence.

Aunt Aqian sat cross-legged on a stone bench; Jiang Yuanhua stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

Both stared at a white pigeon on the table.

The pigeon was formed from qi, and a tiny silver bell hung around its neck.

"You take it?"

Jiang Yuanhua glanced at her—if he remembered correctly, when she'd returned to Qingzhou earlier, she'd been utterly insufferable.

"Ahem."

Aunt Aqian coughed twice, gritted her teeth, reached out and pulled off the silver bell; the white pigeon quietly dispersed.

She channeled her qi and drew out the contents of the bell.

There were only two items in total: a gilt envelope clearly from the Wumiao, and beside it a piece of Bai Yu two finger-widths wide.

"One each."

Aunt Aqian snatched the envelope with swift hands.

Even when slaying the little demon king, she had long since prepared for the worst; yet now, with the answer about to be revealed, her breathing quickened despite herself.

By comparison, Jiang Yuanhua was far calmer.

Once he had completely lost control of this matter, whatever the outcome, he could only choose to accept it.

Soon, Aunt Aqian took out the letter paper.

There was only a single sentence on it.

"Thousand Demon Cave, Blood-Transforming Demon Sovereign."

Just a few small characters, yet they made Aunt Aqian's movements freeze instantly. Even though she had long anticipated it, when the answer was truly laid out before her, a mere title alone was enough to press a person until they could barely breathe.

Such a small Outside Qingzhou, and yet it had managed to offend an old demon comparable to the Transformation of Spirit Realm.

It must have been quite a pleasant surprise for the Martial Shrine.

Jiang Yuanhua is solemn — a trace of loneliness flashed through his eyes, but he did not say much, merely gently picking up that piece of Bai Yu.

He channeled his Qi into it.

Aunt Aqian was a little nervous: "Is this Xuan Light Cave or Mount Wutong?"

Jiang Yuanhua identified it for a moment, then said softly: "Mount Wutong."

When the Qi filled the Bai Yu.

A slightly cold, austere voice came out from within it.

"It's busy. I'm in the middle of beating someone up."

The voice cut off abruptly, as if too lazy to say another word.

Jiang Yuanhua and Aunt Aqian exchanged a glance, and simultaneously fell silent.

After a long while, Aunt Aqian suddenly leapt up, lay on the stone table clutching her belly and laughed uproariously: "It's over! It's finally fucking over!"

Jiang Yuanhua watched her helplessly, until the other jumped off the table, bouncing away toward the courtyard gate: "Alright, I'm off to be busy!"

Busy? Busy being all sweet and lovey-dovey with Wu Feng?

The characteristics of the voice in the Bai Yu were too distinct, so much so that Jiang Yuanhua barely needed to think before he could identify the other party's identity.

One of the twelve disciples of Mount Wutong, who had achieved the honored seat of Soul Transformation through Dao Infant.

True Person Master Xuanjian, Nie Jun.

Even among the immortal sects, the other was an existence that could make the rest of the cultivators retreat three steps to avoid.

Even when the ancestor of the Martial Shrine was at his peak, he might not necessarily have been able to gain an advantage against him.

"……"

Jiang Yuanhua sat back down, the Bai Yu gripped tightly in his hand.

When things reach their worst, they will turn for the better?

All the arrangements he had made over these years had ended up being completely useless. Heaven had sent a little Demon King, yet also brought Qiulan and Shen Yi to Outside Qingzhou, giving the little Demon King such an extraordinary background, and coincidentally had True Person Master Xuanjian come to keep watch.

A Demon Sovereign targeted by Mount Wutong would most likely not dare to lightly come to a place like Daqian again.

As long as people like them did not go out, it seemed this matter really was over.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yuanhua rubbed his brow, carefully putting away the Bai Yu. His movements were cautious, as if what he held was not Bai Yu, but his Outside Qingzhou.

(End of this chapter)