Chapter 232: Counting the Harvest, a Great Windfall

Shen Yi rode a cloud to a desolate slope.

A mountain of flesh piled from demons appeared in his line of sight.

According to Lady Qinghua's report, Juncheng of Songzhou was not actually large; the four commanderies totaled one hundred and two county towns, and they had slain six hundred and thirty-six demons in total. The bag treasure could not hold so many corpses, so they had temporarily piled them here.

Compared to the Howling Moon Demon King of Outside Qingzhou, who brought only a dozen Demon Lords.

Lord Chimu had clearly established his territory and made a name for himself; nearly a thousand demons had come to serve him. Even so, there were only six or seven demons per county town on average, yet this was enough to intimidate the entire county's population.

Among them, intelligent demons accounted for about sixty percent; over a hundred were at the Initial Realm, dozens at the Jade Liquid Realm, and there were sixteen demons with Condensed Cores.

One must remember, this was the result after they fought to the death with the Zhen Mo Si and another Demon King, yet they still retained such a massive number.

A single small demon at the Jade Liquid Realm could leave over a hundred thousand people powerless to resist.

A demon with a Condensed Core could even lie in the county government office and frighten martial artists in the nearby dozen county towns so much they dared not even think of fleeing.

Such overwhelming pressure certainly did not come from nowhere.

It must have taken countless lives as a warning to make the people of Songzhou tremble with fear, becoming the way they are now.

"Hah."

Shen Yi exhaled slightly; upon seeing the head impaled on a long spear at the entrance of the Zhen Mo Si General's Mansion, he suddenly thought of General Chen Qiankun for some reason.

He was not a sentimental person.

But after witnessing the situation in Songzhou, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart.

Moreover, what was even more absurd was this:

Among the demons, Lord Chimu's method of eating was even considered "benevolent"; he consumed incense and vows rather than fresh blood, merely ordering his underlings to eat regularly to maintain the people's fear that their lives hung by a thread.

If it were those who acted decisively, Songzhou probably would not have lasted until today; it would have been eaten clean long ago.

Indeed, small people are just small people.

Even though he possessed strength beyond ordinary imagination, Shen Yi still could not remain as calm as the experts of the Wumiao, treating the world as a chessboard and viewing the suffering of living beings as pieces to be exchanged.

In his previous clash with Lord Chimu, as he punched blow after blow, it felt as if he had returned to Liu Li Temple Village, stabbing a steel knife into the heart of that dog demon again and again to vent the slight anger in his heart.

Shen Yi shook his head lightly and quickly adjusted his mood.

His gaze turned cold; he opened his mouth and turned the towering mountain of flesh ahead entirely into a river of blood. Six or seven hundred grotesque demons quickly turned into shriveled skins.

The river of blood gathered in mid-air and condensed into demon blood at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It looked like a sky filled with bright red, but once it gradually turned dark red... only four drops of demon blood remained, drilling into Shen Yi's mouth.

"..."

It was not even enough to support a single full-power strike from a Nascent Soul.

However, their true value did not lie there.

Shen Yi raised his eyes to look at the panel; that string of numbers, exaggerated to the extreme, made his heart beat slightly faster.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Ninety-four thousand six hundred years】

Among them, only the eleven thousand years from the four Demon Lords with Condensed Cores and the seven thousand-plus years from Lord Chimu were personally slain by Shen Yi.

The rest were all the work of Lady Qinghua.

Shen Yi summoned the other's soul; he saw a woman wearing a blue-and-white patterned long robe appear lightly beside him.

"Go search the edges of Songzhou again to see if any fish slipped through the net."

"Lady Qinghua humbly obeys my Lord's decree."

Lady Qinghua's face was pale, yet she had not the slightest objection; she bowed respectfully, quickly returned to her Yin Spirit, and then drifted away with the Yin Spirit toward the distance.

Shen Yi gathered the scattered Beast Yuan and Demon Cores into his bag, then took out the corpses of the four Demon Lords with Condensed Cores and Lord Chimu.

The Blood Transformation Technique was cast again.

Moments later, twenty-three drops of demon blood floated out from the four Demon Lords. Judging by the quantity, their strength was only slightly inferior to that of a small Demon King; those who survived the fight to the death indeed had some skill.

Lord Chimu, on the other hand, left Shen Yi slightly disappointed; fifty-seven drops of demon blood were far less than Lady Qinghua's.

"Hmm?"

Under the hollow skin of the black bear, there was unexpectedly a black wooden box.

Shen Yi swallowed the demon blood, waved his hand to pick it up, and opened it to find neatly arranged envelopes inside.

He opened and read them one by one.

All the letters came from the same faction.

The content of the letters was also very simple; almost all were explanations and clarifications regarding cultivation techniques.

The signature belonged to a faction Shen Yi was quite familiar with.

Qingqiu.

And in the letters, they referred to Lord Chimu as a Patron.

After taking all the letters, a thick cultivation manual lay underneath.

"..."

Shen Yi opened the manual and quickly scanned its contents.

Soon, a line of text appeared on the panel.

【Wu Xian: Ten Thousand Phenomena Divine Cultivation Great Art: Not Entered】

He recalled the treasure armor and weapons that had condensed on the black bear earlier, turning invisible incense and vows into something visible to the naked eye.

No wonder a demon suddenly wanted to change its appearance and become some sort of Divine Lord.

It turned out they had received a lineage.

"Keep it for now."

Shen Yi waved his hand to close the panel. Although he had gained a substantial amount of demon lifespan, the situation in Songzhou was not the norm; if other commanderies were like this, the Great Qian would have fallen long ago.

Save when you should, spend when you should.

This Yin Spirit technique is at best a choice made out of desperation; besides, Lady Qinghua's current abilities have no capacity to control a stronger Yin Spirit.

If only I could stumble upon a Soul Transformation Realm demon emperor…

Shen Yi turned his gaze to the demonic origin, or perhaps feed her another one of these?

Wait a little longer.

This is tens of thousands of years of demonic life span—he did not wish to waste it on Lady Qinghua unless absolutely necessary.

Better return to the Wumiao first and see if there's anything more worth cultivating.

As for Lord Chimu having some connection to the Qingqiu, Shen Yi didn't care much; Qingqiu had long been on his silent list, and this was merely deepening the impression.

"Including the previous ones, one hundred and twenty-six drops of demonic blood should be sufficient."

Shen Yi put away the wooden box, not even sparing the demonic core—these items could now substitute for demonic blood as tonic, and must not be wasted.

He sat cross-legged and channeled the demonic life span into the Nine Demons Transform into Demon Great Art.

This time, the nourishment was the second immortal demon.

【In the first year, you fused the demonic blood into your limbs and organs, feeding it to Shan Jun, which began unconsciously devouring it】

The same transformation appeared on Shan Jun as before.

Shen Yi lifted his clothing and watched the tiger patterns quietly emerging on his body; the demonic blood had merged into its flesh, staining it a strangely vivid crimson.

At the same time, vast power began erupting within his body.

The number of demonic blood drops rapidly decreased.

Soon, over seventy drops were gone, yet Shan Jun continued absorbing.

【In the four thousand two hundredth year, Shan Jun's absorption slowed; its aura reached a certain peak, causing the nearby immortal dragon to sense its status threatened. The dappled tiger regarded the opponent with indifference and swallowed another drop of demonic blood】

(End of Chapter)