Chapter 85

For life-or-death combat, nothing is more taboo than losing one's momentum.

Shen Yi's relentless actions left the Demon Jiao utterly unable to discern his limits.

Moreover, the careful distance the opponent maintained appeared to it like an impassable abyss—seemingly just a hair's breadth away from a fatal strike, yet forever unbridgeable.

The countless wounds Chen Qiankun had left on the Demon Jiao made it resemble a porcelain vessel on the verge of shattering.

At this moment, under the unceasing barrage of divine qi strikes.

This ancient Nascent Core demon, having lived over three thousand years, had utterly lost its capacity to resist, and at last, fear could no longer be avoided.

This fear stemmed not only from dread of the Demon-Suppressing General catching up, but mostly from the young man afar.

That damned Captain wants to crush me into dust!

"Ang—"

No longer caring for Chen Qiankun, the Demon Jiao let out a piercing cry and prepared to revert to its true form and take flight.

Even if it died, it would rather die beneath that demonic great halberd!

A timid Jade Liquid Realm wretch—how dare you kill me, Lord Jiao?!

"…"

Shen Yi took in the demon's expression.

A flicker of complexity passed through his dark eyes, yet his motion showed not the slightest hesitation—he drew straightaway the rigid ceremonial blade at his waist.

The next instant, his body erupted into motion.

With both hands gripping the blade, he slashed downward through the sky, carving a streak of black light with overwhelming force.

The sharp blade plunged with a wet sound into the Demon Jiao's heart.

His slender, bony fingers clenched the hilt tightly, soaked in the scalding dark-red demonic blood.

"You seek death!"

The Demon Jiao's claws slammed out, effortlessly piercing the youth's shoulders; equally scalding blood, speckled with golden sparks, splashed across his clean face.

Those clear eyes held no defiant resolve—only traces of pain, a whisper of fear, no different from an ordinary man's.

Afraid? Maybe a little.

Kill or not?

Shen Yi slowly released his grip on the blade, curling his fingers into a fist.

Sever the Meridians, Capture the Dragon!

Amidst excruciating tearing pain, his hardened knuckles struck the Demon Jiao's entire network of meridians at a speed invisible to the naked eye!

The black scales, long seared by demonic fire, fell away in entirety; countless meridians were instantly sealed.

"Get off! Get off!"

The Demon Jiao's arms went numb, its claws sunk deep into the youth's flesh, yet no matter how it struggled, it could not pull them free.

It panicked, desperate to shove him away—but still could not.

Even as Shen Yi stepped half a pace forward, driving the scaled claws deeper into his own body.

"You don't die, I can't sleep or eat."

His voice was a whisper; he gripped the black blade again in the demon's heart, yanked it out sharply, spraying a wave of blood.

His tattered ink-colored robe fluttered; the ceremonial blade, entwined with writhing blood threads, sliced down like a full moon.

Puch—

The grotesque demon head rolled on the ground, expressionless with shock; beneath its half-body, a trail of blood stretched along the path to the horizon.

It was a path of bloody wind and storm, countless lifts of the blade.

【Slain Nascent Core Demon Jiao. Total lifespan: 5,240 years. Remaining lifespan: 1,970 years. Fully absorbed.】

【Remaining demonic lifespan: 3,264 years】

Shen Yi's hand gripping the blade trembled slightly—whether from exhaustion or excitement, he could not tell.

He breathed heavily, fatigue slowly rising across his face.

After steadying his breath, Shen Yi gritted his teeth and yanked out the two demon claws sunk deep into his flesh—their scales were razor-sharp, like concentric barbs tearing out chunks of muscle… damn, it hurt.

The half-body of the demon thudded to the ground.

Even in death, it refused to reveal its true form—no doubt it had spent great effort to assume human shape. No wonder it had dwelled in Outside Qingzhou for over a hundred years without being discovered.

Shen Yi stepped on its body and, with practiced ease, sliced open its abdomen.

At that moment, a clatter of hooves came from behind.

Shen Yi turned to see, following the trail of the demon's blood, a dozen riders on horseback racing toward him, led by a magnificent, blood-red demonic steed.

He felt a flicker of surprise.

Has Qingfeng Sect really finished so quickly?

On the crimson steed sat an old man clad in dark-gleaming armor, gripping a massive iron halberd, gazing down upon him from above.

Chen Qiankun regarded the youth drenched in demonic blood, his expression unreadable.

The other riders, all battle-hardened lieutenants, upon seeing the scene, their eyes filled with shock.

We're still busy at Qingfeng Mountain—and a Captain came here to hunt down a Nascent Core demon?

And even more unbelievable—look at that half-dead corpse. The mighty Yangchun River's Lord Jiao… did he really kill him?

Hong Lei, the last to dismount, leapt down, casting a look of awe and helplessness at Shen Yi, then approached Chen Qiankun and whispered something.

The old man waved his hand, turned back to the youth, and nodded slightly: "Why stare at me? Keep going. Take it."

Hearing this, Shen Yi swung his blade again, reached in, and plucked out the glowing, luminous demon core, slipping it casually into his waist pouch—all fluid, without a single pause.

"…" The lieutenants all held their breath for a moment.

Chen the Elder blinked slightly, then a faint, almost imperceptible smirk curled his lips.

He tugged the reins, turned slowly: "The horse is yours."

Hearing this, the adjutant beside him paused for a moment, then quickly dismounted, led the demonic horse over briskly, and handed the reins in his hand to Shen Yi.

"This dragon body must be sent to the imperial court, so I cannot give it to you."

Chen Qiankun continued: "Ride this horse back to the Zhen Mo Si office in Outside Qingzhou for this general, drape your cloak over it, and if you have time, come to Linjiang Commandery to find me to serve as a personal attendant."

The moment the old man said this, not to mention the other adjutants, even Hong Lei was stunned for a moment.

He had personally told the other party that Shen Yi had slain the thousand-year-old crocodile dragon and that the furious sword had broken itself in his palm; rising to the rank of adjutant was understandable.

But becoming a personal attendant... that was a completely different concept.

This meant the old man was willing to take him into the circle of successors.

After he retired, there would be a chance to compete with other personal attendants for the position of Zhen Mo General.

Beyond that, the more practical benefit was that one only needed to serve the general for a few years... not like his own temporary dispatch, but following day and night.

As long as no mistakes were made.

General Chen would write a fine document, submit it to the imperial court, vouch for the other party, and retrieve a method of condensing the elixir to teach; if the merit was deep, visiting the Martial Temple two or three times before life span was exhausted would be no problem.

What mistakes could be made? The old man needed to maintain his peak state to intimidate that group of great demons, so he rarely acted.

With his protection, even demons were rarely seen a few times; how much more comfortable it was compared to the other enforcers of the Zhen Mo Si who fought to the death.

"It seems you have only seen him for the first time?"

The adjutant beside him suppressed his envy and said softly.

"Not exactly."

Chen Qiankun smiled strangely again, recalling the portrait recently copied by a demon hunter from a certain temple.

He himself was not a true Wu Xian, merely a martial artist holding the elixir; governing over thirty counties, more than two thousand villages, and millions of Li Min alone, staring day and night at those condensing elixir demons, he was stretched too thin and could not manage it all.

Therefore, the number of mountain spirits and wild monsters secretly building temples was countless, but the one wearing a black shirt was the first.

Truly a promising youth.

Stealing incense right to my old head; with such spirit, it is no wonder he handles holding demon cores so skillfully.

Previously, on the great altar, every glance Zhang Hengzhou cast outward was quietly observed by Chen Qiankun, including the moment the dragon fled, when the young man in the black shirt frowned and slowly stepped back behind everyone else; the same was true for that.

Unfortunately, he had important duties beforehand and no time to exchange a few words with him.

We can talk slowly when we meet again in the future.

The recommendation has a word limit, so for now, two updates a day for a few days.

Apologies to all the big shots; I will try to write a bit more in every chapter, changing from six thousand a day to five thousand a day.

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(End of this chapter)