Chapter 30: Imperial Extreme Shocks the World

Long before the Huo Lei and Huo Ting brothers were dispatched to pursue the fake wheelchair, at the City Lord's Mansion.

Shen Tang circled to the woodshed in the rear courtyard, retrieved the Burning Flame Talisman she had taken from A Nuo, and hurled it straight inside.

Sheng Yuanyao's corner of the mouth twitched slightly; this Shen Tang acted more directly and decisively than she herself, a person famous for her fiery temper. But upon reflection, there was truly nothing to hesitate about; it was flawless.

Before Daoists reach a certain level, their spells often require incantations and cannot be cast instantly. In fact, even high-grade practitioners sometimes need to chant for powerful spells, which is highly inconvenient. Thus, talismans were born: spells are carved onto them in advance, allowing instant release by simply pulling one out in battle.

Depending on the talisman drawer's skill and the quality of the materials, the spell's effect can be upgraded. Therefore, even high-grade Daoists carry a pile of talismans to throw around recklessly.

After all, magical treasures are rare; most people can only carry a few types. Talismans, however, if you have money and time to prepare them, you can have as many as you want.

A Nuo's Burning Flame Talisman was a full seventh grade; using it to burn down a house was a gross misuse of resources.

But the problem was that Wu Xiu generally could not activate them, as their cultivation systems differed. Sheng Yuanyao glanced at Shen Tang; wasn't she a sword cultivator? Or perhaps, not just a sword cultivator?

Before Sheng Yuanyao could ponder further, a "Boom!" sounded as the Burning Flame Talisman landed, instantly turning half the City Lord's Mansion red. The fire spread rapidly in all directions, throwing the mansion into chaos as countless people rushed out of bed to fight the blaze.

It was easy to imagine that if they had not participated, Lu Xingzhou would have had A Nuo simulate the aura of demons and ghosts with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner after setting the fire, achieving a similar effect to draw away the official forces around Huo Yu. But since they were here, there was no need for simulation.

"Take advantage of this now," Shen Tang urged Sheng Yuanyao. "Can you still use your method to track the traces of the death row prisoners?"

Sheng Yuanyao snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. "Yes, follow me."

While all the forces of the City Lord's Mansion were concentrated on fighting the fire, the three of them sped straight toward another corner, with Sheng Yuanyao leaping over the courtyard wall first.

Du Gu Miss Qingli glanced at Shen Tang. "Shall I carry you in?"

Shen Tang shook her head slightly. "My body is a burden; I won't go in. I have my use outside. You and Sheng Yuanyao be careful; this demon's background is unknown, and this is a battle fought without knowing the enemy."

"Then you watch yourself too." Du Gu Miss Qingli wasted no words and flashed into the courtyard.

Sheng Yuanyao was already waiting outside a secret chamber, with two guard corpses beside her. Du Gu Miss Qingli looked at Sheng Yuanyao with some surprise; she hadn't realized this police captain was quite formidable, killing silently and so quickly.

The Shen family's deep-rooted learning was indeed not to be trifled with.

Seeing Du Gu Miss Qingli enter, Sheng Yuanyao carefully opened the secret chamber door a crack.

Demonic energy rushed out, a terrifying energy pressure accompanying the nose-biting stench.

Fourth grade!

In this remote place, this was enough to be called a king!

But the aura was somewhat chaotic; it was likely injured and might not be able to exert its full fourth-grade power.

A low roar came from inside: "What is Xu Bingkun up to, causing such a ruckus everywhere? What if someone discovers this place..."

Sheng Yuanyao's mind raced. She activated the Sound-Recording Stone and deliberately spoke in a muffled voice: "The City Lord said there is a man named Huo Yu investigating your whereabouts everywhere, which is very troublesome. If you now provide a top-three-grade demon cultivation method, the City Lord can still barely help cover for you a bit and continue helping you heal your injuries."

The Shen family had generations of experience working for the Demon Suppression Bureau, so they understood. Based on past experience, whenever humans colluded with demons, it was usually one of three situations: first, being bewitched by appearance and falling in love, or being bribed to act as a spy or traitor; second, secretly raising a thug for one's own ambition; third, seeking a demon's body-refining method from the demon.

Xiazhou was remote but not a border region, so the first possibility was relatively small and didn't match the attributes of this demon; furthermore, since this demon was stronger than Xu Bingkun, he couldn't control such a thug, so the second possibility was also small.

The most likely remaining scenario was the third: Xu Bingkun was a Wu Xiu, but limited by his aptitude, the techniques of the Tianxing Sword Sect were only enough for him to reach his current level, so he graduated early and made no further progress afterward. To advance further, he had to find another path: either obtain a top-tier secret manual, some spiritual pill, miraculous medicine, or heavenly treasure, or see if the demon's body-refining method had anything to reference, thus taking a desperate gamble. Such cases had been numerous throughout history.

Sure enough, after Sheng Yuanyao's bluff, an angry roar immediately came from inside: "Indeed, humans are cunning and most untrustworthy! It was agreed to provide three more days of pills and blood food; not a single day less!"

Sheng Yuanyao said, "After three days, if you recover, who will you go to?"

The demon flew into a rage. "Then you shall be today's blood food!"

The stone door burst open with a crash, an invisible demon hand reached out, and a terrifying suction force simultaneously enveloped Sheng Yuanyao and Du Gu Miss Qingli.

"Shing!" White hair fluttered lightly, and the ice sword was drawn.

Du Gu Miss Qingli merged with her sword and shot in like lightning.

"Roar!" Terrifying sword qi invaded; the demon could no longer hide in the secret chamber, and the building instantly collapsed.

Amidst the shattered tiles and scattered stones, a figure over a zhang tall burst out of the house, demonic energy shooting up to the sky.

Above, the willow-leaf blade spread down like a patch of moonlight, blocking the demon's escape route. The demon slapped the side of the willow-leaf blade with a claw; Sheng Yuanyao's face turned slightly pale, but she did not retreat a single step.

Below, sword qi pursued closely, with cold mist surrounding like a prison, sealing off the night sky.

The three clashed together; the City Lord's Mansion guards who were fighting the fire each dropped their buckets, staring in shock.

A demon?

How could a demon burst into the sky from a corner of the City Lord's Mansion, while the Demon Suppression Bureau's Commander Sheng was blocking someone?

Who is that Bai Mao? Is he a demon too? Why is he cooperating with Commander Sheng?

Sheng Yuanyao's voice spread across the entire scene: "The demon is powerful; do not approach! Those below eighth grade continue fighting the fire; those seventh grade and above form arrays from a distance to seal off the surroundings; consider this a great merit!"

In reality, Sheng Yuanyao dared not let anyone from the City Lord's Mansion approach; who knew which ones were informed? If they got close and struck secretly from the shadows, it would be no joke. By publicly shouting not to approach, who would be so foolish as to get close? If they did, just strike them down directly.

Far away, people from various forces in Xiazhou with high cultivation indeed spread out at a distance, forming arrays to seal off the main roads in all directions.

Once a demon is exposed to human society, this is the inevitable result.

Sheng Yuanyao let out a breath, looking at Du Gu Miss Qingli, whose sword was cold for a hundred li, and felt admiration in her heart. This demon's casual wave sent flying sand and rolling stones; its own strength was absolutely fourth grade, but due to injury, it couldn't perform fully, making it a solid fourth grade. Sheng Yuanyao herself had her qi and blood surging wildly after just one strike, yet Du Gu Miss Qingli could not yield an inch and withstood most of the pressure.

But relying on just the two of them, they could at most tie up this demon; if it dragged on, they feared they would fall into a disadvantage.

Sheng Yuanyao rallied her spirit to continue the fight, feeling some worry. When Xu Bingkun and others arrived, who knew what underhanded tricks he would secretly play, or what changes the situation would bring... Was this strategy of charging straight at the City Lord's Mansion correct?

Xu Bingkun rushed toward the City Lord's Mansion in a panic, exerting all his strength. He not only left the Demon Suppression Bureau people far behind but even his own guard team couldn't keep up with him.

Once the matter of raising a demon got out, forget about the position of City Lord; he would be unable to survive in human society and was doomed to die.

Now that the demon had suddenly been exposed in the mansion for some reason, Xu Bingkun had only two paths to choose: either find a way to rescue this demon out, or kill it amidst the chaos to end it all at once.

Regardless of which, it absolutely could not be seen that he did it himself, and he couldn't bring his own guard team either; otherwise, others would know exactly what was going on at a glance.

Xu Bingkun turned into an alley behind the City Lord's Mansion, quickly stripped off his outer robe, changed into a common warrior's tight-fitting outfit, and pulled out a mask with flowing spiritual energy to cover his face.

Before he had even finished putting on the mask, his hand suddenly trembled.

The sound of wheels rolling on stone slabs came; a wheelchair slowly approached from one side of the alley, and Shen Tang's figure gradually became clear from the darkness: "City Lord Xu, Uncle Xu, what are you doing?"

Xu Bingkun suddenly realized: "You released the demon?"

Shen Tang laughed helplessly. "I thought City Lord Xu would still pretend with me."

Since the demon was released by you, you must know everything; what is there left to pretend? Xu Bingkun sneered inwardly and slowly drew his sword: "Although I don't know why you found out about the demon matter... Since Sect Master Shen is here, why not go besiege the demon?"

Shen Tang said indifferently, "My body is inconvenient; even if I joined the battle, I could not subdue the demons in the short term. Instead, if a powerhouse of Lord Xu's caliber were to launch a sudden sneak attack amidst the fierce fighting, the situation would easily collapse... Therefore, this Seat deliberately positioned myself outside to hold the formation, specifically waiting for you."

"I" had become "this Seat," and "Lord of the City" had become "Your Excellency."

In that instant, the momentum made Xu Bingkun somewhat dazed, as if he saw his master from the Sword Sect back in the day, rather than a mere female sect leader of twenty-one or twenty-two years old.

Shen Tang added, "As Lord of the City, what are you still dissatisfied with? Why commit such a heartless act of feeding blood sacrifices to the demons?"

Xu Bingkun snorted coldly, "I am feeding them death-row prisoners. Whether they die early or late, they are all going to die anyway!"

"If the death-row prisoners are not enough, and it continues to demand others, what then? When it fully recovers and ravages Xiazhou, what will you do then?" Shen Tang said coldly, "Such a reversal of right and wrong, foolish and unaware, then do not blame this Seat for cleaning up the household."

"Stop using the sect leader's tone with this old man!" Xu Bingkun sneered, "Since you know your body is inconvenient and you dare not even join the siege against the demons, yet you still come to lecture this old man... are you not too confident?"

The long sword left its sheath, and light flashed urgently. Before a single sentence was finished, the sword light had already reached Shen Tang's face.

Shen Tang extended two fingers.

With a faint "Ding," the sword tip was actually held between the two fingers with ease.

The sword light vanished, revealing Xu Bingkun's shocked expression: "You... how is this possible..."

The corner of Shen Tang's mouth curled slightly, as if mocking, "Using the sword techniques of the Tianxing Sword Sect against the sect leader of the Tianxing Sword Sect... Lord Xu, you have quite an idea."

Xu Bingkun angrily pulled his sword back, but Shen Tang let go. Xu Bingkun used the wrong force and nearly stumbled, feeling both ashamed and furious: "The Tianxing Sword Sect hoards its secrets and refuses to teach; it keeps the secret arts for you direct disciples. What fault is there in this old man seeking another path to breakthrough!"

As he spoke, the sword qi swirling around him began to change subtly; the clear, cold sword qi turned yellow, just like the flying sand and stones in the center of the fierce battle, where demonic qi was pervasive.

Even his eyes turned somewhat red, filled with killing intent: "Let this Seat show you what I gained outside, and see how it compares to the Tianxing Sword Sect!"

"Whoosh!" Sword light rose again, with a howling gale; that aura of evil and pressure seemed to have doubled compared to the previous strike.

"I was just waiting for you to reveal your demonic qi." Shen Tang smiled slightly, and suddenly her long hair floated on its own, while purple light intensified in her eyes.

"Bang!" A tidal wave of energy rushed forward with a thunderous crash, wild and domineering, completely unreasonable.

Xu Bingkun felt as though he had crashed into a wall; his sword broke and he was sent flying, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood violently in mid-air: "The Imperial Extreme Shocking World Sutra! You are..."

Begging for monthly tickets, I've already stuck my butt out~

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(End of Chapter)