Demon Suppressing Saber Technique: Transformation Realm

The long saber sliced through the sky, striking the demon's head with lightning speed.

"Chii!"

More than half of the pig's head fell to the ground, brains splattering everywhere. The flowers and grass it touched withered instantly.

Maggots writhed within the pig's brain, desperately burrowing deeper into the marrow, but it was all in vain. Upon contact with the air, they rapidly withered, turning into empty shells.

The Pig Demon's face was half-laughing, half-terrified. It hadn't even seen Chu Jiang draw his saber. Everything had happened too fast; it had no time to react.

Half-smiling, half-terrified—perhaps only the Pig Demon itself understood its despair at that moment.

Chu Jiang inhaled the coppery scent filling the air. It was his first time killing a demon, and he felt no discomfort, only a hint of excitement.

The moment the demon died, a message suddenly popped up in his mind.

[Void Rank Pig Demon, cultivated for sixty years, remaining lifespan seventy-one years, fully absorbed]

[Demon Lifespan: Seventy-one years]

[Own Lifespan: Ten years]

[Demon lifespan can accelerate martial arts progress or be converted into own lifespan at a 1:10 ratio]

(Demons are divided into Void Rank, Nether Rank, Grievance Tier, Fiend Tier, and Underworld Tier)

Looking at the replenished lifespan, Chu Jiang felt a little relieved.

It must have been his breakthrough in cultivation that restored some of his health.

Otherwise, that feeling of being on the verge of death constantly made him very uncomfortable.

But he suppressed the urge to convert the demon's lifespan into his own.

In this damned world, strength was the top priority. He'd convert the demon's lifespan into his own when he had some to spare.

His Sun Gathering Art had already improved significantly; it was time to improve his saber technique.

Otherwise, having immense combat power but being unable to unleash its full potential would be a waste.

If he could perfect the Demon Suppressing Saber Technique, or even reach the Realm of Comprehension, his combat power would undoubtedly soar.

[You diligently cultivated the Demon Suppressing Saber Technique, breaking through to the Great Accomplishment realm in the ninth year]

[You continued to cultivate day and night. In the twenty-first year, your Demon Suppressing Saber Technique was infinitely close to perfection, but it always fell short by a hair's breadth]

[In the twenty-third year, practicing day and night did not help your Demon Suppressing Saber Technique break through the bottleneck; instead, it trapped you in obsession, unable to extricate yourself]

[In the twenty-seventh year, you learned from your painful mistakes, calmed your heart, and stopped pursuing the perfection of techniques, choosing instead to comprehend deeper meanings]

[In the thirty-third year, a flash of inspiration struck your mind, allowing you to enter the realm of perfection as if you had attained enlightenment]

[In the thirty-eighth year, you pondered endlessly, hoping to recapture that flash of inspiration. A voice within you said that if you could grasp and comprehend that inspiration, you would undergo a transformation]

[In the forty-fifth year, the flash of inspiration you desperately sought did not reappear. It was as if that moment of inspiration was a gift from heaven, granted only once to each person]

[In the fifty-seventh year, your Demon Suppressing Saber Technique took another half-step forward from the realm of perfection, bringing you tantalizingly close to a new level]

[In the sixty-second year, your accumulated efforts paid off. The Demon Suppressing Saber Technique broke through, entering an entirely new domain]

[Houtian Martial Art: Demon Suppressing Saber Technique (Realm of Comprehension)]

[Demon Lifespan: Nine years]

[Own Lifespan: Ten years]

The saber in Chu Jiang's hand felt as if it had fought alongside him for decades. Like a Grandmaster of the saber path, each move and stance held immense power.

"Awesome!"

The breakthrough of the Demon Suppressing Saber Technique to the Realm of Comprehension also increased his Bloodline Power significantly, though not as much as the Sun Gathering Art.

These two had different focuses.

Calming his mind, Chu Jiang looked into the distance. His vision and hearing extended further now.

His physique had evolved, leaving him feeling incredibly refreshed.

Just then, a girl about sixteen or seventeen from not far away suddenly ran frantically towards Chu Jiang, tears streaming down her face. With a heart-wrenching sob, she wailed, "Lord Chu, a demon is about to eat my mother! Please, save my mother! Please? If you save her, I'll give you anything you want!"

She wore tattered clothes, her face streaked with blood, a look of desperate anguish mixed with a sliver of hope.

She had heard rumors about Lord Chu and demons. When Lord Chu and demons appeared together, it meant death and destruction.

Calling him an executioner wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Now, with no other options, even though she didn't know why Lord Chu had turned against the demon, this was their only chance to survive, however slim.

She just wanted to live, to live with her mother.

Her father had died in the campaign against demons. She couldn't lose her mother too.

Born into a chaotic world, oppressed by the authorities and ravaged by demons, her life was already filled with misery.

Living was a luxury for her.

But now, even that had become a distant dream.

Chu Jiang helped the girl, who was incessantly kowtowing, to her feet.

"Hurry and take me there!"

Wasn't this like someone offering a pillow just as you were about to fall asleep?

Having just tasted the sweetness of slaying demons, he naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Hearing Chu Jiang's reply.

The girl cried tears of joy, a complex mix of emotions playing out on her face.

It was very complicated.

She kept thanking him, having come with a death wish, seeing it as a gamble.

Regardless of what happened between the demon and Lord Chu, she was now the sole witness.

She would either be silenced by Lord Chu.

Or Lord Chu, in his mercy, would spare her and let the demon devour her.

As for Lord Chu saving her mother, the chance of success was less than one in ten thousand.

It was more difficult than asking a notorious bandit to become a good person overnight.

The first two outcomes were clearly more probable.

But she had won the gamble.

For her mother, she had no other choice.

Another courtyard in the village.

Half an incense stick's time ago.

A leisurely goat head floated in the courtyard. Its head was pure white and flawless, its wool neatly combed and flowing in the wind.

If its lower body wasn't ethereal, it would appear to be a clean and tidy sheep, a stark contrast to the Pig Demon's slovenliness and greasy mouth.

The Goat Demon's gaze gradually lowered. It fiddled with its palms, letting out a chilling laugh: "Hehehe... Have you all hidden well? Now, Brother Goat is coming to catch you!" Its voice revealed an irrepressible excitement and anticipation.

As the words fell, the Goat Demon began to walk slowly forward, each step carrying a strange rhythm.

People hiding in the shadows, some in cellars, some in wells, some in water vats, trembled with every step the Goat Demon took.

They were afraid of being discovered first.

The Goat Demon was different from the Pig Demon. The Pig Demon would simply kill people brutally, tearing them limb from limb before eating them.

The Goat Demon also ate people, but it called it "fairness," giving people hope. Those who survived its game would not be killed. Only the losers would become its food.

The Goat Demon enjoyed the process of its prey waiting for death, which excited it.

After speaking, the Goat Demon slapped away a roof, revealing a thin middle-aged man curled up inside, trembling all over.

The moment he saw the demon, despair washed over him.

"Demon Grandpa, spare my life! You are magnanimous, and I will offer incense and worship you every day!"

The thin middle-aged man begged for mercy, pleading with the demon to let him go.

The Goat Demon remained unmoved by the middle-aged man's pleas, instead showing displeasure: "You can only blame yourself for not hiding well. Since the game has failed, you must accept the punishment. Why are you crying? Do you know you're making me unhappy?"

"Die!"

The Goat Demon's eyes flashed fiercely, and it extended its furry paw, unhesitatingly plunging it into the middle-aged man's chest and forcefully ripping out his heart!

The still-beating heart was held tightly in the Goat Demon's grasp, blood dripping from its fingertips, staining the ground red.

The pathetic middle-aged man stared wide-eyed, his face a mask of terror, looking at his own chest before falling straight down, no longer breathing.

The Goat Demon opened its bloody maw and unhesitatingly swallowed the still-beating heart.

As the heart was completely consumed, a look of satisfaction and pleasure spread across the Goat Demon's face, as if it had been greatly nourished.

"Next, it's your turn!"