Blood Demon

"Captain, save me..."

Niu Zhenye struggled violently at once, crying out for help in panic. He tried to break free of his restraints, only to discover in terror that his body seemed to have been paralyzed by something, completely refusing to obey him. No matter how fiercely he roared in his heart, he could not muster the slightest bit of strength.

He could only call for help while watching helplessly as he was dragged into the dense fog.

"Damn it!"

Li Da roared and leaped forward, charging like a tiger or leopard. He raised his battle saber and slashed at the fog before him. The long blade cut through the air, actually producing a dull sonic boom, before crashing down upon a blurry figure within the fog.

The imagined impact never came. The saber passed through that figure with absurd ease, as though it had struck nothing but air.

"Gah gah gah..."

A strange shrill laugh rang out. The next moment, that figure suddenly turned into a stream of air and merged into Niu Zhenye's body.

"No... Aah..."

A miserable scream echoed through the night sky, and everyone's faces changed. Niu Zhenye suddenly began to tremble violently, then his body shriveled at a horrifying speed. In an instant, he became a dried corpse, every drop of blood in his body devoured.

"Damn it, this is a Blood Demon... not some ghost. How could there be a Blood Demon in Yunshan County..."

Qin Qing's expression turned exceedingly ugly, and fine beads of sweat even seeped from her forehead.

Seeing Niu Zhenye turn into a dried corpse in an instant, Li Da trembled from head to toe in fright. He immediately retreated more than a dozen zhang and gathered with Qin Qing and the others, gritting his teeth as he growled, "Aren't Blood Demons all in the Underground Abyss? How could one appear on the surface, and even come to Yunshan County?"

"The only possibility is that someone raised this Blood Demon."

Qin Qing clenched her silver teeth and said in a deep voice, "All passages leading to the Underground Abyss are sealed and guarded by armies. A Blood Demon could never escape. But if a martial artist entered the Underground Abyss, captured one, and enslaved it, there are ways to bring it out of the Underground Abyss."

"Then what do we do now?"

Wu Xiaoqi and Luo Kang were badly frightened, their faces deathly pale as they looked at Li Da and Qin Qing in panic. The two of them were only in the Eighth Rank Bone Tempering Realm, and their strength was even a notch below Niu Zhenye's.

Now, even Niu Zhenye had possessed no power to resist before the Blood Demon. Did that not mean the two of them were doomed as well? At the thought of all the blood in their bodies possibly being devoured by the Blood Demon, leaving them as dried corpses, the fear in their hearts deepened, and they could not stop trembling.

Lin Baichuan, on the other hand, merely frowned tightly. Yet in his heart, he was calculating how to kill the Blood Demon.

Because just now, he had suddenly realized that his perception of the Blood Demon far surpassed that of ordinary people. At the very least, he could now lock onto the Blood Demon's location. Though the monster relied on the dense fog to conceal itself, Lin Baichuan could still lock onto its aura.

No matter how the Blood Demon hid, as long as its aura remained unchanged, it could not escape Lin Baichuan's senses.

This perception was exceedingly mysterious. Lin Baichuan could not even put it into words.

Without revealing anything, he silently observed Qin Qing, Li Da, and the others. He could be certain that they absolutely did not possess such perception. Otherwise, they would not have been so grave and flustered.

Could it be because of Saber Intent?

Lin Baichuan thought to himself, I comprehended Saber Intent, so my perception evolved along with it...

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Roar roar...

Rustle rustle!

At that moment, beastlike roars suddenly came from within the dense fog. At the same time, a sinister wind rose from the flat ground, and the Killing Intent within the surrounding fog stirred with the wind, churning like boiling water.

Everyone's vision was severely impaired. Beyond one zhang, they could not see their fingers before their eyes.

Everyone's nerves had been stretched to the breaking point. Luo Kang and Wu Xiaoqi were trembling like leaves in the wind.

They had been scared out of their wits by Niu Zhenye's miserable fate.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, amid faint sounds of air being torn apart, the Blood Demon hidden in the dense fog moved. Like a ghost, it charged straight toward Lin Baichuan and the others, terrifyingly fast, like a gust of wind sweeping past.

Because of the dense fog, Lin Baichuan could not see its figure, but he could clearly sense the Blood Demon's exact location. If he struck now, with the help of Saber Intent, Lin Baichuan was confident he could kill the Blood Demon in a single blow.

After all, judging from his senses, this Blood Demon was actually weaker than that Mountain Fiend. Its true strength lay only in its ability to conceal its movements with the dense fog.

However, Lin Baichuan was in no rush to act.

He planned to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Since Li Da and the others could use the Mountain Fiend to try to send him to his death, then he could likewise use this Blood Demon to kill Li Da and the others. This was called repaying them in kind.

Lin Baichuan sneered inwardly, his right hand resting on the saber hilt. His gaze narrowed as he kept the Blood Demon's aura locked on at all times.

"Aah..."

At that moment, another scream rang out.

It was Wu Xiaoqi!

A faint flash of blood-red light flickered behind him and immediately drilled into his body. The next moment, just like Niu Zhenye before him, his body began to shrivel at a horrifying speed. All his blood drained away, and he became a dried corpse in an instant.

"Damn it, damn it... You beast, get out here! Get out here! Aah..."

Luo Kang, standing beside Wu Xiaoqi, completely broke down. He swung his saber wildly, looking utterly crazed. Just then, that faint blood-red light flashed again and passed through his body without warning.

Luo Kang's curses came to an abrupt stop. With a scream, he followed Wu Xiaoqi into death.

In the blink of an eye, three people had died in succession.

Li Da and Qin Qing's expressions were so dark they seemed ready to drip water. Li Da gritted his teeth and asked Qin Qing, "Qin Qing, do you have any way to deal with this?"

He could only pin his hopes on Qin Qing now, because she had come from the prefectural city. Perhaps she possessed some method to deal with a Blood Demon.

"No!"

Qin Qing shook her head slightly. "The Blood Demon is using the Profound Yin Malevolent Qi to conceal itself. Unless we can force it out, there is nothing we can do."

She truly had no solution. Blood Demons were already adept at hiding, and now with the Profound Yin Malevolent Qi aiding it, it was like a tiger that had grown wings. Unless her cultivation reached the Sixth Rank Blood Refining Realm, allowing her to project her qi and blood outward and use it to shake the dense fog formed by the Profound Yin Malevolent Qi, forcing the Blood Demon out.

But the problem was that she was only in the Seventh Rank Organ Forging Realm. Although she had concealed her strength and reached the limit of the Organ Forging Realm, even becoming half a step into the Blood Refining Realm, she was still not truly in the Blood Refining Realm.

Moreover, even after entering the Blood Refining Realm, one could not immediately project qi and blood outward. Only experts within the Blood Refining Realm could reach that step.

Li Da's expression grew even uglier. Gritting his teeth, he growled, "In that case, we'll charge out. We'll break free of this dense fog."

With that, Li Da clenched his teeth and immediately prepared to force his way out.

"Don't. The Profound Yin Malevolent Qi is a natural maze formation. If we charge around blindly, it will be difficult to get out." Qin Qing immediately stopped him.

"That's still better than dying in here."

Li Da growled, quickening his pace as he rushed straight ahead.

This dense fog was far too strange. Within it, he could not bring out any of his strength. Only by escaping could he have a slim chance at survival.

Seeing this, Qin Qing immediately gritted her teeth and called to Lin Baichuan, "Follow me!"

With that, she immediately chased after Li Da.