Demon Extermination

Crack.

The dried corpse seemed somewhat enraged. It suddenly spun around with a sweeping blow. In his haste, Sun Wang barely drew his sword to block, but he still could not dispel that berserk, overwhelming force. His entire body was sent flying, his back slamming heavily into the courtyard wall several yards away.

After Sun Wang withdrew his sword, a trace of dark-red blood still remained on the dried corpse's chest. Yet within the wound was a hazy, terrifying mass of black qi, giving off an exceedingly violent and evil sensation.

"Just as expected."

A gleam flashed through Hu Yong's eyes.

Tonight was supposedly the time of utmost yin, but ordinary ghosts and monsters could never seize a living person's body, devour their blood essence, and dwell within it to form a dried corpse. Only the evil qi of demons spoken of in legends could accomplish such a thing.

Clearly, this dried corpse had once been some unfortunate soul invaded by demonic qi. Its soul and blood essence had been devoured, after which the demon had followed the trail to Chen's Apothecary. Hu Yong guessed that it was most likely the newly arrived "Bloodgrass Tea" in the main hall. It contained dense demon-blood Blood Qi, which had drawn this demon here.

"Ma Liu, strike quickly."

Seeing that the dried corpse was still trying to charge into the main hall, Hu Yong's expression darkened as he spoke in a low voice.

There was plenty of Bloodgrass Tea in the main hall, along with some other things. He did not know what sort of mutation might occur if those things were devoured by this demon, but it could hardly be anything good. Wu Ming had vanished to who knew where and might have encountered some evil entity outside. In any case, there was no time to worry about that now. They had to deal with this demon first.

This thing was hard to harm with metal and iron, possessed boundless strength, but moved clumsily and had no technique to speak of. Its openings were obvious.

"Alright."

Ma Liu gave a deep shout as well. He suddenly moved, attacking from the left alongside Hu Yong to pincer it.

He too used a blade technique, wielding a heavy Zhanma Blade. As he swung it in coordination with Hu Yong, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence onto the blade.

Crack!!!

Ma Liu's and Hu Yong's blades, both coated in Pure Yang True Blood, swept across from left and right through a gap in the dried corpse's movements. Accompanied by a crack like metal and iron shattering, the dried corpse's head flew straight into the sky.

Having expended blood essence, Ma Liu's and Hu Yong's auras both visibly weakened. Yet after they jointly severed the dried corpse's head in one strike, its movements stopped where it stood. Strands of black demonic qi surged from its broken neck.

Whoosh.

In the next instant, that demonic qi erupted from the dried corpse's severed neck, turning into a cloud of black mist. Rather than rushing toward the main hall, it suddenly wheeled backward and pounced on the injured Sun Wang, who was sitting collapsed in the corner by the wall!

"Not good."

"Watch out!"

Hu Yong's and Ma Liu's expressions changed at once. They tried to rush forward to help, but they were a little too late.

Sun Wang was startled as well. This was his first encounter with a demon, but he had heard some things about them. Once this black qi entered one's body, it would often seize the soul and drain the blood, turning its victim into a dried corpse.

Sun Wang immediately tried to circulate his Blood Qi and stop the demonic qi's invasion. But he had already expended Blood Qi to unleash that sword strike, and the Blood Qi throughout his body was now sluggish. In that urgent moment, he could not muster it.

The situation hung by a thread.

Bang.

A figure charged in from outside the courtyard. The Crimson Python Spear in his hand flashed with a cold gleam beneath the night sky as it blocked the way before Sun Wang. With a fierce thrust forward, it suddenly pierced through that mass of evil demonic qi.

"Careful!"

"It's a demon! You need blood essence!"

Seeing Wu Ming appear and save Sun Wang, Hu Yong did not dare relax. He immediately shouted a warning.

But just as Hu Yong's words fell, the black demonic qi, though pierced through by Wu Ming, seemed entirely unharmed. It swiftly crawled up the spear shaft and enveloped Wu Ming's entire body in an instant.

The surging black qi was about to pour into Wu Ming's body when it suddenly shuddered, as though it had encountered something terrifying. It gave off a sizzling sound and instantly scattered by more than half, while the remnants tried desperately to flee from Wu Ming.

Whoosh.

Wu Ming emerged from the demonic qi, his aura somewhat weak, as though he had lost some Blood Qi. Yet his expression did not change in the slightest. He swept his spear horizontally, swiftly scattering and annihilating the remaining traces of demonic qi until they vanished completely.

Seeing Wu Ming destroy the demonic qi, Hu Yong and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. They exchanged glances, each seeing a measure of lingering fear in the others' eyes. None of them had expected tonight to be so perilous. At the time of utmost yin, demons had emerged.

"Brother Wu, you really returned at the perfect time."

Sun Wang braced himself and rose to his feet. Looking at Wu Ming, he let out a long breath.

When Wu Ming had suddenly gone out to patrol earlier, he had likely noticed some sign of demonic mischief—or perhaps he had fallen for the demon's scheme of luring the tiger from the mountain. Fortunately, he had returned in time.

Hu Yong also took a breath and steadied himself. He walked over, about to ask what Wu Ming had encountered outside, when another disturbance suddenly came from afar. A group of people was rapidly approaching.

In an instant,

the atmosphere in the courtyard tightened.

Fortunately, a voice soon came from outside the courtyard.

"Cautious Punishment Division patrol!"

Swish!

As the voice fell, several Night Patrolmen from the Cautious Punishment Division poured into the courtyard.

The man at their head wore a dark azure flying-fish uniform. He was Zhou Huaian, a Principal Seventh Rank Patrol Commander of the Cautious Punishment Division. His gaze swept across the wrecked courtyard as he asked in a deep voice:

"What happened here?"

All Patrol Commanders of the Cautious Punishment Division had undergone Third Blood Forging. They were important figures who wielded authority through martial force.

Hu Yong and the others did not dare delay. They each bowed, after which Hu Yong immediately stepped forward and recounted what had happened.

After listening,

Zhou Huaian frowned slightly and surveyed the surroundings.

He had already dealt with one demon tonight. He knew that while the lingering thoughts of such demons were not yet fully formed, those below Third Blood Forging might be able to contend with them, but killing them completely was not easy.

However, perhaps the Blood Qi and souls that demon had devoured earlier were not powerful enough, leaving its demonic qi weak. Combined with Hu Yong and the others all expending their own Blood Qi and fighting it head-on with Pure Yang Blood Qi, it was indeed quite possible that they had destroyed it in the end.

Zhou Huaian immediately looked to the Night Patrolmen under his command and said sternly, "Zhao Hu, Feng Yong, you two remain here and stay vigilant! The rest of you, continue patrolling with me. There is at most a quarter hour until dawn!"

With that said,

after leaving two men behind to stand guard, Zhou Huaian led the others away at speed, disappearing into the night once more.

Watching Zhou Huaian and the others leave, Hu Yong relaxed slightly. Though he had never committed any crime, facing a seventh-rank Patrol Commander of the Cautious Punishment Division still placed some pressure on him.

After recovering a little, Hu Yong cautiously looked at one of the Night Patrolmen and asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhao, why have demons suddenly emerged to wreak havoc throughout the city tonight?"

"Do not ask!"

Zhao Hu's gaze was icy, and his attitude was far from polite. He then looked toward Sun Wang, Ma Liu, Wu Ming, and the others. "Do not speak carelessly about tonight's events tomorrow either! Otherwise, you will be charged with the crime of spreading improper discussion!"

"Yes."

Sun Wang, Ma Liu, and the others felt their hearts tighten.

Wu Ming was leaning against the wall, standing with the Crimson Serpent Spear in hand. He appeared weak, as if he had expended Blood Qi, much like Hu Yong, Sun Wang, and the others. He did not stand out at all.

No one noticed that a faint, flickering light was glimmering in Wu Ming's eyes.

Hu Yong and the others had expended Blood Qi fighting that demon, but he was different. His Blood Qi had been depleted because, in that instant, the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram had suppressed the demonic qi and produced an effect. It had naturally consumed part of the Blood Qi within his body, while in exchange, the power of his soul had strengthened further!

Just as I thought, the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram can suppress the lingering thoughts of demons and use demonic thoughts to refine Blood Qi, nourishing the soul.

Wu Ming understood it with absolute clarity.

This had happened once before. But during that experience, his consciousness had been unable to withstand the impact, and he had fainted outright. This time, however, he had perceived everything from start to finish and clearly seen the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in operation.

At present, the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram displayed two abilities. One was to absorb Yin Sha energy. Once it accumulated to a certain extent, it could evolve true-word secret patterns for him to comprehend and master. These true-word secret patterns were also methods of controlling soul power.

The second was to suppress demonic thoughts, subdue demons and refine the soul, turning demonic thoughts to his own use. Through this, it refined Blood Qi, nourishing and strengthening the soul.

That strike had cost him a great deal of Blood Qi. All the Blood Qi he had accumulated through martial training over this period had been exhausted. Yet in exchange, his soul power had transformed further and seemed, in the unseen depths, to have broken through some boundary.

My soul power has grown much stronger than before. It seems I could send it out of my body with a single thought. If my soul leaves my body, it would likely be far stronger than those wandering souls.

Wu Ming carefully sensed the changes within himself.

His soul power was far stronger than the unconscious wandering souls spawned by Yin Sha energy. If he tried sending his soul out of his body to wander about, deceiving an ordinary person would be as easy as turning his hand over.

And if he used the secret art of the character "Lin" to steady his mind and condense his soul, even a Blood Forging martial artist would likely suffer a spiritual shock!

I wonder what effect this move would have if used on a person.

Wu Ming fell into thought.

Mere intimidation had no meaning. But if martial artists were fighting at close quarters and he suddenly struck them with it, then no matter who it was, as long as their movements paused for an instant, his spear would likely pierce straight through their vital point!