Outer Avatar

"Wen Xuan really has too much free time. Killing a bunch of Nether Hounds—was he deliberately creating work for me?"

Inside the dungeon, Fang Mu muttered to himself as he skillfully stripped away the valuable parts from the Nether Hounds.

The Nether Pearl was made by smelting the Nether Hound's pupils, allowing one to see in the dark with the naked eye.

The Low-Grade Essence Blood Pill was refined from the Nether Hound's essence blood. Taking it could strengthen the body.

"Wen Xuan captured Nether Hounds. Could he be trying to collect a pair of Nether Pearls?"

Fang Mu secretly wondered as he took out a Nether Pearl and placed it into the iron box.

After storing three Low-Grade Essence Blood Pills and two Nether Pearls inside the mirror space, he left the dungeon.

Familiar with the route, Fang Mu returned to the Demon Slaying Hall, where he heard quite a few people whispering.

"Have you heard? A Great Demon has been newly imprisoned in the Mortal Prison Seven-Star Dungeon."

"I know! I heard that the cultivation method practiced by that Great Demon can control Demonic Energy."

"Zhao Li seems to have been sent there too."

Listening to the hushed discussions in the hall and the glances secretly cast his way,

Fang Mu knitted his brows tightly. When he heard that Zhao Li had been sent to kill the Great Demon, a bad premonition welled up inside him.

"My lord! I'm worried about my companion's safety. I'd like to apply to assist with the mission to kill the Great Demon."

Seeing Wen Xuan walk over to inspect the items, Fang Mu stepped forward, saluted, and made his request.

"This time, we need to force the Great Demon to reveal his cultivation manual. It's not merely a matter of killing him. Are you sure you want to go?"

Wen Xuan looked at Fang Mu in surprise and asked,

"I'm sure! Please grant my request, my lord!"

"Do you know that those who died all perished suddenly because they couldn't withstand the Great Demon's Demonic Qi?"

"Are you truly sure you want to go?"

"Yes! Please grant my request, my lord!"

Seeing Fang Mu's insistence, Wen Xuan casually took out a Demon Slaying Token and tossed it to him without saying anything more.

Fang Mu thanked him and left the Demon Slaying Hall, then made his way to the Mortal Prison Seven-Star Dungeon.

This was the deepest level of the Mortal Prison Dungeon, where the most dangerous demons were confined.

Crossing the iron-chain bridge, Fang Mu arrived at Dungeon No. 375. He skillfully opened the cell door and entered the inner chamber.

After opening the outer door of the inner chamber, Fang Mu smelled a strong stench of blood and saw more than a dozen corpses lying inside.

A disheveled person whose entire body radiated black qi was bound to the torture frame.

"This is a Half-Demon? A human with demonic blood?"

Looking at the Great Demon, who appeared no different from a human, Fang Mu couldn't help examining him curiously.

"Uncle Zhao!"

Opening the second refined-iron door and walking in, Fang Mu saw Zhao Li lying beside the dozen or so corpses.

"Uncle Zhao."

Fang Mu stepped forward and lifted Zhao Li, whose face had turned bluish-purple, and discovered that he still had a faint breath.

"Xiaomu! I'll speak, and you remember!" Zhao Li suddenly opened his eyes like a corpse rising from the dead, startling Fang Mu.

Before Fang Mu could react, Zhao Li rapidly recited one passage after another.

"Can you remember it?"

"I can!"

"Good! Beneath the Lightning-Struck Wood at the Mass Grave lies the Great Demon's cultivation manual. You must not learn it. Remember this well."

"Uncle Zhao! Uncle Zhao!"

Seeing Zhao Li suddenly breathe his last as soon as he finished speaking, Fang Mu cried out in alarm.

"I want you dead!"

Fang Mu suddenly charged at the torture frame in a frenzy, drew his long halberd, and stabbed wildly at the Great Demon bound upon it.

After several screams abruptly cut off, golden light enveloped the Great Demon and refined him into blood.

Fragments of memory surfaced, scene after scene.

The words Zhao Li had recited earlier were actually the Great Demon's cultivation incantation.

And the manual hidden beneath the Lightning-Struck Wood at the Mass Grave was actually fake.

"The Great Demon's manual was most likely a clue Uncle Zhao forced out of him."

"But how did he know whether the manual was real or fake, and why did he tell him about the real one?" Fang Mu found it difficult to understand.

The Demon Core was formed by refining a Half-Demon. Combined with a cultivation method, it could rapidly increase one's cultivation.

The Outer Avatar Pill was formed from the Half-Demon's innate origin. After being swallowed, it could produce an Outer Avatar.

Looking at the two pills that had appeared in his hand, Fang Mu immediately stored them in the Demon Refining Mirror's space, though he could barely conceal his excitement.

Sure enough, high risks brought high rewards. Something good had actually dropped.

Gathering his thoughts, Fang Mu carried Zhao Li's corpse and left.

He felt somewhat suspicious. Until the moment the Great Demon had been stabbed to death, he had never used his demonic cultivation technique to attack Fang Mu.

Although even if the Great Demon had activated his technique, it would have been useless against Fang Mu, because Fang Mu carried no Demonic Energy.

But the Great Demon's willingness to sit there and await death was far too abnormal. It made Fang Mu think of the Outer Avatar.

Carrying Zhao Li's corpse back to the Demon Slaying Hall, Fang Mu turned in the mission, then asked Wen Xuan for a favor. He wanted to take Zhao Li away for burial.

Wen Xuan did not refuse Fang Mu, but he made a request, wanting Fang Mu to help him with a small matter.

After thinking it over again and again, Fang Mu finally agreed to Wen Xuan. Carrying Zhao Li, he left and headed toward the house where Zhao Li lived.

He needed to inform Aunt Zhao, though he did not know whether she could bear the reality.

What surprised Fang Mu somewhat was that after learning of Uncle Zhao's death, Aunt Zhao was sorrowful but did not attempt suicide or make a scene, allowing Fang Mu to breathe a long sigh of relief.

Following Aunt Zhao's arrangements, Fang Mu carried Zhao Li's corpse and brought Fang Jing, whose eyes were red from crying, to a small wooded hill within the city.

He found a flat patch beneath the shade of the trees and buried Zhao Li.

Fang Mu solemnly said to Aunt Zhao, "Auntie! Uncle is gone. From now on, I'll be your family. I'll take care of you for him."

Hearing Fang Mu's words, Aunt Zhao, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly smiled with relief. Her eyes glistening with tears, she said, "Good child, may I ask you for one thing?"

"Please tell me."

"Uncle Zhao and I have a daughter who was separated from us. She has a birthmark of a seven-colored bird on the back of her hand. If you meet her someday, could you help take care of her?"

"Mm!"

Looking at Aunt Zhao's blazing gaze, Fang Mu nodded seriously. He memorized the pattern of the birthmark she had drawn on the ground.

"Good! Remember this: people have good and evil, and demons likewise have good and bad among them. Do not let slaughter blind your kind heart."

"Aunt Zhao!"

Fang Mu cried out in alarm as he watched Aunt Zhao suddenly drive a dagger through her own chest.

"Aunt Zhao!" Fang Jing burst into tears and began sobbing.

"Silly child! Don't cry. To me, this is the happiest moment. We could not live together, but I hope we can die together."

"Bury, bury me beside your uncle. I have no regrets in this life. No regrets!"

"Aunt Zhao!"

Watching Aunt Zhao die with a smile, Fang Mu sorrowfully buried her beside Zhao Li.

Within a single day, Fang Mu had lost two people who had treated him with genuine affection. Holding Fang Jing's hand, he suddenly yearned desperately to possess strength.

He was afraid that one day, Fang Jing would leave him too.

"Aunt Zhao, Uncle Zhao, rest assured. I'll find your daughter and take good care of her in your place."

Fang Mu felt guilty toward Zhao Li. If he had absorbed the Demonic Energy within Zhao Li's body sooner, perhaps Zhao Li would not have died.

After paying respects at the two lonely graves, Fang Mu carried Fang Jing, whose face was somewhat pale, and left.

Fang Mu did not see that after he and Fang Jing departed, two clouds of green smoke rose from the two lonely graves.

The green smoke gradually condensed into the forms of Zhao Li and his wife.

"Are we really going to play dead like this?"

"If not, what else can we do? Tell him we're trying to force him into opposing us?"

"I can tell this child is different from the others. He can distinguish good from evil. He's a fine prospect."

"Did you discover something? Otherwise, why set up this ploy and fake your deaths?"

"Mm. I accidentally discovered a clue, but I can't confirm it. I need to return to Myriad Demon Mountain and meet with Old Ancestor."

After their exchange came to an end, a gentle breeze swept past, and the two clouds of green smoke dissipated where they stood.