Bait

The night was as dark as ink, in the silent mountain forest.

Inside a hidden cave, Fang Mu sat cross-legged cultivating, with Fang Jing, who had already fallen asleep, lying beside him.

The cave was discovered by chance while descending the mountain. Fang Mu, wanting to cultivate an external manifestation, entered the cave to do so.

As Fang Mu swallowed the pill, his body convulsed violently, and he endured the pain, refusing to cry out.

A wave of excruciating pain washed over him, like skin being peeled and bones being scraped.

A hazy figure slowly peeled away from his body, gradually taking shape.

Another tearing pain surged through him as a portion of his soul power was forcibly stripped away and integrated into the manifestation.

As the manifestation fully formed, a person identical to him appeared beside him.

Fang Mu opened his eyes and looked at his exact double, a strange expression in his eyes.

He could completely control the manifestation through his soul power.

The manifestation was formed by separating parts of his flesh and blood and refining them, making it no different from a normal person.

As Fang Mu opened his eyes, he could perceive everything the manifestation saw through their connection.

Fang Mu tested it and found that his control over the manifestation and his perception range were limited to about a hundred meters.

Beyond a hundred meters, he could no longer control the manifestation, and it could only make simple responses based on its own judgment.

The manifestation had no self-thinking ability and was completely controlled by Fang Mu, so there was no risk of betrayal.

After understanding the manifestation a bit, Fang Mu took out the Demon Core and had it swallow it.

He quietly watched the manifestation refine the Demon Core and increase its cultivation.

From the unranked Martial Realm, to the ninth grade of the Martial Realm, to the eighth grade of the Martial Realm.

As the Demon Core was completely refined, the manifestation's cultivation rose to the sixth grade of the Martial Realm.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth grades of the Martial Realm were all basic. Only above the seventh grade were they considered experts.

In other words, Fang Mu's manifestation was now considered a minor expert.

Fang Mu planned for his main body to focus on physical strengthening, while the manifestation would focus on cultivation.

He still couldn't leave the Demon Slayer Division, and if his cultivation increased too quickly, it would easily arouse suspicion from those with ulterior motives.

Secretly cultivating the manifestation was the best option. As long as the manifestation grew stronger, it was equivalent to him growing stronger.

In the future, when facing danger, he wouldn't even need to act personally.

"Wuwu!"

Suddenly, a whimpering sound came from outside the cave.

Fang Mu immediately became alert and controlled the manifestation to go outside the cave to investigate.

As soon as the manifestation exited the cave, it was ambushed by a black shadow that moved with extreme speed.

Fortunately, the manifestation already had the strength of the sixth grade of the Martial Realm. It dodged the black shadow's attack and simultaneously sent it flying with a punch.

It was a black fox demon. After being hit by the manifestation's punch, it was sent crashing into the grass in the distance.

With a sharp screech, the fox demon turned into a streak of dark light and lunged at the manifestation, engaging it in a fierce battle.

Although the manifestation was not weak, it was no match for the fox demon.

The fox demon was incredibly fast, with sharp claws and teeth, and it had already injured the manifestation.

The manifestation was also flesh and blood. Although it lacked vital organs, any damage to its flesh and blood would consume the Demonic Energy within it.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, Fang Mu activated Extreme Wind Speed and launched a surprise attack, blasting the fox demon away with a punch.

The fox demon let out a yelp and tried to escape, but it was intercepted by the manifestation.

Fang Mu and the manifestation attacked together, jointly surrounding and besieging it.

Under their combined might, after heavily wounding the fox demon, the manifestation forcibly closed in and swung its sword at it.

The fox demon screamed and was split in half by the manifestation's slash. However, in its dying struggle, it clawed a bloody hole in the manifestation.

With the fox demon dead, Fang Mu grabbed its corpse and returned to the cave with the manifestation.

Fang Jing was still asleep, so Fang Mu didn't disturb her. He took out two Low-Grade Essence Blood Pills and gave them to the manifestation to swallow.

The manifestation swallowed the pills, and the bloody hole began to slowly heal.

A golden light enveloped the fox demon, refining it into blood.

Low-Grade Essence Pill, formed from the fox demon's essence, could be consumed to increase cultivation.

Low-Grade Essence Blood Pill, formed from the fox demon's blood, could be consumed to enhance Blood Essence and nourish the body.

Fox Demon Eye Pupils, when fused, could grant night vision, charm, and the ability to see blood qi.

Looking at the pills and the Fox Demon Eye Pupils in his hand, Fang Mu couldn't help but show a hint of joy.

Indeed, killing demons was the fastest and most discreet way to get rich.

After swallowing an Essence Blood Pill and handing the Blood Essence Pill to his clone, Fang Mu took the clone into the Demon Refining Mirror.

There were no disturbances throughout the night. As soon as dawn broke, Fang Mu and Fang Jing returned to the Demon Slayer Division.

The Demon Slayer Division didn't require him to slay demons that day, so Fang Mu was quite free.

Around noon, Wen Xuan came to find him, asking him to prepare for a demon-catching operation that evening.

Wen Xuan didn't specify what kind of demon they were catching, only reminding him to get ready.

Although Fang Mu was reluctant, he had no reason to refuse, so he agreed.

The demon-catching operation didn't require him to act; Wen Xuan and the others simply wanted him to act as bait to lure the demon.

With some self-preservation skills, Fang Mu felt he could likely protect himself, so he wasn't overly worried.

As night fell, Fang Mu arrived at the main hall of the Demon Slayer Division.

There were three people in the hall: Wen Xuan, dressed in white robes, Qi Zhu, in red robes, and a square-faced youth in black robes whom he didn't recognize.

"Stupid log! How dare you make us wait for you!"

As soon as he stepped into the hall, Fang Mu heard Qi Zhu exclaim, hopping mad.

"Fang Mu! Greetings to you both, sirs!"

Fang Mu ignored Qi Zhu and bowed to Wen Xuan and the square-faced youth.

"You scoundrel, how dare you ignore me!"

"Ouch! My foot..."

Qi Zhu, enraged, intended to kick Fang Mu to vent her anger, but found his leg as hard as iron.

As she kicked, she ended up hurting her own toes, causing her to nearly cry tears of pain.

"Junior Sister Qi Zhu, are you hurt?"

The square-faced youth quickly stepped forward, asking with concern.

"You good-for-nothing, apologize to Junior Sister Qi Zhu quickly."

"You don't need to mind!"

Hearing the square-faced youth scolding Fang Mu, Qi Zhu snorted angrily, glared at Fang Mu, and hobbled away.

"Junior Sister... Junior Sister!" The square-faced youth shot Fang Mu a dark look before calling out and chasing after her.

"He's Tu Qing, the son of the Deputy Chief Envoy. You should provoke him less."

"He's very petty, holds grudges, and is strong. It's not beneficial for you to make an enemy of him."

Seeing Fang Mu's somewhat gloomy expression, Wen Xuan walked up to him and cautioned him.

"Your subordinate dares not!" Fang Mu retracted his gloomy expression and bowed gratefully to Wen Xuan.

The ranks of Demon Slayers, from lowest to highest, were divided into white robes, red robes, and black robes.

This meant Tu Qing was the strongest?

Just as Fang Mu was wondering, Wen Xuan suddenly spoke, "Tu Qing and I are both black-robed Demon Slayers. I just prefer to wear white robes."

Ignoring Fang Mu's stunned look, Wen Xuan continued, "This time, there's a fox demon causing trouble in the city. It possesses the art of seduction."

"Because the fox demon likes to seduce handsome young men and is as cunning as a fox, and your appearance is good and you're also clever, you were chosen as bait."

As he finished speaking, Wen Xuan turned and left the Demon Slaying Hall.

"Damn it! Being handsome is actually unlucky?"

Fang Mu cursed inwardly and reluctantly headed out of the Demon Slaying Hall.

He was also suspicious. The one with the art of seduction that harmed handsome young men seemed to be the tanuki demon he had killed before.

Because from fragmented memories, he knew that the Raccoon Demon had used its demon eyes to confuse many people and absorb their Blood Essence.

Now, from Wen Xuan's words, it seemed there was a fox demon in the city that also knew the art of seduction to harm people.