Can't wait any longer!
Li Xuanxiao stopped hesitating. He drew his blade at once and charged straight at the Magistrate!
The instant his True Qi was revealed, the monks immediately noticed him!
"Who are you?! How dare you trespass into Pure Land Temple?"
The man standing at the forefront of the monks saw Li Xuanxiao and immediately shouted a stern rebuke.
Li Xuanxiao had no desire to waste words on him. With a backhand slash, he directly killed a monk blocking his path.
"The Transformation Ritual... cannot be interrupted!"
"Stop him!"
The monks cried Amitabha, then each unleashed their own methods and attacked Li Xuanxiao!
The monks here were clearly a cut above those he had encountered before.
Every one of them was at the Extremity Realm, and there were even several in the late Extremity Realm!
That strange black substance was also present in their bodies, and their self-healing recovery was even faster!
What was more, nearly all these monks possessed martial arts techniques!
Though their power was nothing special in Li Xuanxiao's eyes, there were simply too many of them, and they kept launching sneak attacks.
Li Xuanxiao had no choice but to divide his attention to deal with them, and his advance slowed considerably.
Seeing this, the leading monk withdrew his gaze and continued toward the Magistrate, who sat cross-legged on the ground without moving.
A fervent look once more appeared on his face.
Li Xuanxiao frowned and shouted, "Magistrate! Wake up at once!"
His shout, infused with True Qi, was like a morning bell and an evening drum.
A trace of clarity finally surfaced in the Magistrate's lost, vacant eyes.
The leading monk's expression shifted slightly. He immediately pressed his palms together and silently recited a scripture.
The faint consciousness the Magistrate had just kindled sank back into chaos and slowly fell silent.
Seeing this, Li Xuanxiao no longer held back and went all out!
The aura of the Profound Realm burst outward, directly blasting away a circle of surrounding monks.
Even the leading monk turned around, horror on his face. "Profound Realm?!"
"Someone from the Demon Slayer Division?"
Li Xuanxiao had no time to explain. With his firepower fully unleashed, his speed increased once more.
He had already reached the Magistrate.
He swept the Magistrate up with one arm, immediately broke free from the battle, and ran toward the hall's exit.
Li Xuanxiao had not forgotten the Profound Realm aura he had sensed earlier.
The other party had yet to appear. There was only one possibility: he was tied up by something.
This was the perfect chance to escape!
Once the other party freed himself, Li Xuanxiao might not necessarily be able to defeat him!
After all, all of his martial arts techniques were below the Profound Realm.
With that thought, Li Xuanxiao quickened his pace even further, pushing Ride the Wind to its limit.
Just as he was about to step out of the hall, a distant sigh drifted over.
"Amitabha—"
"Benefactor, why must you disturb this old monk's cultivation?"
Li Xuanxiao's expression changed drastically upon hearing that voice.
At the same time, every door and window of Qingyan Treasure Hall slammed shut.
An inscrutable aura clung to them. Li Xuanxiao drew his blade and slashed, yet failed to damage them in the slightest!
Li Xuanxiao and the Magistrate had become turtles trapped in a jar.
Damn it!
Cursing inwardly, Li Xuanxiao set down the Magistrate and turned to face the monks slowly approaching him.
At that sight, Li Xuanxiao was thoroughly stunned by the scene before him.
Only now did he truly understand what the Little Monk had meant.
"Everyone who takes part in the Transformation Ritual will eventually become monsters, neither human nor ghost!"
"Immortality will twist the way humans live!"
The monks whose heads he had severed were all standing back up!
From the bowl-sized wounds at their necks, hideous centipedes crawled out one after another!
They had replaced the monks' original heads.
The entire scene was absurd, bizarre, and terrifying!
Li Xuanxiao's scalp went numb. I really have never seen anything like this.
But this was no time for reflection.
Li Xuanxiao drew a deep breath. That mingled sensation of fear, disgust, and excitement rose within him again.
The more evenly matched this life-and-death crisis was, the more exhilarated and calm he became.
Behind the many monks, from behind the enormous Buddha statue, a figure slowly emerged.
Wrapped around his body beneath his wide cassock was an enormous centipede, several times thicker and more hideous than those of the ordinary monks.
Its head was raised high, level with the man's own head.
It looked as though two heads were living in symbiosis!
The aura emanating from him confirmed Li Xuanxiao's suspicions. This was the Profound Realm existence he had sensed before!
At last, he had met the True Person himself.
Yet the other party's aura seemed unstable, even somewhat insubstantial.
Could it be because he had interrupted the Transformation Ritual?
"Benefactor, you forced your way into this temple and wounded and killed so many disciples of my Buddhist Sect. Have you considered the consequences?"
"I see that Benefactor seems quite interested in the Transformation Ritual. Why not remain here and allow this old monk to explain it to you in detail?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he gave an order, and the many monks beneath him surged forward in a swarm!
"Take this scoundrel down!"
Li Xuanxiao struck at the same time. Focused Spirit Slash, refined to the Sublimity Realm, unleashed dozens of blade lights in an instant!
As for why he did not use the Thousand Peaks Ruin Blade?
There was no need. Against mere early- and mid-Extremity Realm opponents, with his Profound Realm strength, even ordinary attacks could kill them.
Focused Spirit Slash was more than enough. Using the Thousand Peaks Ruin Blade would truly be a waste.
This martial art consumed far more True Qi than Focused Spirit Slash.
With a powerful enemy before him, he had to conserve his True Qi.
If these minor lackeys drained too much of it, and his True Qi failed to keep up when he fought that Demon Monk later, it would be a joke.
Dozens of blade lights fell, slicing dozens of centipedes in two.
Killed a second-layer Extremity Realm Mukade Demon. Obtained 20 Demon Points! Killed a fourth-layer Extremity Realm Mukade Demon. Obtained 40 Demon Points! Killed a first-layer Extremity Realm Mukade Demon. Obtained 20 Demon Points!
Seeing the system notifications, Li Xuanxiao paused for a moment.
Then understanding dawned on him. As expected, it was connected to demons!
These monks had somehow managed to form a symbiotic relationship with these insect demons!
But if Extremity Realm monks had Extremity Realm insect demons parasitizing their bodies...
Then...
Did that Profound Realm Demon Monk have a Profound Realm Demon King parasitizing him?
Li Xuanxiao's expression grew grave. That meant he might have to fight two Profound Realm opponents at once!
No, not necessarily!
A parasitic relationship was not a case of one plus one being greater than two.
If the fusion was poor, the two could even restrain each other. In the end, they would only be slightly stronger than their former individual selves.
If they were truly two perfectly fused Profound Realm beings, they would have come over and killed him long ago!
Li Xuanxiao felt somewhat reassured and focused on the minor lackeys before him.
No matter what, he would first accumulate a wave of Demon Points!
Though he currently had no combat martial arts available to upgrade, improving Ride the Wind could still give him an advantage in speed.
When powerful opponents clashed, sometimes even a little advantage was the key that decided victory or defeat.
Killed a third-layer Extremity Realm Mukade Demon. Obtained 20 Demon Points! Killed a fifth-layer Extremity Realm Mukade Demon. Obtained 40 Demon Points!
As time passed, all hundred-plus monks fell.
Li Xuanxiao's Demon Points also reached 3,615.
If he could exchange Demon Points for a Profound Realm martial art, his current strength would soar by a great deal.
Unfortunately, he could not.
Li Xuanxiao invested his Demon Points into Ride the Wind, the only technique that could still be improved.
Several hundred Demon Points vanished in an instant, and Ride the Wind, which had only been at the beginner level, finally reached the Sublimity Realm!
Li Xuanxiao felt as though the wind accompanied his every step. His body had clearly become much lighter and swifter.
After adapting slightly, he looked toward the only Profound Realm Demon Monk still standing in the hall.
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