Enlightenment

"Spare me, Senior—"

Bang!

A mist of blood exploded!

Before the Blood Demon Ancestor could even beg for mercy, he was shredded to pieces by the scarlet sword light, not even leaving behind an intact corpse.

Crimson blood splattered in every direction, forming the shape of an eerie lotus. In an instant, the fierce atmosphere of battle froze.

"Dead! Master is dead!"

"One sword killed a Qi Refining cultivator!? This man is terrifying!"

"Run! Run!"

The next moment, the other three finally reacted and cried out in panic. Forgetting all about slaughtering the guards around the carriage, they scattered in flight as fast as they could.

Even the Blood Demon Ancestor, at the peak of Qi Refining, had been slain by a single sword from this man. Blood-Changing Martial Artists like them would not even be enough to fill the gaps between his teeth if they dared face him!

The young man in the carriage also came to his senses and immediately cupped his hands. "Thank you, Senior, for your righteous—"

"HAHAHAHA!"

At that moment, a burst of hearty, unrestrained laughter rang out.

Amid the blood mist and scattered corpses, the middle-aged man laughed wildly, his eyes filled with abandon and recklessness.

To him, killing seemed like the most exquisite pleasure in heaven and earth.

That scene immediately...

...gave the young man and the elderly Qi Refining cultivator an ominous premonition.

"Gu... Gu Jinlai..."

At that moment, a guard beside the young man suddenly began to tremble, his entire body shaking uncontrollably.

"Gu Jinlai!?"

The old man's pupils dilated, and his heart rapidly sank.

Lingxiao City was eight hundred li from Changjun City, but which Spirit Refining giant was not a great figure whose name shook an entire province and spread across a thousand li?

The name of Gu Jinlai, Elder of the Purgatory Demon Sect, was enough to make children stop crying.

Especially lately, the Orthodox One Sect had been stirring up a massive campaign to kill this monstrous fiend of the demonic path. It was said that high-ranking members of the Purgatory Demon Sect were also pulling strings behind the scenes, and even he in Lingxiao City had heard of it.

He had originally thought this demon should have been exterminated under the joint assault of righteous cultivators. Yet...

He was actually still alive!

And they had run into him?

Hearing Gu Jinlai's wild, unrestrained, malice-soaring laughter, the old man felt as though dark demonic flames rose from his body, turning into black clouds that blotted out the sky and shrouded all around him, chilling him to the bone.

Out of the tiger's den, into the dragon's pool!

"Protect the young master and leave!"

The old man growled, his eyes full of resolve. "We must inform the Provincial Lord of what happened in Lingxiao City!"

"Uncle Fu!"

Pain flashed through the young man's eyes as he came to his senses.

Yet he knew clearly that this was no time for sentimental grief. He shot Gu Jinlai a resentful look, then quickly retreated under the guards' protection.

"..."

Gu Jinlai, who had been laughing for quite some time, felt awkward under the young man's gaze and was left somewhat speechless.

What was wrong with Gu Jinlai?

Had this good man done something wrong?

Still, he was in a good mood right now and could not be bothered to care.

He directly immersed his mind in the little figure at the center of the Green Lotus within his spiritual world.

Three masses of light emerged around the little figure.

Great Sun Demon Radiance Art, Six Desires Demon Art, Red Lotus Sword Qi.

These were the techniques he cultivated.

The Great Sun Demon Radiance Art was a technique from before Spirit Refining, and he had already cultivated it to its limit.

The Six Desires Demon Art was a Spirit Refining technique. It cultivated the spirit by tormenting other living beings and absorbing their seven emotions and six desires.

A demonic-path technique through and through.

This technique had been ruined when the original Gu Jinlai suffered qi deviation, and it was now dimmed.

If he did not want his Karma Buff to stack up to eleven or twelve layers, he had better not cultivate it.

Of the three masses of light, two were excluded. Only the Red Lotus Sword Qi remained for him to enhance.

He glanced at the clear light he had gained from killing the Blood Demon Ancestor.

Two strands.

No wonder the old man had looked even redder than him.

His evil deeds filled the measure, his karma towered to the heavens.

"Two strands of clear light."

Gu Jinlai's expression shifted.

One strand of clear light could only cleanse one layer of Karma Buff. There was not much difference between ten layers and nine.

But his pursuers had already risen from the Six Sons of Zhengyi at the Qi Refining realm to the Four Evils of Star Province at the Gang Condensing realm. Before long, he would encounter Core Forming cultivators known as great cultivators.

Therefore, what he needed most was strength!

If he still possessed the Spirit Refining realm, the Orthodox One Sect? The Four Evils of Star Province? Mere clowns hopping on a stage—how would they dare act so presumptuously before him!?

Ancient Demon Gu!?

Hmph!

They would obediently call him Grandpa Gu!

With that thought, Gu Jinlai's gaze fell upon the ball of light marked "Red Lotus Sword Qi: Beginner," and one strand of clear light smashed into it.

Buzz! Buzz!

The clear light washed over it.

On the Green Lotus, his consciousness seemed to enter a state of enlightenment. His thoughts became incomparably lucid, and all sorts of memories and inspirations concerning the Red Lotus Sword Qi surged forth, interweaving as its countless mysteries unfolded before his eyes.

Red Lotus Sword Qi: Beginner → Minor Mastery.

By the time the clear light dissipated, he had already taken several steps forward even within the Minor Mastery stage.

"One enlightenment session takes only ten seconds, yet its effect saves ten years of bitter cultivation."

Feeling his strength grow, Gu Jinlai let out a breath. "Much better when my brain does the work itself. No need for me to strain my mind."

"Minor Mastery is not enough. Add more! Keep adding!"

Without hesitation, clear light flashed like topping up an account.

In an instant, a storm of flashing blades and sword shadows swept through his mind.

When the second strand of clear light dispersed, the Red Lotus Sword Qi had already reached Major Mastery.

Gu Jinlai quietly digested it.

A person's energy was limited.

Back then, "Gu Jinlai" had only cultivated the Red Lotus Sword Qi to Minor Mastery.

Reaching Spirit Refining had already exhausted his life's efforts. Where would he have found another twenty idle years to cultivate a Core Forming-grade sword art to Major Mastery?

One had to understand that this world belonged to low-level immortal chivalry—it had the word "chivalry" in it.

The chivalry of martial arts.

So-called Core Forming merely meant qi circulated through the heavenly cycle and the true body was without leakage. It could not grant eternal life or endless years.

Cultivators at this realm who lived to two hundred had already mastered the arts of preserving health. Most Core Forming cultivators could only live to one hundred fifty or sixty.

Twenty years was more than enough to be called a long time for them.

"The Six Desires Demon Art was ruined by qi deviation, but the Great Sun Demon Radiance Art remains. My own true qi cultivation is equivalent to Core Forming. Before, I simply could not bring it out, like using a sniper rifle as a club. Now that the Red Lotus Sword Qi has reached Major Mastery..."

Gu Jinlai could not help feeling eager to try.

Perhaps he should return to Changjun City?

His house, car, and money were all over there.

Soon, however, his attention shifted.

"Come to think of it, why must the Sword Qi fired by Red Lotus Sword Qi take the shape of lotus petals? Just for appearance's sake? That violates aerodynamics."

As someone who believed that anything was possible, it made this skeptic of truth feel deeply awkward.

While he was enjoying the pleasure of adding points to his cultivation, the old man beside him, soaked through with sweat from tension, could no longer hold back.

"Demon, what exactly do you want!?"

The old man shouted.

Gu Jinlai, interrupted, gave him an unhappy look.

He knew they had misunderstood him. Too lazy to argue, he waved his hand, intending to let the man leave.

Then he remembered something and began scrutinizing the old man's physique.

"Take off your clothes."

Gu Jinlai suddenly said.

The old man froze, then his eyes widened.

He had long heard that the fiends of the Ten Great Demon Sects were all bloodthirsty, cruel, wicked, and perverse. He had not expected Ancient Demon Gu to actually...

The old man gritted his teeth. "A gentleman may be killed, but not humiliated. I—"

"HAHAHA!"

At that moment, another burst of hearty, uninhibited laughter came from afar. "Ancient Demon Gu, it really is you!"

Immediately afterward, four burly figures, like Demonic Beasts, strode over. The leader even carried a young man in one hand.

He was one of the four disciples of the Blood Demon Ancestor who had fled earlier.

"We caught a little demon brat and forced an answer out of him, only to gain such a harvest. What an unexpected delight."

"The Four Evils of Star Province?"

Gu Jinlai recognized the four men.

They were precisely the four Gang Condensing cultivators who had chased him into a desperate flight not long ago.

"No wonder the magpies were chirping first thing this morning. So good fortune was coming to our door! Heaven wants us four brothers to take your head, Ancient Demon Gu, and claim the reward!"

"Ancient Demon Gu, you have your day too. Last time, you ran fast enough. This time, even if you sprout wings, you will not escape!"

The four men rushed forward, directly forming a pincer attack around Gu Jinlai.

"Today, the four of us will take your old life!"

"The Four Evils of Star Province. All four are here."

Gu Jinlai drew a solemn breath, his expression grave as though facing a formidable enemy. "This old man has roamed the world for decades, and you four..."

Seeing that the four of them had already very considerately gathered close...

He could not hold it in any longer.

Overjoyed!

His delight showed plainly on his face!

"Good, good, good! For you four to come at a time like this is simply wonderful!"

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