"Corpse Demon..."
Feng Yang frowned as he watched Niu Dazhuang move slowly, his expression solemn.
"Constable Kong... h-how did Niu Dazhuang become like this?"
Skinny Monkey asked Kong Wu in terror.
Kong Wu said nothing. Instead, Feng Yang spoke first:
"To think someone here in such a remote place knows the Corpse Refining Technique. You two, fall back. This evil creature isn't something you can deal with."
He slowly drew the long sword from his back, secretly congratulating himself on obtaining this magical sword just before leaving home this time.
"After a Corpse Demon has been refined through an infusion of yin energy, its body becomes incredibly hard." As he drew his sword, he continued, "Relying solely on their own cultivation, anyone below the middle stage of Qi Refining can't break through its physical defenses."
Feng Yang was still some distance from the middle stage of Qi Refining, but with the magical sword in his hand, he could barely deal with this Corpse Demon.
"I'll hold it off for a while. You two hurry down the mountain. I'll catch up shortly."
Even though the magical sword in his hand would allow him to kill the Corpse Demon before them, Feng Yang still told Kong Wu and Skinny Monkey to leave first.
Corpse Demons rarely formed naturally. The overwhelming majority were refined by evil cultivators.
And evil cultivators capable of refining Corpse Demons were at least cultivators in the middle stage of Qi Refining.
Although he sensed no other cultivators nearby, now that this Corpse Demon had awakened, it was only a matter of time before its master discovered it.
Hearing this, Skinny Monkey hurriedly said to Kong Wu, "Constable Kong, let the bull-nosed Daoist deal with this thing. We're just ordinary people. We should... we should..."
As he spoke, he tried to drag Kong Wu away, but Kong Wu didn't budge, leaving him to fret helplessly.
"Daoist Feng Yang, leave this place to me. Just protect this fellow."
Kong Wu pushed Skinny Monkey aside and spoke to Feng Yang.
Hearing this, Feng Yang laughed.
"You? Forget it, Constable Kong. You may count as impressive among ordinary people, but ordinary people can't deal with this kind of monster. Even I need to rely on this magical sword to barely hold my own."
He wasn't mocking Kong Wu. He simply thought the man had never seen the world of cultivators and believed brute strength could deal with a monster like this.
But before he could step forward, Kong Wu walked past him. At some point, he had already taken the long, cloth-wrapped object from Skinny Monkey.
Imperfect Shi Ba HP: 20 STR: 7 Skills: None
Looking at the Attribute Panel that only he could see, Kong Wu said no more.
He didn't want the Special Attribute Points he had finally discovered to be snatched away by this little Daoist.
As he removed the white cloth from the Zhanmadao, Kong Wu strode toward the Corpse Demon.
"Not good!"
When Feng Yang saw Kong Wu head straight toward it, his heart lurched. He immediately reached out to grab Kong Wu by the shoulder.
"Constable Kong, you..."
But the next moment, his arm, gripping Kong Wu's shoulder, encountered an irresistible force and was casually flung away by Kong Wu.
How is this possible?
Feng Yang stared blankly at his flung-aside right hand, his heart instantly churning with stormy waves.
That move just now had been made in desperation. He hadn't restrained his True Qi and had used nearly all his strength.
Yet Kong Wu had easily shaken him off.
Without any True Qi, did he overpower the True Qi of a third-layer Qi Refining cultivator with nothing but physical strength?
While Feng Yang was still stunned, Kong Wu had already gone a long way.
He casually tossed away the strips of cloth, revealing the true appearance of the long saber in his hand.
The originally plain-looking Zhanmadao had undergone a tremendous transformation after Kong Wu added 1 Special Attribute Point to it.
A ferocious beast's head now enveloped the long blade, while strange runes covered the entire body. Even in the dark of night, it radiated an uncanny luster.
Perhaps sensing Kong Wu's approach, the Corpse Demon's head swayed, and its movements paused.
Then it charged madly at Kong Wu, a hoarse roar issuing from its withered-black mouth.
Kong Wu took one step forward and raised the long saber in his hand.
This was his first time using the saber after its transformation.
I hope the change brought by the Special Attribute Point won't disappoint me.
As the thought flashed through his mind, Kong Wu tensed his forearm and brought the saber down with brutal force.
Whether the Corpse Demon simply lacked the ability to think, or because this was an Imperfect Shi Ba, it charged straight at Kong Wu with both arms outstretched, showing no reaction to the saber descending upon it.
Thus, the long saber fell squarely onto the center of its head.
Kong Wu felt no resistance at all. The saber in his hand seemed to glide smoothly through the Corpse Demon's body.
As the saber struck the ground, the Corpse Demon, split into two halves, was carried by inertia past Kong Wu on either side and collapsed to the ground.
Kong Wu raised the saber horizontally and looked at the blade, still gleaming as brightly as before. His eyes were filled with satisfaction.
Evil-Slaying Saber: A Zhanmadao empowered by special points, gaining the "Evil-Slaying" attribute. It can be strengthened by slaying evil beings. Special Attribute: Evil-Slaying (Deals increased damage to evil beings. Slaying evil beings grants Evil-Slaying Value; the higher the Evil-Slaying Value, the greater the additional damage.) Evil-Slaying Value: 1 point
After obtaining the Special Attribute Point earlier, Kong Wu had used it on the Zhanmadao, clearly increasing the saber's weight and blade strength. It had also randomly gained the "Evil-Slaying" attribute.
A special attribute that could grow made Kong Wu very happy. However, the system notification that rang in his mind the next second left him stunned.
"Congratulations. You have slain the 'Imperfect Shi Ba' and obtained 1 free attribute point."
Only 1 point?
That Evil God Cultist's Strength attribute had been even lower than this Corpse Demon's, yet it had given him 4 free attribute points.
Why does becoming stronger make the attribute points dropped decrease instead?
Is it because the Evil God Cultist was humanoid and possessed the ability to think?
Or does the number of attribute points depend on the difference between my Strength attribute and my opponent's? The greater the difference, the fewer points I receive?
Kong Wu leaned toward the latter possibility, but he had obtained attribute points too few times so far and had no data to support it.
I'll study it later.
He had a feeling that he wouldn't obtain only a few attribute points tonight.
Elsewhere, Feng Yang stood frozen in place with his sword in hand and swallowed.
Just one slash...
Could I have been mistaken? Was that not a Corpse Demon?
He began to doubt his own eyes.
An ordinary person who had never cultivated had hacked a Corpse Demon to death—a Corpse Demon that only a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Refining could deal with?
"Holy crap!"
Skinny Monkey shouted the words for him.
Skinny Monkey had originally been so frightened that his legs shook. But after seeing this scene, his fear was completely swept away.
This thing only looks scary, huh.
But Constable Kong's warhorse saber... Why does it look a little different?
Skinny Monkey glanced at Feng Yang beside him and called out loudly, "Didn't someone say ordinary people couldn't deal with this thing? How come our Constable Kong split it in half with one slash? Some bull-nosed Daoists sure love acting like they're incredible, but what are they really? Aren't they just relying on their mouths to cheat people out of food and drink?"
Feng Yang's brows furrowed when he heard this, and he said angrily, "Don't lump me together with those charlatans. I, this Daoist..."
He had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he suddenly seemed to sense something and abruptly turned his head.
"What? What makes you different from those charlatans?"
Skinny Monkey noticed nothing and continued lashing out with his tongue.
It was only fair. Back at the Daoist temple, Feng Yang had attacked him without distinguishing right from wrong.
If Constable Kong hadn't kicked him aside, he probably would have been burned to ashes right then and there.
He knew this Daoist had some skill, but that frail body of his couldn't give him much pressure.
So when he found a chance to make things difficult for him, he naturally wouldn't let it pass.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You..."
Just then, he heard a strange sound as well.
It sounded like a sharp object scraping across a wooden plank, especially jarring in the darkness.
And there was more than one such sound.
He turned his head and looked toward the depths of the burial ground.
In the darkness, a patch of earth suddenly bulged upward.
Huh?
Skinny Monkey rubbed his eyes and looked again, only to find that the patch of earth had returned to normal.
But the strange sound continued.
The next moment, a withered arm burst from the soil.
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