As the personal disciple of the guardian of Tianshui Prefecture, Tang Lingyu was exceptionally powerful.
With the treasured manual Hundred Refinements of the Azure Dragon and her own martial talent, challenging opponents above her level was practically second nature to her.
Even ordinary Innate Grandmasters were no match for her.
At that moment, dealing with a dozen or so Mortal Breaking Realm half-demons was naturally even less of a challenge.
Whoosh—
Tang Lingyu's face was as cold as frost. Her figure suddenly turned into a blur as she charged straight at the dozen or so black-clad half-demons.
Her hands flashed through a flurry of movements, Azure Dragon True Qi surging forth as it complemented her family's signature art, Fire Cloud Palm.
Blazing flames burst from her palms like roaring Fire Dragons, sweeping toward the enemy with the force to incinerate everything in their path.
Boom—
The flames raged, scorching the air with their heat and crackling explosively. The snow around them melted in an instant, sending thick white mist billowing upward.
"Ah—!"
Wretched screams echoed through the wind and snow.
In just a few breaths, half the enemies had been swallowed by the flames, reduced to heaps of charred corpses.
The acrid stench of burning flesh mingled with the smell of blood, staining the once-pristine snow a horrifying dark red.
"Damn it! What kind of monster is this woman?"
The bull-horned man in the lead stumbled backward. As he stared at his comrades' charred corpses, his face turned ashen.
He exchanged a glance with the four other survivors, their eyes gradually hardening with resolve.
"Let's go all out! We'll fight that bitch to the death!"
A flash of madness rose from their despair. The bull-horned man roared and pulled a blood-red pill from his robes, swallowing it without a second look.
Seeing this, the other four followed suit, swallowing identical blood-red pills.
"Not good! Those are Blood Bodhi!"
Watching from afar, Fang Xu's expression changed drastically, and he cried out in alarm.
"Chief Fang, what are Blood Bodhi?"
Cao Jianxin asked anxiously from beside him, a vague sense of unease rising in his heart.
"They're evil pills used by demons to purify their bloodlines!"
Fang Xu's face was livid as he explained gravely:
"They're useless to ordinary people, but for half-demons like these, who carry demonic blood, they're a forbidden drug that can greatly boost their strength for a short time and transform them into demons!"
Just as Fang Xu had said,
the five black-clad half-demons who swallowed the Blood Bodhi rapidly swelled like balloons, transforming in the blink of an eye into terrifying monsters five meters tall.
The demonic traits on their bodies grew ever more pronounced. Jet-black demonic baleful energy surged skyward, shattering the snowflakes around them.
Their strength, which had been at the Mortal Breaking Realm, now soared to rival that of great demons in the Innate Realm!
"Bitch! You forced us into this!"
The five humanoid monsters, their faces green and fanged and their bodies radiating a terrifying aura, surrounded the short-haired woman.
Pairs of blood-red eyes fixed on her, as if they were about to tear her apart and devour her whole.
"This transformation has cost us at least twenty years of our lives! To make up for that loss, we'll make you wish you were dead!"
"..."
Tang Lingyu looked around, her expression as calm as still water.
With her current strength, dealing with one or two transformed half-demons would have been easy, but facing five at once would likely leave her with no choice but to flee.
Did she really have to use the trump card her master had left her?
Just as she hesitated, a sudden change occurred!
In the shadows behind the five towering monsters, five pitch-black figures silently appeared like ghosts. Their auras were so well concealed that even Tang Lingyu had failed to notice them.
The five figures said nothing. Sword Qi flickered in their hands before condensing into a pale sword aura, which slashed fiercely toward the five half-demons with a murderous intent that sent chills down the spine!
Whoosh—
The pale sword aura carved several icy arcs through the air.
With a bone-chilling sound of flesh and bone being torn apart, the five half-demons were cleaved in two before they could even scream!
Warm blood gushed out, instantly staining the snow a glaring red. A nauseating stench of blood filled the air.
"!!!"
The five shadows flashed into view like ghosts and vanished in the next instant, leaving Tang Lingyu and the others rooted to the spot, their minds completely blank.
Silence spread through the air. Only when a familiar figure emerged from the wind and snow, walking toward them at an unhurried pace, did they finally come to their senses.
The newcomer wore the cloud-patterned black robes of the Demon Suppression Bureau. Tall and lean, he had a handsome face and the same steady bearing as ever. It was Gu Cheng, who had come to their rescue.
"Chief Gu!" Tang Lingyu's eyes widened, delight written all over her face.
"Brother Gu?" Fang Xu and Su Yanan were overjoyed as well.
They had never expected to meet again here after parting ways in Liuchun County. What a pleasant surprise.
"Brother Gu, was that... Dragon Slaying Sword Qi?!"
Cao Jianxin stared dazedly at the young man in black, his voice full of shock and disbelief.
Dragon Slaying Sword Qi was the signature art of Dragon Martial Hall. How had Gu Cheng managed to cultivate it to such a level in less than two months?!
Tang Lingyu, however, had long since grown used to Gu Cheng's monstrous talent.
Back then, Gu Cheng had needed only a month to surpass her, his own teacher, in her Tang family's signature art, Fire Cloud Palm.
Seeing Gu Cheng again, her delight only grew. She asked softly:
"Chief Gu, did you come because you received our distress signal too?"
"Mm."
Gu Cheng gave a slight nod, swept his gaze over everyone, then asked in return:
"Come to think of it, what mission are you carrying out? And where did these half-demons come from?"
Fang Xu looked troubled as he explained in a low voice:
"They're from Hundred Saints Valley in Jiuyang Prefecture. They suddenly came to Tianshui Prefecture and started causing trouble about half a month ago... Our mission here was to investigate these half-demon bastards and find out what they're capable of."
"Jiuyang Prefecture? Hundred Saints Valley?"
Gu Cheng's sword-like brows drew together, his confusion deepening.
Yunzhou's twelve prefectures covered a vast territory. Even the records on Tianshui Prefecture filled several volumes, let alone information on the other prefectures.
When he had reviewed intelligence at the Demon Suppression Bureau, he had focused mainly on affairs within Tianshui Prefecture. He truly knew little about this Hundred Saints Valley.
But in any case, Tianshui Prefecture wasn't neighboring Chongshan County, and the Demon Suppression Bureau had four Spirit Sea Venerables stationed there.
What gave Hundred Saints Valley the nerve to come swaggering into Tianshui Prefecture?
Before Gu Cheng could ask anything further,
the bull-horned half-demon who had been cut in two still hadn't breathed his last.
He struggled to prop up his upper body, glaring at Gu Cheng with venomous hatred as he rasped out a threat:
"Cough, cough... Don't get too pleased with yourselves!
Our big brother, Lu Tianxiong, is nearby. He's the seventy-third-ranked expert in Hundred Saints Valley, and his strength is unfathomable!
He'll avenge us! None of you will get away!"
"Seventy-third-ranked?"
Fang Xu and Su Yanan couldn't help but look shaken.
Hundred Saints Valley of Jiuyang Prefecture was a colossus on par with Flood Dragon Palace, infamous throughout Yunzhou.
To rank seventy-third in a force like that spoke volumes about Lu Tianxiong's strength!
Gu Cheng, however, didn't care in the slightest. Instead, the corner of his mouth curled into an amused smile.
He casually flicked his hand, and a bloody head flew from his storage pouch, rolling to a stop in front of the bull-horned man.
Its eyes were wide open and its face twisted with terror, as though it had experienced unimaginable fear before dying.
And growing from its forehead was a pair of enormous antlers...
"Is this the Lu Tianxiong you were talking about?"
Gu Cheng's voice was indifferent.
"Don't worry. He died long before you did. I took care of him on my way here."
"???"
The bull-horned man stared in disbelief at the familiar head, his eyes filled with terror and despair.
At last, he spat up a mouthful of blood and collapsed weakly to the ground, his life extinguished for good.
"..."
Fang Xu and the others stared at the antlered head, each drawing a sharp breath and swallowing nervously.
Judging from the aura still clinging to it, Lu Tianxiong's strength in life had likely been no weaker than that Innate Dragon Turtle from before. And Gu Cheng had killed him as casually as swatting a fly?
It had been only two short months since they last met, yet Chief Gu's strength had already reached such unfathomable heights?
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