The cat cries outside grew more and more frequent, and their volume grew louder as well!
Su Xian did not move. He merely regulated his breathing in silence, keeping his body in peak condition.
After a while, extremely faint footsteps rang out.
A cat demon over a meter tall appeared at the cave entrance!
Looking at the cat demon, Su Xian did not dare let down his guard. He stared intently at its every movement.
Seeing Su Xian's appearance, as if he were facing a formidable enemy, a hint of human-like mockery appeared in the cat demon's eyes.
"Meow!"
The cat demon cried out, licked its lips, and slowly advanced toward Su Xian.
The cave was silent, save for the faint sounds made by the cat demon as it steadily approached.
Su Xian cautiously retreated. He needed to lure the cat demon a little farther inside. If they fought at the cave entrance, the cat demon might be able to turn and flee.
"A little closer. Just a little closer!"
Su Xian gripped the Mountain-splitting Saber tightly in both hands, his cold eyes fixed straight on the cat demon.
The slowly advancing cat demon looked at Su Xian, mockery shining in its eyes.
It was nearly tired of playing with this prey. It was time to kill him!
"Hu...man..."
The cat demon opened its mouth, speaking one word at a time. It had yet to formally enter the ranks of demons, so it still was not very good at human speech.
"Die!" With a thunderous shout, Su Xian moved!
He stamped his foot and shot toward the cat demon, raising the Mountain-splitting Saber high with both hands.
The Tiger Subduing Demon Saber Technique burst into action!
The saber came crashing down. Its edge cleaved through the air, ringing out like a tiger's roar.
"Meow!"
The cat demon opposite him heard the tiger's roar, and every hair on its body stood on end. The roar of the King of Ten Thousand Beasts had shaken it into submission!
The cat demon's body froze! Its bodily instincts were violently tugging against its thoughts!
The cat demon's instincts urged it to find a low place to burrow into, but its thoughts told it to evade—to dodge this saber strike!
Thus, caught between thought and instinct, the cat demon's body stood rooted to the spot. It simply stared blankly as Su Xian's Mountain-splitting Saber came down.
The heavy blow crashed onto the cat demon's head!
The strike was mighty and forceful. Even though the cat demon's skull was hard, Su Xian's saber cleaved solidly into it!
It had nearly split the entire cat demon's head in two, leaving only the section of its jaw still attached.
Seeing that his first strike had succeeded, Su Xian did not stop. He brought the saber down again, severing the cat demon's entire head and leaving its over-meter-tall body lying on the ground.
"Whew! It's finally dead!"
Only now did Su Xian finally let out a sigh of relief. After that, he did not even bother with the cat demon's corpse,
but merely shook the blood from the saber before immediately rushing out of the cave and running swiftly toward the mountain's outskirts.
This cat demon was still a juvenile. There was a good chance its mother or father was nearby,
and once they discovered that Su Xian had killed their offspring, they might well hunt him down.
Su Xian could not defeat this cat demon's parents at present. Staying here was far too risky!
After sprinting all the way, Su Xian finally escaped Green Dragon Mountain. But he still did not stop. He kept running, and only halted at the gates of Blackwater County.
"Whew!"
Su Xian panted heavily. After resting briefly, he entered Blackwater County and returned to his house in the county seat.
Calling it a house was generous—it was merely a small hut, located on the edge of Blackwater County's town. Countless other huts like it stood nearby, all occupied by impoverished people.
After returning home, Su Xian hurried to the river nearby and washed the blood from his saber.
He even jumped into the river, using something resembling soapberries to bathe and washing all his clothes as well.
A cat's sense of smell should be quite sharp, right?
Su Xian wanted to wash away all the various scents on his body, lest he encounter that cat's parents or something when he went up the mountain later.
After changing into another set of clothes, Su Xian returned home and hung up the freshly washed garments.
Only then did he examine the changes in the Demon Strategy.
[Ding! Slayed one unranked cat demon and obtained 123 years of Remaining Lifespan.] Lord of Demons: Su Xian Realm: Outer Strength Perfection Cultivation Method: None Martial Skill: Grade One · Tiger Subduing Demon Saber Technique—Perfection! Remaining Lifespan: One year Demon Lifespan: 123 years
"An unranked cat demon can actually live that long?"
Seeing the lifespan displayed in the Demon Strategy, Su Xian could not help feeling secretly shocked.
A normal cat living to twenty years was already considered exceptionally long-lived.
Yet this cat demon could live for over a hundred years!
Looking at the single year of lifespan he had left, Su Xian felt troubled.
After recalling the original body's memories once more, Su Xian finally relaxed.
The martial path in this world could extend one's lifespan as well!
"Looks like my current goal is to obtain a Martial Dao Cultivation Method and break through to the Skin Grinding Realm! I need to see whether it can increase my lifespan!"
"However, Martial Dao Cultivation Methods aren't easy to obtain!" Su Xian furrowed his brow.
Blackwater County had three major powers: first, the Azure Dragon Gang; second, the Azure Cloud Medical Hall; and third, the Blazing Sun Martial Arts School.
As for the government, its influence was practically nonexistent.
Among them, the Azure Dragon Gang and Blazing Sun Martial Arts School were the most powerful. Whenever Su Xian gathered medicinal herbs, he sold them to the Azure Cloud Medical Hall's herb buyers.
All three powers possessed martial cultivation methods. The simplest way to obtain one was, of course, to join the Blazing Sun Martial Arts School.
The Blazing Sun Martial Arts School accepted disciples as long as they paid. One could obtain a low-level Internal Cultivation Method, but afterward, everything depended on one's sincerity.
As for the Azure Cloud Medical Hall, anyone who wanted a martial cultivation method could only sell themselves! As for the Azure Dragon Gang, one had to sell one's life! And even then, there was no guarantee of obtaining one!
After thinking for a moment,
Su Xian took out all his savings. Even then, he had only three taels of silver.
Joining the Blazing Sun Martial Arts School required at least five taels of silver, leaving him two taels short!
Those three taels of silver had been painstakingly saved by Su Xian through frugal living. Making up the missing two taels would be harder than reaching the heavens!
"Should I go into the mountains to gather herbs again?" Su Xian muttered to himself.
"But unless I find some particularly valuable medicinal herbs, it would still take a long time to earn two taels of silver! It's too slow!"
Su Xian's brows drew tightly together. Even though his Outer Strength had reached Perfection, he could survive in the outer reaches of Green Dragon Mountain as long as he was careful!
But he had just killed that juvenile cat demon. Its parents might go berserk in the outer reaches in the coming days!
He could not enter Green Dragon Mountain for the time being!
At that moment, Su Xian's ears twitched. He heard some commotion coming from nearby.
"Hmm! It looks like an opportunity has arrived!"
Su Xian's eyes lit up. He had recognized who was causing the commotion!
Su Xian stepped outside and saw the scene nearby. Three men who looked like ruffians were beating a person mercilessly.
Many people stood watching around them, yet not a single one spoke.
Su Xian recognized the three ruffians. They belonged to a small branch hall under the Azure Dragon Gang,
and usually bullied men and women, collected protection fees, occasionally robbed people, and also dealt in loan-sharking on the side.
If someone could not repay a loan, they would sell the women directly to brothels and the men to people with peculiar tastes.
Su Xian's method of gathering the remaining two taels of silver was very simple: borrow it from their loan sharks!
Su Xian had a refined and somewhat handsome appearance. Relying on that, borrowing two taels of silver from the three of them should not be difficult!
As for repaying the money afterward?
Money borrowed through one's own ability, of course, did not need to be repaid!
Before you continue