Martial Saint, Gu Linyuan

The blind spot beneath the lamp—how interesting. Su Ye bared his teeth in a cold sneer.

He scanned the footprints on the ground, which had clearly been disguised, then strode straight into the courtyard.

With a muffled bang, the flimsy wooden door flew off its hinges and crashed into the house. With his cultivated strength, night was no different from day to Su Ye. At a glance, he spotted the targets he was looking for.

Seeing this, Chen Qing and Tang Li immediately tried to break through the wall and escape. Su Ye sprang forward in an instant, giving them no chance at all. Reaching them, he rapidly struck out with his palms again and again.

Both of them lay on the ground with their spines broken, blood continually spilling from their mouths. Looking down at them, Su Ye said, "You're from the Nether Abyss Demon Court."

The two said nothing, only glaring fixedly at Su Ye.

Catching their looks, Su Ye said casually, "Since you don't want to make this easy, don't blame me for being cruel."

"Big Black, go get ten jin of aphrodisiacs. Then find some livestock. Tell the villagers of Chaiqiao Town to come watch the show."

At his words, the woman's face turned ghastly. "You... actually thought of something so vile."

Then, as if all the air had gone out of her, she hesitated before speaking. "We really are from the Nether Abyss Demon Court. We're both members of the Blood Lotus Cult."

Su Ye had heard the name Blood Lotus Cult from Tang Heihu. He hadn't expected to run into them now.

The woman spoke again.

"My name is Chen Qing. We were forced into this, too."

According to Chen Qing, the Blood Lotus Cult had been founded by humans living in the Nether Abyss Demon Court.

It had been established to resist the Demonic Beasts. In secret, its members gathered talented children to train and quietly built up their strength, waiting for the moment when humanity could launch a counterattack.

But the good times did not last. While cooperating with a major human faction, they let their secret slip and were discovered by the Nether Abyss Demon Court. The court not only slaughtered all the cult's senior members, but took the opportunity to seize control of the Blood Lotus Cult.

The Blood Lotus Cult had now become a vassal of the Nether Abyss Demon Court. It was gathering talented disciples on a massive scale, using even cruder methods to lure and abduct them, taking whoever it could.

Using their human identities as cover, they also slipped into the heartlands of humanity, colluded with sects and noble families, and spread rumors to deceive ordinary people into going to the Nether Abyss Demon Court to die.

The purpose of their trip was simple enough: raise Mountain Ghosts, then, once they had drunk their fill of human blood and fallen into slumber, seize the chance to put them into a copper cauldron and stew them with various ingredients.

That yielded a rare foodstuff known as Ghost Head Cake, beloved by the Demonic Beasts of the Nether Abyss Demon Court.

Su Ye continued questioning them. "You said the Nether Abyss Demon Court is preparing to invade Great Xia, and that Great Xia is sure to lose."

Chen Qing casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. "We were also here to test Great Xia."

"In the battle at Demon Suppression Pass forty years ago, Great Xia's Martial Saint was already advanced in years. He was also badly injured in that battle, and rumors say he won't last much longer.

"Over the past few years, we haven't exactly been able to come and go freely in Yunzhou, but it's been much easier than before."

As she spoke, Chen Qing's expression was sincere and her voice gentle. "Great Xia won't be able to hold out forever. Don't you need to think about your own future?"

"Let us go tonight, and if you ever need us in the future, we'll do everything we can to help you."

"Since that's the case..." Su Ye murmured.

Chen Qing's face brightened with joy, but the sudden flash of a blade, widening in her pupils,

shattered her fantasy.

In an instant, both heads went rolling to the side. Su Ye bent down and searched them, but apart from some silver, he found nothing else.

"Boss, I don't think we can stay in Yunzhou. How about we get out of here, fast?" Big Black had obviously heard the conversation inside. It dropped from under the eaves, its face full of worry.

"If the sky falls, the tall will hold it up. You're scared stiff over a few suspicions?"

Su Ye strode out of the courtyard, thinking aloud. "They only dared to sneak in, and they haven't even taken half a city. The Yunzhou branch of the Demon Suppression Division is still operating as usual.

"Thinking about it, the Nether Abyss Demon Court isn't ready yet—or Great Xia already has a peerless expert guarding it, keeping them from acting rashly.

"The more of these strange spirits and demons, the better. They'll provide Assistance Points, and save me the trouble of searching for them."

"Demon Suppression Pass."

Su Ye quickly searched his memories. The original owner didn't know much about Demon Suppression Pass.

He only knew that it lay between Great Xia and Great Zhou, guarded jointly by the two nations. It had been built ten thousand years ago by a super-empire known as Great Qin.

Today's Great Xia, Great Zhou, and the surrounding nations—including the Demonic Beast territories beyond their borders—had all once belonged to Great Qin.

Demon Suppression Pass had endured ten thousand years. Though it had seen its share of twists and turns, it had always remained in human hands.

"Martial Saint."

Murmuring those two words, Su Ye couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration. Only someone who had reached the Heaven Phenomenon Realm could be called a Martial Saint.

He knew of Martial Saint Gu Linyuan. Who in Great Xia didn't? He was a guardian deity of sorts, who had protected humanity for a thousand years.

As for more information about the Martial Saint, there was naturally no way someone of his lowly station could have learned it.

Su Ye had been in this world for just over a month, and knew even less about the matter. Chen Qing's mention of it had barely jogged his memory.

"Big Black, we're going back to Zhang Manor," Su Ye said, pulling himself from his thoughts.

In the rear courtyard of Zhang Manor, he casually chopped off several Mountain Ghost heads and handed them to Big Black to hold. Then Su Ye returned to the altar from earlier and summoned the person in charge of the place along with the villagers.

Looking down at the crowd, Su Ye spoke in a clear voice. "There'll be no more sacrifices from now on."

At his words, the crowd exchanged glances for a moment, but no one dared to speak. At last, a middle-aged man shouldered his way through and cautiously stepped forward.

The man steeled himself and asked, "Do you mean the Mountain God was slain by you, sir?"

"That's not the point. I called you all here for something else."

As he spoke, Su Ye's gaze turned cold and his voice grew ominous. "Anyone who privately worships evil gods is to be executed under the law.

"Since this is your first offense, I'll spare your lives if you burn every idol and shrine in your homes."

"Lackeys of the court, blocking us from living—you deserve to die!" a voice suddenly shouted from the crowd.

Su Ye turned toward the voice and struck. The shout cut off instantly. Great Xia strictly forbade privately preaching and recruiting followers; offenders were all subjected to brutal punishment.

He didn't know why the law was so harsh, but there had to be a reason. It was safest to follow the rules for now.

"You..." Another voice questioned him, only to be cut short by another flash of the blade.

"You butcher! If you've got the guts, kill us all!" A young man roared, his face flushed red.

Su Ye didn't care about such threats in the slightest. He raised his hand and struck again. At last, the crowd fell silent. Everyone wore an expression of terror and hurriedly brought out everything connected to the Blood Lotus Cult, from their person and from their homes.

Some even hurried home to gather up every last item, then ran back in front of Su Ye and burned them before his eyes.

Flames soared into the sky, illuminating the pallid faces of the crowd.

As more and more people came streaming in, fierce fires gradually rose all around the altar.

In the heat of the flames, a little color slowly returned to the crowd's faces.