Slaying the Great Ape Demon!

"To reach the peak of the Spirit Concealment Realm in just one year after joining the Jinyiwei, leaping across five stages with nothing but the commonplace Body Tempering Fist—what a terrifying level of martial talent!"

Lu Xuenning couldn't help but exclaim.

She had been tempered with medicinal baths from childhood. Once her bones and sinews had matured, she began practicing martial arts at thirteen. It had taken her five years to leap across five stages and reach the peak of the Spirit Concealment Realm.

That was already an impressive pace. But compared with Chen Fan, she could only feel ashamed of her own inadequacy!

The White Ape, who Chen Fan had knocked down again, endured the agony in his body and scrambled to his feet. Then he leaped up, climbed a pillar in the hall, and reached the rafters. There, he produced a pitch-black cudgel about a zhang and a half long!

"Even with the Ruyi Jingu Bang in your hands, you still can't become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!"

Chen Fan grinned at the White Ape, who stood hunched over on the rafters, gripping the Dark Gold Cudgel.

"I admit I underestimated you. But today, you're dead!"

Gripping the Dark Gold Cudgel, the White Ape leaped into the air and brought it crashing down toward Chen Fan!

"Draw Sword Slash!"

Chen Fan drew the Hundred Refinements Embroidered Spring Blade from his waist and unleashed the Great Perfection Level Draw Sword Slash. His blade flashed, and a streak of cold light appeared from nowhere.

A fierce gale accompanied the slash, and the air rang with repeated sonic booms. Its terrifying force, paired with a blade technique as seamless as a whole, shot straight toward the White Ape.

This slash represented the peak of Chen Fan's strength at that moment. It was as if, after drawing his blade tens of thousands of times, he had poured the blade intent from every one of those strokes into this single slash!

Clang!

The Hundred Refinements Embroidered Spring Blade collided with the Dark Gold Cudgel in the White Ape's hands, ringing like striking metal and stone. A thunderous crack followed. Chen Fan cleaved the cudgel in two, and his blade's momentum did not falter as it swept toward the White Ape's neck!

Splurt!

Chen Fan's slash left a bloody line across the White Ape's neck. The demon froze, its massive body seeming to lose all control as it fell from the air. Its one-zhang-tall body separated from its head, and Demon Blood gushed from the severed neck, soon staining a wide patch of ground red!

[Slayed a Spirit Concealment Realm Fifth Stage Great Ape Demon. Stole ninety-nine years of lifespan!]

"Was that the Draw Sword Slash you just used?"

Lu Xuenning asked, sounding unsure.

She had never practiced the Draw Sword Slash herself, but plenty of people had. Even if she hadn't eaten pork, she'd seen pigs run.

Chen Fan's slash had clearly carried formidable Blade Intent. To cultivate the Draw Sword Slash to the point of manifesting Blade Intent was simply unbelievable!

"Draw Sword Slash at the Great Perfection Level," Chen Fan corrected her.

"So that was the Draw Sword Slash at the Great Perfection Level. I really have never seen that before."

Lu Xuenning nodded, a little dazed. After all, who would be bored enough to cultivate a commonplace Draw Sword Slash to the Great Perfection Level?

Well, she'd seen it now!

"Do you know of any other Demonic Creatures in Ping'an County?"

Chen Fan asked.

By now, he had a rough grasp of his own strength.

As long as he wasn't facing a great demon in the Spirit Aperture Realm, he should be able to kill it. Even a great demon at the peak of the Spirit Concealment Realm was within his reach.

The White Ape had only just entered the Marrow Asura stage, the fifth pass of the Spirit Concealment Realm, and hadn't finished tempering its marrow. Even so, Chen Fan hadn't needed to exert himself much to kill it.

Two punches had left it dazed, and then one slash had finished it off.

So he didn't think he'd have much trouble against a great demon at the peak of the Spirit Concealment Realm. After all, he had reached that peak himself, and had cultivated all five passes to their limits. His body was more than a match for a great demon!

Though Lu Xuenning was also a martial artist at the peak of the Spirit Concealment Realm, she still fell short of him. By that reasoning, even Lord Cao De, the Baihu of their Jinyiwei, might not be his match!

"Not at the moment."

"The Demonic Creatures who infiltrate Ping'an County are very careful, and they have people helping cover their tracks, so it's hard to find them."

"This Ape Demon was too brazen and went too far. That's how I was able to follow the trail and track it down."

Lu Xuenning replied.

"An establishment as big as Spring View Pavilion surely has more than just this White Ape. There may be other Demonic Creatures under its command. Let's search the place and see if we can find any."

When Chen Fan heard that Lu Xuenning knew of no other Demonic Creatures, his interest waned. Then he thought of thoroughly searching Spring View Pavilion.

"Sounds reasonable."

Lu Xuenning nodded.

The two of them searched Spring View Pavilion. Chen Fan found a Rat Demon and a pig demon, and killed them without hesitation.

[Slayed a Spirit Concealment Realm Second Pass Black Pig Demon. Stole thirty-three years of lifespan!]

[Slayed a Spirit Concealment Realm First Pass Rat Demon. Stole forty-five years of lifespan!]

Meanwhile, Lu Xuenning found a Fox Demon who had posed as a celebrated courtesan, as well as a Dog Demon guarding the dungeon cages in Spring View Pavilion's rear courtyard.

The dungeon cages beneath the rear courtyard held virtuous women who had recently been abducted by Spring View Pavilion, as well as women their parents had sold there.

In truth, most parents who sold their daughters to Spring View Pavilion hadn't wanted to do so. The establishment had schemed against them, saddling them with exorbitant debts and driving them to desperation until they had no choice but to sell their children.

Chen Fan regretted seeing Lu Xuenning kill the Fox Demon and the Dog Demon. If he had slain them himself, he would have gained another two batches of Demonic Creature Lifespan.

Still, the trip to Spring View Pavilion had been fruitful. They had rescued many innocent people, slain three Demonic Creatures, and gained a total of one hundred and seventy-seven years of Demonic Creature Lifespan.

Lu Xuenning and Chen Fan carried the corpses of the slain Demonic Creatures into the hall. They sent Spring View Pavilion's guests away, and before long, people from the County Government Office and the Jinyiwei arrived.

This time, Jinyiwei Zongqi Officer Li Mo led the team, bringing several trusted Xiaoqi Officers and Jinyiwei members with him.

As for the Government Office personnel, Lu Xuenning had summoned them in her capacity as a constable.

Slaying monsters and demons was the Jinyiwei's duty. But Spring View Pavilion had not only harbored Demonic Creatures; it also had human accomplices who forced women into prostitution and preyed on the common folk. So it was only natural for the Government Office to get involved.

In fact, the Jinyiwei and local Government Offices often worked together on cases involving Demonic Creatures. Such cases typically fell under both their jurisdictions and involved overlapping interests: Demonic Creatures and their victims alike.

"This subordinate, Chen Fan, pays his respects to Zongqi Officer Li!"

Seeing Li Mo arrive, Chen Fan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed.

"You're with the Ninth Squad?"

Li Mo glanced at Chen Fan, then nodded.

The Jinyiwei Baihu Office had two Zongqi Officers. Although either could call on any squad, they each had their own closer and more distant connections.

For instance, Chen Fan's immediate superior, Wang Chao, was closer to Huang Chengyue, so Li Mo rarely called on members of the Ninth Squad to help him with anything.

As a result, Li Mo only had a passing impression of Chen Fan, a member of the Ninth Squad. After all, Chen Fan wasn't an old hand in the Jinyiwei. He had only joined last year.

"Yes," Chen Fan replied.

"Return to your squad for now."

Li Mo nodded.

He didn't care why Chen Fan had shown up at Spring View Pavilion. But since Chen Fan had stepped forward to greet him, he couldn't very well snub him.

As for Chen Fan slaying the Great Ape Demon, Lu Xuenning had agreed to keep it secret at his request.

Someone had been targeting him from behind the scenes. He had initially suspected Huang Chengyue, but Lu Xuenning had vouched for him. And after secretly tailing Huang Chengyue for several days, Chen Fan had seen no sign that the man was colluding with Demonic Creatures.

So he felt he had suspected the wrong person.