Blood Sha Skill (Not Yet Initiated)

"Huh?"

"What's this?"

Chen Fan saw that Cao De's clothes across his chest had been battered to tatters. A corner of animal hide peeked out from beneath them, and Chen Fan pulled it from Cao De's body.

It was a scroll made of animal hide, yellowed all over and steeped in the passage of time. When Chen Fan unrolled it, he found it covered in densely packed tiny characters.

But the hide scroll was incomplete. A small piece had been destroyed.

Just then, Chen Fan's attribute panel popped up:

[Divine Aperture Realm cultivation method Blood Sha Skill discovered. Added to collection!]

[Blood Sha Skill (Not Yet Initiated)]

"Is this the Blood Sha Skill Cao De cultivated?"

"Why would he carry something so important with him?"

Chen Fan murmured to himself, puzzled.

"It's precisely because the Blood Sha Skill is so important that he carried it with him, so he could look it over and study it whenever he wanted."

"Besides, for a powerful Martial Artist, nothing is safer than keeping precious things close at hand!"

"The Blood Sha Skill of the Blood Sha Sect does have its merits. At its peak, it can open up Thirty-Six Acupoints throughout the body. But this cultivation method has far too many side effects."

"The Longyuan Prefecture Jinyiwei Commander's Office armory holds Divine Aperture Realm cultivation methods no weaker than the Blood Sha Skill, and those methods have virtually no side effects."

"With your talent, cultivating those orthodox methods is the wise choice. Don't let the ready-made Divine Aperture Realm method before your eyes cloud your judgment."

Lu Xuenning cautioned him.

Chen Fan was a promising talent, but he came from a humble background and had limited horizons. If he couldn't resist the temptation and recklessly cultivated the Blood Sha Skill, that would be disastrous.

Because the Jinyiwei would never allow a Blood Demon to emerge!

The Blood Sha Sect had a bad reputation, but the imperial court had tolerated them. After all, although every member of the Blood Sha Sect was like a rabid dog, they were just as ruthless when it came to killing Demonic Creatures.

So long as they could slay demons and eliminate evil, the imperial court was willing to let them exist.

But later, a member of the Blood Sha Sect emerged with unparalleled talent. In just ten years, he cultivated the Blood Sha Skill to perfection and opened up Thirty-Six Acupoints throughout his body.

Later, he pushed the Blood Sha Skill to an even higher level, evolving it into the Blood Sha Magic.

He relied on the Blood Sha Magic to dominate far and wide. But little by little, the Baleful Intent corrupted his mind, and he became a demon who called himself the Blood Demon.

Relying on his extraordinary strength, the Blood Demon slaughtered innocents. Before long, his name resounded throughout Longyuan Prefecture. Later, he single-handedly massacred an entire city, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of lives in a blood ritual to help him cultivate his demonic arts.

His actions were more demonic than the Demonic Creatures themselves!

His many atrocities finally enraged the imperial court. The Jinyiwei Commander of Yun Prefecture personally moved against him and killed him, then ordered the Jinyiwei to wipe out the Blood Sha Sect.

Afterward, the Jinyiwei classified the Blood Sha Skill as a demonic art and completely destroyed every means of passing it on.

They claimed to have destroyed every means of transmitting the Blood Sha Skill, but fragments of it still circulated among certain factions.

It was just that no one would admit to possessing a fragment of the Blood Sha Skill.

The Blood Sha Skill in Cao De's hands had also been partly destroyed, but its core instructions were intact. It even recorded the Blood Sha Palm, a martial technique paired with the Blood Sha Skill.

Who knew where Cao De had gotten it?

"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid!"

Chen Fan smiled calmly at her words and replied.

"The Demonic Creatures in Ping'an County have been completely wiped out."

"Your plan to lure the snake out of its hole also exposed Cao De's true colors, and in the end, he died."

"Now our rear should finally be secure."

Lu Xuenning let out a long breath. Chen Fan's presence had been a great help. Otherwise, she truly wouldn't have known how to clean up the mess in Ping'an County.

"Don't let your guard down. At least a third of the Demonic Creatures from Black Mountain died in Ping'an County. That will soon draw the attention of the demons on Black Mountain."

"If the Three Great Demons of Black Mountain attack Ping'an County together, we'll be in danger."

Chen Fan had never met the famed Black Mountain Three Demons. If they were only at the Spirit Concealment Realm Peak, then even if they had extraordinary origins and far surpassed other Demonic Creatures of the same realm, Chen Fan wouldn't fear them. After all, he had forced a Divine Aperture Realm Martial Artist like Cao De to kill himself. Three mere Demonic Creatures were nothing by comparison.

But if any of them had reached the Divine Aperture Realm, Chen Fan couldn't say for sure how things would go. The gap between the Divine Aperture Realm and the Spirit Concealment Realm was considerable.

The key reason Cao De had been no match for him was that Chen Fan's body was simply too powerful, rendering the Blood Sha Palm Cao De had prided himself on completely ineffective.

If Cao De had broken through to the Divine Aperture Realm normally and used ordinary true qi, then even Chen Fan wouldn't have found it easy to kill him.

Breaking through was harder for the Demon Race than for the Human Race. But every breakthrough brought a fundamental transformation, and the Demon Race already possessed physiques superior to those of the Human Race. The difference showed itself in full between the Spirit Concealment Realm and the Divine Aperture Realm.

So if anyone among the Black Mountain Three Demons had reached the Divine Aperture Realm, they might be far stronger than Cao De.

"I've already asked Longyuan Prefecture for help. Tomorrow morning, I'll write another letter and send word of the situation to Longyuan Prefecture by carrier pigeon. It takes no more than three days for a carrier pigeon to fly from Ping'an County to Longyuan Prefecture."

"It should take even less time for Longyuan Prefecture to send reinforcements. As long as we hold out for three to five days, they should arrive."

Lu Xuenning spoke with complete confidence.

"From what I know, Cao De asked the Longyuan Prefecture Jinyiwei Commander's Office for help several times, but they never sent anyone. Why are you so certain your plea will bring reinforcements?"

Chen Fan looked at Lu Xuenning, puzzled.

He, the newly appointed Zongqi Officer, was an eighth-rank official, while Cao De, a Baihu, held seventh rank. Lu Xuenning was only a ninth-rank Black-Robed Head Catcher, on the same level as a Jinyiwei Xiaoqi Officer.

Yet Lu Xuenning had dared to gather evidence that Cao De was colluding with Demonic Creatures, and could communicate directly with the Jinyiwei Commander's Office through the Longyuan Prefecture Government Office.

Cao De, the Baihu Master, had personally gone to Longyuan Prefecture to request help again and again, to no avail. But Lu Xuenning, a mere ninth-rank Black-Robed Head Catcher, was certain a carrier pigeon would bring reinforcements.

Why?

Chen Fan gave Lu Xuenning another searching look. This ninth-rank Black-Robed Head Catcher, who had been sent from Longyuan Prefecture, was far from simple. Not simple at all!

"I..."

"I once studied under a master in Longyuan Prefecture. My master is a Divine Aperture Realm expert, and my senior brothers and sisters all hold important positions in various parts of Longyuan Prefecture."

"So although my official rank is low, people in every quarter are willing to do me a favor. And even if they weren't, how could my senior brothers, senior sisters, and master bear to watch me die in this little county town of Ping'an?"

"That's why I'm certain Longyuan Prefecture will send someone, and that person will be a Divine Aperture Realm Martial Artist."

Lu Xuenning first faltered at his question, then her eyes shifted as she quickly came up with a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"I see."

"I had no idea your master's sect had such powerful connections."

Chen Fan nodded at her words. Lu Xuenning's explanation did make sense.

And yet it didn't.

If Lu Xuenning's master's sect had such powerful connections, with her senior brothers and sisters holding important positions throughout the prefecture city, why had she come all the way from Longyuan Prefecture to this place to serve as a lowly ninth-rank Black-Robed Head Catcher?

Was it really just because she came from Ping'an County?

Or had she come here with some other purpose?