Chaos, Demons Arise

A month of stop-and-go travel had passed. During this time, Xiao Han had lingered around various cities and towns, carrying out the work of subduing demons and vanquishing monsters.

Since the current national preceptor, Pu Du Cihang, was actually a Thousand-Year Centipede Demon in disguise, with such a fiend in power, how could the world not fall into chaos?

As Xiao Han traveled along, although the empire still belonged to the emperor for now, if this chaos continued to spread unchecked, before Yan Chixia could eliminate the centipede demon, warlords across the land would surely rise in rebellion.

When that happened, heroes would emerge from all sides, iron horses and golden spears would clash in slaughter, only causing the already destitute commoners to lose their homes and families, wandering as refugees. And seeing such a troubled world, the demons and monsters would grow even bolder. The battlefields strewn with corpses would be thick with bloodlust, continuously strengthening the power of evil.

Humans killing each other—whether their flesh and blood or their resentful souls in death—would become the greatest nourishment for those fiends!

In just over a month, Xiao Han had killed nearly two hundred monsters. Although most of these were Lesser Demons that had only recently gained sentience, there were no shortage of Great Demons equivalent to the 9-star Dou Master level!

A few days ago, Xiao Han had encountered such a fiend!

It was a mountain piled high with bleached bones, its leader a Tiger Demon skilled in the art of summoning wind and rain, which made Xiao Han feel like he had stepped into Journey to the West.

That Tiger Demon possessed extremely high intelligence and had already taken human form. Its underlings—over a hundred Lesser Demons—all had at least 8 or 9-star Dou Practitioner strength. On one side of their mountain, they raised an entire town of humans as livestock for food.

Before this, Taoist priests and monks had come to subdue the demon, but the Tiger Demon had set traps and used cunning schemes to wear them down until they died!

Whether cultivators of the Dao or of Buddhism, the Essence Blood contained in their bodies was incredibly potent. Even an ordinary Taoist priest possessed more vital energy and Essence Blood than a hundred mortals!

That Tiger Demon had devoured three Taoist priests and two monks, making its cultivation unfathomably deep.

But for Xiao Han, who had actively released his Demon Armor and Demonic Qi, appearing as a "Demonic Cultivator," the Tiger Demon let down its guard. After all, among humans, Taoist priests and monks were the Demon Clan's greatest enemies.

Demonic Cultivators, however, were different. Those ruthless Demonic Cultivators, in order to practice their evil arts, would sometimes massacre an entire town without batting an eye! In the human world, Demonic Cultivators were infamous, like rats crossing the street—everyone wanted to beat them!

More often than not, those Demonic Cultivators would collude with the Demon Clan or evil ghosts, committing arson and murder together.

At first, the Tiger Demon wanted to swallow this Demonic Cultivator whole, but feared being tainted by the Demonic Qi. Seeing that this young Demonic Cultivator was already so powerful at such a young age, with Martial Path cultivation no weaker than its own, and that his sect behind him was surely not something it could provoke, it instead decided to befriend him.

During this time, Xiao Han had naturally figured out the status of Demonic Cultivators in this world.

Since the Tiger Demon had invited him, he had no reason to refuse. So he followed the Tiger Demon up the mountain, waiting for an opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

Seeming to think that Xiao Han, as a "Demonic Cultivator," must need to practice evil arts, the Tiger Demon, eager to curry favor, ordered its underling Lesser Demons to grab ten young virgins from the human town they kept penned up. They stripped them clean and sent them into Xiao Han's room for his enjoyment.

Looking at the ten young girls on the bed, stripped bare like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, their tear-streaked faces trembling in fear—it was truly pitiful.

They were human, yet they had no dignity, raised like livestock by the Tiger Demon, to be killed at will.

And from what the Tiger Demon had just said, it and the Lesser Demons on the mountain would first rape the captured girls to death, then wash them and throw them into the pot.

What a sin! And there were even a few little girls not yet ten years old! Seeing this scene, Xiao Han's heart burned with rage, and his killing intent toward the Tiger Demon surged even stronger!

Xiao Han closed his eyes and muttered, "Amitabha, sin, sin," then used his Soul Power to knock them unconscious.

When he opened his eyes again, his originally pitch-black pupils had transformed into eerie Dark Blue irises!

He drew his Crimson Longsword and activated the "Heaven and Earth Have No Limits, Tracking for Thousands of Miles" technique to spy on the Tiger Demon, finding it already fast asleep. Now was the perfect chance for a surprise attack!

So he crept along, sneaking from the Cave Mansion the Tiger Demon had arranged for him into the Tiger Demon's own cave. That the Tiger Demon had survived this long meant it naturally had extraordinary methods.

"ROAR!!!!"

Just as Xiao Han burst into the Tiger Demon's cave, the Tiger Demon was startled awake. Its head transformed into its tiger form, and it roared at Xiao Han, the sound shaking him into a momentary daze, losing the best chance for a sneak attack!

Taking advantage, it drew its tiger-head broadsword and swung at Xiao Han. The Tiger Demon's blade technique was also extremely formidable.

Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the cave, reverberating endlessly.

Man and tiger, sharp sword and broadsword clashing, fought from inside the cave to outside. Xiao Han wanted to move to an open area to have more room to maneuver, but he unknowingly played right into the Tiger Demon's hands.

"ROAR!! Wind, rain, thunder, lightning—urgent as the law commands! Heavenly Thunder, summon!"

With a mighty roar, the Tiger Demon actually pinched a Magic Formula and chanted an incantation like a human cultivator. Layers of thunderclouds were summoned, and raindrops the size of soybeans began falling from the sky.

Bolts of Heavenly Thunder descended from the heavens, like furious dragons, vowing to strike Xiao Han dead on the spot!

He immediately judged that he couldn't withstand even a single thunder dragon. Facing this situation, Xiao Han hesitated no longer and instantly summoned his complete Demon Armor!

His entire body was rapidly covered by silver-gray and Azure Blue Demon Armor—helmet, shoulder guards, Arm Armor, chest plate, leg armor, arm guards. Like a armored warrior from a Tokusatsu show, Xiao Han completed the summoning of his Demon Armor in an instant.

If the situation weren't so urgent, he would have wanted to shout a cool phrase like "Armor, combine!"

Although this was his first time summoning the Demon Armor in battle, the system's template directly instilled the method of complete control into Xiao Han. So, as if he had fought countless battles wearing the Demon Armor, he effortlessly transformed the thin Three-foot Sword in his hand into a giant sword in an instant, swinging it at the Tiger Demon with overwhelming ferocity.

However, Xiao Han intended to train his close-combat skills, so he held back his Demonic Flame. If he went all out, this Tiger Demon wouldn't last ten exchanges!

"KILL!!!"

After forcibly taking three thunder dragons head-on, Xiao Han roared and raised his giant sword, continuously hacking at the Tiger Demon.

Under the relentless bombardment of the heavy sword, the Tiger Demon was in agony. And not only that—Xiao Han seized the moment, throwing his Wrist Blade, which cut a wound in the Tiger Demon's thigh.

In an instant, the Spinning Blade's hit caused Xiao Han's Attack Speed and movement speed to surge by thirty percent.

Already struggling to hold on, the Tiger Demon couldn't withstand the assault. It was sent flying by a kick from Xiao Han's armored leg, a spray of Blood Mist bursting from its mouth!

"Grandfather, spare me! Grandfather, let's talk this out! I'm willing to offer all the treasures of Tiger Head Mountain, just beg Grandfather to spare my life!"

Kicked until it spat blood and was severely injured, the Tiger Demon had no backbone and knelt, kowtowing and begging for mercy. Its cultivation had plummeted, as good as crippled, but it still held the cultivation techniques. As long as it survived, in a few years, it would be a fine man again! Oh no, a fine demon!

Seeing this, Xiao Han sneered and used his foot to lift the Tiger Demon's tiger head: "You ungrateful beast, do I look like someone who's short on money, huh?!"

"Grandfather, spare me! Besides money, I also have some Dao-cultivation Magic Formulas, which I snatched from the Taoist priests and monks before!" The Tiger Demon, shaken by Xiao Han's killing intent, trembled and shook its head frantically, begging for mercy.

"Oh? That Summon Wind and Rain Technique you used just now—did you learn it from those Magic Formulas?" Xiao Han's interest was piqued. He hadn't expected to run into the very spells he'd been coveting all this time in this godforsaken place.

"Hand over those Magic Formulas, and I'll spare your life!"

"This humble one can hand over the formulas, but Grandfather must swear a Heavenly Dao Oath that you'll let this humble one go after you get them!" The Tiger Demon wiped the blood from the corner of its mouth and spoke cautiously to Xiao Han.

"Fine."

Xiao Han glanced at the Tiger Demon, then went through the motions of swearing the oath.

"Whoosh—"

After Xiao Han swore the oath, the Tiger Demon, feeling it had escaped death, finally breathed a sigh of relief. It then led Xiao Han into its Cave Mansion and opened a Secret Compartment, inside which lay a Buddhist Scripture and two Daoist Techniques, with a Dharma Sword placed beside them.

"Huh?!"

Xiao Han's killing intent surged: "Didn't you say you killed five exorcists? Why are there only three books?! Did you hide them?"

"Grandfather, spare me! It's not that I secretly kept any treasures—only three of those five carried scriptures with them. The other two just had ordinary travel bags!"

The Tiger Demon's legs gave way, and it knelt again, kowtowing for mercy.

"Hmph! I doubt you'd dare deceive me."

Xiao Han snorted coldly. "Gather all your underling Lesser Demons. Grandfather has a task for you. Once you finish this job for me, I'll let you go."

"Yes, yes, yes. This humble one will go summon those little brats right away." The Tiger Demon smiled ingratiatingly.

A quarter of an hour later, every Lesser Demon on the entire mountain had entered the Cave Mansion. Xiao Han looked at the pile of Energy Value and experience fodder before him, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

Boom!!!

"Flame Splitting Wave Ruler!!!"

With a single Flame Splitting Wave Ruler driven by Demonic Flame, all the Lesser Demons in the cave were instantly reduced to a pile of charred, stinking meat.

As the Tiger Demon lay dying, it stared at Xiao Han in terror: "You... you broke the Heavenly Dao Oath? Do you... not fear... Heaven's judgment?"

Xiao Han laughed coldly at this, chopping off the Tiger Demon's head: "Heaven dares to judge me? Don't you know—the Heavenly Dao of this world and I are wearing the same pair of pants!"