Demon Aspect

Qin Mansion, East Wing.

Inside the room.

Qin Jiu set the black cloth-wrapped bundle on the table, then opened it, revealing a wooden box.

This was the Yin Underworld Soil he had sent someone to procure earlier.

The name sounded quite intimidating.

In truth, it was merely soil pressed beneath a coffin.

Of course, the grave in question had to be over a century old.

Only then could Yin Underworld Soil be produced.

"This stuff... I wonder how that kid got his hands on it. Hopefully he didn't go digging up someone's ancestral grave in secret."

"The inscription conditions for Blood Sha are pretty twisted too."

"Who knew it would require this."

He shook his head inwardly.

Then he reached out and brushed his hand over the soil in the box.

Twisted as the inscription conditions were, Qin Jiu wasn't about to let go of a purple-grade talent. Now that he had stepped into the Second Refining, the number of talents the Red Seal could bear had increased from three to nine.

With that many slots.

There was no reason to give up on the inscription just because of some twisted conditions.

As he pondered.

The Red Seal in the depths of his mind.

Rumbled with a deep roar.

The ferocious beast-image diagram slowly faded away.

A sudden surge of intuition rose within him.

Qin Jiu instinctively activated the newly inscribed Blood Sha talent.

"Huum"

In an instant.

His physique, which had been gradually bulking up from martial training, visibly began to shrink. His face turned deathly pale in the blink of an eye.

"..."

In that moment.

Qin Jiu couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath, hurriedly shutting off the ability.

"Blood Sha..."

"So that's the nature of this talent."

His expression shifted between light and shadow.

This talent was an ability to condense blood and qi, allowing one to undergo a transformation.

The most terrifying aspect of it.

Was that it could devour the blood essence of other living beings to nourish the body.

"How is this any different from a Demon..."

Qin Jiu's heart was far from calm.

He closed his eyes slightly and sensed that after activating the talent just now, a yin-sha force had appeared within his blood and qi.

And the faint inner strength inside his body.

Was now intermingling with that yin-sha force.

"So this is the change brought by the blood and qi transformation?"

He pressed his hand against the tabletop in front of him. Qin Jiu channeled a bit of inner strength, and a palm print was immediately left behind.

And within that palm print.

The tabletop, made of precious Iron Wood.

Was steadily being corroded, forming tiny pinhole-sized cavities. A chilling, decaying aura also began to spread.

Seeing this, Qin Jiu took a deep breath.

"A blade may be sharp, but if its wielder is a demonic cultivator, it becomes a Blood-Slaughtering Demon Weapon. If it falls into the hands of the righteous, it becomes a sword to slay demons and vanquish evil. I should face myself squarely, without rejecting anything."

"But it's best not to reveal this inner strength to others."

He thought to himself.

In truth.

Aside from its unsightly external appearance, the enhancement gained from condensing blood and qi in this way was extremely immense.

The moment he activated his talent, Qin Jiu's physique appeared to have shrunk significantly, his face pale and weak—but that was merely from the consumption of blood and qi. In truth, his strength had surged by nearly thirty percent at this very moment.

If he were to fight Huang Jing and his companion again, he had full confidence that he could swiftly take them both down with pure brute force alone.

"If I add inner force laced with Yin Sha..."

Qin Jiu's thoughts churned.

He took a bottle of pills from his bosom and poured them into his mouth.

Then, with unsteady steps, he walked out of the room.

"Uncle Wang, go to the storeroom and fetch some Blood Strengthening Pills for me."

"Young Master, you—"

Wang Yue was startled.

He hurried forward to support him.

But before he could finish his sentence, he stopped himself. After all, the young master had broken through twice in less than a month, stepping straight into the Second Refining—there must be secrets behind it, and pressing further would be inappropriate.

Mulling this over, he helped Qin Jiu to the pavilion, then quickly left the East Wing.

Before long, he returned with the pills.

Qin Jiu tipped one out and tossed it into his mouth, then activated Withered Wood Meets Spring. A flush of healthy color soon rose to his face.

"These pills, and even spirit beasts—"

"they can all replenish my blood and qi."

"I truly shouldn't view Blood Sha as a fearsome monster. With pills to assist, refining blood and qi, its Yin Sha can even elevate my combat power. As long as I don't use this talent to commit heinous acts, who dares say I'm not on the righteous path?"

With that thought, Qin Jiu felt the gloom lift.

He then glanced at Wang Yue, who kept his eyes downcast, his earlier shock and doubt completely gone.

"Young Master, word has come back from the Demon Suppression Bureau."

"Oh?"

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow.

Wang Yue lowered his voice: "Those three have all entered the Demon Suppression Bureau now. And as for the exemption quotas you wanted to trade for, there's an unexpected bonus—the County Magistrate, as a reward, has exempted the Qin Family from all future conscription quotas."

"Now the Qin Family can choose for themselves."

"If anyone wants to join the Demon Suppression Bureau, they can sign up directly. If not, no one will come to conscript them anymore."

"That is indeed an unexpected bonus."

Qin Jiu's face lit up with joy.

Originally, according to his plan, he had Fu Hanchuan conscript Qin Jingming and the other two in exchange for some exemption quotas.

He never expected things to turn out so favorably.

"Won't this breed resentment in those three?"

Wang Yue asked hesitantly.

Qin Jiu sneered: "That's unavoidable. But right now, they have no time to resent anyone."

Did they think they could just walk away from the Qin Family?

Those three had benefited from the Qin Family for years.

Now that they'd cut ties, naturally, the total debt had to be settled—they would have to repay everything.

As for resentment...

Qin Jiu wasn't worried.

First, the Qin Family still had Wang Yue guarding it. Second, in just a little more time, he was confident he could match a Three Refinements martial artist. There was no need for concern.

"There's one more thing."

At that moment, Wang Yue spoke again: "These past few days, because of the conscription, the Qian Family has lost all its experts, and their estate has been carved up by other forces. The Fisher Gang and the Chai Gang are among them."

"Them?"

Qin Jiu frowned slightly.

As for who was behind the Fisher Gang and the Chai Gang, he still couldn't be certain. But under that Ghost Illumination earlier, both the County Magistrate and Fu Hanchuan had shown no ill intent toward the Qin Family—which suggested that perhaps they weren't the ones pulling the strings.

Time turned.

In the blink of an eye, another five days passed.

These past few days, the Outer City was filled with the wails of the starving, and Demons surged in endlessly like unquenchable weeds.

The Demon Suppression Bureau was stretched thin.

They could only continuously pull in personnel from under the major powers to cope.

Every family suffered bitterly.

And on this day.

Qin Jiu was practicing his martial arts in the courtyard.

Wang Yue, with worry etched between his brows, hurried to the East Wing to report.

"Young master, the County Office sent word."

"They want you to go to the Demon Suppression Bureau now."

"Now?"

Qin Jiu frowned.

Logically speaking.

The County Magistrate had exempted the Qin Family from the conscription quota. If there was nothing urgent at the Demon Suppression Bureau, there was no reason for them to summon him. But if there was something...

"Could they be conscripting people from the Qin Family again?"

His heart immediately sank.

Yet, after bringing Wang Yue to the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Qin Jiu was stunned to find.

All of Songshan County's Internal Strengthening martial artists—such as Han Zheng, Nan Zhenxiong, Tang Yu, and others—were gathered in the main hall of the Demon Suppression Bureau.