A Familiar Feeling (Thanks to Alliance Leader "Zhuang Shu" for the Reward)

Too young, in the end!

Though strange monsters were powerful, low-level ones clearly were not very intelligent.

Shen Changqing paced around the courtyard, intending to find the object the creature had truly possessed.

The earlier exchange

had already made that thing wary.

Without absolute certainty, or unless driven into a corner, it would never make a move.

Likewise,

if it attacked,

that proved one thing: he had already become a threat to it.

Originally, as Shen Changqing walked all over the courtyard, he could not be completely certain where the strange monster had taken possession.

But he had covered nearly every direction, and that thing had remained silent all along.

If there was any remaining place that stood out,

it could only be the tree in the courtyard.

Its branches and leaves were lush.

They should have been emerald green.

It was not autumn yet, so it was even less likely that the leaves all over the tree would have turned yellow and withered.

There was only one explanation for leaves turning yellow and withered.

Some external factor had caused it.

Strange monsters were supremely yin and icy cold.

To any living being, they were deadly poison.

Therefore,

it explained why a tree that should have been brimming with life had fallen into such an abnormal state.

Of course,

Shen Changqing could not be completely certain either. He merely had a suspicion.

Now that the strange monster could no longer hold back and had attacked, it undoubtedly confirmed that suspicion.

Eighth Layer Pure Yang Art!

Fifteenth Layer Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art!

In an instant,

Shen Changqing raised his strength to an unprecedented peak and struck forward with both palms at lightning speed.

His palms glowed red!

Like red-hot branding irons!

Iron Sand Palm!

Boom—Aah—

The two deathly pale hands seemed to have encountered some terrifying attack. They immediately dissipated like smoke, while a shrill, piercing scream echoed through the courtyard.

Clearly,

that palm strike had injured the strange monster.

Just as it retreated,

Shen Changqing took a swift step forward. Veins bulged across his arms like coiling dragons as he gripped his saber and viciously slashed at the great tree before him.

Whoosh!!

The saber was sharp, and coupled with unmatched force, it plunged directly into the trunk.

Because the trunk was too thick, Shen Changqing could not sever it with a single blow.

He pulled out his saber.

Black blood gushed from the wound in the trunk like a spring, carrying a foul stench that hit him in the face. At the same time, a miserable shriek rang out.

Immediately after—

the tree roots suddenly rose from the ground and shot toward Shen Changqing like sharp arrows.

They were incredibly fast.

They tore through the air with a whistling sound.

Faced with such an assault, Shen Changqing's expression turned ruthless. He had no intention of turning back to defend himself. Both hands clenched around the saber as he viciously hacked at the trunk before him again.

Splat—

Bang!

The tree roots tore through the air and slammed into Shen Changqing's body. Even the Fifteenth Layer Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art could not completely withstand such damage.

His skin cracked.

His flesh was pierced through.

Blood streamed down from the wounds.

At the same time,

the saber had already viciously struck the trunk's original wound.

The trunk, which had already been on the verge of breaking, finally reached its limit after taking such an attack.

Crack!

The great tree snapped completely in two. Lush branches and leaves crashed to the ground along with the thick trunk, causing quite a commotion.

And the moment the trunk broke,

a miserable scream rang out.

The sound no longer came from all around the courtyard, but from the broken gap itself. A great amount of black blood also sprayed forth from within.

A blurry, illusory shadow floated up from the break, trying to flee into the distance.

Naturally, Shen Changqing would not let it escape.

He took a single step forward.

His saber, wrapped in Pure Yang true qi, slashed out and landed directly on that blurry, illusory shadow.

Riiip!

Like the sound of torn cloth, the blurry, illusory shadow let out one final scream before completely dissipating into nothingness.

As the strange monster dispersed,

a chill aura crawled along the saber and quickly traveled up its blade into Shen Changqing's hands.

That familiar feeling

brought a smile to his face.

Name: Shen Changqing

Faction: Great Qin Demon Suppression Bureau

Identity: Apprentice Demon Slayer

Martial Arts: Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art (Fifteenth Layer, can be improved), Pure Yang Art (Eighth Layer, can be improved), Seven-Kill Saber Art (Second Layer), Iron Sand Palm (Second Layer)

Slaughter Value: 15

"Sure enough, if I want more Slaughter Value, doing it myself is what really counts!"

Looking at the fifteen points of Slaughter Value on the panel, a smile appeared on Shen Changqing's face.

He had wandered around Demon Suppression Prison for so long, yet even counting everything, the Slaughter Value he had gained had not exceeded twenty points.

Now, merely killing a Ghost-rank strange monster had earned him fifteen points of Slaughter Value.

This showed that

personally killing strange monsters yielded more Slaughter Value.

As for the Slaughter Value from Demon Suppression Prison,

Shen Changqing suspected it had been left behind on the remnants of those demons. In truth, when the demons had been slain, a large amount of Slaughter Value had already dispersed into nothingness.

As for the exact source of Slaughter Value,

he could not be completely certain either.

"Perhaps—it is equivalent to the energy contained within a strange monster's body!"

If Slaughter Value was compared to the energy on a strange monster's body, then it explained why personally killing strange monsters gave him more Slaughter Value than he gained in Demon Suppression Prison.

Fifteen points of Slaughter Value!

In Shen Changqing's eyes, it could increase his strength by quite a bit.

At this moment,

his injuries had stopped bleeding. The Fifteenth Layer Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art granted him powerful self-healing abilities.

Looking at the two cultivation arts on the panel,

Shen Changqing fell into deep thought.

Fifteen points of Slaughter Value seemed like a lot, but how to use them to maximize their effect was a question.

"The Fifteenth Layer Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art played a considerable role in killing that strange monster this time. Otherwise, I would have fallen to Zhang Long.

But the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art can only be considered a martial art for taking hits.

Although its defensive power is astonishing, it would not be very useful against powerful strange monsters.

On the other hand, the Pure Yang Art has considerable restraining power over strange monsters—"

Shen Changqing recalled the battle just now. Faced with the strange monster's attacks, even the Fifteenth Layer Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had been breached.

What truly made the strange monster afraid to attack lightly was the effect of Pure Yang true qi.

"The strongest defense is offense!"

"In that case, I might as well improve my Pure Yang true qi."

Having made his decision,

Shen Changqing directly focused his mind on the panel.

With a thought,

five points of Slaughter Value were consumed, and the Pure Yang Art rose directly from the Eighth Layer to the Ninth Layer.

Ninth Layer Pure Yang Art!

A stream of qi nearly twice as powerful as before suddenly surged from his dantian and swept through his entire body in an instant—

Rumble rumble!!

Powerful true qi surged and roared like rushing rivers.

PS: The extra chapter for the Alliance Leader's reward will be repaid after it goes premium. Quite a few readers have supported the book these past two days; I will thank everyone together at the end of the month!