Immortal Sword Like Thunder, Demons Tremble in Fear

The crowd was full of anticipation.

After all, they had seen with their own eyes that lead old immortal conjure a fireball out of thin air with a mere incantation.

Although it was only the size of an infant's fist, it had easily brought a man-sized water vat in the magistrate's office to a full boil.

It was said to be a marvelous immortal technique called the Fireball Spell.

Though the crowd did not understand it, they assumed it must be incredibly powerful.

It would surely be enough to subdue the demon and avenge the innocent people eaten by the tiger spirit.

Everyone addressed him as the Immortal Master.

Then, after the magistrate personally toasted him with three cups of wine, the man took his young apprentice and headed into the mountains to subdue the demon.

And then, there was no then...

The crowd waited from dawn until the sun set, yet they never saw the Immortal Master emerge.

Just as they were growing anxious, a tiger's roar suddenly echoed.

The mountains reverberated, and a violent wind whipped up.

Dust and sand obscured their vision; as the saying goes, clouds follow the dragon and wind follows the tiger—it was truly no empty reputation.

In an instant, birds took flight in terror, and many wild beasts were so frightened they collapsed on the spot.

From the peak known as Jingyang Ridge, a massive tiger spirit, fully three zhang in length, lunged out.

The crowd gathered at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the Immortal Master's triumphant return, trembled so violently they wanted to run, but found their strength sapped as if drained from their bodies, unable to take a single step.

Only one thought filled their minds: had the Immortal Master failed to subdue the demon and instead enraged the tiger spirit, causing it to come down the mountain for revenge?

As the crowd went limp with terror, they saw the tiger demon's eyes were blood-red, and it appeared even more furious than they were, roaring, "How dare you! You actually sent a thief to my cave to steal my treasure! Do you not know the sharpness of my claws and teeth?"

The crowd was dumbfounded, looking at one another in stunned silence.

So, the Immortal Master they had sought out hadn't gone to subdue the demon at all; he had taken their gold and travel expenses, then helped himself to the tiger demon's lair as well?

The so-called Immortal Master was actually a thief and a con artist?

The crowd groaned in misery; they had truly been ruined by that man.

In the past, although the tiger spirit was evil, it never came down from the mountain, but now, the hornet's nest had been poked, and the creature had broken its own rule.

The tiger demon was clearly so angry it had lost its reason.

It knew well that while it could get away with eating the occasional unlucky soul who entered the mountains, daring to wreak havoc in the city was a major taboo that would surely bring high-level cultivators to hunt it down.

But now, suffering from the sheer fury of it all, it could no longer care; that was a treasure it had spent a hundred years obtaining, and now it had been stolen by that thief.

How could it swallow this insult?

If it destroyed this city, it could simply flee elsewhere; would those high-level cultivators really chase it down for the sake of a bunch of mortals?

With another roar, it exhaled through its nose.

Whoosh...

A stream of white mist poured out.

Then, vaguely and indistinctly, it transformed into lifelike figures.

There were mountain travelers, hunters, soldiers, and merchants.

They were all the mortals it had eaten in recent days, their souls captured and turned into vengeful ghosts.

"Go!"

The tiger spirit let out a roar, and those ghosts, their faces twisted with jealousy toward the living, lunged forward.

The poor crowd was already collapsed on the ground, and even those who hadn't come to watch the spectacle—given that the city was remote and the only path led through Jingyang Ridge—had no way to escape.

Now, seeing the tiger demon's ferocity, it seemed it intended to carry out a massacre.

The crowd was filled with regret and utter despair.

Unable to flee, some knelt and kowtowed, begging for mercy.

Others began to pray to the gods and buddhas, hoping for a miracle, wishing for an immortal to descend and save them.

The states of the world were all different.

The tiger demon sneered.

Begging for mercy was useless, and as for praying for an immortal's help—don't make me laugh; do you really think you are worthy of seeing a true immortal?

Seeing the crowd so terrified, its frustration over the stolen treasure seemed to ease, and it prepared to throw its head back and roar.

But just as it tilted its head, the roar stuck in its throat.

A streak of light flashed across the sky.

"This is..."

It hadn't even seen it clearly yet.

But it felt an instinctive sense of dread.

That fear, originating from the depths of his heart, felt as if it were carved into his very soul.

The tiger demon could no longer let out a roar.

He only saw a flash of silver light.

It descended from the nine heavens, swallowing him whole.

The demonic aura on his body melted away like spring snow.

Clang...

Only then did he seem to hear the sound of metal, like a blade being drawn from its sheath.

The immortal sword did not linger; it rode the spiritual light and harnessed the gale, flying off into the distance.

It took a long time for the people at the foot of the mountain to finally react.

The expressions on their faces remained filled with trepidation.

But gradually, a thought began to surface in their minds.

Are we... saved?

"Thank you, Immortal."

"Thank you, Great Immortal."

"Thank you for saving us from our suffering."

A group of mortals naturally could not see the sword strike from just moments ago, but they knew that a master, or perhaps even a true immortal, must have saved them.

Overcome with joy and surprise, the crowd kowtowed incessantly.

Little did they know that the true immortal they were so tearfully grateful to and worshipping was, at this very moment, humming a tune while sweeping the floor at the Founder's Shrine.

A quiet little mountain village.

It was evening, and wisps of cooking smoke rose from the houses throughout the village.

The farmers had already shouldered their hoes and returned home.

Just then, a giant field mouse suddenly emerged from the earth.

It was called a field mouse, but it was as large as a wild boar.

Its body was covered in gray fur, each strand like a thorn, and a gray, mist-like demonic aura radiated from its skin.

It looked toward the houses in the distance, but ultimately crawled back into the field, clutching a piece of radish, and began to gnaw on it hungrily.

As it chewed, it wept.

Large drops of tears fell, as if it were remembering something heartbreaking.

Before it had gained sentience, it would have been overjoyed just to steal a piece of radish and avoid starvation.

But ever since it became a demon and tasted a few farmers, it realized that for a monster, human flesh was the most delicious food in the world.

In the past, it would go to the village to hunt every few days.

But for the last two or three days, it had not dared to show its face.

It had heard that from somewhere unknown, an immortal sword had suddenly appeared.

Although it was made of wood, its sword aura soared to the heavens, unstoppable.

Not only had many of its fellow demons in the mountains met their end, but even the old flood dragon in the Xian River ahead had been slain.

At first, some demon kings were indignant and wanted to resist, but without exception, they were like lambs led to the slaughter, easily cut down by the opponent.

In the end, no more monsters dared to show their heads.

It didn't dare to go to the village to hunt either, because that was simply courting death.

Having gone hungry for two days, it couldn't take it anymore and decided to go to the field to steal some sweet potatoes and radishes.

It ate while crying; it was truly easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality. Having grown accustomed to the life of a demon, catching a human every few days for a snack, the taste of these sweet potatoes and radishes was simply bland and tasteless.

But there was no help for it; although it was a glutton, it didn't want to lose its life.

It would fill its belly quickly and return to its cave to sleep.

If only it could wake up to find that the hateful immortal sword had already left.

As it thought this, it saw silver light raining down.

The radish in its claws dropped to the ground, and the field mouse demon's eyes filled with tears once again.

This really was a world where demons couldn't live; I hadn't even hurt anyone, I was just hungry and came to the field to eat a radish, so what? Did I have to be executed for this? Was there no justice?

So sad, so blue.

A single tear finally dripped into the soil, but the field mouse demon's body and its demonic aura had likewise vanished without a trace.