This Demon Has Already Courted Death

Hu Nizhou held up an oil-paper umbrella, her gaze falling on Ren Qing as he approached.

A fox demon's seductive charm showed between her brows, but it soon turned to puzzlement. The man in the distance was far too ordinary-looking.

Any method of becoming immortal would more or less alter one's appearance.

This man looked more like... a mortal?

It was not as though Hu Nizhou had never seen the Immortal Ascension Sect's true disciples. In fact, those who cultivated several immortal arts at once became increasingly inhuman, which only showed their superior aptitude.

No matter. First muddle his mind, then take his vital essence.

The two brushed past each other.

Hu Nizhou let out a startled cry. Panic flickered in her flowing eyes as the oil-paper umbrella slipped from her hand and drifted toward Ren Qing.

"Sir, watch out."

Her lips curled upward. As long as the slightest ripple stirred in his heart, he would sooner or later be unable to free himself.

Ren Qing did not even raise his eyelids. Hu Nizhou then heard him muttering under his breath.

"Those who rashly mimic human speech are surely heretical demons and unorthodox ghosts."

He did not even look at Hu Nizhou, allowing the oil-paper umbrella to fall into the water. Yet the faint gleam deep in his pupils showed that the immortal elder had already formed the intent to kill.

"Sir, you..."

Hu Nizhou furrowed her brows and looked toward Ren Qing, intending to call him back.

Whoosh.

Ren Qing showed no reaction whatsoever. Yet at that moment, mist rose from the bridgehead, and a streak of rosy light flashed silently past. The beautiful woman's head shot skyward.

In the end, it fell together with the headless corpse into the rushing river.

The woman's eyes bulged wide, her exposed expression incomparably savage. "Impossible! The false body I refined from twelve beautiful corpses cannot be discerned as real or false even by divine consciousness. How could he treat this concubine so?!"

Hu Nizhou was unwilling to accept it. Her resentful gaze bored into Ren Qing's retreating back. A mere True Immortal disciple dared to disregard this concubine? Damnable!

The corpse sank to the riverbed, and the water mist concealed it so well that it drew no attention.

"Putting on such a coy act—I, this poor Daoist, despise it most."

Without turning his head, Ren Qing headed for the apothecary. He still had to prepare Medicine Dissolution and cultivate the Wax Immortal Ascension Art. Where would he find the time to tangle with demons and monsters?

The moment he entered the apothecary, the shop assistant's enthusiasm swept away some of Ren Qing's displeasure.

"What would you like to buy, sir? If any of your family members are ill, we can also send a physician to your home."

"Bring me some herbs containing potent poison."

"Certainly."

The shop assistant froze upon hearing that. Just as he was about to ask a few more questions, he inexplicably agreed, then took every poisonous herb suitable for medicinal use from the cabinets.

Ren Qing sampled a little of each kind, bought more than a dozen plants, and left the apothecary.

Though the herbs' toxins were potent, none met the requirements for Medicine Dissolution. Moreover, he possessed the Metamorphosis Immortal Art; before ordinary toxins could spread throughout his body, they would already be neutralized.

Even if he cultivated the poisonous herbs until they possessed five or six hundred years of medicinal potency, they would still ultimately be mortal plants.

As soon as Ren Qing left the apothecary, his already grim expression darkened further. From a neighboring residence came the faint sound of a woman sobbing.

The residence's door stood half-open.

Inside, a young woman could be seen curled up. Her clothes were tattered beyond recognition, ripped apart in many places to reveal large swathes of skin as pale and smooth as mutton-fat jade.

Her shoulders trembled faintly, tears shimmering in her eyes and inviting all manner of thoughts.

Ren Qing ignored her and walked straight past the residence.

Behind the door, Hu Nizhou raised her eyes and stood up in disbelief to peer after him. Was there truly no lust in this man's heart? Not even the slightest wavering?

Tap. Tap.

Hu Nizhou heard the footsteps turn back and once again put on a falsely aggrieved expression.

Whoosh.

Rosy light descended from the sky.

Hu Nizhou's head fell again, and this time the blow was even more vicious. It pierced straight through her skull from the eye socket, not only destroying the false body but also harming the divine consciousness attached to it.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

Only after Ren Qing heard the fox's piercing shriek did his Dao heart feel somewhat soothed. Yet his killing intent did not diminish in the slightest; instead, it only grew fiercer and fiercer.

"This demon cannot be allowed to live. Every move she makes targets this poor Daoist's Dao heart."

Chirp chirp.

The Sparrow Dao Child appeared on a branch, seeming to sense something through the Yellow Mud Eye.

Ren Qing nodded slightly. Following the Sparrow Dao Child's guidance, he passed through more than a dozen households before stopping at an unoccupied corner. His gaze fixed on a crack no wider than half a finger.

Moans sounded from deep within the crack, mixed with faint breathing.

Ren Qing activated his divine consciousness and immediately saw a hair-raising scene.

Within that narrow fissure, four people had been forcibly crammed together!

Their clothing showed that they had once been death-row prisoners. Their flesh remained completely intact, and even their bones bore no fractures. Yet their bodies and limbs had twisted into inconceivable shapes, tightly entwined like the roots of vegetation.

And because the fissure was exceptionally deep, they were still sliding farther down into its depths.

Perhaps the only fortunate thing was that the four had long since had their souls scattered and spirits dispersed. Only vitality remained in their bodies, so their muttering was all unconscious.

Ren Qing suddenly recalled the Transformation Pill Formula. It mentioned an auxiliary ingredient called the Human Root Flower.

Could this be the thing before him?

"It seems the Regional Examination has already begun. Before long, the Demon Cultivators will be refining Transformation Pills."

"But why death-row prisoners again? Could it be that demons and ghosts also have to perform good deeds?"

Ren Qing quickly understood. The laws set by the Great Yao Court were, in essence, meant to stabilize the order of the mortal world. Great villains and evildoers would affect the yield of blood food.

At the same time, the Immortal Ascension Sect would not choose kind-hearted people as disciples either. Death-row prisoners were all seeds for immortality.

Ren Qing walked out of the alley in thought.

"Boundless Heavenly Worthy."

He promptly made up his mind and began wandering through the city of his own accord.

Not long after, that familiar feeling surged through his heart again.

At a street corner, a ragged old man was holding a little girl in his arms, kneeling on the ground and weeping bitterly.

"Kind people, please show mercy and save this grandfather and granddaughter! My granddaughter is only six this year. Anyone can take her away as long as they give her a bite to eat—no silver needed..."

The old man repeatedly knocked his forehead against the bluestone pavement, his voice hoarse and ragged, drawing many passersby to stop and watch.

Ren Qing watched the scene quietly. The instant his eyes met the little girl's, she hurriedly looked away and hid in the old man's arms.

He stepped forward, took out several taels of silver, and solemnly handed them to the old man.

"Young sir, you are kind-hearted! Young sir, you are truly kind-hearted!"

The old man held the silver with mingled shock and delight. Seeing that Ren Qing had already turned away, he hurriedly called out, "Even if you will not take my granddaughter, young sir, please leave behind a token, so this grandfather and granddaughter may repay your kindness in the future!"

Ren Qing handed the small knife he carried to the old man, his smile deepening slightly.

When the old man raised his head again, Ren Qing had already vanished.

The little girl studied Ren Qing in confusion. What sort of temperament did this man possess?

Hu Nizhou found it somewhat baffling, but it no longer mattered.

As long as she had formed a connection with Ren Qing, she could use her innate divine ability to find him whenever she wished. For now, she would first gather the remaining materials for the Transformation Pill, then wait until the time was right.

Ren Qing glanced back from the corner of his eye. A wisp of mist had been left within the small knife; it should last five days.

He should return first and begin cultivating the Wax Immortal Ascension Art. Perhaps his Medicine Dissolution would still have to rely on the Regional Examination.