At the pinnacle of perfection, Cloud-Parting Long Fist!
With the support of his Initial Realm, five-aperture cultivation, Shen Yi's hands were covered in the breath of heaven and earth. Every punch seemed poised to shatter the Yellow Weasel's flesh and organs completely.
"Come on! Give me everything you've got!"
The Yellow Weasel bared its teeth. As its body gradually shrank, crimson Killing Intent surged with the wind, spreading across an area more than ten zhang wide.
Nothing could escape being corroded.
That was why it hadn't used this dark art earlier.
Beneath the red mist, all living things perished.
Only martial artists who had surpassed the ordinary could use the breath of heaven and earth to hold it off for a little while.
In this situation, it all came down to whose reserves ran deeper.
The moment Shen Yi drew his blade, the Yellow Weasel had already seen through his realm. It was somewhat surprised, but it didn't believe his foundations could be more formidable than the flesh and blood it had accumulated over a hundred years.
Then Shen Yi threw his dozens of punches, and his momentum still showed no sign of waning.
His breathing remained steady. The white mist clinging to him looked so faint it might be corroded away by the crimson Killing Intent in the next instant, yet it kept welling up without end.
The Yellow Weasel's pupils contracted. At last, a trace of hesitation appeared on its face.
It seemed it had guessed wrong about something.
"You..."
His fist pierced the golden fur, as if it had punctured an empty balloon.
Beneath those layers of skin, the dog demon's flesh and blood had been entirely spent. All that remained was an empty hide.
"Spare me!" The Yellow Weasel finally panicked.
Unhurriedly, Shen Yi pulled his hand from the heap of shattered organs, gripped his sword hilt again, and drew the blade from between the bones. Then he brought it down in a swift, clean slash!
[Slayed an early Initial Realm dog demon. Total lifespan: 575 years. Remaining lifespan: 180 years. Absorption complete]
The crimson mist overhead suddenly lost its anchor and began drifting aimlessly.
The villagers crouched far away. For the first time, emotion showed in their murky eyes: a faint, almost imperceptible worry.
Then the young man emerged from the mist, his long, strong fingers sliding the sword back into its sheath.
Beneath his disheveled hair, his expression looked more tired, and his breathing was no longer as even as before; it was slightly labored. Yet his figure remained straight as a spear.
Behind him, the towering body—with only hide wrapped around its bones—crashed to the ground like a fallen banner!
On the path from Baiyun County to Liuli Temple Village,
Chen Ji gripped the old donkey's neck, growing more and more restless.
Liu the Clerk might not have been an official in the strictest sense, but when he gave an order, not one runner in the entire Criminal Office dared disobey.
Chen Ji had rushed home to settle his younger sister before deciding to come take a look by himself.
Watching the old donkey amble along at its leisure, he gritted his teeth and slapped it. Then he swung down and hurried ahead, using light-footed martial arts he hadn't quite mastered.
Before long, the scent of blood crept into his nostrils.
Chen Ji's expression stiffened. He instinctively tightened his grip on his scabbard. As if he had guessed what awaited him, his legs trembled faintly as he pressed on.
Panic closed around his heart, and a scene of corpses strewn everywhere flickered in his mind.
He clenched his teeth and suddenly charged toward the village.
"..."
A short while later, a few wisps of cooking smoke came into view.
Two villagers crossed the field ridge. Noticing someone nearby, they looked over at Chen Ji. After a moment, they awkwardly forced out an ugly smile.
Chen Ji instinctively tried to smile back, but his lips had gone stiff. No matter how he tried, he couldn't manage it.
He stared blankly at the object the two villagers were carrying: a thick, furry leg. Blood had clotted in its fur, and it had clearly been dead for some time.
"The constable said we can eat as much as we like. Whatever we can't finish, we're to load onto the handcart for him."
A villager swallowed.
At those words, Chen Ji fell completely silent.
The constable? Which constable could it be? In all of Baiyun County, who besides Shen Yi would dare set foot here now?
But what had happened?
Chen Ji felt as if his mind were about to go fuzzy. He nodded in greeting, then passed the two villagers and continued onward.
Soon, the familiar figure came into view.
There had been none of the bloody carnage he had imagined.
Shen Yi sat quietly on the field ridge, with seven or eight children gathered around him, carefully touching his sword.
Dozens of villagers busied themselves hauling demon corpses out of the muddy fields, as if digging up lotus roots. Every now and then, someone lifted out an arm, and a smile would spring across their face.
Bloodshed and peace, two utterly different scenes, intertwined into the bizarre sight before him.
Chen Ji's whole body felt stiff. He didn't know how he had made his way to Shen Yi's side.
In a daze, he asked, "Where are the demons?"
Shen Yi looked up in mild surprise, as though he hadn't expected Chen Ji to come. "I took care of them."
For some reason, those words sounded familiar to Chen Ji.
When he'd asked Shen Yi about the ape demon earlier, Lord Shen had given him the same answer.
He shakily pointed at the dark-red-soaked mud nearby. The stench filled his nostrils, and he fought the urge to retch. "You call this... taking care of them?"
This was the western outskirts of the city. Beyond them lay the Yellow Weasel's territory.
Shen Yi had stood right here and slaughtered every demon in sight. That left only two possibilities: either the Yellow Weasel had left home, or it had died here too.
The latter was almost unthinkable, but compared to the absurdity of the former, Chen Ji could only keep persuading himself that it was real.
Just two or three days ago, Shen Yi had been a no-good scoundrel who did every manner of evil.
Then, at a single stroke, he had swept away the Yellow Weasel and all its underlings. When it came to the word "forbearance," Chen Ji really ought to call him Grandfather.
"Go clean up the corpses. We should head back."
A helping hand had arrived. He might as well put him to work.
Shen Yi reached out. The children obediently wiped the fingerprints off his scabbard on their clothes, then placed it back in his hand. They grinned, showing their missing teeth. "Take care, Constable."
He adjusted his sword, slowly got to his feet, and dismissed the panel before him.
[Remaining demon lifespan: 672 years]
Twelve sturdy dog demons, plus the more than 180 years contributed by the Yellow Weasel—Shen Yi's reserves had now grown to a terrifying level.
On top of that, he had made an unexpected discovery.
When his punches shattered the Yellow Weasel's organs, Shen Yi suddenly noticed an unknown organ about the size of an egg inside it.
The fleshy orb was far tougher than the other organs. Even under the force of his blows, it kept working like a living thing.
Most importantly, it contained the very aura Shen Yi had longed for ever since he had advanced to the Initial Realm.
He simply tore it out and wrapped it in a piece of hemp cloth.
This was Shen Yi's first time fighting a true demon.
The dog demons that had gained intelligence could live for a century or two, but aside from their powerful bodies, there was little to distinguish them from ordinary people.
The Yellow Weasel was entirely different. That boundless crimson Killing Intent left soldiers and runners with almost no way to fight back. Just touching it meant death. Even if they kept their distance and shot arrows, they would struggle to pierce the Yellow Weasel's layers of fat and flesh.
To inflict any truly effective damage, they would need at least a heavy crossbow.
But one shouldn't forget: although the dog demons looked fat, they weren't slow. Ten zhang was only a few strides for them.
And a creature like this, nearly impossible for ordinary people to counter...
Was only at the early Initial Realm.
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