Is This Sending Them to Their Death?

There were four towns on the outskirts of Springwatch City, and Little Spring Town had the largest population and was the liveliest of them all.

People from all walks of life gathered here. In terms of sheer numbers, it far surpassed even the busiest streets within Springwatch City.

The truth was, there were simply more poor bastards in this world.

There were quite a few martial artists in Little Spring Town as well.

After all, Springwatch City was one of Cloud Prefecture's greatest cities. As Duan Yun's father had said, it not only had many people and doctors, but martial schools and sects stood everywhere, drawing in countless people who wished to practice martial arts and seek breakthroughs.

Of course, most of the martial artists here were from the bottom rung. Those with money and fists had long since gone into the city to live it up.

Duan Yun stood in the largest bookshop in Little Spring Town and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any more powerful martial arts manuals here?"

The shopkeeper answered proudly, "Of course I do, and plenty of them. What kind do you want?"

"Netherworld Realm," Duan Yun said.

Having entered the martial world for several months, he had gained some understanding of martial arts realms, though not much.

He only knew of the Qi Sea Realm and the Netherworld Realm. According to that great monk, anyone in the Netherworld Realm definitely counted as an expert in the martial world. The Red Tower elder from Lu Estate was one of them.

And he was just a little stronger than that Red Tower elder, so he should count as a somewhat formidable Netherworld Realm expert.

If he was buying manuals, then naturally, he needed manuals of the Netherworld Realm.

The shopkeeper rubbed his ear and said, "What realm?"

"Netherworld Realm," Duan Yun answered truthfully.

"Are you looking for trouble? Early in the morning, you ask me for Netherworld Realm manuals. Why don't you ask me to fly into the sky while you're at it?"

The shopkeeper had several cowlicks on his head. One look was enough to tell that he had quite the temper.

"Then what realms do you have here? Qi Sea?" Duan Yun tried.

Seeing that Duan Yun did not look like someone who could afford anything, the shopkeeper said, "I have a few incomplete Qi Sea Realm manuals, but they're the treasures of this shop. Do you have silver?"

"How much?" Duan Yun asked.

"A copied version costs one hundred taels. As for an original copy, don't even bring it up unless you have eight hundred taels of silver," the shopkeeper said.

"Farewell." Without another word, Duan Yun turned and left.

He went on to ask at several more shops and confirmed that there were no Netherworld Realm manuals in this area.

The ones that claimed to have them were obviously lying to scam people.

There were Qi Sea Realm manuals, but not many, and they were expensive too.

By then, Duan Yun had more or less grasped the lay of the land.

Among the manuals that could circulate freely on the market, Qi Sea Realm was the highest level possible. Most were copied editions too, and there might well be traps hidden within them.

According to the owner of the most good-tempered bookshop, only reputable bookshops like theirs were qualified to sell manuals. Manuals sold by others were either fake or problematic.

The bookshop owner even used Duan Old Devil passing down techniques that caused feminine descent as an example, frightening and warning Duan Old Devil himself.

"So the martial world runs deep. Don't casually practice manuals from unknown sources. Ours are the most authentic."

After leaving the bookshop, Duan Yun knew that his hopes of stumbling upon a divine art were slim.

Qi Sea Realm manuals were already outrageously expensive, so Netherworld Realm ones were even more out of the question.

According to these people, manuals that could let someone cultivate to the Netherworld Realm were exclusive to major sects and great schools. Would they really let you buy one offhand?

Even if you could buy one, would you dare learn it? Weren't you afraid of becoming a madman?

Duan Yun could understand that, actually.

He had seen enough of the madness of martial artists in this world. There were hardly any normal ones among them, and it was probably related to their cultivation methods.

Still, Duan Yun was not too worried about going astray and becoming a madman. At least, he did not have to worry too much on the path of the sword.

Because he was a once-in-ten-thousand swordsmanship prodigy!

What others could not master, he could master. What drove others mad would definitely not drive him mad. He could even create and improve it himself.

Although his search for a divine art had yielded nothing for now, Duan Yun was not discouraged in the slightest.

That was the confidence of a once-in-ten-thousand swordsmanship prodigy.

Since he could not find a divine art for the time being, he would continue creating his own cultivation methods first.

Yes, every manual he could get his hands on now was trash to him. Creating his own was more cost-effective.

At the very least, the Body-Breaking Sword Qi was worth continuing to cultivate deeply.

Thinking of the enemies who might surround and attack him, Duan Yun made a prompt decision. He would first find a place to diligently raise the Body-Breaking Sword Qi by another level, while gathering news about new divine arts.

Compared to cultivating a new divine art, creating one's own cultivation method was clearly far more difficult. It required a cultivation genius like him to work twice as hard!

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Riverside City, an old acquaintance arrived.

Leng Yimeng, the big-breasted goddess constable whom Duan Yun found utterly off-putting, came to this small city once more.

She stood before this closed-down apothecary.

She had come because news of Duan Yun, the demon Duan, had already reached her.

Duan Yun. Demon Duan. The newly risen demon who had recently become the most bizarre, terrifying, and notorious figure around.

When Leng Yimeng first heard the name, she did not connect it to the gynecologist in Riverside City. She thought it was merely someone with the same name.

Only when more details arrived—how the demon was young and handsome, with clear eyes, and looked like a doctor—did Leng Yimeng involuntarily connect the gynecologist Duan Yun, demon Duan, and the case in Riverside City. The more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became.

She had once said that anyone who dared openly stare at her breasts could not possibly have ghosts in his heart.

But she had overlooked one very special possibility: even if he had ghosts in his heart, he still dared stare at her because he was a demon who could easily toy with her!

That young Doctor Duan had already left. It was said that he had been gone for quite some time, yet the goddess constable Leng Yimeng still felt nervous as she stood outside the apothecary.

She feared that one careless move would uncover certain taboos and change her life.

Yet Leng Yimeng still went inside, entering the cramped apothecary.

The apothecary had been closed for a long time, and dust coated everything.

Leng Yilian sniffed the surrounding scents with her keen nose and walked toward the back.

Behind the apothecary was a small courtyard with two crude thatched rooms. The air was permeated with the lingering scent of medicinal herbs.

The next moment, Leng Yimeng's tall body could not help trembling slightly, because she saw the grass beneath that crooked-necked tree.

From her experience, there should have been corpses buried there.

Merely looking at that lushly growing grass filled Leng Yimeng with fear.

And that fear climbed another level when she saw the crooked-necked tree shaved bare by Sword Qi and the wall nearly reduced to ruins by the Sword-Qi Finger.

It really was him!

This demon was truly unfathomable.

That day, when he had riddled the Attendant at the county magistrate's residence with Sword Fingers, he had probably only acted casually. He had not used any real strength at all.

She had once imagined joining forces with her sister to see whether they could contend with this demon, but clearly, she had been overthinking it.

That rookie who had slept in the wilderness at night and knew nothing, that young gynecologist who had sat there admiring her cleavage and looked harmless to man and beast, truly was the terrifying demon Duan of legend.

So when he had looked at her chest back then, he had actually harbored evil intentions.

Rumors about demon Duan continued to arrive, and talk of his perversity was no longer limited to how formidable his fingers were.

Even men like the Lingshui Twin Heroes could be toyed with until they became women. What about a woman like her?

What would he toy her into?

Miserable scenes surfaced in the goddess constable's sea of consciousness, and her fear reached its peak when she discovered the repaired cellar.

Duan Yun had indeed repaired the cellar back then. It had fallen into disrepair over the years, and he really had prepared to imprison the goddess constable there.

Standing inside the cellar, goddess constable Leng Yimeng suddenly felt a cold wind blow over her. She could not help but startle, fearing that the handsome demon Duan was standing behind her, smiling at her with that harmless-to-man-and-beast expression.

Leng Yimeng returned to the apothecary, and the terror made goosebumps rise all over her body.

The fact that she could stand here today was already fortunate enough. If that demon had changed his mind on a whim, she might already have suffered every humiliation and torment in that pitch-black cellar.

That had been far too dangerous!

And yet the bureau had sent her and her sister to investigate this demon. Was this something they could investigate?

Was this sending them to their deaths?