Jiang Yuechu had never liked pork.
But as chunk after chunk of roasted meat went down her throat, the warm current rising in her stomach grew ever more turbulent.
Her hunger rapidly faded.
She broke off another piece and was about to bring it to her mouth.
Then her hand suddenly froze.
Hm?
She stopped, closed her eyes, and carefully sensed the changes within her body.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The hunger in her belly had long since vanished. By rights, her body's qi and blood should have been replenished almost completely.
Yet not only had that warm current not subsided, it was growing fiercer by the moment.
Like docile little snakes, they slithered through her meridians, continuously scouring and widening the riverbeds that had once been there.
This...
Jiang Yuechu abruptly opened her eyes and looked down at the still-greasy roasted meat in her hand, her gaze filled with shock and disbelief.
This demon flesh could not only restore qi and blood.
It could also... raise the upper limit of her cultivation?!
A bold thought, so wild that it made her heart pound, exploded in her mind.
Slay demons and gain Dao Cultivation, then use it to improve the Hundred Demons Register.
Consume demons and increase qi and blood, using it to strengthen her foundation.
Fuck!
She no longer cared about the nauseating stench of blood and game. Grabbing the remaining half of the pig leg, she devoured it like a ravenous wolf.
Eat!
As long as it could make her stronger, forget Pig Demon meat—even... no, not that.
One hind leg was swiftly picked clean.
Jiang Yuechu licked the grease from her fingers with lingering satisfaction, her gaze falling upon the two enormous corpses outside the ruined temple.
She rose to her feet, picked up her blade, and strode over.
Tonight, nobody was getting any sleep!
The last pig bone was tossed into the fire and turned to charcoal.
Jiang Yuechu exhaled a long breath of stale air, white mist dispersing in the chilly morning wind.
A full three days.
The two String Hearing Realm Pig Demons had been swallowed into her belly, skin and bones alike, save for a few bones that truly could not be chewed through.
At that moment, she felt the qi and blood within her surging like mighty rivers, washing through her meridians.
She even had the feeling that her realm was about to touch the threshold of the next stage.
A curve lifted at the corner of Jiang Yuechu's lips.
Not bad.
Any improvement was a good thing.
She could not help thinking again of the Tiger Mountain God's and Azure-Faced Lord's corpses. They had been such huge heaps of meat, yet she had simply left them in the wilderness. What a monstrous waste.
"What a pity, all that good meat..."
She shook her head and cast that small regret from her mind.
Forget it.
What I gain is my fortune; what I lose is my fate.
It was fine that she had not known before. She would simply keep it in mind from now on.
For now, the most urgent matter remained the demon in Jincheng County.
She had delayed here for three days. Who knew whether that thing was still there?
But there had been no helping it.
If she had traveled with the remaining corpses in tow, they would have been far too cumbersome and made far too large a target.
Sweeping the stray thoughts from her mind, Jiang Yuechu stood and patted the dirt off her backside.
"Let's go, old buddy. Time for work."
Hearing her, the horse raised its head, its grass-chewing mouth falling still.
It shot Jiang Yuechu a glance.
"Heh, you beast, you dare give me that look?"
Jiang Yuechu laughed. Walking over, she patted its face. "You've eaten and drunk your fill. Time to get moving, or you'll really turn into a pig."
The horse snorted unwillingly, as though accepting its miserable fate.
One woman and one horse once more set out along the official road toward Golden City.
The gates of Jincheng County stood wide open, like the mouth of a corpse.
More than a dozen pitch-black Scarlet-eyed Steeds entered the city.
At their head rode two men.
One was somewhat older, around forty, with a steady expression.
The other was much younger, with a hint of sharpness between his brows.
"This smell..."
The younger man frowned, reined in his horse, and waved a hand before his nose.
The wind carried an indescribable stench. Though he had witnessed no shortage of horrifying scenes, this smell was still truly hard to bear.
Xu Nian's expression did not change. He merely said flatly, "You'll get used to it."
Most of the doors and windows of the houses lining the street were broken and dilapidated.
At the corners of walls and along the roadside, congealed blackened bloodstains could be seen everywhere.
The younger man tightened his grip on his sword hilt and said gravely, "Be careful, everyone. They say this demon calls itself the Black-clad Sword Immortal. Its Sword Qi runs rampant, and it has already entered the Bone-Resonance Realm."
Bone-Resonance.
Those two words made the breathing of the dozen or so mounted guards behind them tighten slightly.
"Split up."
Xu Nian gave the order. "Groups of three. If you discover anything unusual, signal immediately. Remember, don't try to show off."
"Yes!"
The group answered in unison, swiftly dividing into several teams and riding off in different directions.
Xu Nian and the younger man led one other person slowly forward along the main street.
"Brother Xu, what do you think this demon wants?"
The younger man lowered his voice, puzzled. "It slaughtered villages and occupied a city, but it doesn't even eat them. Could it be trying to claim a mountain and crown itself king?"
"Who knows."
Xu Nian shook his head. "Don't try to guess what demons are thinking. Guess all you want, and in the end, it still comes down to two words."
"Which two?"
"Seeking death."
The younger man fell silent.
Indeed, that was why the Demon Suppression Office existed.
No matter how great a demon you were or how powerful your divine abilities, if you dared run wild like this upon human lands, there was only one road awaiting you: death.
They turned a street corner and found a private school before them.
The gate had already collapsed. Inside lay more than a dozen small bodies strewn in all directions, all children of seven or eight.
An elderly teacher with a head full of white hair had been nailed to the wall through his eye socket with a writing brush.
On the wall beneath him, two crooked lines of large characters had been written in dripping blood.
The younger man's eye twitched as he prepared to see what the two lines said.
But at that moment.
A dragging sound that set their teeth on edge came from the far end of the long street.
The three men abruptly looked up.
A huge black figure slowly emerged from the billowing dust.
It had the head of a pig and the body of a man.
Blood covered its enormous pig face, and its eyes were filled with savage scarlet.
Across its shoulder, it actually carried a thick wooden stake. From the stake's tip, a raggedly dressed woman hung upside down by iron chains.
The woman was still struggling, muffled whimpers coming from her mouth. Something had clearly been cut out.
"Beast!"
Liu Chen roared and immediately moved to draw his blade.
But a hand pressed heavily upon his sword hilt.
Xu Nian shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the figure at the end of the street.
He sat high upon his horse, his voice calm.
"The Black-clad Sword Immortal?"
The Pig Demon did not deny it. It grinned, exposing a mouthful of fangs.
"I came to look for traces of my son. By chance, I caught the scent, so I came in for a look."
Its scarlet eyes swept across the three men before finally settling on Xu Nian.
"Never expected... it really was the Demon Suppression Office."
The younger man's expression turned strange.
Son?
This demon had a son?
Xu Nian's face remained expressionless as he said blandly, "I don't know what son you're talking about, and I don't care about your son either."
He paused, his tone turning icy.
"Now, let her go, and I'll let you die more comfortably."
The Pig Demon's gaze turned completely cold as well.
It said nothing more.
There was no need to say anything more.
People from the Demon Suppression Office had appeared nearby.
Its two worthless sons were likely already more dead than alive.
Overwhelming killing intent burst forth from its body.
Before you continue