Night had completely fallen.
The sun had sunk beneath the horizon, leaving only a streak of purplish-red at the edge of the sky.
Jiang Yuechu looked at the enormous corpse beneath her feet, growing ever more excited.
This was the corpse of a Bone-Chiming Great Demon!
Those two worthless Pig Demons earlier had already benefited her immensely through her own digestion alone.
Now that she possessed the Blood Sustenance Art, what kind of spectacle would this be?
Seeing that the Demon Suppression Office runners around her had all retreated into the distance, she did not take things too far.
After all, she was working under the Demon Suppression Office now. Leaving nothing behind at all would be hard to justify.
After thinking for a moment, she turned the saber in her hand. Its edge swept across the demon corpse, easily cutting through its tough hide and flesh.
Suppressing the stench, she removed some organs from within, then cut off several of the thickest demon tendons and placed them together on a clean stone nearby.
Only after doing all this did she slowly close her eyes.
Blood Sustenance Art, activate!
The next moment.
Countless wisps of blood-red mist actually erupted from every pore across her body.
The blood mist gathered in midair, forming dozens of thick tentacles that, like starving venomous snakes, instantly wrapped around the massive demon corpse.
"Hiss..."
Jiang Yuechu sucked in a cold breath at the sight.
Wait?
Why did she feel like she was becoming more and more like a demon?
She quietly mocked herself, but her hands did not pause in the slightest.
Very quickly, the Catfish Spirit's enormous corpse shriveled at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Streams of incomparably pure vital blood flowed along the crimson tentacles, pouring endlessly into her body.
The vital blood within her body began to churn once more.
"Burp..."
Jiang Yuechu could not hold it back and let out a full burp.
An unprecedentedly immense mass of pure vital blood, so vast it nearly burst her apart, surged madly through every limb and bone in her body!
Then, within her body, it seemed as though some barrier had risen, firmly blocking the torrent of vital blood.
Jiang Yuechu's heart tightened.
This was likely the natural chasm between the String Hearing Realm and the Bone-Chiming Realm!
Ordinary martial artists needed to temper their vital blood year after year to break through this realm, wearing away at this barrier bit by bit like dripping water piercing stone.
Those with good talent might take three to five years. Those with poor talent might never succeed in their entire lives.
But Jiang Yuechu was different.
A vast amount of pure demon vital blood began transforming into her own.
What she needed was not dripping water piercing stone.
It was... a dam releasing its floodwaters!
"Open the fuck up!"
She roared inwardly, no longer suppressing the violent power within her.
Boom—
A soundless explosion erupted through her mind!
Pain!
Indescribable pain!
Jiang Yuechu let out a muffled groan and dropped to one knee. Sweat rolled down from her temples, and her pretty face instantly turned pale as paper.
Yet there was not the slightest hint of suffering in her eyes. Instead, they held a trace of madness.
Not enough!
Still not enough!
She could feel that under those violent impacts, a crack had already appeared in that barrier!
Again!
Gritting her teeth, she mobilized all the vital blood in her body and launched a second, third, and fourth assault.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every impact came with pain that tore at her heart and lungs.
But that seemingly indestructible barrier was also covered in cracks after repeated impacts, swaying on the verge of collapse!
Finally.
After who knew how many dozens of impacts.
Crack—
A crisp sound like glazed glass shattering rang out within her body.
Buzz—
In that instant, it was as if she had broken free of every restraint.
Her bones, tempered by this power, began to emit strange sounds one after another.
Dong...
Like the lingering toll of a temple bell.
Clang...
Like the clear ring of blades leaving their sheaths.
Metal and stone intertwined, their crisp notes pleasing to the ear.
Sinews and bones rang in unison!
This was the Bone-Resonance Realm!
[Host: Jiang Yuechu] [Realm: Initial Bone-Chiming Realm]
The Bone-Chiming Realm was achieved!
Jiang Yuechu slowly rose to her feet and clenched her fists.
Not only had her strength increased severalfold, but the total amount of vital blood within her body had also risen enormously compared to before.
If it had once been a pool of water, it was now a vast lake.
If she faced that Catfish Spirit again now, she was even confident that without using Demon Transformation, she could kill it beneath her blade using only the Fierce Tiger Swift Blade and her Bone-Chiming Realm cultivation!
She looked ahead again.
Apart from the demon tendons and several organs she had set aside earlier, the demon corpse that had once resembled a small mountain had vanished without leaving even a trace.
"My goodness..."
Jiang Yuechu could not help muttering.
This Blood Sustenance Art was actually this tyrannical.
It devoured flesh and blood, refined vital blood, and even dissolved the bones completely along the way.
A technique like this was practically an indispensable divine ability for destroying corpses and erasing evidence after murder and robbery.
She wondered... could this technique be used on people?
The instant that thought arose.
Jiang Yuechu shuddered violently, raised her hand on instinct, and fiercely slapped herself across the face.
Jiang Yuechu, Jiang Yuechu, are you even human anymore?
She took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed those mad thoughts in her mind.
She sat there for a while longer. Only in the latter half of the night, after the surging vital blood within her had completely settled, did she rise and call out into the distance.
"You can come over now."
Hearing her voice, Liu Chen and the others cautiously approached.
When they saw the empty mud pit before them, every one of them wore unconcealed shock and suspicion.
"Th-the demon's corpse... where is it?"
Zhao Hu's eyes widened. He rushed forward in several strides and stomped around in the rotten mud. Aside from an enormous depression, there was nothing.
Liu Chen's gaze fell upon the pile of bloody demon organs at Jiang Yuechu's feet, then shifted to her.
He did not ask any further questions.
Everyone had a side of themselves they did not wish others to know.
Even a question asked out of curiosity might already seem like an offense to the person being questioned.
"Put these things away."
He instructed a man beside him, then turned and looked at the others.
"Check whether anything has been overlooked. And also... the brothers from the Yellow Division... find as many as you can."
"Boss!"
Zhao Hu could not help speaking up. "Th-then... what about Blackwater Village...?"
Liu Chen shook his head. "The demon has been eliminated. This matter can be considered closed."
He paused before continuing, "As for the Blackwater Village villagers using private punishment, I will report it truthfully. The county magistrate's office will naturally send people to deal with it."
"If the Demon Suppression Office had to personally handle every matter, then what would the government be for?"
Several days later.
By the time the group dragged their utterly exhausted bodies back to Liangzhou Prefecture, it was already dusk.
Eight people, eight mounts.
They had departed at full strength, and they returned at full strength as well.
For a mission to subjugate a Bone-Chiming Great Demon, that was undoubtedly somewhat unbelievable.
Several of the men remained silent.
Their gazes drifted, intentionally or otherwise, toward the young woman at the rear of the group.
That earth-shattering slash still echoed in everyone's mind.
Without her, whether any of them would still be alive was unknown.
Thinking of this, the looks everyone gave Jiang Yuechu became increasingly respectful.
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