Entering the Bone-Resonance Realm

The sky had completely darkened.

The sun had fully sunk below the horizon, leaving only a smear of purplish red at the edge of the heavens.

Jiang Yuechu looked at the enormous corpse beneath her feet, her heart growing ever more excited.

This was the corpse of a Bone-Chiming Great Demon!

Those two worthless Pig Demons earlier had already benefited her tremendously through her own digestion alone.

Now that she possessed the Blood Sustenance Art, what heights would it reach?

Seeing that the Demon Suppression Office constables around her had all retreated into the distance, she did not take things to the bitter end.

After all, she was working under the Demon Suppression Office now. It would be hard to justify leaving them nothing at all.

After pondering for a moment, she turned the saber in her hand. Its edge swept across the demon's corpse, effortlessly cutting through its tough flesh.

Enduring the stench, she removed several organs and cut off several of the thickest demon tendons, placing them all atop a clean stone nearby.

Only after finishing all this did she slowly close her eyes.

Blood Sustenance Art, activate!

The next moment.

Countless bloody mists actually gushed out from the pores all over her body.

The blood mist gathered in midair and transformed into dozens of thick tentacles. Like starving venomous snakes, they instantly coiled around the enormous demon corpse.

"Hiss..."

At the sight, Jiang Yuechu sucked in a cold breath.

Wasn't this a little much?

Why did she feel as though she was becoming more and more like a demon herself?

She silently mocked herself, but her hands did not pause in the slightest.

Very quickly, the Catfish Spirit's massive corpse withered at a visible rate.

Streams of incomparably pure qi and blood flowed through the scarlet tentacles and surged continuously into her body.

The qi and blood within her body began to churn once more.

"Burp..."

Jiang Yuechu could not hold it in and let out a full belch.

An unprecedented mass of pure qi and blood—so vast it seemed ready to burst her apart—raged through every limb and bone in her body!

Then, within her body, there seemed to be a barrier that stubbornly blocked the flood of qi and blood.

Jiang Yuechu's heart tightened.

This was likely the insurmountable chasm between the String Hearing Realm and the Bone-Chiming Realm!

Ordinary martial artists had to temper their qi and blood over years and years to break through this realm, wearing away at that barrier bit by bit like dripping water piercing stone.

The talented might succeed in three to five years. Those with poor talent might not make it in a lifetime.

But Jiang Yuechu was different.

A huge amount of pure demon qi and blood began transforming into her own.

What she needed was not dripping water piercing stone.

It was... a dam unleashing its floodwaters!

Open up for me...!

With a furious roar in her heart, she stopped suppressing the violent power within her body.

Boom—

A soundless thunderclap exploded within her mind!

Pain!

Pain beyond description!

Jiang Yuechu let out a muffled groan and dropped to one knee. Beads of sweat rolled down from her temples, and her pretty face turned pale as paper in an instant.

Yet there was not the slightest trace of suffering in her eyes. Instead, they held a hint of madness.

Not enough!

Still not enough!

She could feel it—the barrier had already developed a crack beneath that violent impact!

Again!

Gritting her teeth, she mobilized all the qi and blood in her body and launched a second, third, and fourth assault.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every impact came with heart-rending, lung-tearing agony.

But that seemingly indestructible barrier also became riddled with cracks beneath the 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 inside her body.

Hum—

In that instant, it was as though she had broken free from every restraint.

Tempered by this force, her bones began to emit strange sounds.

Dong...

Like the lingering toll of a temple bell.

Clang...

And like the clear ring of blades leaving their sheaths.

Metal and stone interwove, ringing clear and bright.

Sinews and bones chimed in unison!

This was the Bone-Resonance Realm!

[Host: Jiang Yuechu]

[Realm: Initial Bone-Chiming Realm]

Bone-Chiming Realm, achieved!]

Jiang Yuechu slowly rose to her feet and clenched her fists.

Not only had her strength increased severalfold, but the total amount of qi and blood within her body had also risen enormously compared to before.

If before had been a pool of water, then now it was a vast lake.

If she faced that Catfish Spirit again now, she was even confident that without using demonification, relying solely on the Fierce Tiger Swift Blade and her Bone-Chiming Realm cultivation, she could cut it down beneath her saber!

Looking ahead again.

Aside from the demon tendons and several pieces of internal organs she had set aside earlier, the demon corpse that had once resembled a small mountain had vanished without leaving a trace.

"Good heavens..."

Jiang Yuechu could not help muttering.

This Blood Sustenance Art was actually this tyrannical.

It devoured flesh and blood, refined qi and blood, and even dissolved the bones until nothing remained.

Such a cultivation art was practically an indispensable divine ability for destroying corpses, covering tracks, and killing people for their goods.

She wondered... could this cultivation art be used on humans too?

The thought had barely arisen.

Jiang Yuechu suddenly shuddered and instinctively raised her hand, viciously slapping herself across the face.

Jiang Yuechu, Jiang Yuechu—are you even human?

She took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed those mad thoughts in her mind.

She sat where she was for a while longer. Only when the roiling qi and blood in her body had completely settled in the latter half of the night did she rise and call out into the distance.

"It's done."

Hearing her, Liu Chen and the others finally approached cautiously.

When they saw the empty mud pit before them, every face showed undisguised 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 mud with his feet. Aside from a huge depression, there was nothing at all.

Liu Chen's gaze fell upon the pile of mangled demon organs by Jiang Yuechu's feet, then he looked at her.

He did not ask any more questions.

Everyone had a side they did not wish others to know.

Even a question born from curiosity might seem like an offense to the person being questioned.

"Pack these things away."

He instructed a man beside him, then turned to face the others.

"See if there's anything we missed. And... the brothers from the Yellow Division... find as many as you can."

"Chief!"

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 concluded."

After a pause, he continued, "As for the Blackwater Village villagers using private punishment, I will report it truthfully. The county yamen will send people to handle it."

"If the Demon Suppression Office has to personally handle every matter, then what use is the government?"

Several days later.

When the group dragged their exhausted bodies back to Liangzhou Prefecture, it was already dusk.

Eight people, eight mounts.

They had left 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 girl at the rear of the group.

That earth-shaking slash still echoed in everyone's mind.

If not for her, whether any of them would still be alive was unknown.

At that thought, the way they looked at Jiang Yuechu grew ever more respectful.