Seal-Mouth Qi-Fixing Method

The evening breeze blew through the half-open window into the meditation room, stirring up the heavy stench of blood.

Jiang Yuechu slowly slid the saber at her waist back into its sheath.

Just then.

[An unrecorded demon has been detected. Consume Dao Cultivation to record it?]

Hmm?

Jiang Yuechu raised her brows.

There was another new demon she could record?

Without the slightest hesitation, she willed it.

"Yes."

The next instant, the Dao Cultivation she had just obtained began draining from the panel at a startling pace.

In the blink of an eye, two hundred years of Dao Cultivation vanished without a trace.

[Black Mountain Bear Lord successfully Shadow Traced. Demon gift obtained.]

[Seal-Mouth Qi-Fixing Method (Perfected).]

[Seal-Mouth Qi-Fixing Method: The Black Mountain Bear Lord's unique body-tempering art. When cultivating it, take a deep breath and store it within the chest and abdomen. Then channel strength and exert force, breaking enemies and crushing hardened defenses.]

It was actually a body-tempering art!

Jiang Yuechu's heart stirred.

By now, she was no longer the clueless novice who knew nothing about this world. Naturally, she understood how precious body-tempering arts were.

So-called body tempering meant honing the flesh until it was hard as iron and stone, impervious to blades and spears.

Such arts possessed immense power. Once mastered, one could practically stand undefeated among those of the same realm.

But they were also far more difficult to cultivate than ordinary martial arts.

Ordinary martial artists rarely chose to cultivate a body-tempering art.

There was no other reason: it was too grueling, and too slow.

Not only did one have to endure inhuman agony and hammer the body day after day, one also needed vast quantities of rare medicinal materials for support. Otherwise, hidden injuries could easily be left behind.

"Gulp."

Chen Tong swallowed with difficulty, breaking the dead silence within the meditation room.

He looked at the bear corpse that had been dismembered beyond recognition, then at Jiang Yuechu standing calmly amid the pool of blood.

He only felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

He had seen plenty of ruthless people, but this was the first time he had seen someone like Jiang Yuechu.

Jiang Yuechu swept her gaze over the scene and ultimately suppressed the urge to test the art's effects on the spot.

"Clean this up."

As though granted amnesty, the men endured their nausea and gathered the Bear Demon's chunks of flesh together.

Jiang Yuechu stepped forward herself and lifted that enormous bear head, its eyes still wide in death. Blood dripped from the severed neck onto the floor.

After pondering for a moment, she turned and handed the bear head to Bujie.

"Take it back and report in."

Bujie instantly understood Jiang Yuechu's intention.

The bear head was proof of merit.

As for the rest, it naturally belonged to this newly appointed squad leader.

He asked no questions. Reaching out, he took the heavy head, then casually tore off a damaged piece of robe from the pile of mangled flesh on the ground. In a few swift motions, he wrapped it up and slung it over his shoulder.

"Squad Leader, there's another one..."

One of the men stepped forward and pointed at the woman on the bed, who had long since fallen silent.

Another man walked over, reached out to feel beneath her nose, then shook his head dejectedly.

"She's not breathing."

The meditation room fell silent once more.

What did it matter if they had killed the demon?

The Demon Suppression Office could slay demons and vanquish evil, but it could not save everyone in the end.

Liu Ke stood in the corner, looking at that ravaged body, his heart filled with a tangled mess of emotions.

He suddenly understood a little why Jiang Yuechu had been so cold when faced with those kneeling, weeping commoners outside the county seat.

All the Demon Suppression Office could do was kill demons.

As for saving people...

More often than not, they simply could not make it in time, nor could they save them.

Perhaps that coldness was merely because she did not wish to give people futile hope.

Jiang Yuechu did not have such sentimental thoughts.

She glanced at the sky and frowned. "It's getting late. You go down the mountain first and wait at the county office."

Chen Tong froze. "Squad Leader, you aren't leaving with us?"

"I still have some matters to handle."

Jiang Yuechu shook her head. "The demonic aura here hasn't dispersed. I'll investigate further, in case other demons are hiding nearby."

The excuse was perfectly reasonable, and no one gave it much thought.

"Yes!"

None of them dared say more. Carrying the woman's corpse and shouldering the bear head, they filed out one after another.

Soon, only Jiang Yuechu remained in the blood-soaked meditation room.

She closed the door behind her, shutting out everything beyond it.

Looking at the mountain of flesh and blood on the ground, a fiery glint flashed through her eyes.

Blood Sustenance Art, activate!

The next moment, countless wisps of blood-red mist burst from her pores, transforming into dozens of savage tentacles that instantly wrapped around the pile of flesh.

Streams of incomparably pure blood energy flowed along those scarlet tentacles and poured endlessly into her body.

Boom!

The vast lake of blood energy within her instantly surged into towering waves!

In terms of effect, it was countless times stronger than the demonic beast flesh Wei He had given her before!

After a long while.

"Phew..."

Jiang Yuechu slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling indescribably refreshed from head to toe.

She opened the panel.

[Host: Jiang Yuechu]

[Realm: Mid Bone-Resonance Realm]

[Dao Cultivation: One hundred and eighty-five years]

[...]

Mid Bone-Resonance Realm!

Jiang Yuechu clenched her fist, feeling the strength within her body that had grown several degrees stronger than before. She could not help but feel somewhat moved.

That Bear Demon had not been boasting before it died.

It had lingered in the String Hearing Realm for a hundred years, and its foundation truly had been polished to flawless perfection.

Not only had it provided more Dao Cultivation than the Bone-Resonance Pig Demon she had encountered before, but the quality of its flesh was absurdly high as well.

She could even feel that she was only one step away from the Late Bone-Resonance Realm.

"If all the demons in this world were as diligent at cultivating as it was, then my days would finally have something to look forward to."

Chen Tong and the others did not return to the county office. Instead, they waited outside the ruined temple.

When they saw her return alone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward to meet her.

"Squad Leader!"

"Let's go back."

Jiang Yuechu swung herself onto her horse, her tone calm.

"Yes!"

Leading their horses, the group returned to Hexian County Office.

County Magistrate Qian had long prepared food and wine. The moment he saw them return, he hurried over with nods and bows.

But when his gaze landed on the still-dripping bear head over Bujie's shoulder, his eyelids could not help twitching.

Good heavens...

They really killed it!

Jiang Yuechu had no interest in dealing with him. She merely told everyone to rest, then found herself a clean guest room, shut the door, and did not emerge again.

The following day.

At daybreak, the group set out on the road back to Liangzhou Prefecture.

As for the remaining aftermath, the county office would naturally handle it.

Compared with the clamor on their journey here, the atmosphere within the group on the return trip was strangely quiet.

Ten Scarlet-eyed Steeds moved unhurriedly along the official road. Other than hoofbeats, there was not a sound.

Everyone's gaze drifted, intentionally or otherwise, toward the figure at the very front of the group.

She had killed Baosha Temple's monks, then brutally slaughtered a Great Demon at the Half-Step Bone-Chiming Realm.

The ruthlessness of this newly appointed squad leader's actions, and the ferocity of her methods, had long surpassed anything they could imagine.

Jiang Yuechu rode in silence, calculating inwardly.

She had one hundred and eighty-five years of Dao Cultivation left.

It looked like a lot, but in reality, it was nowhere near enough.

As for martial arts, the Tiger-Roaring Demon-Suppressing Blade needed improvement.

As for the demon scrolls, aside from the Tiger Mountain God, the Wolf Demon, Pig Demon, and Bear Demon were all crying out to be fed.

"Ah, there's still far too little Dao Cultivation..."

As she sighed inwardly, two fast riders caught up from behind the group and rode abreast of her.

They were the two men who had dealt with the Baosha monks' corpses.

The two exchanged glances. One of them gritted his teeth, pulled several crumpled banknotes from his robes, and offered them with both hands.

"Squad... Squad Leader, this... this was found on those two bald donkeys."

Jiang Yuechu was somewhat surprised.

She had forgotten about that.

She took them, and they felt rather thick in her hand.

Unfolding them, she saw that they were all high-value banknotes, redeemable at major banks throughout the Great Tang.

After a quick count, there were a full three thousand taels.

She glanced at the somewhat weary yet deliberately composed expressions of the people behind her.

Though these people had not been much help in slaying the demon this time and had merely watched from the sidelines throughout...

They had, at least, endured hardship even if they had earned no merit.

Besides, they were her subordinates now. She would need them to handle matters for her in the future, so there was no need to be so stingy.

At once, she counted out two five-hundred-tael banknotes and casually tossed them back.

"Take these and split them among the brothers."

Everyone froze.

Especially the man who had offered the money. He caught the banknotes in a flurry, his face full of disbelief.

By custom, when a group gained unexpected wealth, the leader took the largest share. Giving the underlings a little broth to drink was already considered the height of benevolence.

But who had ever... been so generous?

She was taking out one thousand taels to reward her subordinates?!

Even split among the nine of them, each person would receive more than a hundred taels.

Besides, they truly had not helped much at all.

"Squad Leader, this... this is too much..."

"Amitabha!"

At some point, Bujie had also sidled over. He snatched the banknotes away and tucked them into his robes with a grin.

"It's the squad leader's reward, so take it! Why are you all hemming and hawing? Are you looking down on our Squad Leader Jiang or what?"

The others came back to their senses and hurriedly thanked her.

Their delight was impossible to conceal, and their impression of Jiang Yuechu rose considerably.

Bujie suggested, "It won't be easy to split this money among the nine of us. How about this? One hundred taels each, and when we get back to Liangzhou Prefecture, we brothers can go to Drunken Flower Tower for wine and women. One girl apiece, and we can all have a good time together!"

The instant Chen Tong heard "Drunken Flower Tower," his eyes lit up, and he chuckled lewdly.

"Damn it, my mouth's been so bland these past days it's about to grow feathers! I heard Drunken Flower Tower got several new Hu women lately, all with red hair and green eyes, and tits bigger than their heads."

A wave of knowing laughter immediately rose from the group.

Even the men who had seemed somewhat reserved earlier now wore the lascivious smiles that men all understood.

Only Liu Ke still wore that cold expression.

He merely watched this group of rough men laughing and jostling about, a complicated glint passing through his eyes.

He shook his head and said softly, "I'm not into that. I don't need any."

"No problem!"

Bujie threw an arm around his shoulders, waggling his brows. "Young Master Liu is a refined man and doesn't like cheap powder and rouge. I understand. Then I'll take two when the time comes!"

"..."

Liu Ke's face darkened, but there was nothing he could do about this shameless monk. He could only turn his head away and ignore him.

Bujie did not mind. He turned back to Jiang Yuechu. "Captain Jiang, what do you think... Why not join us? Drunken Flower Tower has more than just ladies—the young men are exquisite too. I hear every one of them has red lips, white teeth, and a soft, delicate body. They'll definitely serve you to your complete comfort..."

"Get lost."

"Right away!"