Seal-Mouth Qi-Fixing Method

The evening wind blew through the half-open window into the meditation chamber, carrying with it a thick stench of blood.

Jiang Yuechu slowly sheathed the saber at her waist.

Just then.

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

Hm?

Jiang Yuechu raised a brow.

Another new demon could be recorded?

She did not hesitate in the slightest. With a thought—

"Yes."

The next instant, the Dao Cultivation she had just acquired began draining from the panel at a furious rate.

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 acquired.]

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

[Seal-Mouth Qi-Fixing Method: Black Mountain Bear Lord's exclusive body-tempering art. When practicing, take a deep breath and store it in the chest and abdomen, then circulate strength and unleash force to shatter enemies and crush hardened defenses.]

It was actually a body-tempering art!

Jiang Yuechu's heart stirred.

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

So-called body tempering was the forging of one's flesh until it was as hard as iron and stone, impervious to blades and spears.

Such techniques possessed enormous power. Once mastered, one could practically stand undefeated against opponents of the same realm.

Yet their difficulty far surpassed that of ordinary martial arts.

Few ordinary martial artists 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 pain and hammer the body day after day, one also needed a vast amount of rare medicinal ingredients as support. Otherwise, hidden injuries could easily be left behind.

"Gulp."

Chen Tong swallowed with difficulty, breaking the deathly silence in the meditation chamber.

He looked at the bear corpse that had been hacked into an unrecognizable mess, then at Jiang Yuechu standing calmly in the pool of blood.

A chill surged from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

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

Jiang Yuechu swept her eyes over the scene, but ultimately suppressed the urge to test the art's effects on the spot.

"Clean this up."

As though granted a pardon, several men endured their nausea and gathered the Bear Demon's scattered remains together.

Jiang Yuechu stepped forward herself, lifting that enormous bear head whose eyes remained wide open in death. Blood dripped from the severed neck onto the floor, pattering away.

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

"Take it back and hand it in."

Bujie instantly understood Jiang Yuechu's meaning.

The bear head was proof of merit.

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

He asked no further questions. Taking the heavy head, he casually tore a piece of ruined cassock from the pile of mangled flesh on the ground, wrapped it up in a few swift movements, and slung it over his shoulder.

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

A man stepped forward and pointed at the woman on the bed, who had long since fallen silent.

Another man walked over, placed a hand beneath her nose, then shook his head despondently.

"She's gone."

The meditation chamber fell silent once more.

So what if they had killed the demon?

The Demon Suppression Office could slay demons and eradicate evil, but it could never save everyone.

Liu Ke stood in the corner, looking at that ravaged body with mixed feelings in his heart.

He suddenly seemed to understand why Jiang Yuechu had been so cold when facing those commoners weeping and begging on their knees outside the county seat.

All the Demon Suppression Office could do was kill demons.

As for saving people...

Most of the time, they simply could not arrive in time, nor could they save them.

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

Jiang Yuechu had no 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 yamen."

Chen Tong was taken aback. "Squad Leader, you aren't leaving with us?"

"I still have some matters to deal with."

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!"

The group did not dare say more. Carrying the woman's body and bearing the bear head, they filed out one after another.

Soon, Jiang Yuechu was the only one left in the blood-soaked meditation chamber.

She shut the door behind her, cutting off everything outside.

Looking at the mountain of flesh piled upon the floor, a blaze of heat flashed through her eyes.

Blood Sustenance Art, activate!

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

Streams of incomparably pure blood and qi flowed through the crimson tentacles, pouring endlessly into her body.

Boom!

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

Its effect was countless times greater than the demon beast flesh Wei He had given her before!

After a long while.

"Phew..."

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

She opened the panel.

[Host: Jiang Yuechu]

[Realm: Mid Bone-Resonance Realm]

[Dao Cultivation: One Hundred Eighty-Five Years]

[...]

Mid Bone-Resonance Realm!

Jiang Yuechu clenched her fist, feeling the strength within her that had grown several points more powerful than before. She could not help feeling somewhat moved.

That Bear Demon had not been boasting before its death.

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

Not only had it yielded more Dao Cultivation than the Bone-Resonance Pig Demon she had encountered before, 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 this good at cultivating, then my days would finally have something to look forward to."

Chen Tong and the others did not return to the county yamen. Instead, they waited at the entrance of the ruined temple.

When they saw her return alone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to greet 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 the Hexian County yamen.

County Magistrate Qian had already prepared wine and food. The instant he saw them return, he came forward bowing and scraping.

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

My dear mother...

They had really killed it!

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

The next day.

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

As for the remaining matters, the county yamen would naturally handle them.

Compared with the boisterous journey here, the atmosphere on the way back was strangely quiet.

Ten Scarlet-eyed Steeds moved unhurriedly along the official road. Other than hoofbeats, not a sound could be heard.

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 conduct, and the cruelty of her methods, had already surpassed anything they could have imagined.

Jiang Yuechu rode silently, calculating in her heart.

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

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

As for techniques, 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..."

Just as she was sighing over it, two fast riders galloped up from behind the group and rode alongside her.

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

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

"Squad... Squad Leader, these... these were found on those two bald donkeys."

Jiang Yuechu was somewhat surprised.

She had nearly forgotten about that.

She reached out and took them. They felt rather thick in her hand.

Unfolding them, she found several large-denomination banknotes, exchangeable at major banks throughout the Great Tang.

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

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

Though these men had not been much help in killing the demon and had spent the whole time watching from the sidelines—

They had no merit, perhaps, but they had labored.

Besides, they would all be her subordinates from now on, and she would need them to handle matters for her in the future. There was no need to be so miserly.

She immediately picked out two five-hundred-tael banknotes and casually tossed them back.

"Take these and divide them among the brothers."

Everyone froze.

Especially the man who had handed over the money. He caught the notes in a flurry, his face full of disbelief.

By custom, when a group obtained unexpected wealth, the leader took the lion's share and gave the underlings a little soup and scraps. That was already considered exceedingly generous.

But who would... be this lavish?

A full thousand taels, taken out to reward subordinates?!

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

And besides, they truly had not helped much.

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

"Amitabha!"

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

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

The others came back to themselves and hurriedly offered their thanks.

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

Bujie suggested, "This money won't be easy for the nine of us to split. How about this—one hundred taels each, and when we get back to Liangzhou Prefecture, the rest goes toward taking the brothers to Drunken Flower Tower for wine and girls. One each, and we can all have ourselves a good time!"

The moment Chen Tong heard Drunken Flower Tower, his eyes lit up. He chuckled lewdly.

"Damn it, my mouth's been so bland these past days I'm about to taste birds! I heard Drunken Flower Tower got a few new Hu women—red hair, green eyes, and tits bigger than their heads."

The group immediately erupted into knowing laughter.

Even those men who had been somewhat restrained earlier now wore the lecherous grins all men understood.

Only Liu Ke still wore that cold expression.

He merely watched this group of rough men laughing and fooling around, a trace of complexity flashing through his eyes.

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

"No problem!"

Bujie threw an arm around his shoulders, waggling his eyebrows. "Young Master Liu is a refined man who doesn't care for common rouge and powder. I understand. When the time comes, I'll use two!"

"..."

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

Bujie did not mind. He turned back to Jiang Yuechu. "Captain Jiang, what do you think... Why not come along too? Besides the girls, Drunken Flower Tower's male attendants are simply peerless. I hear every one of them has red lips, white teeth, a soft and delicate body—they'll make sure you're served to complete comfort..."

"Get lost."

"Right away!"