Wolf Travels a Thousand Miles

Liangzhou Prefecture.

The wind and sand were always fierce.

The flags atop the city walls had curled at the edges, drooping listlessly.

This place was not the administrative seat of Longyou Circuit, yet it was several degrees more important than the seat itself.

All because of that government office standing in the north of the city, never seeing daylight year-round, with demon-subduing wind chimes hanging from its eaves.

Military Commissioner's Office, rear hall.

The hall was very quiet.

A middle-aged man in a dark robe sat behind a broad desk, holding a scroll and reading with rapt attention.

A steady set of footsteps sounded outside the door.

A young man clad in fitted black garments lined with crimson patterns strode in. His posture was as straight as a spear, and the hilt of the horizontal saber at his waist was wrapped in coils of fine leather cord.

The young man stopped three paces before the desk, clasped his fists, and bowed.

"General."

Wei He did not take his eyes from the scroll, merely giving a faint grunt.

"What is it?"

"An urgent report from Lanzhou."

The young man said in a grave voice, "Half a month ago, six villages under Jincheng County, Lanzhou, were slaughtered in a single night. Not one survivor remained."

"What did the examination of the demonic aura reveal?"

"The demonic aura soared into the heavens and did not disperse for three days. According to reports from the local surviving soldiers, when that demon struck, Sword Qi crisscrossed everywhere. Its methods did not resemble those of ordinary demons. Moreover, the demon called itself..."

Wei He finally set down the scroll in his hand, raised his head, and glanced at Liu Chen.

"What did it call itself?"

The young man's expression was somewhat strange. "It called itself... the Black-clad Sword Immortal."

"..."

Wei He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"A Sword Immortal?"

"These days, demons sure had bigger mouths than the last."

He extended two fingers and lightly tapped the desk.

"Still... for its demonic aura to remain for three days... this demon has entered the Bone-Chiming Realm."

The young man's heart clenched.

Bone-Chiming Realm!

A great demon of that level had sinews and bones that chimed in unison, with innate supernatural powers emerging on their own. It was no longer something ordinary mounted constables could handle.

"General, you mean..."

"Gather a squad. You and Xu Nian will personally lead it to Lanzhou."

"This subordinate obeys!"

Wei He looked out the window, as though remembering something, then casually asked, "By the way, has that prisoner sent from the capital some time ago passed the border?"

The young man was taken aback before realizing whom Wei He meant.

"You mean... the convoy escorted by Pei Changqing?"

"Mm."

The young man considered it for a moment. "Judging by their pace, they should have reached Guangwu County yesterday."

"Guangwu... that is not far from Jincheng County."

He paused.

"Let's hope that boy Pei Changqing has better luck and doesn't run headfirst into it."

The young man frowned.

Pei Changqing was a squad leader, and his martial skill was considered quite decent even within the Military Commissioner's Office.

But if he faced a great demon in the Bone-Chiming Realm...

It would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

He hesitated for a while, but ultimately could not hold back.

"General, there is something this subordinate does not understand."

"Speak."

"The Jiang Household case was settled long ago. Why deploy men from our Demon Suppression Office to personally escort them?"

The rear hall fell into dead silence once more.

After a long while.

Wei He finally turned around, his face expressionless.

"Why do you think?"

"...This subordinate does not know."

"Then do not ask."

"..."

Deep into the night.

The wind outside the window never seemed to rest.

Jiang Yuechu lay on the bed with her eyes open, staring at the rafters overhead.

The horizontal saber rested beside her. Though she occasionally pressed against its scabbard and felt uncomfortable from the digging,

compared with her own safety, that small discomfort was nothing.

Her mind was a mess, and she simply could not fall asleep.

After a long while.

She suddenly sat up.

Smack.

A crisp sound rang out.

She slapped herself.

Jiang Yuechu, Jiang Yuechu, when had you become so fussy and indecisive?

Could thinking this way and that possibly make a flower bloom?

At a thought, the ancient illustrated scroll opened in her mind.

[Dao Cultivation: two hundred years]

Her gaze fell upon the two demon scrolls that had already been recorded.

Now that she held so much Dao Cultivation in her hands, she surprisingly could not decide how to use it first.

Should she continue pouring it into the Tiger Mountain God, or try the Azure-Faced Lord instead?

The Tiger Mountain God had already reached Vermilion Staining. Beyond that, who knew what kind of vista lay ahead, or how much Dao Cultivation it would consume.

If she threw these two hundred years of Dao Cultivation into it and it was not enough, leaving it stuck halfway, would that not be infuriating?

As for that azure-faced wolf demon...

Jiang Yuechu's thoughts settled on the Shadow Tracing of that blue-faced, fang-baring creature.

Both had been recorded, yet the tiger demon had consumed seventy-five years, while the wolf demon had used only fifty.

Clearly, this wolf demon's foundation was far weaker than that tiger demon's.

But being weaker had its advantages too.

It meant the Dao Cultivation needed to raise it would also be less.

Then, she could gain another innate supernatural ability.

Should she seek refinement, or breadth?

Forget it.

Better to play it safe.

Jiang Yuechu made up her mind.

Her Dao Cultivation surged like a river bursting through its dikes, pouring entirely into the Shadow Tracing of that blue-faced, fang-baring creature.

Boom—

Everything around her receded into the distance.

[In the first year, you were born on Blackwind Mountain, birthed by a wolf demon. On the day you opened your eyes, your mother was eaten by other demons.]

[In the fifth year, you cultivated more slowly than every one of your brothers. They mocked and bullied you. Even your father, the Demon King, deeply despised you. In your heart, you secretly swore...]

[In the tenth year, you accidentally learned that your brothers cultivated so quickly because they ate humans. Eating humans could hasten cultivation. You tried it, and it was indeed so.]

[In the fifteenth year, you killed more and more people. You began to feel that demons were born to kill humans. Humans were the spirits of all things, favored by heaven and earth. Killing them meant seizing the fortune of heaven and earth.]

[In the twentieth year, you killed your father and became the leader of the wolf demons of Blackwind Mountain. You gave yourself a name: Azure-Faced Lord.]

[In the thirty-fifth year, you felt that you had fallen into a bottleneck. You began searching for a way to break through.]

Her consciousness pulled free from the boundless sea of blood.

Jiang Yuechu abruptly opened her eyes.

Outside the window was still that waning moon, and the room was so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat.

[Consumed eighty years of Dao Cultivation. Azure-Faced Lord progress has reached Vermilion Staining.]

Upon the illustrated scroll, a point of vermilion light ignited within the eyes of that blue-faced, fang-baring wolf demon.

[Azure-Faced Lord successfully underwent Vermilion Staining. Demon gift obtained.]

[Azure Cliff Returning Shadow (Supreme)]

[Innate ability: Wolf Travels a Thousand Miles (Azure-Faced Lord was cunning by nature. Its movement technique was ghostlike, increasing speed.)]

Jiang Yuechu slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

She raised her hand, spreading her five fingers in the darkness before abruptly clenching them.

At her fingertips, the faint phantom of sharp claws flashed and vanished.

Her boxing technique had become increasingly effortless.

The new innate ability also made her feel much lighter on her feet.

Unfortunately, she had not gained a supernatural power.

Jiang Yuechu's brows drew together faintly, then relaxed.

So be it.

There was no need to dwell on it here.

Any improvement was a good thing.

Her thoughts shifted again. Only one hundred and twenty years of Dao Cultivation remained on the illustrated scroll.

That certainly would not be enough for what came next.

Hm?

Wait.

Jiang Yuechu frowned once more.

[Realm: Late String-Hearing Realm]

"What was going on? Could it be that my guess was wrong?"

She had previously believed that recording demons, or upgrading demon scrolls, could drive her own realm forward.

Yet now, there had not been the slightest change.

Tch.

She irritably rubbed her head.

"What a nuisance... there is not a single useful memory about martial arts in this girl's head. It is full of nothing but all sorts of rubbish..."

Forget it, forget it.

Tomorrow, she would ask Chen Qingyuan.

The Flying Eagle Sect was a martial artists' sect, after all. They should know a thing or two about cultivation.

Having decided, she lay back down and placed the horizontal saber beside her pillow.

Since things had come to this, she might as well sleep first.

The night breeze drifted through the window, occasionally lifting the girl's hair and brushing it across her lips.

Whenever that happened, she would shift into a more comfortable position and continue sleeping.