Cat Demon

He looked at the villagers around him.

Sixteen people.

Ten men and women around twenty years old, while the remaining six were all around ten. The pattern was remarkably regular.

Though they had been untied by now, they were all sitting down, with no strength left.

From the occasional growls of their stomachs, he understood that they were hungry.

Gao Fei picked out the corpse of a Blood-Qi Realm Dog Demon and cut it apart with his knife.

"Use this fire to roast it. Eat first, then carry this corpse back."

The meat of a Spirit-Absorption Realm Dog Demon was definitely not cheap.

He took out the Beast Core that did not have much left from the Fox Demon, along with the Demon Core he had just obtained, and held them in his hands.

System, use 200 Merit Points to continue tempering my internal organs.

In the fiftieth year, you completed the tempering of your bladder.

In the one hundred and tenth year, you completed the tempering of your gallbladder.

In the one hundred and eighty-eighth year, you completed the tempering of the Triple Burner.

Organ Tempering Realm, Perfected. Four-Pillar Pure-Yang Body: 90/100

Your explosive power has increased.

You can control every organ and bone in your body, increasing your height.

In the two hundredth year, you discovered that your tempered internal organs had become overly tough, losing many delicate functions. You began nourishing their flexibility with Blood-Qi, only to find that your entire body was the same—extremely stiff, with slow reactions.

23 Merit Points remaining.

The Fox Demon's Demon Core in his hand had completely turned into a white stone, and he casually tossed it away.

These young people were terrified of staying in this place. They had no appetite even for meat, using spearheads to cut it into small pieces, roasting it briefly, then swallowing it whole like dates dropped down the throat.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the villagers had finished preparing and looked toward Gao Fei.

After looking around and finding no trace of any Dog Demons, he did not feel right risking other people's lives.

"Let's go!"

They had only walked for an hour when more than a dozen Dog Demons suddenly appeared atop a hill.

Without even looking around, they charged straight toward them.

The villagers gathered together. The older ones shielded the younger ones, whose faces were already streaked with tears as they forced themselves not to cry aloud.

Gao Fei had already drawn his blade and stood ready.

Yet the Dog Demons sped past directly in front of him, racing toward the distant horizon.

Two blind fools charged right up to him and were cut down by Gao Fei, one slash each.

One was in the Skin Tempering Realm, the other in the Blood-Qi Realm.

The rest did not even spare him a glance, fleeing into the distance at full speed.

Gao Fei looked in the direction from which the Dog Demons had come, his expression grave.

"You go first. Don't return to the village—head straight into the county seat."

The villagers hurriedly lifted the Spirit-Absorption Realm Dog Demon's corpse and departed in the direction of their village.

Only a few breaths after the villagers had left.

A white-pawed tabby cat appeared on the hilltop. It glanced in the direction the fleeing Dog Demons had gone, then looked toward the villagers.

Finally, it turned its gaze on Gao Fei. As it approached, it spoke calmly.

"Human, thank you for stopping those Dog Demons for me. To thank you, I'll bite through your neck directly and spare you any suffering."

From afar, it had been difficult to tell, but only when it came closer did Gao Fei realize that this snow-pawed tabby was as large as a cheetah.

As it walked, its waist arched upward like a drawn bow, ready to strike at any moment.

Gao Fei's eyes shifted. Just as he looked at its tail, the Cat Demon leaped to his side and swiped at his head with one paw.

The Cat Demon's claws glinted with cold light. Ignoring Gao Fei's raised blade, they slammed down directly.

Clang, clang!

Its swipes came in an unbroken barrage, each one heavy and powerful.

In the space of a few breaths, he had been struck more than ten times.

Fortunately, Gao Fei was strong and his defense was sufficient. His hands merely went numb.

Against that kind of speed, defense was already nearly useless.

He would have to endure its close-range attacks and prepare to trade injuries for injuries.

An ordinary cat's reaction speed was several times that of a human's. Martial training had narrowed that gap somewhat.

Gao Fei still felt that he was too slow. The moment his hand moved, it sprang away and dodged.

Those dozen swipes had been taken for nothing.

At that moment, Gao Fei recalled that on the roads of his previous life, cats had been among the animals most often killed by cars. He began to gain an idea.

If its reactions were fast, then he could not attack head-on.

His killing move had to come later, luring it into dodging before counterattacking through the opening afterward.

With that thought, Gao Fei charged toward it and swung his blade.

Normally, a blade was more threatening than a fist, so it would certainly dodge.

The Cat Demon did the same, slipping aside with ease.

No matter how Gao Fei swung the blade in his hand, it always evaded effortlessly.

After its initial attacks proved ineffective, the Cat Demon did not dare strike carelessly either. It began looking for a flaw in Gao Fei.

They fought in a tangled melee for the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

When the Cat Demon dodged backward once more, Gao Fei released his long blade, sending it flying directly toward its eyes.

He himself followed close behind, drawing back his right fist to gather strength.

After dodging the blade, the Cat Demon reversed direction and darted away.

It had evaded the blade, but Gao Fei's fist descended upon its skull.

Dark Force surged forth, and its brain instantly turned to mush.

It staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground, twitching.

System notification: You killed an Organ Tempering Realm, Perfected Cat Demon. Merit Points +20.

"A bastard even harder to kill than a Spirit-Absorption Realm Dog Demon, yet it gave so few Merit Points."

Gao Fei shook his head and chased after the fleeing villagers.

An hour later.

A tabby cat over three meters long appeared at the site where the human and cat had fought.

Its nose twitched as a familiar scent drifted over. Fixing on its source, it raced in one direction.

In the grass, more than a dozen Dog Demons with Unawakened Intelligence were tearing at a Cat Demon's corpse.

Several afterimages flashed past. Before the Dog Demons could react, they all fell to the ground.

The Dog Demons' bite force was insufficient, and they had not managed to puncture the dead Cat Demon's hide.

It was easy to recognize who it was. Tears began gathering in her eyes.

"Xiao Si."

"Whoever it was, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, I'll kill you."

As she spoke, she ran off, her nose desperately sniffing at the ground.

The scents were chaotic, carrying the aura of both Dog Demons and humans—and more than one human at that.

Having tracked the scent this far, she stopped.

She began running toward the hill where the Spirit-Absorption Realm Dog Demons had been stationed.

At this time, the Fox Demon caught up as well.

Before her figure arrived, her seductive voice did.

"Don't be angry. The important matter comes first. As long as we capture the Yueyang County Magistrate and extract the Great Wu destiny and Incense and Fire Prayer Power from his body, you can break through, switch to the Demon Race's immortal cultivation methods, and greatly increase your lifespan."

"What does losing one son amount to? Just have another. Look at Yellow Great Immortal—he lost two sons and acts as though nothing happened."

The tabby Cat Demon turned to glance at the Fox Demon, who walked on two legs with a human body and human face. A trace of struggle appeared on her face.

"Your method had better truly work. Otherwise, even if you are from the Shangqiu Fox Clan, you'll still pay the price."

The Fox Demon used a hand to smooth the fur on the four fluffy tails behind her, not taking the threat to heart at all.

"Don't worry."

"Fine. Let's go see the Dog Demons' territory first, find out what happened, then pursue them."

Half an hour later, the two demons arrived at the hill where the Spirit-Absorption Realm Dog Demons had been.

The pungent stench made both demons frown.

Seeing a layer of human white bones spread across the ground, the Cat Demon was somewhat displeased.

"These Dog Demons really know how to enjoy themselves, eating so many humans..."

"Hurry up and finish this. As long as we keep the people in the city penned up, it will be enough for us to continue absorbing human incense and destiny to accelerate our cultivation..."

Though the smell was pungent, the Fox Demon still caught a faintly familiar scent from a white stone.