Your Clothes Are Barely Dusty, but That Bull Demon Has Nearly Bled Dry

After the Condensed Essence Fruit Tree was dug up, the concentration of spiritual energy on the island plummeted.

Yang Xiao seized the chance to use the Origin-Guiding Qi Gathering Art, drawing out the last of the blessings left in this place.

After traveling all night, he had long since eaten the last of the rations in his pack.

Add a fierce battle to that, and he was ravenous, his stomach growling without pause.

He built a fire in front of him, cut some choice meat from the Bull Demon, and threaded it onto skewers. As the flames roasted it, a savory aroma began to rise.

He also had the Purifying Silt to Transform Origin trait, which let him draw a little spiritual energy from food.

He could not take the meat back anyway. He might as well eat it.

Hooves thundered, kicking up dust all along the road.

Shen Qingyang galloped ahead, his eyes fixed on the path before him. Ten Demon Suppression Guards followed close behind, every face grave.

"Flag Officer Shen, this Yang Xiao was far too reckless!"

One of the men could not hold back. "That Bull Demon is at least in the late Qi Gathering Realm. Yang Xiao only just entered the Qi Gathering Realm. Where did he get the nerve?"

"Exactly," another said, reins in hand. "It's good for a young man to have drive, but he should know his own limits. He's going to get himself killed!"

Shen Qingyang did not answer. He urged his horse faster.

He had read the case files.

Of all the demons around Xiangyun County, Three-Demon Mountain posed the greatest threat. The Bull Demon had occupied Cloudspring Peak for over a hundred years, and the Demon Suppression Division had mounted several campaigns against it.

By their assessment, it was at least in the late Qi Gathering Realm. It might even have broken through to the Liquid Condensation Realm.

As for Yang Xiao... from what the County Magistrate had said, the young man was talented.

But so what?

Between the Qi Gathering Realm and the Liquid Condensation Realm lay a chasm as wide as the heavens!

"Still, Yang Xiao has guts. He knew there was a tiger on the mountain and went straight toward it anyway.

"That kind of courage is exactly what the Demon Suppression Division values."

"Guts?" The first man scoffed. "That's ignorance! He doesn't know his own limits. He can't even manage to get himself killed sensibly!"

"I don't see it that way."

A middle-aged Demon Suppression Guard shook his head. "He's killed a demon in the Qi Gathering Realm before. If he went despite knowing the danger, he must have had some confidence. That self-belief and decisiveness are exactly what the Demon Suppression Division needs in a recruit."

"Enough!"

Shen Qingyang finally spoke, his voice stern.

"Save the talk. Pick up the pace!"

"Yes, sir!"

No one said another word. They simply urged their horses on.

At the foot of Three-Demon Mountain, Shen Qingyang and his party reined in their horses. The animals snorted uneasily.

"Flag Officer Shen, this is the only path into the mountain." One of the guards pointed ahead. "Yang Xiao must have gone in this way."

Shen Qingyang nodded and dismounted.

"Two of you stay with the horses. The rest, follow me."

"Yes, sir!"

Eight Demon Suppression Guards followed him up the mountain path at a brisk pace.

All along the way, they stayed alert.

Demons had occupied Three-Demon Mountain for years. There were bound to be lesser demons along the path. Yet after several miles, they had not encountered a single one.

"Strange..." One guard frowned. "Where are all the demons?"

"Could someone have cleared them out?" another guessed.

Shen Qingyang said nothing. He only quickened his steps.

The deeper they went, the thicker the demonic qi grew. Still, they encountered no demons.

Until...

"Something's up ahead!"

A guard stopped abruptly, his ears pricked.

Everyone looked toward the sound. A terrifying pressure seemed to seep through the dense woods ahead.

"That's..."

Shen Qingyang's pupils contracted.

He sensed an immensely powerful presence. Though most of it had already dissipated, the lingering pressure still made his heart pound.

"Quick!"

He shot forward toward its source.

The others rushed after him.

They passed through a thicket of low trees and rounded several small hills. The view opened before them.

A lone peak rose from the earth, its summit wrapped in cloud and mist. A clear spring poured down its cliff face.

And beside the lake at its foot... a huge black beast lay still, as large as a small hill, its back to them.

"That's the Bull Demon?!"

Everyone's eyes widened. When they spoke, their voices dropped instinctively.

It was enormous!

It was the size of two houses, with fur as black as ink and two heavy, curved horns. Just looking at it made their scalps prickle.

More frightening still, the pressure emanating from the Bull Demon was nearly at the Liquid Condensation Realm.

"Everyone, stay on guard."

Shen Qingyang's face darkened. He no longer held out hope that Yang Xiao was alive.

Even with Shen Qingyang, a cultivator in the Liquid Condensation Realm, leading them, the eight of them would have to fight carefully to win.

"Yang Xiao..." A man in the Qi Gathering Realm spoke with a tremor in his voice. He knew he could not defeat it himself.

"He went up against a Bull Demon at this level?"

No one answered.

"He must be dead..." another sighed. "What a shame. He had such promise."

Shen Qingyang's expression was grim too.

He approached the Bull Demon slowly. His gaze swept over the wounds covering its body. Blood had seeped from every one, each cut placed at a tricky angle to strike a vulnerable spot.

No one but a seasoned swordsman could have done that.

Despite himself, Shen Qingyang felt another pang of regret.

Then his gaze shifted to its throat. A clean cut had nearly severed the entire neck.

"Hm? Wait!"

Shen Qingyang froze. He drew in his aura and edged closer. The gash in the Bull Demon's neck was wide enough to expose its windpipe, and the blood had long since clotted and dried.

The Bull Demon was dead?!

How could that be?

Something was wrong!

Stunned, he finally considered a question he had overlooked.

Demons were keenly sensitive to auras. His party had come so close that the Bull Demon should have detected them long ago.

Yet it had not moved or made a sound.

"Chief, something's wrong with this Bull Demon!"

His men had noticed it too. One of them raised his voice. "There are so many of us. Why hasn't it reacted? Is it sleeping like the dead?"

"Sleeping, my foot!" Shen Qingyang clicked his tongue, drew his blade, and approached the Bull Demon.

He gave it a cautious stab. The blade went in white and came out red.

"It really is dead."

"Who did this?"

The Demon Suppression Guards behind him stared, dumbfounded.

"Flag Officer Shen, look!" A guard pointed into the distance.

Shen Qingyang followed his gesture. On a patch of open ground beside a stream, a campfire burned, a thin curl of smoke rising from it.

Without a word, he strode toward the fire.

He rounded several large trees, and the campfire came into view.

A young man sat beside it, turning a skewer of meat over the flames.

Shen Qingyang's eyes widened. He ventured, "Yang Xiao?"

Yang Xiao looked up. Surprise crossed his face when he saw Shen Qingyang and the others. "Who are you?"

Silence fell. Everyone stood frozen.

"You... you're alive?" one guard stammered.

"Do dead men talk?" Yang Xiao shrugged, curious about their reaction. Why were they so surprised?

They exchanged looks, at a loss for words.

They had raced here fearing for Yang Xiao's safety, only to find that he had killed the Bull Demon and was leisurely roasting meat.

"Well..." The man who had mocked Yang Xiao stood with his mouth open, unable to get another word out.

Shen Qingyang took a deep breath and forced down his shock.

"Yang Xiao, did you really kill that Bull Demon by yourself?"

"Mm." Yang Xiao nodded and tipped his head toward the body. "Over there. I nearly lost. It took quite a bit of work."

They looked at the Bull Demon's mountain-sized corpse, then at Yang Xiao, who seemed almost unhurt. Their feelings were a tangled mess.

Your clothes are barely dusty, while that Bull Demon has nearly bled dry.

You call that nearly losing?

Shen Qingyang drew a deep breath. "My name is Shen Qingyang. I'm from the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division in Cuiyun Circuit. I'll be in Xiangyun County for the next few days to investigate the demons nearby and escort new recruits to Qingzhou."

"We hurried here after your County Magistrate sent word. I didn't expect you'd already dealt with it..."

Now Yang Xiao understood.

He pursed his lips, wanting to make a good impression on his future colleagues.

"Lord Shen, would you like some?" Yang Xiao raised the skewer in his hand. "Bull Demon meat. Very nourishing."

"..."