Zhou Yi knew nothing about cultivation arts and had no idea what rank the Yellow Court Dao Scripture was.
The fact that it refined spiritual energy on its own, without requiring him to sit in meditation, was enough to leave Zhou Yi utterly satisfied.
First, Zhou Yi understood neither meridians nor the dantian, and with no one to teach him, he could not have cultivated even with an immortal scripture in hand.
Second, he shared a communal bunkroom with seven others. If he suddenly began meditating and cultivating, he would probably find himself taking a trip to the Heaven-Class Prison the next day.
Zhou Yi silently recited the Yellow Court Dao Scripture. A stream of pure qi circulated naturally within him, widening his meridians and strengthening his muscles and bones before finally turning into a wisp of magical power in his dantian.
Under the guidance of the Yellow Court Dao Scripture, the medicinal potency of the Water-Softening Pill lying dormant within his body was activated.
Cultivating did not stop Zhou Yi from disposing of the old devil's remains. He carried them to the Fiend Refining Cavern and tossed them inside.
Apart from their names, the Fiend Refining Cavern and the Demon Refining Cavern were identical inside. Having learned his lesson last time, Zhou Yi did not dare use the Qi-Reading Technique to inspect it.
He finished his work quickly that day, only to discover that the dining hall was completely empty.
Zhou Yi ate at a leisurely pace, dividing his attention to silently recite the Yellow Court Dao Scripture. He could now cultivate while walking, cultivate while sitting, cultivate while eating...
Only after a while did executioners begin arriving in twos and threes.
From their conversations, he learned that all the assignments given to the executioners of the Punishment Office's nine divisions that day involved killing fiendish cultivators.
Those fiends were far more dangerous than members of the Demon Race. Aside from their various methods of temptation, they often unleashed secret arts just before dying, taking their executioners down with them.
"The Black Baleful Demon Venerable didn't seem to resist. Killing him was much easier than killing those thick-skinned, tough-fleshed demons..."
Zhou Yi muttered to himself, "Was it because my blade was fast enough?"
When he returned to his quarters, he found that only four of the eight occupants had come back.
Including Zhou Yi, that made a survival rate of five out of eight.
The water clock already showed that it was late at night. The other three were most likely never coming back.
One of them was Shi Liu, who slept beside Zhou Yi and snored the loudest.
The others sharing the room gave Zhou Yi slight nods when they saw him.
None of them was physically tired that day, yet no one had the slightest desire to chat.
The Punishment Office Prison slaughtered demons, fiends, ghosts, and monsters, but the executioners suffered more torment.
Zhou Yi lay on his bed, silently reciting the Yellow Court Dao Scripture. Having set foot on the path of cultivation, he was brimming with energy and no longer needed sleep at all.
That was just as well.
If some peerless fiend broke loose in the prison, he could flee in time.
"I wonder what rewards I'll get for slaying demons and fiends tomorrow."
Zhou Yi was full of anticipation for the future.
He was glad he had joined the Demon-Slaying Bureau. Otherwise, if he went out to slay demons and fiends himself, he would most likely die without even a place to be buried.
Early the next morning.
Only forty-two men remained in the Punishment Office's A division.
Commandant Lu Gang merely said that newcomers would arrive soon, then continued handing out assignments.
The Punishment Office truly had no shortage of newcomers. Food and lodging alone could attract crowds of able-bodied young men, not to mention that they could just barely count as petty officials.
Outside, they might starve to death within a month. In the Punishment Office, they could at least eat and drink their fill and live another six months or a year.
Zhou Yi could not judge whether the Demon-Slaying Bureau was right or wrong. Most of that day's assignments were in the Earth-Class Prison.
The fiends from the Black Lotus Sect branch yesterday had been something like last-minute additions, so another day's worth of demons and fiends awaiting execution had piled up. He had no idea where they captured so many demons, fiends, ghosts, and monsters.
B-block, cell 105.
Inside was a full-fledged wolf demon, covered in snow-white fur and standing over twelve feet tall.
More than a dozen refined-iron chains pierced the wolf demon's limbs, chest, and belly. The moment it saw Zhou Yi enter, its savage nature erupted. Its foot-long fangs could easily tear through metal.
Zhou Yi first pulled out every tooth in the wolf demon's mouth. An accidental brush against them could cost him an arm or a leg.
After the wolf demon died, it appeared in the Demon and Monster Compendium.
The reward was a spell that could draw in Lunar Essence for Body Refining.
Unfortunately, the Punishment Office was built underground. Zhou Yi had not seen sunlight in more than six months.
"Judging roughly by their value, the A-block prison gives the best rewards, and the Heaven-Class Prison gives the worst."
"But what I need most right now is pills. The Lunar Body-Refining Art is actually worth less to me than a Water-Softening Pill."
"Forget it. The Demon-Slaying Bureau has an endless supply of demons and fiends to kill anyway. A day or two makes no difference."
Zhou Yi's life in the Punishment Office followed an extremely regular routine: sleep, roll call, slay demons, eat, sleep, roll call...
"How... is this any different from working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week in my previous life?"
Zhou Yi discovered that even rebirth, transmigration, and a system could not save him from that "blessing."
The Yellow Court Dao Scripture circulated constantly, increasing his magical power with every passing moment. As for how strong he actually was, Zhou Yi was not quite sure.
After the Black Baleful Demon Venerable, most of the demons and fiends he killed were in the Heaven-Class Prison. He refined the pill rewards directly into magical power, while only daring to practice his spells in secret.
Even the Black Baleful Demon Venerable, who had swept across the world for over three hundred years, had been captured by the Demon-Slaying Bureau and fed to the Fiend Refining Cavern. Zhou Yi did not dare reveal the slightest trace of his cultivation.
As he killed more and more demons and fiends, Zhou Yi's technique grew increasingly refined. Even the people from the Ministry of Works praised the organs he extracted: a fraction more would be excess, a fraction less would ruin them.
After Zhou Yi demonstrated his exquisite bladework, the commandant assigned him more demons and left the dangerous fiendish cultivators to other executioners.
The quantity and quality of the materials harvested from demons directly affected the commandant's rewards.
In the blink of an eye, another six months passed.
The seven people sharing Zhou Yi's room had already been replaced twice.
From talking with the new executioners, he learned that most came from several northwestern provinces. The Western Rong had colluded with demonic sects to launch a rebellion, leaving millions displaced.
"Alas, how hard the lives of the common people are."
Zhou Yi could only sigh. The previous group of roommates had been even more unfortunate: they were all from a family surnamed Qian.
They had reportedly once been wealthy merchants, implicated in a wrongful case involving an important figure in the Luo Capital's Six Ministries.
Their crimes did not warrant death, yet they had been thrown into the Punishment Office. Over the course of three months, unable to withstand the erosion of baleful qi, they had all gone to sleep and never woken again.
The commandant in charge of roll call was no longer Lu Gang but a newcomer, Shi Yongyan. With his refined features and upright bearing, he looked like a scholar.
To everyone's surprise, a young monk had arrived with Captain Shi.
The monk was handsome and graceful, with a gentle, cultured air. His moon-white robes stood out sharply in the gloomy Punishment Office Prison.
Captain Shi introduced him. "This is Master Fahai of the Golden Light Temple, one of the Demon-Slaying Bureau's immortal masters you often speak of."
An immortal master!
Zhou Yi had heard the term many times, but this was his first time seeing one in the flesh.
The other executioners could not help murmuring among themselves, their gazes fixed on Fahai and filled with hope.
"Amitabha."
Fahai's gaze swept over the A-division executioners, his eyes full of compassion as golden Buddhist light shone from his entire body.
As the Buddhist light fell upon the executioners, their bodies, long ravaged by baleful qi, immediately felt much lighter.
"Thank you, Immortal Master!"
"Immortal Master, we will never forget your great kindness!"
"May you live as long as the heavens and enjoy immortal blessings forever!"
The executioners bowed and thanked him one after another. Zhou Yi followed along with the crowd, secretly using the Qi-Reading Technique to examine their auras.
Unfortunately, deathly qi still coiled around them.
Master Fahai's Buddhist arts were not yet enough to eradicate the erosion of baleful qi.
"All right, all right. Now that you've received Master Fahai's blessing today, you must work hard."
Captain Shi said, "Zhou Yi, accompany Master Fahai to C-block, cell 72. Do your best to satisfy any requests he makes."
"Yes, sir. Master, please follow me."
Zhou Yi led the way to C-block, cell 72.
A cattle demon was imprisoned inside. Judging by its breed, it had been a domestic yellow ox, something extremely common in the Demon-Slaying Bureau.
Domestic livestock, steeped in human presence, could easily develop intelligence. An old saying went, "Chickens no older than five, dogs no older than eight." It meant that once they exceeded their natural lifespans, they would become demons.
Zhou Yi had previously killed a large rooster demon. Raised by a farming family for ten years, it had quietly transformed into a demon.
The farming family knew nothing of this. When an honored guest visited, they planned to kill the large rooster to entertain him.
Instead, the rooster demon pecked off the heads of everyone in the family, along with their honored guest.
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