Killing intent seethed inside the gloomy cave.
The scar-faced dog demon on the left was blindingly fast, its sharp claws gleaming coldly as they went straight for Su Yu's heart.
The one-eyed dog demon on the right cut off Su Yu's retreat, opening its bloody maw to bite his thigh.
Their coordination was seamless. Clearly, they had hunted prey together like this many times.
For the old Su Yu, the only choice at this moment would have been to close his eyes and wait for death.
But now.
"Too slow."
A sharp glint flashed through Su Yu's eyes.
At that moment, the two dog demons' movements looked as though someone had pressed the slow-motion button.
He shifted his footing and turned slightly sideways, narrowly avoiding the scar-faced demon's claws.
At the same time, the newborn strength within him circulated madly with the Vajra Fist, gathering entirely in his right arm.
His sinews and bones rang together with a series of sharp cracks.
"Die!"
With a low roar, Su Yu drove his right fist like a cannonball from its barrel, the wind howling around it as it slammed into the scar-faced dog demon's soft belly.
Thud!
A muffled impact rang out.
The dog demon, weighing three hundred jin, was punched clean off its feet, its back instantly curling like a shrimp.
Then terrifying force exploded inside its body.
"Pff-"
Blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from its mouth.
Before the scar-faced dog demon could even scream, its body flew backward like a torn sack, smashing into the rock wall. By the time it slid down, it was a heap of mush.
[Slain: mortal realm fourth layer dog demon. Gained 40 slaughter points.]
One strike, one kill!
This was the power of the perfected Vajra Fist!
The one-eyed dog demon, about to sink its teeth in from the other side, was scared witless.
It froze with its mouth still open, its lone eye filled with incredulous terror.
Was... was this still that weakling human?
He killed Fourth with one punch? Even a human martial artist at the mortal realm fifth layer probably had no more strength than this, right?
"So this is what gave you the nerve to eat people?"
Su Yu turned his head, a sinister smile appearing on his bloodstained face.
He shook the blood droplets from his hand and walked toward the one-eyed dog demon, step by step.
"Now it's your turn."
"Woof! Don't... don't kill me!"
The one-eyed dog demon broke down completely. Its survival instinct overcame its ferocity, and it dropped to its knees with a thump, trembling like chaff in a sieve.
"Spare me, my lord! I was forced into it! The officials in town sent you here!"
Su Yu stopped.
The officials in town?
So this hadn't been a simple encounter, but a premeditated transaction?
"Who?" Su Yu's voice was icy.
"It... it was..."
The one-eyed dog demon's eye darted around, as though searching for a chance to escape.
Suddenly, it snatched up a handful of dirt and flung it at Su Yu's eyes, then turned and bolted toward the cave entrance.
"Idiot! Once I report this to the king, you're dead!"
Su Yu did not even blink.
"I gave you a chance."
He flicked up the leg bone the dog demons had been gnawing earlier with his toe, then snapped his wrist.
Whoosh!
The leg bone shot out like an arrow, tearing through the air with a piercing whistle.
Squelch!
The leg bone pierced precisely through the back of the one-eyed dog demon's skull and out through its forehead, pinning it firmly to the dirt at the cave entrance.
[Slain: mortal realm fourth layer dog demon. Gained 40 slaughter points.] [Current slaughter points: 80.]
Su Yu walked over, pulled out the leg bone, and wiped his hands on the dog demon.
In just a few minutes, all three mortal realm demons had been wiped out.
Su Yu drew a deep breath, feeling the heat within his body that had yet to subside.
This was the taste of power.
Not enough.
Still nowhere near enough.
In this world, those in the mortal realm were mere ants. Above it lay the spirit realm, the mystic realm...
If he did not want to be sold like a pig or a dog, he had to climb higher and kill more ruthlessly.
"System, use slaughter points to increase my cultivation!"
[Consuming 80 slaughter points to increase cultivation...] [Congratulations, host. Your cultivation has broken through to the mortal realm fourth layer!]
Boom!
A hot current emerged within Su Yu, washing furiously through his body.
His bones grew denser, his muscles became more streamlined, and he even began to sense a faint trace of Qi in his dantian.
The fourth layer of the Mortal Realm was the threshold for becoming a full-fledged Demon Suppression Guard!
His predecessor had cultivated bitterly for years without making an inch of progress, yet he had achieved it in mere minutes.
Not even Great Qin's top monstrous geniuses could possibly break through realms this quickly, but Su Yu found it quite ordinary.
After all, he had a cheat!
Who exactly was plotting against the original owner of this body?
A thoughtful look appeared on Su Yu's face.
The original owner had only been a trainee Demon Suppression Guard in Nanhe County. Though his talent had been mediocre, he had been steady in temperament and had never offended anyone in his daily life.
Could Su Daqiang have brought this trouble on him?
With that thought, Su Yu stepped out of the cave.
Su Daqiang was the original owner's father. He, too, had been a Demon Suppression Guard, but had died at the hands of demons while out on a mission several years earlier.
It was already late at night, the moon hidden and the wind high, with silence all around.
This remote wilderness was just the place for murder and dumping bodies.
Suddenly sensing something, he turned his gaze toward a dense patch of woods nearby. Faint firelight flickered there, accompanied by the clinking of drinking cups.
That was Zhao Lei's camp.
These beasts had sold out their teammate, yet they had not even left. They were drinking nearby to celebrate?
Did they really think he, Su Yu, was already dead?
"Zhao Lei."
A cruel curve lifted the corner of Su Yu's mouth, and his figure vanished into the darkness.
"Your retribution is here."
Beside the campfire.
Three men in Demon Suppression Guard uniforms sat together, roasting a wild rabbit.
Their leader was none other than Squad Leader Zhao Lei, his face thick with brutish flesh.
"Brother Lei, that Su Yu should've been eaten without so much as a scrap left by now, right?"
A guard who looked like a skinny monkey took a swig of wine and chuckled. "That kid was always so quiet. Who knew he'd be worth so much? Steward Liu actually gave us fifty taels of silver."
Zhao Lei tore off a rabbit leg and sneered. "Hmph, he had rotten luck. He was blind enough to offend the Liu Family. He was going to die sooner or later."
"Fifty taels is enough for us to enjoy ourselves at the Spring Wind Pavilion for a month."
"Tsk, tsk. Poor fellow."
Skinny Monkey shook his head. "But Brother Lei, what if the higher-ups find out about this..."
"What the hell are you afraid of!"
A vicious gleam flashed through Zhao Lei's eyes. "The dead can't testify! When we get back, we'll say we ran into a demon tide and Su Yu died heroically in battle. We might even get death benefits for him. Then we can book a few top courtesans at the Spring Wind Pavilion. Heh heh..."
The three exchanged glances and burst into lewd laughter.
"Death benefits!"
A voice devoid of warmth abruptly sounded at the edge of the firelight.
"Burn them for yourselves instead."
"Who's there?!"
Zhao Lei abruptly tossed aside the rabbit leg, drew the long saber at his waist, and shouted sharply.
All three turned toward the source of the voice.
A figure drenched in blood slowly emerged from the darkness.
On that blood-smeared face, a pair of eyes was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
The instant Skinny Monkey recognized the newcomer, the wine flask in his hand fell to the ground with a crack and shattered.
"Su... Su Yu?!"
"Are... are you human or a ghost?!"