Lu Guan tightened his grip on the saber hilt, his expression indifferent, and said softly:
"Stay farther away. Don't get hurt."
The next instant, he pushed off hard with both feet and shot forward, so fast he left only an afterimage.
Tang Jun looked at the spot beside him where Lu Guan had vanished, his mouth opening in bewilderment. He instinctively took a step forward, then stopped.
So he had meant to deal with these demons all by himself.
Sure, you were at the perfected Qi and Blood Realm, but didn't you understand that two fists couldn't beat four hands?
What was more, there were a full nine demons before them!
Tang Jun's hand tightened around his saber, loosened, then tightened again.
He ought to have gone up to help, but his legs seemed rooted to the ground, unable to move.
It was not entirely out of fear. Lu Guan's words had also made him instinctively want to obey.
Shhk!
His figure crossed paths with white bones, saber light flashing as swiftly as thunder.
In just an instant, three more White Bone Demons fell beneath his blade.
Their skulls rolled, the ghostly flames in their sockets tracing three green arcs through the air, extinguished completely by the time they hit the ground.
The sharp, piercing cracks of breaking bones rang together beneath the night sky.
Beneath Lu Guan's saber, these seemed not like demons whose very mention struck terror into people's hearts, but merely a few mongrels.
"Demons die when you cut them."
The young officer's cold indifference gave rise to an emotion called fear within these White Bone Demons.
Years of sustenance from Qianqiu County had long since led them to regard the entire county's people as blood food.
Even the black-uniformed officers of the Demon Suppression Bureau were merely playing petty games, as far as they were concerned.
Would they truly dare strike and wipe out White Bone Mountain?
Years of confrontation had long since formed a mutual understanding: every so often, they would throw out a few disobedient demons, giving the Demon Suppression Bureau credit and letting it preserve some dignity.
In return, the Demon Suppression Bureau ought to cooperate as they kept an entire county penned up to provide blood food.
Those missing people were the price of this tacit understanding.
Now, that understanding had been broken.
"How dare you? How dare you!"
As it spoke, the one-armed White Bone Demon suddenly leaped into the air. Moonlight shone upon its body, gathering entirely upon its remaining arm as it chopped down at his head!
The other White Bone Demons swiftly surrounded him, closing in from every direction and completely sealing off Lu Guan's retreat.
For a moment, there seemed to be no road to heaven and no gate into the earth.
Neither sorrow nor joy showed on the young man's face.
He raised his eyes, glanced at the moonlit bone arm descending overhead, then swept his gaze across the white bones surrounding him.
Those eyes were terrifyingly calm.
Man and saber became one.
He unleashed the Demon Subduing Saber Technique, honed to complete perfection, without restraint.
The Primordial Saber seemed to come alive in his hand. A silver line lit up along the subtle flowing-water patterns on its blade, extending from its base all the way to its tip.
In an instant, bone fragments flew.
Snapped ribs, shattered shoulder blades, tumbling skulls, and flying knuckles wove a white storm beneath the moonlight.
At the center of that storm, a slender figure spun and darted, saber light streaming like silk.
Before the crushing weight of absolute strength, the demons' coordinated encirclement seemed so pale and powerless.
Not far away, Tang Jun let go of his precious saber.
It fell to the ground, striking a stone with a clear clang, yet he remained utterly unaware.
He stared, dumbstruck, his mouth slightly open, as Lu Guan beheaded the demons one after another.
Beneath the moonlight, the young man danced with his saber, slaying a host of demons!
Saber light reflected the moon, and the moon illuminated the saber light. The scene ought to have been majestic and soul-stirring.
Yet, inexplicably, Tang Jun suddenly felt that it looked just like a butcher slaughtering pigs in a market.
The same practiced skill, the same death with a single stroke.
The only difference was that one slaughtered pigs, while the other slew demons.
He gave a bitter laugh.
While he was still agonizing over whether to step forward, the battle over there had already ended.
The wind stilled, and the saber came to rest.
The one-armed White Bone Demon fell to its knees. It braced its lone arm against the ground and tried to stand, its vertebrae arching upward one by one with creaking sounds.
But it had only arched halfway up before it fell completely apart, its skeleton collapsing with a clatter into a heap of broken bones.
[Late Qi and Blood Realm White Bone Demon. Sixty years of cultivation. Poor aptitude. Twenty-five years of effective cultivation extracted.]
Lu Guan sheathed his saber and let out a deep breath of turbid air, yet he could not suppress the excitement in his eyes.
Among all the demons, the one-armed White Bone Demon had possessed the highest cultivation realm, providing him with twenty-five years of cultivation.
Most of the other White Bone Demons had been in the early or middle Qi and Blood Realm. Their ages varied; even the one with the least cultivation had cultivated for thirty years, while the longest had cultivated for nearly a hundred.
Yet all had possessed poor aptitude, so the effective cultivation he could extract was not much compared with the years they had spent cultivating.
But their numbers made up for it!
A full twelve demons had provided him with a total of one hundred and eighty years of cultivation!
[Name: Lu Guan] [Age: Eighteen] [Remaining lifespan: One year] [Realm: Perfected Qi and Blood Realm] [Martial arts: Qi and Blood · Demon Subduing Saber Technique (perfected), Qi and Blood · Demon Suppression Cultivation Method (perfected)] [Cultivation: Two hundred and ten years]
Looking at the abundant cultivation on the panel, Lu Guan licked his lips.
With so many years of cultivation, he wondered what level he could reach.
The only thing he lacked now was martial arts cultivation methods.
The Demon Subduing Saber Technique had already reached perfection. To push it further, he needed a new path.
The same held true for the Demon Suppression Cultivation Method. He had comprehended this Qi and Blood Realm cultivation method to its utmost limit, yet he still could not pierce the paper window separating him from the True Qi Realm.
Just as he thought this, a message suddenly appeared on the panel:
[You may expend one hundred years of cultivation to synthesize one Dao Seed.] [Dao Seed: Can be used to extrapolate or complete martial arts cultivation methods.] (Note: Only one Dao Seed may be used per cultivation method.)
Lu Guan froze, then wild joy welled up in the depths of his eyes.
Whatever he lacked had come straight to him!
Without hesitation, he immediately spent one hundred years of cultivation to exchange for a Dao Seed.
In some unfathomable way, Lu Guan felt something appear within his chest, faintly warm. Warmth spread from his chest, flowing through his blood vessels into his limbs and every bone.
[A Dao Seed rests within the chest; heaven aids its course.]
Amid the heaps of white bones, Lu Guan closed his eyes and placed the Dao Seed into the Demon Suppression Cultivation Method.
Something seemed to have been stirred, like a seed falling into the soil, taking root, sprouting, and breaking through the earth.
[The Dao Seed has been planted, taking root and sprouting.] [Through a century of contemplation, with the Dao Seed's help, you successfully brought forth something new from the Demon Suppression Cultivation Method, raising it to another level.]
Countless insights flooded his mind like a tide.
Under the Dao Seed's stimulation, the heavenly chasm stretching between Qi and Blood and True Qi held no more secrets and burst wide open.
[You named it the "Demon-Exterminating Heart Scripture."] True Qi · Demon-Exterminating Heart Scripture (uninitiated) [Remaining cultivation: One hundred and ten years]
Lu Guan opened his eyes. A keen gleam flashed through them, vanishing in an instant.
He licked his lips, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
Then Lu Guan turned and looked at Tang Jun, who had stood motionless behind him with his mouth wide open all this time.
"Brother Tang, do you still wish to slay demons?"
Tang Jun shuddered as though roused from a dream. He hurriedly bent down to pick up his saber and said bitterly:
"With you here, Brother Lu, how could I dare make a spectacle of myself?"
With that, he cupped his hands again, respect showing on his face:
"Thank you for saving my life tonight, Brother Lu."
"If you ever have any instructions for me, I will not refuse!"