Return

The process of having his body tightly embraced and constantly squeezed inward by countless hands was terrifying, but surprisingly, Cheng Sheng did not feel much pain.

On the contrary, I felt somewhat... comfortable.

Those arms reaching out from the darkness were like irons, each press drawing away the excess, useless "moisture" from his body.

If the Five Sacrifices were a simple and brutal process of infusing and transforming Cheng Sheng's body, then this is now a process of repair and refinement.

Cheng Sheng's exaggeratedly strong muscles were compressed back, the gaps between the muscles decreased, the blood concentration increased, and the bone density increased... It was as if after a heavy rain, a sapling with lush branches and wild growth was carefully pruned into a neat and beautiful shape.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the last soft, smooth sensation—whether it was a strand of hair or a tongue—slowly circled his neck, retreated from behind his ear, and disappeared.

It's all finally over.

"Call..."

Losing his support Cheng Sheng collapsed to his knees, half-exhausted, his hands bracing against the ground, sweat soaking into a large puddle beneath him.

An unprecedented sense of ease and solidity filled his entire body.

Cheng Sheng examined his right hand. It was long and strong, with distinct joints, and seemed even whiter than before, like the hand of someone who plays the piano.

He slowly stood up, examined his entire body, and then a thought flickered in his mind.

[Elephant Soul]!

"Click-clack..."

With a cracking sound, Cheng Sheng's entire body began to rapidly "expand" outwards.

Because the body has undergone a "compression," the changes in physique are now more pronounced than before after the activation of [Elephant Soul].

"The effects of [Elephant Soul] haven't weakened; the increases in strength, speed, and other aspects seem even stronger than before..."

Cheng Sheng exhaled, and his body slowly withdrew from the Elephant Soul state.

He was very satisfied with the results of this sacrificial ceremony; in fact, they exceeded his expectations.

Looking at the center of the magic circle again, the purple flames inside had long since been extinguished, and only a few remnants of the flames remained on the ground at the center of the magic circle.

Cheng Sheng's eyes flickered. He walked over, picked up the ashes and scraps from the ground, and rubbed them between his fingers.

"My offerings... she didn't take any of them?"

If no offerings were taken away, it means that the sacrifice had consumed one's own social connections.

Looking back now, it seems a bit naive of me to think I could please a demon with some worldly jewelry and clothes.

So, has the first loan already begun?

Cheng Sheng subconsciously touched his neck and earlobes... the parts that had been "kissed".

"Fine, I'll just owe it..."

Cheng Sheng strode quickly out of the tin shed, his eyes fixed straight ahead, muttering to himself.

"Anyway..."

"I never intended to pay it back."

"Pat-pat-pat..."

The sky was overcast, and large raindrops pounded against the wooden eaves, floorboards, and ground, making a crackling sound.

On either side of the small courtyard, a dozen or so black umbrellas stood silently open in the heavy rain. No one spoke; everyone seemed to be waiting for something.

At this moment, Cheng Sheng was standing under one of the black umbrellas. Under his umbrella stood Sulai, next to Songpa, and directly opposite him were Nalong and seven or eight other unfamiliar faces.

These people were all the true core disciples and followers of the Black Killing Style, with Cheng Sheng being the youngest among them.

"Creak--"

In the silence, a black sedan pulled up to the courtyard gate, the sound of its brakes drawing everyone's attention.

The people under the dozen or so black umbrellas began to stir slightly and start to move towards the courtyard entrance.

The passenger side door of the car opened, and a figure stepped out.

"Sha Lie Brother Sha Lie!"

Someone quickly stepped forward and held a black umbrella over Sha Lie's head to shield him from the torrential rain.

Sha Lie nodded slightly to him, then went straight to the back door and carefully helped the other person out of the car.

"Master of the Black Killing Style!"

Cheng Sheng followed the crowd, his eyes fixed on the figure being supported by Sha Lie and escorted by three or four disciples holding an umbrella.

Upon seeing the other person's face clearly, one cannot help but feel greatly disappointed.

He had imagined the appearance, temperament, and demeanor of the Black Kill Master many times in his mind, but the person in front of him looked like just a sick and weak old man.

His hair was gray, his face ashen, his cheeks sunken. He was tall but also very thin, and he was covered with a thick blanket. Through his collar, you could see his bony sternum and collarbone... He looked nothing like a fighter.

"The curator..."

Cheng Sheng heard a murmur, looked down, and saw Sulai staring intently at the figure with a worried expression. She looked very concerned, but for some reason, she didn't go up to him.

Cheng Sheng couldn't help but lean closer to Sulai and whisper, "Senior Sister, isn't the Master your father? Why are you calling him Master too?"

Sulai looked up, gave him a disgruntled glare, and then quickly ran away from under his umbrella, squeezing into the crowd.

Did I say something wrong?

Cheng Sheng shook his head and followed the crowd.

A group of Black Killing Style disciples escorted the frail old man into the dojo. Two maids wearing sarongs with one shoulder exposed took the old man from Sha Lie's arms and carefully helped him inside.

No one followed them inside. Everyone stood tacitly under the dripping eaves, folding their black umbrellas and talking as they did so.

"Wow, the teacher's injury was that serious this time?"

A round-faced, chubby man wearing gold earrings said with a solemn expression.

Do you think just anyone can come back alive from the clutches of a slayer?

Cheng Sheng stood in the corner and listened for a while before he understood that Sulai's father Su Tai, had been seriously injured in the process of killing an out-of-control sorcerer.

The surrendered officer who injured Su Tai was the same wanted criminal who had recently caused the Sucha Street massacre in Qingsha City.

"Su Tai, a true fighter, was injured like this!"

Su Tai's fate seems to strongly corroborate what Songpa had warned him before—no matter how skilled a fighter is, he cannot defeat a true master of subjugation!

"I wonder if using Hell Plague Fly would still be effective against the exorcists?"

Cheng Sheng had seen the footage of the demon slayer captured on his phone, and subconsciously touched his wrist under his shirt cuff—the advantage of the Hell Plague Fly was that it was particularly terrifying in killing a single living being, and it was extremely stealthy when it was activated.

But if the opponent is exceptionally cautious, even an insect will find it difficult to get close, and the Hell Plague Fly will be useless if it can't bite the opponent.

Cheng Sheng tried to put himself in the opposite position to Jiang Shi, the wanted criminal on Sucha Street, to make a hypothetical scenario.

After frowning and thinking it over again, the final conclusion was: if he were to unfortunately encounter the opponent, the only way for him to fight back would be to hide himself in a sufficiently safe and secluded location and then launch a harassing attack with a large number of Plague Fly.

"One Plague Fly is too few; it needs to be in swarms for the threat level to change dramatically!"

Alternatively, a larger-scale human sacrifice could be performed in exchange for a way to summon a more powerful Abyss creature than the Plague Fly!

Cheng Sheng was thinking, on the other side, the disciples under the eaves had slowly turned the topic to Sha Lie.

"Did you encounter any trouble on the way back with Master, Senior Brother?"

Someone asked, "The return time is a day later than originally planned."

Sha Lie shook the water droplets off his clothes and said calmly, "There were two people who tried to assassinate the teacher along the way, but I dealt with them using the Hundred-Legged Style technique..."