Yongli Used the Mist to Flee Tanggu; Changxi Frowned and Questioned Sha Shan

----The following day, Tanggu County

It is said that established Aristocratic Clan like the Wind Stone Fang Household family, who came from the capital region, are the best at knowing how to prosper.

Tanggu County was originally one of the most remote places in Cloud Horn Prefecture. However, after it was incorporated into the Wind Stone Fang Household along with several surrounding counties, it has become quite prosperous over the past few decades.

This earned him praise from the disciples of the Chongming Sect who had served as county magistrates in various dynasties.

To be honest, if the Wind Stone Fang Household and the Cloud Valley Zhang Household, who had contributed to the offering of the elixir, had not had a long-standing feud, and the latter had not taken the initiative, it would be debatable which of the two families would hold a higher or lower position in the Chongming Sect.

However, as soon as Kang Changxi arrived at the Wind Stone Fang Household's territory, all he saw was a scene of devastation.

The thick black fog in the distance threatened to envelop the entire Tanggu County. The roars of beasts within the fog were deafening, causing the beasts and birds around Kang Changxi to die of fright from time to time.

Because Earl of Fengen Kuai En is the current governor of Shannan Circuit, Sect Leader Kang Da, for the sake of both families' reputation, did not set up Golden Core sect within Cloud Horn Prefecture.

Even now, the cities of Xuan and Han, which are guarded by the regular garrison troops, are only guarded by some fake alchemists who are trusted by him.

Normally, it might not be a big deal, but once they encounter this troublesome Golden Core Demon Officer, they are in for a calamity.

Before Kang Changxi could think further, and before he could even ascertain whether the creature hidden in the black mist was the Mystic Mist Hidden Scale Beast that his father had always been concerned about, he stepped into his spirit boots and rushed over.

"Quick! Set up the Xuan character puppet at the east gate! The fog is about to roll in again!"

Yang Xun, one of the ten generals of Xuanwei City Garrison, shouted sharply, nearly causing the suspended beams of the city tower to fall down.

Zhao Wu, carrying half of a broken spirit shield, ran alongside the group, panting heavily.

He was originally one of the first batches of volunteers recruited by the Chongming Sect. Because of his Chongming Sect service in the battle to annihilate the Cloud Marsh Shaman Venerable Hall before the year 60, he was fortunate enough to be transferred to serve in the Xuanwei City Army.

You Xiaobao, the deputy general of Xuanwei City Army, was Zhao Wu's superior when Zhao Wu was serving as a volunteer in Cloud Horn Prefecture. Therefore, Zhao Wu thrived here as well.

Thanks to You Xiaobao's slight assistance, over the past few decades, Zhao Wu has been able to steadily become the head of the local militia and accumulate enough spiritual items for Foundation Establishment through pawning and selling his personal wealth.

However, his foundation as Rogue Cultivator was ultimately too weak, and in the end, he failed at the last hurdle.

After his failed Foundation Establishment, Zhao Wu recuperated for several years. Due to a lingering ailment that was difficult to cure, he eventually returned to his former position through past connections.

Unfortunately, just as the captain's helmet was being returned to his head, they encountered a powerful demon, unseen in Cloud Horn Prefecture for many years, invading their territory. What bad luck!

But at this moment he had no time to sigh. Only after following Bai Jiang's orders and leading his troops to their positions could he lean against the city wall, take the hot wine from his deputy Li Erlang, and drink it heartily.

The latter was inspired to join the volunteer militia after hearing Zhao Wu's story back in Xian Prefecture Tang County.

However, this risky riches were not for everyone. Along with him, Wang Laoshuan, Zhang Laomu, and other Rogue Cultivator from Tang County all soon perished outside the formation of Joyful Sight Mountain.

However, Li Erlang, who was lucky enough to survive, became addicted. Although he did not achieve any merit on his first attempt, Li Erlang never missed a battle when Chongming Sect was on the battlefield.

It's hard to say how much merit he's made in the last ten battles, but the spoils of war and the life-saving money given by the Chongming Sect are still much better than when he was a lowly rogue Rogue Cultivator who could only lean against the door and watch people drink wine.

He drifted along like this for several decades, eventually reaching the Late Qi Refinement Refining. He then used Spirit Stone to find a broker and bribed acquaintances with precious items, finally gaining entry into the Xuanwei City Garrison and gradually working his way up from a lowly soldier.

Even if he still couldn't Foundation Establishment in this lifetime, if he hadn't been willing to give up his life back then and had instead spent his time in the still relatively prosperous Tang County doing lowly jobs like standing up for mortals, he doesn't know if he would still be alive today.

It's said that risking one's life for a wealthy patron is the only way to make it worthwhile. Just look at Li Erlang, who has only been a deputy captain for a few years, yet he has already amassed a fortune of fifty thousand taels of land and several wives and concubines.

In other words, Zhao Wu's original deputy captain was just unlucky, and it was only because of this that the two of them were transferred to work under Li Erlang Zhao Wu who could no longer remember his own name. Otherwise, the two of them might not have had much interaction.

Zhao Wu had just swallowed the hot wine, his throat still burning, when he saw the black fog outside the East Gate suddenly surge up, as if stirred by an invisible hand. Countless pairs of green eyes vaguely appeared in the fog, making one's scalp tingle.

He quickly stuffed the wine gourd back into his waistband, grabbed the tattered spirit shield, and shouted at the soldiers in his ranks, "All of you, cock your crossbows! The Xuan-character puppet's spirit fire isn't fully charged yet, don't let the demon get close!"

Cloud Horn Prefecture was a Chongming Sect, and the two cities of Xuan and Han were of paramount importance. Therefore, the garrison troops in the cities were quite formidable.

Most of the soldiers under Zhao and Li's command had not experienced any major battles, but they had all lost some of their lives.

Although some movements were still not synchronized, the two of them only needed to give a little guidance, and that was enough.

As soon as Zhao Wu stopped cursing, the black fog outside the city suddenly thickened by three times. Even the seemingly impregnable Third Tier array was penetrated by a few strands of fog, which, upon landing, revealed themselves to be black beasts covered in black scales.

Covered in bone spurs, it roared as it charged forward.

Zhao Wu's pupils contracted, and he quickly swung his shield to block the bone spikes of the foremost black beast. The shield shattered into dust with a clang.

Seeing that its attack had failed, the black beast opened its mouth to bite his neck. Zhao Wu raised his leg and kicked it in the stomach. The spiritual pattern on his boot lit up, and the black beast's flesh was trampled into pulp, and its intestines were crushed to pieces.

With a "splat," dark green blood splattered all over Zhao Wu's face, smelling both fishy and foul.

Just as he was about to pull his foot out, he heard Li Erlang shout, "Captain, watch out! There are more behind!"

Zhao Wu looked back and saw that three more black beasts had charged up. The leader's eyes were even redder, and its yellow teeth were three times sharper than the butcher's knives used in the city's killing spree.

Li Erlang reacted quickly, raising his hand to shoot out three spirit arrows, their tips wrapped in a pale blue spiritual light, which struck the head of the leading black beast.

The black beast groaned and fell to the ground. Its massive head shattered with a crash, and the liquid that flowed out soaked into the ground, instantly melting and corroding several small holes in the spirit patterns engraved on the blue bricks.

"This monster is truly wicked!" Li Erlang cursed. A few more wisps of black mist seeped in from outside. He had no choice but to draw a few more golden arrows from his quiver, asking suspiciously, "Why isn't the Ten Generals ready yet?!"

In just a few breaths, several soldiers from their garrison had already been killed or wounded.

Zhao and Li dared not show any mercy or compassion; instead, their urging became even harsher, and they barely managed to wipe out the infiltrated Demon Beast.

Before the two could even tally the casualties or take stock of the damaged magical Law Artifact, they heard cheers coming from the main formation.

The Xuan-character puppet that Yang Xun mentioned, when it stood up, was as tall as a city gate. It was a majestic figure holding a gun. It was Second-Tier Supreme-Grade mechanical puppet that Xiu An, the master of Ingenious Craftsman Fort, and the Puppet Master of the sect had been working tirelessly for years to develop.

He then sought guidance from the middle-aged shopkeeper of the Lu Craftsman Sect stationed in Xuanwei City, and refined the puppet, enabling it to withstand the combined attacks of three or four False Core cultivators.

So as soon as the puppet stood up, cheers erupted all around.

The Xuan character puppet did not disappoint. With a flick of its wrist, a spear as thick as two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) was unleashed, and a large plume of crimson flame rolled out from the red tassel at the spearhead.

In Li Erlang's eyes, even half the sky above seemed to be dyed crimson. The originally arrogant black mist immediately showed some fear and sizzled as it was burned by the crimson flames.

As the light gradually faded, one or two charred black beasts would occasionally emerge from it and fall down.

Just as Zhao, Li, and the others felt the crimson flames scorching them from the inside out, their good fortune was short-lived. A brilliant spiritual light arrived in an instant, shattering the dense defensive array covering the Xuan character puppet into fragments.

The news from above quickly reached the ears of those below: the Wen Zun Demon Officer of Red Cloud Mountain was no match for the invading demon, and the three Pill Masters who accompanied him all perished, leaving him alone.

The Demon Officer, who had just driven away Wen Zun, was clearly not satisfied. With a casual strike, he turned the Xuan-character puppet, which had been the result of the Ingenious Craftsman Fort, into scrap metal.

Before the fragments of the Xuan character puppet even hit the ground, the cheers from around the city gate froze in mid-air.

Zhao Wu watched helplessly as the mechanical puppet, capable of defeating False Core cultivator, split open from its chest. The joints, forged from spirit iron, creaked and groaned as it slammed into the city wall with a deafening crash, making the blue bricks at his feet bounce.

The body, which had just been warmed by the crimson flames, instantly turned cold. Even Golden Core cultivator was defeated, and few could remain undeterred by such a defeat.

"What's the panic? Have you forgotten the warnings from the sect? The more panicked you are, the faster you'll die!" Li Erlang's roar was even more urgent than before. He was gripping the golden arrow in his hand so tightly that even the spiritual light on the shaft was unstable.

Zhao Wu was slightly calmer than him, but that little bit of composure was useless at this moment.

Sure enough, as if given a command, the black mist surged towards the city wall, becoming more than three times thicker than before.

A deep, muffled roar came from the fog. This time, it wasn't just the small, menacing black beasts, but a 10-foot-tall, Second Tier scaled monster covered in barbs, spitting out green venom. With a single claw, it shattered the spirit shield array on the city wall.

"Scatter!" Yang Xun's voice came from the main formation. He held an earthen-yellow spirit shield in his hand, blocking the demon. The shield was covered with mysterious patterns, but it was sizzling as it was burned by the poison.

"Fang Household!"

Fang Zhong, the head of the Fang Household, indifferently ordered his disciples to go forward, but inwardly he couldn't help feeling regret.

This demon was originally lurking in the stone forest without any warning. Why did I have to listen to Kang Changxi's instigation, which led to heavy casualties among the Wind Stone Fang Household?!

But once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. This Demon Officer, shrouded in dark clouds, has clearly Spirit Awakening; it doesn't necessarily want to crash into the vicinity of the Chongming Sect and suffer a bloody defeat.

However, the two city officials, Xuan and Han, also kept Kang Changxi's words in mind, and were truly reluctant to let this Third Tier great demon slip away from their merit records.

Thus, by disregarding human life, many families in the courtyard abandoned any thought of protecting their own celestial offspring. Even if the head of the Fang Household still had the desire to protect himself, he could hardly succeed.

It was this unity and concerted effort that prevented Yongli Demon Officer, which only wanted to leave, from making its escape.

A few more breaths passed, and after the defenders had lost over a hundred soldiers, the remaining Fang Household cultivators were terrified. It seemed that the arrogant Yongli Demon Officer had finally found the way.

It was hidden in the black mist, roaring incessantly, its piercing howls causing the entire city tower to tremble.

Zhao Wu and Li Erlang had fought several battles alongside Chongming Sect, and they were not without the duty to be loyal to the sect.

However, at this moment, it was inevitable that they would pray that the upper sect would not take it too seriously and would release the Demon Beast that had already taken many lives, allowing it to be taken into the hands of the cultivators.

Fortunately, Yongli Demon Officer did not wield its power for too long. The various families in the city who were restraining it from going out finally saw Kang Changxi, the elder of the Chongming Sect Battle Hall who was comparable to it, arrive here with a look of displeasure on his face.

As soon as Kang Changxi's toes touched the blue bricks of the city tower, a circle of pale golden spiritual light rose around him, like the sun breaking through the clouds, forcing the surrounding black mist back several feet.

The spiritual light contained boundless Qi and Blood, which even scorched the demonic energy condensed on the wooden beams of the city tower, causing it to hiss and smoke. Zhao Wu felt a warm sensation surge from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his hands and feet, which had been frozen stiff by the demonic mist, instantly came back to life.

"Elder Kang!" Yang Xun staggered forward, his spirit shield already shattered into several pieces, his chest still stained with dark green venom. He was unaware that the Chongming Sect already knew the details of this Demon Beast, and he hurriedly said:

"This Demon Officer is Mystic Mist Hidden Scale Beast Yongli, a mid- Third-Tier Middle-Grade, skilled in controlling mist to conceal its form. Even a high-level cultivator like Wen Zun has been defeated by it, so how could it possibly be able to defeat you, Young Master? Be careful!"

Upon hearing this, Kang Changxi's face showed a fleeting look of excitement.

Before he could answer, golden light suddenly flashed in his eyes—the very same Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes personally taught by Sect Leader Kang Da! Two beams of golden light pierced through layers of dark mist like sharp swords, locking onto the dark figure lurking within.

The black mist suddenly contracted, as if stung by the golden eyes, and let out a sharp roar. The faint "clicking" sound of scales rubbing together could be heard from within the mist, indicating that the Yongli Demon Officer had been exposed and was shocked and angry.

"You cowardly rat, how dare you cause trouble in the territory of the Chongming Sect?" Kang Changxi's voice was as loud as a bell. He raised his right hand, and the long spear at his waist was drawn with a "whoosh". The spear body was filled with a bright red spiritual light, and the tip of the spear immediately condensed into a flame that was more than ten feet long.

"Today I'll show you what it means to provoke a powerful figure like Tai Sui!!"

The Yongli Demon Officer, whose ferocity had been suppressed, was furious. It had previously followed the Fengwen Demon Officer into the Three Southwest Circuits to seek food, and had originally had some lofty ambitions.

Yet, after all these decades, it has been constantly on the run. Even now, some nobody who has just entered the Golden Core dares to send a bunch of worthless creatures to ambush and kill it. How could it not be furious?!

Enraged, Yongli the Demon Officer unleashed a torrent of black mist that surged into a dozen massive black claws, each as thick as a bucket, their tips coated in dark green venom. They lunged at Kang Changxi with a stench that filled the air. Before the claws even reached him, the spiritual barrier on the blue bricks of the city wall was utterly destroyed, causing smoke to rise from the city walls.

Even Yang Xun, who possessed False Core, felt a tightness in his chest and hurriedly pulled the disciple beside him back.

This demonic power is several times stronger than before!

Kang Changxi remained unmoved, the golden light in his Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes growing ever brighter, clearly seeing through the Demon Power entwined on the black claws.

With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed a crimson spear that swept out horizontally, its blade gleaming like Fire Dragon's tail. With a few crisp clangs, it severed more than a dozen black claws in one fell swoop!

The black mist at the break was burned away by the flames, turning into wisps of green smoke and dissipating without even a trace of poison touching his robes.

"Impossible!" Yongli exclaimed in shock from within the mist. It simply couldn't believe that a cultivator at the Golden Core Early Stage could break its prized mist-controlling technique.

It inhaled sharply, and the black mist instantly condensed into a ten-foot-thick demonic shield, its surface covered with barbs. At the same time, a hundred or so Second Tier black beasts burst out of the mist and rushed towards the city tower like a tidal wave.

Kang Changxi's lips curled into a cold smile. He stomped his foot, and the pale golden spiritual light around him suddenly surged. He had actually activated the Primordial Ancient Body!

The Qi and Blood within that spiritual light boiled like a furnace, causing the wooden beams on the city tower to vibrate and hum. The black beasts that pounced were crushed by the surging Qi and Blood as soon as they reached the outer edge of the spiritual light, their bones broken and tendons snapped, and they fell silent upon landing.

Kang Changxi's skills may not be significantly better than Yongli Demon Officer's, but because the latter was in a confined place and was blocked by strong reinforcements, the morale of the various families in the city rose again, and they gradually showed some intention to make this Third Tier Demon Officer lose face.

Yongli Demon Officer didn't mean anything by it; ever since Fengwen Demon Lieutenant was beheaded by Bai Canhong as a pledge of allegiance, it had been struggling to survive with its followers.

Normally, he would only do minor things like swallowing up mortal cities and wiping out cultivator markets, so it's really hard to understand why he kept attracting cultivators to kill him.

It was, after all, a mid-grade third-tier Demon Beast. Seeing that it could not defeat this young master of the Aristocratic Clan under normal circumstances, it abandoned its desire to win and only Yixin about how to escape.

This beast's skill in escaping is legendary. Back then, even the Buddhist disciple Gada, along with several familiar Golden Core, couldn't stop him. This time, even the Chongming Sect had many cultivators who were able to control him and block his escape route.

However, after a few days, the sharpness of these True Cultivators and lesser cultivators had long been worn away by the corpses. Even with Kang Changxi personally taking action now, Yongli Demon Officer still managed to find a weakness.

"Splash!"

One hundred soldiers of the Fang Lineage were struck down from mid-air like snowflakes by a cloud of black mist, losing their lives in an instant, causing the surrounding cultivators to tremble.

Kang Changxi knew things were going badly. He wasn't confident he could keep Yongli the Demon Officer afloat, but he wanted to stall for time and wait for the sect's masters to arrive.

But at this point, there was no time to hold onto such a prudent view.

As soon as Yongli Demon Officer found an opening, he immediately tightened the surrounding fog, gathering all the ferocious black beasts that had been scattered back into place.

The two Golden Light beams of light shot from Kang Changxi were completely blocked by the life of one or two hundred first-tier black beasts. Afterwards, Yongli Demon Officer did not linger at all and immediately flew away to other paths.

Only then, witnessing this scene, did Kang Changxi utter a sigh of regret.

He was a veteran of the battlefields of the Two Rivers Circuit, having witnessed countless perilous battles in this Nascent Soul battlefield. How could he not know that if this Demon Officer were to escape from this place, given its abilities, it would be difficult to find it in the future?!

Kang Changxi saw the black light flash by like lightning, skimming along the city wall of Tanggu County, and in an instant it was dozens of feet away, its tail of mist still leaving a dark afterimage in the air.

His heart tightened instantly, spiritual light surged beneath his feet, and he pushed his Primordial Ancient Body to its limit. His spiritual power was as abundant as a spring, and his Qi and Blood surged like waves. He transformed into a streak of crimson-gold light and chased after it.

Ke Yongli 'Demon Officer ability to escape was truly cunning. The black mist kept exploding behind him, and each explosion allowed him to accelerate, widening the distance even further.

"What a pity!" Kang Changxi gritted his teeth, his spear condensing into three streaks of flame, which he shot toward the back of the black light. But the Demon Officer seemed to have eyes in the back of its head; the black mist suddenly swirled back, transforming into a thick shield. The flames struck the shield, only causing a few wisps of smoke to rise, not even slowing down its escape.

On the city tower, Yang Xun, Fang Zhong, and the other pseudo-Dan masters were all extremely anxious. The death of this vicious demon was of little importance to them, but if Kang Changxi were to suffer any mishap because of it, that would be...

However, at this critical moment, a muffled "hum" suddenly came from the southeast, and a beam of earth-yellow spiritual light broke through the air, its speed even three points faster than Kang Changxi's crimson-gold escape light!

When the spiritual light landed, it revealed itself to be a coffin half a zhang tall, its body engraved with mysterious runes. Nine dark chains shot out from the gaps in the coffin lid, coiling around the black light of the Yongli Demon Officer like serpents.

"How come I don't recall Golden Core cultivators within the sect possessing such abilities?!"

Kang Changxi was just beginning to have doubts when he saw another layer of spiritual light flow across the nine dark chains, tightly binding the dark cloud formed by the Yongli Demon Officer, making it difficult for it to break free!

Then a hearty laugh reached Kang Changxi's ears.

"The magical Law Treasure I obtained from the Earl is truly useful; this beast will finally be brought to justice today!!"

At this moment, Kang Changxi finally recognized who it was, and saw that the man's brows were furrowed as he asked sharply, "Sha Shan?! How come you are within the territory of my Chongming Sect?!"