The demons present looked at Qi Yuan with strange expressions.
What he had just said was completely baffling—insane, even.
At this moment, Old Goat turned toward a canine demon. "Could it be that you bit him and gave him rabies?"
If not for his wariness toward the enigmatic bride demon, Old Goat would have acted long ago to cure this human boy into salted jerky.
"How could you sully my innocence out of thin air?" the dog demon protested, displeased.
Qi Yuan quickly chimed in, "This doggie makes a lot of sense. I support him."
Evidently, he had no madness. It was this old goat having goat fits and slandering him.
Eldest Master Huang shot Qi Yuan a deep look before his gaze settled on Xiao Jia.
In his eyes, Xiao Jia was a great demon, and Qi Yuan was merely her puppet on a string.
When Qi Yuan spoke, he likely voiced the bride demon's opinion.
Most likely, she had set her sights on the Spirit Blood Child as well.
As for Qi Yuan, Huang paid him no mind at all—just a weak, insignificant human.
"As for this matter... I'm afraid you will have to meet Boss Kun and discuss it with him." Eldest Master Huang's gruff voice passed the buck to Boss Kun.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan's thoughts raced.
A plus-sized substitute white moonlight?
"Where is Boss Kun?"
Qi Yuan was very eager to meet him.
Of course, not right at this moment.
According to the information he had gathered, Boss Kun was a demon of the Jade-Blood Realm, comparable to a Foundation Establishment great demon.
At present, Qi Yuan only possessed combat strength equivalent to Qi Refinement perfection.
"How could Boss Kun's whereabouts be revealed so carelessly?" Eldest Master Huang snorted coldly.
Boss Kun was currently lying low with the Spirit Blood Child and would not show himself lightly.
"To ensure that word regarding the Spirit Blood Child does not leak out, none of the demons present today may leave without good reason! You will all obey my orders!" Eldest Master Huang glared at the gathered demons, his tone overbearing and tyrannical.
The aura of a Qi-Blood Realm master spread out at that moment.
Hearing this, the demons hesitated, swallowing their words.
Old Goat took the opportunity to say, "Do not blame us, fellow daoists. This matter is of utmost gravity, concerning our very lives. Should the secret leak, this old man would not even spare his nephew Yang Fan. Therefore..."
Though he trailed off, the demons present understood his meaning.
"The leak not only brought the Demon Suppression Division to Yunyan County, but even my good-for-nothing younger brother died at the hands of humans!" Eldest Master Huang's rough voice boomed through the hall.
The brother he spoke of was Fourth Master Huang.
"Hmph! According to the information I got from the yamen, a butcher named Qi Er colluded with the Demon Suppression Division to frame and kill my brother! If I ever run into that cunning, treacherous human, I'll shove my cane straight up his ass!" Eldest Master Huang snarled, his face twisted with ferocity.
His brother had died at Qi Er's place.
The yamen claimed that Qi Er was on intimate terms with the Demon Suppression Division.
Connecting the two, his brother had been murdered by the Demon Suppression Division.
Standing nearby, Qi Yuan could no longer sit still. "Old man, you speak far too disgustingly. That butcher named Qi Er never colluded with the Demon Suppression Division in the first place."
"Oh? Could it be you know Qi Er?" Eldest Master Huang's gaze turned sharp.
Were it not for Xiao Jia's presence, his temperament would have driven him to seize Qi Yuan right then and there.
"Because... to some extent, Qi Er is me." Qi Yuan had always been honest and trustworthy; he never lied.
The moment those words were spoken, the entire hall was stunned.
"You are Qi Er!" Eldest Master Huang flushed red with rage.
This was far too insolent!
Glancing at Xiao Jia, he was about to strike.
"Therefore, I have the most authority on this matter," Qi Yuan said calmly. "Qi Er never colluded with the Demon Suppression Division."
"Heh, you still dare to quibble? The yamen officials told me in person that you, Qi Er, were seen together with the Demon Suppression Division! How do you explain that? Do not think that having a female demon backing you allows you to do whatever you please! Colluding with the Demon Suppression Division makes you an enemy to every demon alive!"
Eldest Master Huang resolved that even if the bride demon protected this Qi Er, he would bring him down.
"How could the yamen people know better than I do? I never colluded with the Demon Suppression Division at all. Nor did your brother die at their hands."
"Then whose hands did he die by?" Eldest Master Huang sneered.
"Naturally... by mine." Qi Yuan smiled faintly and took a step forward. "I'll stop pretending. I am the Blood Harvester of Ten Thousand Realms. Mmh... hurry up and offer me your essence blood, and I can give you all a painless death."
Qi Yuan decided to go with Plan B after all.
Plan A from earlier wasted too much glucose.
Besides, getting glucose was far too troublesome. Where would he even find it? It was much simpler to just hack these demons to death.
Since he had already obtained the information he needed, there was no point in keeping up the act.
"What!" Eldest Master Huang looked incredulous, and then burst into laughter. "Fine! Excellent! You two came here to wreck my show!"
The rest of the demons also turned their eyes toward Qi Yuan, every gaze brimming with murderous intent.
A mere human dared to threaten them and demand their blood?
Was he courting death?
"I'll pin down this bride demon! The rest of you, chop this human brat to pieces!" Eldest Master Huang bellowed, a savage light flaring in his eyes.
Since Old Huai had not given them any specific warning, it meant the intruders were at most on par with Huang in strength.
With so many demons here, what did they have to fear?
The remaining twenty-odd demons stared at Qi Yuan, their eyes burning with fervor, seemingly waiting only for Eldest Master Huang to move before swarming him all at once.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan was delighted. "Seeing how passionately you look at me, I am so glad that we—my substitute white moonlights and I—are rushing into each other's arms!"
When it came to relationships, Qi Yuan preferred simplicity.
That was why he disliked romance dramas.
In romance dramas, the male and female leads were always fraught with misunderstandings, refusing to speak up as though they had no mouths.
Fortunately, he and his substitute white moonlights were completely devoted to one another.
Look at their greedy, sleazy glances—they could hardly wait to pounce on him.
This brought Qi Yuan great comfort.
"Kill!" Eldest Master Huang roared, lunging violently toward Xiao Jia.
A wave of bloody malevolence erupted from the white bone cane in his grip, rattling the surrounding space.
A thick stench of blood lingered within that malevolent aura.
Facing this strike, Qi Yuan swung his cleaver out in a chop.
Bone and blade collided instantly. A massive notch was gouged into Qi Yuan's cleaver, and his hand jolted from the impact.
Evidently, at the early Qi-Blood Realm, the gap between him and Eldest Master Huang was vast.
"No wonder you brat dared to be so bold. You actually have the strength of the Qi-Blood Realm." Eldest Master Huang's face was heavy with muscle, looking thoroughly vicious.
Yet his expression held far more disdain than shock.
Which of the demons present wasn't in the Qi-Blood Realm?
"Seeing how eager you are to run into my arms, I will grant you... a peaceful departure."
At that moment, Qi Yuan turned his head and glanced at the well-behaved Xiao Jia.
He whispered softly, "Xiao Jia, Share the Same Robe!"
In this instant, he chose to merge with Xiao Jia.
Following his voice, a scarlet radiance flared in the air.
Blood-red armor, bewitching and eerie, enveloped Qi Yuan's body completely, leaving only a pair of clear, intelligent eyes exposed to the outside.
Qi Yuan's frame shot upward in that instant, transforming into a towering colossus.
The blood-red barbs upon his shoulders were vivid as fresh gore.
The cleaver in his hand seemed stained with blood as well, turning into a crimson blade.
The demons' hearts tightened at once.
"What kind of monster is this?"
"How can such a demon exist?"
"What on earth is that?"
The demons were utterly shocked.
Yet before they could ponder it further, the rampaging behemoth charged straight at them.
Tyrannical Strength!
Heaven-Cleaving Sword-Drawing Technique!
Activating both grand skills at the same time, Qi Yuan's aura soared to its absolute pinnacle.
He sprang up fiercely and swung the cleaver downward.
"Rush to me, my substitutes! My white moonlights!"
On one side was a terrifying giant reminiscent of a sci-fi mecha; on the other were weasels and old goats straight out of strange folk tales.
The two sides collided violently within the great hall.
The first to share this mutual embrace with Qi Yuan was naturally the Rooster Demon, whom he had coveted for quite some time.
The crimson blade crashed against the Rooster Demon's head, instantly shearing off its comb. Its entire face turned into a mangled pulp of flesh and blood, bringing instant death.
Empowered by Xiao Jia, Qi Yuan unleashed terrifying might relying purely on martial prowess.
Backed by the two grand skills, a single strike slew three substitute white moonlights.
The remaining demons turned pale with fright.
"A monster!"
"Kill him!"
Yet the battle had already begun, leaving them no room to retreat.
Unfortunately, they had no idea that what they faced was far beyond a mere monster!
Qi Yuan lacked martial techniques, but his combat skills were far beyond anything these demons could fathom.
He had spent an ungodly amount of time honing himself within Tianjue.
Although the lack of martial techniques prevented him from bringing his full martial power to bear, crushing these low-tier demons was still effortless.
It was like a reborn Divine Infant who could easily slaughter Qi Refining cultivators without even resorting to spells.
Backed by the Heaven-Cleaving Sword-Drawing Technique, the scarlet butcher's cleaver was completely unstoppable.
With another slash, three more demons fell.
Qi Yuan was drenched in crimson, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
At this moment, he was fierce and domineering, each swing utterly irresistible.
Not a single demon present could withstand a single blow from him.
Even Eldest Master Huang felt deep trepidation surging in his eyes.
Clearly, the human's innate strength was only at the early Qi-Blood Realm. Even after merging with the bride demon to become a monster, he was only at the mid Qi-Blood Realm.
Yet the combat prowess he displayed was enough to shake even Huang to his core.
Achieving such a feat without martial techniques, relying purely on raw skill... how was this possible?
Watching the demons fall one after another beside him, Eldest Master Huang's expression hardened.
He knew he had to step forward now.
Otherwise, Boss Kun's plans would be ruined.
When that happened, Boss Kun would never spare him, and death would be certain.
"Good, very good! You're the first person to ever push me this far!"
The white bone cane in Eldest Master Huang's hand suddenly expanded.
The blood throughout his entire body began to boil at this very instant.
Mystic Demon Millstone Slash!
Gathering all his strength, Eldest Master Huang unleashed the Jade-Blood-tier martial technique bestowed upon him by Boss Kun.
A Jade-Blood-tier martial technique was vastly superior to those of the Qi-Blood Realm.
Such power was tyrannical in the extreme, fundamentally beyond what a Qi-Blood Realm martial artist could withstand.
A hint of surprise surfaced in Qi Yuan's eyes. "Seems I underestimated you NPCs. This martial technique... is somewhat interesting."
Indeed, even Qi Yuan felt a faint sense of danger from Eldest Master Huang's strike.
He raised his cleaver abruptly and pressed his massive frame forward, using the blade to block the white bone cane.
*Crack.*
The cleaver snapped on impact.
However, the crimson light persisted, holding back Eldest Master Huang's blow.
A Jade-Blood-tier martial technique was exceedingly fierce and destructive.
Unable to bear the strain, Qi Yuan's cleaver crumbled completely into dust.
Qi Yuan looked reminiscent. "This strike of yours reminds me of an old friend. Back then, he burst my blood vessels too!"
Indeed, his capillaries.
When an ordinary person took a vigorous bath scrub, they probably ruptured quite a few capillaries as well.
"No wonder you're one of my white moonlights. Turns out the white moonlights in my heart are all quite similar."
Qi Yuan wasted no more words.
Since he could block a Jade-Blood-tier martial technique, Eldest Master Huang had no other way to bring him down.
Now, he had transformed into a colossal grim reaper, relentlessly harvesting the lives of these demons throughout the hall.
Tables shattered and dried human jerky scattered across the floor; the roof was torn open as demon after demon rushed into Qi Yuan's embrace.
Qi Yuan tore through them as if entering uninhabited territory, slaughtering and hacking away.
Not a single demon could match him for a single round.
Roughly a hundred breaths passed.
Qi Yuan ended the fusion with Xiao Jia. Standing amid the corpses, he panted heavily for breath.
"Sigh, why am I so drained? After just this brief fight, the blood martial qi in my body is completely exhausted."
When a blood martial artist fought, they consumed their internal blood martial qi.
Battling these demons had thoroughly depleted Qi Yuan's supply.
Right now, relying solely on martial prowess, he would drop dead if he ran into another Eldest Master Huang.
"Still, the harvest is bountiful. These substitute white moonlights of mine... were quite generous."
Qi Yuan was very pleased.
Before him, a total of 125 drops of demon essence blood had condensed.
"Good thing they didn't listen to Plan A, or it would have wasted far too much glucose."
Qi Yuan took a deep breath, many thoughts crossing his mind.
Eldest Master Huang's Jade-Blood-tier martial technique had left a deep impression on him.
If a true Jade-Blood Realm demon had executed that technique, dealing with it using only his in-game strength would have been rather difficult.
"Looks like I need to spend some stat points."
"System, come forth!"
Naturally, Qi Yuan had no system.
However, he could do his own voiceover and pretend to be his own system.
"You consumed twenty-five drops of demon essence blood. Your blood martial qi has replenished and increased once more."
"The Heaven-Shocking Art circulates rapidly. The blood martial qi within your body condenses continuously, and you break through to the mid Qi-Blood Realm."
"Suddenly, you fall into deep contemplation, seemingly grasping the true essence of the Heaven-Shocking Art. With this reflection, the essence blood is completely exhausted."
"You consumed another fifty drops of demon essence blood. You abruptly realize that the core of the Heaven-Shocking Art lies in the word 'Shock.' With a single strike, if you 'shock' your opponent, you can replenish your own blood martial qi. You have modified the Heaven-Shocking Art until it is completely unrecognizable. After painstaking contemplation, the demon essence blood is fully consumed, and you have finally stepped into the realm of Qi-Blood mastery."
Finishing his voiceover, Qi Yuan smiled smugly. "Now, even without Xiao Jia, I can easily hack all these white moonlights to death on my own."
His words sounded just like Long Yang from some television drama.
He kept the remaining fifty drops of demon essence blood without using them.
Cultivating from the Qi-Blood Realm to the Jade-Blood Realm required far more than fifty drops.
Besides, his understanding of blood martial artists was still shallow.
Using the demon essence blood right now would be rather inefficient.
Just then, Qi Yuan suddenly sensed a faint threat.
In the night sky not far away, a white figure was approaching.
The white figure was humanoid, with disheveled hair that obscured his appearance.
Qi Yuan's eyes failed to read any useful information from him either.
"Jade-Blood Realm!"
Qi Yuan could tell at a glance that this human was a Jade-Blood Realm martial artist.
The Jade-Blood Realm was equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
At present, he was only comparable to Qi Refinement perfection.
The white figure suddenly halted midair. Looking at the corpses strewn across the courtyard, a brief flash of clarity pierced his crazed eyes.
Suddenly, the figure burst into laughter, his voice filled with sorrow. "All dead! They're all dead! Hahaha!"
The white figure laughed madly, yet tears streamed from his eyes.
Deranged, he charged left and right, crashing through and toppling several walls of the abandoned compound.
"Hey, if you're mentally ill, stay home properly and don't run around hurting people," Qi Yuan kindly advised.
What he detested most were mentally ill people who used their condition as an excuse to commit bad deeds every day while dodging the law.
Granted, he had also relied on a psychiatric certificate to escape punishment.
But he was different—his mental illness was faked.
The crazed man paused once more. Staring at Qi Yuan, he muttered under his breath, "Yunyan County is finished... Run, run quickly... The sea water is pitch-black as ink, filled with malignant energy... No one will survive..."
Having said this, the madman stumbled and vanished.
He had not simply run off, but had executed some martial technique to disappear into thin air.
"Sigh, what a pitiful man. His mental illness is far too severe," Qi Yuan remarked with feeling.
He couldn't imagine what would happen if his psychiatric certificate were real and he actually went mad.
Could it be... that he would have no choice but to become a live-in son-in-law?
After several dozen breaths, while Qi Yuan was still recovering his stamina, the sound of rushing wind echoed from the sky once more.
"Huh? Qi Yuan, what are you doing here?"
An Qiao, leading a trail-tracking hound, appeared in the courtyard alongside the man in black martial attire.
Looking at the demon corpses filling the grounds, shock filled their eyes.
Every single one of these demons was in the Qi-Blood Realm, and one had even reached Qi-Blood mastery.
The man in black lowered his head, lingering fear evident in his eyes as he looked at Qi Yuan. "You were very lucky. That lunatic probably still had a shred of sanity left, so he only killed these demons and spared you."
He and An Qiao had come here by trailing the white-clothed madman from afar.
Now that the compound was filled with fresh, still-warm demon corpses, they had obviously been slain by that lunatic.
A Jade-Blood Realm expert against Qi-Blood Realm opponents was an absolute slaughter.
As for Qi Yuan, being a newcomer, the man never even entertained the thought that he could have done it.
Beside him, An Qiao smiled as well. "Look at how weak you look. Witnessing such a massive scene on your very first mission, you must be terrified and thrilled all at once, right?"
"Hey, could you two do me a favor?" Seeing the pair, Qi Yuan felt the urge to sponge off them again.
"What favor?"
"I was throwing a house party here with my white moonlights, but I accidentally beat them all to death. My heart aches for them. Could you help me bury them? Otherwise, their corpses will stink up the place and pollute the environment. Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility."
Qi Yuan's thoughts jumped so wildly that ordinary people simply couldn't follow.
An Qiao froze. "What did you say? You killed these demons?"
"Are you out of your mind!" The man in black widened his eyes, momentarily unable to process what he was hearing.
Qi Yuan shrugged. "Saying 'killed' brings bad luck. This is called running into each other's arms. See? They were so selflessly devoted that even in death, they left their essence blood behind for me."
With that, Qi Yuan clapped his hands, and the remaining fifty drops of demon essence blood appeared.
An Qiao and the man in black stood frozen in utter disbelief.
Chapter 318