Qingshi County is west of Nanyun Prefecture.
Throughout all of Nanyun, an overlapping Domain had appeared only on Great Dragon Mountain in Qingshi County.
Gu Zheng destroyed the Domain, so Nanyun had remained relatively peaceful as a result.
But in the northeast of Nanyun Prefecture, in the region bordering Huaiyang Prefecture, a small Domain had already transford into a passageway.
To the south of Nanyun Prefecture and north of Gaotan Prefecture, another small Domain had also transford into a passageway connecting the two realms.
From these two locations, Demon Fiends continuously charged out, scattering in all directions and wreaking havoc everywhere.
The Demon Slayer Bureau’s Riding Patrol, Demon Extermination, and Demon Hunting teams had been ceaselessly on the move for the past three months.
Communication was difficult in this era.
Furthermore, the opening of the Domains had led to drastic changes in the climate.
Since Qingshi County was so remote and secluded, Gu Zheng had received no news. Moreover, no one had managed to escape from those two areas into Nanyun Prefecture.
As a result, when he followed Yan Hongxue’s party out of Qingshi County, traveled east, and left the borders of Nanyun Prefecture, Gu Zheng felt a disorienting sense of having stepped into another world.
Just over half a year ago, Gu Zheng had been traveling through various regions, and nothing seed so drastically different.
But this ti, he felt that the world outside was in absolute chaos.
So outlying villages and towns had been completely wiped out. No corpses were to be seen—only a few skeletal fragnts littered the ruins.
They encountered several bands of so-called bandits, but they were all just groups of fleeing commoners who had banded together for survival.
Yan Hongxue didn’t move against these people, rely pointing them toward the nearest county town.
They didn’t stop to rest often along the way.
Making good ti was the priority, so they stuck to routes where Demon Fiends were known to be scarce.
Because of this, the entire party saw almost no combat.
That is, until the party entered Hongliu County in Four Directions Prefecture. Within this county, two Domains had transford into passageways, and it seed as if the scattered Demon Fiends now infested every mountain.
While the party was traveling on the main road, still so distance from the county town, they were ambushed by a charging horde of boar-like Demon Fiends.
The battle erupted without warning.
Yan Hongxue led the charge, her longsword flashing as she plunged into the midst of the Wild Boar Demon Fiends, drawing fountains of blood.
Wu Kun, Chen Zhizhen, and Tao Liu each picked a direction, leaping from their saddles. Swinging their blades and thrusting their spears, they too carved a bloody path.
The one hundred Warriors imdiately ford a battle array, encircling Tao Qi, Gao Da, and Gao Er to protect them.
An Xiaoxue stood guard to the side, fending off the charging Wild Boar Demon Fiends.
SWOOSH!
Gu Zheng leaped into the air, wielding the Celestial Frost Blade. His Divine Wondrous power surged, flaring out to envelop the blade.
SCHLICK! SCHLICK! SCHLICK!
With a flash of his blade, three Wild Boar Demon Fiends were instantly sliced to pieces.
From a distance—Spirit Capturing!
[Demon Points 2]
[Demon Points 3]
...
WHOOSH!
He landed lightly and shot forward, charging headfirst into a group of five Wild Boar Demon Fiends.
Gu Zheng spun, his Celestial Frost Blade carving a blooming flower of blood as he passed through the center of the pack.
SPLAT! SPLAT!
Chunks of demon boar at fell scattering to the ground amid constant howls of agony.
But the sounds soon ceased as, one by one, the Wild Boar Demon Fiends lost their heads.
[Demon Points 3]
[Demon Points 4]
...
He kept moving, kept dashing.
Finally, as the remaining Wild Boar Demon Fiends fled in terror, Gu Zheng gathered what he needed to supplent his Bloodshed and obtained a new Demon Technique.
100% Absorption!
Any food or dicine, as long as it entered his stomach, Gu Zheng could use this Demon Technique to achieve 100% energy absorption.
There would be very, very little waste.
If he consud Elixirs, the dicinal toxins would be even further reduced.
...
"Gu, that was incredible!"
After the battle, Wu Kun flicked his long blade clean and walked back. He glanced at the Wild Boar Demon Fiends slain by Gu Zheng and gave him a thumbs-up. "Your speed and strength surpass any of the four of us."
"Yeah, you’re too fast," Tao Liu chid in with a sigh of admiration. "Even if you had faced this pack of Thorny Pig Demons alone, Gu, you could have easily slaughtered your way through them."
"You’re all very skilled as well," Gu Zheng replied calmly.
Then, he looked toward the hundred Warriors who were already dissecting the Demon Fiend corpses to extract the boars’ hearts and asked quizzically, "Can the internal organs of these Demon Fiends be used for dicine?"
"That’s right." Wu Kun nodded. "The hearts, tails, and brain matter of Thorny Pig Demons can all be used in dicine. Even their at is highly nourishing. It’s just that we need to keep moving, so we can’t take much with us. Most of it will have to be left behind."
"That’s a real sha," Gu Zheng remarked.
He thought to himself, ’I burned the corpses of all those Thorny Pig Demons I killed back in Qingshi County.’
’That includes the ones killed by Nangong Yaoyue, Dongfang He, and their party. I burned those bodies, too.’
’If I’d known they were useful, I would have kept all that boar at, no matter what.’
’I don’t know how others would preserve it, but my storage leaves can hold a ton.’
’And no matter how long things are stored inside, they never spoil.’
’It’s the sa with these. If no one else were around, I’d store so away right now.’
...
Cleaning up the battlefield was a swift process.
The hundred Warriors were extrely practiced at dissecting the corpses—extracting the demon boar hearts, cutting off the tails, and removing the brain matter.
In less than an hour, the party was on the move again.
They made it into Hongliu County Town before nightfall.
And just as Gu Zheng rode his horse under the gatehouse—
[Equipable Item Discovered]
[Damaged Evil God’s Relic Pearl]
[Equip Condition: Mastery of any Body Technique True Skill, 50 Spirit]
[Equipnt Effect: Deceptive Appearance]
[Deceptive Appearance: When you shift your position, the afterimage you leave behind appears solid.]
[Equip?]
...
!
’An equipable item?’
’Where?’
As his horse moved forward, Gu Zheng scanned his surroundings, searching for the target.
’An Evil God’s Relic Pearl?’
’This piece of equipnt is extraordinary, to be related to an Evil God.’
’There are no gods in this world. This "Evil God" must refer to the world of the Demon Fiends—one of the Alien Gods.’
’A Domain erupted in Hongliu County and ford a passageway. The pearl must have been ejected from it, then soone picked it up and brought it into town.’
Gu Zheng thought back to the people at the city gate.
’There was no one on guard at ground level, only City Defense Army soldiers up on the gatehouse.’
’So the Evil God’s Relic Pearl is on one of those soldiers?’
’And what’s more, the equip condition actually involves a True Skill!’
’Mastery of a Body Technique True Skill?’
Gu Zheng remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was astonished.
’I haven’t even encountered a single True Skill so far.’
’Of course, I can learn a True Skill later. But an equipable item like the Evil God’s Relic Pearl is a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity. I have to get my hands on it first!’
...
That night, the party took up residence in Hongliu County Town, staying at a dedicated outpost established by the Demon Slayer Bureau.
It was a vacant manor.
Due to the large number of people, Gu Zheng and Tao Qi shared a room.
After dinner, Tao Qi lay on his bed and sighed, his face fraught with worry. "Zheng, do you think I should back out? We haven’t reached the Demon Slayer Bureau headquarters and registered yet. If I back out now, I can still go back to Qingshi, right?"
"...What, getting scared?" Gu Zheng chuckled. "If you back out, they’ll probably agree to it for my sake. But think it through. If you pass up this opportunity, who knows when you’ll get another chance to beco stronger."
"Well..." Tao Qi faltered, then gave a bitter smile. "Alright, I admit it, I’m scared. Who could have imagined it would be this chaotic out here? I’ve traveled outside Nanyun Prefecture with my father a few tis before. There were bandits back then, sure, but the number of dead... it was nothing like this..."
"Shh!"
Gu Zheng suddenly raised a hand, gesturing for silence.
Tao Qi imdiately fell silent.
"Who’s out there?"
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