Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Demon

Other than a few large craters and a field of ash, the battlefield was almost devoid of any other traces.

An hour after Yang Jing left, an inconspicuous mound of dirt rose from the ground. A shifty-looking, middle-aged man tunneled out from within.

He looked more like a large rat than a man. His beady eyes glinted green, and several whiskers sprouted from his face. His hands were wrinkled, and his long, filthy fingernails were caked with black grime.

The middle-aged man stared at the ashes of his companions on the ground, his face a mask of terror. They had thought that with the eight of them working together, taking down Brother Guo, a cultivator at Qi Cultivation Perfection, would be a simple task. They never expected him to be a Sword Cultivator hiding his true strength.

The other seven had attacked together, only to be slaughtered with ease in a single instant. He had only managed to save his own skin by hiding underground for a sneak attack.

A shiver of fear ran down his spine. The middle-aged man gathered the ashes from the ground into his Storage Bag, then activated a Wind-controlling Talisman and vanished from the area as a gray shadow.

Yang Jing, concealed in the sky with his Cloud Escape technique, followed the gray shadow.

He had noticed the man, who was skilled at concealing his presence, from the very beginning. After all, no matter how well he hid his aura, the glaring Demon Qi was still perfectly clear to the Eye of Bright Qi.

Yang Jing was all too familiar with these half-human, half-demon beings.

’In about thirty years, these Demons will become a pivotal force for the Demon Country, wreaking havoc across the three kingdoms of Chen, Wei, and Cai.’

’They’ll resort to anything to weaken the rule of the Six Great Sects: poisoning water supplies, assassinating Cultivators, and slaughtering mortals.’

’The Six Great Sects and the Royal Families will be thrown into chaos. Li Jixun will even be granted the title of Hereditary Marquis by the Demon King’s Court for the Merit Points he earns from this.’

’In this life, Li Jixun is already dead by my hand, but the Demon Transformation Technique he created has still spread throughout the Demon Country. Right now, the Demon Country is likely still using this Demon Transformation Technique merely as a Secret Technique for cultivating its Dark Rooms.’

’They use the Essence Blood of high-level Demons as a reward to make these Innate Martial Artists, who crave long life, work for them to the death.’

’It’s difficult for the Demon Country to get Cultivators to die for them, but it’s very easy to secure the unwavering loyalty of Innate Martial Artists with the Demon Transformation Skill.’

Yang Jing watched the fleeing Demon’s pathetic figure. ’Demon Ape Iron Armor held a card back from me. He sent all of his Dark Rooms from across the Chen Kingdom to Huangyuan Marketplace long ago.’

’The investigation by these Demons is already quite thorough. They’ve discovered Wu Yanlu’s identity, tracked him to where he was hiding in the Ghost Ruins Market, and found out that he ultimately died at the hands of a Tribulation Cultivator named Brother Guo.’

’That’s not something that can be accomplished in a short amount of time.’

Yang Jing wasn’t particularly shocked. The Demon Country had always operated this way for the past century: ambitious, decisive, and incredibly efficient.

In contrast, the Six Great Sects, even the Taixu Sword Sect, paled in comparison.

The Demon Country’s current Demon Emperor had only advanced to the Divinity Transformation realm three hundred years ago; he was in the prime of his ambition and drive. In contrast, while the Divinity Transformation experts of the Six Great Sects were cunning, having seized the lands of the Chen Kingdom while the new Demon Emperor’s position was still unstable, they had reached their realm two thousand years ago. Their actions were now tinged with the lethargy of old age. With the Six Great Sects’ convoluted structure and tangled interests, their future decline was inevitable.

Tailing the Demon from a distance, Yang Jing followed him for nearly two hundred li before finding their hideout.

A Stealth Array concealed a clearing in the woods. As soon as the Demon walked into it, he vanished without a trace.

A moment later, three canine-like Demons, half-man and half-dog, emerged from the Stealth Array. They raised their noses, cautiously sniffing the air outside the stronghold for the scent of strangers.

Yang Jing didn’t watch any longer.

’There’s a countless supply of Innate Martial Artists willing to die for the Demon Country. If I kill this batch, another will just take their place. Better to leave them be. They might prove useful later.’

Yang Jing silently departed from the stronghold and returned to Wang Tong’s courtyard home.

He summoned the two brothers, Iron Head and Yinjiao.

“Iron Head, what’s the smallest you can shrink your demon form?”

Iron Head scratched his head, rolled on the ground, and reverted to his true form as a Mingyi Dog. His body then shrank until he was no bigger than a teapot, looking just like a small, fluffy toy.

“Puppy!”

Chi Yu, who was being held by Yinjiao, had her eyes light up. She struggled out of Yinjiao’s arms, staggered forward, and grabbed Iron Head with both hands. Hoisting him up, she opened her mouth and started covering his face with slobbery kisses.

Iron Head shot Yang Jing a pleading look. After some coaxing, Yang Jing finally managed to rescue him from his junior sister Chi Yu’s mouth.

After casting a Cleaning Spell to dry Iron Head’s sopping fur, Yang Jing produced a map. He had drawn it himself while high in the sky using Cloud Escape, striving for perfect accuracy.

“This is a map of Huangyuan Marketplace. I have prepared enough Fossil into Mud and Mud to Stone Talismans. I need the two of you to sneak into the underground river and use these talismans to divert its course… to here!”

As he spoke, he pointed to a spot on the map.

“The Yushan Huang Clan!”

’Since Si Yuan had thrown the first punch, he couldn’t blame me for punching back.’ Yang Jing was looking for a scapegoat, and Si Yuan was the perfect candidate. He had deep ties to the Taixu Sword Sect, was an important figure in the Profound Carp Association, and held a great enmity toward Yang Jing. Who could be more suitable to take the fall?

’His ancestors were from the Taixu Sword Sect, which means he would have had a way of knowing about the Sovereign of Qi incident. As a member of the Profound Carp Association, he would also have channels to learn about the Demon Country’s movements. Better yet, he’d foolishly pawned off the task of contacting the Iron Armor General onto me, giving me plenty of room to maneuver.’

’If he didn’t take the blame, who would?’

Yang Jing thought of the father and son who had tried to steal his Red Sun Jade. New grudges piled on top of old ones. He was one to hold a grudge, so he decided he would repay the Huang Family by sending them to meet their ancestors.

Iron Head shifted back to his human form. He measured the distance on the map with his small hands, and his face immediately fell.

’That’s over twenty li,’ he thought. ’And we don’t even know the course of the underground river. This is going to be a massive project.’

“I have faith that you two can do it,” Yang Jing said. “There’s no need to rush. Just have it finished within a month.”

Yinjiao was more familiar with underground rivers. A quick mental calculation told him that to finish within a month, they would have to dig for at least five hours every day.

Yinjiao naturally had no complaints about working five hours a day, but the thought of having to dig a new channel inside an underground river made his spirits sink.

He had been trapped in an underground river for sixty years. If it weren’t a direct order from his master, he would never want to go down into one again.

“Once it’s dug through, Iron Head, you will set up this Qi-guiding Dragon-shaking Array in the river. It will redirect the underground Spirit Vein toward the Huang Family’s estate.”

There was a Water Spirit Vein hidden within the underground river; otherwise, it wouldn’t have caused a conflict between several Foundation Establishment Clans all those years ago.

Yang Jing had already run through every detail of the plan in his mind countless times. He gave his Daoist Robe a flick, exuding the dashing confidence of a master strategist who could determine a battle’s outcome from a thousand li away. The only thing spoiling the picture was the ashen-faced brothers, Iron Head and Yinjiao, standing beside him looking miserable.

“Master! Master!”

Chi Yu stretched out her two chubby little hands, wanting Yang Jing to pick her up.

Yang Jing picked her up, poking her plump little cheek. ’I wonder what kind of work would be suitable for Chi Yu to earn Spirit Stones,’ he mused.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep