Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Ji continent, the six major heretical sects following the Way of Demons.”
“No wonder the countless attempts to exterminate the rebel army of the Bare Body Demon Sect were unsuccessful. And they continue to grow in power and influence instead. There’s a major demon sect from an outside continent intervening.”
Zhou Yi did not only obtain a map of the Great Qian from the demon’s memory. He also learned about many bird demons with hundreds of years of cultivation and grasped a vague understanding of the few other continents in the surroundings.
The continents here were completely different from the sixteen states under the Great Qian’s jurisdiction. The origin of their names and who divided them was not clearly known.
The Great Qian unified all states on its Yun Continent, suppressed all Taoist, Buddhist, demons, and monsters within its territory, and finally, divided and appointed its gods. Not only was the Great Qian comparable to the surrounding continents in terms of strength, but it was also the only humane dynasty that Zhou Yi knew of.
The two continents, Yun and Ji, seemed to be adjacent to each other, but the specific boundary between them was very indistinct. Furthermore, they were separated by numerous mountains and rivers.
The enemy at the Great Qian’s northern frontier was the barbaric Northern Rong, who repeatedly attacked the border region, giving rise to years of war. And further up north, there were only glacial mountains, desolate of the presence of humans. So much so that in the memory of the countless demons that were slain, none knew that the Bare Body Demon Sect was, in fact, one of the six major heretical sects following the Way of Demons. And it was also highly possible that not many people within the Great Qian Dynasty knew about it either.
After the death of the Holy Maiden, Kalan, a long sword that was three feet and seven inches long, with its hilt in the shape of a dragon, appeared in Zhou Yi’s hands. It was entirely purple and its blade was cast in the essence of the Taibai metal.
It was shining with the glow of a treasure, and all evil was easily avoided!
Reward obtained: Purple Ying, the Immortal Sword!
“Immortal sword! A good treasure!”
Zhou Yi infused his magic power, and the Purple Ying Sword became a stream of purple electric light. The sword’s aura radiated a light that stretched over a distance of more than ten feet.
Withdraw!
With a thought in his mind, the immortal sword transformed into light spots as big as rice grains and fell into Zhou Yi’s energy center.
There were several magic weapons kept within Zhou Yi’s energy center. Among them, there were three sword weapons. One of them was a reward for slaying a demon from the Class-B prison cell, and it was named “Avoiding Evil.” This was a powerful sword and had an extraordinary restraining effect on demons.
The moment the Purple Ying Sword arrived in his energy center, it directly drove out all the other magic weapons and occupied the spot right in the middle of his energy center.
To avoid its sharp glow, the other blades and swords, amulets and pearls, bottles, seals, tripods, and streamers moved far away from the Purple Ying Sword and hid along the edges of the Sea of Qi of Zhou Yi’s energy center.
Zhou Yi continued to cast his magic power to refine the Purple Ying Sword while imprinting his mark on it. It would take at least a few months for him to fully refine the sword so that it could unleash the full prowess of an immortal sword.
“Eh? What is this?”
Zhou Yi was delighted as he observed the Purple Ying Sword. He saw that there was an additional dash of blood-colored mark on the back of the sword. If he had not been intuitive enough, he would have dismissed it as an accidental bloodstain.
The blood-colored mark appeared after the Holy Maiden, Kalan, was slain. There was no need for much guessing for Zhou Yi to know that it was some magic spell from the Way of Demons. It was either an evil spell or a mark of vengeance.
“In Kalan’s memories, the Blood Shadow Magic Skill originated from the Way of Blood demon. It is also the key that the Lord of the six heretical paths holds that will allow him to destroy the Great Qian. The blood-colored mark is most probably one of the secret techniques from the Blood Shadow Magic Skill.”
Zhou Yi’s magic power surged like torrential rivers, then in a most tyrannical manner, it rushed towards the blood-colored mark.
The imprints of a spell, regardless of which kind, would never isolate themselves from the support of the spell.
The mark was only a form of appearance, while the spell was the root.
This was similar to how germs and symptoms were interdependent of each other. Once the germs were eliminated, the symptoms would lose their source of support. Then naturally, the affected body would heal without the need for medicine.
With the tremendous magic power washing against it, the blood-colored mark was continuously fading. The core of the blood-colored mark, which was just a mere wisp of blood, tenaciously resisted against the magic power rushing at it for several hours. But it eventually collapsed in the face of this vast sea of magic power.
Zhou Yi’s way of breaking the spell might seem simple and crude, but few could execute it the way he did.
Ordinary monks who were caught in the spell would either wait for the spell to take effect and improvise according to the circumstance, or look for ways to break the spell and then select the best remedy for the situation.
It was like everyone had to break open the combination lock. But while others were guessing and repeatedly trying to decode the lock with the various permutations they could think of, Zhou Yi simply hacked the lock with an ax to hack.
“I only have eight months left, but I am still two thousand and five hundred years short of the mini-goal that I have set for my Taoism attainment. I need to cultivate more diligently!”
Zhou Yi had personally experienced the benefits of strong magic power and realized that no matter how subtle a secret method was or how mysterious a Tao technique was, he could still break through all of them if he had infinite magic power.
“Legend has it that there is a strength capable of breaking all kinds of spells and this strength also serves as an attestation to one’s might. And I have this Qi that can break all kinds of spells. Both are different methods, no doubt, but they will ultimately achieve the same result!”
…
Yellow Springs Sacred Realm.
There were white clouds in the azure blue sky. Immortal aura drifted in the air. It was a scene of peace and harmony.
The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was condensed via a large-scale Spirit-gathering array to form colorful clouds. When more than enough clouds were accumulated, the condensed spiritual Qi would fall as spiritual rain.
The Yellow Springs Sacred Realm was the mastermind behind the scenes and had control over the dozens of demon kingdoms in the Ji Continent. It was also the place of retreat of the Master of the six major heretical sects following the Way of Demons.
An ethereal stream of flowing light fell into the sacred realm and transformed into a young man.
The man was elegant and handsome with an imposing presence. He had long hair hanging casually on shoulders, was dressed in a navy blue scholar’s robe, and had a folding fan in his hand. If he were to walk on the streets, many young ladies of wealthy backgrounds would have been mesmerized by his charm.
“Senior Chief Master, what can I do for you?”
An old man with white hair suddenly appeared on the throne that was originally empty. When he spoke, his voice was calm and cold.
“Heart Demon, Kalan is dead. You have to make a trip to the Great Qian to investigate the case personally.”
The handsome young man was known as the Heart Demon, and the people feared him far more than they feared the Master of the six major heretical sects.
“My Lord, there is a generous distribution of gods of the underworld. Even the local officials were practicing the humane Qi movement technique, which is the most effective way in restraining heart demons from possessing them.”
The Heart Demon frowned slightly and said, “Why not let the Blood Demon make the trip there instead? He has long wanted to go to the Great Qian to refine on the Three Thousand Sons of the Blood Demon and consummate his cultivation of the Blood Shadow Magic Skill.”
The six major heretical sects following the Way of Demons were originally six individual demon sects. Two thousand years ago, a supreme demon appeared in the Heavenly Demon Palace. It was invincible as it swept across the entire Ji Continent, and it forced the six sects to merge as one. However, the six heretical sects all had different skills and techniques, and some of their cultivation philosophies were really worlds apart. This was why so many years had passed but they still failed to completely integrate.
The Lord of Demons was generally the Master of the six heretical sects, but the other five sects had autonomy. So, if the Heart Demon was unwilling to get involved in the political affairs of the Great Qian, he could always reject the request.
“Ten demonic pearls.”
The white-haired old man, who was the current Master of the six heretical sects, said, “As long as we investigate the cause of Kalan’s death, I will definitely reassign someone else to the Demon Slaying Department.”
“What kind of treasure does the Demon Slaying Department have that has been on the mind of our Senior Chief Master for hundreds of years?”
Heart Demon waited for a long time, but still, he received no answer to his question. Then he nodded and said, “I need to refine a clone of myself, so can I get an advance on the demonic pearls?”
The Master of the six heretical sects waved, and ten purple beads fell into the Heart Demon’s hands. With that, the Master turned into smoke and vanished from sight.
“Heart Demon, if I come to know that you are not being honest, Yellow Springs Hell is where you will eventually end up!”
“It’s you who pay me for my salary, so it’s you I stay loyal to. Rest assured, Senior Chief Master!”
Heart Demon secretly stole a glance at the throne. Greed flashed in his eyes. Then he turned into a stream of light and flew up into the sky.
…
Eight months passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Yi had completed ten years of service in the prison torture rooms, and the contract of sale of his body was automatically terminated.
No one would dare to interfere in matters concluded and decided by the commanding officials of the Demon Slaying Department. Moreover, Zhou Yi was a close friend of Master Fahai of the Buddhist sect.
In the morning, he received the final two pieces of paperwork issued to him by Captain Lu, a deed of sale of body, and the document that clearly verified that he was appointed as a bookkeeping officer under the secretary of the logistics department.
Zhou Yi finished off two demons and reported to the logistics department with the paperwork.
The logistics department was also located underground. If the prison of the Demon Slaying Department was on the second basement level, then the logistics department would be the first basement level, right next to the underground exit.
The secretary’s name was Chen Shao. Zhou Yi cast the aura-observing technique to take a look and, to his surprise, found that this man was a Taoist priest who was not weak at all.
Secretary Chen checked the paperwork and entered Zhou Yi’s name into the official list of the logistics department. Then he asked, “Are you literate?”
“Literate, but average calligraphy skills.”
“That’s fine. So long as you are literate.”
Secretary Chen summoned an old man and said, “Zhang, from now on, he will be under your charge. He will follow you around as you update and maintain the records in the ledger of internal organs.”
Zhang clapped his hands happily and laughed heartily. Then he said, “Good, good, good. Finally, somebody is here. Nowadays, so many organs are sent here daily that an old man like me can’t remember everything.”
“You just have to drink less. With a good half of your day in a drunken stupor, what can you possibly do well?”
Secretary Chen turned around to give Zhou Yi a few words of advice and encouragement, mostly to tell him to learn well from Zhang, but not pick up Zhang’s excessive drinking habit. Secretary Chen also told Zhou Yi to do his job well so that he could receive a good bonus at the end of the year.
Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly. After Zhang came over to him, he withdrew the aura of his spell.
The slovenly and unkempt Zhang, who was always getting drunk, was actually an upper third-grade master of spiritual cultivation. In terms of strength, he did not lose to Fahai at all.
Could he be the legendary floor-sweeping monk?
No, it should be the bookkeeping monk!