Days seemed to move faster in times of peace, and half a year flew by in what felt like an instant.
Just like any other day, Zhou Yi arrived at the Resource Division of the Demon Slaying Department as early as he could to sneak into the dungeon. After finding the prisoners in Cell B, he cast an illusion spell and took their badges away.
“Only three today? That’s too few.”
Zhou Yi opened the first cell and slayed the wolf demon that had terrorized Yongchang County before heading to the second cell to slay the bat demon that had fed on human blood.
His Taoism Attainment had increased by three years, leading to a total of 10,200 years now.
When he opened the third cell, he was surprised to see a rare silver zombie.
Zombies rarely get locked up in the dungeon as these were beings born through hatred. They had a metal body but no wisdom.
Most demon-sealing magic had no effects on zombies as they had no energy. One can only stop zombies by using an enormous amount of energy to pin them down.
Most demon slayers would kill a zombie on the spot and save the trouble of having to transport it.
The silver zombie was a middle-third-grade monster. Its body was wrapped tightly in chains, with only its head visible.
The moment the silver zombie saw Zhou Yi coming in, it snapped its head around, trying to roar. However, a metal ball was lodged in its mouth, preventing the zombie from launching its toxins at anyone who entered the cell.
“Huh, it looks like the demon slayers have been working hard lately. They even bothered to bring back such a troublesome creature.”
Zhou Yi easily shoved his weapon through the zombie’s head. To him, the zombie’s metal skull was nothing more than jelly.
The Demon Handbook began to flip, and his Taoism Attainment increased by another year.
What followed was the zombie’s memory, but only shards of it.
Longyang County…
The turning of an earth dragon…
“Hm… The soul is too broken to retain a complete memory…”
Zhou Yi frowned. He wasn’t interested in the zombie’s memory, but he was curious as to why its soul was broken.
A soul was useless to a zombie, unless it was planning to evolve into the legendary Night Fork, Hiderigami, or Zombie Denglong. It could regain its wisdom by doing that and turned its soul back into a living one.
Destroying a zombie’s soul would not make it weaker. Instead, it would just enrage the zombie and make it harder to catch.
“Maybe they had some special reason.”
Even after racking his mind, he could not think of an explanation and just decided to leave it as a mystery.
The Demon Handbook was packed with a lot of information. If he really wanted to learn everything, it would take him thousands of years to study it all.
Zhou Yi returned to the Resource Division and began to arrange the name list for the day.
He worked until Zhang Cheng came to take over his shift when the sun was starting to set.
Zhou Yi had just finished transcribing another copy of the scripture. He finally put his pen down. “I’ve transcribed these twelve volumes 123 times. I’m starting to feel like I’m repeating something of no importance. Could it be that there’s no more reason for me to do this?”
Zhou Yi had asked a lot of questions in the past year. Even though Zhang Cheng was weaker than his colleague, he was still a higher-second-grade martial artist and had a deeper understanding of cultivation.
“Not bad. I’ve never expected that you actually hold it out for a whole year before asking me this question,” Zhang Cheng said with a smile. “These 12 volumes were what I used to realize the Ying God Form. If you can understand the whole theory behind them, then you should be able to manifest the Ying God. However, your body isn’t trained and has no magic or essence qi. Your soul isn’t enhanced by energy too. Even if you learned of the theory, all you can do is feel the presence of Ying God.”
Zhou Yi’s eyes shot wide open. He had been taking a lot of pills throughout his life and had been cultivating his energy every day. His body was by no means weak.
He also had the Ten Thousand Year Magic power that could best the fox god of Greenhills.
All he had to do was realize the true meaning of all 12 volumes on the scripture, and he could manifest the Ying God.
“How can I achieve that? I want to give it a go. Who knows, maybe I can actually manifest one and live for a few more years?” Zhou Yi asked, pretending to be a simple amateur.
“You? It’s already a miracle that you’re able to live for ten years after getting your body and soul infected by the evil aura…” Zhang Cheng sighed. “There are no shortcuts when it comes to cultivation. You still need another ten years before you can realize the theory behind the scripture. Continue to transcribe for another ten years, and we’ll talk after that.”
“Okay!” Zhou Yi nodded and went straight back to his transcribing work.
Zhang Cheng was shocked to see his colleague’s reaction. He thought that when Zhou Yi heard that it would take another ten years that he would give up.
Even the disciples of either the Buddhist or Taoist Sect could not accomplish that and would rather spend the time training their Qi Cultivation Techniques.
“What a waste. He has the mentality to become a cultivator…”
…
When Zhou Yi was on his way back and passed by the administrative building, he noticed another royal decree on the notice board.
There was a picture on it; of a man with thin eyes, a sharp nose, and thin lips.
Under the picture was the name and crime the man had committed.
His name was Li Shang, and he was one of the Eight Devas working under the Night Fork Demon King as part of the State of Wei’s rebellious army. He had been captured by the Deity-worshipping Department and would be publicly executed the next day.
“What a waste. The Eight Devas were all in the Mind Refining Stage…”
Having slayed countless demons up till now, Zhou Yi had learned quite a bit about the Night Fork Demon King. It was a demon that had achieved the highest first-grade cultivation and was one of the most powerful beings in the world.
The eight higher-third-grade demons that served under him were all as powerful as the master of a sect.
It had been ten years since the rebellion broke out in the State of Wei, and despite the empire trying to reclaim its land, the state was still mostly under the demon king’s control.
The reason it was rare to find a higher-third-grade demon was that it was extremely difficult to apprehend one alive. One had to be at the right time and under certain circumstances to catch one. That was why these demons would appear inside the dungeon once every three to five years.
“If the executioner is a middle-third-grade, maybe I can use him…”
Zhou Yi quickly shook his head to disperse the dangerous thought.
He had been cultivating for the past dozen years and had finally reached ten thousand years worth of Taoism Attainment. He was able to achieve the feat due to him being employed in the Demon Slaying Department.
It wasn’t worth it to lose his position because of a higher-third-grade demon.
The next day, one of Zhou Yi’s colleagues went to the public execution of Li Shan and came back to the office talking about how crowded and exciting it was.
Before working for the Night Fork Demon King, Li Shan was already a wanted man in Great Qian for sacrificing ten thousand lives for a blood ritual to create a magical item.
The commander-in-chief of the Demon Slaying Department, the Head Priest of the Deity-worshipping Department, the Royal Eunuch of the Eunuch Department, and the mysterious Violet Dragon General of the Dragon Protection Department were all there to oversee the execution to prevent the demon from breaking loose.
Zhou Yi let out a sigh of relief. If he had gone as well, he probably would not have been able to hold himself back from all the sacred items and the Tiangang Taoism-dharma present at the scene.
The thought of all the powerful items excited him so much that he added another stroke to the word he was writing.
“I see… That’s why I had to do this for ten years. I’ve always thought I have a strong sense of self-control, but the truth is just that I haven’t run into things that are as tempting as those sacred items…”
He quickly steeled his mind and continued his transcribing work to further his cultivation.
Half a month passed by again.
Zhou Yi arrived at the Demon Slaying Department earlier than everyone else as usual and snuck into Cell B.
After taking care of the first four demons, he headed for the fifth prisoner, who was held in Prison Cell A27.
“Huh? A higher-third-grade demon?”
He quickly cast an illusion spell as he entered the cell.
Inside was a man with thin eyes and a sharp nose. It was none other than Li Shan, who had been executed half a month ago.
Li Shan struggled to open his eyes and cough. It was evident that he had been badly tortured, to the point where a higher-third-grade demon had to struggle to speak.
“Illusion? A-are you here to rescue me?”
Li Shan immediately saw through Zhou Yi’s spell.
“Is my spell that bad?” Zhou Yi asked.
“No… It’s perfect… My eyes… They are the eyes of a civet…”
“Disgusting as usual.” Zhou Yi sighed and stabbed Li Shan’s heart to end his life.
The Demon Handbook flipped over more than a thousand pages, and Li Shan’s picture appeared. In it, he was holding a Demonic dhvaja and rode a black panther.
The reward for killing Li Shan was swordsmanship.
Zhou Yi immediately understood its origin and effect.
It was one of the 72 Disha Divine Arts that granted unlimited talent in sword fighting. It was as if the user was blessed by the God of Sword himself.
It included the mastery of different sword styles, magic spells, and much more.