The Cloud-Parting Fist, perfected to its peak! With the strength of the Five Apertures at the Initial Realm, Shen Yi's palms were enveloped by the breath of heaven and earth.
Each punch seemed capable of shattering the flesh and organs of the yellow-skinned demon.
"Come on! Let's make this quick!" The yellow-skinned demon bared its teeth.
As its body gradually shrank, a crimson aura surged with the wind, covering an area of over ten zhang.
Nothing could escape its corrosive touch.
This was why it hadn't used this evil technique earlier.
Under the red mist, all living beings perished.
Only those who had transcended could use the breath of heaven and earth to resist for a short time.
In this situation, it was simply a matter of who had more accumulated strength.
When Shen Yi drew his blade, the yellow-skinned demon had already gauged his cultivation level.
Though slightly surprised, it didn't believe that Shen Yi's foundation could surpass the century of accumulated flesh and blood it had amassed.
But as Shen Yi threw punch after punch, his momentum showed no signs of waning.
His breathing remained steady, and the thin white mist around him seemed fragile, as if it would be completely corroded by the crimson aura at any moment.
Yet, it continued to emerge endlessly.
The yellow-skinned demon's pupils contracted slightly, and a hint of hesitation finally appeared in its expression.
It seemed to have miscalculated something.
"You..."
The fist pierced through the golden fur, as if puncturing an empty balloon.
Beneath the layers of skin, the demon's flesh and blood had been completely depleted, leaving only an empty husk.
"Spare me!" The yellow-skinned demon finally cried out in fear.
Shen Yi calmly withdrew his hand from the pile of shattered organs, gripped the hilt of his blade, pulled it from the bone, and delivered a swift downward slash!
[Slaying a demon at the early stage of the Initial Realm.
Total lifespan: 575 years.
Remaining: 180 years.
Absorption complete.]
The crimson mist, now without its core, became ethereal and unstable.
The villagers, crouching in the distance, showed a faint trace of anxiety in their turbid eyes for the first time.
Suddenly, the young man emerged from the mist, his long, powerful fingers sheathing the blade.
Beneath his disheveled hair, his expression showed signs of fatigue, and his breathing was no longer as steady as before, slightly hurried.
Yet, his posture remained upright.
Behind him, the tall, skeletal figure wrapped in skin collapsed like a falling banner!
...
On the path from Baiyun County to Liuli Temple Village, Chen Ji gripped the neck of his old donkey, feeling restless.
Although Liu, the clerk, wasn't a formal official, his orders were enough to make all the constables in the criminal department obey without question.
Chen Ji had hurriedly returned home to settle his sister before deciding to come alone to check on the situation.
Watching the donkey leisurely plod along, he gritted his teeth and slapped it, then dismounted and used his somewhat clumsy qinggong to rush forward.
Before long, a whiff of blood reached his nose.
Chen Ji's expression stiffened, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his scabbard.
He seemed to have guessed something, and his legs trembled slightly as he quickened his pace.
His heart was gripped by panic, and his mind conjured images of corpses strewn across the ground.
He clenched his teeth and charged into the village.
"..."
Moments later, wisps of cooking smoke came into view.
Two villagers walked past the field ridge, noticing Chen Ji.
They turned to look at him, then awkwardly forced a smile.
Chen Ji habitually wanted to return the smile, but his lips were stiff, and he couldn't manage it.
He stared blankly at the object the two villagers were carrying—a thick, furry leg, its hair matted with dried blood, clearly dead for some time.
"The constable said we could eat it, and whatever we couldn't finish, we should load onto the cart for him," one villager said, swallowing hard.
Hearing this, Chen Ji fell completely silent.
The constable? Who else could it be but Shen Yi? In all of Baiyun County, only Shen Yi would dare to set foot here now.
But what exactly had happened?
Chen Ji felt his mind going blank.
He nodded in acknowledgment, then brushed past the two villagers and continued forward.
Soon, a familiar figure came into view.
Contrary to his expectations of a brutal battle, Shen Yi sat quietly on the field ridge, surrounded by a group of children who were carefully touching his blade.
Dozens of villagers busily pulled demon corpses from the muddy fields, as if digging for lotus roots.
Occasionally, they would pull out an arm, and a smile would appear on their faces.
Blood and peace—two starkly different scenes intertwined, creating an incredibly eerie sight.
Chen Ji's body stiffened, unsure how he had managed to walk up to Shen Yi.
He mumbled, "The demons...?"
Shen Yi looked up, slightly surprised, as if he hadn't expected Chen Ji to come.
"I took care of them."
Hearing this, Chen Ji felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
It reminded him of when he had asked Shen Yi about the ape demon, and Shen Yi had given a similar reply.
Chen Ji pointed a trembling finger at the dark red-soaked mud not far away, the stench assaulting his nose, and he fought back the urge to vomit.
"You call this... taking care of them?"
This was the western outskirts of the city, just beyond the territory of the yellow-skinned demon.
If Shen Yi had stood here and slaughtered demons all around, there were only two possibilities: either the yellow-skinned demon had run away, or it had also died here.
Even though the latter seemed almost impossible, compared to the absurdity of the former, Chen Ji could only repeatedly convince himself that it was true.
Just two or three days ago, Shen Yi had been a notorious scoundrel.
Yet, in one move, he had single-handedly wiped out the yellow-skinned demon and its pack of dog demons.
When it came to patience and restraint, Chen Ji had to admit, Shen Yi was truly a master.
"Go and gather the corpses. It's time to head back."
Since there was a laborer here, Shen Yi might as well make use of him.
He extended his hand, and the children obediently wiped the fingerprints off his scabbard with their clothes before placing it back in his palm.
They grinned, missing a few teeth, "Constable, take care."
Shen Yi adjusted his blade, slowly stood up, and closed the panel before him.
[Remaining demon lifespan: 672 years]
Twelve robust dog demons, plus the 180 years contributed by the yellow-skinned demon, had left Shen Yi with an astonishingly vast reserve of lifespan.
In addition, there was an unexpected gain.
When Shen Yi's fist shattered the yellow-skinned demon's internal organs, he discovered an unknown organ the size of an egg inside its body.
This fleshy ball was far more resilient than the other organs, continuing to function like a living thing even under the intense force.
Most importantly, it contained the essence Shen Yi had been craving since advancing to the Initial Realm.
Without hesitation, he tore it out and wrapped it in a piece of cloth.
This was Shen Yi's first encounter with a true demon.
The intelligent dog demons, though they could live for a century or two, were essentially no different from ordinary humans aside from their robust bodies.
The yellow-skinned demon, however, was a completely different story.
Its overwhelming crimson aura was something that soldiers and constables had no way to counter.
A single touch meant death, and even arrows fired from a distance struggled to penetrate its thick layers of fat and flesh.
To inflict any real damage, heavy crossbows would be necessary.
But one must not forget, despite the dog demons' bulky appearance, they were incredibly fast.
Ten zhang was just a few steps for them.
And yet, such a creature, nearly invincible to ordinary humans, was only at the early stage of the Initial Realm.
(End of Chapter)