The fish market in Shuiyun Village was unusually empty.
Li Xiaoer and Liu Xiujie borrowed another cart and loaded the two men, Li Xinhan and Ma Tao, who were wrapped up like dumplings, onto it.
Even after taking the medicinal pills, Li Mujin was still weak, so she could only sit outside the cart, her legs crossed, leisurely acting as the guide.
Shen Yi had only ever ridden the donkey from the Baiyun County government office before.
Suddenly switching to a tall and sturdy half-demon horse, he wasn’t quite used to it yet.
The usually stubborn demon horse was unusually docile today, even trembling slightly all over.
Shen Yi glanced at the dried dark red demon blood on his clothes.
His emotions weren’t as calm as they appeared on the surface.
The words of the river demon before its death echoed in his mind.
The Dragon Consort of Yangchun River.
It was for this identity that the demon had dared to turn against the Demon Suppression Bureau.
Shen Yi didn’t believe there was a real dragon in the river.
The panel clearly stated the demon’s identity—it was a flood demon.
With a lifespan of over 1,400 years, the demon had only lived for a little over a hundred years.
Converted to human years, it was roughly equivalent to a ten-year-old.
Not yet an adult, yet it already possessed the strength of the early Jade Liquid Realm.
Shen Yi had killed a demon with a background like this before in Baiyun County, but back then, he had Lin Baiwei’s banner to hide behind.
If the fox demon sought revenge, it would go after the General of Qingzhou.
This time, however, it was different.
Li Xinhan’s shoulders might not be able to bear the weight of this blame.
“…” Shen Yi lowered his gaze, deep in thought.
Fortunately, the flood demon was covered in wounds, clearly hiding in the fishing village for refuge and promising the river god a bunch of empty promises.
As the saying goes, a tiger that falls to the plains is bullied by dogs.
Bah!
As the saying goes, a dragon out of water is like a withered branch.
If it truly had overwhelming power, why would it need to flee in such a panic?
There was no need for him to worry unnecessarily.
Besides, as long as he had the panel, unless he abandoned it, no matter how cautious he was, he couldn’t avoid making enemies with demons.
However, some necessary precautions were still needed.
In the end, it all came down to strength.
If he had enough strength, even if a few old flood dragons came seeking revenge, he’d probably wake up laughing in his sleep.
The panel unfolded before his eyes.
[Killed a Jade Liquid Realm fish demon.
Total lifespan: 1,020 years.
Remaining lifespan: 70 years.
Absorption complete.]
[Remaining demon lifespan: 1,500 years.
Can be condensed.]
After killing the flood demon yesterday, he had used five years to replenish the energy in his major acupoints.
Now, his demon lifespan had reached an astonishing number.
The fish demon only had seventy years left to live.
Shen Yi wasn’t surprised.
If the demon hadn’t been desperate, it wouldn’t have gambled its life for a chance.
Everything had its pros and cons.
Demons nearing the end of their lifespans usually had higher cultivation levels, their demon cores containing more energy, and a greater chance of obtaining talents.
Shen Yi had already gained some understanding of how precious talents were.
Just the mastery of fists and palms had saved him over a hundred years of lifespan when practicing the Meridian-Severing Dragon Capture technique.
The Blood Fiend talent he obtained from the initial-stage Yellow Skin Demon had even allowed his Jade Liquid Realm martial arts to advance further, evolving into the sinister killing move known as Heavenly Blood Fiend.
The more talents, the better.
As for young demons, their long lifespans were enough to make mortals green with envy.
The downside was that they weren’t fools either.
At such a young age, why would they wander around instead of waiting for their parents to feed them?
As for those who were both young and highly cultivated, like the flood demon… they usually had some background, which could lead to a chain of troubles.
Not to mention, they were hard to deal with.
If it hadn’t underestimated him and teamed up with the river demon to ambush him, Shen Yi might not have been able to kill it even if he spent four hundred years.
“…”
Shen Yi turned his gaze to the new text that appeared after his lifespan exceeded a thousand years.
As he looked, a line of text gradually appeared.
[Condense 1,000 years of lifespan into a Demon Crystal.]
[Demon Crystal: A crystal formed from the residual resentment and memories of a demon.
When used during martial arts cultivation, it allows the user to borrow the demon’s memories for deduction.
Consuming it can extend one’s lifespan.]
Shen Yi quickly understood the meaning.
After all, as an ordinary person with no special talents, he deeply understood the importance of comprehension and knowledge.
He had been stuck on the Wind and Thunder Demon Subjugation True Interpretation for who knows how many years, with no progress to this day.
Now that he was dealing with Jade Liquid Realm martial arts, he hadn’t experienced a “flash of inspiration” in a long time.
On one hand, it was due to his lack of knowledge about martial arts.
On the other hand… his brain just wasn’t cutting it.
Those who could establish sects and create martial arts techniques were all geniuses of their time.
As an ordinary person, being able to learn even twenty to thirty percent of their skills was enough to get by.
He didn’t dare to ask for more.
But by borrowing the power of demons to assist in martial arts deduction, he could break through the limitations of his own potential.
“It might not be that useful.”
Shen Yi thought to himself with a hint of bitterness, his face expressionless.
A thousand years? That’s a steep price.
The item was good, no doubt.
But its biggest flaw was that it was expensive!
Without hesitation, he closed the panel.
Shen Yi steadied his emotions.
Given his current situation, the best course of action was to first get some ready-made resources from the Demon Suppression Bureau to quickly improve his strength.
He had already handed over his “letter of submission.” It was time to see if this so-called top-tier force in Qingzhou was as extravagant as Zhang the Butcher had claimed.
At that moment, the cart suddenly slowed down.
Shen Yi looked up.
A dense crowd had gathered on the road leading out of the city.
There were vendors carrying their goods, fishermen in short jackets reeking of fish, and all sorts of people.
The only thing they had in common was the gloom on their faces.
They remained silent, standing by the roadside, watching.
Countless government officers, armed with swords, spread their arms, gritting their teeth as they pushed the crowd back.
Sweat even dripped from their foreheads.
“Don’t look. Just keep going.”
Li Mujin stopped the slight swaying of her legs and leaned slightly toward the young man.
Thus, among the cold gazes of the common folk, there was now one more person—her.
“Don’t look, don’t look.”
Li Mujin forced a relaxed smile, though her palms were secretly sweating.
She was afraid Shen Yi would be provoked.
A martial artist capable of killing a Jade Liquid Realm river demon—even if the demon was in a weakened state—was enough to prove his strength.
If he could kill ten villagers, he could just as easily kill a thousand.
And once he got into the swing of things, there would be no difference between a thousand and seventy thousand in his eyes.
This was why, despite the many talented individuals from Qingzhou in the Demon Suppression Bureau, none of them were willing to provoke the river demon.
They were all people of status, and their reputations mattered most to them.
If they slaughtered common folk here, their names would be tarnished.
Once the news spread back to Qingzhou, how could they hold their heads high in front of their friends and family?
“Trust me, things will get better soon.”
Li Mujin reached out and grabbed Shen Yi’s sleeve.
The short ruler she had used earlier wasn’t meant to measure mortals, but deities.
The villagers of the fishing village were in a state of mental collapse, desperately in need of a new temple.
Clearly, the tall figure who had stood on the altar and slain the river god had left an indelible mark in their hearts.
All they needed was a little more time.
A new name would soon spread through the storytellers’ tales, echoing in tea stalls and food shops, until the story was so altered that even the person it was about wouldn’t recognize it.
This was also why Li Mujin had silently praised Shen Yi for acting so decisively.
If it had been someone else, they might not have been able to wash away the filth on their reputation.
“Huh?”
Shen Yi turned his head slightly, a look of confusion in his eyes.
“Uh… you’re not angry?”
Seeing the young man’s calm expression, Li Mujin was momentarily stunned.
Shen Yi rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on the reins.
Back in Baiyun County, those people had cursed far worse in private.
With over a thousand years of demon lifespan in his hands and two Jade Liquid Realm demon cores in his pocket, why would he care about such trivial matters as reputation?
How pretentious.
(End of Chapter)