Attaining Immortality, Starting From Slaying Demons

"Heh! Heh!"

Not knowing how far it had flown, the massive body of the flood dragon rolled and convulsed before it crashed to the ground, kicking up billows of dust.

It transformed back into human form.

Its body, covered in black scales, was marked with dense, dark red wounds.

The fierce dragon head gasped for air, its sharp claws reaching downward, smeared with blood plasma. From the waist down, it had been severed by the halberd's swipe, leaving only half a torso.

Panic and lingering fear filled its eyes.

Leaning against a tree, its gaping maw issued a shrill howl; its crimson tongue flicked out as the rough-scaled paws grew hot, hissing as they sealed the wounds.

From this day forth, there would be no more Zhang Hengzhou of Qingfeng Mountain, only the Sixth Prince of the Yangchun River Jiao Jun.

That is... if it could make it back to the Yangchun River.

Bitter resentment pooled in the malicious gleam of its eyes.

It was a three-thousand-year-old Condensation Elixir Realm old demon, yet it appeared so frail in the face of Chen Qiankun.

"Demon-suppression Bureau! Demon-suppression Bureau!"

The flood dragon slowly regained its strength, its face twisted with intense jealousy. The Condensation Elixir Realm was divided into three stages: the solidifying of the liquid into a pill, embracing the pill within the sea of qi, and shattering the pill to nurture the spirit.

The most crucial was the second step.

The pill was like the placenta; at the start of its solidification, it contained only pure natural energy, much like an empty egg. What ultimately emerged from the shattered pill greatly depended on what nourished it during the embracing stage.

If it was fed with the essence of sword intent, vitality, Essence Yuan... it could achieve the Primordial Wuji Grandmaster level, a stature demons could tout to claim kingship over a territory.

But the ten-plus Demon-suppression Great Generals of the Demon-suppression Bureau, including the Qingzhou Zongbing, except for a rare few, all took the shortcut of Incense Willpower.

They nourished their inner cores with the incense willpower of Qingzhou's common folk, waiting for it to break the shell and breed a Yin God.

This realm was no longer confined to the pursuit of Martial Arts. Different from the Primordial Realm, they followed two separate paths and were called Martial Immortals.

In terms of close combat, Martial Immortals were far inferior to Primordial Realm Grandmasters, yet they possessed their own mysteries. They could let their Yin God leave the body, wander the four seas, and hear all directions.

This was originally the divine path for mountain spirits and wild ghosts who amassed willpower through good deeds and temple repairs to attain the status of mountain gods or river goddesses, or even as local deities of a region.

However, it was appropriated by martial artists who, backed by the Imperial Court, preyed on incense willpower under such advantageous conditions.

Just how old was Chen Qiankun? Merely eight hundred years old.

And with the title of the Town Demon Grand General of Linjiang County, he had accumulated such a foundation.

Although he could not slay demons from a thousand miles away, his Yin God could briefly leave his body and attack with a sharp blade, almost claiming its life with one strike.

This indicated that the Martial Immortal inside his inner core was already forming faintly, merely requiring time to temper and await the moment to leave the shell after shattering the pill.

"Qingfeng Mountain cannot trap him!"

Despair shone in the demon's eyes. That boundless sword intent could trap the corporeal body, but how could it trap a Yin God?

Even the Zhang family's old ancestor in the Ancestral Sword, a remnant soul sustained by generations of disciples' lifeblood, had believed martial artists could do him no harm and felt safe. Yet, now, he must be slain by the old general's summoned Yin God.

"Run!"

Finally gathering some strength, the demon dragged its mutilated body with its palms, desperately crawling across the ground.

As long as it made it back to the Yangchun River where the dragon belongs to water, not even Chen Qiankun nor the true Martial Immortal, the Demon-suppression Bureau Qingzhou Zongbing, could do more than sigh in longing by the river.

It had not been easy amassing a bit of heroic reputation as a disciple of Qingfeng Mountain, solidifying the pill at Sword Pool, succeeding as sect master. As long as it followed the steps one by one, there was a chance to vie for incense willpower.

Reluctant to give up the identity of Zhang Hengzhou, it had lost half its body!

And now, fallen to such a plight, it couldn't even dare to reveal its true flood dragon form to conceal its tracks. Such a huge disgrace!

The demon desperately covered its own aura. As its palms crawled along, it was almost as fast as soaring through the clouds, mainly because it was safer.

Suddenly, its entire body shook violently. It raised its head to see a sky full of crimson qi approaching.

Swift footsteps approached from the side.

"Chen Qiankun, you go too far!"

The demon, like a frightened bird, swiftly turned around, its fearful voice almost breaking.

But immediately, it saw a figure that evoked deep resentment in it.

The handsome young man breathed heavily, his disheveled hair damp with sweat, sticking to his clean cheeks. His ink-black robe fluttered slightly as he gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, his dark and profound eyes brimming with endless killing intent.

Then, he stopped at what seemed a safe distance.

"It's you."

The demon was stunned, suddenly finding the situation somewhat comical, while its heart ached tremendously.

Did it really look so pitiable that even a junior from the Jade Liquid Boundary dared to pursue and kill it?

Watching the youth stand his ground, the demon was somewhat puzzled, "You're just a Colonel, drawing a salary of two hundred taels a month, why come here all by yourself?"

Shen Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead, swearing to himself that since the day he opened his eyes at the Liu Family, he had never run so desperately.

Luckily, there was a strange connection of qi that allowed him to slowly catch up, even with his lack of speed, without losing track.

With that thought, he lowered his hand.

The fully unleashed Celestial Gang Blood Fiend suddenly descended, crashing down on the half-bodied demon's remains!

It was only at this moment that Shen Yi gradually caught his breath and explained softly, "Because you looked at me three times."

The demon's scales on its back were bombarded by the Qi, leaving white marks, and the numerous fine cracks across its body gradually opened, with demonic flames licking its flesh.

On the head of the Jiao dragon, the expression remained unchanged, "You want to kill me just for looking at you once?"

"It's three times."

Shen Yi pursed his lips, looked at the other party, and sincerely but firmly corrected, "I don't just want to kill you, I want to kill your entire family."

He spoke true words from the depths of his heart.

In the eyes of the Jiao dragon, Shen Yi saw resentment, saw hatred, but the only thing he didn't see was his own path to life.

Therefore, even if the other party had the slightest chance to escape,

He had to personally extinguish it.

Otherwise, what awaited him might be the revenge of the entire Yangchun River Jiao Clan.

"Ha! Hah——"

Seeing this, the demon remained silent for a long time as if it saw through the youth's thoughts, then suddenly burst out laughing, its body trembling, laughing breathlessly, its claws heavily pressing down, and spoke with a fierce voice, "At least you have some brains."

Zhang Hengzhou held in such high regard by the Qingfeng Sect Master, was treated like his own child, and they truly share common characteristics.

That is, both are overprotective!

Moreover, Jiao Feng was not a half-demon; it was the offspring it had with the mother Jiao before it left the Yangchun River. It couldn't let go of its worry for the young progeny, fearing it might be bullied by other members of the clan, which is why it took it out of the river.

That was its only... genuine... offspring!

And now, the rich and familiar aura that emanated from the young man drove it mad.

Even knowing that Chen Qiankun could catch up at any moment, but to kill off a Jade Liquid Boundary martial artist was almost effortless.

"So what are you waiting for! Come on! Kill me!"

The demon screamed, climbed forward a distance, and then saw Shen Yi silently retreating a few steps, then raising his hand to summon another wave of Celestial Gang Blood Fiend.

It advanced, he retreated.

However much it progressed, he retreated just as much, to the precise measure.

Demon: "..."

"Don't come closer, I'm a bit scared."

Shen Yi stood with his arms hanging, his voice even and honestly admitting his true feelings, then raised his hand to summon the third wave of Blood Fiend.

The previous exchange among those in the Condensation Elixir Realm had utterly surpassed his understanding.

Thus, he truly was unsure.

The once invariably successful Blood Fiend, when it hit the demon, seemed to have no effect.

But Shen Yi believed that as little as they were, if accumulated, the effects would certainly show. If not, then it just wasn't enough yet.

In the span of a few breaths, nearly twenty swings of his palm made his face turn deathly pale.

As the Blood Fiend's power increased, so did the cost, which was nowhere near what it once was.

The dense, storm-like Qi all fell upon the demon's body, even tinting the sky with a layer of dark red.

Just when the demon thought Shen Yi was at his limit, he slowly held his breath.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a renewed golden light shone in his pupils: "..."

The palm that had just paused suddenly rose again!

"What kind of witchcraft is this?"

Facing this bewildering scene, the demon's complexion changed slightly, and it felt an odd premonition.

Feeling the tearing pain gradually coming from its back, its eyes were cold and indifferent. It hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned around and crawled away into the distance.

Something's wrong! Better leave!

"..."

The sound of footsteps began again.

The demon abruptly turned its head, glared furiously but impotently retracted its gaze, and climbed even more desperately.

However, those footsteps always followed at a steady pace, only stopping when it turned to look back, with Shen Yi always ready to retreat at any moment, giving the demon no chance to counterattack.

Accompanying him were the continuous, endless waves of Qi rain.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

On the demon's hard back surged tumultuous flames, and the dense wounds burst open completely, with the dark red monster blood soaking the ground profusely.

Finally, it stopped moving, looked at the youth who was hauntingly close like a ghost, red filling its pupils, its mouth revealing sharp teeth and a blood-red tongue, and shouted furiously, "You're afraid of your mother!"

"Scram!"

With such a ruthless attack, there was not the slightest sign of fear.

What kind of person was this? Was there no dignity as a martial artist supposed to have?!

Bullying a disabled Jiao?!