I Become a Martial Arts God in the Chaotic Demon World

Zhao Rongye and Pei Xiuyuan exchanged glances, the shock in their eyes utterly unmistakable.

They even doubted if they had heard correctly.

Han Zheng had been gone for a day, and had he really slain the Golden Spirit King and the Smoke Wave Lake Dragon Guard that had plagued the coast for over a decade?

Having been in Smoke Wave Lake for so many years, they naturally knew how troublesome these two demons were.

The Golden Spirit King was slippery and hard to catch, and although his Water Manipulation Divine Power was weak in lethality, his skill in escaping was second to none.

Unless a Dan Sea Realm being came and killed it with the swiftness of thunder.

Otherwise, once the adversary entered the water, killing it could be said to be incredibly difficult.

And then there was the tortoise dragon that claimed to be the Dragon King of Smoke Wave Lake.

With boundless strength, it was on par with a martial artist at the peak of the Xuan Gang Realm on land, and even stronger by a third in the water.

Furthermore, the scale armor it adorned made it immune to blades and spears; its strength and defense could be said to rank at the very top of the Xuan Gang Realm.

Even when Yin Taiqing had first made a name for himself and attempted to kill it, even though he managed to wound the adversary with one strike, he still let it escape.

And now, this tortoise dragon had actually died at the hands of Han Zheng; hearing this sounded almost like a dream.

Before they could process their shock, Han Zheng and Zhang Yan approached the Council Hall holding the heads of three demons.

Everyone present swallowed hard.

Good heavens, Han Zheng had not only killed the tortoise dragon but also exterminated its entire family.

"Yo, everyone's here."

Han Zheng paused briefly, then threw the massive fish head on the ground, saying, "Tomorrow, everyone can spread the news. Both the Golden Spirit King and the Dragon King of Smoke Wave Lake have been put to death. The fishermen and the common people by the shore can boldly enter the lake to fish.

However, they must only stay in the shallow waters near the shore and not venture into the deep waters of Smoke Wave Lake. There could still be some demons lurking in there."

Pei Xiuyuan stared fixedly at the head of the demon and after a long while, asked, "Mr. Han… did you kill these two Great Demons?"

Han Zheng replied with surprise, "Who else?"

Something seemed to come to mind, and Han Zheng suddenly added, "Right, the merit for this is not mine alone. Team Leader Zhang Yan also exerted effort."

Zhang Yan was stunned and hastily shook his head, "I only guided the way and dare not claim to have exerted effort. It was entirely due to Mr. Han's divine might that these two demons were slain."

Han Zheng waved his hand dismissively, "The rules of the Demon Cleansing Bureau hold that all witnesses share in the merit. Whoever slays a demon is naturally entitled to Merit Points, and the brothers who play a supporting role will not be short-changed.

You accompanied me to slay the demons. Whether you fought or not, you naturally have a share in the merit.

Let a scribe record this—seven-tenths of the credit for these two demons go to me, and three-tenths go to Zhang Yan. Write it down and send it directly to the headquarters of Kai Ping Prefecture to record the merit."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan was immediately dumbfounded, and the other Golden Rune Team leaders' eyes turned red with envy.

The Golden Spirit King had tormented Smoke Wave Lake for so long, and slaying it should grant five hundred Merit Points.

And the Smoke Wave Lake Dragon King, being a Great Demon at the late stage of the Xuan Gang Realm, should be worth at least one thousand five hundred Merit Points!

With these two demons' accolades sent up, Zhang Yan would net an extra six hundred Merit Points out of thin air. He could freely exchange for an Innate Level Cultivation Technique or even an intermediate Elixir that could aid in breaking through to the Xuan Gang Realm at a crucial moment!

And all of this was simply because Zhang Yan had led the way; it was essentially a windfall victory. How could those present not be envious?

At that moment, aside from loyal followers like Zhao Jinhua of Pei Xiuyuan, the rest were filled with regret.

Why had they rejected Han Zheng before?

If they had chosen to guide Han Zheng, those six hundred Merit Points would have been theirs!

Previously, the members of the Smoke Wave Prefecture Demon Department had thought Han Zheng was too young and inexperienced to be in charge of the Smoke Wave Prefecture Demon Department.

Now, seeing such a generous superior, who cared about age? Even if the leader were only eight years old, they would be willing to respectfully call him Mr. Han!

After having someone prepare the document, Han Zheng signed his name and sent it to the headquarters of the Demon Cleansing Bureau, securing the merit for Zhang Yan.

"Your subordinate thanks you, sir!"

Zhang Yan's eyes reddened with emotion.

As a team leader from the State Mansion, it was very difficult for him to stand out.

The headquarters often received various missions, and everyone would collaborate, amassing merit points quickly.

However, at the State Mansion, there were many issues and a huge variety of complex forces, leading to a slow accumulation of merit points.

These six hundred merit points would have taken him years to accumulate by himself; he never expected to hold them in his hands after just one afternoon.

No matter what attitude others held towards Han Zheng, from now on, Zhang Yan would look to Han Zheng with utmost respect!

Han Zheng sat upright in the seat of honor, his posture authoritative. This time, no one present could overlook this young superior.

"I've received two pieces of news from slaying the Golden Spirit Great Demon and this Dragon King of Smoke Wave Lake.

The good news is that Mr. Liao indeed fought with the turtle dragon in Smoke Wave Lake and both were left wounded.

But the bad news is that Mr. Liao's death wasn't caused by the turtle dragon, as the injuries weren't fatal.

Furthermore, the turtle dragon was compelled into a deadly struggle with Mr. Liao because someone was scheming behind the scenes during their fight.

Mr. Liao's death was not an accident but a conspiracy, a plot against our Demon Cleansing Bureau!"

Han Zheng knocked on the table, and the complexions of those present shifted subtly.

They actually preferred to believe that Liao Hongsheng's death was an accident; it would have made things easier for everyone.

Now that Han Zheng had found out that Liao Hongsheng's death was orchestrated, the Smoke Wave Prefecture might be facing an imminent storm of bloodshed.

"Now that the demons are dealt with, next, we'll focus on the pirates in Smoke Wave Lake.

Do you have any information on the pirate forces near Smoke Wave Lake?"

This time, Zhang Yan was extremely proactive and stood up, bowing with hands clasped: "Mr. Han, the number of pirates in Smoke Wave Lake is no less than that of demons. These pirates maintain contacts with each other, each with their own territorial range, keeping the peace until boundaries are crossed, which would result in a fight to the death.

Within a hundred miles of our Smoke Wave Prefecture, there are four pirate bands. Three of them are weak, with not even a single martial artist of Xuan Gang Realm, and they've been established for no more than three years.

The only group that could have harmed Mr. Liao is the Red Flag Thieves, entrenched in Five Elders Mountain on the lake.

Their leader, 'Sea-Infiltrating Jiao' Li Tianbao, has a cultivation at the middle stage of Xuan Gang Realm, commanding over a hundred fierce pirates with considerable power.

The surrounding area of Five Elders Mountain is filled with treacherous undercurrents for several miles, making it impossible for ships to pass. Treading water from above consumes too much energy.

Moreover, Li Tianbao has set up more than ten siege crossbows on the summit of Five Elders Mountain. Even a martial artist at the peak of Innate Transcendence would be pierced by an arrow from those. It's a mystery how those thieves acquired such military weaponry.

Therefore, attacking Five Elders Mountain from any other side is very difficult. The only accessible way is the water path in front of the entrance, which is kept calm by an array set by Li Tianbao.

However, if Li Tianbao cuts off the array, the area becomes turbulent with undercurrents, making it easy to defend but hard to attack.

Li Tianbao was so brazen in those years that he even dared to come ashore to plunder Smoke Wave Prefecture.

Mr. Liao came afterward and severely wounded him once, deterring him from coming ashore again.

Yet, when Mr. Liao led us to attack Five Elders Mountain, it ended in failure, with over a dozen brothers lost."

Han Zheng tapped the table, narrowing his eyes, "So this Li Tianbao has the strength and motive to make a move against Mr. Liao."

Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mr. Han, this Li Tianbao is extremely slippery. After being frightened by Mr. Liao, he already no longer comes ashore.

Moreover, his main targets are now the merchant ships on the lake, and we can't lock onto his location.

Attacking Five Elders Mountain head-on has resulted in failure for Mr. Liao once, who then tried twice more without success.

Mr. Liao concluded that to forcefully break through Five Elders Mountain, we would either need the help of a grandmaster at Dan Sea Realm to withstand the undercurrents and siege crossbows or the manpower of Smoke Wave Prefecture's Demon Cleansing Bureau would need to increase fivefold to have hope."

Zhang Yan now completely regarded himself as one of Han Zheng's men, and his words also suggested to Han Zheng to be more cautious.

Han Zheng might have the courage to slay demons, but attacking Five Elders Mountain could be said to be considerably more challenging.

Furthermore, as a newcomer, he didn't have Liao Hongsheng's level of influence, and it was uncertain if the entire Demon Cleansing Bureau of Smoke Wave Prefecture would be willing to join him in an assault on Five Elders Mountain.