DING—
Sparks flew.
Shen Changqing turned. With a look of regret, he faced Zhang Long, who clutched a long saber, his face filled with horror.
"Constable Zhang, you were too impatient!"
He had originally planned to play with the Strange Monster in the Illusory Realm, but Zhang Long's attack had directly pulled him out of it.
This was an unavoidable situation.
The Strange Monster casting the Illusory Realm wasn't strong. Without external interference, Shen Changqing would still have needed some time to break free from it. But with outside interference, the Illusory Realm would be directly shattered.
"How is it possible? How can you be completely unharmed—" Zhang Long cried out in disbelief. He knew very well the power of his own strike.
Even a master of the Pulse Condensation Realm, if caught unprepared by such a blow, would definitely not survive. Not to mention, the area he had struck was the neck, a deadly spot.
However, Zhang Long never expected that Shen Changqing would have perfected the Thirteen Taibao horizontal training. No, it was more than just perfection; he had broken through to the unprecedented fifteenth layer.
He had cultivated fifteen layers of the Thirteen Taibao horizontal training. It wasn't that he was invulnerable to water and fire, but he had reached a state of being impervious to knives and spears.
Zhang Long was only a Body Tempering martial artist. Even if Shen Changqing stood there and let him strike, aside from vital areas like the eyes, there would be no problems at all.
"I already said, you were too impatient."
Shen Changqing shook his head and slowly walked toward Zhang Long.
An invisible oppression made Zhang Long involuntarily step backward.
Suddenly, Shen Changqing slashed. The cold light of the blade, infused with Pure Yang True Qi, cut off Zhang Long's saber-holding arm with a swiftness that defied perception. The scorching energy even cauterized the wound.
"AH—"
Intense pain made Zhang Long scream, his face instantly turning pale.
Just as Shen Changqing took his second step, the surrounding Illusory Realm suddenly changed, and they were back in the courtyard.
The figures of the black shadows could now be clearly seen—they were a few short children. But what was different was that the children's faces were as pallid as corpses, their lips blackish-blue. Some parts were even rotten to the point of breeding maggots, and the stench of decay hit him head-on.
"Scram!"
Shen Changqing roared angrily, his Pure Yang True Qi bursting forth.
The Eighth-Layer Pure Yang True Qi, combined with the Seven Kills Blade Technique, ripped apart the figures before him in an instant.
As their forms were torn apart, a scream that didn't sound human resounded, and the children dispersed like black mist.
The next instant, the scene vanished.
The severed arm holding the saber still lay on the ground, but Zhang Long was nowhere to be seen.
Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, Shen Changqing's expression turned ice-cold as he swiftly pursued.
In the desolate village, Zhang Long, clutching his severed arm, staggered as he fled, glancing behind him from time to time, terror still etched on his face.
Even now, he couldn't believe he had fallen to such a state.
Impossible—
I clearly poisoned the pastries! According to the timing, the poison should be taking effect by now! So why can he still exert such strength?!
Zhang Long couldn't believe it.
To calculate the timing accurately and ensure that nothing went wrong, he hadn't made a move immediately when Shen Changqing was trapped in the Illusory Realm. Instead, he silently waited for the poison to take effect before he dared to strike.
Even so, he had still failed.
And indeed, it was a true failure.
That one slash had severed my arm, leaving me no time to react. Such strength is by no means common among those in the Pulse Condensation Realm.
Just at that moment, a piercing gust of wind struck from behind.
Years of combat experience prompted Zhang Long to dive to the left. At the same time, he saw scorching blade Qi slash into the ground, leaving a noticeable mark.
Shen Changqing approached, blade in hand.
Looking at Zhang Long, lying on the ground with hardly any strength left, murderous intent rose in Shen Changqing's heart.
Why?
He didn't understand why Zhang Long wanted to secretly harm him.
After arriving in Lin'an City, Shen Changqing had understood many things, but he couldn't comprehend Zhang Long's motives for attacking him.
"If I tell you, would you spare my life?" Zhang Long gasped for breath, his eyes betraying a desperate longing for life.
Shen Changqing pondered for a moment. "If you tell me the truth and cripple your martial arts, I can spare your life."
"Alright!"
Shen Changqing still stood in his original spot, his unsheathed long blade stained with mottled blood. Zhang Long's corpse lay decapitated on the ground.
He had broken his word. The moment Zhang Long revealed the truth, he signed his own death warrant.
In fact, back in Lin'an City, when Zhao Fang said all the villagers had been moved out, Shen Changqing hadn't noticed anything amiss at first. But later, he noticed a different atmosphere in Lin'an City, which made him sense the underlying problem.
Quiet. Peaceful.
It didn't seem at all like a place where a Demon Evil had appeared.
For ordinary people, the emergence of a Demon Evil should have caused fear and panic, but the people of Lin'an City showed no such reaction.
It was evident that the news of the Demon Evil hadn't spread. This contradicted what Zhao Fang and Zhang Long had said.
Moreover, Shen Changqing had noticed something wrong with the pastries Zhang Long gave him today from the first bite.
Regrettably, while the poison in the pastries was strong, it wasn't strong enough to contend with his Pure Yang True Qi.
Before the Eighth-Layer Pure Yang True Qi, the poison in the pastries was silently neutralized.
For various reasons, Shen Changqing had become almost certain that the Demon Evil of Lin'an City was not a simple case. Both Zhao Fang and Zhang Long were problematic, but he couldn't fathom their precise motives.
Only after Zhang Long confessed did he truly understand.
"The villagers had long since died, all falling prey to the Demon Evil. However, Lin'an City only reported a few deaths, conveying the message upwards. Their intention was to draw someone from the Demon-Subduing Division here."
"A fiend barely judged to be at the Ghostly Level would definitely not merit the dispatch of a very powerful Demon Hunter from the Demon-Subduing Division. The greatest likelihood would be to send novice Demon Hunters here, treating it as an assessment task."
"A few novice Demon Hunters, even if they are at the Pulse Condensation Realm, definitely wouldn't be very strong!"
"A powerful Ghostly Level Fiend, after devouring a few Pulse Condensation Realm experts, could very likely transform to Resentment Level—"
This was Zhang Long's goal: to covertly nurture a Resentment Level Monster.
After all, to normally cultivate a Resentment Level Monster, a substantial amount of Living Beings Flesh would be required—far more than what one or two villages could provide.
By that time, if too many people died, it would certainly attract the attention of the Demon-Subduing Division. Once a powerful member of the Demon-Subduing Division turned their gaze towards Lin'an City, they feared the Ghostly Level Fiend, unable to advance in time, would be killed by the Demon-Subduing Division.
Therefore, they could only use high-quality Essence Blood to nourish the Ghostly Level Fiend. This would allow it to successfully ascend before the Demon-Subduing Division fully detected the problem.