So it turns out I'm the demon!

The big fry came too fast, like a tornado.

Before Shang Quan could even see his opponent's initial move, he was slapped backward and sent flying, seeing stars and his mind going blank.

That slap stunned the child.

Both of their back molars were knocked out.

He shook his dizzy head and struggled to lift it. Before his vision could focus, he saw two Soul-Locking Coffin Nails hurtling through the air.

Shang Quan was so frightened that he was scared out of his wits. In his haste, he pulled an apricot-yellow triangular flag from his waist and threw it forward.

The flag instantly enlarged, engulfing the two coffin nails within it.

Taking advantage of the moment when the magic weapon blocked the disaster, Shang Quan scrambled back several feet.

He stared in horror at the man standing opposite him with his hands behind his back, his voice filled with fear:

"Who exactly are you?!"

Jiang Mu said calmly:

"I have a question for you. If you answer honestly, I will spare your life, and I will keep my word."

"Go ahead and ask."

Shang Quan's breathing was heavy, his eyes flickered, but his hands, hanging at his sides, quietly formed a sword incantation.

Jiang Mu took in his subtle actions but didn't bother to stop him. She asked:

"Back in the camp, there was a little girl dressed in black, carrying a large knife... Did you see her?"

Shang Quan paused for a moment, then a sinister smile crept across his lips:

"Her? I've already killed her!"

Before he finished speaking, his accumulated sword technique suddenly erupted.

"A myriad of swords give rise to lotus blossoms!"

A gleaming natal sword rose from his body, accompanied by a high-pitched sword cry, and the sword transformed into a huge, dazzling sword lotus in the air, which slowly bloomed.

Each petal is like a sword aura poised to strike.

"fall!"

Shang Quan pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed downwards.

In an instant, hundreds and thousands of sword energies poured down like a torrential rain.

The silvery sword light cast a ghastly white glow over the open space, and the surrounding vegetation and rocks turned to dust under the aftershocks of the sword energy.

Jiang Mu's internal stellar energy circulated, activating the "Mysterious Gang True Explanation".

A layer of protective energy suddenly shone around him.

With the Xuan Gang True Solution in operation, the rain of swords, powerful enough to shred fine iron, fell on the protective shield, only creating ripples before sliding away weakly like raindrops hitting banana leaves.

"What?"

Shang Quan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his face filled with disbelief.

What kind of monster is this guy?

Before the fear in her heart had subsided, Jiang Mu's figure suddenly vanished into thin air from her sight.

"not good!"

Shang Quan's expression changed.

The next moment, a gust of wind suddenly rose behind my head.

"Snapped!"

A louder, crisper crack came from the back of my head than before.

Shang Quan fell forward, his head buzzing from the impact, and his vision blurred.

Before he could get up, a large foot stepped on his cheek.

His head was shoved directly into the mud.

Jiang Mu stomped her foot and said coldly:

"Can't you just talk to me properly? Why do you have to force me to use force? I'll ask you one last time, have you seen that girl?"

Shang Quan, who had a mouthful of mud in his mouth, felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation.

He was, after all, one of the most outstanding talents in the inner sect of Qishan Sect, and wherever he went, he was surrounded by admirers.

Now, however, he is being trampled underfoot like a stray dog ​​in such a humiliating manner.

Scholars can be killed, but not humiliated!

Shang Quan's eyes were bloodshot, and he dug his fingers into the soil, trying to perform the sword incantation again.

However, the moment he moved his finger, the foot on his head suddenly exerted force.

The skull groaned and creaked, as if it would be crushed like an egg at any moment.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Shang Quan's last bit of pride vanished in the face of death, and he resolutely chose to follow his heart.

He hurriedly said:

"That girl was originally coming out of the illusion array with me, but suddenly a woman who claimed to be from the Xuanzong sect appeared, named Guo Zhiyao."

She said the girl had a special constitution and insisted on taking her as her disciple, and tried to forcibly take her away. I wanted to stop her out of righteousness, but my cultivation was insufficient, and I couldn't stop her.

"Emperor Xuanzong?"

Jiang Mu's face darkened, but she didn't loosen her grip. "Where is she?"

Shang Quan winced in pain and hurriedly said:

"She's still up the mountain. She said she's looking for some kind of divine object, and that you can find it by following the mountain path behind that dilapidated Taoist temple." Jiang Mu said coldly, "You're not lying to me, are you?"

"Everything I said is true."

Shang Quan said painfully,

"Although that woman from the Xuan Sect was at the same sixth realm as me, her magical artifacts were very powerful, and she acted arrogantly and unreasonably. Even though the girl disagreed, she bullied her, knocked her unconscious, and forcibly abducted her!"

He deliberately embellished his words to provoke Jiang Mu's anger, hoping that this wicked star would go head-to-head with that old woman from Xuanzong and fight to the death.

"Okay, I believe you."

Jiang Mu moved her foot away from his face.

Shang Quan felt a sense of relief.

Just as the overwhelming joy of surviving the ordeal surged up, a silver-white sword light suddenly pierced through his brow, bringing with it a cloud of blood mist.

Shang Quan's expression froze between relief and astonishment, his mouth still open, and his body slumped to the ground.

"Sorry, I don't keep my word with animals."

Jiang Mu recalled the flying sword [Wangchuan].

With Shang Quan's death and the dissipation of his Dao, his orthodox star position returned to the Star Sea.

Jiang Mu was not surprised, after all, he was astonished to find that this guy possessed pure orthodox star power when he made his move.

He took out the Star-Locking Egg and locked the star position.

I plan to go back and slowly collect the evidence later.

Meanwhile, Meng Zhen had already led his men to deal with the remaining two Qishan Sect disciples.

Jiang Mu instructed them:

"You all search around for clues about the missing villagers first, I'll go find Duanmu Li."

He guessed that the cat demon, having been severely injured by him, was probably already hiding, so he wasn't worried that it would suddenly appear and attack him.

"Yes, sir!"

Meng Zhen clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

Without further delay, Jiang Mu dashed off towards the back of the Taoist temple.

Deep in the back mountains, in front of a half-collapsed cave.

Guo Zhiyao made a hand seal with her left hand, and tiny sparks of light flew out from her fingertips like fireflies, flying into the dark cave and casting a hazy, cold light on the dark passageway.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the stone wall not far away, Duanmu Li had already regained consciousness.

The girl was unable to move at the moment and could only sit against the stone wall, staring coldly at the woman.

"Don't look at me like that."

Guo Zhiyao's tone was indifferent.

"You are still young and unaware of the preciousness of this opportunity. Your innate talent is exceptional, yet you have mistakenly entered the demonic path, taking the narrowest of paths. If you had not met me today, your cultivation would have made no further progress in this life. I am showing you a path to heaven, do you understand?"

"I don't need it!"

Duanmu Li gritted her teeth and said coldly, "I advise you to let me go, otherwise if my man comes looking for me, he will definitely kill you." "Your man?"

Guo Zhiyao turned to look at the girl, a smile of amusement on her face.

Duanmu Li was annoyed by her expression and said coldly:

"What are you laughing at? Is there a problem with me having a man? Do you think everyone is like you, an old woman, unloved?"

Guo Zhiyao wasn't angry; instead, she said with disdain:

"What are men anyway? They're nothing but useless stumbling blocks on the path to immortality."

If you follow me and enter the Xuanzong sect, you will understand the vastness and boundlessness of the great Dao in the world.

What are romantic love between men and women, what are worldly entanglements? Before the Great Dao of Immortality, they are nothing but fleeting clouds.

Duanmu Li snorted coldly, "Anyway, I've already warned you."

Guo Zhiyao ignored her and turned back to continue manipulating the fireflies to explore something inside the cave.

After a moment of silence, she asked again:

Do you know what I'm looking for?

Duanmu Li remained silent.

Guo Zhiyao continued speaking to herself:

"I am looking for the Sun-Facing Spirit Bamboo. It is said that a thousand-year-old spirit bamboo is hidden deep in this mountain. It grows facing the sun and thrives under the sunlight, containing the energy of life. With it, I can master the art of corpse dissolution."

Corpse-Dissolving Immortal?

Duanmu Li was startled.

She had heard her father mention the "method of corpse dissolution" occasionally before.

This is an ancient secret technique that has long been lost.

Its essence is "to disguise oneself as a corpse to achieve liberation," to prove the Tao through death, and to seek life through shedding the skin.

It is said that this secret technique has more than ten cruel methods of dispelling evil, such as fire dispelling, water dispelling, weapon dispelling, and staff dispelling, and it can only be completed by combining it with elixirs or a special magical artifact that carries the fortune of heaven and earth.

The slightest mistake could lead to real death, and even one's soul could not be saved.

Guo Zhiyao is currently searching for the divine object, the Sun-Facing Spirit Bamboo, clearly preparing to embark on the path of "Staff Removal".

"Mount Sun, the primordial spirit. It opened heaven and earth, and the sweet bamboo is spiritually connected..."

Guo Zhiyao gazed into the depths of the cave and sighed softly.

"Little girl, do you know that in ancient times, cultivators were not restricted by the star system when they ascended to immortality?"

At that time, the Heavenly Dao had not yet collapsed, all things were in order, and there were countless paths to becoming an immortal, with Corpse Dissolution Immortal being one of them.

Unfortunately, the laws of heaven and earth have changed, and the celestial positions have become the only key; most of those ancient paths have been severed.

Duanmu Li asked:

"So, you plan to forcibly ascend to immortality using the method of 'walking corpse to dissolve immortality'?"

Guo Zhiyao shook her head and said, "Anyone who attempts to bypass the star positions to ascend to immortality will not have a good ending."

Jiang Chaoxi was no good back then, nor was the sword immortal Su Baiyu. How could I, Guo Zhiyao, be so arrogant as to think I could defeat them?

I am simply limited by my physical condition, which makes it difficult for me to go further.

Therefore, I intend to use this sun-facing spiritual bamboo to undergo a metamorphosis through the art of corpse dissolution, shedding my mortal body to gain a new life. Once my innate qualities are reshaped, I will have a greater chance of success when seeking a star position in the future.

She turned to look at Duanmu Li's pretty face and smiled.

"The reason I'm telling you all this is to let you know that my vision has long since transcended this shallow water. If you become my disciple, when I achieve the supreme Dao in the future, you will be able to soar to the heavens with the help of the Xuanzong's fortune."

"To stand atop the Nine Provinces in the future, overlooking all living beings—isn't that a hundred times better than wasting your life with that man?"

Duanmu Li stared directly at her and coldly retorted:

"How high a path you achieve is your business, what does it have to do with me? You are not worthy to be my master, and I don't care for you."

Guo Zhiyao's smile faded slightly, her tone becoming domineering:

Whether you want to or not is not important. What is important is that no one can take away the person I've set my sights on.

If you truly wish to escape my control, then become my disciple and diligently cultivate until one day you are able to defeat me.

Otherwise... your life will be decided by me.

"No, I should be the one to decide."

A magnetic yet chilling voice suddenly drifted over from the other side.

Duanmu Li's beautiful eyes lit up, and she blurted out in surprise, "Jiang Mu!"

She knew that the other party would be able to find her.

The moment Guo Zhiyao heard Jiang Mu's voice, she appeared beside Duanmu Li and grabbed at the girl's shoulder.

But she was ultimately too late.

Just as she rushed in front of the girl, she saw a tall, slender young man already standing beside her.

The man flicked his finger.

A blazing white flying sword shot out with incredible speed, aiming straight for Guo Zhiyao's throat.

Guo Zhiyao's pupils contracted, and she quickly stepped back.

At the same time, the hand that was forming a hand seal trembled, and the fireflies that had previously scattered into the cave flowed back and entangled the flying sword that was breaking through the air.

scoff!

The flying sword trembled a few times before forcefully breaking through, then pulled out countless white threads that intertwined and wrapped around the woman, binding her into a giant silkworm cocoon that kept contracting.

"What domineering sword energy."

Guo Zhiyao was surprised.

Seeing that the silkworm cocoon was about to completely envelop her, Guo Zhiyao silently recited "Taixu Escape" and her figure disappeared from the spot.

The next moment, she appeared in mid-air.

Beneath my feet lies a thin cloud platform formed from condensed mist.

The mountain breeze blew against the woman's Taoist robe, and as the sleeves fluttered, she exuded an ethereal and otherworldly air.

Guo Zhiyao looked down at Jiang Mu with a cold and arrogant gaze:

"So you're the man this girl is talking about? To have such cultivation at such a young age is truly remarkable. May I ask which master you are a disciple of?"

Jiang Mu raised his hand and patted Duanmu Li's shoulder a few times.

The star power surged in, easily breaking through the restriction left by Guo Zhiyao.

He pulled the girl, who had regained her mobility, behind him, gesturing for her to stay away. Then, looking up at the female Taoist in mid-air, he laughed and said, "Master Guo, since you like taking on disciples so much, why not take me on as well? I love communicating with my master, especially someone like you who calls me 'Master' during the day and 'Master' calls me 'Master' at night—how exciting!"

And as for your looks, although you're a bit older, you still have a certain charm, so you're passable.

"presumptuous!"

Guo Zhiyao's face was frosty. "You're all glib talk and good-natured, only good for empty words. I don't care what your relationship is with this girl. Since you've decided to take her as your disciple, no one can stop you."

Having said that, she reached her wrist out from her sleeve and threw out a yellow paper figure.

After the paper figure was released, it grew into a golden-armored warrior, several dozen feet tall, wearing heavy armor with runes, exuding a powerful and wrathful aura.

"town!"

With a shout from Guo Zhiyao, the golden-armored warrior raised his massive hand and slammed it down on Jiang Mu's head, blotting out the sky.

Before the palm strike even arrived, the terrifying pressure had already sucked all the air away from Jiang Mu.

The fallen leaves and branches on the ground were crushed into powder.

Duanmu Li, who was far away, was forced to retreat by the gust of wind, gripping the hilt of her knife tightly, her heart pounding in her throat.

Jiang Mu flashed, and the giant palm struck empty air.

Boom!

The giant hand blasted a crater the size of a basketball court into the ground, and a violent shockwave carrying debris and dust swept outwards in a ring. "Where is everyone?"

Guo Zhiyao's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and Jiang Mu's presence was no longer in her sight.

The next second, she suddenly sensed something and looked up abruptly.

But then they saw a magnificent golden mountain, gleaming with golden light, descending upon them with the overwhelming power to suppress all gods and demons.

"There really is such a magical treasure."

Guo Zhiyao's eyes flashed, and she took out a small incense burner from her sleeve.

The incense burner is entirely made of purple-copper color, with inscriptions engraved all over its body. The lid is openwork, from which wisps of blue smoke rise.

She held the incense burner in her palm and gently blew on it.

Immediately, a rotating purple vortex appeared at the furnace opening, and a powerful suction force surged out from the vortex.

Qianjin Mountain was pulled by the whirlpool and shrank to less than ten feet above her head, shrinking into a grain of golden sand in the blink of an eye.

Then, he was forcibly sucked into the incense burner.

Guo Zhiyao shook the incense burner and smiled, "This magic weapon is quite good. Now that it's in my hands, it belongs to me. Consider it an apology for your rudeness and disrespect earlier."

Jiang Mu was stunned.

This was the first time he had ever encountered a situation where his magical artifact was forcibly taken away in front of him.

However, after a brief moment of surprise, a burning greedy light ignited in his eyes.

"Your incense burner is quite nice too."

Jiang Mu brought two fingers together and drew a line across her chest.

A hundred sword-like auras erupted around him, trailing trails of crimson and demonic flames that spread out behind him like a peacock's tail.

"It's mine now."