Become a true immortal by emulating all demons.

A group of people rode their horses along the smooth official road.

With the strength of these Demon Slayers, they no longer need spirit horses for transportation.

Perhaps it was out of consideration for that junior brother in the Foundation Establishment stage, or perhaps the master was using the excuse of taking care of this junior brother to deliberately slow down the journey and avoid getting involved in the struggle between the Qi and Yu families.

"Junior Brother Chang, where are you from?" Ding Xian turned his head to look.

"He comes from Blackwater City on the border. His father is the magistrate of that city, and his family has a respectable background. Oh, and he's also from the same hometown as the eldest disciple of Immortal Yu Sheng!"

Before Chang Yi could even speak, Ruan Xiangling had already spilled the beans.

Before, whenever Yu Sheng's disciple was mentioned, everyone would know that he was the top disciple of the Yongzhou Pass trial. But ever since this immortal took Yunniang in, Lin Shu has to be referred to as the head disciple of the mountain.

"Lin Shu?"

Ding Xian was stunned for a moment.

With the Yu family's encouragement, Yu Sheng's name had already spread throughout the Nine Prefectures, and everyone knew that she was very likely to become the third prodigy of the Yu family in this generation.

As a result, Lin Shu's status also rose accordingly.

He's no longer just a typical young leader.

If Yu Sheng truly becomes a prodigy, then Lin Shu will be on par with top cultivators like Xue Chan, possessing the power to oversee a large prefecture.

"Although we come from the same city, we each have our own opportunities. You don't need to envy others; our situation here is just as good."

Ding Xian snapped out of his thoughts and offered a comforting smile.

In terms of status, the immortals who have lived half a lifetime are definitely higher. Being able to become Yu Sheng's disciple is a rare opportunity for cultivators in Yongzhou, and few can surpass that of Fellow Daoist Lin.

However, compared to ordinary people, Chang Yi's future is not bad.

If you are accepted as a disciple by the General of Yongzhou, as long as you are diligent and willing to learn, and accumulate enough merits, you can at least become a lieutenant general.

If one possesses both excellent aptitude and temperament, they may have the opportunity to become a demon-slaying general in the future, and thus become an indispensable member of the prefecture.

"I haven't thought about these things."

Chang Yi shook his head shyly.

He was telling the truth.

As early as the day Brother Lin was promoted to the fierce wolf of Sifang Street and ruthlessly killed Constable Liu, he had already put aside his thoughts of comparing himself to the other party.

There is an insurmountable gap between the two.

Chang Yi, however, did not feel inferior.

Everyone has their own path to walk and their own things to do; just focus on doing your best.

Besides, what Senior Brother Ding said is also incorrect.

Based on what Chang Yi has heard and seen over this period of time, Yu Sheng is not Lin Dage's opportunity. On the contrary, Lin Dage deserves at least 60% credit for this immortal's current status.

It could even be higher.

"It's good that you can take it easy."

Along the way, the generals all had a pretty good impression of this junior brother.

Although he seemed a bit dull and taciturn, he was able to remain neither humble nor arrogant. He neither fawned over important figures nor became arrogant after becoming the general's disciple.

Ding Xian withdrew his gaze and said in a low voice, "Besides, that young friend Lin may not be from the same generation as you."

Now that they know that the demons have gathered at Frost Cloud Mansion and want to contend with Yu Jingzhe, this prodigy, they will surely do everything in their power.

In this way, the risk of Anren Prefecture being attacked will be greatly reduced.

In order to find out what had happened in this grand mansion, Su Jingci simply brought Ruan Xiangling with him as well.

Thus began the internal strife at Qiankun Academy, the rumors of him single-handedly scaring away Yao Yun, and Chen Wenxi's display of madness as he entered the Martial Academy, only to be ruthlessly killed by Lin Shu.

All these events caused the demon-slaying generals to have strange expressions.

There is never a shortage of geniuses in the world.

But if they spring up like mushrooms after rain, there must be something fishy going on behind the scenes... or rather, some kind of supernatural force at play.

For example, He Wanbai from our own Demon Slayer Division.

There's also Chen Wenxi, who always talks about the Qi family, and Lin Shu, who was inexplicably targeted by him.

Behind these people, there is most likely the same entity.

"shut up."

Su Jingci glanced back indifferently.

The Demon Slayer Division was merely a tool used by the Qi family to govern Yongzhou.

They worked in this government office, and even if they saw through many things, they couldn't say them out loud.

"General, let's speed up our journey so we don't give anyone something to complain about." Another demon-slaying general cupped his hands and changed the subject.

Even if you don't want to get involved in the fight, you still have to put on a good show.

I know what I'm doing.

Su Jingci turned around, his face less gentle than usual and much more serious.

The people around him are among the few he trusts most in the world.

But there are many things he can only keep to himself and process alone.

It wasn't that he was worried about being betrayed; it was just that a traitor like himself would one day be torn to pieces and have his soul destroyed, and he didn't want to involve too many people.

The Qi family needs someone to help them manage the Nine Prefectures, and they are also proficient in soul detection techniques. As long as these demon-slaying generals are truly unaware of the situation, they will still have a glimmer of hope when that day comes.

Just like I was back then...

"call."

Su Jingci breathed a sigh of relief.

Even knowing that the old sweeper had gone missing, he wasn't too worried.

Because even after traversing Yongzhou, there weren't many people who could harm the other side.

Any one of these people who makes a move will not escape his notice.

But upon hearing that Lin Shu was related to Young Master Qi, and that this disciple of the sect had happened to live in that courtyard, Su Jingci's usually calm mind was thrown into disarray.

However, he still chose to leave Anren Prefecture instead of directly contacting Lin Shu.

Yu Sheng was already suspicious and knew she couldn't act strangely anymore. The best option was to deal with the immediate trouble first, and if she could survive, find a pretext to contact Lin Shu.

According to Xiangling's description, the Yu family head's behavior towards Chen Wenxi was not to the point of harming the old servant.

Thinking of this, Su Jingci gazed absently at the mountains.

He deliberately slowed down his journey so that he could use this time to contact the demon lord in the mountains and find out the specific situation of Frost Cloud Prefecture through the methods he had learned.

But after so much time has passed, there has been no response.

Could it be because the Demon King Yuanyuan has been missing for too long, and the old marks have been abandoned?

That would be troublesome.

"Walk!"

Su Jingci pulled hard on the reins, using his immense magical power to teleport. Although it wasn't as good as the Yu family's ability to control the wind, the power of his cultivation increased the speed of their journey several times over.

We can't delay any longer.

The fact that the demon lords have not responded for so long could be due to a problem with the mark, or it could be that Yu Jingzhe has already taken action against them.

"..."

Chang Yi slightly raised his head.

His seemingly dull, dark face concealed a sharp glint in his eyes.

He has now embarked on a glorious path to immortality that leads directly to the Golden Elixir.

But Chang Yi never thought of continuing down this path.

My aunt is a demon, and Brother Lin helps the demon, so I must be on the demon's side too.

He could sense from the casual atmosphere of the group of demon-slaying generals that the demons were currently in an extremely difficult situation.

It's time for me to gather intelligence again.

Although I don't know how to send the message out yet, it's always good to play dumb and listen and observe more.

Frosty Clouds Palace, the Awakening of Insects!

Just thinking about these rumored names made Chang Yi's heart pound with fear.

He hadn't seen Brother Lin for a long time.

Based on his understanding of Lin Shu, it was highly likely that the other party had already set off for Shuangyun Prefecture to personally confront this prodigy!

To conceal his change in expression, Chang Yi pretended to be somewhat overwhelmed by the rapid pace, which drew good-natured teasing and ridicule from those around him.

However, these teasing remarks quickly disappeared.

The magnificent horse suddenly stopped in its tracks.

Ding Xian frowned, gazing at the majestic city in the distance: "No, has the Yu family's prodigy gone so far as to resort to deception for the sake of reputation?"

At this moment, on the city tower that was identical to the one in the painting, there was neither a mound of skulls nor any trace of the demon lord's skin.

"Take another look."

Su Jingci stared blankly into the distance.

There were still dried black and red bloodstains on the city wall, and the sturdy city wall also showed signs of collapse, clearly indicating that it had been through a great battle.

"Is it over?"

Ruan Xiangling asked in a daze, then realized something was wrong and exclaimed in surprise, "How did we end up here?"

They had guessed that Yu Jingzhe, in order to claim all the credit, would likely deal with the demon scourge swiftly and decisively before the general arrived.

But that should have been about slaying demons in the mountains, so why did the fight take place in the prefectural city?

Surely it's not a horde of demons attacking the city...

Thinking of this, Ruan Xiangling's face twitched rapidly, and her eyes were filled with fear.

Before witnessing the city wall with her own eyes, if someone had told her something similar, she would have thought that person had gone mad.

But now, the disappearance of the monster's corpse leaves everyone racking their brains but unable to find another explanation.

Could Yu Jingzhe also be defeated?

He was still defeated in his Frost Cloud City, what a joke!

Could this magnificent ancient city have been completely slaughtered...?

"Go into town."

Su Jingci rebuked in a deep voice, and in an instant, several figures transformed into long rainbows and swept into the city.

When everyone stood still, the scene before them made them instinctively freeze in shock.

The hurried steps of pedestrians and the subtle expressions on their faces created a faint sense of panic throughout the city.

But setting aside this panic, everything in the city remained the same.

The street buildings have hardly changed, except for two collapsed high-rise buildings, which have already been cleaned up, but have not yet been rebuilt.

These are not the marks one would expect from a battle between cultivators at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

"..."

Ding Xian silently looked at his master.

The lack of activity implies a significant gap between the two sides.

Based on everyone's rich experience, the most reasonable guess is that the demons went mad and came to Shuangyun Mansion to die, where they were easily captured by Yu Jingzhe.

But if that's the case, what about the monster corpses on the city walls?

Several demon-slaying generals rushed out and questioned different commoners or cultivators.

When they returned, everyone still looked somewhat dazed.

"Didn't get any information?" Ruan Xiangling was a little puzzled. They had already fought all the way to the prefectural city. Even if the common people couldn't understand the fighting between Golden Core experts, they should still know what had happened.

"Yu Jingzhe is dead."

Ding Xian's lips trembled slightly, his words causing a huge stir.

"What?" Ruan Xiangling was either not in a good mood or couldn't believe her ears.

"The Little Demon King, accompanied by the Ten Demon Lords, personally arrived here. In front of the entire city, he first beheaded Xue Chan, then killed Yu Jingzhe, and three other scattered immortal clans were also brutally tortured to death."

Ding Xian's throat was dry, and he looked around blankly.

He asked many people and got the same answer.

Despite being a demon-slaying general at the Golden Core Realm, Ding Xian at this moment seemed like an idler at a tea stall, listening to a storyteller's boastful talk.

"I went to the Azure Phoenix Palace, but it was empty."

"The bloodstains on the city wall did indeed come from Yu's Qingluan."

"Some daring cultivators witnessed Jinhe and Shiyi and their group of demon lords submitting to a huge, blood-red monster that could control fire and lightning, and its attacks were like the wrath of the heavens."

The demon-slaying generals pieced together the events that had occurred, one after another.

Not to mention that ordinary people and cultivators would never dare to deceive the Demon Slayer Bureau, everyone here practices the Qi Family Immortal Technique, so how could they not tell that what they are saying is true?

"When did a little demon king emerge in Yongzhou?"

These battle-hardened and powerful cultivators all felt a chill running through their bodies, as if the cold had seeped into their very bones.

Under the firm control of the Demon Slayer Division, a ferocious demon capable of slaying geniuses suddenly appeared in the Nine Prefectures!

Moreover, this incident demonstrates this.

That ferocious demon has already integrated the demons of the Nine Prefectures, recovered the old forces of Yuan Yuan, and even adopted such an arrogant nickname... What is it trying to do?

Even someone as arrogant as Yu Jingzhe wouldn't dare call himself a minor mountain god.

This is an offense against a Nascent Soul master.

"First, the Moon-Devouring Cloud Dragon attacked and occupied Yongzhou Pass, and now the Little Demon King has personally visited Frost Cloud Prefecture. Do they really intend to take over Yongzhou?!"

Ruan Xiangling's shoulders trembled slightly. If what everyone said was true, that little demon king was already able to kill Yu Jingzhe in Shuangyun Mansion, then the Nine Mansions were really going to suffer this time.

"It's not that bad. Even if the Demon King Yuan Yuan were to reappear in the world, he would still be no match for a half-life immortal, let alone a little demon king."

Ding Xian didn't know whether he was comforting others or convincing himself: "It's still because they're wary of us, otherwise they would have occupied Shuangyun Prefecture long ago."

Upon hearing this, Ruan Xiangling subconsciously asked, "Then are all the people in this city also afraid of it?"

If the demons were truly afraid of the mountain god, how dare they attack the city?

Yu Jingzhe is dead, isn't there enough time left for them to massacre the city?

"It's a blessing in disguise that the people are safe." Ding Xian also felt that his words were not sensible, so he could only smile bitterly and sigh.

He knew that these recent rumors were merely tactics used by the prodigies to plunder the offerings of the imperial family, so he had never truly worried about the safety of the Nine Prefectures.

But now the situation seems to have changed.

Yu Jingzhe wanted to stir up a storm, but when the storm actually rose, he was crushed to death.

"Master..." Everyone looked ahead.

"..."

Su Jingci slowly closed her eyes, her emotions extremely complex.

He is the commander-in-chief of the Demon Slayer Division.

He should have felt furious and fearful after such a serious demonic calamity.

At this moment, he felt inexplicably relaxed.

The heavy burden in my heart and the troubles in my heart were resolved in such a strange way.

As for why the demons didn't harm the innocent... how could the old subordinates brought by the Demon King Yuanyuan do such a dirty and despicable thing?

A crimson behemoth?

That must be the power of qi and blood.

Su Jingci suddenly remembered the old servant's disappearance, and his breathing became much more rapid.

Even if you lose your demonic power and memories, can you still awaken the power etched into your bones when the demons are in the most danger?

Su Jingci suddenly opened her eyes and turned to look at the bright eyes on that dark face.

Not again?!

The others, out of respect for their master's authority, dared not look directly into the general's face.

But aside from Yu Sheng, Su Jingci suddenly realized that there was another pair of eyes hiding beside her.

Even though Chang Yi had quickly looked away, he still caught a glimpse of what was going on.

"What exactly happened in Yongzhou?"

Su Jingci didn't hold onto his newly accepted disciple; instead, he took a deep breath.

He had been a general for so many years and had never seen so many strange things.

The little demon king who suddenly appeared is most likely my senior brother.

The younger generation of the Yu family, who had recently completed their trials, quickly rose to the position of governor of a prefecture.

Now even a Foundation Establishment stage kid dares to secretly spy on the Demon Slayer Division's commander.

Su Jingci felt a throbbing in her temples, as if her head was about to explode.

Is there any connection between these strange events?

and many more!

The general suddenly remembered Ruan Xiangling's earlier introduction.

These three seemingly unrelated individuals actually do have something in common.

The senior brother is cleaning someone's courtyard. Yu Sheng is someone's master, and Chang Yi is someone's fellow villager.

"Lin Shu..."

"Or... should I call you Master?"

Su Jingci tugged at the corners of her mouth, the curve clearly upward, yet filled with bitterness, and her eyes brimming with self-mockery.

In your heart, Master, this vast Nine Palaces has always been nothing more than a plaything, hasn't it?

Whether they are immortals, cultivators, demons, or ordinary people, they are all just puppets in your hands, ants you've grown tired of playing with and can easily wipe out at any time!

……

Nestled among verdant mountains.

Lin Shu leaned against a treetop, gazing at the ever-changing clouds, and suddenly felt a little troubled.

He raised an eyebrow and spat out the blade of grass from his mouth.

Could it be that the little chicks are secretly complaining about me?

Logically, after resolving the matters of Shuangyun Prefecture, one should at least inform Yu Sheng, if not go back to the prefecture.

But after a moment's hesitation, Lin Shu dismissed the idea.

If the chicks were to find out that they were the ones who killed Yu Jingzhe, there would be one problem that they could never get around.

That is, how to deal with the Yu family's retaliatory rage.

Will a Nascent Soul realm expert descend the mountain?

Even in the best-case scenario, with all the older generation of geniuses of the Yu family leaving Yongzhou, there is still at least Yu Tongxuan to guard the clan, not to mention the Mountain God.

To be honest, Lin Shu didn't know how to deal with it either.

He looked up and glanced at the previous prompts.

[Murderers and arsonists wear golden belts, those who repair bridges and roads leave no remains, those who kill a spirit are rewarded with 27,000 taels of silver, plus 5 coins of Karmic Fire Essence.]

[Murderers and arsonists wear golden belts, those who repair bridges and roads leave no remains, those who kill a spirit are rewarded with 30,000 taels of silver, plus one tael of karmic fire gold essence.]

The former was Xue Chan, and the latter was Yu Jingzhe.

With a full thirty thousand taels of silver, this prodigy of the Yu family clearly represents the limit of the Golden Core realm... at least the limit excluding the Nine Revolutions Purple Heaven Golden Core.

Besides these two, there were also four other mid-stage Golden Core cultivators among the group of scattered immortals, who offered up nearly 60,000 taels of silver and eight qian of Karmic Fire Essence.

The remaining dozens of immortal descendants at the Core Formation stage scraped together eight thousand taels of silver.

Including the remaining 40,000 taels, the total is 165,000 taels.

After deducting the two coins used to advance to the Half-Life Immortal Technique, the Karmic Fire Golden Essence has accumulated to five taels and one coin.

Holding such a huge sum of money.

Lin Shu wanted to improve herself, so she subconsciously chose the path she was best at.

Unfortunately, this time the Demon Lion Prison-Suppressing Body disappointed him somewhat.

The evil silver was thrown in, but it not only failed to improve the grade of the body tempering technique, but it also, which would have at least become part of one's own blood and energy, now dissipated and wasted.

"My physique has been cultivated to a state of perfect harmony, and it is difficult to make any further progress."

Without a specific opportunity or encounter with some rare external object, the first grade of the Golden Elixir is the end point of this method.

Left with no other choice, Lin Shu had to settle for second best.

Let alone contend with a Nascent Soul giant, the only way he could possibly put up a fight is through the Lotus Lesser Tribulation.

However, this is a supernatural ability, without any skill level or grade, and it doesn't cost money.

Fortunately, this supernatural power is not yet complete and still has flaws, namely the lowest grade of Netherworld True Lightning.

This method is of the third grade of Golden Elixir, which makes the lightning calamity far less severe than the other two calamities.

During the previous battle, if Yu Jingzhe hadn't pretended to be clever and insisted on fleeing to the wind disaster, but instead chose to brave the thunderous plasma, he might have actually had a chance to escape.

These days, Lin Shu also endured the pain and spent 100,000 taels of silver to upgrade his Thunder Technique to the first grade of the Golden Core, completely making up for this deficiency.

The current Lotus Flower Minor Tribulation can only be considered complete now.

Moreover, due to a lack of proficiency, Lin Shu could only slowly master this supernatural power, just as she had when she first became familiar with the Soul Splitting Thousand Threads Technique.

After the lotus has bloomed for three kalpas, it can actually be reunited.

It causes those involved to experience three calamities simultaneously, making it even more powerful than before.

And then, that was it...

Although he was a cultivator personally guided to the Nascent Soul stage by Heaven and Earth, Lin Shu suddenly realized that he had not only never been exposed to the Nascent Soul technique, but also did not know any cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage.

Naturally, there's no question of receiving instruction or guidance.

If one wants to deduce the Nascent Soul method on their own, then an unknown amount of charitable donations would be needed to fill this huge hole.

On this trip to Shuangyun Prefecture, since the Demon Lord himself intended to leave, and everyone else followed Lin Shu, he didn't earn a single coin of charity.

"It's difficult."

Lin Shu sighed with regret.

The more imposing they were when they took action, the more embarrassed they are now.

The name "Little Demon King" sounds domineering, but if he becomes too famous, he will be in an awkward situation where he will be "instantly eliminated" and will have no idea where to make money.

"Um?"

Lost in thought, Lin Shu suddenly sat up straight.

Beneath the tree, the demon lords who were sitting around the stream reacted quickly and stood up: "Little Demon King, something's happened?"

"I've received a message from Liu Luofeng." Lin Shu closed her eyes and began to control her split soul.

Of everyone present, only the Azure Sea Demon Lord could understand the meaning of those words.

Liu Luofeng was the magistrate of Longchang County, whose corpse was controlled by the Little Demon King using the Qi Family Technique.

But Yu Jingzhe is dead, so what useful information could the other side possibly receive?

"The General of Yongzhou has arrived at Shuangyun Prefecture."

The demon lords' expressions changed slightly as they heard Lin Shu continue, "After only a few days of rest, they were urgently recalled to Yongzhou City. No one was left to guard Shuangyun Prefecture; they were simply ordered to continue their work as usual in all the counties, large and small."

"As expected, there's something big going on." Jinhe Demon Lord sighed softly.

When news of the events at Shuangyun Prefecture reached the Immortal Sect, both the furious Yu family and the Qi family, who were unwilling to lose face, would inevitably try to quickly regain their dignity.

I wonder if their target is the Little Demon King or Dragon Spine Ridge?

For a demon to try and gather information about the immortals is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

"Do all the heads of the nine prefectures have to send people over?" Lin Shu muttered to herself thoughtfully.

"Ha, such a grand display." The smile on the face of the Stone Wing Demon Lord was somewhat stiff.

Back then, the demons harbored resentment towards Demon Lords like Devouring Moon and Cloud Dragon, who launched an attack without warning, dragging down innocent demons.

The situation has changed; it's now our group that's initiating the attack... well, it seems nothing's changed; the little demon king is still leading the charge.

I wonder who will suffer this undeserved misfortune this time.

"We don't know what we need to do now, please give us your orders!" King Jinhe bowed respectfully.

Although the little demon king had already captured the mountain god's chariot, he couldn't just wander around aimlessly like a headless fly.

We still need to figure out a way to get the intelligence first.

"Go to Yongzhou City."

The young man in the tree slowly stood up, waved his hand to summon the magnificent white jade chariot, and two giants of blue stone appeared out of thin air.

"Attack, attack Yongzhou City?" Shi Yi stammered as he spoke.

Given the Little Demon King's personality, what is there that the other party wouldn't dare to do?

"Go ahead and fight if you want, I can't beat you anyway." Lin Shu rolled her eyes at him, tsk, he really dares to think that way.

"So, where are we going?" Jinhe paused for a moment, asking the question on behalf of everyone.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shu lowered her eyes and chuckled softly.

A crimson light surged forth, and the ferocious demonic armor on his body swiftly transformed into a thumb ring, which was replaced by a spotless golden silk sword-cloud robe.

He reached out and tidied his slightly messy hair, exuding an air of nobility mixed with a touch of languor.

"Of course, we're going to a meeting to discuss a grand plan to exorcise the demon."

Since all nine prefectures are to participate, how could Anren Prefecture be left out?