Surviving in the Demonic Sect, one begins cultivation by retrieving corpses.

The moment Gu Zhao saw that bluish-black shadow.

The sudden fear in my heart was instantly suppressed, replaced by calm.

Given the speed of the water monkey, there was no way to escape. The only way to survive was to prevent it from touching him in the slightest.

In the previous life, the original body was rendered unconscious and lifeless after being touched by it.

Thinking of this, Gu Zhao poured all his internal energy into the soles of his feet and pushed off with his toes.

His figure shot backward like an arrow released from a bow, instantly covering two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) in a flash.

The pure Yang Qi circulates throughout the entire body.

then.

With a flick of his left palm, a bolt of azure lightning condensed, crackling and sparking, reflecting on his cold expression.

at the same time.

On the Yinshui River, a body retrieval boat rests quietly on the water.

Second floor of the ship's cabin.

A woman in white suddenly opened her eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

She raised her left hand like a mountain, extending only her index and middle fingers, gently placing them between her lips, and uttered a low utterance:

"disease!"

From the shadows beneath the ship, a long-dormant flying sword emerged, like a silver fish breaking through the water, and plunged straight into the depths.

There were three other people besides the woman on the second floor.

The young man in brocade robes stood by the railing, gazing at the churning river. A slight smile played on his lips, and his tone carried a mixture of suppressed certainty and anxiety:

"Finally... after waiting for seven days, the water monkey has finally shown itself."

Another blond man stared intently at the water.

next moment.

Suddenly, a mournful roar, like that of a bull, came from the bottom of the river.

The young man in brocade robes' eyes lit up, and he laughed, "I won!"

Hearing the commotion, the corpse retrievers in the Yinshui River were terrified and frantically scrambled out of the water, crawling towards the corpse retrieval boat.

"Why are there water monkeys again...?"

"Will this ever end?!"

Ma Fang climbed onto the body retrieval boat in one breath, staring at the churning water with a look of fear on his face, still in shock.

The dark blue shadow thrashed and twisted wildly underwater, seemingly in unbearable pain, its roars never ceasing.

After catching his breath, the stableman glanced at the people around him.

This commotion was so great that almost all the people who had retrieved the bodies from the ship had boarded.

But not a single person was to be seen.

The stableman's heart sank. His lips trembled and his voice shook: "Zhao... Zhao-ge'er, he's still in the river."

Cen Pan's face was dark, his eyes were slightly narrowed, the steel ball in his hand stopped spinning, and his gaze was fixed on the water.

The restless, dark blue shadow at the bottom of the water gradually calmed down, and its frantic struggle ceased.

Second floor of the ship's cabin.

Seeing this, Ni Shengyan, the woman in white who had just cast the spell, breathed a sigh of relief and gave the order in a deep voice:

"Brother Haojie, Brother Chen, use your magical artifacts to pull him up."

The blond giant, named Haojie, acted immediately upon hearing the sound, raising his hand to summon a silver water net magic artifact, which spread out in the air and slowly sank to the bottom of the river.

The young master Chen Mu, dressed in brocade robes, dared not delay. He immediately circulated his magical power and, together with the two heroes, pulled the water net upwards.

On the second floor stood a lovely young girl in a palace dress, who quickly asked, "Sister Shengyan, is there anything I can help you with?"

Ni Shengyan instructed, "Wanwan, once the water monkey is pulled out, prepare a shroud."

"This water monkey possesses a malevolent aura, which is extremely harmful to the spirit and soul. It is very troublesome, so please be extra careful."

Upon hearing this, Li Wanwan dared not delay and immediately began preparing a shroud, ready for any eventuality.

Upon seeing this, the group of corpse retrievers knew that the water monkey had most likely been killed.

They crowded onto the corpse retrieval boat, eager to see what this legendary water monkey actually looked like.

For a time, there was immense anticipation.

Only the stableman anxiously stared at the river; Gu Zhao still hadn't appeared.

Could it be... that he died at the hands of the water monkey?

Thinking of this, the stableman gripped the railing tightly and cursed, "Fuck you, you water monkey, give me back my Zhao Ge'er!"

After spending the last few days with Gu Zhao, he had come to regard Gu Zhao as one of the few people he could truly talk to.

A moment later.

Ni Shengyan focused intently on probing the underwater atmosphere, then slowly said, "We can reel in the net now."

With the combined efforts of Haojie and Chen Mu, the silver net slowly rose, and the body of a demon was lifted out of the water.

The body retrievers all looked in that direction.

The water monkey was only two feet tall, with a body shape resembling a child, but with a face like an old ape. Its skin was bluish-black, rough, and cracked, like withered tree bark, and it exuded a chilling aura.

The sharp claws on its fingers were like daggers.

It was lifeless at this moment, but still retained a hint of ferocity.

A hiltless longsword pierced through the water monkey's chest, its blade as clear as autumn water.

Dark blue, foul-smelling demon blood slowly seeped out along the sword.

It was clearly killed instantly by this sword.

The group of corpse retrievers began to discuss:

"This is the water monkey that killed more than a dozen people? ... It doesn't look like much at all."

"That woman from the Mountain Patrol Hall... her methods are truly formidable!"

"A flying sword slayed this monster!"

The woman in white, Ni Shengyan, made a hand seal with her fingertips, and the flying sword embedded in the water monkey's body immediately hummed and trembled, detaching itself from the corpse and flying back to her, where it stood still in mid-air.

Ni Shengyan frowned; the killing of the water monkey this time was unusually smooth.

The water monkeys were then dragged onto the boat.

The three women, Li Wanwan and another woman in palace dresses, wrapped the corpse tightly in layers of shrouds and then covered it with fishing nets and other magical implements to suppress it.

Everything is in order.

The young master in brocade robes, Chen Mu, smiled and said, "Sheng Yan, having learned from our previous experience, we used the water-restricting talisman bestowed by our senior brother in advance this time, so naturally we had a smooth journey."

The last attempt to kill Ni Shengyan failed because her magic sword was corroded by the Yin Water River as soon as it entered the river, losing some of its spiritual power.

Let the water monkey escape.

This time, the four of them specially sought out a senior brother from the Mountain Patrol Hall to add a water-repelling talisman to their swords.

The blond, burly hero laughed from the side, "I didn't expect this water monkey to be so forgetful. I thought we would have to wait a few more days, but who knew it would take the bait after only seven days."

The woman in the palace dress, Li Wanwan, was overjoyed and said with a smile:

"Now I can finally go back and report. The hall will surely reward me handsomely."

"We can dispose of the water monkey's carcass ourselves; we can take it to the inner courtyard and sell it, killing two birds with one stone."

"We've made a fortune this time!"

That brings us to this point.

All three of them were delighted. The carcass of a water monkey was quite valuable, and even if the four of them split the profits equally, the gains would still be considerable.

Seeing this, Ni Shengyan rarely showed a smile, "Thank you all for your hard work."

Chen Mu was captivated by the radiant smile on the woman in white's face, and was momentarily mesmerized.

Ni Shengyan changed the subject abruptly, "Just now, that water monkey was attacking a corpse retriever."

"I wonder if that person is alive or dead?"

Chen Mu regained his composure, his eyes arrogant, "A menial disciple at the Fetal Movement Realm would likely only face certain death if he were to confront a water monkey."

"However, since this person was able to help us lure out the water monkeys, his death was worthwhile."

The woman in the palace dress chuckled, "He got off easy."

Ni Shengyan frowned slightly after hearing this.

At this moment, the surface of the Yinshui River rippled.

A boy emerged from the water.

Chen Mu's pupils suddenly contracted.

The stableman stared intently, almost unable to believe his eyes, both surprised and delighted.

"Zhao-ge'er! You're not dead!"