The Record of Exterminating Evil from Ashes

Snowstorm raged, covering the world in blood.

The night in Qingzhu Village was deathly silent, almost suffocating. The howling wind swirled up snowflakes, sweeping over the dilapidated houses and corpses scattered everywhere, repeatedly dispersing and redistributing the lingering stench of blood. A thick, chilling aura of malevolence hung over the entire village, lingering for a long time.

Cen Jin knelt on the cold snow, holding his unconscious younger sister in his arms, his body trembling violently.

They had entered the city full of joy, carrying silver and sweets, their only wish to return home and reunite with their families, to endure a peaceful and warm winter. But in just a few hours, everything changed, and their dreams were shattered. Ancestors were brutally murdered, neighbors were wiped out, and their homes collapsed. Seventeen years of shared warmth and companionship were all buried in this bizarre massacre.

Cen Wantang, nestled in his arms, remained with her eyes closed, her small face pale and fragile, her breath so weak it seemed she would stop breathing at any moment. Yet the wisp of dark, sinister energy swirling around her, and the black demonic markings creeping beneath her skin, constantly reminded Cen Jin of the cruel reality—his only sister was no longer a pure mortal.

He knew nothing of demons or evil spirits, nor of malevolent ghosts, and was unaware of the existence of the so-called Xuan Ye Zun. He was merely a young herb gatherer in the mountains, spending his life with herbs, green hills, and cooking fires. Court intrigues, martial arts battles, and millennia-old demonic calamities were all distant and unreal rumors to him.

But at this moment, the cold reality slammed down on him, completely crushing all his understanding.

Heaven and earth are unjust, and the world is cold and cruel. Why must peaceful and virtuous people suffer such a devastating calamity? Why did the simple and peaceful Qingzhu Village turn into a living hell overnight?

Endless grief and bewilderment enveloped him; his tears had long since dried, leaving only a bloodshot, lifeless look in his eyes. He could only hold the small body in his arms tightly, using his thin back to shield her from the raging wind and snow and the biting cold, as if as long as he held her tight enough, all the darkness and harm in the world would never be able to touch her again.

Just as this deathly silence was about to freeze, a sharp, piercing sound suddenly tore through the long, snowy night.

call out--

A cold light pierced the fog, and a blue shadow soared into the sky.

A figure in plain white walked through the snow, its movements graceful and ethereal, untouched by the wind and snow. It suddenly descended from the deep night and landed steadily on the bluestone road of the dilapidated village.

The newcomer was dressed in a crisp, clean blue outfit, the fabric crisp and neat. A long, narrow divine weapon hung at his waist; its blade was a restrained, gleaming white, faintly shimmering with silver light—far beyond anything made of ordinary iron. His face was cool and handsome, his eyes distant and indifferent. He exuded a pure and righteous aura, a stark contrast to the blood-soaked, eerie village.

This person is none other than Xiao Yu, a warrior from the Exorcising Demons Division who has traveled across mountains and rivers to investigate the whereabouts of demons throughout the land.

  

He was patrolling the outskirts of Cangshan Mountain, investigating unusual demonic activity, when suddenly in the dead of night he sensed a surge of blood energy mixed with an extremely dense primordial demonic aura. That demonic aura was domineering and pure, with boundless power, and could not be possessed by wild mountain demons or low-level malevolent spirits. It also faintly carried the sinister pressure exclusive to demon lords, causing his heart to tighten. He immediately set off through the snow at breakneck speed, rushing to this place overnight.

The moment he landed, Xiao Yu's cool gaze swept quickly across the entire village.

The scene was one of utter devastation: ruins and carnage littered the ground. Over a hundred households in the village were left barren, a heavy gloom of resentment, death, and yin energy swirling around them. Such a clean and swift massacre, leaving no one alive, was clearly not the work of ordinary demons.

It is Venerable Xuan Ye.

With just one glance, Xiao Yu made up his mind. The thousand-year-old demon lord hid in the world, traveling freely to all corners of the land. With a single thought, he could annihilate a region's inhabitants, without any regard for reason. Beneath the splendor of a prosperous age, the lives, peace, and warmth of mortals were nothing more than ants and dust in the demon lord's eyes, easily crushed with a flick of his wrist.

His gaze shifted, finally settling on the boy and girl in the center of the snow.

The entire village perished, except for a young boy who survived, holding a young girl in his arms. From the girl's body, the purest and most potent Yin energy of the Demon Lord was continuously emanating, chilling and terrifying to the bone, shaking all directions.

"Let her go."

A cold and indifferent voice suddenly rang out, calm and undisturbed, yet carrying an unyielding and strict discipline, instantly piercing the deathly silence of the snowy night.

Cen Jin froze, then suddenly looked up.

Through his teary eyes, he gazed at the extraordinary, aloof man in blue robes who had appeared out of nowhere, and a surge of extreme vigilance and panic instantly rose within him. The unknown powerful figure, the bizarre scene, the destroyed homeland—layers of pressure rolled in, almost suffocating him.

"Who are you?" Cen Jin's voice was hoarse and broken, choked with sobs from crying, hiding the last bit of stubbornness in the face of despair.

Xiao Yu did not answer, his gaze fixed on Cen Wantang, his eyes turning cold and a murderous intent rising in them.

"This is a malevolent spirit."

His words were solemn and piercing, each sentence clearly reaching Cen Jin's ears: "His physical body was tainted by demonic blood, and his soul was stripped away by yin energy. He had long since severed his mortal roots, and was neither human, nor soul, nor ghost. He was transformed by the demonic blood that Xuan Ye Zun personally planted in his life. His bones and bones harbor evil, and his heart is driven by wickedness."

"They are still young today and their humanity is not yet gone, but once their demonic blood fully awakens, they will become bloodthirsty and soul-devouring, disregarding even their own family, slaughtering all living beings, and wreaking havoc in all directions."

"If this scourge is not eliminated, it will surely become a great disaster in the future. He should be executed."

With a single word, a sword moves.

Xiao Yu slightly raised his wrist, and the Demon-Slaying Blade at his waist suddenly unsheathed half an inch. The fierce sword light tore through the wind and snow, and the righteous energy of supreme Yang exploded, instantly suppressing all the Yin and evil energy around him. The peerless divine weapon that was specially designed to subdue demons and evil spirits revealed its sharpness and murderous intent, pointing directly at the unconscious Cen Wantang.

Seeing the cold light approaching, Cen Jin's eyes turned bloodshot, and he instantly unleashed all the power he had in his desperate situation.

Ignoring his own exhaustion and pain, he held his younger sister tightly beneath him, his back taut as a thin yet resilient barrier, and roared with all his might, "Don't touch her!"

"She's my sister! She's just a ten-year-old child! She didn't hurt anyone!"

His family was destroyed, and he had nothing left. Cen Wantang was his only remaining family in this world, the only tenderness and obsession in his seventeen years of life. Even if the world turned upside down and everyone became his enemy, he would never allow anyone to harm her in the slightest.

Xiao Yu's swordplay continued unabated, his eyes remaining completely calm.

He roamed the martial world for decades, slaying countless demons and witnessing the joys and sorrows of humanity, and the incompatibility between humans and ghosts. Countless children corrupted by the demon blood of Xuan Ye initially retained their humanity, but as the demon blood's influence deepened, they all eventually turned into bloodthirsty and violent vengeful ghosts, murdering their relatives and neighbors, wreaking havoc in the prefectures and counties, and committing boundless atrocities.

The Exorcism Division has strict rules; any demon encountered must be slain without exception or leniency.

"I know she is harmless at the moment." Xiao Yu's tone was calm and cold as iron. "But her demonic nature is her essence, and her humanity is secondary. When her demonic blood backfires and her true nature is extinguished, she will personally slaughter everything you cherish. If you show mercy and spare her life today, countless lives will be buried with her tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sword light intensified, and a chilling killing intent drew near, about to strike the girl's frail body.

But in that life-or-death moment, a sudden change occurred.

Cen Wantang, who had been unconscious and breathing weakly, suddenly opened her eyes.

Those were an extremely eerie pair of eyes.

His left eye was clear and bright, still the pure and innocent look of a mortal child, untouched by any filth; his right eye was as black as ink, deep and lifeless, carrying an overwhelming sinister and malevolent aura, with a chilling demonic charm.

Human eyes and ghost eyes coexist, humanity and demonic nature intertwine, creating a chilling and eerie atmosphere.

The girl trembled slightly, the black demonic patterns beneath her skin writhing wildly, and the yin energy around her surged and churned, yet she showed no murderous intent to attack anyone. Completely ignoring the chilling sword light approaching her neck, she gripped Cen Jin's clothes tightly with her small, delicate hands, buried her face deeply in her brother's arms, and curled up completely under his protection.

After doing all this, she slightly turned her head, raised her half-human, half-ghost eyes, and looked at Xiao Yu, who was approaching with a sword in hand.

There was no fierce attack, no malevolent aura, only a series of childish, hoarse, yet incredibly fierce low growls.

Waaah—

The faint, low growls pierced through the wind and snow, carrying the pure wariness and protectiveness of a child.

She knew nothing of demonic nature, nothing of killing, nothing of human chaos. She was unaware of the strange changes in her body, unaware that the world regarded her as a heretic and evil spirit.

She only recognized the boy in her arms as her only brother, the one who protected her, loved her, and spoiled her every day, and the only obsession and home she had in this life.

She would be fierce towards anyone who tried to harm her brother.

Even though she was insignificant and powerless, even though her demonic power was weak and feeble, even though the road ahead was filled with peerless divine weapons and powerful figures, she would hold on to the death and protect her loved ones with her broken demonic body.

This scene struck Xiao Yu squarely.

For decades, he had been slaying demons and practicing the righteous path. He had seen countless malevolent spirits emerge, all of them bloodthirsty, tyrannical, and ruthless. Once they were transformed, they would completely sever their ties to the mortal world, taking pleasure in killing and feeding on flesh and blood.

But he had never seen a demon, who had been converted by the Demon Lord and possessed the original demon blood, break free from the shackles of demonic nature, protect human warmth, and protect his family even at the cost of his life, without harming the living in the slightest.

Humans and ghosts are different, and demons are ruthless, but the sincere bond between these two siblings transcends life and death, good and evil, and shakes the great laws of heaven and earth.

Zheng—

The crisp sword sound abruptly subsided.

Xiao Yu slightly lowered his wrist, forcefully stopping the fatal sword strike that was about to fall. Half an inch of cold light returned to the sheath, and the chilling killing intent dissipated instantly.

He stood in the wind and snow, gazing at the brother and sister embracing each other in the snow. Looking into the girl's half-black, half-bright eyes and her determined devotion to her brother, a trace of extreme emotion finally flickered in his usually calm and indifferent eyes.

The wind and snow continued, the bloodstains remained, and the long night seemed endless.

Xiao Yu remained silent for a long time before his cold voice rang out again, the previous ruthlessness gone, replaced by a more composed and solemn tone.

"Do you know where this horrific tragedy of village annihilation came from?"

Cen Jin looked up, tears welling in his eyes, and shook his head through gritted teeth.

"A hundred years of prosperity in the world is nothing but a false shell." Xiao Yu looked up at the deep night sky, his eyes profound. "Beneath the magnificent mountains and rivers of Dayong, the demonic calamity has never ceased for a thousand years. And the demonic blood in your sister's body, this massacre that wiped out the entire village, all came from the hand of the Lord of all demons in the world—Xuan Ye Zun."

"He hid for a thousand years, reversed the balance of Yin and Yang, used the blood, flesh and souls of mortals to raise demons, converted countless evil spirits, and wreaked havoc on the world for ten thousand years."

Cen Jin's body trembled violently, his mind was filled with a roar, and the deep-seated hatred finally had a source, and boundless resentment suddenly took root and sprouted.

"If you wish to protect her, to cleanse her of all evil, to avenge your family's blood feud, and to end this chaos—"

Xiao Yu lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the young man before him who stood firm in the face of adversity. His words were resounding, cutting through the boundless darkness and illuminating the only path to survival for him.

"Then enter my Department of Exorcising Evil and cultivate my Way of Exorcising Evil."

The wind and snow suddenly stopped, and the night seemed to freeze.

Cen Jin stared blankly at the blue-robed warrior before him, at the only glimmer of light in this desperate situation, and the still lake in his heart suddenly surged with towering waves.

But he was unaware that this path of exterminating evil was never a smooth road to redemption, but an endless perilous path paved with blood and tears, a path of life-or-death struggle. The road ahead was fraught with endless slaughter and unpredictable life and death. Once one set foot on it, there would be no more ordinary and peaceful life, and one would be forever entangled in demonic calamities and bound by fate.