Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

But the group of people in front of him didn't seem like complete novices, which made Ning Xiu very strange.

"You brat, you don't know what's good for you! Hand over the stuff!" The leader of the larger group shouted loudly, his expression arrogant and extremely cocky.

"That's right. We're all demon-slaying officers, and we should help each other out. We have no grudge against you, so why make things like this?"

"Hand over our things, or you won't get away with this today."

Ning Xiu heard all the commotion and was momentarily confused about what was happening. He immediately called out, "Stop!"

"Ok?"

The group surrounding Chen Peifeng and Ning Xiu turned around and stared at Ning Xiu with hostile eyes, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

Today, Ning Xiu was not wearing the black silver chainmail exclusive to the Bronze Leopard Demon-Subduing Captain, so the group of people could not tell Ning Xiu's true identity at first. They assumed that he was also a Bronze Leopard Demon-Subduing Captain who lived in this courtyard and had come out to stand up for justice. They immediately felt contempt and disdain.

Someone shouted, "Who are you, you busybody? If you don't want to get beaten up, get out of here, or I'll beat you up too."

Upon seeing Ning Xiu's appearance, Chen Peifeng and Daoist Kongxu immediately breathed a sigh of relief; their savior had arrived.

Ning Xiu looked at the group of people calmly: "Don't you know that fighting in groups is prohibited in the Demon Subduing Division? No matter what the reason, rules are rules and must not be trampled on. What kind of behavior is this?"

"Stop lecturing me, you son of a bitch! Get lost, you deserve a beating!" A hot-tempered guy stepped out from the crowd, angrily slapping Ning Xiu across the face.

Judging from this, this person has been quite arrogant and domineering in this courtyard, and he does things without the slightest hesitation.

Just as the hand was about to land on Ning Xiu's face, the situation suddenly took a dramatic turn.

Ning Xiu easily dodged the other person's hand by turning his head, and at the same time grabbed the person's cheek and slammed him to the ground.

boom!

The ground trembled slightly as a result, which showed how much force Ning Xiu had used in his attack. The man fainted the moment he hit the ground, without even uttering a cry of pain.

“I’m not one to tolerate others. Now, everyone, calm down and talk to me properly. Tell me, why did you gather a group to beat someone up?” Ning Xiu clapped his hands and asked.

The guy who fell to the ground was a martial arts eighth-rank expert. This single move was enough to knock him unconscious on the spot, which shows that his strength was definitely beyond the eighth-rank by many levels.

Those with such strength within the Demon Subduing Division must undoubtedly be at least at the Bronze Leopard level.

After everyone realized what was happening, they were all startled and quickly clasped their hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

His arrogant and angry demeanor vanished instantly.

"Sir, we don't know those two guys, yet they snatched something from us. We had no choice but to use this method to get it back," someone immediately explained.

As the team leader, Ning Xiu would not let anyone who dared to bully his team members go unpunished. However, he would not cover up any mistakes made by his team members. The Demon Subduing Division had to be a place where reason prevailed, and everything else had to take a backseat.

Ning Xiu then walked through the crowd and stood in front of Chen Peifeng, asking, "What happened? What did you two steal from them?"

"My lord, take a look." Chen Peifeng took out an item and handed it to Ning Xiu. It was a piece of jade, but it was no ordinary piece of jade.

Inside this piece of jade, you can see a lifelike little girl, about the size of a human thumb. She is squinting and looking pained, as if she is in considerable discomfort.

It can be confirmed that there is no evil spirit on this piece of jade.

Ning Xiu asked, puzzled, "What is this thing? Why did you snatch it from someone else?"

“My lord, this is a jade spirit. It is extremely rare for a jade spirit to be born in a top-grade jade stone. Although such a jade spirit is a spirit, it is not an evil spirit and will not do evil. These people do not take care of it, which has caused some problems with the jade spirit inside the jade stone. If it is not treated in time, this jade spirit will die sooner or later. It is a life after all. I have no other choice but to do this.” Chen Peifeng said hesitantly.

“Sir, we have been telling them that we only need to borrow it for a short while, and will return it to them after reviving Yu Ling. We have absolutely no intention of taking anything from them. We hope you will understand, sir, as it is, after all, a living being’s life.” Master Kongxu quickly added.

It must be said that what these two did was indeed a bit of meddling, but considering that Chen Peifeng and Master Kongxu were people they found from outside, and that they were relatively kind-hearted, it is understandable that they would do something that seems foolish to ordinary people in order to save a little life.

Ning Xiu had no choice but to say, "Hurry up, and return the items to them as soon as you've saved them."

"Yes." Chen Peifeng nodded in response, and entered the room with Daoist Kongxu to begin casting spells.

Facing the more than twenty people gathered there, Ning Xiu said, "Please wait a moment. I'll stay here and watch over things. I'll definitely return your things later."

"We trust you, sir."

With Ning Xiu's appearance, the situation was immediately brought under control. It seemed that a Bronze Leopard Demon-Subduing Commander wouldn't lie, so the group obediently began to wait in place.

Before long, Chen Peifeng came out of the house and handed the jade in his hand to Ning Xiu: "My lord, he has been saved."

Then, the little girl inside the jade stone had returned to normal. The pain on her face was gone. Instead, she was pressed against the inner wall of the jade stone, staring at Ning Xiu with her big, watery eyes, looking very cute.

Although this thing wasn't his own, Ning Xiu had his eyes opened. He never expected that such a creature could be born inside a piece of jade. It was interesting and strange, and he learned a lot.

"Here you go, it's returned to its rightful owner." The jade was handed to the leader of the group, who immediately took it and said with a beaming smile, "Thank you, sir. I was impulsive earlier. I thought the two of them were trying to steal my things, which is why I got a little angry."

"Next time, remember, this is the Demon Extermination Bureau. If you have a problem you can't solve, go to your superiors. Don't try to handle things yourselves in private."

"Yes, yes, I understand."

The man who had been knocked unconscious by Ning Xiu's palm strike was lifted up, and the group quickly dispersed.

Only Ning Xiu and his two companions remained at the doorway. Looking at Ning Xiu's retreating figure, Chen Peifeng felt a pang of guilt. He had only been a member of the Demon Subduing Division for less than a day, and he had already caused trouble for Ning Xiu.

"My lord, I'm so sorry..."

To everyone's surprise, Ning Xiu turned around and said calmly, "It's nothing. Although you're being a bit nosy, I sincerely think you did the right thing. After all, it was a life, no matter what."

You have compassion; for that alone, you are perfectly qualified to be Demon Slayers. You're willing to stand up to your colleagues like this for the life of a Jade Spirit.

"Then you will surely fight against evil spirits for the lives of ordinary people in the future. Well done."

The expressions on Chen Peifeng and Master Kongxu's faces instantly changed from guilt to joy, and a feeling of being recognized and accepted welled up in their hearts.

Although Ning Xiu looks very young, at this moment in their hearts he has become a towering tree, sheltering them as team members.

The two of them felt an even stronger sense of belonging to the team.

"Don't get too emotional, come inside. Let me explain to you both what rules you need to be aware of in the Demon Subduing Division."

……

Demon-Suppressing Prison, Cell No. 51 in the area.

"what!!!"

The scorching hot iron knife pierced Baili Yu's body, painstakingly carving out a long gash.

The rising heat made large beads of sweat appear on the faces of the torturers nearby.

Then a professional executioner was seen inserting a pair of iron pliers into the wound. After fiddling around and searching for a while, he suddenly pulled hard.

Then a small, golden-yellow broken bone was pulled out.

The bone was as hard as gold, and it didn't look like something a human could grow.

[077] The Change of Power at Dalingyin Temple

Those who were being executed nearby couldn't help but gasp in amazement at what they saw.

"Is this the Qilin bone of the Martial Saint? It is indeed extraordinary."

"It is said that the Martial Saint's entire spine is made of Qilin bones. The shape of the bones is different from that of ordinary people, with protruding joints, just like a Qilin. This one looks like just a small section of the Qilin bone."

"Hurry up and put it away, Lord Fumowei has been waiting outside for a long time."

Several executioners immediately brought a tray and placed the Qilin bone they had taken from Baili Yu's body on it.

After Baili Yu was imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Prison, Ning Xiu promptly reported the situation to his superiors. The Demon Subduing Division immediately launched an operation to remove the Qilin bone from Baili Yu's body.

As one of the Ten Sacred Aspects, this bone, even if not innate, will generate considerable power when residing in another person's body.

The reason why Baili Yu was able to enter the third rank of martial arts so easily in just a few years is actually closely related to this small piece of Qilin bone.

As soon as the Qilin bone left his body, Baili Yu's demeanor visibly began to wilt, and his eyes gradually lost their luster.

The consequences of having bone removed are no small matter.

Outside the cell, Bai Taicang leaned against the wall, drinking heavily from a gourd in his hand, muttering occasionally, "The Frontier Demon Subduing Division is getting more and more unreliable. They dared not even report such major events as implanting the Qilin bone and losing the fragments of the Martial Dao Stele to Jingzhou."

Not long after, the cell door opened.

Then an executioner came out carrying a tray containing the Qilin bone. Upon seeing Bai Taicang, the executioner immediately handed over the wooden tray: "Sir, we have removed the Qilin bone from that person's body."

"Thank you for your hard work." Bai Taicang took the tray and turned to leave.

The Qilin bone, as a legacy of the Martial Saint Ancestor, is an extremely precious treasure. The main bone was originally inherited by the Martial Saint Ancestor's descendants.

As instructed by the Martial Saint Ancestor, some of the side bones attached to the main bone could be given to the Demon Subduing Division for use. Thus, the Demon Subduing Division obtained nine side bones, which were taken from Baili Yu's body.

The return of a Qilin bone originally intended for the Frontier Demon Subduing Division has forced the Jingzhou Demon Subduing Division to reconsider whether it should tighten its oversight of the Frontier Demon Subduing Division in the future.

These days, dealing with evil spirits and demons is already quite troublesome, and nobody wants to add any more trouble.

These are issues that the higher-ups in the Demon Subduing Division should consider, and are not of much concern to mid-level Demon Subduing Officers like Ning Xiu.

……

The pile of case files on hand couldn't be delayed for too long. Ning Xiu thought he would finish dealing with the matters at hand as soon as possible and then start working on the case files.

Now that only the Corpse-Slaying Blade has not been returned, Ning Xiu took the Overlord and got a horse from the Sili early the next morning, and left Chaotiandu directly, rushing to Dalingyin Temple.

As the largest Buddhist temple within the territory of the Great Shang Dynasty, Dalingyin Temple housed a large number of Buddhist and Taoist masters in seclusion, and many famous monks came from here. Therefore, Dalingyin Temple was also known as one of the orthodox Buddhist temples.

After traveling more than a hundred miles west of Chaotiandu, the outline of Dalingyin Temple soon came into Ningxiu's view.

This temple is built against the mountain, directly encompassing the entire mountain within its grounds. Numerous pagodas and halls surround the mountainside.

A large Buddha image is faintly visible at the top of the mountain, where pale golden clouds seem to swirl around, giving it a sacred feel.

As soon as Ning Xiu approached Dalingyin Temple, he heard the sounds of striking wooden fish and chanting sutras coming from inside the temple. Hearing this, he immediately felt peaceful and calm, and his worries and anxieties dissipated. It seemed that this Buddhist place was indeed quite remarkable.

After dismounting outside the temple, Ning Xiu tied the reins to a special frame and strode into the temple with Ba Wang.

The monks he encountered only put their hands together in prayer and bowed with smiles; none of them spoke to him or came forward to greet him.

The temple walls are painted with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and lotus flowers and auspicious fish can be seen everywhere on the eaves and roof tiles.

From an environmental perspective alone, Da Ling Yin Temple is extremely suitable for sightseeing.

However, Ning Xiu was in a hurry to meet the Holy Monk Shui Tuo this time and didn't have much interest in sightseeing.

Seeing that a monk was about to leave, Ning Xiu quickly went over and asked, "Master, may I ask where the Holy Monk Shui Tuo lives? I have something to discuss with him."

“The Holy Monk of Shuituo…” The monk glanced at Ning Xiu and said calmly, “The Holy Monk is usually in seclusion and does not easily meet people. If you have any urgent business, please go to the abbot.”

"I won't see people easily, which means I can still see people. I came here on the instructions of Master Chanhui to personally deliver something to the Venerable Monk Shuituo. I don't trust anyone else, so please go and talk to the Venerable Monk Shuituo. I believe he will be willing to see me."

Upon hearing the name of Master Chanhui, the monk's expression clearly showed a hint of emotion.