18: Calamity of the Ancient Demon

"Ancient Demon?" Li Jiangchen activated his Daoist Magic, drawing in the demon soul.

Soon, the demon soul condensed into an eight-clawed, translucent white insect. Unlike the previous Willow Tree Demon, this insect's soul aura was far more powerful.

"You are an Ancient Demon? How come I've never heard of you?"

"Replying to Master, this old slave hails from the Ancient Demon Clan of the Suspended Mountain." The insect spoke in an aged voice: "The Ancient Demon Clan are parasitic Demons. Each one masters the Ancient Demon Parasitic Technique, parasitizing within a host's body to devour their essence blood and soul, refining the two Qi of life and death.

Once the host is completely devoured, we break out and seek a new host.

Therefore, we were feared by the Demons of the Suspended Mountain and were sealed away by a group of rebellious Demon Emperors ten thousand years ago.

A few months ago, cracks appeared in the Seal, and a batch of Ancient Demons escaped through them."

"Suspended Mountain... parasitic Demons." Li Jiangchen nodded, not expecting this Ancient Demon to have such a background.

"By the way, just now, you used a gray mysterious light to break through my Primordial Spirit Divine Ability. What Daoist Magic was that?"

"Replying to Master, that was the two Qi of life and death that this subordinate refined; it was not Daoist Magic. The two Qi of life and death are the foundation for an Ancient Demon's advancement. It is just that, now, that breath of Qi has been exhausted."

"Exhausted..." Li Jiangchen raised an eyebrow. Wouldn't the Ancient Demon before him be a complete waste then?

"Ahem, then what use do you have?"

"Er, this subordinate's Ancient Demon Parasitic Technique can still be activated. As long as Master finds me a host, this subordinate can slowly refine the two Qi of life and death and offer them to Master."

"Alright, I understand." Li Jiangchen rolled his eyes. An Ancient Demon was actually trying to sell him a pipe dream. He immediately closed his palm, and the Demon kingdom dissipated.

Scanning left and right, the city walls had collapsed, wildfires were spreading, and Yongning County was in chaos.

However, fortunately, it was all over.

Three days later, Yongning returned to tranquility.

Outside the Demon Suppression Division.

"Are you really leaving?" Li Jiangchen asked.

"The master's orders are hard to disobey." Daoist Yun Xu sighed: "There are suspected Ancient Demon disturbances near White Cloud Temple. The Temple Master has ordered all Daoists to return and guard the mountain gate.

This time, Master You will also be leaving with me."

Beside him, Master You, dressed for travel, nodded and said: "I haven't seen that girl Yun Lan for many years. It is just right to go and take a look."

'Ancient Demons again...' In these few days, Li Jiangchen had long since interrogated the Ancient demon soul many times and learned a great deal of information about the Ancient Demons.

This Ancient Demon Clan was terrifyingly formidable.

Ten thousand years ago, the Demons of the Suspended Mountain almost became slaves to the Ancient Demon Clan, left to be parasitized and harvested at will.

Now that the Ancient Demons have emerged, it has caused many Suspended Mountain Demons to flee, and who knows how many Demons have been parasitized among them.

"Brother Yun Xu, take care on your journey." Li Jiangchen cupped his hands.

"Take care."

Under the golden sunlight, a horse's neigh rang out, and a line of carriages and horses galloped away, heading out of the city.

After this battle, the Demons inside and outside Yongning were all cleared out.

Originally, Li Jiangchen wanted to wipe out the group of Pig Ganglie's offspring in the south, but when he went to check, the Demon lair had long since disappeared.

The same was true for Black Wind Mountain.

However, he did find a large piece of Sun Deer Horn, which he absorbed and integrated into his Astral Essence.

Over these three days, Li Jiangchen could only consume his Demon to continue opening up his dark meridians.

But after two hundred, each dark meridian he opened took an immense amount of time.

It took the consumption of over three thousand years of Demon to barely open another sixty dark meridians.

On average, one dark meridian consumed fifty years of time.

Now, only three hundred years of Demon remained on the panel, kept as a reserve.

Three more days passed, and the new County Magistrate took office, accompanied by Demon Slayer Captain Sun Yan.

Slap! Three Secret Manuals were placed in front of Li Jiangchen.

"Dragon Capturing Technique, Mountain Moving Technique, Three Talents Technique; these are all Breakthrough Cultivation Techniques for the Xiantian Realm. You may choose one." Sun Yan said.

'Breakthrough Cultivation Techniques for the Xiantian Realm? I am already at the Peak of the Xiantian Realm.' Li Jiangchen felt disdain in his heart, but smiled on the surface: "Brother Sun, is there nothing else? For example... methods to develop a special Physique?"

Now that he had tasted the sweetness of the Immortal Sword Body, he naturally wanted to develop more sword bodies. With them stacked together, exceeding spirit bodies and divine bodies would not be a problem.

Hearing this, Sun Yan shook his head and said: "Methods to develop Dharma Bodies and spirit bodies are no small matter.

You have made significant contributions this time, slaying several Demons that had entered the Dao, but there was indeed a situation where you failed to report information, and quite a few people died in Yongning this time.

If it weren't for your background in the Divine General Mansion, the Demon Suppression Division would likely still hold you accountable."

"Then what about Cultivation Techniques for breaking through to the Aperture Opening Realm?" Li Jiangchen frowned.

"Your Merit Points are insufficient." Sun Yan continued: "If you want to obtain Cultivation Techniques for the next Realm, you must either slay a Demon of the next Realm, or slay ten Demons of the same Realm.

We Demon Slayers can only rely on grinding away with time to slowly accumulate Merit Points.

If you are in a hurry to break through, the simplest way is to return directly to the Divine General Mansion. Surely the Divine General Mansion is not lacking in a good Breakthrough method."

Hearing this, Li Jiangchen fell silent for a moment. His original self's situation in the Divine General Mansion was not very good.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been cultivating a common "Qi Gathering Technique."

"Brother Sun, are there any other paths?"

"There are two shortcuts." Sun Yan thought for a moment before saying: "One is to join the army. Every time you fight at the border, if you survive, you will have significant Merit Points.

The second is... to go to the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division to participate in the Captain Examination. If you succeed, you can choose a method to develop a special Physique.

If you are the top in the examination, there are other benefits.

Calculating it, since you have broken through to the Xiantian Realm, you can try the Captain Examination.

However, the examination is strict, and with the tempting rewards, the participants are Demon Slayers of the Xiantian Realm from various places. Most of them are at the Middle Stage of the Xiantian Realm, and there is no lack of ruthless people at the Late Stage or even the Peak Realm.

Your brother Sun here, back in the day, fought into the top ten of the examination with a Middle Stage Xiantian Realm cultivation, which was already among the best. Thinking back..." Sun Yan fell into nostalgia for his glorious past.

'The Captain Examination is indeed a path for a Breakthrough. And the location is exactly in Qingzhou...' Li Jiangchen felt the golden buddha in his palm; he hadn't forgotten about returning the golden buddha to the Wang family.

He immediately agreed: "For the Captain Examination, I ask Brother Sun to point me in the right direction."

One sentence pulled Sun Yan back from his reverie. He nodded and sized Li Jiangchen up: "Well, although you only broke through to the Xiantian Realm recently, you have slain Demons one after another, and your combat strength is not weak. Your chances of passing the examination are not small.

Take this."

Sun Yan took a token from his bosom. It was made of bronze, with a green lion engraved on it, and on the back was a simple, archaic character for 'Slay'.

"The entrance examination requires a recommendation from a local captain. This is for you."

"Many thanks, Brother Sun." Li Jiangchen reached out and took it.

The next day.

In front of the Demon Suppression Division.

"My Lord, you are leaving just like that." Shen Honglian revealed a hint of reluctance.

After this parting, their statuses would be vastly different in the future, and who knew when they would meet again.

"Lord Li is going to participate in the Captain Examination, which is a great joy. Shen Luo is here to wish Lord Li success." Shen Luo cupped his hands respectfully.

In these days, Li Jiangchen's methods had long since impressed them both.

Seeing this, Li Jiangchen nodded and took a Secret Manual from his bosom: "This is the Three Talents Technique, a Cultivation Technique for breaking through the Xiantian Realm.

It contains a combined attack method.

Your Aptitude is not bad; after breaking through to the Xiantian Realm, if you practice this method, you will be able to slay ordinary Demons that have entered the Dao."

"The future of Yongning rests on your shoulders." Li Jiangchen patted them on the shoulders.

The two looked at each other and immediately cupped their hands in thanks.

At dusk, a green-headed red-maned horse galloped out of the city.

Shen Luo glanced at Shen Honglian and suddenly said: "A Genius like Lord Li is not something we mortals can chase after."

"Honglian knows. Just being able to see Lord Li's back is enough for Honglian." The young girl looked at the departing figure, her eyes filled with melancholy, her fists clenched tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.