127: Heavenly Demon, Floating Life Demon

Three days later, Fang Huai arrived at the wasteland once again.

By now, the Spiritual Qi he had attached to the sickly people had long since dissipated. Each of them was once again tormented by disease, and the wasteland was filled with wails of agony.

As soon as Fang Huai stepped through the door, Ji Ming was the first to rush over, kneeling before Fang Huai and coughing incessantly:

"Cough, cough... Immortal Master Fang, I shout... cough, cough... words of praise for you every day. Why... cough, cough... am I still plagued by illness?"

Fang Huai did not answer. With a flick of his fingers, two Spirit Messaging Bees buzzed over and landed in his palm.

After receiving the information from the Spirit Messaging Bees, Fang Huai waved his hand, letting them fly away again.

He then helped Ji Ming up and said, "Ji Ming, I have felt your sincerity, but among you people, a few pieces of fly dung have ruined the whole pot of porridge."

"Fly dung?" Ji Ming asked in confusion.

"Yes!" Fang Huai's gaze swept across everyone as he spoke. "I have said that I am the Incarnation of God in the mortal world. To believe in me, you must be sincere and wholehearted, and you must give your all to the tasks I assign."

"Some among you still doubt me, and some are still half-hearted about my instructions. It is not that I wish to punish you, but that the high and mighty God does not allow for desecration."

He paused before continuing, "Because those few individuals destroyed the faith and became blasphemers, the spiritual energy that was originally dispelling your diseases naturally dissipated."

"Who desecrated Immortal Master Fang? Get out here!"

"Immortal Master Fang helped us remove our illnesses, how could anyone not believe in him?"

"Don't let me find out who it is, or I'll tear them apart alive."

"..."

Emotions ran high, and everyone was filled with rage, vowing to tear the blasphemers Fang Huai spoke of into shreds.

Fang Huai had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment Stage and could not use Faith Fiend. How could he know who was a believer and who was a blasphemer?

He only knew who was slacking off based on the information from the Spirit Messaging Bees.

But since those few could slack off, they must have a rebellious streak in them and needed to be intimidated.

He would give them one last chance. If it happened again, there would be no need for them to stay.

With that thought, his fingers moved again, and clear Spiritual Qi surged into the bodies of the Refugees, temporarily masking their ailments.

He said, "If you provoke God's wrath again, even I will be unable to save you."

Feeling their physical condition improve once more, the Refugees kowtowed in gratitude.

Ji Ming wept even more bitterly and led the shouting, "Immortal Master Fang, we will be your loyal followers and serve you forever. Please, do not abandon us."

Under his lead, the other Refugees also burst into tears, pledging their loyalty.

Humans, once they have hope for life, will never allow themselves to walk toward death again.

These Refugees were originally sickly people on the verge of death; after experiencing health, they were terrified of losing it again.

Thus, under Fang Huai's instigation, they developed an infinite dependence on him.

As for Ji Ming, he was truly a good prospect.

If others were described as believers, then he was a fanatic.

For someone like this, Fang Huai needed to provide benefits in a timely manner, allowing him to spread his fanatical faith to others.

Thinking of this, Fang Huai lightly stroked Ji Ming's forehead, and a stream of clear Qi washed through his body, increasing his strength by a few points.

He then said, "I can see that among this group, your faith in me is the deepest. I shall protect you."

Hearing Fang Huai's words, Ji Ming was overwhelmed with fear and gratitude. He hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly while uttering words of thanks.

Fang Huai pushed off the ground and stepped onto a Winged Bat, soaring into the air and flying into the distance.

This group of Refugees were his believers and also his test subjects, helping him understand the effects of Faith Fiend as soon as he reached Foundation Establishment.

After appeasing the Refugees, he still had business to attend to. The most important was to cultivate at the Mu Hua Spiritual Vein to quickly increase his cultivation level.

"[White Fiend Art (Incomplete Manual) Tenth Layer: 62/100]"

After the spiritual poison in his body accumulated to its limit, Fang Huai ended his cultivation and returned to the Purification Bureau.

He instructed Yun Ping to announce that from this day forward, the daily limit for the Yao Beasts he personally dissected would increase from two to three.

In another month, he would go to remove the final poison sac from Deng Qingyang's body.

At that time, Deng Qingyang would give him another foundation establishment pill. He would rely on that pill to push his Qi Refinement Stage cultivation to Perfection and use the Water Attribute Spiritual Vein for an Earth Path Foundation Establishment.

In the meantime, he had to absorb a large amount of Yao Beast blood and Qi to push the tenth layer of the Body Tempering Art to Perfection as quickly as possible.

In the morning, he went to the Mu Hua Spiritual Vein to absorb Spiritual Qi. In the afternoon, he went to the Purification Bureau to process Yao Beasts, and at night, he returned to the Yun Family Sisters' residence to rest.

Though this routine of moving between three points was monotonous, for Fang Huai, watching himself grow stronger every day was a source of great joy.

One day, Fang Huai arrived at the Purification Bureau and happened to encounter a Cultivator bringing in a "Yao Beast."

It was a type of "Yao Beast" he had never seen before.

This Yao Beast was only the size of an adult male, pitch black all over, with membrane-like fleshy wings, looking like a hairless bat.

Normally, a "Yao Beast" with an Early Stage Qi Refining cultivation would not catch Fang Huai's attention, but as his gaze swept over it, he frowned:

"[Floating Life Demon]"

"[Qi Refining Third Layer]"

"[Fiendish Poison Demon Physique (Black)] [Heavenly Demon Grunt]"

"[Fiendish Poison Demon Physique: Tough flesh and skin, body filled with fiendish poison]"

"[Heavenly Demon Grunt: The lowest level of fodder for the Heavenly Demon Race, numbering in the hundreds of millions, endless and inexhaustible]"

"Heavenly Demon Grunt?"

"Heavenly Demon... Fang Huai had seen these two words in the Magic Array beneath the Soul Pool of the Corpse Fiend Sect."

"It seemed those Righteous Cultivators ultimately couldn't restrain their greed; they had opened the Formation, connecting this realm with the Heavenly Demon Realm."

He immediately grabbed the Cultivator transporting the Yao Beast and asked, "Where was this Yao Beast hunted?"

The Cultivator said, "Starting a few days ago, strange demons have been running out from that destroyed demonic sect from time to time. Fortunately, although there are many of them, their cultivation levels aren't very high."

"We encountered a few outside Sanxian City, and seeing their tough skin and bones, we brought them to the Purification Bureau to see if the dissected materials could be used to make weapons."

Fang Huai was startled. A few days ago—wasn't that exactly when he left the Corpse Fiend Sect?

Seeing Fang Huai's frown, the Cultivator laughed. "Don't worry, I heard the highest cultivation among these demons is only the Qi Refining Fifth Layer; they pose no threat to us."

Fang Huai sighed. This Cultivator was far too optimistic.

The tag stated that Floating Life Demons numbered in the hundreds of millions; how could there be none with high cultivation?

Moreover, the Floating Life Demon was labeled as a Heavenly Demon Grunt. Above the grunts, there must be Demon Generals and Demon Commanders controlling them.

The Corpse Fiend Sect's Old Ancestor had gone to great lengths to set up that Magic Array back then; he surely knew of the Heavenly Demons' existence.

Perhaps he came to the State of Chen because he was forced by the Heavenly Demons, or perhaps he simply laid out a shocking conspiracy to lead the Heavenly Demons into this realm... Clutching his skinning knife, Fang Huai personally processed this Floating Life Demon.

Aside from having more vigorous blood and Qi and being filled with fiendish poison, the Floating Life Demon's structure was similar to that of ordinary Yao Beasts.

But what startled Fang Huai was that after absorbing the blood and Qi of this dead Floating Life Demon, the progress of the Body Tempering Art actually increased faster than absorbing a living Middle Stage Qi Refining Yao Beast.

It was as if the Body Tempering Art within the "Hundred Fiends Art" existed specifically to absorb Heavenly Demons.

"The State of Chen is likely to suffer a great catastrophe!"