"Come, come! I've heard from Elder Ming Zhang that your chess skills have greatly improved."

Daoist Yuting placed a piece, nearly cornering Daoist Mingzhang, "Take a look, does Elder Ming Zhang still have a way out in this game?"

Daoist Mingzhang glared, "What do you mean, 'do I still have a way out'? I haven't lost yet, alright?"

Daoist Yuting said perfunctorily, "Indeed, you haven't lost yet. I think I'm just two moves away from completing my layout."

Daoist Mingzhang: "..."

Upon hearing this, Daoist Mingzhang immediately turned his attention to the chessboard, looking left and right.

After a while...

"Hmm, the opportunity for Elder to turn defeat into victory lies within these two moves!"

Daoist Mingzhang nodded, then gently stood up and let Lu Zheng take his seat, casually picking up a layered cake and popping it into his mouth.

"Yuan Zheng, you finish this remaining game for me, let Elder Yuting see your recently improved chess skills."

Daoist Yuting laughed heartily, pointing a finger at Daoist Mingzhang without saying a word.

What could Lu Zheng do? He could only sit down and continue playing on behalf of Daoist Mingzhang.

In the next moment, he placed a white piece.

Daoist Yuting raised an eyebrow, but this move was within his expectations, so he quickly responded.

White and black pieces alternately dropped, five times in total.

"Hmm?"

When Lu Zheng dropped another white piece, Daoist Yuting suddenly exclaimed in surprise, realizing something was amiss.

After pondering for a moment, he continued to respond.

...

"Hahaha, I said those two moves were the opportunity for Elder to turn defeat into victory." Daoist Mingzhang laughed heartily, popping the last piece of dessert into his mouth and swallowing it down with fragrant tea.

"Alright, if you were playing, I would have won thirty moves ago already." Daoist Yuting said irritably, then turned to Lu Zheng, "Not bad, your chess skills have indeed improved, able to round off this game for Elder Ming Zhang. Since it's still early, how about another game?"

...

At noon, the few of them went down the mountain for a vegetarian meal, and Lu Zheng learned Daoist Yuting had toured the two northern paths before returning to Lingbei Dao.

"You're just a vagrant daoist, when you get older, find a place and build a temple, don't wander around aimlessly every day." Daoist Mingzhang advised.

Daoist Yuting shook his head, "Can't sit still."

Daoist Mingzhang could only chuckle and gave up persuading him, simply clinking cups with Daoist Yuting and drinking in one gulp.

During the meal, Daoist Yuting spoke of his encounters while touring the two northern paths, like crossing paths with Great Demons or defeating the Ghost King, sharing some insights with Yuan Jing and Lu Zheng.

"Speaking of which, while I was handling disaster relief during the recent flood in Yinan Dao, I encountered two fallen Abnormal People." Daoist Yuting said.

"Fallen?"

Daoist Mingzhang frowned, "Fallen cultivators are the hardest to deal with, which sect are they from?"

"Never seen them before." Daoist Yuting shook his head.

"Never seen them before?" Daoist Mingzhang asked, surprised, "What do you mean?"

Then he was suddenly alarmed, "A newly emerged Demon Cult? Not a righteous sect fallen into evil? Is it an inherited demonic skill or an Outer Heaven Evil Demon transmitting techniques through dreams? Could it be a Celestial Demon Divine Thought rebirth into the mortal realm?"

Daoist Yuting couldn't help but say exasperatedly, "How am I supposed to know!"

In this world, although some people are generically termed Demons, renowned and orthodox sects often proclaim subduing demons and exorcising evil, but true 'Demons' are indeed extremely rare.

If one merely cultivates soul-refining killing or yin-yang absorbing techniques that harm others for one's benefit, strictly speaking, they should be called heterodox sects.

But 'Demons' are different; while they still maintain human form, their essence has drastically changed, even the spirit gets tainted, becoming completely different from humans.

For instance, the only real 'Demon' Lu Zheng had encountered was the Glazed Buddha inside the Jiming Temple Secret Realm.

It was sheer madness!

Thus, the threat posed by Demons is enormous, purely non-human, spirit-disturbed.

Similar to Great Jing's stance, whether it's the Southern Border or East Sea, or the Northern Domain and Western Buddha Country, the attitude towards Demons is to eradicate them completely.

Thus, it's been a long time since a real Great Demon appeared in this world.

Regardless of those who actively practice demonic skills or those who have strayed into demonic cultivation, once discovered, it's a death sentence.

No one expected Demons to emerge again.

"You didn't probe their origins?" Daoist Mingzhang frowned and asked.

"I don't have that capability, I gave my all just to execute them." Daoist Yuting shook his head, "However, when they were casting, the demonic qi carried a fiery essence, unsure if it was originally so or transformed through a technique from a Volcano Sect."

"This matter must be reported to the Anomaly Suppression Bureau." Daoist Mingzhang said.

"I already reported it, took their corpses along." Daoist Yuting said.

"The Anomaly Suppression Bureau couldn't identify it either?"

"The Anomaly Suppression Bureau isn't divine, you know." Daoist Yuting pouted.

Daoist Mingzhang looked at Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing, "You haven't encountered any demon cultivators?"

Yuan Jing shook his head, "No."

Lu Zheng also shook his head, then said, "When I returned, Lord Chu from the Yizhou Anomaly Suppression Bureau asked if I had discovered anything strange, could it be due to the emergence of demon cultivators?"

"Probably so." Daoist Mingzhang furrowed his brow, nodding, "And if he asked you, it suggests there have been numerous encounters with demon cultivators."

"Why would they want to fish in troubled waters and come to Great Jing?" Daoist Yuting frowned, "The Southern Border sects are chaotic, the Northern Domain sparsely populated, and the East Sea boundless, aren't those more suitable?"

"You ask me, who do I ask?" Daoist Mingzhang said irritably, "And how do you know their lair isn't elsewhere?"

"Their base surely can't be within Great Jing, I'm just questioning why they appeared in Great Jing this time." Daoist Yuting said.

"You didn't ask when fighting them?" Daoist Mingzhang asked.

"I did, they didn't answer."

"Hmm." Daoist Mingzhang nodded, "That's indeed typical of demon cultivators."

Daoist Yuting: "..."

"No worries, if the sky falls, there are taller ones to hold it up. It's not the end of a dynasty allowing demon cultivation to advance swiftly; in the present world, demon cultivators emerge and drop like flies." Daoist Mingzhang said nonchalantly.

Daoist Yuting pouted, "Yet according to historical records, major calamities in the cultivation realm have always been linked to demon cultivators."

"But demon cultivators have never won any, have they?" Daoist Mingzhang said.

"Such complacency could mean annihilation next time." Daoist Yuting said.

"Rest assured, the Court and patriarchs of major sects are not mere figures; they're considering far deeper than us. Didn't you just hear Yuan Zheng say that this issue has likely been put on Emperor Jing's desk and various sects' patriarchs are aware?" Daoist Mingzhang said.

"Alright." Daoist Yuting could only shake his head helplessly, "Even if a Celestial Demon descends, I can only watch."

"That's right, so a soldier blocks the way and water fills the gap as needed." Daoist Mingzhang laughed, "Should a Great Demon appear, there are taller shoulders to bear the burden, and the rest of the Demon Spawns, we can handle."