CHAPTER 84: CHAPTER 84: THE YELLOW SPARROW

Dark clouds obscured the heavens. Beneath them, a yellow-green demonic fog churned like a vast, furious ocean!

「Outside Dongli County.」

King Jincai, riding hurriedly on a demonic wind, had just landed when he caught sight of that madwoman who had come to trouble him several times. This time, she had several more figures by her side. It was clear she had found help.

"You harlot, do you really seek death?!" King Jincai snarled, taking a step forward. His fleshy jowls quivered as he fixed his coin-like eyes coldly on Jia Yufei.

From beside Jia Yufei, a middle-aged man in a gray robe with an ordinary face stepped forward. "Such arrogance from a mere toad! You luckily obtained a Magic Artifact and now you think you’re a True Dragon? With your mixed bloodline, the most you’ll ever achieve is the Dao-Entering Realm."

"If you know what’s good for you, release our young master, and we might spare your soul. Otherwise, we will ensure your soul is obliterated, never to transcend!"

"You’re the one with mixed blood! Your whole family has mixed blood!" King Jincai bellowed. As if a painful spot had been prodded, he became enraged, croaking loudly. The ear-piercing soundwaves ripped a layer of dirt from the ground.

"Miss, step back. Don’t let this beast hurt you," the middle-aged man said, bowing slightly.

"Be careful, Xingshan is still in his hands," Jia Yufei said.

"Don’t worry, we have it under control."

Stepping forward, the middle-aged man began to emit strands of blue light. This light was incredibly potent. As it shone forth, the demonic miasma clouding the surroundings rapidly dispersed and faded, like intense sunlight melting snow. Soon, the area for several miles outside the city was restored to clarity, without a hint of any foul scent.

Seeing the blue light emanating from the middle-aged man, King Jincai’s expression changed dramatically. He exclaimed in horror, "Osseous Realm?! Who are you?"

"The one who will send you to your reincarnation."

With a faint smile, the middle-aged man took a step. His figure flickered, and he instantly appeared before King Jincai. He reached out his large hand, gathering the blue light in his palm. Illuminated by this radiance, King Jincai cried out in agony, trembling wildly as if he were about to melt.

Just a Little Demon. The middle-aged man thought, shaking his head slightly. He was about to increase his strength to obliterate the arrogant Demon in one fell swoop when a sense of alarm suddenly arose in his heart. Frowning, the middle-aged man scanned King Jincai and keenly noticed a deeply hidden, sinister, and sly expression beneath the Demon’s pained countenance.

Not good!

Sensing something was amiss, the middle-aged man immediately withdrew, retreating explosively.

BOOM!!!

The ground burst open. Countless clods of earth and stones flew in all directions, smashing into everything around.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a pity, just a bit off," King Jincai chuckled, retracting his exceptionally long tongue. His expression, moments before one of horror and fear, was now a cold sneer.

"You..." Frowning at the Demon before him, the middle-aged man faintly sensed a terrible possibility.

"Hahaha! If I, the King, didn’t have some tricks up my sleeve, how could I have escaped from the Zhu Family?!" King Jincai laughed wildly. He curled his tongue and spat out a bead exuding a faint silver luster. His aura rapidly surged, soon surpassing the limits of the Dao-Entering Realm.

"Mr. Zhao, what is that silver bead?" Jia Yufei asked curiously, noting his grave expression.

"A Demon treasure. Demons call it ’Legacy of the Ancestral Demon.’ It’s a Treasure Bead of flesh and blood formed from the decomposed body of a deceased Great Demon. If a Demon acquires it, this bead can allow it to advance an entire Realm out of thin air. This toad might truly not be of mixed blood; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so lucky. Not only did it find a Gathering Yuan Treasure Bag, a Magic Artifact, but it also possesses a Demon treasure. No ordinary Demon would have such fortune.

"Furthermore, it was personally pursued by the Zhu Family. It’s feared it awakened ancient blood, which the Zhu Family discovered, hence the pursuit. Miss, if things go wrong, you must prioritize your safety. When I tell you to go, you must leave."

Hearing Mr. Zhao’s serious tone, Jia Yufei’s gaze grew solemn. "Even you, Mr. Zhao, are no match for this Demon?"

"It’s not that I’m completely outmatched," Mr. Zhao replied, turning to the three young men standing nearby. "It’s just that he’s still holding Young Master Xingshan, which makes me hesitant. Zhao Da, Zhao Er, Zhao San, you will cooperate with me with all your might later to capture this toad alive."

"Alive? Heh! I’d like to see who’s capturing whom," King Jincai sneered, his legs bending backward slightly. His legs swelled to several times their size, veins bulging.

DOOM—

A thunderous sound shook the air. The ground beneath him suddenly caved in. King Jincai shot through the air, transforming into a shadowy streak with a long, flaming tail, and charged toward Zhao Shan!

"Engage!" Zhao Shan shouted sternly, and the four of them advanced together to meet the charge.

「...」

The fight outside the city was earth-shattering. Successive explosions shook tiles from roofs and bricks from walls, sending them clattering to the ground, as if the entire county town was about to be overturned. However, none of this affected Qi Xiu, who was plundering the city with impunity.

Holding an Autumn Phyllostachys staff, Qi Xiu walked silently along the main road of this Demon-occupied county town. Whenever he encountered any remaining Demons, he would strike them down. With a mere raise of his hand, a blood-red Sword Qi was unleashed. He was like an executioner on the move. Wherever he passed, Demons screamed and fell, exploding into slippery, foul-smelling heaps of limbs and organs.

This must be that toad’s lair, right? Qi Xiu thought, stopping before King Jincai’s dwelling. He looked at the muddy, foul-smelling cesspool before him, a repulsive mixture of flesh, organs, and even two large intestines floating on top. Qi Xiu instinctively took two steps back.

He fell silent, pondering for a moment. Then, Qi Xiu grabbed two Half-Demon toads from a nearby corner and pointed to the muddy pit. "Go. Fish out everything valuable from there, and I’ll spare your lives."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Having witnessed Qi Xiu slice numerous Half-Demons into pieces, the two Half-Demon toads nodded frantically. They dove headfirst into the mud and began salvaging. Under the threat of death, the two Half-Demon toads were extremely efficient. It didn’t take long. Two copper chests and some miscellaneous, rotting items soaked in the mire were hauled up.

"Is that all?" Qi Xiu asked, looking at the retrieved items and then at the two Half-Demons.

"That’s all! We’ve cleaned it out completely," the Half-Demon toads said hastily, their faces etched with caution.

"Well then, you’ve worked hard." Smiling and nodding, Qi Xiu raised his hand and swiftly unleashed two streaks of bright red Sword Qi.

SCHLICK—

Foul-smelling blood plasma sprayed! Two lines of blood traced down from the crowns of the Half-Demon toads’ heads, splitting them vertically in half.

"You... you went back on your word!" the Half-Demon toads cried out resentfully, unwilling to accept their fate.

"I never swore an oath, you fools." Glancing at the two Half-Demons, Qi Xiu turned his attention to the two copper chests. He fetched a large amount of clean water from his Flood Dragon Pool to wash the grime off the chests’ surfaces. With a tap of his bamboo staff, Qi Xiu flipped the lids open.

CLANG—

Holy shit... Qi Xiu’s pupils dilated as he involuntarily let out an exclamation at the sight within the chests. They were filled to the brim, neatly arranged with nearly fifty scrolls. Casually picking one up, Qi Xiu unrolled it.

*Samadhi Flame Light True Skill*.

He picked up another and opened it.

*Bright Zen Sound Scripture*.

An entire chest of True Cultivation Power scriptures! Did this toad rob the Scripture Pavilion of some rich and powerful sect? Not expecting such a huge find, Qi Xiu stopped deliberating. He closed the chest’s lid and channeled all his Mana to widen the entrance of his Flood Dragon Pool as much as possible, cramming the chest inside.

Hm? There are characters on the bottom of the chest... ’Zhu’? Qi Xiu frowned slightly, noticing the inscription. But now isn’t the time to dwell on that. Seeing the first chest held such a surprise, Qi Xiu hastily opened the second one.

This is...

「...」

「Outside the county town.」

BANG!!!

The ground trembled violently as an extremely terrifying force caused an instantaneous collapse and fissures within a radius of tens of meters. The broken earth surged like a tidal wave, and billowing dust swept in all directions.

「Upon the devastated land.」

King Jincai, with only one arm remaining, gasped for air, one eyeball gouged out. His bloated body was riddled with over a dozen bowl-sized bloody holes, and strands of intestines spilled from the gaping wounds.

Jia Yufei and her companions were hardly faring any better. Of the three young men, only Zhao Da remained standing. The other two had collapsed; one was missing his lower body, the other both hands. They were exhaling more than inhaling, clearly close to death.

Zhao Shan’s entire body looked as if it had been doused in potent poison. Not a single patch of unbroken skin remained on his upper body. A massive tumor bulged on his back, something vaguely pulsating within it.

At this point, Jia Yufei was the only one relatively intact. However, her lower abdomen had been pierced by King Jincai’s long tongue; the white of her spine and her pulsing organs were faintly visible.

It was a Pyrrhic victory.

"Hehehe, you Human Cultivators aren’t so great after all. This round, I still win!" King Jincai let out a cold chuckle, a smug smile on his blood-soaked face.

"You win? Really? Can you even move?" Zhao Shan, completely disfigured and looking like an Evil Ghost, spoke coldly. He had clashed with King Jincai the most and knew the Great Demon was at the end of his tether; forget fighting, even walking a few steps was likely impossible for him.

"Hehehe, you fools! Don’t forget where we are! The moment I give the command, over a hundred Half-Demons in the city will swarm out and eat you alive!" With a cruel glint in his sole remaining eye, King Jincai mustered all his strength and croaked loudly.

"Not good! Miss, go first!" Zhao Shan urged, his expression changing. He knew they were all incapacitated and couldn’t face a hundred Half-Demons.

"But Mr. Zhao, you..." Jia Yufei began.

"Miss, have you forgotten what I told you?!"

"...Alright then." With a deep look at Zhao Shan, who was shielding her, Jia Yufei sighed softly. She forced herself to summon a streak of red light and quickly fled into the distance.

Glancing sideways to see Jia Yufei far in the distance, Zhao Shan sighed in relief. He then prepared to muster his last strength to perish together with the Demon before him.

"CROAK! CROAK! CROAK..."

"Shut your damn croaking! It’s annoying."

A palm slammed onto the back of King Jincai’s head as he was croaking loudly. Qi Xiu, sleeves rolled up, strolled leisurely onto the battlefield, which looked as if it had been bombarded by heavy artillery.

"Who are you?" King Jincai asked, groggily touching the back of his head and staring dumbly at the grim-faced man before him.

In response to the Demon’s question, Qi Xiu smiled gently. "Ever heard the saying, ’The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind’? I’m not particularly clever, but I happen to be that oriole. And another thing..."

His smile suddenly vanished. Qi Xiu swept his bamboo staff, and a streak of Sword Qi fiercely severed King Jincai’s legs.

"When you speak to me, you mongrel beast, kneel!"