CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: OVERWHELMING VICTORY

Baojiao County, a desolate suburb.

Chen Ku carried the giant beast with yellow fur and black stripes on his shoulders, waiting in a gully. Soon, he saw the Skinny Dog he had dispatched, returning with a Blood Blade clutched in its mouth.

"Found a blade?"

He watched as the Skinny Dog presented the blade to him.

He was about to instinctively reach out to check it.

However, the Skinny Dog immediately blocked him and shook its head.

Chen Ku’s expression grew curious.

"Is there a problem with this blade?"

He pondered for a moment and, with a gesture, turned the Skinny Dog into a wisp of white smoke that merged into his mind.

Suddenly, the scenes from what the Skinny Dog had seen and heard in the past two hours appeared in his mind.

It was as if he was taking a quick glance at flowers along the horse’s path, all displayed before him.

An Incarnation was essentially a product split from oneself.

Therefore, the Skinny Dog was no longer an average creature. After the incarnation, it retained Chen Ku’s human intelligence, lacking only the ability to speak.

When Chen Ku saw the memory of Ni Kun using innocent people’s blood to feed the blade, his heart shuddered, Is this actually a Demon Blade? A blade that could absorb blood.

No wonder the Skinny Dog didn’t let him touch it so readily.

He continued watching until he saw the leading constable shout out Ni Kun’s name and then engage in combat with him.

Ni Kun?

Chen Ku felt a chill in his heart. That tall figure with a pale face, is he Ni Kun, the major smuggler who has been wanted by the county over the past several months?

At the same time, he also saw the constable who was fighting with Ni Kun. His face was actually quite familiar.

Li Yuancheng, isn’t that my brother-in-law who works as a constable at the county government office? He possesses such skills? Was that gust of wind created by their clashing blades produced by Inner Qi?

Chen Ku immediately recognized the Li Yuancheng seen through the Skinny Dog’s eyes.

It was indeed his sister Chen Tian’s husband, Li Yuancheng.

Before coming to the county, his mother had reminded him to bring something occasionally to visit his sister and brother-in-law’s house, hoping they could take care of him.

However, Chen Ku had always felt it unnecessary.

This was mainly because his elder brother’s capture had strained the relationship between the two families, making him reluctant to visit and face rejection.

Yet, unexpectedly, he stumbled upon this scene tonight where his brother-in-law was leading a team to capture the great thief Ni Kun.

At the same time, he also heard Ni Kun’s mockery of his brother-in-law.

Since it was his brother-in-law, Chen Ku was, of course, aware of some of his past and origins.

His brother-in-law, Li Yuancheng, was recruited during the Daji Dynasty’s 140th year of conscription and sent to the Border Army. He served there for five years, collecting sixteen enemy heads and thus earning military merit.

Had it not been for an accident, it wouldn’t have been impossible for him to rise to Junior Colonel in the Border Army.

But in the end, he returned to Baojiao County.

Chen Ku vaguely recalled hearing the reason when he was ten. It seemed to involve an incident in the Border Army where Li Yuancheng caused a Colonel to lose an arm. The resentful Colonel then intentionally erased his military achievements and even nearly had him killed. Left with no choice, Li Yuancheng had to forsake his military honors to save his own life and returned to Baojiao County.

Because he had military experience and Martial Arts skills, he became a constable in the Yamen’s official ranks after returning to the county.

Within two years, he married Chen Ku’s sister. A few more years later, his martial prowess led to his promotion to Deputy Constable. However, this good fortune didn’t last. Soon after, due to the incident involving Chen Ku’s brother, Li Yuancheng was stripped of his Deputy Constable title and demoted back to an ordinary constable.

As for Chen Ku’s feelings towards this brother-in-law, since he had crossed over into this life without any interactions, he couldn’t say he felt anything, nor could he claim to have any affection for him at this point.

Yet, watching his brother-in-law eventually use Knockout Drug to stealthily take down Ni Kun, Chen Ku muttered to himself, Sure enough, one must be cunning in this world; such methods are indeed very effective. No matter how skilled in Martial Arts, one is still vulnerable to Poison.

If Ni Kun hadn’t used this underhanded tactic, he might have been captured.

In the end, watching the Skinny Dog dig up the Demon Blade from a Desolate Grave and bring it back to him, the memory ended...

Chen Ku looked down at the Demon Blade.

From the Skinny Dog’s perspective, it seems to have seen this blade absorbing Ni Kun’s blood as he was escaping, which is why Ni Kun had to temporarily bury it. Otherwise, even if he hadn’t been shot dead by an arrow, he would have been drained dry.

He carefully bent over and extended a finger to touch the Demon Blade.

Undeniably, this was a Divine Weapon.

It’s worth noting that the official blades of the government were standard-issue equipment of the Daji Dynasty, far surpassing the Weapons of many civilian forges and ordinary Martial Artists.

Consequently, this blade chopped through them in just a few strikes.

Additionally, it also had the characteristic of sucking blood.

Chen Ku couldn’t help but be both cautious and intrigued.

This was clearly a weapon with demonic traits; it was not guaranteed to be harmless to the wielder himself.

He cautiously touched the blade with his fingertip.

HUMMM~~

Instantly, the blade hummed, and Chen Ku saw strands of red, blood-like threads extending from the handle towards his finger and arm, intending to coil around them.

Accidentally, a thread pricked him like a needle, drawing a bead of blood, which was quickly absorbed by the thin thread!

"HISS!"

Chen Ku withdrew his finger as quick as lightning.

After he pulled his finger back, the blade again became like an inanimate object, with the bloody traces dimming and retracting.

Chen Ku’s expression changed slightly in shock, and he quickly checked his fingertip.

He found a red dot where the thread had pricked him. Apart from that, there seemed to be no other abnormalities. Just as Chen Ku’s expression turned grim...

[An Evil Blade seeks to harm its master. Suppress and kill it to gain Evil Qi.]

Chen Ku was slightly startled, then astounded.

The blade, it can be subjected to suppression and killing?

How could a weapon be subjected to suppression and killing?

The only thing he could think of was probably throwing it into a furnace to be melted down.

But if it truly could be subjected to suppression and killing, What could a blade offer him? Blood Blade Transformation?

Even though his mind had long indulged in boundless fantasies about the Transformation Diagram—after all, it bore the words "Infinite Transformations"—he still felt both shocked and skeptical when told it could transform into a blade.

After a moment’s contemplation, he asked inwardly with his mind’s voice, What does the ’Suppress’ in ’suppression and killing’ mean?

He had long pondered this: if it were merely killing, it should simply be called killing. Since it always mentions ’Suppress’ and kill, perhaps it means that some other abilities of the Transformation Diagram had not yet been discovered or realized by him?

Today, this Blood Blade seemed to offer a key opportunity.

In his Heart Sea, on the Transformation Diagram, script flowed downwards like dripping water:

[To suppress is to overpower; to suppress and overcome is to achieve suppression.]

Suppression?

Chen Ku seemed to have heard of this concept. When encountering malevolent qi, Evil Qi, or misfortune, one could wear special items to suppress evil spirits, such as Amulets, Peach Wood Swords, or Bagua Mirrors.

These items were known as objects of suppression, also known as the Suppressing Technique.

[Use Evil Qi to stop Evil Qi! Use Killing to stop Killing!]

[The Diagram Master can channel the Evil Qi in the diagram into a force of Suppression, to suppress the Blood Blade’s Evil Qi!]

Using Evil Qi to suppress Evil Qi...

Chen Ku was not dull. He understood the implications right away and looked towards the remaining strands of Evil Qi around the Transformation Diagram, Let’s try it.

[The Diagram Master chooses to use Yellow Ox Evil to suppress the Blood Blade’s Evil Qi...]

[Reminder: Yellow Ox Evil is common Wild Beast Level Evil Qi. It can only maintain a suppressing force for one day and night. After one day and night, the Yellow Ox Evil will dissipate, and the Blood Blade’s Evil Qi will resurface.]

As this line of text appeared on the Transformation Diagram, Chen Ku saw the Yellow Ox Evil he had slain within the diagram turn into a grey pattern. It flew out from his palm and landed on the Blood Blade before him, leaving behind a tiny, nail-sized black ox shadow.

Instantly, Chen Ku felt as if the Blood Blade no longer posed any threat at all.

Text then appeared on the Transformation Diagram.

[The Blood Blade’s Evil Qi has been suppressed by the Diagram Master for one day. Within this day, he can temporarily equip the Blood Blade’s Evil Qi to the Transformation Diagram. After one day, if no further suppression is applied, the Blood Blade’s Evil Qi will return to the blade and continue to devour its master.]

It really worked!

Chen Ku was excited; this was equivalent to using the life of an ox to draw a piece of Talisman Paper, and then temporarily suppressing the blade with it.

Considering he was involved in Butchery at the Butcher Court every day, killing at least five or six beasts daily, using just one ox’s Evil Qi could suppress it for a day. All he needed to do was renew it daily.

At this moment, Chen Ku only wanted to see...

What was the Blood Blade Transformation like?

[To equip the Blood Blade’s Evil Qi, the Skinny Dog Transformation must be unequipped.]

Without hesitation, Chen Ku grasped the Blood Blade and chose to equip it. Immediately, the blade in his hand lost all its brilliance, turning into a gush of blood-colored Sword Energy and crashing into the Transformation Diagram.

[Blood Blade Transformation! Transform!]

...