CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 87 HUNDRED MILES

Chen Ku severed the Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture, a First Realm Demonic Being Level creature, with a single slash, eliciting gasps of amazement and admiration from the Apprentices within the Butcher Court. This was especially true for those senior and junior brothers from Workshop Three and Workshop Six who had worked alongside Chen Ku before.

Qin Sheng looked at the Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture. One of its claws was chained in the cage, and it was still flapping on the spot even after its neck had been cut. Despite being a bird demon and restricted, unable to take flight, it was, after all, a First Realm demon.

He hasn’t even cultivated Inner Qi, yet he can... participate in slaughtering a First Realm demon, killing a bird demon as if it’s a chicken. Qin Sheng wondered silently, Junior Brother Chen? Could he already battle an internal qi expert?

The autumn wind swept through the courtyard, ruffling Chen Ku’s hair. He paid no attention to the others’ stares and exclamations. After killing the Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture, he stepped back slightly, squatted down, and began to dissect the body with his skilled bladesmanship. The key parts of this White Jade Eagle’s body had long been etched into his mind, thanks to Master Ke’s reminders. As a large eagle, its most precious feature was its eyes. Being a demon, its vision was several times sharper than that of ordinary birds of prey, so its eyeballs, containing the essence of Demonic Qi, were valuable for medicine. Also precious were its Demon Meat and several white tail feathers from its tail, which were as tough as swords and blades—rigid enough to be ground and incorporated into medicine.

Chen Ku first plucked a dozen small, dagger-like white tail feathers, then proceeded with the dissection. With his current mastery of Feng Guang’s Great Achievement Blade Technique, he wielded the sharp boning knife in his hand like a whirling sphere of blades, finishing the job in no time. In just a dozen breaths, a neat array of Demon Meat, the sculpture’s eyes, innards, feathers, and demon blood were arranged on the rosewood table beside him.

"He’s really efficient," Ke Yansheng and Yan Hairu, another master responsible for slaughtering demons in the Butcher Court, watched from not too far away, both impressed. Ke Yansheng had thought that Chen Ku, even if endowed with Divine Power, would still face some danger when confronting a demon comparable to internal qi experts. To his surprise, however, the boy didn’t seem to care at all, working with clean, efficient movements and demonstrating astonishing strength.

Master Yan Hairu, who possessed a Second Realm Mystic Barrier cultivation and whose Inner Qi was coursing strongly, now had a smile on his face, much like Ke. "Good, at last, the court has a Disciple who can help share this old man’s burden."

Usually, the task of dealing with the demon-level Demon Beasts in the court fell to him, the full-time slaughtering master, except for the occasionally troublesome ones personally handled by Grandmaster Shang. Now... it seemed he could finally find some time to relax amidst his busy schedule.

"Don’t get your hopes up," Ke Yansheng said. Perhaps seeing something special in Chen Ku, his words were sarcastic and didn’t mince words. "He’s just been accepted as a Disciple by the two grandmasters; his status is on par with yours and mine now. From now on, he’ll virtually be the leading figure in the court. You think he’d be your assistant? Do you even qualify?"

Yan Hairu chuckled, strolling away with his hands clasped behind his back, leaving a comment, "But the kid’s willing to do it."

Indeed, Chen Ku was more than willing.

After finishing the slaughter, Chen Ku shook the blood from his hands and spoke gently to Qin Sheng and the other Apprentice brothers, "Alright, the butchering of this demon is finished. The rest is up to you all to grind and use in medicine. I’m going to wash up." Then he took off his apron and went to the bathhouse.

After a quick wash in the bathhouse, he deactivated Feng Guangbian. He then took the fresh, steaming Evil Qi of the Golden-eyed White Jade Sculpture and hung it on the Third Transformation Diagram.

[Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture Transformation! Transform!]

[Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture: Height nine feet, wingspan ten feet, white feathers sharp as swords, a pair of Golden Eyes able to see as far as a Hundred Miles. Soaring in the sky, a single flap of its wings covers seventy yards in an instant, and it is capable of flying three thousand miles in a single day... Possesses one hundred-millionth of the Bloodline of the ancient Sky-dropping Divine Eagle.]

[Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture · Shape Shifting]

[Shape Shifting Part: Golden Eyes (Can see for a Hundred Miles)]

Although he hadn’t acquired the Power of Demonic Qi that could augment his physique through Shape Shifting, Chen Ku was thrilled by the Golden Eyes’ vision he had acquired from the Golden-eyed White Feathered Sculpture. Able to see for a Hundred Miles! Isn’t this just a scaled-down ’Clairvoyance’?

He immediately dried himself, dressed, and left the bathhouse to look outside.

At that moment in the courtyard, all the Apprentices in the Butcher Court were busy: some were drying herbs, some were grinding ingredients, and others were slaughtering beasts—everyone was diligently occupied.

Under Chen Ku’s gaze, it felt as if the whole world had grown quiet. He could now distinctly see Qin Sheng inside Workshop Three dissecting a musk deer; the compound eyes of a few flies on the meat appeared magnified more than tenfold. Turning his head, he looked at the herbs drying in the courtyard. The textures of each medicinal plant were magnified hundreds of times in his vision, revealing their cut surfaces and tiny aphids that looked as large as washbasins. It was as though the entire world had been magnified a hundred times through his eyes. Most importantly, this vision could switch between near and far focus at will.

To test just how far he could actually see, whether it was truly a Hundred Miles, he specifically left Medicine King Hall. Out on the street, he found a small three- or four-story building. With a few quick steps, he leaped to the roof and stood there, looking towards the other end of the county town where the view was unobstructed. That area was the poor district, lacking tall buildings. Thus, with a single glance, Chen Ku’s vision reached the City Defense Forces Ten Li away on the walls of Baojiao County, standing like lances in the watchtowers.