0095 Demon-Slaying Martial Arts

This was the first matter, and Wen Liangji listened with a face grown cold and grave.

The demons hiding themselves in secrecy was one thing; colluding with humans was another altogether!

If someone had truly sent Jiang Huaiming there, how had that person learned of Huang Gui’s existence? Did he know Huang Gui was a demon?

This matter was indeed worth a careful investigation.

The second matter was even more serious.

Jiang Feng omitted the beginning and end of the affair, and recounted to Wen Liangji the last words Huang Gui had spoken.

Wen Liangji’s expression changed drastically. He gripped Jiang Feng by the shoulder and asked, “Are you certain? You didn’t mishear?”

Jiang Feng said with absolute conviction, “I heard it clearly, not a single word was wrong!”

Wen Liangji could no longer stand still. He paced back and forth, saying as he walked, “So, there is a powerful being on the demon side, trying to open a passage from the Great Wasteland directly to the Nine Heavens Continent? And it is already nearly complete?”

Jiang Feng said cautiously, “I think the demon nest in Tai Cang City this time was a test.”

Wen Liangji drew in a deep breath. After a long silence, he said, “What you say makes sense...”

The two looked at each other, and the same thought flashed through both their minds.

If the demons’ scheme could be realized, then the chaos of the Nine Heavens would return!

Back then, Chong Qianfan had forced his way into the Great Wasteland alone, sealed the passage, and brought the turmoil to an end. But now, where could they find another genius of such astonishing brilliance and unmatched might?

Wen Liangji remained silent for a long time. Jiang Feng asked, “Will you inform the provincial office about this?”

Wen Liangji slowly shook his head. “No... at least not now. Right now everyone in Tai Cang City is doing everything they can to deal with the demon nest incident. Lou Hanmo is not someone who can bear heavy pressure. If we make this public now, it will only cause needless panic. Still, this matter must not be neglected. We have to find out the truth as soon as possible!”

He composed himself and thanked Jiang Feng solemnly. Jiang Feng took the opportunity to learn the current situation in Tai Cang City.

The city’s condition was even worse than what he had seen before he came.

There were twelve demon nests in total. The one near Thousand Lions Bridge that he had seen was only one of them.

As the prefectural capital of Yushui Province, Tai Cang City possessed only two prefectural-level magical artifacts and four county-level ones, far fewer than the number of demon nests.

The city had nearly half a million residents. The proportion of martial cultivators was the highest in the surrounding area, yet there were still only about three thousand.

The demon nests had only just opened and were not fully formed yet. But if all twelve began to unleash demons, death and injury would be unavoidable; perhaps the entire city of Tai Cang would turn into a river of blood.

Even more terrifying was that, according to his and Officer Wang’s judgment, the demonic aura fluctuations of these twelve demon nests were far stronger than expected. In other words, these numerous and weaker demons were only the first wave; even stronger demons would follow!

There was no news of reinforcements, and strong experts could not arrive anytime soon. As time passed, Tai Cang City would only become more dangerous.

Jiang Feng’s mood grew exceedingly heavy as he listened. He asked in a low voice, “Then what should we do now?”

Wen Liangji took a deep breath. “Only prepare for battle with all our strength!”

...

...

When Jiang Feng returned to Thousand Lions Bridge, the first wave of the demons’ offensive had already been temporarily repelled, yet the demonic energy from the Long River demon nest had not weakened at all; if anything, it was even denser.

Jiang Feng met up with Ping Luanshan and the others, and together they returned to the small courtyard.

This wave of attacks had not been especially difficult for the city defense army to withstand. Ping Luanshan and the others had obediently followed Jiang Feng’s instructions and had not lifted a hand from beginning to end.

After witnessing the city defense army in battle, they were all especially excited, but on the way back, influenced by Jiang Feng, the mood gradually turned solemn.

When they reached the practice field beside the courtyard, Hua Su was standing with his back to them, bent over and examining something.

Hearing them enter, he said without turning around, “Come and try these things.”

When the few of them went over to look, they all cried out at once, “Cultivation-grade magical artifacts!”

Three weapons lay before Hua Su. They did not shine with dazzling light; instead, they were covered in rust, as though they had been stored for a very long time. They were marked with countless deep-black stains that Jiang Feng knew at a glance were demon blood that could not be washed away.

Though they looked utterly unremarkable, anyone who laid eyes on them could feel a cold, oppressive aura rising from them. It was a blend of murderous intent and resentment, the accumulation of countless lives!

Hua Su nodded toward them. “Ping Luanshan, you already have a weapon. Jiang Feng, the three of you each choose one.”

Hong Cheng was so excited he nearly stammered. “For... for us?!”

Teng Zhi, however, was more alert. “Teacher Hua, do you mean... we’ll have to use them in battle right away?”

Hua Su shot him a glance. “What, after going out there once, you still haven’t awakened to reality?”

Ping Luanshan said, “But the city defense army seemed to handle it pretty easily. There shouldn’t be much danger, right?”

Teng Zhi thought a little more deeply than he did. He shook his head. “No. There are twelve demon nests in total, and we have only seen one. If one already requires such a huge deployment, how are we supposed to split our forces for the other eleven?”

Jiang Feng nodded. “Teng Zhi is right. I also heard some news when I went to the provincial office.”

He relayed Wen Liangji’s words to everyone. The expressions on the three of them grew more and more shocked as they listened, while Hua Su remained calm as ever.

Jiang Feng asked, “Teacher Hua, you sensed these things too, didn’t you?”

Hua Su nodded. “Wen Liangji was right. I went out to take a look earlier as well, and the situation with the demon nests is exactly as he said. This is only the first batch of demons. The farther it goes, the worse it will become. So...”

Teng Zhi lowered his head, picked up a great saber, and said, “I’ll take this one!”

Hong Cheng lifted a massive meteor hammer and swung it in his hand. “This one will be incredibly satisfying to use.”

What was left for Jiang Feng in the end were two objects resembling iron rings for his fingers. They felt heavy in his hand, yet when he slipped them onto his fingers, they fit with perfect precision. He clenched a fist, and a brilliant flash of lightning instantly streaked across the open ground, followed by a thunderous crack!

These two iron rings were practically tailor-made for his Lightning Fall Palm!

Hua Su’s gaze swept over them one by one. “There are ten days left until the grand examination. I don’t know what changes may come in these ten days, but no matter what, you must be prepared to fight. For these ten days, we begin with practical combat training.”

The four of them answered in unison, “Yes!”

...

...

Hua Su came from humble origins and had no background; naturally, he could not have obtained any profound martial techniques.

But he had been tempered in the Imperial Demon Army for decades, rising from a mere soldier to a thousand-man commander, and his experience fighting demons was astonishingly rich.

After each person chose their weapon, he forged a simple set of martial techniques for everyone except Jiang Feng.

They were called martial techniques, but in truth they were merely combinations of a few simple movements. They were not exquisite, but they were highly practical.

Jiang Feng already had the Lightning Fall Palm. After being refined by the Celestial Mechanism Magic Cube, that technique had become simple and powerful, and Hua Su praised it highly.

When Hua Su was teaching the other three, Jiang Feng did not go off to cultivate alone; instead, he stood to the side and listened.

They were all extremely focused and did not notice that faint streaks of golden light kept flowing through Jiang Feng’s eyes, as if his mind were operating at extraordinary speed.

That night, Jiang Feng sat cross-legged in his room. A pale moonbeam fell straight down through the roof, enveloping him in a halo of light.

The Heavenly Heart Seed spun rapidly, the Celestial Mechanism Magic Cube rose and fell, and the movements of Hua Su and the other three were broken down into countless images, circling around the cube and freezing from time to time, while streams of data shot into one of the tiny blocks.

The rabbit crouched on the bedside table, its scarlet eyes fixed on him. The white shadow, Ye Xiao, stood beside it, gazing at him as well.

Suddenly, Ye Xiao drifted before him and lightly tapped a finger. A speck of golden light entered from his forehead, carrying crackling electricity as it shot into the Celestial Mechanism Magic Cube.

In an instant, the images around the cube changed.

Demons, demons, and more demons.

Great numbers of demons appeared in the images, fighting with all their might, sometimes tearing the person before them in half, sometimes being chopped to pieces by others.

The images flashed continuously. These demons came in all ranks and races, with different abilities and different methods of battle, yet they still shared certain common features.

The combat data of countless demons merged into the Celestial Mechanism Magic Cube, driving it to spin even faster.

The moonlight slowly shifted, then gradually faded. Midnight passed, and dawn came.

When the sun had fully risen, Jiang Feng suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of brilliant light passed through them, then returned to normal.

He pulled over a sheet of paper, ground the ink while steadying his mind, and then quickly began to write and sketch.

One movement after another, with key points annotated beside them; on the human figures, fine lines indicated the flow of strength through the meridians.

One man wielded a great saber, one a hammer, one a willow-leaf blade, and one wore an iron ring on each hand, lightning flashing in the midst of his movements.

Jiang Feng spent the entire night refining all four of their martial techniques, including the Lightning Fall Palm.

The information Ye Xiao had added contained a vast amount of demon data, and the Celestial Mechanism Magic Cube had further adjusted it from there.

Now these four new martial techniques had all been improved and strengthened. Most importantly, they were all designed specifically for use against demons.

In other words, if the enemy were demons, their power would be even greater!

Soon, the thick stack of paper prepared in advance was covered with ink. The rabbit obediently hopped over and blew gently, drying the ink in an instant.

After Jiang Feng finished the final movement, he set down his brush and smiled.

His eyes shone with a sharp light as he murmured, “Come then, demons. Let me show you the might of humankind!”

His gaze shifted to the side, toward the white shadow of Ye Xiao.

When the Celestial Mechanism Magic Cube was operating, he remained conscious of what was happening.

He remembered every detail of the information Ye Xiao had added.

The white shadow was still hazy, but Ye Xiao’s outline was much clearer than before, revealing faint traces of an uncommon elegance and handsome refinement.

Jiang Feng reached out and touched Ye Xiao’s face, but his fingers passed through the white shadow. He murmured, “So you too fought your way back from the demon battlefield...”