Exorcism Incense Burner (Seeking votes from readers!)

For the sake of updating at 2 o’clock to get more votes for the Three Rivers ranking, I shamelessly delayed the release time… But I still think updating at 2 suits me better. After several rounds of writing in the morning, posting always feels a bit rushed…

Please vote for Three Rivers!

How to vote: Click “Three Rivers” on the navigation bar—claim your vote on the right of the page—find "Martial Heart" below, and cast your vote!

Everyone gets one vote every day. Thank you all!!

Special thanks again to fatfox911 and Zhesha for your daily support!!

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“Attack!” At Jiang Feng’s command, the four of them charged straight at the demon horde. Hong Cheng hefted his meteor hammer, and with a light swing, the massive spiked iron ball hurtled toward the leading minotaur demon. The minotaur raised its huge axe to block, but the other end of the meteor hammer, swift as a bolt of lightning, darted through the gap between axe and hammer, smashing squarely into the bull demon’s nose. A gigantic golden ring pierced its nostrils; with the blow, the ring and the nose caved in together. The minotaur howled in agony, blood spraying as it toppled backwards. Hong Cheng gave his wrist a twist; the hammer spun around and struck the same spot again from above! The minotaur’s weak point was its nose. It guarded this area fiercely, but Hong Cheng’s second strike was so precise, it hit dead on, sending darkness swimming before the demon’s eyes. Then came a third, a fourth blow—until, with a thunderous crack, the minotaur’s skull was smashed to pulp right from the front!

This minotaur was the same rank as the spider demoness; they were both extraordinarily strong and fast, a challenge even for seasoned soldiers. Yet Hong Cheng had crushed its head in a single encounter. The captain of the guard, watching from afar, stared with his mouth agape. Hong Cheng just grinned. “The first one’s mine!”

Ping Luanshan called out, “That’s just because your weapon gives you an edge—watch me!” Like a wisp of smoke, he darted into the demon ranks. As the demons tried to surround him, he slipped through their midst like a fish, from front to back in an instant. Golden light flashed repeatedly; several demons froze in place, then crashed to the ground. Ping Luanshan laughed heartily, waving a handful of demon cores that glittered in his palm. “Old Hong, how’s that?” As he spoke, he squeezed his hand, about to crush the cores.

Jiang Feng shouted, “Don’t smash the demon cores—bring them to me!”

“Got it!” Ping Luanshan leaped back and forth, and in the blink of an eye, he was behind Jiang Feng, handing him a fistful of demon cores. Jiang Feng instructed, “Remember, recover all the demon cores for me—I need them.” The three of them answered in unison and charged at the demons again, faces alight with youthful excitement and fearlessness.

Jiang Feng seemed in no hurry to join the fray. Instead, he lowered his head to study the demon cores in his hand, then crouched down and placed them on the ground. He fetched a pouch from nearby, selected some materials, and began to work.

The captain gradually realized what Jiang Feng was doing, and his surprise turned to delight. “Is he… an artificer?”

These three youths were far stronger than he’d imagined. In less than a quarter of an hour, they had wiped out the squad of more than thirty demons. Taking a deep breath, the captain temporarily left the battlefield to his subordinates and strode over. “Impressive. You’re much stronger than I expected—you might actually make a difference! But as for fighting the demons…”

Ping Luanshan cut him off, “Don’t worry, our teacher already told us before we came. Against demons, it’s kill or be killed—we’ll give it our all!”

The captain looked them over slowly, reading youthful pride on their faces. He nodded vigorously. “Good! Young men need tempering. You…”

He was about to assign them new tasks when Jiang Feng suddenly stood up. “Wait a moment, Captain, please take a look at this.”

The captain glanced at the object in Jiang Feng’s hand, seeing something that looked like a censer, half of it hollowed out, gold and black vapors wafting from the holes. Hesitantly, he asked, “Is this… an artifact?”

Jiang Feng nodded. “It’s a makeshift artifact I just crafted. It can dispel demonic energy, though I’m not sure how effective it is.”

The captain was stunned, then overjoyed. “Dispel demonic energy? You actually made such an artifact?!”

Jiang Feng cautioned, “I’m not sure how well it will work yet.”

The captain declared loudly, “No matter! If it does even a little, it’s a tremendous boon! What’s your name? If this works, I’ll be sure to have you credited for a great achievement!”

Jiang Feng gave his name, then asked in some confusion, “There’s something I don’t understand. Demonic miasma severely weakens martial artists’ strength. If we’re to fight demons, why aren’t such tools prepared in advance?”

The captain shook his head and sighed heavily. “You think we don’t want to prepare? It’s simply that there aren’t any to be had!” He explained briefly, and Jiang Feng suddenly understood. Artificers were exceedingly rare, their production capabilities limited, and only a handful of items were made each year. The Xuanji Continent, being close to the Northern Deserts where demons abounded, saw more anti-demon artifacts. On the Jiutian Continent, where demons were rare, most artificers focused on more expensive offensive or defensive artifacts; anti-demon tools or medicines were scarce. The demon lair in Taicang City was an unexpected event, and reinforcements from nearby were hard to muster, so anti-demon items were even less available.

The captain sighed again. “I hear the authorities are collecting supplies nearby, but nothing’s come through yet.” Then, his spirits lifted. Clutching the censer tightly, he declared, “I’ll send someone to test it right away. If it works, I’ll make sure your name is reported up the line!” He saluted Jiang Feng, then strode away.

Watching him go, Jiang Feng turned to Ping Luanshan and the others. “You heard him. This battle will be even harder than we thought. We must persevere!” The others nodded solemnly. Teng Zhi, usually taciturn, added quietly, “Yu Shui Prefecture is my home. Taicang City will not fall to the demons!”

All four youths were natives of Yu Shui Prefecture. They exchanged glances and shouted, “Let’s go!”

Before word came back from the captain, Jiang Feng joined the battle.

At the edge of the shadowy forest, he faced a group of over a dozen demons. They reeked, shouting in harsh, guttural voices, their words incomprehensible. Jiang Feng half-lowered his eyes and muttered, “So noisy.” Suddenly, he looked up, clapped his hands together, then pulled them apart!

On each hand, he wore artifact rings. A dazzling arc of lightning, sparking with countless tiny bolts, formed between his palms. The arc was so bright it was blinding to look at directly. Jiang Feng spread his hands, drawing the arc outward, then flung it straight at the demons!

The arc struck the first demon, making its eyes glaze over and its body convulse violently. A stray spark leapt to the second demon, which was likewise stunned, trembling uncontrollably. The third, the fourth, the fifth—one after another, all the demons in that patch of woods were caught by the arc, thrashing like ants on a hot pan and screaming hoarsely!

A few breaths later, the arc vanished, and all the demons collapsed. With a single move, Jiang Feng had cleared the entire grove! This was a modified version of his Falling Thunder Palm, amplified by the artifact from Hua Su, producing such astonishing results.

Nearby city guards stared in shock. Jiang Feng darted to a demon’s side, reached out to check, and said regretfully, “This move isn’t ideal—the demon core is shattered.” Not ideal…the core is shattered… These young people nowadays…

At that moment, Ping Luanshan called out from afar, “Old Jiang, you’re amazing! But I’m not far behind—I’ve already slain twenty-eight demons!” Hong Cheng laughed, “You’re still keeping count?” Ping Luanshan grinned, “Of course! The faster I am, the more I kill—that’s my one advantage!”

Just then, Hong Cheng’s meteor hammer flew out, striking a demon. The hammer, glowing with golden light, carried the demon into the air and smashed it into another, then another, until a dozen or so demons were crushed together in a heap!

Hong Cheng laughed, “Come on, count them—how many is that?” Ping Luanshan’s eyes nearly popped out. “Ten…fourteen! Hah, watch me!” Teng Zhi, silent as ever, said nothing, but his long blade flashed, cutting demons to pieces no slower than the others.

Even the captain was left speechless. “Youngsters these days…honestly…”

The mood in the woods seemed transformed by these four youths; the city guards were suddenly full of fighting spirit. The captain shouted, “Are you going to let these civilian boys beat you?”

“Never!” the soldiers roared in unison.

“Then get in there!”

It turned out Jiang Feng’s demon-repelling censer worked, though it had some minor flaws. Once the captain reported back, Jiang Feng quickly found ways to improve it. At last, a second artifact appeared in his treasure log.

Jiang Feng discovered that the log not only recorded his achievements, but also verified whether an artifact was successfully crafted. The new demon-repelling censer could clear demonic miasma within a fifty-meter radius—a limited range, but the crafting difficulty was low. Afterward, Jiang Feng withdrew from the fighting and focused on making censers as quickly as he could. When materials ran out, the captain sent people to fetch more.

Fifty meters, seventy meters, a hundred meters—Jiang Feng kept refining his technique, expanding the range. The censer not only dispelled miasma so the soldiers weren’t affected, but could purge miasma that had already seeped into the body within ten meters.

The captain’s joy grew with each improvement. He said little, but clapped Jiang Feng heavily on the shoulder, clearly taking everything to heart.

The area the captain had been defending was the weak point of the city’s eastern demon lair, but with Jiang Feng and his friends, it became an impregnable stronghold.

Two hours later, Ping Luanshan and the others were about to fall back for a breather when a tremendous surge rippled out from the depths of the woods, shaking them to the core.

“What happened?”
“The demons—they’re gone!”

Sure enough, where demons had been pouring from the forest, now there was nothing. They finished off the last group around them, but no new foes appeared. A tense silence settled over them, but it brought no comfort.

Everyone could feel it—a suffocating pressure radiating from the heart of the woods, as if a storm was about to break.

[Sanqi Chinese Mobile Edition]