'Since I have Demon Points, I might as well use them.'
He added 11 points each to Strength, Constitution, and Agility.
[Gu Zheng]
[Realm: Alien Body - Mountain-Shaking]
[Strength: 47/99]
[Agility: 46/99]
[Constitution: 46/99]
[Spirit: 41/99]
[Divine Wondrous: 12.3]
[Demon Points: 7]
[Demon Techniques: Super-speed Self-healing, Spirit Capturing, Dark Vision, Triple Jump, Fire Manipulation]
[Equipment Effect: Bronze Elephant Body (Inactive), Nether Heart Slave Seal]
...
With his Constitution and Strength both over 40, Gu Zheng finally felt as if he could shake the very mountains.
His physical appearance hadn't changed much. However, his flesh, blood, and bones had all undergone a new tempering. His muscles weren't bulky, but streamlined, concealing explosive power. With just a little force, he could leave footprints on the Qingshi flagstones.
When he dodged and weaved, his nervous system reacted even faster than his brain could think. If his Spirit hadn't exceeded 40, he would have definitely slammed into a wall when trying to turn at high speeds. Of course, even if he did hit a wall, he would just smash right through it.
With this physique, Gu Zheng was confident he could go head-to-head with a first-tier Demon Fiend without even activating his Bronze Elephant Body.
...
The Demon Fiends in the county town were all but wiped out, but the surrounding areas still had more.
He handed the City Defense Bureau over to Guan Ai to manage temporarily.
Early the next morning, Gu Zheng left through the East City Gate to search for traces of Demon Fiends.
He first headed east for over ten li, sweeping north and south in a few circuits, and only found two massive, boar-like Demon Fiends.
'Perfect. I'll use these two Demon Fiends as a test.' He didn't activate his Bronze Elephant Body or use the Celestial Frost Blade. Relying solely on his Physical Strength, he quickly closed in on the Wild Boar Demon Fiend and rained punch after punch down on its head.
After ten punches, the first Wild Boar Demon Fiend's head burst open.
The second Wild Boar Demon Fiend tried to flee, but Gu Zheng caught up to it and similarly smashed its head to a pulp with a dozen or so punches.
Then he used Spirit Capturing to obtain their Bloodshed, netting a total of 4 Demon Points.
But he didn't get any Demon Techniques.
'Apparently, it's not enough Bloodshed.'
Undiscouraged, Gu Zheng circled back to the north of the county town and searched for over ten li, but found no Demon Fiends.
He rushed to the south, searched for another ten-plus li, and once again found two Wild Boar Demon Fiends. He killed them the same way, using only his Physical Strength to hammer them to death and smash their heads, obtaining their Bloodshed and 5 Demon Points.
It was still not enough to extract a Demon Technique.
He continued searching and found one dinosaur-like Demon Fiend and two bloated, corpulent ones.
This time, Gu Zheng channeled his Divine Wondrous power, releasing it to empower his Celestial Frost Blade. He slew all three Demon Fiends, reaping a total of 8 Demon Points.
Thus ended the first day of the cleanup operation.
On the second day, he left the city again, heading west to search for traces of Demon Fiends.
Great Dragon Mountain was located to the west of the county town. He swept through the area but didn't find a single Demon Fiend.
He did, however, find several carcasses of Wild Boar Demon Fiends.
However, the Bloodshed from the corpses was nowhere to be found. Their hearts and tails had also been cut off. Even their skulls had been cracked open and the marrow drained.
'Nangong Yaoyue and Yuan Qianjun did this!?'
Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow. After a moment's thought, he used his Fire Manipulation Technique, gathering the Fire Elements from the air to conjure flames and incinerate the Demon Fiend corpses.
He had already incinerated the bodies of the Demon Fiends he killed yesterday and the ones inside the city, just in case.
...
...
"HYAH!"
Hoofbeats thundered, kicking up clouds of dust.
East of Qingshi County Town, on the wide main road, a troop of over a hundred riders galloped at full speed. They weaved between the towering mountains and jagged peaks, rushing toward Qingshi County Town.
Every member of the troop wore Iron Armor, complete with helmets and faceplates. Their attire was pitch-black, as if it absorbed all light. On the chest of each breastplate was an emblem of the character for "Slay," which was utterly soul-stirring.
The horses they rode were large and powerful, with clearly visible muscles. Around their necks and near their hooves were patches of fine, fish-scale-like wrinkles.
As they advanced, not a single person in the troop spoke. The atmosphere was solemn and severe.
The troop only slowed to a halt when they reached the East City Gate of Qingshi County Town. The lead rider urged his horse forward, trotting up to the gate and shouting toward the top of the wall, "We are the Riding Patrol of the Demon Slayer Bureau! Open the gates!"
The top of the wall was silent.
After a long moment, two soldiers poked their heads out and shouted, "What Demon Slayer Bureau? Never heard of it!"
"..."
"Haha, so they really haven't heard our great name," Tao Liu, hearing the shout from within the troop, couldn't help but laugh. "The Prefecture Magistrate's Office is as slow as ever. We're already at the city gates, and the people here still don't know about the Demon Slayer Bureau."
"It seems their situation is pretty good. Not many have died," Wu Kun added.
"Isn't the real key the disappearance of the Domain?" An Xiaoxue frowned. "Our intel said a Domain had opened on Great Dragon Mountain, west of Qingshi County, and that it had been snowing nonstop in the entire county town for half a month. But as you can see now, the sun is shining in a clear, cloudless sky. Where's the snow? Let alone a Domain that has already erupted."
"We'll find out once we're inside," Chen Zhizhen said, urging his horse forward. He shouted across the distance, "Have Pang Qian Ding come out!"
The top of the wall fell silent again.
For a long moment, there was no reply.
"What's going on?" Wu Kun frowned. "Don't tell me that Captain, Pang Qian Ding, was killed by a Demon Fiend?"
The words had barely left his mouth when...
"Captain Pang is dead!"
A weak, breathless voice called down from the top of the wall.
"Well..."
Wu Kun was stunned and utterly speechless.
"Haha, Old Wu, you're amazing! A bullseye! Haha..." Tao Liu couldn't help but burst out laughing.
An Xiaoxue, at his side, was also at a loss for words.
Chen Zhizhen, however, frowned and called out sharply, "Xue, fly up there and open the gate from the inside."
"Yes!"
An Xiaoxue responded, leaping into the air. She stepped on the empty void as if walking on water, ascending step by step. Her armored skirt billowed as she crossed the dozen-zhang distance to the top of the wall.
"Oh no, it's a Humanoid Demon Fiend!"
The soldiers on the wall cried out in terror when they saw this.
"Quick, report to Lord Gu! A Humanoid Demon Fiend has gotten onto the wall!"
They shouted as they turned tail and fled.
"..." An Xiaoxue landed on the wall, her expression darkening.
'I'm a Demon Fiend now?'
"Lord Gu?"
Outside the city, Wu Kun's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Is there an official in Qingshi County with the surname Gu?"
"Don't know," Tao Liu shrugged. "Who cares? We'll find out which Lord Gu it is once we're inside."
As they spoke, An Xiaoxue had already leaped down from the wall and opened the sealed city gates from within.
...
...
"Another Wild Boar Demon corpse."
South of Great Dragon Mountain, in a deserted village, Gu Zheng looked at the Wild Boar Demon Fiend lying in a pool of blood, its heart, tail, and brain marrow all dug out. He raised an eyebrow.
'Nangong and the others sure work fast.'
After returning to the vicinity of Great Dragon Mountain, Gu Zheng hadn't encountered a single Demon Fiend.
Every time he followed a scent, he only found a corpse.
'Fine.'
Withdrawing his gaze from the Wild Boar Demon's corpse, Gu Zheng glanced around, used Fire Manipulation to ignite the body, and then started walking back toward the county town.
He had been out for three days this time without returning to the city to spend the night.
Gu Zheng had searched the entire area west of Great Dragon Mountain, and the Demon Fiends were almost completely cleared out.
Of course, the Demon Fiends outside Great Dragon Mountain had been taken care of by Nangong Yaoyue and her group.
Although they hadn't crossed paths again during their hunt.
...
「Back in the county town.」
Gu Zheng first went home to take a bath and change into clean clothes.
Afterward, he headed for the County Magistrate's Office.
But just as he stepped out the door, Tao Qi happened to come looking for him.
"Zheng, this is bad! Someone found out that you killed Pang Qian Ding!"