Miss Lei seemed to have guessed Ji Qing's thoughts. She said calmly, "My appearance must be a joke to you, Young Master. However, this is the result of my Sect's Martial Arts. Everyone in my Sect is like this."
Ji Qing nodded. It seemed Lei Yu's Sect was quite special. However, what Lei Yu looked like had nothing to do with him.
"What about the Inner Strength?"
Lei Yu directly tossed over a booklet. "I cannot give you my Sect's Martial Arts. This is an Inner Strength manual I acquired while traveling the Martial World. Although it is Third-class, it is an Upper Third-class Inner Strength. The Purity of the Inner Power yielded through Cultivation is extremely high. It couldn't be more suitable for building a foundation."
Ji Qing glanced at the Inner Strength manual. The cover bore three large characters: "Pure Essence Skill."
He casually flipped through it.
The greatest characteristic of the Pure Essence Skill was that the Inner Power produced through Cultivation was exceptionally pure. Even Ji Qing's Supreme Yang Inner Power was probably no match for the Purity of the Inner Power cultivated from the Pure Essence Skill. This was indeed an Upper Inner Strength for building a solid foundation.
The only flaw of this type of Inner Strength was that it was too moderate and peaceful, making Cultivation far too slow. But this flaw had absolutely no impact on Ji Qing. He had Source Points. As long as he learned the basics of the Pure Essence Skill, he could directly elevate it to Perfection.
Inner Strength Cultivation required a certain amount of time to get started. Naturally, Ji Qing couldn't begin his Cultivation right now. He was currently a "hired hand." Since he accepted her payment, he had to eliminate her disaster. Having taken the Inner Strength manual, he needed to ensure Lei Yu was satisfied.
"Miss Lei, what do you need me to do?"
"Young Master Ji, I need you to confirm one thing: Was the massacre of my Lei Family truly exactly the same as the massacre of your Ji Residence?"
"Take me to the Lei Residence."
Lei Yu immediately led Ji Qing into the Lei Family Fort. The population of this fort was quite large. Ji Qing even saw several villagers greeting Lei Yu. They clearly knew her.
Soon, the two arrived at a desolate courtyard. The area outside the main gates was already overgrown with weeds. Lei Yu pushed open the doors and led Ji Qing inside.
The courtyard was covered in weeds as well.
"All sixty-eight members of my Lei Residence died!" Lei Yu said through gritted teeth.
Ji Qing walked briskly into the house. He spotted some mottled bloodstains on the walls. Because a long time had passed, the bloodstains had turned black.
BUZZ.
Suddenly, the Demon Monster Record in Ji Qing's mind vibrated slightly.
Ji Qing understood the Demon Monster Record very well. A vibration of this magnitude meant there was a trace of demonic aura nearby. If there was a demonic aura, that meant... there was a demon! Or, there used to be a demon!
Ji Qing mentally opened the Demon Monster Record. He realized the vibration was coming from the first page, which was the page of the Painted Skin Demon! The conclusion was obvious. The Painted Skin Demon! The entire Lei Residence had been slaughtered by the Painted Skin Demon!
SWISH.
Ji Qing opened his eyes.
"That's right. The Painted Skin Demon. I've finally found your tracks..."
Lei Yu's eyes widened. "Young Master Ji, what did you just say?"
"Miss Lei, there is no mistake. The entire Lei Family was likely wiped out by the Painted Skin Demon! This is practically identical to the massacre of the Ji Residence. I could smell the Painted Skin Demon's aura with my eyes closed. There is no mistake."
"The Painted Skin Demon?" Lei Yu nearly shattered her teeth from gritting them so hard. "The Painted Skin Demon excels at Concealment of its aura. It has many clones and a cunning temperament. Back then, I only managed to kill a few of its clones; the true body of the Painted Skin Demon vanished without a trace."
Lei Yu obviously believed Ji Qing's judgment. She was no ordinary person, so she naturally knew that demons existed in this world. When the Lei Family was massacred, Lei Yu had felt something was highly unusual. It didn't seem like human doing, but she couldn't be certain.
Now that Ji Qing had arrived, he confirmed that the Painted Skin Demon was the culprit!
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Ji Qing's ears twitched slightly. He heard a burst of footsteps outside. Lei Yu clearly heard them too. The two exchanged a glance and immediately hid in a corner of the room.
Outside the Lei Residence, a man and a woman dressed as Wandering Sorcerers arrived at the front door.
"The aura extends all the way here. This must be the place."
"This courtyard seems abandoned? Let's go in and take a look."
Holding a Compass, the two walked into the Lei Residence courtyard. The Compass pointed toward a room, and the two cautiously stepped inside.
CLANG.
A dazzling Blade Light slashed through the pitch-black room.
The two carrying the Compass couldn't help but blink. But in the span of that blink, the man's heart frantically screamed in warning, sensing extreme danger.
Forcing his eyes open, the man saw a magnificent Blade Light, exquisitely beautiful. Yet this magnificent Blade Light instantly arrived right in front of his face. The Blade Light was indeed beautiful, but it was also deadly!
"Oh no!"
The man immediately bit his finger, drew a talisman in the air, and shouted, "Golden Radiance Body Protection!"
BUZZ.
A golden light appeared on both of them without warning. At the same time, the Blade Light vanished. The sharp blade pressed against the man's neck, but it was blocked by a thin layer of golden light and could not advance any further.
Ji Qing furrowed his brows. The Inner Power inside his body erupted once more. Unfortunately, no matter how much Inner Power he unleashed, he couldn't shatter the golden light surrounding the man.
"It's useless. What I'm using is a Demon Extermination Technique, not Martial Arts. Your ordinary Martial World Martial Arts are useless against us..."
As soon as the man finished speaking, Lei Yu's voice rang out.
"Let me!"
She darted out from the darkness in a single stride. Her massive frame resembled a mountain of flesh, yet right now she appeared incredibly agile, charging madly at the man.
BOOM.
Lei Yu slammed viciously into the man. Even though he was protected by a layer of golden light, he couldn't withstand her impact. He was sent flying and crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Brother..." The young woman's reaction was much slower. Finally coming to her senses, she hurriedly ran over to support the man.
SPURT.
The man spat out a mouthful of blood. As for the layer of golden light on his body, it had long since vanished.
It seemed the man's so-called Demon Extermination Technique wasn't that miraculous after all. It was broken by a single tackle from Lei Yu.
"A Second-class Martial Artist... Stop! We are not from the Martial World, we are Demon Exterminators! Martial World grudges have nothing to do with us!" the man shouted loudly, causing Lei Yu to finally stop.
Ji Qing and Lei Yu walked out. He glanced at Lei Yu beside him. He truly didn't expect that she would be so violent once she took action. Just that single tackle—if he had taken that hit, he would be dead or crippled.
Lei Yu was actually a Second-class Martial Artist? And an exceptionally strong one among Second-class Martial Artists at that!
"Did you just say you were Demon Exterminators?" Ji Qing asked.
"Yes, we are Demon Exterminators from Jiangzhou, here Tracking a demon. I am Chen Luo, and this is my younger sister, Chen Lin."
"Demon Exterminators... There are indeed rumors of Demon Exterminators in the Martial World. But those Demon Exterminators are all elusive and highly skilled. Do you two even count as Demon Exterminators?" Lei Yu sneered. Having traveled the Martial World for many years, she was a seasoned veteran. Her knowledge and experience were far richer than Ji Qing's. If the young man and woman before them wanted to spin lies to bluff their way out, it wouldn't be so easy.
"It truly is a disgrace! To tell you the truth, my sister and I caused a massive disaster and accidentally released a Blood Demon suppressed by our family. To redeem ourselves, even though we haven't yet reached the required strength to travel and exorcise demons, we had no choice but to come out and hunt down the Blood Demon," Chen Luo explained earnestly.
"A Blood Demon? Not the Painted Skin Demon?" Ji Qing suddenly asked.