Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: The Cat Demon’s Killing Spree

Zhang Zhixuan had just sown the Jade Marrow Rice seeds when he saw a column of wolf smoke rising from the direction of Lushan County. This wolf smoke was a signal used by Lushan County to contact cultivators, indicating the appearance of a demonic beast. A single column of black wolf smoke meant the demonic beast had just awakened and was relatively easy to deal with; two columns meant the demonic beast had advanced to Rank 2; as for three columns—the Zhang Clan had never seen a Rank 3 demonic beast nearby in their hundreds of years in Lushan.Lushan and its vicinity are considered a well-developed inner region—there are no powerful demonic beasts here. Rank 3 or higher demonic beasts are only common in the Southern Wilderness, over a hundred thousand li away.Zhang Zhixuan put down his tools, took out his artifacts and spiritual talismans from his leather box, and quickly activated the protective formation—hiding the spiritual fields completely behind the mist. He used the Light Body Technique and hurried toward Lushan County.In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhang Zhixuan saw a crowd gathered at the county gate. The County Magistrate Zhang Menggong stood at the front, looking anxious. Zhang Menggong was over fifty years old, ranked sixteenth in the clan. Regrettably, his spiritual root aptitude was very poor, and he did not work hard at cultivation. Though he was quite old, his cultivation was very low—only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining. Thus, even though he was older and of higher seniority, he did not dare to put on airs in front of a young talent like Zhang Zhixuan. Within the clan, Zhang Zhixuan's status was far higher than Zhang Menggong's.When Zhang Menggong saw Zhang Zhixuan from a distance, he was overjoyed and exclaimed excitedly, "Nephew is here! Nephew, come quickly and see if this is a demonic beast attack!"With that, Zhang Menggong pulled Zhang Zhixuan into the city. After turning through several alleys, they entered a small courtyard near the city wall. A dozen armored warriors guarded the courtyard; the leader was Liu Hushan, the City Patrol Officer. Liu Hushan was not truly a cultivator—he had no spiritual roots. The Liu Family was a small clan in Lushan County, with fewer than a hundred members. Besides Liu Hushan, who had exceptional martial arts talent and advanced to the Innate Realm, the rest were ordinary commoners.Zhang Zhixuan hurried into the courtyard and immediately smelled a strong scent of blood. He examined the area carefully and found nine corpses in the courtyard—each had dozens of claw marks, and their chests were torn open, their hearts gone without a trace.Zhang Zhixuan took out a spiritual talisman, dipped a little of the blood from the ground on it, chanted an incantation under his breath, and tossed the talisman into the air, shouting, "Go!"This talisman was called a Guidance Talisman, far more effective than Earth's police dogs. The talisman hovered steadily in the air, rotated slightly, and flew toward the south of the city. Zhang Zhixuan and the others swarmed after it.In a moment, the talisman flew into a household and landed in a dilapidated small courtyard. Liu Hushan took the lead, kicking open the courtyard gate and rushing in. As soon as he entered, he heard a sharp whooshing sound—before he could react, a large cat over three chi long pounced at him, opening its mouth to bite his throat.Liu Hushan was shocked, too slow to dodge. "Duck!" he heard a shout from behind. He 猛地 lowered his head, and a green light shot from behind him—a one-chi-long green light sword with a sharp whooshing sound. In an instant, it passed over Liu Hushan's body and struck the giant cat's front paw. The light sword was extremely fast and sharp; with one strike, it cut off the giant cat's front paw.This light sword was none other than the Green Bamboo Sword—Zhang Zhixuan's artifact.The giant cat let out a loud howl, and a black light shot from its eyes toward Zhang Zhixuan. In the clan's Scripture Repository, Zhang Zhixuan had learned a little about demonic beasts. Demonic beasts cultivate using the lunar spiritual energy—the brighter the moon and stars, the stronger the lunar energy, and the more powerful the demonic beast. First-Rank demonic beasts have just absorbed lunar energy and awakened one innate spell; though they have sharp teeth and claws and are stronger than ordinary Innate Realm cultivators who know no spells, their methods are not as varied as Qi Refining cultivators. Facing a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator like Zhang Zhixuan, they have almost no chance of winning.Zhang Zhixuan moved his body, using the Light Body Technique to leap lightly onto the roof. Liu Hushan—who had just narrowly escaped death—saw the black light shoot toward his savior. He drew his sword and reached out to block it, hoping to stop the black light and save Zhang Zhixuan behind him. Regrettably, the black light turned sharply, bypassing his block and shooting straight at Liu Hushan. He was too slow to dodge and was hit by the black light—immediately falling to the ground, foaming at the mouth with a twisted face. In less than a moment, he had completely stopped breathing.Liu Hushan had low cultivation and no spiritual roots. Even though he had exceptional martial arts talent, after over thirty years of hard training, he had only reached the Second Layer of the Innate Realm. Such low cultivation could not withstand the demonic beast's innate spell at all. This black light was the cat demon's innate spell—the Soul Confusion Technique. Once it hit a target, it could damage the enemy's soul: at best, leaving the enemy with soul injuries and turning them into an idiot; at worst, killing them on the spot.Zhang Zhixuan had no time to save Liu Hushan. Seeing Liu Hushan fall victim, he hardened his heart and immediately summoned the Dharma Sword from his sleeve. A green light shot from the roof, striking directly at the cat demon in the courtyard. The cat demon's front paw had already been cut off by Zhang Zhixuan; it let out a terrified roar and struggled to leap aside, avoiding the first strike. Before it could feel lucky,the one-chi-long Dharma Sword pass a nimble arc, turning faster and striking the cat demon's body. Though this Dharma Sword was only Middle-Grade Second-Rank, the cat demon's rank was even lower—probably just having become a demonic beast, at Low-Grade Rank 1. Its physical body could not withstand the sharp Green Bamboo Sword; it was easily cut in half by Zhang Zhixuan.After killing the cat demon, Zhang Zhixuan immediately jumped down from the roof, then used the Dharma Sword to gouge out the cat demon's eyes, rinsing them several times with clean water. These eyes were the most precious material from the cat demon, capable of refining Low-Grade Rank 2 Spiritual Pills like the Soul Confusion Powder.After killing the cat demon, Zhang Menggong and the others gathered around the giant cat corpse, skinning it and removing its tendons—collecting all usable resources. The materials from a demonic beast are all good things for mortals: its flesh contains spiritual energy; even the flesh of a Low-Grade Rank 1 cat demon is slightly more effective than Jade Marrow Rice. The cat demon's fur can be made into armor—this low-rank inner armor is no longer useful to Zhang Zhixuan, but it is still a good defensive treasure for Innate Realm cultivators. Its four claws can be made into several flying claws—all Low-Grade Rank 1 magical artifacts, worth one or two Spirit Stones in total.After Zhang Menggong and the others collected the cat demon materials, they wandered around the courtyard for a while, inspected the situation, and confirmed, "It seems this is an old cat that became a demon. The Mid-Autumn Festival was just a few days ago—when the lunar energy was at its strongest. This old cat probably became a demonic beast that day. After becoming a demon, it killed its owner and tasted human flesh—then began killing wantonly. Today, you've gotten rid of it, Nephew."