Jiang Yuechu's consciousness sank into an endless darkness.
[Year one, you were born. You were a weak cub in South Mountain, abandoned by your mother in a mountain stream. Had it not been for a mountain flood that carried you downstream, you would have been food for other wild beasts.]
[Year two, you had already mastered hunting and gradually survived in South Mountain.]
[Year five, you encountered a monster covered in long white fur. He sat under a waterfall, holding a scroll. You were hungry and wanted to eat him, but you ended up getting beaten.]
[Year six, you lay beside the monster, watching him read. He didn't chase you away and occasionally threw you leftover peaches. You learned his name, White Ape Duke.]
[Year seven, you followed the White Ape to learn to read. Your claws were too big to hold a brush, often tearing through the bamboo slips. The White Ape was very patient. It said, 'All things can be a brush, and heaven and earth are also an essay.']
[Year eight, you learned three hundred characters. The White Ape was very happy and told you stories. It said, 'When heaven and earth first opened, pure Qi ascended, turbid Qi descended. Humans are the spirits of all things, and Demons are the filth of heaven and earth.']
[Year ten, you could already read on your own. You loved reading wuxia novels, especially descriptions of blades—one slash could sever a river, another could split a mountain.]
[Year fifteen, the White Ape Duke began to teach you other things. He said, 'Demons shouldn't only know slaughter; otherwise, how are they different from wild beasts? The reason humans are human is because they understand propriety and shame.' You thought what he said was nonsense. The White Ape Duke was so angry he knocked your head with a scroll for three days.]
[Year twenty, you severed the flow of South Mountain Waterfall with a single blade. The White Ape Duke clapped his hands and laughed by the shore. You sheathed your blade and watched the rushing waterfall split by your single strike, feeling elation for the first time.]
[Year twenty-five, you began to feel restless. Daily blade practice, reading, listening to the old ape's reason; you felt this mountain was too small.]
[Year thirty, your blade technique reached Major Achievement. The White Ape Duke asked you, 'Is there anything this overbearing blade cannot cut?' You shook your head confidently.]
[Year thirty-five, you met a girl gathering herbs on the mountain. She didn't flee from you and even shared half a cake with you. You found it strange and didn't eat the cake.]
[Year thirty-nine, the girl never came back up the mountain. You heard from the Demons at the foot of the mountain that she was married to a rich man and was beaten to death within half a year. You took your blade down the mountain.]
[Year forty-five, the White Ape Duke was leaving. He sat beside you, chattering on about many things. You asked him where he was going. He smiled without speaking.]
[Year fifty, you stood atop South Mountain, overlooking the human world. The wind blew, and you felt it was time for you to descend the mountain too.]
...Consciousness returned.
A crimson dot appeared out of thin air.
Like a drop of blood in water, it violently spread from the tiger's pupil!
[Consumed one hundred and two years of Dao Cultivation, Tiger Mountain God's progress has reached Crimson Dyeing.]
Crimson dye entered the painting, and flesh was reborn.
On the scroll, the outline of the fierce tiger was rapidly filled in again.
[Successfully dyed the Tiger Mountain God crimson, obtaining a Demon's bestowal.]
[Fierce Tiger Quick Blade (Supreme)]
[Talent: Yin Method Heaven Bestowal (The Tiger Mountain God favors blades, and all its lifelong learning lies herein. Blade technique cultivation speed and power are both enhanced.)]
[Divine Ability: Tiger Fiend Blood Boil (This is one of the Tiger Mountain God's innate Divine Abilities; it can consume one's own Qi and blood to instantly recover from injuries.)]
The characters slowly faded.
Jiang Yuechu lowered her head, looking at the three deep, bone-visible claw marks on her abdomen.
Flesh was torn open, bleeding profusely.
Her mind stirred.
Tiger Fiend Blood Boil.
A burning sensation surged through her limbs and bones, her Qi and blood churned, as if about to boil and ignite.
The wound on her abdomen visibly wriggled.In just a few breaths, the hideous wound was reduced to three faint red marks.
Jiang Yuechu gripped the blade.
An indescribable change arose.
This feeling, those who understand, understand; no need to elaborate.
All this, though it sounds long, happened in an instant.
In the eyes of Chen Qingyuan and the others, this Demon Suppression Division lord merely swayed after enduring a fatal blow.
But the Green Robe Wolf Demon saw it clearly.
It had used its full strength in that claw strike just now.
This woman was clearly severely injured!But why... did her injuries recover just by her closing and opening her eyes?!
"You...Are you... human or Demon?!"The Green Robe Wolf Demon's face was filled with terror, and it actually took a step back in fright.
Everyone hadn't yet understood what the wolf Demon meant.
But then, a pair of small hands pushed aside Chen Qingyuan, who was standing at the very front.
Chen Qingyuan turned back, stunned. "Lord... you..."This Demon Suppression Division lord had clearly been severely injured just now.
But now... everyone hadn't reacted yet.
They saw Jiang Yuechu, blade in hand, charging like the wind towards the now terrified wolf Demon!At this moment, Fierce Tiger Quick Blade was unleashed again.
The wind rose before the blade arrived.
A tiger's roar, as if from the Nine Heavens, reverberated through the forest!
The Green Robe Wolf Demon's face turned green with fright.
Its legs trembled.
Its tongue lolled out.
How is this possible!
Why is this blade strike even three parts fiercer than before?!
If I'd known you had this strength earlier, I would've run away ages ago?!
You just had to pretend, didn't you!
Such a sinister mind!!!
Fear instantly overshadowed the hatred in its heart.
Without thinking, it turned and fled!
But just as it turned its head.
It felt a chill, shooting straight from its tailbone to the top of its head.
The fierce blade wind from behind was already pressed against the back of its head.
"Spare..."One word barely squeezed from its throat.
Before it could speak, its world was split down the middle by a gleaming white line.
The Green Robe Wolf Demon's body froze in place, maintaining its forward-pouncing posture, and then, neatly split into two halves, falling to either side.
Its internal organs spilled everywhere.
Steaming hot.
"…"Jiang Yuechu slowly sheathed her blade, her tightly furrowed brows relaxing.
Not bad.
With Supreme-level blade techniques and Yin Method Heaven Bestowal, she could easily slay such Demons.
[Killed a String Hearing Stage creature, gained seventy-five years of its Dao Cultivation.]
[Detected an unrecorded Demon, consume Dao Cultivation to record?]
Jiang Yuechu paid no attention, her gaze shifting to the distance of the village road.
Those few small Demons who had miraculously survived were already scared out of their wits, attempting to flee with their tails between their legs.
"Oh... I was so busy killing your king, I almost forgot about you."
"Awoo—"
The Demons scattered and fled.
But one by one, they were caught by that figure.
Behind her.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
This... the pack of wolf Demons that was so fierce and massacring the village just now.
Just like that, gone?
Is it because this young woman comes from the Demon Suppression Division that she possesses such abilities?
Or does one need such abilities to join the Demon Suppression Division?...The sun rose higher.
The men of the Flying Eagle Sect took down the mutilated corpses from the wooden frames, covering them with rags.
Others helped out the living, whose eyes were hollow, from the ancestral hall.
Upon seeing the Demon corpses on the village road, and the mess everywhere.
Some knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the Flying Eagle Sect members.
Some held the remains of their loved ones, crying until they fainted.
Jiang Yuechu hugged her arms, leaning against a half-collapsed earthen wall at the village entrance.
Her mind sank into her thoughts.
A brand new panel slowly unfolded.
[Host: Jiang Yuechu]
[Realm: Hearing The String Later Stage]
[Martial Arts: Fierce Tiger Quick Blade (Supreme), Green Cliff Returning Shadow (Perfection)]
[Dao Cultivation: Two hundred years]
[Recorded Demons: Tiger Mountain God (Crimson Dyeing), Green-Faced Gentleman (Shadow Imprint)]
[Innate Divine Abilities: Yin Method Heaven Bestowal, Tiger Fiend Blood Boil]
Later Stage... Jiang Yuechu frowned.
Previously, when the Tiger Mountain God's Shadow Imprint ascended to Crimson Dyeing, her cultivation had already entered the Middle Stage.
Now, after recording this wolf Demon, her Realm had actually risen again.
But how exactly is this Realm calculated?
Is it because of recording Demons, or because she gained martial arts?
As for the Shadow Imprint of a Green-Faced Gentleman, it only consumed fifty years of Dao Cultivation, which was less than the Tiger Mountain God, and somewhat expected.
However... those few small Demons she had casually slain, apart from turning into Dao Cultivation, showed no other reaction.
Jiang Yuechu was deep in thought.
Such small Demons probably weren't even worth the Golden Finger's attention.
As for Green Cliff Returning Shadow, it was a boxing technique.
It was completely different from the fierce, overbearing, and wide-open style of Fierce Tiger Quick Blade.
This boxing technique focused more on footwork and changes in Moves.
Like a wolf moving on a green cliff, shifting left and right, its tracks unpredictable.
The crying in the village gradually subsided, leaving only suppressed sobs.
Footsteps approached from afar, stopping in front of her.
Jiang Yuechu opened her eyes.
It was Chen Qingyuan.
He walked up to Jiang Yuechu, said nothing, but lifted his robe, preparing to kneel again.
"No need." Chen Qingyuan paused, ultimately not kneeling, but bowing deeply with clasped fists.
"Lord, your grace in saving our lives, Chen Qingyuan and the people of Guangwu County will never forget."Jiang Yuechu remained noncommittal.
Then.
She straightened up, patting the dust from her robes.
With the matter resolved, she should also be on her way and find a way to solve her identity issue.
Chen Qingyuan saw that she seemed about to leave, and his heart tightened.
He quickly said, "Lord! Are you leaving already? Why not return to Guangwu County city to rest first, and allow us to fulfill our duties as hosts..."
Jiang Yuechu hesitated slightly.
Going to the county city would naturally be good.
Not only could she gather more information, but it would also allow her to rest.
But her identity... Seeing her hesitate, Chen Qingyuan added, "Is it that, Lord, you are on an important case and cannot make a grand display? If so, we will certainly not speak a word more. Lord, rest assured, regarding today's events, even if the County Magistrate asks, we will only say that our Flying Eagle Sect was fortunate, and we will not reveal your whereabouts in the slightest.
"He paused, his gaze subtly sweeping over her waist and abdomen.
"Moreover... Lord, you've traveled a long way; your clothes... probably need washing. Although Guangwu County city is small, it can always prepare something for you."
Jiang Yuechu was slightly startled, and with some confusion, she followed his gaze downwards.
The black clothes on her abdomen had long been torn open by the wolf's claws.
Although the Tiger Fiend Blood Boil Divine Ability had healed the wounds, the tears remained.
With a gust of morning wind, a glimpse of her pale skin could be seen.
She hadn't noticed much herself.
In her previous life, playing basketball shirtless was common, so she didn't take it to heart at all.
But now, she was, after all, a woman.
Walking the world like this was indeed inappropriate.
Jiang Yuechu looked up at the sincere-faced Chen Qingyuan.
Fine.
Now, holding two hundred years of Dao Cultivation and possessing two martial arts.
What could a mere county city do to her?
She finally nodded."Lead the way."