Chapter 36

The properly scratched Great Demon Lord’s power was truly earth-shattering—no exaggeration, the sky trembled and the earth shook.

The five Jiangshi were hanging on by a thread.

The Cannibal Demon was recklessly consuming True Energy.

The Heavenly Ghost flew away, bouncing off in the distance.

No matter how strong the Heavenly Ghost was, it was still made from a child’s body, so it couldn’t escape the limits of mass.

Qing felt like her heart was being squeezed.

And that pig? It’s freaking terrifying, and what about those kids holding up against it?

One day, there would come a time to settle the score with that crazed obsession king.

At that point, those shields would become Qing’s enemies as well.

If this all went well, she might be able to shake off that tenacious obsession lord for a bit.

In the meantime, there was no choice but to gather training points as quickly as possible and elevate her realm.

For now, let’s scratch a bit more.

“Do you happen to know? Your attitude is absolutely intolerable! Even those beggars would be more polite than you.”

Qing kept circling around the Demon Lord, igniting anger.

“When you see an elder, you should bow respectfully. Demon. I am a grand elder of the Martial World. You’re a brat who won’t have many days to live, yet you’ve got no manners.”

“You little brat! Watch that mouth!”

“Ah, the laws of the Martial World are stringent, do you think you can’t tell the difference between high and low? The distribution of power exists because of riffraff like you running wild.”

“Damn it! Jiangshi! If it weren’t for these, I—!”

“Anyway, my rank is higher than yours. Do you know who my master is?”

At that moment, the Demon Lord’s gaze flashed.

It was an opportunity to uncover this madwoman’s clan.

She would make him pay back this humiliation!

Qing smiled softly.

“I won’t tell you. It’s a secret.”

“Grahh!!!”

The Cannibal Demon ripped at his own head.

Two handfuls of his precious hair flew away in the chaos.

It looked like everything had been scratched.

Qing began to bring up the main point.

“But, did you do something wrong to Yeonyeong?”

“…What?”

“Do we really have to go this far…?”

Suddenly, the Cannibal Demon froze in his tracks.

“You little brat, what did you just say…?”

“What’s that? Suddenly suggesting we have a conversation? Fatty, come on. Are you trying to pull a trick because you’re in trouble? Or are you leaving?”

Qing charged forward, arms extended.

Having avoided him up until now, she became incredibly aggressive, throwing twenty shadowy arms at the Demon Lord.

The clash of hands sounded like metal striking metal.

The Cannibal Demon kept stepping back.

The technique of swift strikes was harder than expected, causing him to be distracted and unable to respond accurately.

“You little brat, are you planning to betray the clan?”

Doubt sunk into the Demon Lord’s mind.

It was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.

“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”

“Or are you trying to take me out!”

“Honestly, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“If that’s not the case, then kill this brat right now!”

Unyeonjeong furrowed her brows.

What on earth was this foolish Demon Lord’s sudden outburst?

“I told you! Young Lady Seomun has her personal reasons…”

“Shut up! Do you think I’ll fall for that!”

The Demon Lord hopped away, creating distance as he shouted.

“Bokhaun, you foolish idiot! You have the enemy of your son right next to you and you don’t even realize it!”

“Cannibal Demon!”

The Demon Lord ignored the protests ringing out in his ears.

“… What do you mean by that?”

“I’m talking about the girl next to you, Unyeonjeong! Do you think there are many who can create such a precise Jiangshi in this world?”

“Even if she is a senior, please watch your words. She is the benefactor of my son.”

“That makes you foolish!”

The Demon Lord laughed at Bokhaun.

“Ha! Your son has long since died and gone to the afterlife, yet you mistake this corpse in a shell for your son. Truly there’s no fool like you!”

“No matter how senior you are…”

“That enemy is right next to you!”

The Cannibal Demon’s roar carried a heavy, bitter frustration, drawing the attention of those around them.

“Unyeonjeong?”

Unyeonjeong took a step back and shook her head.

“That’s an absurd accusation. Are you trying to imply you suspect the Martial Alliance’s Great Patrol?”

“Don’t be fooled! We pushed that girl into the alliance!”

“Dog of the Demon Lord, how dare you slander the Martial Alliance?”

“Since you’ve shown evidence of the Blood Beast, you probably thought you could directly reach out to the Ling family. Did you think it would be easy to deceive us foolish Baekdo people?”

“The opponent is a terrifying Demon Lord. A small lie…”

“That girl is far worse than terrifying.”

The Demon Lord cackled.

“She’s the one who annihilated her entire clan and turned them into Jiangshi!”

Unyeonjeong pleaded in a desperate tone.

“Don’t fall for such lies!”

“Just call a physician over to check your son’s pulse! That will quickly reveal if he’s a person or a Jiangshi!”

“Bokong has just recovered. If you check his pulse now…”

“Bokhaun! Have you ever heard of someone returning from Jiangshi to a human!”

Bokhaun groaned.

The Cannibal Demon’s final words pierced through him chillingly.

Bokhaun made a decision.

“… If Young Lady is truly innocent, I will escort her separately without any resistance.”

“Wait, Hero! That’s the author’s cunning plan! If I’m not here, how do you plan to deal with the Jiangshi?”

Jiangshi. Bokhaun’s expression hardened.

However, he didn’t retract his decision.

“If, by some slim chance, Young Lady is using Jiangshi as a pawn of the enemy, it would be better for the group of warriors to deal with Jiangshi.”

“Hero!”

“… Escort Young Lady.”

“Hero, you can’t!”

Unyeonjeong was dragged away.

Qing watched the scene with great tension.

That was a real monster even the Cannibal Demon couldn’t dismiss with disdain.

What if it exploded and killed them all?

Fortunately, Unyeonjeong seemed to comply while appearing wronged.

After all, once she was investigated she would be exposed anyway.

She might as well just escape as she was.

The only remaining obstacle was the Cannibal Demon.

If they just pushed forward as before…

“Hey, Bokhaun. I have a proposal. If you kneel that girl before me, I will back down quietly like this. My subordinates too.”

What? That was unexpected.

Qing clenched her fist, gauging the situation.

In a scenario where a flat refusal didn’t immediately come, it was already a lost cause.

She knew from experience what the mood of these minions was.

Qing ground her teeth.

She still needed to drain a bit more True Energy.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Don’t try any tricks!”

Qing charged at the Demon Lord once again.

The fiery claws of the Demon Lord filled her vision with red.

At that very moment, the four Heavenly Ghosts were bounced away in her stead.

Qing dove through the gap.

The approaching arm of the Demon Lord reached for her heart.

She crouched down as if kneeling.

The palm of the Cannibal Demon, cloaked in ruthless energy, brushed precariously past the crown of her head.

Qing’s body slid down as she knelt.

Recall the conversation with her master, she extended her hand.

‘Huff, huff, huff. Master. If I keep just avoiding attacks, I’ll eventually get exhausted and collapse.’

‘Well, that’s just common sense. You have to evade until the enemy tires out. That’s a valid tactic.’

‘Then, huff, how do I face a Supreme Martial Artist alone?’

‘What do you mean by “Supreme Martial Artist”…’

‘Ugh!’

‘How can a proper young lady fight like a wild pony? Tsk tsk…’

To face a high-level master alone, one must have a technique ready.

Like poison, or tricky hidden techniques.

Since the disciple had abundant True Energy, preparing a technique would mean it could be my Restoration Method.

My Restoration Method.

A technique that strikes directly at the enemy’s interior.

An art that focused on hammering the opponent with one’s own energy directly in their face.

There were specialized martial arts that mastered this tricky approach.

Qing’s palm made contact with the thigh of the Demon Lord.

Buddha’s Physical Body: The Flesh of the Flesh.

The Heavenly Wheel Guanyin.

Qing focused her mind, and True Energy flowed accordingly.

The sternness of the Nine Thousand Maidens, the blazing purification of the Emperor Shen Nong, the beauty of his daughter Yohi, and the brilliant True Energy of the Daoist were woven together, singing the teachings of the Buddha.

Boom……!

The sound of a great bell enveloped the world.

The tone of the bell was said to be the purity of the Buddhist teachings.

Purity means a state with not a speck of dirt.

It represented being clean and clear, untainted by worldly troubles.

Thus, the sound of the bell was pure.

A great sound that wasn’t loud.

A magnificent yet unoppressive teaching.

The clarity that echoed most loudly yet also most heavily could be heard not just with the ears but with the body.

The entire body of the Demon Lord bulged grotesquely.

In an instant, he exploded with an explosive expansion.

It was as if a massive orb had formed.

On the verge of bursting.

But soon, it deflated.

The deflating form became the Demon Lord, collapsing uselessly onto the ground.

The Cannibal Demon’s corpse lay sprawled against the earth, revealing a giant crater.

A massive pit stretched out from it with numerous long ridges trailing from it.

As if six giant palms had pressed down on a single point simultaneously.

Perhaps, the six fingerprints of the Heavenly Wheel Guanyin were something like this…

A heavy silence settled over the earth.

The powerful Demon Lord, who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, had met his fate.

And remarkably, the opponent was still an unnamed young woman.

It was such an unbelievable sight, even when seen with the eyes.

-Then someone broke the hush.

“Truly.”

It was Unyeonjeong.

With blood dripping from her entire body, she stood on a hill, looking down at the world.

Her gaze was so natural that it pressed down on people like some heavenly order that they couldn’t dare disobey.

Warriors fell into an inexplicable unease, unable to speak.

“If this continues, the plan will completely fall apart, yes? Really. So excessive. My Young Lady Seomun.”

Her tone was filled with exhaustion.

“If you blatantly ruin the plan like this, how can I take Young Lady Seomun away? Everyone will be trying to eat you.”

Unyeonjeong showed a soft smile.

“Still. I now know that you are not so weak. For the time being, you can be left alone.”

At the same time, she pulled something out from her bosom.

It was a bundle of jingling bells intertwined together.

“Well then. I must take my leave now. May those affiliated with the clan gather.”

From the main building, a group of warriors burst out.

As soon as the bells jingled and twinkled, Jiangshi danced grotesquely behind the crowd.

And among the minions led by the water lord Bokhaun, more than twenty Jiangshi started deviating.

There was a ripple of disappointment and disbelief, realizing that a calm-faced comrade was actually a hidden Jiangshi.

“Congratulations, Water Lord minions. Today, you have narrowly avoided a great disaster, so consider yourselves fortunate to have slightly extended your meager lives. Feel free to rejoice.”

The five Heavenly Ghosts gracefully helped Unyeonjeong away.

As she slowly disappeared over the hill, that voice deeply pierced into their ears.

“Please. Be thankful for your luck and enjoy the few remaining moments of life. There won’t be a next time.”

---