The long wind blew gently, and yellow sand filled the air.

A young girl dressed in the typical attire of a wanderer appeared slowly at the end of the official road, riding a horse.

Her skin was as delicate as jade, starkly contrasting with the surrounding dusty yellow landscape.

Jiang Yuechu frowned, urging her horse forward, and slowly entered Jincheng County.

Though she had mentally prepared herself, knowing that the cities in this world would not be as prosperous as those in her previous life, the ghost-town-like desolation before her still caught her by surprise.

The streets were empty, and the doors and windows of the shops on both sides were wide open.

If it weren't for the two characters "Jincheng" outside the county, she would have thought she had come to the wrong place.

Could it be that the demons had already left?

Just as this thought arose, an angry shout accompanied by the sound of clashing metal came from deep within the street.

Jiang Yuechu's pupils contracted. She dismounted swiftly, tying her horse casually to a nearby post, and quietly followed the sound, her hand resting on her sword hilt.

...

Clang—

A clear, dragon-like sound of a blade rang out.

Xu Nian said no more, leaping down from his horse. The blade in his hand drew an arc in the dim light of the sky.

His blood surged, infusing the blade.

The pig demon, seeing this, let out a sinister laugh and, with a backhanded motion, pulled out a rusty longsword from who knows where.

"Courting death!"

The blade struck.

The sword met it.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

In the next instant, the rusty longsword broke with a snap.

Half of the sword flew off, embedding itself with a thud in a distant wall.

Xu Nian landed, holding his blade horizontally, his stance unwavering.

"Good!"

"Master Xu is mighty!"

At the street corner, several Demon-Suppressing Bureau riders who had arrived upon hearing the commotion witnessed this scene and couldn't help but cheer loudly, their faces filled with awe.

"So this is the power of a Resonating Bone Stage expert... Ordinary demons are no match at all!"

But there was no trace of joy on Xu Nian's face.

He raised a hand, halting the others who were about to advance.

"Stay back!"

Everyone was stunned, their excitement not yet faded.

"This demon is no ordinary Resonating Bone..."

Xu Nian took a deep breath and ordered sternly.

"Liu Chen, take your men and retreat immediately! Report to the General in Liangzhou Prefecture that the demons in Jincheng County are beyond our capability to handle!"

"Come as you please, leave as you wish?"

The pig demon grinned, letting out a harsh laugh, its scarlet eyes full of mockery.

"Do you really think I, Zhu Yan, am made of clay?"

As it spoke, it slowly tossed the hilt of the broken sword to the ground.

In the next moment, its entire body began to ripple in a bizarre manner, its already massive form expanding further, tearing through its tattered clothes.

A thick, foul-smelling blood mist seeped from its pores, spreading around.

The stench within the blood mist was overwhelming.

Only now did Liu Chen and the others understand why Xu Nian, a Resonating Bone Stage expert, had issued the retreat order without hesitation.

"This... this is..."

In demon cultivation, reaching the Resonating Bone Stage meant awakening innate magical abilities.

Though the demon race was favored by the heavens, not all were born as prodigies.

Those who gained magical abilities were one in ten thousand.

Either they bore the bloodline of ancient great demons, noble and rare.

Or they had encountered extraordinary fortune.

Ordinary demons, even if they reached the Resonating Bone Stage by luck, were merely tough-skinned beasts.

But this pig demon before them...

The blood mist emanating from it was clearly one of those rare and eerie magical abilities!

The pig demon looked at the Demon Suppression Guards, who were treating it as a formidable enemy, and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

"Imitating humans wielding swords, reciting poetry, for so long, I've forgotten..."

"We pig demons were born to tear flesh with claws and fangs, to chew bones with our tusks."

Its scarlet eyes swept over the crowd.

"You, as lackeys of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, aiding the wicked, that is one crime."

"Killing my child without reason, severing my bloodline, that is the second crime."

"Both crimes combined."

"Today, you all must die!"

As it finished speaking, the blood mist that filled the street surged violently.

It condensed into countless thick, blood-colored tendrils, sweeping towards the crowd like a tidal wave!

"Ah—"

A Demon-Suppressing Bureau rider couldn't dodge in time and was caught by several blood-colored tendrils, lifted into the air.

He struggled desperately, his horizontal blade slipping from his grasp, clattering to the ground.

"Help..."

Before he could finish the word, the pig demon opened its massive maw and bit down.

Crunch.

His head was severed, blood gushing forth.

Liu Chen's eyes turned blood-red. He roared in fury, swinging his blade to sever several attacking tendrils.

But the tendrils regenerated endlessly, relentless.

"Damn!"

Xu Nian cursed under his breath, his internal energy surging, his bones emitting a metallic hum.

Resonating Bone Stage, exerting full power!

He stepped forward, a faint golden flame igniting on his horizontal blade.

"Prison-Quelling Blade!"

With a fierce shout, the blade light swept out like a torrent.

This blade technique was a secret of the Longyou Circuit's Demon-Suppressing Bureau, created specifically to slay demons and exorcise evil, its intent fierce and domineering.

The golden blade light flashed, severing dozens of blood-colored tendrils.

The severed ends sizzled, as if hot oil had been poured on snow, emitting black smoke that lingered, unable to heal.

Yet even so, against the overwhelming blood-colored tendrils, it was like trying to extinguish a fire with a cup of water.

Xu Nian was already struggling.

Behind him, the Demon Suppression Guards, mostly at the Mortal Stage or String-Attuned Stage, were even less able to withstand the assault.

In the blink of an eye, two more riders were ensnared by the tendrils.

Zhu Yan grinned, repeating the gruesome act, biting off their heads and chewing with a crunch, blood staining its mouth.

"When you killed my child, did you think of today?"

Xu Nian's face was ashen, silent, only frantically channeling his energy, the blade light growing ever brighter, shielding the few remaining subordinates.

But he was, after all, just one man, with one blade.

The blood mist was endless.

The demon's magical ability was indeed unreasonable.

But it was this very unreasonableness that highlighted how rare demons with magical abilities truly were.

Liu Chen fought with all his might, slicing through the blood-colored tendrils, only to be ensnared by three or five more, binding him tightly.

A tremendous force pulled him off the ground.

The gaping maw loomed before him.

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Foul saliva dripped onto his face, mixed with blood of unknown origin.

Despair was all he could see.

It was over.

But just then, the pig demon's movements suddenly halted.

The blood-colored tendrils binding Liu Chen loosened.

Thud—

Liu Chen fell heavily to the ground, dazed, coughing up blood.

Ignoring the pain, he instinctively looked up.

The pig demon was no longer paying attention to them, its scarlet beast eyes fixed intently behind the group.

Xu Nian sensed the anomaly too, forcing himself to turn around.

At the end of the long street.

Somehow, a person had appeared.

The wind lifted her long hair, revealing her full face.

Charming as spring peaches, pure as autumn chrysanthemums.

How could such a girl appear here?

The crowd's confusion had not yet dissipated.

The blade light rose.

A blood-red tiger shadow soared into the sky from behind her.

Roar—

The tiger's roar, like thunder, echoed through the long street!