The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 195 You help me, I help you

When the City God heard Li Jingxiao mention building a City God Temple, he was taken aback.

Then it dawned on him that Li Jingxiao had pleaded for the tiger demon earlier.

They probably wanted to send that tiger demon to the newly built 'County City God Temple' to serve as the City God.

If that's the case, the City God's goodwill towards Li Jingxiao will increase even further.

He secretly thought that although this Duke of Xingguo was too ruthless, he was actually a man of great loyalty and righteousness.

Moreover, the Book of Life and Death also records that this Duke of Xingguo subdued the tiger demon.

The repeated and strict orders given to the tiger demon to stop harming the people of Great Zhou can be considered a meritorious act.

If a City God Temple could be built in a town or county on the edge of Changbai Mountain, it would be considered an expansion of the underworld's territory.

Unfortunately, many things in the underworld are not as simple as they seem on the surface.

With the capabilities of the underworld, expansion would not be difficult.

However, if the people want to maintain their territory in the borderlands for a long time, the human dynasty must be able to rule the area for an extended period.

Otherwise, the temple would inevitably be destroyed by the local barbarians in the end.

The underworld has lost face, and many people will suffer misfortune.

Liang Guangyuan recounted the matter in detail, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Duke Xingguo, please wait for me for a few days. Will this matter ultimately succeed?"

We still need to wait for the underworld to make a decision, and I will give you an answer then.

After hearing Liang Guangyuan's explanation, Li Jingxiao knew that the matter was basically impossible to accomplish.

No official, whether in the human world or the underworld, wants to get involved in things that will cause trouble.

Liang Guangyuan's decision to report it was merely to leave himself a good reputation in the underworld for being "willing to help the underworld."

He cupped his hands in thanks to Liang Guangyuan, implying that 'it's okay if it doesn't work out.'

Only then did he get up to say goodbye.

When I got home, I hadn't even had a chance to say a few words to my two wives.

Then an old woman came to report that the old eunuch Xia Shouzhong had arrived.

Li Jingxiao knew it must be related to the great battle in Jizhen a few days ago.

After a moment's thought, he decided to choose some things that could be said and tell the Emperor and the Retired Emperor through Xia Shouzhong.

However, Li Jingxiao did not want to expose himself for the time being, lest all sorts of troubles come to him for him to solve.

He got up and greeted Xia Shouzhong as they headed to the main hall of the central courtyard.

After taking a few sips of tea, Xia Shouzhong could no longer help but ask, "Duke Xingguo, are you aware of the dragon that appeared in Jizhou a few days ago?"

Li Jingxiao smiled and nodded, saying in a very calm tone, "That dragon is the Dragon King of Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain outside the pass."

More than a hundred years ago, when the world was in chaos, he wanted to enter the Central Plains and stir up trouble.

Fortunately, before he could leave Changbai Mountain, he was stopped by a Taoist master.

The two fought for many days, and the old mudfish was severely injured by the real man.

It took more than a hundred years just to recover from the injury.

Now that his injury has healed, he actually wants to enter the pass again.

Fortunately, a Taoist master happened to be visiting the capital.

This stopped the old dragon at Jiuding Mountain outside Jizhen.

In a great battle, my Taoist master proved to be one step ahead, and injured that old mudfish once again.

This forced the old mudskipper to return to his old lair in Tianchi to continue recuperating.

Xia Shouzhong was relieved. As for who that expert was?

Li Jingxiao was unwilling to talk, and Xia Shouzhong did not dare to press him further.

We'll find a secret passage and, once we return to the palace, send people to inquire about it from various sources.

As for whether that expert is Li Jingxiao?
In any case, in Xia Shouzhong's and the emperor's eyes, although Li Jingxiao was powerful, he could not possibly defeat a dragon that was more than a hundred meters long.

The only thing that can be confirmed now is that the Taoist master must have come to the capital to find Li Jingxiao.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao must have personally witnessed the scene of defeating the Dragon King of Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain.

If that's the case, then the Emperor and His Majesty's high regard for the Duke of Xingguo will bring them far greater rewards than they have paid.

His Majesty and the Sage should be very pleased.

Li Jingxiao didn't care what the old eunuch was thinking.

As expected, when seeing Xia Shouzhong off, Li Jingxiao gave him a silver note worth 200 taels.

The old eunuch's smile grew even brighter.

After that, life returned to its usual uneventful state.

Li Jingxiao spends his days with his wife and also instructs his three cousins ​​and brother-in-law on studying and practicing martial arts.

Besides playing chess and martial arts with Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong to gain experience.

Every day he either practices sword control or draws talismans.

In just five days, he became a Level 5 Grandmaster of the Thunder Control Talisman (1/2).
After that, I drew 100 level 5 lightning-controlling talismans every day, and 20 days passed by in the blink of an eye.

The consumed thunder talismans were finally replenished with a thousand more.

Moreover, the power of a level 5 talisman is much greater than that of a level 4 talisman.

A few days later, his sword control technique was successfully upgraded to the Grandmaster level (1/4).
In an instant, the cultivation method of the 'Ten Thousand Swords Technique' appeared in Li Jingxiao's mind.

The speed of flying on the sword also increased from 1000 kilometers per hour to 1300 kilometers per hour.

It was 30% faster and broke the speed of sound.

At his limit, Li Jingxiao can reach a speed of 1600 kilometers per hour for a short period of time.

If you encounter that old mudfish from Changbai Mountain again, you won't be able to escape from my grasp.

The character level has been increased from level 45 (18250/9).
Leveled up to level 46 (300/9.2)
Li Jingxiao flew away from his home and landed in a valley in the Yanshan Mountains to test the power of the Ten Thousand Swords Technique.

Previously, sword control techniques only had offensive capabilities and lacked defensive ones.

Moreover, with flying swords flying together, the attack method is somewhat limited.

Now with the Myriad Swords Technique, not only can flying swords split into ten, a hundred, or even a thousand individual flying swords, causing massive damage.

It can also be combined into a giant sword to cause massive single-target damage.

They can also converge into a sword circle to block the opponent's attacks.

Li Jingxiao took out the 'Wu-Yue Sword' and commanded the long sword to fly into the sky.

With a thought, Wu Yue Sword split into two, then into four, and then into hundreds or thousands.

In an instant, the valley was filled with flying swords.

Pointing his finger at the distant cliff, thousands of flying swords, like cow hairs, rapidly pierced into the cliff.

From a distance, it looks like a densely packed mass.

Furthermore, the Wu Yue Sword comes with a fire attack, which has a certain chance of causing the target to be poisoned by fire.

Immediately, many of the thousand flying swords emitted bursts of flame, quickly setting the cliff ablaze with fire.

Li Jingxiao smiled, a thought crossed his mind, and he uttered the words "Return to Sheath".

Thousands of Wu-Yue swords were drawn from the cliff and continuously converged and overlapped in the air.

Finally, it transformed into a longsword and automatically returned to the scabbard in Li Jingxiao's hand.

When he returned home, all the monsters and strange creatures within a radius of two or three hundred miles around the valley were so frightened that they quickly moved away.

Only those newly born demons, ignorant and naive, remained.

That evening, after Li Jingxiao and Qin Keqing finished their sweet talk, he was embracing his sleeping wife while practicing the Lightning Thunder Fist.

A voice suddenly entered my ears.

Li Jingxiao listened carefully and realized that it was the City God calling him.

Busy and careful, I got up and flew out to the City God Temple.

Unfortunately, the City God didn't talk to him about building a City God Temple.

Instead, he was asked to capture the one-horned demon king if he had the chance, and take him to the underworld to be punished.

Li Jingxiao was stunned when he heard this. Isn't this a matter for your underworld?
Why ask me to arrest people? The City God smiled awkwardly and said in a low voice, "That one-horned ghost king usually only bullies people in that bitterly cold place."

They only emerge to stir up trouble when the world is in chaos.

Although I am the City God of the capital, I can only govern the territory of one city.

Even Daxing County, which is adjacent to the capital, is under the jurisdiction of the local City God.

Although the mountain gods and land gods govern all the mountains and rivers in the world, in the face of powerful demons, let alone capturing the one-horned demon king and bringing him to the underworld for trial, it would be good enough if they were not bullied by those demons.

The affairs of the underworld are so numerous that many local deities and mountain gods seek their help but receive no response.

Li Jingxiao believed this, because in Journey to the West, every place under his jurisdiction was infested with powerful demons.

Mountain gods and local deities, of ordinary origin and without any powerful backers, are often oppressed by demons, much like servants.

They reported it to the Heavenly Court, but no one paid any attention.

The City God saw that Li Jingxiao's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't even seem surprised or that there was anything wrong.

Knowing that he was the Duke of Xingguo and a general of the court, he understood the dirty tricks of officialdom.

Officials naturally don't want to get involved in anything that isn't their business.

Even if it's your own responsibility, as long as there's no major problem, it's better to do less trouble.

If the ghost messengers sent out fail to capture the person and are instead killed, then the officials of the underworld will be the ones who suffer the consequences.

So as long as the mountain gods and local deities haven't been eaten by demons, what does it matter if they suffer a little injustice!
If you have connections, you can just pull some strings to get transferred.

It's okay, just bear with it.

This kind of thing is normal even in Heaven, let alone in the underworld.

Any organization that exists for a long time will develop the problems associated with large corporations.

Bloated organizational structure, multiple layers of leadership, and brain drain.

Do more and make more mistakes, do less and make fewer mistakes.

Shifting blame and being unwilling to take responsibility.

When there are interests at stake, a bunch of people compete for them, but when it comes to crucial moments, they shirk responsibility and pass the buck.

Moreover, ghost messengers are soul-collecting agents, not demon-subduing generals; the task of exorcising demons is not their responsibility.

City God Liang Guangyuan continued, "Over the years, many wronged souls have died because of that Ghost King."

The complaint was reported to Judge Zhong, but Judge Zhong was busy, which is why I was asked to invite the Duke of Xingguo to come over.”

Li Jingxiao was willing to help Zhong Kui, after all, the One-Horned Ghost King was, in essence, the son-in-law of the Crown Prince of Tianchi.

Who knows when he might be persuaded by the daughter of the Crown Prince of Tianchi to come and cause trouble for him.

And now, Prince Tianchi has been detained in the underworld by the City God of Yangzhou.

Both morally and logically, I should repay this favor.

So Li Jingxiao did not refuse, and cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness is too kind. Speaking of which, I still owe a favor to the underworld."

I'll take on this task.

However, my cultivation level is not high enough at the moment, so I may have to wait a few more years.

The City God waved his hand and said with a smile, "Many of those wronged souls who accused the Ghost King are from more than 150 years ago."

Having waited so long, I believe Zhong Pan wouldn't mind waiting another three, five, seven, or eight years.

Moreover," the City God smiled, "there are many places in the underworld that the underworld can't take care of."

There are plenty of demons and monsters roaming freely. If you're so inclined, many officials in the underworld will need your help in the future.

After saying that, he gave me a look that said, "You should know what I mean."

Li Jingxiao smiled and nodded, saying that all the demons and monsters in the world were like leeks.

If you harvest a batch today, it will grow back in a few years.

If the underworld were to manage everything, wouldn't they be exhausted?
Furthermore, even if all the demons and monsters were gone, the world might not truly become a superior nation.

Perhaps, this is actually a harbinger of great chaos, or even the end of the world.

Therefore, it's not good to take some things too seriously.

Those who go to extremes are actually the source of chaos.

After exchanging pleasantries, they realized it was getting late.

Li Jingxiao originally wanted to go home and continue sleeping with his wife and cultivating.

But Liang Guangyuan asked Judge Wen to bring out the Book of Life and Death.

After opening and searching through it, I picked up a pen and paper and copied down a list.

He looked at Li Jingxiao and said, "Duke Xingguo, your tiger demon subordinate has been reincarnated."

I heard they come from a wealthy and leisurely family.

After saying that, he shook the list in his hand a few times.

He said with a smile, "This is a case reported to me by the City God, Earth God, and Mountain God of the surrounding areas of the capital."

Recently, many people have died unjustly, and their spirits have been escorted to my side by ghost messengers.

To sue monsters and evil spirits for harming people.

Why not do me a favor as well?

Li Jingxiao accepted the list with a smile, nodding as he did so, but instead of speaking, he stared intently at Liang Guangyuan.

Liang Guangyuan rolled his eyes at Li Jingxiao, knowing at a glance that the guy was asking for payment.

Think about the tens of thousands of taels of silver and gold he had previously taken from this kid, as well as a hundred jars of Monkey Spirit Wine.

He said helplessly, "Don't worry, I won't let you help me for nothing."

Li Jingxiao chuckled and said, "Helping is no problem, but working for free is not an option."

As long as the reward is right, or even high enough, it's not a problem to catch a few monsters and strange creatures.

Even if it's a monster or evil spirit that wreaks havoc in the whole world, he will kill it without hesitation.

He bowed respectfully and left the City God Temple.

A glance at the list revealed several bizarre and harmful cases outside the capital city.

The secret passage thought that since this was the capital city, even if there were demons and monsters, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble. Unexpectedly, there really were some who were not afraid of death.

With a flash, he appeared in the air. After determining the direction, he appeared several hundred meters away in another flash.

Fortunately, when the sword control technique reaches the Grandmaster level and breaks through the speed of sound, it will not produce a sonic boom around the body as before.

Otherwise, all the sleeping people in the capital would be awakened.

Of course, if Li Jingxiao wanted to, he could also create a sonic boom artificially.

In a short while, Li Jingxiao appeared in the sky above a village to the west of Daxing City.

Looking down, one soon saw wisps of black smoke rising from a well.

Li Jingxiao originally intended to spit a bolt of lightning directly at the well and kill the water ghost instantly.

But then I thought, this water ghost was murdered, and its resentment lingered, which is why its vengeful spirit remained and turned into a vengeful ghost.

In Li Jingxiao's view, it was only natural for her to seek revenge on her enemies.

Instead of killing it directly, why not try capturing this water ghost and taking it to the underworld for punishment, and see how many experience points we can gain?

If they have the same amount of experience, then don't kill them.

Sending them to the underworld is also a merit.

I just don't know exactly how much experience I can gain!
Fortunately, the game system was quite helpful, and a prompt actually appeared in my mind.

'10 years of cultivation, a vengeful ghost who died unjustly, 100 experience points.'

Li Jingxiao landed by the well, and the Immortal Binding Rope on his wrist suddenly grew larger, flew into the well, bound the water ghost, and flew out.

It was directly put into a purple-gold-red gourd.

After nearly a year of farming for the Fine Ghost and Clever Bug, I've already farmed six Purple Gold Red Gourds.

Besides the gourds used for brewing wine, one or two will be set aside specifically for capturing monsters and strange creatures.

(End of this chapter)