The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 254 Out with the old, in with the new
The night patrolman became tense when he saw Li Jingxiao suddenly disappear.

After searching around for a while, they found no clues or suspicious people, and they were starting to get really frustrated.

He hurriedly returned to the City God Temple to report to the City God.

It is said that while on duty tonight, patrolling the capital, they discovered a person with profound Taoist skills who used the art of passing through walls to pass through the city walls.

As soon as he shouted, the man heard that it was a soldier of the City God and immediately ran away.

After searching with his men for a while, they found nothing suspicious and had no choice but to report it to the City God.

Upon hearing this, the City God also felt troubled.

While sending more people out to search, they also discussed the matter with the civil and military judges.

They decided to ask Li Jingxiao for help.

Many highly skilled Taoist masters are not afraid of the underworld at all.

But the government offices in the human realm often force them to cooperate.

To put it bluntly, even the most capable person has to consider their family, disciples, and lineage.

If the imperial court wanted to restrict your sect's power to spread its doctrines and accept disciples, it could truly suppress this sect.

The City God ordered Judge Wen to personally visit the Duke of Xingguo's residence.

To avoid having to ask others, if Li Jingxiao is sleeping or cultivating at this time, he will most likely ignore them.

When the judge arrived outside the Li family's house, he had just used his supernatural powers to call out several times.

Li Jingxiao's figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

Upon seeing Li Jingxiao dressed in a purple Taoist robe with the Bagua symbol, Judge Wen was startled, but quickly bowed in greeting.

Li Jingxiao roughly guessed why Judge Wen had come to see him.

He sighed and said, "Lord Wei, are you looking for the expert who broke into the capital tonight?"

Judge Wei was taken aback, but he wasn't stupid; he sensed the ambiguity in those words.

Somewhat uncertainly, he asked, "Did the Duke go out to exorcise demons tonight?"

Li Jingxiao nodded helplessly and made up a story: "I went to Shanhaiguan today, but something came up and I got delayed, which is why I came back late."

If there's nothing else, tomorrow I will bring some wine and food to the City God Temple to apologize to the Prince.

Judge Wei laughed heartily: "It's good that nothing happened, it's good that nothing happened."

As for an apology, that's unnecessary.

However, if there is good wine, it would be excellent to have a few drinks with the Duke.

Li Jingxiao smiled and nodded, knowing that Judge Wei wanted to drink the Monkey Spirit Wine.

"Alright, I will definitely keep the appointment tomorrow afternoon."

Judge Wei exchanged a few more polite words, intending to bid farewell to Li Jingxiao and return to the City God Temple to report.

But Li Jingxiao suddenly had a thought.

In previous years, the underworld patrols had never been this diligent; they usually just made a perfunctory round of patrols.

But today, as soon as he crossed the city wall of the capital, he was discovered by the Night Watcher.

He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Judge Wei, has anything unusual happened in the capital lately?"

Judge Wei immediately guessed what Li Jingxiao meant and gave an awkward smile.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Isn't it almost Chinese New Year?"

Two years ago, another sorcerer appeared, almost causing a huge mess.

Although Fengdu City did not blame us, the City God has ordered the underworld to strengthen its patrols every year-end or festival in the past two years.

To prevent further trouble, Fengdu City would inevitably issue an edict blaming us.

Upon hearing this, Li Jingxiao couldn't help but laugh.

He bowed to Judge Wei, then turned and went through his own gate to go back to sleep.

Judge Wei gave another awkward and helpless smile and returned to the City God Temple to report.

After hearing this, the 'City God' breathed a sigh of relief.

After thinking for a moment, he called over the Night Wanderer.

After asking a detailed question, the Night Patrol God was instructed to continue his patrol.

He whispered to the judge, "What kind of supernatural power did the Duke of Xingguo use to suddenly disappear?"

Judge Wen rolled his eyes at his master, complaining without giving him any face.

"My lord, you don't care what kind of supernatural powers and magic the Duke of Xingguo has learned. He is the Duke of Xingguo of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He is neither under the jurisdiction of the underworld nor has he committed any evil deeds in the capital."

Moreover, they said they were going out to subdue demons and monsters.

I just got back late, which is why I was able to pass through the wall.

If adults ask so many questions, who knows if people will ever come to the City God Temple again?

"We had no wine to drink then, sir, will you compensate us?"

The City God was rebuked, but he didn't get angry.

Instead, he nodded helplessly: "Never mind, since nothing's wrong, we really shouldn't make trouble."

After saying that, he left the office with his hands behind his back and went back to his home in the underworld.

Judge Wei, however, curled his lip, thinking to himself that the evil spirits and ghost kings who had escaped from the underworld were not so easy to catch.

Besides, if Li Jingxiao catches them all, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the underworld?

If you really want someone to serve you, then give them an official position.

What kind of service is it to only offer spells as payment?
Just thinking about Li Jingxiao, a first-rank official and a hereditary Duke of the highest rank, makes me realize how important it is.

If he were given an official position in the underworld while he was still alive, that would be too much power for him.

Moreover, he achieved great success in his cultivation and went to the underworld after his natural death.

Over the hundreds or thousands of years that followed, no one knew how much merit Li Jingxiao could accumulate.

Who knows, once he enters the underworld, he might be given a position equivalent to a judge or even the King of Hell.

This will block the way for countless people.

Judge Wei thought about it and understood the City God's concerns.

As for whether Li Jingxiao will ascend to heaven to become an official, Judge Wei dared not even think about it.

But I felt a little hopeful.

If he really went to serve under the True Martial Emperor, he would certainly have considerable power.

There will inevitably be many opportunities for cooperation in the future.
-
Li Jingxiao returned home and quietly went back to Wang Xifeng's room, where he found her still fast asleep.

Only then did he feel relieved and take off his robe.

He carefully embraced Wang Xifeng's delicate body on the bed, focusing his mind on cultivating the Longevity Technique.

The next morning, after exercising and having breakfast, I used the "Diving into the Abyss and Shrinking the Earth" technique and arrived in Yangzhou City in just half an hour.

I bought a lot of steamed buns, mung bean and red bean cakes, as well as some wine and dishes in the city.

This was meant to allow Dang Kang and the three peach blossom fairies to have an early New Year's Eve dinner.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, so Li Jingxiao naturally won't come over to beat them up again.

They even acted as if they were giving someone a holiday, saying they would come back on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

Kang was overjoyed when he heard this.

I can rest for a few days and get fewer beatings.

Not only were they overjoyed, but they also thought that Li Jingxiao was a really nice person.

The three peach blossom fairies were delighted and danced for him again.

They all stood up, curtsied, and said many festive words.

Li Jingxiao felt a little embarrassed and continued to find excuses to force the three of them to compete.

Losing repeatedly, and too many times at that, Kang Ming lost all interest in martial arts competitions.

They often start to give up after a few fights.

This left Li Jingxiao somewhat helpless.

You can't just come up every day and unilaterally beat the other party.

Over time, perhaps Kang, like some of the demons imprisoned in the Demon Locking Tower in the past, will simply come to understand himself.

The three peach blossom fairies have basically given up on the idea of ​​seducing Li Jingxiao into their arms.

As for the Crimson Serpent on the fourth floor, this serpent demon is adept at concealing its true nature.

Lee Kyung-hyo never noticed how much her emotions were fluctuating.

This made Li Jingxiao even more cautious, and the fact that she absorbed the poisonous fog every day meant he couldn't push her too hard. So he only fought her three times each time.

However, Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong have recently mentioned, in a similarly ambiguous way, their desire to return to the area beyond the Great Wall.

Besides being bored with Li Jingxiao, it was also because the two female demons were now genuinely resistant to playing chess.

For the two of them, losing for three to five months in a row was tolerable.

After losing for a year and a half straight, I felt like stomping on the chessboard whenever I saw it.

Li Jingxiao could probably understand the thoughts of these monsters.

If you were constantly losing, you would also develop feelings of disgust and resentment.

Fortunately, Li Jingxiao quickly came up with a new idea.

Hu Xian'er and Liu Cuitong are easy to deal with; the amount of experience gained from playing chess and fighting with them is indeed far less than that gained from the Demon Locking Tower.

Since I'm tired of playing chess, I'll stop playing it.

Anyway, the two of them only make 2 a day. In fact, I hadn't played chess with them during the two months I was in Jinling.

Moreover, with the Golden Armor Warrior, there's no need for two female demons to protect the women in the household.

But Li Jingxiao still did not intend to let them return to the temple.

He treated it as keeping two trusted henchmen, and continued to provide 30 jars of spirit wine every month.

Upon hearing that they would no longer have to play chess, the two female monsters cheered.

Before the New Year, one of them ran straight home to visit her great-grandmother and her brothers and sisters.

Another one simply slept in the Zhenwu Temple all day long.

When I got really bored, I went with the Left Garrison Command to catch the strange creatures.

Or perhaps they taught Erfu and others martial arts.

There was also that osmanthus tree spirit by her side, who followed her around like a shadow, serving her all day long.

Life was indeed very comfortable.

That vixen Hu Xian'er didn't return to Zhenwu Temple until after the Lantern Festival.

Li Jingxiao could tell at a glance that Hu Xian'er had gained a little weight.

I'm sure I'll have a very comfortable time spending the Chinese New Year at my hometown.

As for the issue of Kang and the three peach blossom fairies developing war-weariness.

During the Spring Festival, Li Jingxiao also came up with a new idea.

Anyway, the fifth and sixth floors of the Demon-Sealing Tower are currently empty.

At worst, we can go out and capture a couple of powerful demons and lock them up in the Demon-Locking Tower.

They even threw Dang Kang and the three peach blossom demons out of the Demon Locking Tower, forbidding them from ever appearing in the Great Zhou again.

Li Jingxiao doesn't need to bother with people from other countries who are causing harm.

There might be surprises in the future.

Or you could simply send the four of them as spies to search the world for powerful demons.

Based on the intelligence and information they provided, he then went to capture those demons and imprison them in the Demon Locking Tower.

This time, Li Jingxiao wouldn't waste time arguing with these demons.

It would be best to agree to the martial arts competition; you'll earn experience points steadily every day.

If they don't agree, beat them to death. What if these newly arrested and controlled demons go mad one day?

Then kill them and capture new ones.

If you understand yourself, then gaining an extra day of experience is the same as gaining something.

If someone dies, they die. I don't feel sorry for them.

When Kang and the three peach blossom fairies heard that Li Jingxiao intended to let them leave, they didn't believe it at first.

She was even afraid that Li Jingxiao was testing her thoughts.

But Li Jingxiao explained his plan to give the Demon-Sealing Tower a new prisoner.

The four demons looked at Li Jingxiao with a hint of skepticism, as if to say, "This guy is a madman."

But when Kang and the three peach blossom fairies thought about it again, they realized that whether Li Jingxiao was crazy or not had little to do with them.

To gain freedom is not just about collecting information and whereabouts of powerful demons.

Even helping Li Jingxiao arrest new criminals is no problem.

Li Jingxiao's idea was good, but he still had to go to the sect leader, Master Xuanming, and discuss it with the dozen or so elders first.

But today is already the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and tomorrow is the Lunar New Year.

Whatever it may be, we should at least wait until after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year to discuss it.

Li Jingxiao's first target was naturally the old mudfish in Tianchi Lake.

With this idea in mind, Li Jingxiao left the Demon-Sealing Tower.

Using the supernatural power of "Shrinking the Earth in the Abyss," he took a step, and his foot landed a mile away.

After walking just over a thousand steps, we arrived near Dongting Lake.

Standing on a embankment by the lake, he made a "water-avoiding spell" and took another step forward.

Sure enough, it could move freely in the water, and each step covered a mile.

They soon arrived outside the Dragon Palace of Dongting.

The patrolling yakshas and shrimp soldiers and crab generals saw someone moving at an extremely fast speed.

Separate waterways, proceeding from far to near.

He was about to shout angrily to stop the person from entering.

Suddenly, the person appeared in front of them.

While being startled, he also recognized the person as Li Jingxiao.

He hurriedly put away his weapon, cupped his hands in a salute, and said, "I was unaware of your visit and failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me."

Li Jingxiao waved his hand, "This humble Taoist has something to ask of the Dragon Lord, go and inform him immediately."

The Yaksha smiled and shook his head: "Imperial sir, you do not know. The Dragon Lord said that if you come to visit, he can bring you inside directly."

Li Jingxiao laughed heartily, nodded at the Yaksha, and took another step, already several hundred meters away.

Walk a few more steps and you'll reach the entrance to the Dragon Palace.

The aquatic soldiers guarding the gate recognized him, and immediately an eel commander led him inside.

After taking a sip of tea in the Dragon Palace, I heard the Dragon King and his eldest son hurriedly enter the palace from the backyard.

When the father and son saw Li Jingxiao, they thought something had happened.

When they heard Li Jingxiao say that he wanted to capture the Old Dragon of Tianchi and imprison him in the Demon Locking Tower at Maoshan, they were shocked.

The father and son looked at each other in bewilderment.

To prevent the father and son from having any wild thoughts, Li Jingxiao said directly, "I spent most of the time in the Demon Locking Tower recently, honing my martial arts and Taoist skills."

Unexpectedly, he was not paying attention and accidentally killed a pair of mother and child ghosts.

Now that there's a vacancy in the Demon Locking Tower, I thought I'd capture the Heavenly Pool Dragon and hand it over to the Dragon Lord's cousin.

The tragic act of 'father killing son' is worse than being imprisoned in the Demon-Sealing Tower; that would be an extremely severe punishment.

Upon hearing this, the Dragon King and his son began to have doubts.

The Maoshan Demon-Locking Tower imprisons all sorts of formidable demons.

And once those mother and child ghosts appear, none of them are easy to deal with.

Even a Taoist master might not be confident in subduing it.

But this person claimed that it was just an accident that he killed a pair of ghostly beings, a mother and child, who had lived for countless years.

Is this spoken in 'human language'?
But considering this person was alone, he killed a zombie that was about to become a drought demon.

It's not surprising that he accidentally killed the pair of ghostly demons.

As for the matter of the Heavenly Lake Dragon King, the Dongting Lake Dragon King thought about it and decided that he should tell his cousin about it.

He cupped his hands and said to Li Jingxiao, "Please wait a moment, Master. I need to go and tell my cousin."

Li Jingxiao nodded and waited for the old Dragon King to leave.

Seeing that the prince was very enthusiastic in inviting him to come inside and meet his dragon mother.

Li Jingxiao couldn't help but hesitate.

(End of this chapter)