So it turns out I'm the demon!

Within the small world.

In the dimly lit valley, Jiang Mu was sweating profusely as he conducted an in-depth investigation.

The investigation is halfway through, but some progress has been made.

He could vaguely sense that there was some discordant foreign object hidden deep within the Ghost Core, which was probably the culprit that caused Yu Xiaoqian's amnesia.

This item seems to amplify a person's negative emotions.

However, just as he was about to conduct further research, Yu Xiaoqian, who had fallen into a deep meditative state due to the backlash, suddenly opened her eyes. The girl's icy gaze stared directly at Jiang Mu.

Jiang Mu was stunned.

Neither advancing nor retreating is an option.

The atmosphere was awkward.

Finally, Yu Xiaoqian broke the silence first: "What are you doing?"

"..."

Jiang Mu opened her mouth, forcing a smile.

"Well... I saw you were suffering from a qi deviation earlier, so I was thinking of healing you. You know, a doctor's heart is like a parent's, right?" *Bang!*

His response was a powerful and merciless punch.

Jiang Mu was sent flying, his back slamming into the stone wall, leaving a human-shaped dent, before sliding down the wall.

Fortunately, although it looked like he exerted a lot of force, he didn't suffer any internal injuries.

Yu Xiaoqian stood up.

She glanced down, her slender eyebrows furrowing slightly, looking somewhat puzzled.

Jiang Mu rubbed her chest, which was numb from being patted, as she stood up. Looking at the other person's bewildered expression, she tentatively asked:

"Xiaoqian, you still haven't remembered?"

Yu Xiaoqian raised her head, looked at him coldly, and asked, "Remembered what?"

Jiang Mu was speechless, her lips twitching.

Well, all that work for nothing!

This girl probably won't be able to recover the rest of her memory.

The path to darkness is one of relentless pursuit.

Yu Xiaoqian did not press further, but instead extended her slender fingers and gently wiped away a drop of rainwater from her calf.

She held her finger up to her eyes, tilted her head to examine it for a moment, and asked in confusion:

"What is this?"

Jiang Mu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that the girl's memory loss was more serious than he had imagined.

She not only forgot their feelings for each other, but even the most basic things seemed to have been completely erased from her mind.

She is practically a blank slate right now.

Jiang Mu's mind raced, and she said earnestly, "This is the medicine I applied when I treated your wounds earlier. Now, feel whether your body feels different than before?"

"change?"

Yu Xiaoqian glanced at him with some skepticism, then closed her eyes and focused her consciousness into her body to sense the surroundings.

The next moment, wisps of golden karmic fire, enveloped in eerie ghostly energy, began to emanate from her pores.

The saying goes that good and evil cannot coexist.

Who would have thought that a ghost cultivator would possess Buddhist karmic fire?

As the light shifted, the black dress was edged with gold by the flames, as if the dawn had ignited it from the edge in the dead of night.

The girl's cold and beautiful face appeared even more otherworldly in the interplay of light and shadow.

Yu Xiaoqian opened her right hand.

A black sphere the size of a fist condensed and took shape in his palm.

A layer of golden patterns flowed across the surface of the sphere, like a dark pearl wrapped in gold thread.

Inside the sphere of light, a powerful energy was surging.

The surrounding air hummed under the pressure of this force, and even the ground beneath her feet began to tremble.

Then, Yu Xiaoqian squeezed her fair little hand tightly.

"boom"

Streams of ghostly energy surged forth like torrents, crashing against the sky.

The barrier, painstakingly maintained by the Demon Slayer Society for many years, was torn apart with countless huge cracks by the female ghost's casual grasp.

The sky is like a shattered mirror.

The fragments fell in a flurry, revealing the real night sky outside.

Jiang Mu was dumbfounded.

Does this work too?

He simply took a huge risk and risked his life to give her a treatment and some massage.

How come this girl's cultivation level has increased again?

Does eating a nutritional meal really upgrade your stats?

If he feeds it a few more times, wouldn't he be able to cultivate a ghost immortal on the spot?

"Whoosh!"

Before Jiang Mu could react, Yu Xiaoqian's figure flickered, soaring into the sky and disappearing without a trace through the shattered heavens. Jiang Mu was about to spread his wings and chase after her when he suddenly remembered something. He quickly spread out his divine sense and scanned the area, finding Yan Zixiao and the peasant woman holding the baby in a secluded courtyard.

He flashed past.

"Who?!"

Just like a frightened bird, Yan Zixiao, who was holding a broken sword and protecting the peasant woman, was so frightened by the sudden appearance of the shadow that he almost stabbed her with his sword.

Only after recognizing Jiang Mu did he breathe a sigh of relief and step forward to ask with concern:

"Lord Jiang, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Jiang Mu shook his head and instructed Yan Zixiao,

"To make a long story short, this little world created by the Demon Slayer Society is about to collapse. You need to take her and leave this place immediately to find a safe place to hide."

I have important business to attend to. We'll meet at the Laixiang Inn in town later and discuss it in detail then.

"Yes, sir, rest assured, I will protect her."

Yan Zixiao nodded in agreement.

Just as Jiang Mu was about to turn and leave, she suddenly stopped and turned back to ask:

"By the way, Lao Yan. I remember you mentioned when we parted in Yancheng that you carried a magical chess piece called the [Heavenly Origin Star-Fixing Piece], right?"

Yan Zixiao was taken aback for a moment, then answered truthfully, "Yes."

Jiang Mu reached out his hand:

"Give it to me, consider it payment for saving your life. When the opportunity arises in the future, I will return an even better magic weapon to you."

Yan Zixiao's lips twitched.

No, brother. It's true you saved my life, but you turn around and ask me for a magic weapon. Isn't that a bit too rushed? Despite his inner complaints, Yan Zixiao was a man who clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment.

Considering that if Jiang Mu hadn't saved him today, he probably wouldn't even have any bones left, a mere magic weapon is nothing compared to his life and fortune.

He took out a black chess piece and reluctantly handed it to Jiang Mu, his tone tinged with a hint of regret:

"This item is called the [Celestial Origin Star-Stabilizing Piece]. The saying goes, 'When the piece is placed at the Celestial Origin, all order returns to its source.' Holding this piece can suppress the waves in one's sea of ​​consciousness and stabilize one's foundation so that it will not collapse."

Most importantly, it can keep a cultivator's spirit clear at all times, free from external temptations, and prevent the arising of inner demons and delusions.

It's a pity they should have been a pair.

There was another white piece called "Earth Element Star-Guiding Piece," which was taken by Yang Feifei, the inner guard.

If the black and white stones are combined, they can exert a miraculous effect, helping you protect your cultivation level from being taken away by any external force.

When I was expelled from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, according to the rules, my sword cultivation should have been crippled. My master felt sorry for me, so he secretly used this magic weapon to protect me.

Otherwise, I, Yan Zixiao, would have been a cripple long ago.

Jiang Mu took the chess piece but did not tell Yan Zixiao that he was carrying Yang Feifei's Earth Element Star-Guiding Piece in his pocket at that moment.

He thanked her, then unfurled his Demon Wings and chased after Yu Xiaoqian through the spatial rift she had left behind.

During the search, Jiang Mu took out both chess pieces at the same time.

One black and one white, placed in the left and right palms respectively.

As he activated the star power within his body, the two chess pieces began to tremble slightly, as if they were being pulled together by a thread, rising from his palm and rotating on their own in mid-air.

Then, with a soft click, they joined together.

There is white in black, and black in white; one side is yin, and the other side is yang.

Jiang Mu then channeled the demonic energy from the demonic trough into it.

As demonic energy was injected, the originally distinct black and white colors gradually merged into a chaotic gray.

After consuming almost half of the magic energy in the magic gauge, the chess piece finally completed its violent transformation.

At the same time, a large amount of information flooded into his mind.

【The Heavenly Origin of Cause and Effect!】

The people are the pieces, cause and effect are the lines, and the center point is the board.

Those who possess this child can fabricate countless sins and karmic consequences upon themselves, forging a body capable of eternal damnation.

After reading this information, Jiang Mu's expression turned strange.

Well, to put it bluntly, this thing is a super-powerful tool for faking accidents.

If anyone dares to kill him in the future, the real and fake threads of sin and karma entangled around him will scare them away.

After all, the higher one's cultivation level, the more one should avoid getting involved in sins and karma.

I fear being rejected and rejected by the Heavenly Way.

Jiang Mu chuckled and appeared in the sky above Xiahe Town.

As soon as he stood still, the scene before him stunned him.

Xiahe Town seemed to be covered by a square box, with a transparent barrier of sword intent completely separating the inside and outside of the town.

Within the barrier, countless silver-white sword beams floated in the air.

Let alone ordinary people, even low-level cultivators in the third or fourth realm would likely have their lungs shredded by the wandering sword energy if they tried to breathe within a hundred feet of the barrier.

"What kind of bizarre secret realm is this now?"

Jiang Mu was filled with doubt.

Just then, a booming sound came from the sky on the other side of the town.

Jiang Mu flew over in the direction of the sound.

Then he saw the giant sword lotus in the sky.

They saw Zhu Wuxian, who was tearing at the chains and gritting his teeth, and Yang Chihong, who was fighting with Yu Xiaoqian.

Clearly, this girl was also attracted by the sword lotus.

She now acts entirely on instinct.

The immense sword essence contained within the sword lotus was, in her perception, like a steak—it would be a disservice to her cultivation level not to snatch it. But Jiang Mu's gaze lingered on them for only a moment before being drawn to something else.

It was a ball of silvery-white light bound by dozens of iron chains.

"That's... Ah Qing?!"

Others couldn't see it clearly, but Jiang Mu recognized the figure inside the ball of light as Yuan Aqing at a glance.

At that moment, the chains were pulling her down, while the ball of light stubbornly flew upward.

The two sides were like tug-of-war.

With each moment of stalemate, the chains tightened a little more.

H!

Jiang Mu cursed under his breath and flew towards Zhu Wuxian.

Zhu Wuxian was too busy to help Yang Chihong at that moment.

Yu Xiaoqian's appearance completely disrupted their rhythm.

This ghost cultivator, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, neither considered the situation nor inquired about his origins. He was stubborn and foolish, and went straight for the sword lotus, which was very impolite.

Fortunately, with Yang Chihong's cultivation level, he was still able to block Yu Xiaoqian.

"Once I've seized this opportunity, I'll definitely refine this ignorant, wandering ghost into a sword demon!"

Zhu Wuxian suppressed his irritation and began to plan how to acquire the Sword Lotus as quickly as possible.

This female ghost isn't the first; there must be others coming to snatch her away.

As he was pondering, he suddenly looked up.

Suddenly, a golden mountain, known as "Thousand Gold Mountain," crashed down from the sky.

"Um?"

Zhu Wuxian frowned, instinctively wanting to raise his hand to form a hand seal.

But the moment he moved his fingertip, the chains binding the ball of light shook, startling him so much that he dared not be distracted in the slightest.

He quickly sensed the power of [Thousand Gold Mountain] and found that it posed little threat, so he simply ignored it.

"Boom!"

The gold mountain crashed onto the head of the Buddha image, only creating a ripple before being bounced off and shrinking back to the size of a gold ingot before flying back.

Zhu Wuxian turned his head and looked in the direction where the magic weapon had been retrieved.

Several dozen feet away in the void, a figure clad in dark blood armor was hovering.

"Jiang Mu?"

A look of surprise flashed across Zhu Wuxian's face.

"You old bastard, you're a lackey of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, aren't you?"

Behind Jiang Mu, the image of the God of Fire appeared, and the flaming phantom, dozens of feet high, burned half of the void into a dark red.

Zhu Wuxian couldn't help but chuckle.

Previously in France, he tried to gain luck from this kid, but ended up being tricked and suffering a loss.

He had originally planned to seize this opportunity and then devise a proper scheme.

But to their surprise, the other party came to them on their own.

"Jiang Mu, have you lost your mind? With your meager skills, you dare to come here and try to seize this opportunity?"

Zhu Wuxian glanced at him coldly, his tone mocking.

Jiang Mu said calmly:

"If it were any other opportunity, I really wouldn't bother to snatch it. But since it's something your Myriad Swords Sect wants, then I'm sorry, I have no choice but to reluctantly step in."

"How arrogant."

Zhu Wuxian snorted coldly, "I advise you to get out of the Sword Domain immediately. Even if you are the number one prodigy promoted by Daqing, you are nothing in front of me!"

Jiang Mu was too lazy to waste words with him, so she gripped the knife with both hands and charged forward.

He had just observed that the old man was unable to retaliate because he was busy controlling the ball of light containing Yuan Aqing.

Since you're willing to be a sitting duck, then I'll give you a good beating today.

"Overestimating one's abilities."

With a thought, Zhu Wuxian's body lit up with a protective aura.

The vast gap in cultivation levels is stark. An all-out attack from an eighth-level cultivator hitting the defenses of a twelfth-level cultivator is like a mosquito biting a steel plate—it makes a sound but is utterly meaningless.

really.

The sharp blade energy struck the protective aura, leaving only a shallow mark on the surface without causing any damage.

However, Zhu Wuxian overlooked Jiang Mu's unlimited endurance.

A mosquito bite is tiring and needs to rest, but Jiang Mu doesn't have to.

Hundreds and thousands of sword beams rained down on Zhu Wuxian's protective golden shield like a torrential downpour.

In an instant, the explosions were as frequent as thunder.

Not satisfied with just a few strikes, Jiang Mu followed up with a Whirlwind Slash, then a Dharma Body Heavy Fist...

He unleashed all his moves at once.

On the other side, Yang Chihong, who was engaged in a fierce battle with Yu Xiaoqian, also noticed the commotion.

He caught a glimpse of Jiang Mu giving the Grand Elder a gua sha treatment out of the corner of his eye, and sneered inwardly, having no intention of going over to help.

The ghost cultivator covered in karmic flames was already difficult to deal with, so there was no need for him to be distracted by a junior.

Moreover...

He glanced at Zhu Wuxian's increasingly gloomy expression.

It's good to let this old man suffer a bit.

Although Zhu Wuxian, who was in the center of the storm of sword energy, was unharmed, the evil fire in his heart burned brighter and brighter.

A dignified elder of the twelfth realm was being used as a wooden stake by a junior, and he couldn't even retaliate—it was truly a humiliating disgrace. "Have you had enough?"

Zhu Wuxian stared at Jiang Mu, who was spinning on the outside, and said coldly,

"What's the point of wasting your energy like a clown jumping around? Once I've gathered this opportunity and am free to act, where can you possibly run to, in heaven or on earth?"

Jiang Mu stopped his sword strike, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said, "You've reminded me that we should deal with the important ones first."

Before he finished speaking, he flashed away and created distance.

Seeing this, Zhu Wuxian thought that the boy was giving up and trying to run away.

Just as a hint of disdain was rising in his heart, he was stunned to see Jiang Mu turn in mid-air and rush towards the group of disciples below who were forming an array. "Not good!"

Zhu Wuxian's expression changed drastically, and he shouted sharply, "Yang Chihong, stop him!"

Those disciples are the key to maintaining the "Heavenly Net Seizing Opportunity Formation". Once they are killed, the formation will collapse, the giant net holding the sword lotus will dissipate, and the opportunity will be out of control.

Yang Chihong was also greatly shocked.

He forced Yu Xiaoqian back with a sword strike, attempting to break away and intercept Jiang Mu.

But Yu Xiaoqian wouldn't let him go; her ten fingers, like hundred-foot-long black whips, entangled his path.

Seeing that Yang Chihong was unable to escape, Zhu Wuxian bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. His exhalation was as loud as a thunderclap:

"cover!"

The essence of blood exploded in mid-air, transforming into a massive inverted light shield that descended from the sky, attempting to protect the dozen or so disciples below, along with the array diagram, before Jiang Mu landed.

Teleport!

Jiang Mu's figure blurred as he rushed ahead of the disciples.

"Form ranks, attack!"

These disciples were all elites of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. Although they were startled by Jiang Mu's sudden intrusion, they did not appear flustered.

The five disciples closest to Jiang Mu stood up at the same time.

The sword tips intersected, forming a small sword formation in the shape of a plum blossom.

The five longswords hummed, and a burst of sword light condensed where their tips met, shooting out in a triangular shape and sending Jiang Mu flying.

"Thump!"

The light barrier descended at the same moment, protecting the disciples inside.

Zhu Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at Jiang Mu, who was blocked outside the light barrier, and mocked, "Kid, you think you can get away with just your petty cleverness?"

Boom!!

Before Zhu Wuxian could finish speaking, a loud bang occurred.

But inside the light shield, a small mushroom cloud was seen rising into the air.

It was Jiang Mu who dropped the [Self-Destruction Shadow] the instant he teleported in!

The mushroom cloud carried a bloodthirsty aura, and the expanding shockwave violently slammed into the inner wall of the light shield, causing it to bulge outwards by several feet, and cracks spread across its surface.

"What is this?!"

Zhu Wuxian blinked, looking a little confused.

If he hadn't seen Jiang Mu standing outside unharmed, arms crossed, watching the show, he would have thought the kid had self-destructed.

As the aftershocks of the explosion gradually subsided, the protective shield also disappeared.

Scattered remains of limbs and flesh were revealed on the ground.

Those disciples' cultivation levels were not top-notch to begin with, and even with the support of the formation, they could only barely reach the threshold of the sixth or seventh realm.

How could they withstand the self-destruction of an eighth-level expert?

Seeing the sect's elite members blown to bits right before his eyes, and even the formation used to seize the opportunity destroyed, Zhu Wuxian's anger surged to the top of his head.

"You little beast, I will grind you to dust!!!"

Zhu Wuxian opened his mouth, and two paper figures flew out of it.

One red and one white.

The two paper figures circled around him once, and then their bodies began to swell, growing to the same size as Zhu Wuxian in an instant.

The cultivation aura emanating from the red paper figure indicates it is at the eighth realm.

The white paper figure represents the ninth realm.

Yang Chihong, who was some distance away, caught a glimpse of this scene and was secretly alarmed:

"Paper soldiers, phantom gods borrowing lives... The Grand Elder actually had this 'Mysterious Heaven Paper-Made Substitute Calamity Technique' hidden away. This old fox is really good at hiding things." "Go, kill him for me!" Zhu Wuxian shouted sternly.

The two paper doll clones simultaneously raised their hands, each conjuring a long sword, and rushed towards Jiang Mu.

"Ha, trying to create clones? You think you can call for help?"

Jiang Mu sneered.

With a thought, his shadow suddenly lengthened.

A shadowy figure, identical in shape to his, rose from the ground.

The demonic figure, wielding a shadow blade, charged straight at the Eight Realms Red Paper Man.

He then flapped his wings and crashed head-on into the even stronger Ninth Realm White Paper Man.

In terms of realm, there is a great gap between the eighth and ninth realms.

However, this is, after all, a paper doll clone. Its cultivation level, which is bound to Zhu Wuxian's main body, is limited, and its strength is far inferior to that of a true ninth-realm cultivator.

In addition, Jiang Mu was wearing a modified blood armor at the moment, with the Vulcan Dharma Image behind him standing tall and firm, maximizing both his offense and defense. He was not really afraid of this fake ninth realm opponent.

The white paper figure thrusts a sword, its tip gleaming with a cold light.

Jiang Muxue slashed upwards with his sword, the blade colliding head-on with the sword tip, the resulting burst of white light sending both of them flying back several feet.

The paper figure lunged forward again, unleashing a continuous barrage of sword strikes.

Jiang Mu exchanged dozens of blows with a relentless barrage, and at the moment his opponent froze, he used his Dharma Form to suppress him. Then, with a single strike, he cleaved the paper figure diagonally from its left shoulder to its right waist, splitting it in two.

The two halves of the paper figure were still trying to join together in mid-air when Jiang Mu flipped his hand and threw out two Soul-Locking Coffin Nails, pinning the two pieces of paper to the ground, one on each side. Zhu Wuxian was secretly shocked: "This kid truly deserves to be the number one prodigy of Daqing."

After dealing with the white paper doll, Jiang Mu rushed towards the chains connecting the ball of light to Zhu Wuxian's Dharma form.

Jiang Mu summoned a demonic shadow clone.

Immediately afterwards, the incomplete yet domineering forbidden technique within his body began to operate.

[Sacrificial Ritual]!

The summoned demonic clone, like a miniature sun ignited, crashed straight into the chains!

boom!!!

Jiang Mu used a bug exploit to self-destruct once again.

Although it still couldn't harm Zhu Wuxian, it shattered the chain closest to him into pieces.

As the first chain broke, cracks began to appear in the remaining chains.

Zhu Wuxian hurriedly urged the Dharma Image to be repaired.

But it was too late.

The ball of light where Yuan Aqing was located moved closer to the sword lotus.

Then a thin ray of light peeked out from the edge of the ball of light and touched a petal on the outer edge of the sword lotus.

"Damn it!"

Zhu Wuxian watched this scene with wide eyes, her eyes filled with rage.

He desperately activated the power of the Dharma Image, attempting to pull the ball of light back.

However, as the connection of that ray of light became thicker and thicker, the repulsive force coming from the light cluster also increased exponentially.

Eventually, all the chains broke apart.

Zhu Wuxian's mindset finally lost its balance at this moment.

He turned and shouted angrily, "Yang Chihong, kill this little beast first, then seize the opportunity!"

He flicked his arm,

Two more repaired cracked iron chains flew towards Yu Xiaoqian, entangled her, and gave Yang Chihong a chance to escape.

At the same time, Zhu Wuxian's hands moved swiftly, changing hand seals.

"Shrinking the earth to an inch!"

His body suddenly contracted, spanning the void, and appeared right in the middle of the sword lotus and the Yuan Aqing light cluster.

With a push of both palms, the two were forcibly separated.

He tried to delay the progress of the inheritance while turning to Yang Chihong and shouting, "Kill him now!"

Having shaken off Yu Xiaoqian's entanglement, Yang Chihong hovered in front of Jiang Mu.

A dignified vice sect leader at the eleventh realm was forced to deal with a junior at the eighth realm, which he felt was a great insult. "Boy, you've driven us to this point, enough for you to brag about for the rest of your life in the underworld."

Yang Chihong's eyes were cold and menacing, as if he were looking at a corpse.

"Today, I will personally skin you alive, drain your life force, and condemn you to eternal damnation!"

Before he could finish speaking, a giant hand tore through the void and grabbed at Jiang Mu.

However, just as the large hand was about to clamp down on Jiang Mu's body, Yang Chihong's pupils suddenly contracted.

Under his spiritual vision, Jiang Mu's body was actually wrapped in countless crisscrossing blood-red threads.

"The thread of karma and sin..."

Yang Chihong was dumbfounded.

What heinous crime did this kid commit?

Did they slaughter a million hungry orphans? Or did they dig up the ancestral graves of eighteen generations of human ancestors?

They have too many sins and karmic debts on their bodies.

Even the most powerful demons aren't this exaggerated.

For a moment, Yang Chihong hesitated.

When one's cultivation reaches a level where one attempts to glimpse the Dao of Heaven, the most taboo thing is to become tainted by the sins and karma of others.

Especially with such overwhelming karma, whoever gets involved will suffer misfortune.

If you get even a little bit of this stuff on you, at best your foundation will be damaged, and at worst, if it attracts a heavenly tribulation and you ascend to heaven, you will surely suffer divine punishment.

Even if they don't ascend to immortality, they are destined to be forever separated from the Great Dao in this lifetime.

In short, Jiang Mu in front of me is like a pile of shit.

It looks disgusting.

Grabbing a handful is even more disgusting.

Just as Yang Chihong hesitated, Yuan Aqing inside the ball of light finally made contact with the sword lotus.

In an instant, the girl's mind went blank.

It felt as if countless unfamiliar fragments of memory were flooding in.