Journey to the West: Starting with becoming an apprentice of the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Patriar

A straightforward heart leads to a straight sword.

A sword light, wrapped in wind and fire, slashed back and met the wolf's head that pounced in front of him.

The annotations in the sea of ​​consciousness had already made it clear. When the spirit of darkness touches it, it's like snow being thrown into a furnace.

Snowflakes were thrown into the fire.

"Zzz."

The wolf's head, which had been ferocious for three hundred years, didn't even have time to utter a single scream.

With a flash of sword light, the grayish-white phantom split apart, revealing a crimson-gold edge of flame at the break, like an oil-soaked piece of paper being ignited, the fire line rapidly spreading in all directions.

Wherever you climb, that place disappears.

Three breaths.

The chilling aura that filled the hall dissipated completely, and the Yin spirit vanished without a trace, never to be found again in the world.

Almost simultaneously, a muffled thud came from the center of the palace.

Black-maned stone hammer slammed into the dazed body.

More than sixty years have passed.

Within the force of the thousand-pound hammer lies the stream of Luoyan'ao stained red, the breaths of the night beneath the muddy pond, and the more than one hundred and thirty unspeakable wronged souls.

The old wild boar didn't utter a sound, and after the first blow, it struck again.

Meng Zhang's sword pierced through the hammer almost touching the shadow, a sliver of blue light sealing the throat.

Actually, it's no longer necessary.

When the spirit is scattered, the body becomes a dead thing.

The gray wolf's body collapsed softly, kicking up dust, and the demonic aura that had dominated Huangfeng Ridge for thirty years dissipated like the receding tide.

……

Inside the hall, the extinguished demonic fires were lit up one by one, illuminating the mess on the ground, the wolf soldiers on both sides holding weapons and maintaining various strange postures, and also the frozen faces.

Finished?

The three-hundred-year-old silverback wolf king, the ancestor who exorcises spirits, the main peak king whose name no one in the mountains dares to utter at night...

That's it, all over?

It didn't even qualify as a close fight.

As soon as the Yin spirit appeared, a flash of sword light appeared, and the attack from both sides was completed in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Huang San held the gift list, its mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time. It had even prepared its last words in its mind.

Even Meng Zhang stood there stunned for a moment after sheathing his sword.

He went up the mountain tonight, risking his life as if it were firewood.

He planned to take the lead, wear down the wolf king, and reduce its strength by 30% if possible – that was his script.

The play ended before the script was even opened.

Only Lu Shanjun himself knew that this sword strike was anything but simple.

One sword strike on stage, ten days of respite off stage.

The centuries-old rituals invited from the temple are the bones; the Yangfeng, tempered by the essence of the sun, the crowing of the rooster, and the thunder and fire, is the blade; the wind and fire of the remaining scrolls of Qingyun are the momentum; and the Zhenwu Gangqi is the soul.

Four things are missing, and the sword strike just now was to split the fog with a stone strip.

And the most important thing is: wait.

Wait until the old wolf, relying on its intangible Yin spirit, bypassed Tiger Two and Black Mane, and personally delivered its three-hundred-year life to this line of swords.

If you make the right move at that exact moment, three hundred years of cultivation can be wiped out in a single sword strike.

The blue shadow of the sea of ​​knowledge shines brightly.

[Swordplay: Qingyun Swordplay (Fragment, Lesser Completion 182/300)]

[Martial Arts: Three Forms of Subduing the Tiger (Minor Mastery 1/300)]

[Annotation: A single sword strike slays a god; tempered by wind and fire to the utmost yang, its chilling power embodies true martial prowess. The name of demon slayer begins tonight.]

……

"Mountain Lord".

Meng Zhang had already bent down beside the wolf corpse without anyone noticing. He gently flicked the tip of his sword, and when he straightened up, he held something in his hands and presented it to Lu Shanjun.

The old python had lived for two hundred years and had seen all kinds of storms, but at this moment, its vertical pupils revealed an unconcealable horror.

"Look."

A demon core, the size of a longan, lay quietly in his palm.

The background is grayish-white, but beneath that grayness, a layer of gold veins are faintly visible, like a sliver of light about to break through an eggshell.

Lu Shanjun glanced at it once, and his pupils shrank to two thin lines.

gold.

The cinnabar gleamed with gold.

The alchemical texts clearly state: when the illusory elixir explodes, it transforms into a point of pure spiritual consciousness.

The yin impurities within the yin spirit are gradually refined away by the essence of the sun and moon. When yin is exhausted, yang is born, which is called the Golden Elixir.

At that point, the Yin spirit is no longer the Yin spirit.

Only those who are unafraid of the sun, the wind, thunder, fire, and blood, and who can be seen for hundreds of miles even in broad daylight, can be considered to have truly established themselves as "gods".

The golden patterns on this pill have already spread to 30%.

A layer of cold sweat suddenly seeped out from Lu Shanjun's back.

No wonder.

No wonder that old wolf has been in such a hurry lately, forcing everyone to go down the mountain to capture people, and demanding that all the demons on the mountain come to pay their dues. He seems to want to wipe out several villages at the foot of the mountain.

Where is this food prepared for some distinguished guest from Black Wind Mountain?

It is using human lives and karma as firewood, filling its own alchemy furnace handful by handful, forcibly filling this last half step!

Give it another three months... no, maybe one month.

Once the golden liquid is formed, the yin will be exhausted and the yang will be pure. Tonight, this sword of ultimate yang will no longer be able to cut it. At that time, not only will the Yellow Wind Cave be affected, but even the lantern-carrying man at the foot of the mountain will have to think twice.

That was close.

That was a close call.

Truly, the net of Heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it.

The old wolf had calculated everything, regarding all the demons on the mountain as firewood in his hearth, but he hadn't anticipated that a tiger would wake up in the woodpile.

"Mountain Lord, this pill..." Meng Zhang whispered.

Lu Shanjun shook his head. This pill is soaked in the karmic retribution of decades of human lives and sacrifices; it is extremely filthy, and whoever swallows it will bear the consequences.

But he didn't let anyone destroy it. Instead, he took a piece of coarse cloth, carefully wrapped it in three layers, and put it close to his body.

"This thing has another use."

He raised his head.

The entire hall was filled with demons, whether they were wolf soldiers or mountain leaders, who had all knelt down in a dark mass without anyone noticing.

……

Lu Shanjun did not immediately sit on the throne, but first gave three instructions.

All the sacrificial offerings in the hall were cleared away.

The skeletons piled up in the back cave over the years were sent back to the mountains if they could be identified, and buried in a sunny slope if they could not be identified.

Finally, he pointed to the north wall that never saw the light of day.

"Cut it open. Make three large windows, facing south."

Huang San was taken aback: "Your Majesty, the palace... is going to be exposed to the light?"

"It needs to be exposed to the light."

Lu Shanjun said calmly, "This hall used to be inhabited by Yin spirits, who couldn't stand the sun. From now on, it won't be inhabited by them."

Three days later, the south window of the main peak stone hall was completed.

For the first time, the midday sun shone into this great hall that had endured thirty long nights, illuminating the blue stone throne and turning all the dust in the hall into gold dust.

Lu Shanjun walked up step by step and sat down.

Your Highness, a dark mass of demon heads surged forth.

Those from Huangfeng Cave, Gongzui Slope, Wushao Ridge, and the old guard from the main peak, as well as scattered demons from all over who had heard of the place and came to join them, all those in the eight hundred miles of Huangfeng Ridge who were qualified to stand in this hall, have all come.

As the roar of the mountains rose like waves, Lu Shanjun raised his claw and made a feinting press.

"First, commend their achievements."

"Tiger Two, you followed me from humble beginnings, your loyalty and bravery are unparalleled. You are a leading vanguard general, in charge of patrolling the mountains."

Tiger Two grinned and scratched his head: "Big brother, wasn't I originally... a vanguard?"

"You used to be the wolf king's vanguard, guarding the gate for him."

Lu Shanjun glanced at it. "Now you're the vanguard of Yellow Wind Ridge, guarding the gates for all the demons on the mountain. Is that the same?"

Tiger Two thumped his chest loudly: "It's different!"

"Black Mane, who slew the Wolf King in battle, is the leader of the Mountain Guardian General and commands the Gongzui Slope and the mountains to the south."

"Huang San, your strategic planning has been successful; your position as strategist is now firmly established."

Huang San kowtowed once and didn't get up for a long time.

Thin-legged Palmer relays orders, Stone Palmer guards the palace gate, and Flowery Skin, Crow, Round Ball, Long Ears, and White Face each take on a task.

The seven or eight boys who followed Tiger Lord out of the Yellow Wind Cave became loyal subjects of the new king overnight.

The bestowal of honors was complete, and the hall was filled with joy.

Lu Shanjun stood up at this moment.

"After recounting the achievements, enact the law."

"The first ironclad rule of Huangfeng Ridge is hereby established..."

"From this day forward, no human life shall be taken on this mountain range for eight hundred miles. No cannibalism, no kidnapping, no harming. Not a single human hair or a wisp of human smoke shall be touched."

"What is the first sentence of the Treatise on Response and Retribution? It says: Misfortune and fortune have no gate; they are summoned by oneself."

"Eating others may satisfy your hunger for a moment, but the karmic burden will last for ten thousand years. I have spoken of this principle before at the Yellow Wind Cave, and I will repeat it again today, and I will speak of it every year thereafter."

His Highness and the demons responded in unison.

But Lu Shanjun changed the subject, his gaze slowly sweeping over both sides, especially the area with the old guard from the main peak.

"I know that some of you are demons who followed the old wolf down the mountain."

That area fell completely silent in an instant.

Many of the wolf soldiers' heads drooped down inch by inch.

"I acknowledge half of the words 'the former master's command, I had no choice in the matter,'" Lu Shanjun said slowly. "Therefore, I will grant you one night."

"Tonight, the mountain gates are wide open, and all the sentries on all sides have been withdrawn. Those who wish to leave may do so now, heading north or east. The world is vast, and if you can escape, that is your good fortune. Huangfeng Ridge will not pursue or stop you."

"but."

He paused, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"After tonight, those still remaining on Yellow Wind Ridge will be checked one by one according to the roster. Anyone who came down the mountain to eat people in the past, anyone with a blood debt on their hands, regardless of merit or kinship..."

"Swift and merciless execution, with zero tolerance."

The hall was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

That night, eerie shadows loomed over the various mountain passes on the main peak.

Some packed their valuables, some brought their families, and some fled alone as demons.

Several old wolves reached the mountain gate, glanced back at the brightly lit stone hall, and beat their chests in despair. "If only we had known this would happen, we should never have come down that mountain those years ago!"