A Compendium of One Hundred Demons: My Path to Immortality in a World of Demons and Monsters

The aura was faint, but Xu Yuan's soul, having been tempered and combined with his [Yin Qi Perception] ability, detected it almost the instant it appeared.

"They've come knocking on our door so quickly?"

Xu Yuan's lips curled into a smile, but he continued walking forward without making a sound.

As he rounded a bend, he vanished silently into the shadows.

A moment later, a dark figure darted in from the alley entrance.

The dark figure moved extremely fast and landed silently, clearly a master of stealth.

However, when he reached the corner, he found that there was no one there.

"not good!"

The shadowy figure sensed something was wrong and was about to back away when a hand pressed down on his shoulder from behind.

The pale golden true essence gripped his collarbone like an iron clamp, and if Xu Yuan so desired, it could shatter his heart meridian in the next instant.

"Speak, who sent you?"

The dark figure stiffened, remained silent for a moment, and then managed to speak with difficulty: "Master Xu... please spare my life, I am a member of the Liu family..."

Liu family.

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, recalling the three dried corpses from last night.

"What do you want?"

The calm voice sent a chill down the spine of the shadowy figure: "I...I was just following orders...The patriarch said that anyone connected to the young master's disappearance must be investigated..."

"Did you find it?"

"No...no..."

After pondering for a moment, Xu Yuan suddenly released his grip.

The dark figure staggered backward, but dared not run away, only staring at him in terror.

"Go back and tell Patriarch Liu," Xu Yuan said calmly, "His son's death has nothing to do with me. If he doesn't believe me, he can send people to investigate, but next time—"

He paused, his true essence surging slightly, and the pressure of the peak of the three apertures flashed by.

"Those who come may not necessarily return alive."

Upon hearing this, the shadowy figure felt as if he had been granted a pardon, nodded repeatedly, turned and ran, quickly disappearing into the night.

Xu Yuan stood there, watching that figure disappear into the distance.

"The Liu family..."

Xu Yuan wasn't afraid of what the other party would find out, since it was Hua Mei who handled the matter, and there was no evidence pointing to him.

But now that the Liu family has their eyes on it, trouble is inevitable in the future.

"We still need to improve our strength as soon as possible."

Xu Yuan turned around and disappeared into the alley.

Back at the villa, the thrush was already there to greet us.

She was still wearing a long dress, and her beautiful face wore a sweet smile: "Master, you're back."

Xu Yuan nodded and sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard.

"The Liu family has their eyes on me," he said slowly. "When you dealt with Liu Qingyun and the others, did you leave any other traces?"

The thrush thought about it carefully, then shook its head and said, "Master, rest assured, after I drained their life essence, even their bones turned to dust. I left absolutely no trace of you."

"That's good." Xu Yuan nodded, then asked, "What's the rendezvous time with Youying Tower?"

"The day after tomorrow, on the tenth day, at midnight, at that abandoned house in the west of the city," Hua Mei said. "The one coming should be Blood Hand from the Outer Tower. He is in the early stage of Qi Condensation, and is cautious. He always brings two peak Blood Refinement level guards with him when making contact."

Xu Yuan nodded.

Later that day, he went to meet this so-called "Bloody Hand".

If we can follow the clues and find the Shadow Tower's stronghold...

He looked at the thrush and asked, "How much of your strength have you recovered?"

Hua Mei smiled sweetly, her body swirling with yin energy, faintly revealing the pressure of a mid-stage Ghost General: "Thanks to Master, I have recovered to about 70-80%. If I were to face Blood Hand, I would be 90% confident of defeating him."

"Alright." Xu Yuan stood up. "Take good care of yourself these next two days, and come with me the day after tomorrow."

"Yes, Master."

Xu Yuan returned to his room and sat cross-legged.

He took out spirit stones and pills from his storage bag and began cultivating.

During the Blood Refining Realm, cultivation relies on tempering one's own blood and qi; however, after the Qi Condensation Realm, further advancement requires the use of spirit stones and pills to absorb more spiritual energy from heaven and earth to nourish the Qi points.

It would take an ordinary Qi Condensation Realm martial artist several days to completely refine a low-grade spirit stone.

But Xu Yuan was different; his eternal hunger body allowed him to absorb all the mixed energies in spirit stones and pills without any hindrance.

Thirty spirit stones would probably only last him a few days.

However, Xu Yuan has now made a deal with Lei Zhen to represent the Northern Camp in the Demon-Slaying Tournament, so he won't be short of cultivation resources in the short term.

Therefore, he needs to deal with the potential troubles caused by the Shadow Tower before considering anything else.

With this thought in mind, Xu Yuan slowly closed his eyes, and at the same time, the "Mysterious Prison Suppressing Force" and the "Netherworld Soul Refining Technique" quietly began to circulate, immersing himself in cultivation.

In the courtyard, a thrush sat under the old locust tree, gazing up at the night sky.

She hadn't looked at the moon so quietly in a very long time.

Since being transformed into a painted-skin demon, her world has consisted only of killing, bloodshed, and missions.

But now...

She looked at the figure sitting cross-legged inside the room, a complex emotion flashing in her deep purple eyes.

This new owner seems a bit different.

………………

Two days later, at midnight.

Abandoned houses in the west of the city.

The night was as dark as ink, and weeds grew wildly in the dilapidated courtyard. The wind blew through the broken window frames, making a strange, whistling sound.

A dark figure darted in like a ghost and landed in the courtyard.

He was a burly middle-aged man with a sinister face and a hideous scar on his left cheek.

His body was filled with concentrated qi and blood, clearly indicating that he was at the early stage of Qi Condensation.

The person who came was "Bloody Hand," who was in charge of collecting debts at the outer building of Youying Tower.

After landing, he cautiously scanned his surroundings, and only after confirming that no one was around did he whisper, "Aren't you coming out?"

"I'm here."

A lazy voice came from the main room.

Bloodhand looked up and saw Huamei, dressed in a dark green dress, leaning against the door frame, a lazy smile on her beautiful face.

Bloodhand frowned: "Where's Ah Qi?"

Hua Mei sighed, her eyes slightly red: "Dead."

"What?!" Bloodhand's expression changed drastically. "How did he die?"

"He was discovered by the Demon Suppression Bureau." Hua Mei wiped the corner of her eye. "That day, he went out to hunt for food and ran into a Demon Suppression Envoy at the Qi Condensation Realm. He couldn't even escape."

Bloodhand paused for a moment, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "Did you leave any trace?"

"Don't worry, it's perfectly clean," Hua Mei said softly. "That person didn't trace it back to our Youying Tower."

Upon hearing this, Bloodhand nodded, then took out a storage bag from his robes and tossed it to Huamei: "This is this month's blood offering: twenty portions of essence blood and ten demon cores. Keep it safe. See you at the same place on the tenth of next month."

The thrush took it, weighed it in her hand, and said, "That's all? Ah Qi is dead, and this is all the compensation?"

Bloodhand's face darkened, and he shouted sternly, "Don't be ungrateful! According to the rules of this place, if you die, it means you're useless. What are you expecting in return?"

Hua Mei lowered her eyes and sighed softly.

"All right."

Bloodhand snorted coldly and turned to leave.

However, the moment he turned around, a dark figure that had been waiting for a long time silently slipped in from outside the courtyard wall and landed behind him.

"Who goes there?!"

Blood Hand reacted extremely quickly, his true energy surging throughout his body, and he struck out with a backhand palm!

However, the shadowy figure was faster than him.

A hand covered in faint scales casually gripped his wrist.

"Click—"

Fragmented wrist bone!

Bloodhand screamed in agony, but before he could break free, a surge of powerful true energy rushed in like a tidal wave, suppressing him completely.

He looked up in alarm and saw a young man in blue robes looking down at him in the moonlight.

Those eyes were calm as still water, yet they made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"Who...who are you?!"

Xu Yuan did not answer.

He simply said, "The Shadow Pavilion's Blood Hand, an early-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, is responsible for 'collecting debts' around Cangzhou Prefecture. He comes here to meet people on the tenth of each month?"

Bloodhand's pupils constricted sharply as he stared intently at Painted Eyebrow: "You...you betrayed Shadow Tower?!"

Hua Mei smiled sweetly, walked to Xu Yuan's side, and obediently lowered her head.

"Master, what should we do with this person?"

Owner?!!

Upon hearing this, Bloodhand was struck dumb.

A demon in the mid-stage of the Ghost General realm, a painted-skin demon, actually calls a human "master"?!

Xu Yuan looked at the terrified look in Blood Hand's eyes and slowly spoke.

"Now, I'm giving you two choices."

"First, death."

"Second, tell me everything you know."