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

"There's something going on ahead. Village chief, please wait here while I go check it out."

Xu Yuan stopped the old village chief and gestured for him to hide behind the bushes by the roadside. He then crouched down and quietly crept up the ridge.

After crossing a sloping hill, the sight that came into view made his pupils shrink.

It was a village that looked slightly larger than Shuangshan Village. At this moment, flames were raging in the village, and cries, laughter, and the sounds of clashing weapons were mixed together.

About twenty ragged bandits, armed with sharp blades, were burning, killing, and looting wildly. More than a dozen corpses lay scattered on the ground, men and women, their blood staining the yellow earth red.

In the open space in the center of the village, a large pot was placed on a fire, inside which disgusting chunks of meat were bubbling!

In the crowd, a young boy stared intently at the bandits, his eyes filled with rage, but he was held tightly by the old man beside him.

"It's...it's bandits?!" Xu Laogen, who had somehow caught up, was shocked and furious at the sight of the carnage, and trembled all over.

Xu Yuan's eyes were icy. He didn't want to cause trouble, but the thick, bloody resentment made the spiritual senses in his mind restless. More importantly, he saw several bandits dragging a young girl towards the large cauldron, the girl's cries heart-wrenching.

"Village chief, you should hide here." Xu Yuan gripped the wood-chopping knife tightly, his qi and blood circulating quietly throughout his body.

"Yuanwazi, there are too many of them..." Xu Laogen said anxiously.

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Yuan darted out like a cheetah, his figure as swift as lightning, covering more than twenty feet in a few leaps and bounds, heading straight for the open space in the village.

The bandits were laughing wildly as they tore at the girl's clothes, completely unaware that a killing god was about to arrive.

The leader was a one-eyed, burly man with a face full of scars. He had a black leather eye patch over his left eye and was chugging a wine jar. At his feet was a bloodstained nine-ringed broadsword, its thick blade gleaming with a dark red blood-red light, clearly indicating that it had drunk countless amounts of blood.

"Fourth Master, this little girl has such delicate skin and tender flesh, it's a real waste to just eat her like this. Why don't we let the brothers have some fun first!" a scarred-faced man lewdly said.

The one-eyed burly man spat: "Suit yourself! I only want the heart and liver to go with my wine!"

Upon hearing this, the boy could no longer restrain himself. He broke free from the old man's grasp, picked up a wooden stick from the ground, and charged forward, shouting, "I'll fight you to the death!"

"You're asking for death!" Scarface sneered and swung his knife down. The remaining villagers were filled with grief, as if they could already see the boy becoming a victim of his blade.

At this critical moment, a blade of light slashed down like a bolt of lightning!

"puff---"

Scarface's laughter abruptly stopped, and his still-smiling head shot skyward, spraying blood three feet high. The headless corpse swayed for a moment, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The entire room fell silent!

The bandits were stunned for a full moment before they reacted. The one-eyed burly man dropped the wine jar, his one eye widening: "Where did this little bastard come from! You're asking for death!"

Xu Yuan remained silent, unleashing his full power as a second-level Blood Refinement cultivator. He unleashed a flurry of slashes with his woodcutter's knife, seemingly without any particular technique, yet his strength and speed far surpassed that of ordinary people. Each strike was powerful and heavy, as fast as lightning.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The three bandits raised their knives to parry, but were cleaved away along with their knives, their ribs caved in, and they coughed up blood. It was clear they were going to die.

"Charge shoulder to shoulder!" the one-eyed leader roared through gritted teeth, and the dozen or so bandits seemed to wake from a dream as they surrounded them.

Xu Yuan remained calm in the face of danger. When the first bandit rushed up, he suddenly dodged to the side, grabbed the bandit's wrist with his left hand and twisted it hard. With a crisp "crack", the bandit's wrist bone broke instantly.

Xu Yuan swung his right-hand machete down, cleaving open the stomach from shoulder to abdomen!

The strong smell of blood stimulated all the bandits and also triggered a certain instinct within Xu Yuan.

The power of the starving ghost spontaneously activated, and a barely perceptible wisp of blood energy emanated from the bandit's corpse, which Xu Yuan absorbed into his body.

A warm current surged through him, and Xu Yuan's spirits lifted instantly.

"A martial artist?!" The one-eyed burly man's pupils contracted, then he sneered, "A mere Blood Refinement Level Two dares to be so arrogant? I am Wang Hu, the fourth leader of Black Wind Stronghold, and today I'll use your heart and liver as a drinking snack!"

He grabbed the nine-ringed broadsword at his feet and aimed straight at Xu Yuan's face. The slash came with a whistling sound, and its power far exceeded that of the bandits from before.

Xu Yuan raised his machete to take the blow head-on.

"Clang—!" The sound of metal clashing rang out.

Xu Yuan retreated three steps, his tiger's mouth went numb, and a chip appeared on his woodcutter's knife. In contrast, Wang Hu only retreated one step, his nine-ringed broadsword humming incessantly.

"What immense strength!" A hint of surprise flashed in Wang Hu's single eye. He was at the third level of Blood Refinement and had mastered swordsmanship. Ordinary second-level martial artists couldn't withstand a single strike from him.

The kid in front of me had incredibly crude moves, yet he managed to withstand it all by sheer brute force.

Xu Yuan shook his slightly numb wrist, his eyes cold. This was the first time he had fought a real martial artist. His opponent's strength and skills far surpassed his own. If it weren't for the boost from the Hungry Ghost Compendium, that last strike would have crippled him.

Do not engage in a direct confrontation!

In the blink of an eye, the Ghost Compendium within Xu Yuan's body quietly lit up, and his eyes instantly became clear. This time, he took the initiative to step forward, and his wood-chopping knife was thrust straight into the heart of the one-eyed man.

"You're courting death!" Wang Hu was not alarmed but delighted. He swept his nine-ringed broadsword forcefully, trying to knock the woodcutter's knife away.

However, at the very moment the blades touched, Xu Yuan twisted his wrist in a strange way, and the woodcutter's knife slid past the nine-ringed broadsword, its tip slashing towards Wang Hu's throat like a venomous snake!

This sudden change of tactics came without warning and was incredibly fast. Wang Hu retreated in shock, but he was already half a beat too late.

"Pfft—"

The woodcutter's knife slashed into Wang Hu's left shoulder. He screamed in pain as the nine-ringed broadsword slipped from his hand, and he staggered backward in a sorry state.

Xu Yuan didn't pause for a moment after landing a successful attack. The "Yin Qi Perception" attribute granted by the Chang Gui Illustrated Manual allowed him to clearly capture the flow of bloody aura on the opponent's blade. The blood stained by Wang Hu's slaughter of villagers became a guiding light in Xu Yuan's eyes.

"Three steps to the left, diagonal slash, backhand flick, straight thrust..." Xu Yuan silently recited in his mind.

He suddenly stepped back, and in the instant Wang Hu raised his knife to strike, he lunged forward, his wood-chopping knife rising from below!

"Pfft—"

The blade cut in from under the ribs, severing the ribs diagonally upwards, and bursting out of the lungs.

Wang Hu stared wide-eyed at the tip of the knife in his chest in disbelief, then fell to the ground in despair.

With his death, the remaining bandits panicked, and Xu Yuan seized the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, his woodcutter's knife transforming into a deadly ghost, drawing blood with every strike.

With each strike, a wisp of blood was absorbed into the body, and the progress of unlocking the Hungry Ghost Encyclopedia slowly increased.

As the last bandit turned to flee, Xu Yuan threw his wood-chopping knife and nailed him to death.

The battle is over.

The surviving villagers of Xiaowangzhuang were still in shock, staring blankly at the blood-soaked boy standing with a knife in his hand, as if they were seeing a god of death descending from the sky.

Xu Yuan breathed slightly, feeling the surging blood and energy within his body and the increasing power.

In this battle, he killed a total of twenty-three bandits, and the progress of lighting up the Hungry Ghost Encyclopedia also increased from 22% to 25%. Among them, killing Wang Hu alone increased the progress by 1%, which gave Xu Yuan a shortcut to quickly improve his strength.

"My benefactor!" At this moment, an elderly woman with white hair knelt down tremblingly, sobbing uncontrollably, "Thank you so much for saving my life!"

"Thank you so much, my savior!" The surviving villagers surrounded her and knelt down, while the rescued girl cried her heart out.

The old village chief, Xu Laogen, also rushed over. Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, tears streamed down his face: "What a tragedy... what a tragedy..."

Xu Yuan quickly helped the old woman up: "Please get up, ma'am. We were just passing by and it was nothing."

"It's just a small favor for you, but it's a matter of life and death for all of us!" The old woman choked up, then turned and ordered, "Quickly, bring out all the food and give it to our benefactor!"

"No need," Xu Yuan waved his hand repeatedly. "You've suffered such a calamity, you should keep the food for yourselves." But the old woman insisted on thanking him.

At this moment, the young man who had charged at Wang Hu alone suddenly squeezed through the crowd, holding a palm-sized black iron piece in his hands, and respectfully handed it to Xu Yuan: "My benefactor, this is something passed down from my ancestors. It doesn't look like an ordinary object, so I'm giving it to you."

Xu Yuan took the iron piece. It was cold to the touch and completely black. Some twisted patterns could be vaguely seen on the edges, as if it had been broken off from something. He tried to probe it with his blood and qi, but it was like throwing a stone into the sea. He also tried to sense it with yin energy, but he only felt a deathly silence.

Xu Yuan wanted to decline, but the Hundred Ghosts Diagram within his body suddenly emitted a faint tremor, as if it were reacting to the piece of iron.

"Please accept this, our benefactor. We have no other way to repay you," the young man pleaded.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then put the iron piece into his pocket: "Thank you very much."

After bidding farewell to the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang, Xu Yuan and the old village chief continued on their way. Even after walking a long distance, they could still hear the sounds of gratitude coming from behind them.

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two men. Xu Laogen looked at the silent young man beside him, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The strength Xu Yuan displayed today has completely exceeded his comprehension. He wanted to ask something, but in the end, he could only sigh to himself.