Mu’en Prefecture.

South City.

Inside a humble inn.

"Damn it! What rotten luck. This is the worst. I’d rather step in dog shit."

Zhong Tiande cursed under his breath, leaning back in his chair, too lazy to even get on the bed.

The bedboards were so hard they made his back ache.

"Go and see when the Domain will open."

Zhong Tiande gestured to a guard, saying irritably, "The sooner it opens, the sooner we can get out."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The designated guard bowed and replied.

He then turned and left the room.

As the door opened, someone happened to be walking briskly toward it from the outside.

"Your Highness, good news!"

The newcomer had a long, thin face and a pair of small, sharp eyes that glinted shrewdly. As he walked, he constantly glanced around.

He entered the room, scurried over to Zhong Tiande’s side, and said excitedly, "Your Highness, I just saw Zuo Lingfeng outside!"

"Who?"

Zhong Tiande, still leaning in his chair, jolted and sat bolt upright. He glared and demanded, "Who did you see? Zuo Lingfeng!? That bastard is in Mu’en Prefecture too?"

"Yes, Your Highness, it was Zuo Lingfeng."

He Xi licked his lips, his small eyes gleaming. "Zuo Lingfeng is out there helping rescue people. There’s no one else with him, he’s all alone."

"Good, good, good!"

Zhong Tiande repeated the word three times, standing up in excitement. A vicious look appeared in his eyes. "Excellent! That bastard Zuo Lingfeng is actually in Mu’en Prefecture! You lot, get out there, track him down, and find a chance to kill him!"

"Your Highness."

The middle-aged man who had tried to persuade him earlier cupped his fist in a salute and said softly, "Your Highness, Zuo Lingfeng is in the Heroic Body Realm now. To deal with him, I’m afraid we’ll have to use the God-Hunting Arrow..."

"So what?"

Zhong Tiande waved his hand dismissively. "We can always get another God-Hunting Arrow after we use it, but an opportunity to kill Zuo Lingfeng is rare. Especially if he dies inside the Domain—no one will ever know!"

"Exactly! Cao Bing, who do you think you’re looking down on?" He Xi straightened up, glaring at the middle-aged man, borrowing his master’s authority.

"...That’s not what this subordinate meant."

Cao Bing remained bowed, ignoring He Xi, and said softly, "We only have one God-Hunting Arrow. We must kill him in a single strike to avoid any future trouble. But Zuo Lingfeng is now a disciple of Yuanqian Mountain. With Yuanqian Mountain’s resources, it’s likely he gifted Zuo Lingfeng one or two treasures..."

"Enough!"

Zhong Tiande cut him off impatiently. "Worrying about this, worrying about that—how will we ever accomplish anything great? This is a rare opportunity. Zuo Lingfeng must die! If it has to be one fatal blow, then go find the opportunity for one!"

"Right," He Xi chimed in. "Cao Bing, Lord Cao, instead of wasting your breath here, you should be out there looking for a chance to ambush Zuo Lingfeng!"

"..."

Cao Bing fell silent.

"What are you standing around for?" Zhong Tiande waved his hand. "Go, go! Don’t let Zuo Lingfeng get away."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Cao Bing saluted, excused himself, and left.

The others in the room followed him out.

A young man in his early twenties quickened his pace to catch up with Cao Bing.

"Sir, that person we saw earlier... I think I might know who he is."

"Who are you talking about?" Cao Bing frowned. "Dealing with Zuo Lingfeng is the priority right now. That bastard He Xi might just get us all killed."

"The man we saw on the street earlier, the one standing on a rooftop a hundred meters away."

The young man answered quickly, "His appearance, his aura... a friend of mine from the Demon Slayer Bureau mentioned him. If I’m not mistaken, that should be Gu Zheng of Fengzhou!"

CLICK.

Cao Bing stopped in his tracks. He turned to the young man, his eyes flashing. "Gu Zheng of Fengzhou? The one who’s as famous as Zuo Lingfeng? Are you sure?"

"...Eighty percent sure!" The young man didn’t dare to be completely certain.

"Eighty percent is good enough."

Cao Bing’s eyes lit up as he turned and walked back.

"This information is timely and crucial. His Highness must be informed!"

...

...

Mu’en Prefecture.

East City, in a corner of the ruins.

"Gu Zheng of Fengzhou!"

From a dozen paces away, Gu Zheng returned the cupped-fist salute. "I have long admired your reputation, Zuo. It is an honor to finally meet you today."

"Hn."

Zuo Lingfeng grunted softly. "I’m going to look for the Demon Fiends. They might have already crossed over."

With that, he offered a cupped-fist salute and turned to leave.

"...Take care, Zuo." Gu Zheng watched him walk away and disappear around a corner, then gave a slight, wry smile.

’Zuo Lingfeng is one of the Seven Demon Slayers, just like me. His strength is probably already at the Heroic Body Realm.’

’I can’t tell from his aura, because he’s suppressed it so well, just like I have.’

’Only the Divine Wondrous fluctuations when he attacks would give him away.’

’The reasoning is simple.’

’This is Hongzhou.’

’Zuo Lingfeng isn’t in Luozhou, but has come all the way to Hongzhou, and it doesn’t look like he’s on official business.’

’The most likely reason, then, is that he’s just like me—heading to the Capital City to be promoted to Demon-slaying Grand General!’

’My own breakthrough was thanks to a cheat.’

’Zuo Lingfeng’s fortuitous encounters are clearly just as impressive.’

’He just doesn’t seem to like talking much, does he?’

’Zuo Lingfeng has also reached the Heroic Body Realm. Have the other five broken through as well?’

Gu Zheng hadn’t forgotten the grand promise that the Demon Slayer Bureau’s Grand Director, Xu Jianzhu, had made to the "Seven Demon Slayers."

Break through to the Heroic Body Realm within half a year, and be rewarded with an Earth Pill.

’Now I’ve broken through, and Zuo Lingfeng most likely has too.’

’The remaining five might have also broken through, one after another!’

"Interesting."

Watching the direction Zuo Lingfeng had disappeared, the corners of Gu Zheng’s mouth lifted into a smile.

As for searching for Demon Fiends, that referred to the border region.

Now that the space had stabilized, if any Demon Fiends happened to be in the area of the Demon Realm bordering Mu’en Prefecture, they would inevitably cross the boundary and enter the city.

"AHH!"

A bloodcurdling scream, followed by gasps of alarm, rang out from several hundred meters behind him.

SHHFF~

Gu Zheng’s figure flickered and vanished from the spot.

WHOOSH!

He tore through the air at extreme speed, crossing several hundred meters in an instant.

Gu Zheng landed on a low wall and saw two Bone Demon Fiends, both about 1.7 to 1.8 meters tall, in a collapsed ruin park. Their stark white skeletons crackled with arcs of electricity as they each wielded a bone weapon, chasing a crowd of fleeing people.

On the ground in a nearby corner lay three mutilated corpses.

"Hrrgh~"

"ROAR!"

The Bone Demon Fiends were fast, and as they charged, they left crackling arcs of electricity in their wake.

SWISH!

Gu Zheng swung his saber, unleashing a wave of Sword Gang.

Tss-tss~

"BANG!!"

With a dull thud, bone fragments flew through the air.

The skulls of both Bone Demon Fiends were shattered at almost the same time. They collapsed, their Soul Fire extinguished.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +1]

...

Only one of the Bone Demon Fiends had Bloodshed; the other didn’t yet.

Gu Zheng wasn’t discouraged. By comparison, the characteristic of these two Bone Demon Fiends—the electricity arcing over their bodies—was more interesting.

’Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends?’

’The Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends, enemies of the Storm Bone Demon Fiends. To think I’d run into them here.’

’But this isn’t good news for Mu’en Prefecture. If the bordering region of the Demon Realm is the territory of the Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends, the danger will be immense.’

’It all depends on the Domain Level now.’

’First-rank or second-rank would be manageable.’

’But if it’s third-rank, Mu’en Prefecture will most likely be reduced to ruins.’

’The entire city will fall!’

WHOOSH~

A hot, violent wind swept by.

From deep within the ruin park, the sound of cracking and scraping bones was heard again.

Gu Zheng activated his Eyes of Golden Flame. His scan revealed ten Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends striding out, weapons in hand.

The leading Thunderous Bone Demon Fiend’s bones had a blackish sheen, its entire body covered in Iron Bone.

Most of the other Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends also had Iron Bone.

This batch of Bone Demon Fiends were basically all first-rank!

"Run."

Gu Zheng glanced at the group of people, who were frozen in fear, and shouted, "Find a hidden basement and hide."

"Ah? O-Okay."

"Let’s go, let’s go!"

"Monsters, Demon Fiends! The Demon Fiends are here!"

"..."

The crowd, snapping out of their stupor, panicked again and ran off frantically in all directions.

Gu Zheng paid them no mind.

SWISH!

He unleashed several quick slashes through the air.

CH-CH-CH!

The slashes were too fast to defend against.

The ten Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends only reacted when the Sword Gang reached them, but it was already too late.

CLATTER! CLATTER~

After a series of strange noises, a pile of skeletons lay on the ground.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +9]

[Demon Points +10]

...

WHOOSH~

With the Demon Points secured, Gu Zheng’s figure shot forward, deeper into the ruin park.

After less than three hundred meters, the environment suddenly changed.

The buildings vanished, replaced by a field of rubble.

In the distance, the crimson light of the Demon Realm’s gloomy sky became clearly visible.

Closer by, a pitch-black mountain, a thousand zhang tall, stood at the far end of the rubble field.

The spatial distortion rippled out, affecting an area several hundred meters in radius.

By comparing these fluctuations to past experiences, Gu Zheng quickly confirmed the Domain Level.

Second-rank!

It was a blessing in disguise; like the one at Four Directions Prefecture, this was also a second-rank Domain.

If Gu Zheng were outside a second-rank Domain, he wouldn’t be able to enter.

Not unless he used a Heaven-Covering Leaf.

But since he was already inside the Domain, it wasn’t a problem.

Standing at the edge of the exit, he gazed into the Demon Realm.

To the naked eye, the crimson light in the distance began to fade.

But it wasn’t truly disappearing; that was just the boundary of the Domain’s coverage.

The pitch-black mountain was enveloped within it!

The Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends’ territory was most likely on that mountain.

This discovery was terrible news for the people of Mu’en Prefecture.

Gu Zheng immediately turned back.

He left the ruin park to find the nearby Fang Zheng and have them organize people to find shelter and hide.

When Four Directions Prefecture fell, the Demon Fiends that appeared were of the Demon Spirit Race.

This type of Demon Fiend had unusual needs—it didn’t want human flesh and blood, but rather their seven emotions and six desires.

That was why the people in Four Directions Prefecture were controlled, but not killed.

The Thunderous Bone Demon Fiends were different.

Bone Demon Fiends wanted not only flesh and blood, but bones too!

They wouldn’t leave behind a single piece of a human skeleton.

There were hundreds of thousands of people in Mu’en Prefecture. Even if tens of thousands were swallowed by the space-time rifts when the Domain formed, the vast majority were still here.

If these people didn’t hide, they would die horribly. Utterly horribly.

...

"BANG~" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"BOOM!!"

Just as he left the ruin park, a series of loud bangs and explosions suddenly erupted from his front right.

Gu Zheng’s sharp brows furrowed slightly, and he immediately shot over.

SHHFF~

"CRASH!"

Another huge crash. A figure slammed into a wall, broke through it, and hit the ground, rolling three times and leaving a trail of blood.

"Run, run!"

A furious roar echoed down the long street.

A middle-aged man’s figure flew out and clashed head-on with a streak of red light.

But in the next instant, he too was sent flying, crashing into a wall on the left and falling into the rubble, silent.

The red light dissipated, revealing a figure—it was none other than Zuo Lingfeng, whom he had just seen.

"Gu Zheng?"

"You’re Gu Zheng of Fengzhou, right? Kill him!"