Chapter 321: Chapter 191: Nationwide Sensation, Ennobled as a Marquis

There were a total of three Tier-3 channels in Hongzhou.

Gu Zheng entered the first channel. On the other side lay a vast desert.

There was no shortage of Demon Fiend species: Eight-legged Sand Lizards, Three-headed Sand Snakes, Four-tailed Scorpions, Two-headed Sand Wolves...

The most numerous species was the Flame Sand Ant!

They had fist-sized bodies and could spit snakes of fire. They always moved in swarms of over a thousand.

As a result, despite most Flame Sand Ants being only Tier-1, even Tier-2 Sand Snakes and Sand Wolves didn’t dare get close.

Enough ants can kill an elephant.

This was a universal truth, even among Demon Fiends.

After all, the area of effect of a Tier-2’s aura was limited, and it couldn’t be sustained indefinitely.

Once their Spirit was exhausted and they failed to create distance, getting surrounded by Flame Sand Ants meant only one outcome: death, the kind where not even bones were left.

To Gu Zheng, however, the Flame Sand Ants were simply a source of energy. As far as he was concerned, the more, the merrier.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

BOOM!

Across the vast desert, a bolt of lightning suddenly coalesced and descended from the sky, striking a large, rolling, fiery-red sphere. The impact instantly obliterated the sphere, and the arcing electricity that burst forth annihilated most of the scattered Flame Sand Ants.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +1]

[Demon Points +2]

...

Individually, the Flame Sand Ants provided few Demon Points.

But what they lacked individually, they made up for in sheer numbers.

There were over a thousand ants. Gu Zheng called down another bolt of lightning with his Thunder Manipulation and annihilated them all.

In the end, he harvested 1,400 Demon Points!

After annihilating the swarm of Flame Sand Ants, Gu Zheng continued to skim across the desert sky, his feet never touching the ground. He scanned the area, sensing for the auras of other Demon Fiends.

Before long, he found a pack of sand wolves.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The 360 blades flew out in perfect formation, becoming streaks of light that charged straight into the pack of sand wolves without pause.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

Flowers of blood bloomed as agonized howls erupted.

In less than three breaths, all the sand wolves were annihilated amidst their panicked howls.

He used Spirit Capturing and harvested over eight hundred Demon Points.

He resumed his flight, searching for more.

Sand scorpions, sand snakes, sand worms...

Wave after wave.

Four hours later, Gu Zheng had harvested over four thousand Demon Points.

This included a Tier-3 sawtooth sand worm, from whose body he dug out a Demon Pill.

When he resumed his search, he could no longer find any Demon Fiends.

’It was as if Gu Zheng had frightened them all into hiding deep beneath the sand.’

Although Gu Zheng could use Earth Manipulation to travel underground, it was far less efficient than flying through the air.

After a moment of consideration, he decided against it and returned to the channel.

Upon returning to his world, he didn’t rest for even a moment, immediately rushing to Hongzhou’s second Tier-3 channel.

The other side of this channel was a vast grassland.

The field of view was wide open. Flying through the air, he could spot creatures running on the ground and flying in the sky from miles away.

Gu Zheng briefly scanned for Demon Fiend auras and quickly located a mob of Violent Rabbits.

His 360 blades shot out, wiping them all out in a single pass.

He used Spirit Capturing and harvested over six hundred Demon Points.

He continued his search and found a nest of Burrowers. They had bodies like rats but dozens of tentacles.

They took a bit of effort to kill. They were fast, burrowing through the soil to escape.

He annihilated them all, harvesting one thousand Demon Points.

As he continued his search, he spotted a Tier-3 Two-headed Giant Eagle circling in the sky.

He immediately launched several slashes of Sword Gang from a distance. Empowered by his Shattering Void Sword Intent, they wounded the Two-headed Giant Eagle. Gu Zheng then leaped into the sky, flew toward it, and cut it down, harvesting fifty-three Demon Points and a Demon Pill.

...

After a full day on the vast grasslands hunting and slaying Demon Fiends, he had harvested another 6,200 Demon Points.

Finally, he returned to the channel just before a Tier-4 Flying Blade Demon could unleash its full power.

Returning to his world, he rested for half the night.

The next day, before dawn, Gu Zheng headed for Hongzhou’s third Tier-3 channel.

The other side of this channel was a network of caves, much like the underground region of Four Directions Prefecture City during its fall.

Cave after cave was linked by a labyrinth of passages, forming a massive subterranean network.

Gu Zheng searched and slaughtered his way deeper and deeper into the underground.

He harvested over four thousand Demon Points and one Demon Pill.

Then, just before a Tier-4 Demon Fiend could give chase, he used Earth Manipulation to travel through the layers of soil and return to the channel.

...

He had now gone through all three of Hongzhou’s Tier-3 channels, liquidating over ten thousand Demon Fiends.

「The next day,」 Gu Zheng traveled nonstop to Shuzhou.

He should have had an introduction from Jiang Hao, a fellow member of the Seven Demon Slayers, but unfortunately, Jiang Hao had died in the Royal Capital during the Corpse Puppet chaos created by the Yong Family.

Because of this, Gu Zheng paid a visit to the Commander of the Shuzhou Demon Slayer Bureau himself.

The local Demon Slayer Bureau was more than happy to have someone enter the channels to slay Demon Fiends.

The Commander of the Shuzhou Demon Slayer Bureau readily agreed and even personally led the way.

He also extended a warm invitation for Gu Zheng to share a few drinks with him upon his return from the channel.

Gu Zheng naturally had no objections.

Shuzhou had two Tier-3 channels. He entered the first, which opened into a stretch of wilderness in the Demon Realm. The mountains there were neither high nor plentiful, but the Demon Fiends were extremely powerful.

A group of stone monsters—or rather, Stone Demons—possessed astonishing defense and immense strength.

A Tier-1 Stone Demon was comparable to a Tier-2 Demon Fiend of any other type.

However, under the cutting power of the blades from the Chaotic Heaven Shield’s second form, the Tier-1 and Tier-2 Stone Demons were all torn to shreds. He dug out their cores one by one, converting them into Demon Points.

In total, he harvested over five thousand Demon Points.

Even the Tier-3 Stone Demons were shattered to pieces on the ground by his Heaven-piercing Halberd, their cores and Demon Pills all dug out.

All four of the Tier-3 Stone Demons were eliminated!

He had completely cleared the threat beyond the channel in a single day.

「The next day,」 Gu Zheng went to the second Tier-3 channel.

The region of the Demon Realm on the other side of this channel was a snowy expanse.

Humanoid Ice Demons, Beastified Snow Demon Fiends, and Horror Wind Demons would pop out from time to time.