Celestial Demon Starting from Attribute Points-Chapter 59: Pursuit and Assassination

The deep mountain where Luoshi Sect is located...

Dense green leaves rustled overhead, and between the gaps of the trees danced the light that was like coins, shimmering in the rainwater that pooled after the storm.

Cao Shuda watched the tail end of the government troops disappearing from sight and said, "Mr. Su, should we... shall we follow them?"

Seeing Li Xuan remain silent, he sighed, "I know Mr. Su has been wronged, but if I report the merits of this to the Prime Minister, I will certainly speak well of you."

Though he didn’t know what the demon corpse would be used for, he saw that Mr. Su wanted it, and that the Prime Minister also wanted it, how could he not understand that this demon corpse is an extremely important resource for martial artists practicing Secret Martial Arts?

Mr. Su worked tirelessly, even orchestrated the burning of the mountain, only for Liu Yingyi to come and take the credit.

To put it bluntly, if you, Liu Yingyi, really had the ability, why didn’t you come earlier? Why wait until the mountain was almost burned and then show up? What does this imply?

This could totally lead to a direct confrontation.

Cao Shuda leaned closer to Li Xuan, his face showing guilt as he whispered, "The mountains and rivers are the monarch’s domain, and even as a prefect, burning them is not permissible; this time someone in the state city knew of this and made it an issue, accusing me, while Liu Yingyi, Lord Liu, came down to protect me...

Alas, whatever I have, Mr. Su wants it, I will give. But the Prime Minister... I genuinely cannot afford to offend him."

Li Xuan was taken aback, Cao Shuda’s words made him realize that the court was divided into factions.

The Prime Minister is one faction, and what about the other?

Thus, in the interest of understanding, he asked, "You are a prefect of Great Yin, and a disciple of the Prime Minister, who could criticize you?"

Cao Shuda lowered his voice and said, "It’s the people of the Grand General.

The Grand General commands the border troops, while the Prime Minister associates with martial artists practicing Secret Martial Arts."

Li Xuan understood.

Chivalry violates the forbidden with force.

Secret Martial Arts practitioners are almost the ultimate violators.

Grand Generals, with their grip over troops, naturally wish to eliminate these unstable elements.

Previously, General Yuan’s hostility towards Mr. Su was merely a reflection of the "Grand General’s will."

However, with the demons lurking and the empire internally divided into factions... Is this really beneficial?

"And what about our Monarch? Which side does he favor?" Li Xuan asked.

He thought Cao Shuda might shake his head or give a vague response, but unexpectedly, Cao Shuda directly replied, "The Monarch favors the Grand General, but has the Prime Minister by his side."

Li Xuan sighed and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it, forget it."

He was curious about Liu Yingyi’s encounter with that terrifying demon.

Cao Shuda bowed and said, "Thank you, sir. Then... let us proceed as well."

Li Xuan, knowing he was in a difficult position, said, "You go on ahead, just don’t blame me for not warning you, keep a safe distance."

Cao Shuda knew that although he was letting it go, he was still upset, but he didn’t press the matter further since considering there were over two thousand government troops and a dual cultivator practitioner of Secret Martial Arts to deal with a dying demon whose location had been uncovered, was not too challenging.

As for Li Xuan, he, being a disciple of the Prime Minister, had no choice but to go; otherwise, if Liu Yingyi reported to the Prime Minister, it wouldn’t be good for his career.

Thus, Cao Shuda cupped his hands again, apologized, and said, "Forgive me, sir, I must go now."

After speaking, he hurried away, leaving Li Xuan standing alone.

Li Xuan looked at the empty mountain path, pondering: ’What exactly is that demon? Could it be some sort of mushroom, and the reason it needed a thousand people to eat over the month was simply that it required them as fertilizer?

And as for why it was the southeast troops that fell prey earlier, could it be that the wind was blowing from the southeast these past days, carrying mushroom spores through the air, which might have landed on certain wild vegetables, or triggered other reactions?

Those unlucky troops fell victim in their sleep or during their duties, dying silently, only to turn into vengeful spirits?’

Thinking of this made his stomach churn, filled with nausea and fear.

Luckily the demon couldn’t walk, otherwise... if it came outside the city, with a gust of demon wind scattering spores into the city, the consequences would be unimaginable and despair-inducing.

Several thoughts flashed by, and Li Xuan’s figure moved, stealthily creeping forward.

If he went with Cao Shuda, when the demon appeared, he would have to intervene, or else he’d openly offend people.

But now, he could go secretly without worrying.

Soon, Li Xuan reached an old tree nearby, taking a vantage point to observe.

However, fearing the demon, he wouldn’t get too close.

...

...

After a while, Liu Yingyi arrived with the government troops.

Li Xuan vaguely saw Liu Yingyi ordering the troops to move the demon corpse.

Without demon blood, even martial artists practicing Secret Martial Arts cannot sense demons, let alone feel their overwhelming power.

Suddenly, Li Xuan’s heart skipped a beat.

The previous oppressive sensation from a higher-rank demon returned.

He felt as though he had fallen into an icy cave but focused his attention.

As he watched the soldiers about to touch the carbonized corpse containing demon blood, a red light suddenly emerged from beneath the demon corpse, flickering continuously among the government soldiers in front.

The speed was like a fleeting shadow, moving faster than the eye could follow, sketching a continuous and twisted trail of rainbow light in the air, accompanied by a red cloud. From Li Xuan’s perspective, it looked like a giant red python.

However... this was merely the aura emanating from the demon fiend, and not the demon fiend itself!

In a few leaps, the red light appeared before Liu Yingyi.

Liu Yingyi, as a Dual-Cultivation Secret Martial Arts Martial Artist, was utterly unable to react in the face of such red light. He was completely like an ordinary provincial soldier, shocked and terrified.

The red light grazed his neck, then reversed, swiftly streaking over dozens of yards, disappearing without a trace, leaving only a sprawling tail of fire cloud in the sky, marking a red trace over a hundred yards long.

Click, click, click!

Only then did the sound of swords unsheathing resound layer upon layer.

Liu Yingyi and the provincial soldiers finally managed to draw their weapons, but the red light was long gone.

With the disappearance of the red light, the sensation of "upper-class demon fiend crushing the lower-class demon fiend" in Li Xuan’s perception also vanished. Watching this scene, a look of contemplation appeared in his eyes.

Li Xuan understood.

It turned out that there were two demon fiends present here.

The "Luoshi Sect demon fiend" was indeed burned to death.

Yet, somehow, there was another demon fiend below it.

This demon fiend was even stronger than the "Luoshi Sect demon fiend," yet no one knew when it arrived or why it came.

If it was said to covet demon fiend blood, it never drank any.

If it was said to want to eat humans, there were so many provincial soldiers here, with its speed just now, it could easily have devoured a few.

But none of these happened.

Why was this?

Meanwhile, in the distance, Liu Yingyi and the startled provincial soldiers checked their wounds, only to find nothing but an unidentified beast’s bite marks.

Not daring to be careless, they hurriedly ingested antitoxic pills, and Liu Yingyi even fumbled for a small green bottle from his chest, uncorking it and consuming the ointment inside.

"What was that just now?" a provincial soldier asked.

But no one could answer, for nobody had seen it clearly.

Only then did Cao Shuda react, hastily running over to inquire about Liu Yingyi’s condition with concern.

Liu Yingyi shook his head, speaking in a deep voice, "I’ll transport the demon fiend corpse away first."

Then he added, "Prefect Cao is righteous and always remembers the Prime Minister. I will truthfully report today’s events."

He was referring to Cao Shuda persuading that wild martial artist.

Cao Shuda hastily said: "Thank you, Lord Liu."

Then added: "As Lord Liu mentioned, Mr. Su is a Dual-Cultivation Secret Martial Arts Martial Artist; if he completes a Triple Cultivation he can break through, and extend his life by sixty years. This..."

Before finishing, Liu Yingyi sneered and whispered in his ear, "I deceived him."

"Ah?"

Cao Shuda was greatly surprised.

Liu Yingyi continued, "Most wild dual cultivators are due to chance coincidence, who knows what the third secret martial art should be cultivated?

Even the secret martial art system in the Prime Minister’s hands was developed at the cost of countless lives tested.

The three cultivation techniques, not a single one can be wrongly cultivated, only then can one break through."

Cao Shuda sighed but continued: "And Mr. Su..."

Liu Yingyi seemed somewhat impatient, "An old thing, no potential, dying is fine.

In past years, the Prime Minister had no one, but now, with the secret martial arts system complete, it’s the time to flourish.

Since you have the Prime Minister in your heart, the Prime Minister will not forget you.

When the time comes, the Prime Minister will send his people to assist you, so you don’t need to rely on such wild methods for partnership.

Just sustain him for now."

Cao Shuda found it hard to speak further.

On the other side, the demon fiend corpse was hoisted up and packed.

Liu Yingyi called over a hundred provincial soldiers to escort it, not returning to the State City, but directly heading towards the capital.

...

...

As people dispersed, Li Xuan descended once again to where the demon fiend had been and looked inside, finding not only the previously unidentified giant beast corpse but also more!

Skeletons piled up, bones curled together, burned into charcoal by intense fire, limbs mixed, forming a terrifying clustered cavity, resembling a nest of something.

However, there was no demon blood here.

Li Xuan did not hesitate, immediately transforming his appearance and set off in pursuit of Liu Yingyi.

’Dare to steal what I obtained through hard work, you truly deserve to die!’