Lin Xue’s pupils constricted instantly.
She recognized that the official from the Demon-Slaying Bureau was the Golden Core Stage cultivator who had gone to Tiger’s Gaping Maw to rescue Li Tianyu.
The surrounding cultivators from the Demon-Slaying Bureau who had encircled Hong Yanzhi and the others were all at the Foundation Establishment stage.
She had no idea how these people from the Demon-Slaying Bureau had found them.
Lin Xue took a step back, staring vigilantly at the Golden Core Stage cultivator.
Blood Fiend instantly flew out from her Storage Ring and landed in her hand.
She felt a wave of regret in her heart; she shouldn’t have come out in such a hurry.
Since she had advanced to the Demon King Realm, according to convention, the various Gongfa in the System should be ready for an upgrade.
She currently had over 1,000,000 Experience, which was more than enough to spend lavishly.
However, she had been so eager to share the good news of her successful breakthrough into the Demon King Realm with Hong Yanzhi and the others that she had walked right out the door.
Although she was now in the Demon King Realm, her skills were still mostly at the Core Condensation Stage and Foundation Establishment stage.
Facing a Golden Core Stage cultivator, she couldn’t help but feel a bit lackadaisical.
Seeing Lin Xue’s defensive stance, the Golden Core Stage cultivator suddenly laughed.
He sheathed his long sword and cupped his fists.
“Fellow Cultivator Lin, I am Li Tianzheng, the Deputy Supervisor of the Yecheng Prefecture Demon-Slaying Bureau. Li Tianyu, whom you rescued, is my younger kinsman. I am deeply grateful to you for saving my brother from that demon den.”
“Earlier, I didn’t understand the circumstances and rashly moved against you and your friends. I have offended you, and I ask for your forgiveness.” He turned to his subordinates behind him and ordered, “Put your weapons away.”
The dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Demon-Slaying Bureau all stowed their weapons.
Now free, Hong Yanzhi and the others immediately hurried to Lin Xue’s side, standing with her.
Lin Xue also put away Blood Fiend but remained on guard. “Did you follow us? How did you know I was here?”
Li Tianzheng smiled slightly. With a wave of his hand, someone from the back of the group brought forward a tied-up demon and threw him onto the ground.
Lin Xue looked down; it was actually Guo Shan Feng. He looked ashen-faced, lacking all of his previous arrogance.
Li Tianzheng then pulled a long sword from his Storage Pouch. The blade thrummed with extraordinary Lingqi — it was Hei-Pi’s Lieyun.
“This Demon Snake told me that he placed a marker on all of you using this sword,” Li Tianzheng said. “I found your location by tracking that marker.”
Lin Xue suddenly understood.
To prevent them from escaping previously, Guo Shan Feng had used Lieyun to place a black ring marker on the arms of the eight of them.
The black rings on their arms had faded significantly and were almost gone.
They had thought that since Hei-Pi was dead, no one would be looking for them anymore, so they hadn’t paid any attention to the marks on their wrists.
She hadn’t expected that this marker would still expose their position.
“I wonder what business Deputy Supervisor Li has with me,” Lin Xue asked coldly.
“Surely you didn’t come all this way just to express your gratitude for saving your brother.”
Li Tianzheng chuckled. “Expressing gratitude is one part of it. On the other hand, I would like to ask Fellow Cultivator Lin and your sisters to do the Yecheng Prefecture Demon-Slaying Bureau a favor. There will be a generous reward upon completion!”
Lin Xue was stunned. ‘The Demon-Slaying Bureau, an organization dedicated to slaying demons, is actually asking for a demon’s help? The sun must be rising in the west today.’
However, because of the Xichuan Yang Clan, she already had a poor impression of the Demon-Slaying Bureau.
Furthermore, if a Golden Core Stage cultivator couldn’t solve a problem and needed to ask for help, it was bound to be a massive headache. Her instinct was to refuse.
She spoke with a cold expression. “I’m afraid we demons have meager skills and cannot help your bureau. It would be best if we didn’t waste your time.”
Li Tianzheng said seriously, “Fellow Cultivator Lin, please don’t be so quick to refuse. At least hear what the matter is before making a decision.”
He gestured toward an empty space to the side. “Fellow Cultivator Lin, please, a word in private.”
Lin Xue followed him to the side to see what this Golden Core Stage cultivator could possibly need help with from a few demons.
Li Tianzheng got straight to the point. “I wonder if Fellow Cultivator Lin has heard of the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm?”
Lin Xue looked blank. ‘I have been in this world for only two months; how could I have heard of such a thing?’ She shook her head.
Li Tianzheng explained,
“This Secret Realm is an ancient one. It produces all sorts of precious Spirit Herbs. Therefore, it was once incredibly popular. Every time it opened, it was crowded with cultivators trying their luck. However, decades ago, a group of people discovered an ancient seal within the Secret Realm. Those people thought some treasure was hidden behind it, so they found a way to break the seal.”
“They never expected that behind the seal lay a mysterious area filled with a massive number of Living Corpses. The group was immediately surrounded. Almost everyone was trapped inside, and only one person managed to fight his way out. After that person escaped, he reported the matter to the Demon-Slaying Bureau.”
“The Demon-Slaying Bureau sent a team of Heiyi Wei in to investigate. They discovered that the place was actually connected to another unknown, mysterious Secret Realm. Those Living Corpses all came from that mysterious realm. The Heiyi Wei team engaged in close-quarters combat with the corpses and inadvertently contracted a strange Corpse Poison. Within days of coming out, they all turned into Living Corpses themselves, causing quite a stir.”
“This Corpse Poison is different from any known Corpse Poison. With current medical means, it cannot be cured. Later, the superiors ordered the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm to be sealed. No one was allowed to enter again to prevent the Living Corpse plague from sweeping through the world. The one responsible for sealing and guarding this Secret Realm is our Yecheng Prefecture Demon-Slaying Bureau.”
“However, the Spirit Herbs in the Secret Realm are too precious, and there are always people offering high prices for them. As the saying goes, men die for wealth and birds die for food. Since the medicine is right there in the Secret Realm, it would be a waste not to harvest it. Those Living Corpses have dull senses; as long as one stays far away and avoids close contact, things are usually fine.”
“The expenses of our Yecheng Prefecture Demon-Slaying Bureau are too high. It’s difficult to maintain ourselves solely on the resources sent from above. Therefore, we privately open the Secret Realm to harvest some Spirit Herbs to supplement our funds. But a small accident occurred recently.”
“The position of the teleportation gate for the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm is not fixed each time it opens. Last time we opened the gate, it happened to open exactly where Medicine God Valley connects to that mysterious realm. Although our people closed the Medicine God Valley gate immediately, the gate to the mysterious realm still exists. Because the methods for opening and closing different Secret Realms vary, and due to some complicated reasons, that mysterious gate cannot be closed directly from the outside. One must enter the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm, reach the ancient seal, and close it from the inside.”
“But because of that terrifying Corpse Poison, no one dares to go in and carry out this suicide mission. Since opening the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm privately is an act of defying orders, we cannot ask our superiors for help, either. We can only send people to monitor the gate from a distance day and night to eliminate any Living Corpses that crawl out.”
“Fortunately, not long ago, I learned that a branch of my family, the Jianzhou Li Family, is proficient in Magic Formations. Some of their formations can ward off all plagues. So, I asked them for help. You should know the rest from my younger kinsman. He brought a formation called the Nine-Union Profound Jade Formation to support us.”
“This formation is extremely suitable. Not only does it increase defense, but it also wards off all plagues. It is practically tailor-made for this mission. However, there is a major flaw: it takes a vast amount of time for a novice to become proficient in it. It would take at least three years. While the Jianzhou Li Family could provide enough clansmen to operate the formation, those clansmen are mostly at the Qi Refinement Stage. Most of the Living Corpses in the Secret Realm are at the Foundation Establishment or Core Condensation Stage. If they go in, I’m afraid they won’t last long.”
“Therefore, we need to send nine Foundation Establishment cultivators to practice the formation until they are proficient, then use the formation to break into the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm and close the teleportation gate at the seal. But we simply cannot wait three years.”
“I just heard from Tianyu that you and your sisters have quite an understanding of this formation and can even perform it immediately. Furthermore, you are all at or above the Core Condensation Stage, which is the perfect cultivation level. Therefore, I sincerely invite Fellow Cultivator Lin and your sisters to help us enter the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm and close that mysterious teleportation gate to prevent the plague from spreading and poisoning the world.”
As Li Tianzheng spoke, he bent down and presented Lieyun with both hands.
“This Lieyun was the weapon of your original Demon King. It was stolen by Guo Shan Feng when he tried to flee, and it fell into my hands. I am now giving it directly to Fellow Cultivator Lin to show my sincerity. Additionally, once the task is complete, I can give Fellow Cultivator Lin 100 high-grade Spirit Stones and Spirit Herbs of equal value as a reward!”
Lin Xue was immediately tempted. It wasn’t because of the Spirit Stones or the herbs.
One high-grade Spirit Stone was equivalent to 10,000 low-grade Spirit Stones. 100 high-grade Spirit Stones meant 1,000,000 low-grade Spirit Stones.
Combined with the herbs of equal value, that was 2,000,000 low-grade Spirit Stones.
But those were just external possessions; Lin Xue didn’t truly care about them.
What she cared about were the massive swarms of Living Corpses in the Secret Realm.
‘Those are all pure, white Experience points!’
Back in the Meishan Secret Realm, there had been dozens of Core Condensation Stage Living Corpses.
After she killed them with Qian Ji Zhi Meng, she had instantly gained over 1,000,000 Experience.
With so many Living Corpses in that ancient Secret Realm, how much Experience could she earn?
And there would be the corpses of the demons; imagine how many Serpent Cores there would be.
Then there was Lieyun. She had been troubled by her lack of a decent weapon. Now, a weapon had practically fallen into her lap.
Lin Xue took Lieyun. Li Tianzheng had thoughtfully broken the Restriction on Lieyun already.
Lin Xue immediately set her own Restriction on it. From now on, this sword belonged to her.
Lin Xue was overjoyed, but she still put on a troubled expression. “However, we Demonic Beasts lack the means to kill enemies and don’t have many decent Gongfa.”
Li Tianzheng immediately stated, “Whatever Gongfa you want to learn, as long as it’s within my authority to obtain, I can bring it for you to review.”
Lin Xue was delighted. She immediately agreed, willing to help the Yecheng Prefecture Demon-Slaying Bureau solve this difficult problem.
Li Tianzheng was also overjoyed. The two agreed to meet at the teleportation gate in two days.
Lin Xue wanted to take Hong Yanzhi and the others back to Xixia Mountain first to let them share the good news with their families and allow Hong Yanzhi and Lang Buping to reunite.
After Li Tianzheng informed Lin Xue of the gate’s location, the two groups went their separate ways.