Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"Little Kuihua, can you tell Grandpa Gen where those two gentlemen are?"

Inside the ancestral hall.

The elderly man with a walking stick was gazing kindly at Little Kuihua, who was wearing a beautiful little dress, with a hint of sympathy flashing in his eyes.

But he was helpless.

After all, Little Kuihua was the offering chosen by the higher powers.

Opposite him.

Little Kuihua didn't speak, only shook her head blankly, indicating that she knew nothing.

"That's strange, where could the two gentlemen go in the middle of the night?"

The old man muttered to himself.

At the same time, he stared intently at Little Kuihua, trying to discern any clues from her eyes.

Unfortunately, he found nothing.

At this moment.

Little Kuihua couldn't help recalling the two shadows she had vaguely seen on the roof before entering the ancestral hall.

"They must be the two benefactors. I hope they escape successfully and don't come back," she thought silently to herself.

Little Kuihua didn't understand the grand principles of life.

But she knew that the two gentlemen had merely spent a night at her house and had given them so much silver, enough for her younger brother to live a good life even after she was gone.

They were good people who happened to pass by.

Most importantly.

The two benefactors were exceedingly handsome.

Little Kuihua swore that she had never seen such good-looking men, resembling the immortals from the legends.

Whatever happened in the village, she must not involve these two benefactors.

Soon.

Slosh! Slosh!

There was a constant sound of hurried footsteps, and chaos erupted inside and outside the house.

"Uncle Gen, we couldn't find the two gentlemen in the east of the village."

"Nor in the west."

"In the south..."

"..."

"Uncle Gen, we've looked everywhere outside in the fields, in the woods, but we didn't see any trace of the two men."

"Alas, what are we going to do? The powerful one will be back soon."

Hearing the villagers' words.

Even old Uncle Gen who had weathered many storms was thrown into chaos.

Time was dwindling.

He didn't dare to think.

If they could not present the offerings as required before the powerful one returned, he didn't know how many villagers would be sacrificed in vain this time.

As he was contemplating.

"Girl, spit it out, where are those two men who stayed at your house hiding? Did you secretly talk to them?" A desperate and slightly crazed voice echoed in the ancestral hall.

All eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the voice.

In their sight.

A dark-skinned, horrendous-looking middle-aged man had grabbed Little Kuihua by the throat, lifting her thin body off the ground.

Little Kuihua's face turned red immediately.

Under the little dress she had so carefully put on before coming here, her two small feet, shod in worn-out grass shoes, flailed helplessly.

She struggled to pry the hand that was tightly around her neck.

But...

How could a 11 or 12-year-old girl match the strength of a grown man?

As time passed.

The light in Little Kuihua's eyes dimmed bit by bit.

But even so.

She still didn't disclose what she had seen when she arrived, but asserted with great effort:

"I really don't know."

At this point.

"Enough, it looks like the girl really doesn't know. Let her go. If you accidentally strangle her to death, can you afford the powerful one's wrath?" The aged voice of Uncle Gen intervened.

And then.

His eyes flashed:

"Everyone, try searching again. Perhaps the two gentlemen are hiding somewhere in the village. Also… select the two oldest villagers as a contingency."

As soon as his words fell.

The atmosphere in the ancestral hall suddenly turned eerie.

Everyone was looking at each other, and then their gazes turned to Uncle Gen.

Unconsciously, Uncle Gen gripped his walking stick tightly. As his cloudy eyes moved about, he took in everyone's expression.

"What're you trying to do?"

He asked tremulously.

"Hehe, Uncle Gen, aren't you and Aunt Gen the oldest in our village?"

A gloomy snicker sounded behind him.

As if contagious.

Within a moment.

Similar cold laughter filled the ancestral hall, sending chills down everyone's spine.

The villagers' faces became twisted, and the respect in their eyes looking at Uncle Gen disappeared, replaced by the look one gave a doomed pig.

Just at this moment.

Boom—

"Haha, you beast, you better obediently come back with me to be stripped of your divinity. Only then will you have a glimmer of hope for survival. Otherwise, today will be your end."

An earth-shattering noise exploded in everyone's ears.

The ground trembled subtly under their feet.

"It must be a cultivator from The Demon Suppressing Department. Haha, our village is saved!"

Someone in the ancestral hall shouted joyously.

Those who had shown twisted and cruel faces moments ago returned to their simple and kind-hearted selves, as if everything that happened earlier was just an illusion.

In the corner.

Hearing the voice.

A glimmer of hope welled up in Little Kuihua's eyes, staring steadily out into the night.

...

...

All was dark in her line of sight.

Yet, a giant shadow could vaguely be seen, slowly approaching under the cover of the night and the black fog that surrounded it.

"How audacious!"

The burly man roared, his face convulsing wildly. Nine eyes glowing with a strange green light appeared on his face.

Instantly.

An intense light flooded the scene.

A monstrous creature with the head of a goat and the body of a man came into view.

Whoosh—

The chains coiled around the burly man began to slither and spread rapidly in all directions.

At this moment.

If anyone were to stand behind the man, they would discover that the iron chain rooted in his body was far more than just a single strand. In fact, numerous iron chains were deeply embedded into the man's body, creating a frightful sight.

On the other side.

The devil that had introduced itself as 'San Yang You Sheng' revealed a mocking grin that was eerily close to a human smile on its three sheep heads.

"We are both at the same stage of cultivation. Who gave you the confidence to believe that you can afford to offend me?" it asked.

With these words.

The black mist entwining around it began to dissipate rapidly.

Baa! Baa!

From deep within the village, raucous bleats echoed, filled with madness and bloodlust. The sounds were particularly concentrated in the direction of the shrine!

...

...

The night was boiling over!

Several dozen members of The Demon Suppressing Department, dressed in black wide-sleeved official robes ornamented with golden patterns and armed with various weapons, were scattered in every corner of the village. They were engaged in a fierce battle with the half-human half-sheep devils.

Clashing metal rang in their ears.

The village, previously hidden in the darkness of the night, had turned into a savage battlefield.

In the center of the battlefield.

A giant millipede made entirely of intertwined chains was in the midst of a fierce fight with a half-human half-sheep devil. Their battle was causing such destruction that people and houses were falling apart, and the battleground was a ruin.

In the blink of an eye.

Glowing gray pupils erupted from the nine eerie blue eyes on the muscular man wrapped in chains and landed on the body of the sheep-headed devil with lightning speed.

In that instant.

The sheep-headed devil was frozen in place, completely immobilized.

Whoosh, Whoosh!

Sleek, pitch-black iron chains, carrying an extreme sharpness, pierced the air with a piercing war cry, penetrating right through the tall body of the half-human half-sheep devil right in front of them.

Baa!

Accompanied by a ghastly bleat, the body of the sheep-headed devil exploded into a cloud of black mist.

Simultaneously.

One of the surrounding half-human, half-sheep devil let out a terrifying scream. Its body quickly began to inflate like a balloon, its strength multiplying vastly.

In a blink of an eye.

It had turned into a sheep-headed devil.

"Heh, nice move!" the devil smirked, his words juicy with mockery.

...

...

Time slowly ticked by.

The Demon Suppressing Department lost their people one after another - some were killed, some were turned into sheep-headed devils.

Right now, only around ten people were left.

Huddled around the muscular man, they looked at the approaching sheep-headed devils with faces filled with fear.

The energy of the muscular man, meanwhile, had weakened to a point of concern.

Many of the dark, cold chains on him had been broken and he looked utterly miserable.

"You are halfway to becoming an officer-level devil! Spare us and we will leave or else——"

Before he could finish.

A fellow man beside him suddenly let out a terrified scream as his face started to grow dense black wool.

In an instant.

The scream was abruptly cut off, replaced by the indifferent yet insane voice of the sheep-headed devil.

"Heh heh, or what?"

...

...

Elsewhere.

"Everyone in the village has been tainted by this sheep-headed devil's power. What's surprising is that I did not detect the spells of a cultivation being who is half a step into the Foundation Establishment stage."

On an open ground not far off.

That's what Zhang Jing was saying incredulously.

Even now, his eyes still held a hint of disbelief.

Just moments ago.

He had watched, as each person in the shrine fell to the ground in agony, their bodies gradually transforming into half-human half-sheep devils - even Little Kuihua in her little skirt was not an exception.

Zhang Jing watched coldly and did not intervene.

Mainly because he knew that there was no point in saving them now.

Not only their bodies, but also their souls had been twisted. Even if they were saved, what good would it do?

From pity.

He personally ended Little Kuihua's suffering.

That was all.

"Senior Brother, these devils of this world, born out of a dead god. More or less, their methods can be traced back to the Great Dao harbored within the dead god. You most certainly cannot compare them to the devils of the Mysterious Yellow World," Qu Junhou said with a smile.

Afterwards, his eyes flashed, and remembering his master's urgent order in his sea of consciousness, he couldn't help but bow and say:

"Senior Brother, this is all I know about the Nether Night Realm. I'll take my leave now. Do remember our agreement. Junhou is forever grateful!"

"Take care, Junior Brother."

Zhang Jing nodded calmly, without any hint of surprise on his face.

He agreed with Qu Junhou.

Since they were both after the Demon Heart Core, it would be better for them to separate for now.

After a while,

Zhang Jing looked towards the center of the battlefield and the corner of his eye creased into a subtle smile.

"Demon Heart Core? The Demon Suppressing Department... I should be able to find the information I need there. It should be about time now, right? I mean, it's always easier to put icing on the cake rather than send charcoal in snowy weather, isn't it?"

Coming back to his senses.

With one step, he was suddenly right in front of the sheep-headed devil as though he had teleported there.

With the bewildered eyes of the devil on him,

Zhang Jing pointed with one hand, and an incredibly heavy, bright-yellow immortal light lit up at his fingertips, illuminating the boundless, dark night.

Bang!

The sheep-headed devil was crushed down by the suddenly emerging force before it could even squeal.

Several feet away.

A half-man half-sheep devil started to swell significantly.

"Such a queer talent. This being seems to be unkillable as long as there is at least one of these half-human half-sheep creatures alive. However, there should be a range within which this ability works; otherwise, it wouldn't just have its current level of strength."

Zhang Jing thought to himself.

Then, he just had a thought, and it was as if several hundred invisible mountains landed all at once, every half-human, half-sheep creature instantly crushed to pulp by a terrible force, dead beyond the shadow of a doubt. Even the earth within a radius of a hundred yards sagged several feet.

The village was once again silent.

Not far away.

Looking at the figure of the daoist in the yellow robe, the muscular man and his squad did not even dare take another breath.

"Energy controlled to perfection with no leaks and power controlled superbly!"

"He only makes a move when necessary, and when he does, it's akin to a small scale natural catastrophe! Certainly an upper-level terrifying existence of officer rank!" exclaimed the muscular man to himself.