Human Clan Defender

He left the great hall.

Shen Changqing was once again heading to the Demon Slaying Hall.

Upon his arrival, the elder responsible for item exchanges at the Demon Slaying Hall was surprised to see him, his expression involuntarily freezing.

"You again!"

Realizing his slip of the tongue, he quickly changed his tone.

"May I know what items you wish to exchange, sir?"

Shen Changqing took out Ji Tianlu's Token. Upon seeing it, the elder deftly produced a list.

He didn't open it to look, instead stating directly, "I want to exchange for that Tiger Fang Blade."

When he emerged from the Demon Slaying Hall once more, Shen Changqing had an additional Treasure Blade at his waist.

The hilt was pitch-black, with faint golden patterns visible. The intricate engravings resembled a fierce tiger opening its gaping maw, stirring an unstoppable chill in anyone who laid eyes on it.

The Tiger Fang Blade!

It was originally the Treasure Blade of a Jianghu expert.

Later, that Jianghu expert, while wielding the blade, succumbed to demonic corruption, slaughtering many civilians and other Jianghu experts. This forced the Demon-Subduing Division to intervene and forcibly suppress him.

As a result, the Tiger Fang Blade became one of the treasures of the Demon-Subduing Division.

The Tiger Fang Blade carries an ominous legacy. Many have been its master, but all met violent ends. If you are to wield this blade, you must be mentally prepared.

Recalling the elder's words from when he exchanged the Tiger Fang Blade, Shen Changqing gripped its hilt.

The moment he touched the hilt, he could clearly feel a faint, almost imperceptible fiendish aura emanating from it.

Regarding this fiendish aura, Shen Changqing had been aware of it since the moment he obtained the Tiger Fang Blade.

However, to others, the fiendish aura might affect their minds.

But for him, there was no need to worry about this.

The Hundred Battles True Intent he primarily cultivated was centered around such fiendish auras. The Tiger Fang Blade's aura would only complement his Hundred Battles True Intent, having no negative effects.

As for the so-called ominousness, Shen Changqing did not take it to heart.

With sufficient strength, any ominousness would not pose a problem.

After leaving the Demon Slaying Hall, he first returned the Token to Ji Tianlu, then headed back to his own residence.

Before long, Deng Gu visited again.

"Elder Shen, Defender Ji asked me to bring you this," Deng Gu said, presenting a dossier.

Shen Changqing took the dossier and nodded. "Thank you for your trouble."

"It's my duty."

After seeing Deng Gu off, Shen Changqing returned to his room and opened the dossier.

It detailed the locations in South Nether Prefecture infested with Demon Evils.

There certainly are a lot of Demon Evils in South Nether Prefecture—

Looking at the dossier's contents, he couldn't help but be inwardly surprised. The locations recorded in the dossier were simply far too numerous.

At a quick glance, there were no less than a hundred of them.

Furthermore, the weakest Demon Evils recorded in the dossier were at the Resentment Level. This meant if those below the Resentment Level were included, the number would at least double.

After reading for a long time, Shen Changqing's expression grew solemn. South Nether Prefecture, to put it gravely, is practically riddled with holes. For one prefecture to have over a hundred locations plagued by Demon Evils... no wonder it has deteriorated to the point of needing to request aid from the Capital City.

A single Demon Evil could cause many deaths and injuries.

In other prefectures, whenever a Demon Evil arose, the Demon-Subduing Division would dispatch personnel to exterminate it, never tolerating its presence for long.

In the case of South Nether Prefecture, the simultaneous existence of hundreds of Demon Evils was excessive.

This also explained why the Demon-Subduing Division of South Nether Prefecture had to seek reinforcements from the Capital City.

Their inability to immediately eradicate all the Demon Evils meant the South Nether Prefecture's Demon-Subduing Division was willing but lacked the necessary strength.

Considering the earlier situation where Xun Qu was trapped in Luyang City, it indicated that some of the Demon Evils scattered across South Nether Prefecture were particularly powerful.

Leaving aside other factors, just from the information in the dossier, Shen Changqing noted no fewer than twenty to thirty Fiend Level Strange Monsters.

Although none above the Fiend Level were listed, their absence in the dossier didn't mean they truly didn't exist.

If that were truly the case, the Defender Envoys of South Nether Prefecture should have been able to exterminate all Fiend Level Strange Monsters. They wouldn't be allowing those Fiend Level Strange Monsters to still linger in South Nether Prefecture, as was currently the situation.

Either there's a Demon Evil in South Nether Prefecture so powerful that it demands the full attention of the Defender Envoys, or some other reason is tying their hands—

Shen Changqing looked at the dossier's contents, pondering.

To understand the situation clearly, the simplest way would be to ask Ji Tianlu.

However, judging from the dossier, even if there was something more, Ji Tianlu might not be willing to tell him.

Therefore, asking too many questions would be a waste of time.

If I were to ask Xun Qu, he might tell me.

Thinking of Xun Qu, Shen Changqing's brows lifted slightly.

Although he hadn't interacted much with the man, his brief contact in Luyang City was enough for him to understand that Xun Qu was someone who loathed evil as a personal enemy and also valued personal connections.

He had saved Xun Qu's life; if there truly was a problem, it was unlikely Xun Qu would conceal it from him.

However, Shen Changqing currently had no inclination to delve into such matters.

His sole focus was on slaying Demon Evils, acquiring Slaughter Value, and further enhancing his Martial Dao True Intent.

After slaying the Demon Evil in Luyang City, his Hundred Battles True Intent had skyrocketed from twenty percent to sixty percent.

This gave him a premonition: he was very close to the threshold of the Spiritual System's peak.

The so-called peak, Shen Changqing now understood, wasn't achieved merely by reaching one hundred percent.

It was like the Physical System: merely entering the second stage, or truly reaching the point of no further advancement within that stage, could both be considered a peak.

Therefore, there were different levels of "peak" within the Spiritual System as well.

The changes in his Sea of Consciousness had given Shen Changqing some understanding of the Spiritual System's peak.

If I'm not mistaken, as soon as my Hundred Battles True Intent reaches seventy percent, I'll be considered within the peak range of the Spiritual System.

Although classical texts didn't specifically divide the peak of the Spiritual System into percentages, once one's Realm reached a certain level, a degree of intuitive understanding would naturally arise.

If seventy percent is considered entering the peak of the Spiritual System, then the Pavilion Masters of the Hidden Heart Pavilion's various branches are likely far beyond an ordinary Spiritual System peak.

Seventy percent was a peak, and one hundred percent was also a peak. Each of the Pavilion Masters was a Grandmaster Peak powerhouse.

Moreover, several Pavilion Masters had existed for an unknown number of years.

Thus, even if they had merely entered the Spiritual System's peak when they first became Pavilion Masters, after so many years, they must have surely broken through to a higher Realm.

Shen Changqing had sensed this from Yi Ning.

The other party was definitely not as simple as an ordinary peak of the Spiritual System.

To put it another way, if he were to fight Yi Ning, he probably wouldn't have been Yi Ning's match before his Hundred Battles True Intent broke through. But now, that might not necessarily be the case.

Sixty percent True Intent, though not yet within the peak range, was far stronger than twenty percent. Coupled with his Flesh entering the second stage, his comprehensive strength was enough to rival a true peak existence within a single cultivation system.

Of course, these were all just Shen Changqing's own estimations. Yet, he believed his estimations wouldn't deviate too far from reality.

Especially the battle in Luyang City, which had given him great confidence in himself.

Even beings as strong as Demon Evils ultimately had to flee in disarray when facing him.

Even if that Demon Evil was perhaps the weakest among its kind, the outcome was the same.

Demon Evils inherently stood above other Grandmasters and Strange Monsters.

Ordinary Grandmasters couldn't even dream of defeating a Demon Evil, let alone contend against one; it was a significant challenge.

Once more, he carefully reviewed the dossier.

Immediately after, Shen Changqing selected several locations.

The Demon Evils in those places were of moderate strength. While they might not contribute much Spiritual Power, they would provide a substantial amount of Slaughter Value.

Speaking of which, the Slaughter Value contributed by powerful Demon Evils wasn't significantly more than that from weaker ones.

Take the Demon Evil in Luyang City, for example. It had only provided two hundred points of Slaughter Value.

Two hundred points of Slaughter Value. This was, at most, equivalent to the value from four Fiend Level Strange Monsters.

In terms of difficulty, the Demon Evil in Luyang City was far beyond what four Fiend Level Strange Monsters could compare to; even ten Fiend Level Strange Monsters would not have been its match.

So, even though the strongest Demon Evils recorded in the dossier were only Fiend Level Strange Monsters, the Slaughter Value they could provide was by no means insignificant.

To save time, the Demon Evils Shen Changqing selected were all relatively close to Mountain-Breaking City, and the distances between each target location were not too great.

This way, he could reap a sufficient amount of Slaughter Value in the shortest possible time.

But before that, I still need to enhance my strength.

Shen Changqing glanced at the panel, an eagerness stirring within him.

He was never one to hoard Slaughter Value without using it.

Every point of Slaughter Value, as soon as it was obtained, would be used immediately.

Not for any other reason, but simply to increase his chances of survival.

Every increment of strength might play a crucial role in upcoming battles.

Besides, hoarding Slaughter Value wouldn't make it increase.

Rather than letting it sit unused, converting it all into personal strength was the most practical approach.

Calming his mind, Shen Changqing focused on the numbers on the panel, his attention immediately settling on the Great Sun Golden Body.

Between Outer Techniques and Inner Strength, he now primarily focused on Outer Techniques.

A breakthrough in Outer Techniques could enhance the comprehensive strength of a Martial Artist's Flesh and also expand the Dantian, allowing it to hold more True Yuan.

Therefore, whenever he had Slaughter Value, he didn't need to think twice before prioritizing the Great Sun Golden Body.

Only when his Slaughter Value was insufficient, or when he reached the next critical juncture for its advancement, would he turn his attention to improving the Great Sun Scripture.