The First Demon of the Chan Sect

In the backyard of the He Ji Tavern, the starlight fell down, and people were still drinking and laughing around the lively jade long table. After revealing their backgrounds to one another, they felt an increased sense of trust and closeness.

"Qingming, did Chaos really send three hundred followers to kill you and the others?" With a slight drunken haze in her demeanor, Chen Xiran's pretty face was flushed red, just like a ripe peach.

Li Qingming slowly shook his head and said, "Daoist Chen, you are drunk!"

Chen Xiran, looking somewhat resentful, blinked her large eyes and just quietly watched him without speaking.

Yin Xi, who sat beside Li Qingming, teasingly glanced at him and chuckled, "Xiran, Chaos did indeed send two Quasi-Saint teams, totaling three hundred men, to intercept and kill us. But those men were too feeble; they only managed to force Qingming to act once, and then they were entirely annihilated."

Chen Xiran nodded slightly upon hearing this, but her big watery eyes were about to drip with grievance.

Just then, a piercing scream came from the north of Han Yuan City, followed by a series of orderly footsteps rushing towards the north. Strangely loud shouts were also mixed in with the steps.

Everyone was also roused from the fragrance of the wine they were sharing.

"What's happening?" Long Xuhu rubbed his eyes, and the fuzziness from the alcohol immediately cleared.

Ye Jun frowned and called out, "Innkeeper, innkeeper..."

"Tap tap tap..."

Hasty footsteps approached, and the gray-robed old man rushed back from the main hall of the front courtyard, with a layer of fine sweat dripping from his shiny forehead.

"Innkeeper, what has happened outside?" Li Qingming straightened his appearance and asked.

The old man took out a brocade handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, "Esteemed guests, you are unaware! Just as you returned to Han Yuan City, the Golden Boat City Lord, to prevent any accidents within the city, had deployed another five hundred Cold Origin Guards to defend the city. Just now, a horrific scream suddenly came from the north of the city. The guards don't know what happened, and they all rushed over there!"

"The north of the city?" Li Qingming confirmed again.

"Yes, exactly in the north!" the old man nodded and said, "These days are truly chaotic; we had just come out of our Turtle Breath state when we encountered this. It's really..."

"Let's go, let's check out the north of the city!" Li Qingming interrupted the old man's complaints and promptly left the tavern to sprint towards the north of the city.

"Let's go, let's go together!" The rest of the group also followed Li Qingming, rushing after him.

"Ah, esteemed guest... You haven't paid the bill yet?" The old man was stunned, then quickly remembered something and hurried after them.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a small jade box flew back from the direction where the group was running, and a clear voice came with it: "Innkeeper, keep the stuff in the backyard, this shall be the deposit!"

"What stuff, what deposit... Ss, this, this is a Five-Transformation Golden Pill!" The old man murmured as he glanced at the blurry figures of the group and casually opened the jade box, then his eyes immediately bulged with ecstasy, "Good heavens! What a precious item! These cultivators from the outer realms are so generous!"

If Li Qingming and the others heard the old man, they would surely curse him as a yokel. In the Great Thousand World, even the young Taoist novices who sweep the floors wouldn't bother with a Five-Transformation Golden Pill, and yet this small old man regarded it as a treasure; what else if not a yokel?

The group walked on the streets and found that all the Han Yuan Guards seemed to have mobilized. They were all dressed in black armor, led by Silver-armored Han Yuan Guards, swiftly flowing toward the north of the city like the wind.

As they marched forward, more and more people from different parts of the ancient city converged, and acquaintances didn't even have the time to greet each other before rushing towards the north.

The ancient city of Han Yuan was immensely large, and the group hadn't even reached the center of the city when another sharp cry of agony came from the northwest.

The group was immediately chilled to the bone, unsure of what was happening.

"Master, doesn't this sound like the wailing of someone about to die?" Yang Jian, who was closely following Li Qingming, shivered violently and asked.

Li Qingming's face was stern, and his eyes sparkled as he said, "There are Han Yuan Guards throughout Han Yuan City. It is not impossible to evade their patrols and consecutively take down two Great Powers from other Central Heaven Worlds. But why would they so blatantly kill like this?"

"In my opinion, the person who made the move must know that among the several ancient cities that have come out of their Turtle Breath state, there is a Supreme Treasure that drives people mad! He is eliminating rivals!" Yin Xi analyzed calmly, her eyes shimmering with intimidating brilliance.

Li Qingming and the others ceased talking and quickened their pace, continuing on.

Along the way, all the Han Yuan Guards hidden in the shadows seemed to have burst out, and an increasing number of strong cultivators rushed to support.

...

In the north of the city, inside an elegantly situated residence, a Sub-Saint Early Stage cultivator from the Kunling Origin Realm lay on the bed in an extremely gruesome death position.

There was a bloody hole the size of a baby's fist on the top of his skull, and his bulging eyes were filled with boundless fear and a desperate desire for life.

The Han Yuan Guards had the residence surrounded, prohibiting anyone from intervening.

Li Qingming withdrew his Primordial Spirit which was probing the inside of the house and said with a solemn expression to Li Qingquan and the others, "The deceased was a Sub-Saint Early Stage Great Power who was killed in one strike. His Primordial Spirit didn't even have the chance to escape!"

"What?" Everyone felt immense shock. That was a Sub-Saint Early Stage expert, yet to be killed in one strike was simply too dreadful.

"Big brother, is it possible to use Time Retrospection to find the murderer?" Li Qingquan furrowed his brow and said.

Li Qingming closed his eyes to sense the surroundings and said, "It's difficult. The perpetrator has used a Chaos Artifact to disturb the Power of Space-Time Law here; there is a gap in the time that is very hard to restore!"

"Damn it, doesn't that mean we're all in danger?" Long Xuhu clenched his fists with a somewhat volatile expression on his face.

No matter what they thought, at this moment, the Han Yuan Guards had completely surrounded the premises, and despite exhausting all methods, they still could not determine who the killer was, naturally leading to a great deal of controversy.

"What's going on, who killed him?"

"Golden Boat City Lord commanded you to patrol the Cold Origin Ancient City, yet you can't even protect our most basic safety. What's the use of you?"

The leader of the Golden Armor Han Yuan Guards swept a cold glance over the noisy crowd and barked, "Shut up, all of you!"

"Buzz!"

A majestic aura rippled out from the leader of the Han Yuan Guards, soaring to the sky with an imposing presence as if it could swallow Heaven and Earth, crushing the clamoring crowd firmly to the ground.

"Holy shit, the Saint Realm!" Li Qingming felt the overwhelming pressure from the Golden Armor Han Yuan Guard and his face suddenly changed as he said.

"What, he is a Saint?" Long Xuhu and others summoned their full strength to resist, their hearts also filled with shock.

"Leader, should we report to the master?" A Silver-armored Han Yuan Guard stepped forward and whispered into the ear of the Golden Armor Han Yuan Guard.

"With such a commotion, do you think the master wouldn't know?" The Golden Armor Han Yuan Guard glanced at the Silver Armor Han Yuan Guard and said coldly.

"This…" The Silver Armor Han Yuan Guard's expression became stiff, and he fell silent, no longer speaking.

Looking at the experts from various realms that he had pinned to the ground, the Golden Armor Han Yuan Guard said coldly, "The city is now under martial law. No entry or exit permitted! The city gates and Teleportation Array will only open when the murderer is found!"

"That's unfair, this is unfair!"

"The Golden Boat City Lord once said the trial was completed, allowing us to go to the subsequent cities to find Exotic Treasures and Strange Objects. What you are doing violates the secret order of the Golden Boat City Lord!"

"We want to see the Golden Boat City Lord, we want to see the Golden Boat City Lord!"

Upon hearing the words of the Golden Armor Han Yuan Guard, all the elites from different worlds boiled over. With such an incident occurring within the city, everyone became suspicious of each other and lost trust, not wanting to stay in the city for even a second.

"Humph!" Just as the Golden Armor Han Yuan Guard's face grew darker and he was about to forcefully suppress everyone, the Golden Boat City Lord, completely enveloped in golden light, descended from the sky.

"Master!" Seeing the Golden Boat, all Han Yuan Guards knelt on one knee and saluted.

With a light wave of his hand, the Golden Boat City Lord lifted everyone from the ground.

"My Lord, two tragic cases have occurred in the city, and the Han Yuan Guards cannot find the murderer. Moreover, the city is under martial law, forbidding us to leave. Our lives are threatened, we are not satisfied, we refuse!" Among the crowd, a somewhat sharp voice suddenly rang out, echoing in all directions without a traceable source.

"Playing tricks!" The Golden Boat City Lord scoffed coldly, and with a gentle flick of his golden hand towards the sky, a large golden hand with thick bones materialized above.

"Whoosh!"

A cultivator dressed in a beige Daoist robe, short and stocky, was caught mid-air by the big hand and lifted into the air.

"Damn it, let me down!" The cultivator struggled vehemently, his True Yuan violently fluctuating, but he was unable to break free from the grip of the big hand.

"Speak, why do you hide among the crowd, stirring up public outrage?" The Golden Boat City Lord's voice was clear and cold, with not a trace of emotion.

The short cultivator looked at the onlookers below, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes, and then quickly diverted, saying, "I haven't uttered nonsense! Isn't what I said true? Han Yuan Guards, those incompetents, can't ensure our safety, so naturally, we must seek more reliable ways to save our lives!"

The Golden Boat City Lord laughed disdainfully and coldly said, "Ridiculous! You, a mere Sub-Saint, dare to lie in front of me. Do you think I'm so easily deceived?"

"I... I don't understand what you're saying? Let go of me, quickly let me go!" The short cultivator became restless and continued to struggle.

"Refusing the toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, Bewitching Enchantment!" The voice of the Golden Boat City Lord grew colder, and two beams of shining gold burst from his eyes, piercing directly into the eyes of the short cultivator.

Li Qingming's eyes narrowed, sensing a trace of the Primordial Spirit's fluctuations within those two beams of golden light.

Considering Hou Yi was of the Witch Tribe, he couldn't help but start to doubt the once sure identity of the Golden Boat.

(To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommended votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)