I Can Strengthen Infinitely

Inside the pitch-black box, the flame from the tinder was almost negligible. Zuo Zonghao, while examining the bloodstains on the ground, was also fully alert to his surroundings. The Exorcism Toad displayed ever-rising levels of demonic energy, indicating that Zuo Zonghao was indeed moving in the right direction.

A chill of Yin energy, coming from who knows where, brushed against his body. Zuo Zonghao’s hair stood on end in an instant, and his heart thudded wildly.

"Hiss!"

A sudden gust of wind swept toward him. Responding on instinct, Zuo Zonghao darted to the side, just as a wind blade sliced past his ear, severing it neatly in two.

A black shadow abruptly leapt down from the nearby rooftop. A flash of cold light, and Zuo Zonghao’s vision in his right eye went dark—he could no longer see.

"Ah!!" Clutching his blinded eye, Zuo Zonghao cried out in pain. In that split second, his eye had been destroyed.

The figure attacked again. Zuo Zonghao gritted his teeth through the agony, and swung his blade with full force, intent on a direct counterattack. The monster opposite him was impossibly agile, seemingly able to shift course in midair as if hitting an invisible fulcrum, and easily evaded Zuo Zonghao’s strike.

Crack!

Three razor-sharp gashes instantly appeared on the back of his hand.

Swish swish swish!

That thing moved with incredible speed. Now missing one eye, Zuo Zonghao could no longer track its form, forced to watch it flicker back and forth, always circling for another chance to strike.

Drip drip drip!

Beads of blood dripped from Zuo Zonghao’s wounded eye. Even when he tried to seal the wound with Inner Strength, for some reason, it failed—his power could no longer control the bleeding.

He clenched his fist. The monster facing him, in terms of danger, far surpassed any he had faced before. With injury after injury, Zuo Zonghao’s spirit stretched to its limit; the world around him fell eerily silent.

Whoosh!

The sound came again. Zuo Zonghao reacted instantly, spinning his blade like a dancing butterfly, unleashing a flurry of sixteen swift slashes—an arc of steel that sealed off all avenues of escape for the monster.

Bang!

A heavy sound echoed—the thud of steel meeting flesh. Zuo Zonghao knew his strike landed, and immediately followed with several more rapid blows.

"Gah!"

A shriek burst out. Dark gray ichor spattered, as something heavy crashed to the ground.

Its limbs shuddered briefly, then fell still.

Ignoring his own wounds, Zuo Zonghao rushed forward. By the light of his tinder, he finally saw his attacker—a monster that looked almost human, but for its mottled dark green skin and two short horns sprouting from its head.

Its claws were long, their surface slick with some kind of viscous secretion.

"I’ve never seen a monster like this before. Something this dangerous—I must report immediately to the Silver Toad officials." Zuo Zonghao hauled the creature up by its ankle, intent on bringing it with him.

But the moment he turned around, he froze in place.

At some unknown point, the shadows all around him had filled with more figures that looked exactly like the dead monster.

Every one of them glared with eyes glowing red, bared their grim fangs, and fixed their gaze on him.

Cold sweat pooled on Zuo Zonghao’s brow in an instant.

"Gah!"

The moment his sweat hit the ground, all the monsters lunged at him at once.

...

Qin Yuesheng sped across the rooftops. Not long ago, in Chang’an, the demonic energy was surging everywhere. Relying on the Exorcism Toad, he roamed the city, exterminating several malignant monsters with ease.

Among them were spirits clinging to wooden mannequins, and others resembling Celestial Demons but much smaller in size, without wings—Celestial Demon-like monsters.

These creatures seemed to appear from thin air, and Qin Yuesheng could not uncover where they came from.

Since the previous emperor died, secretly manipulated by the Ten Attendants, most of Chang’an’s protective dragon aura dispersed. What remained was no longer enough to subdue the haunting spirits and monsters. Even with Sanhuang sheltering a sliver of dragon qi at the city’s heart, Chang’an still lacked sufficient power to stem the tide.

"Demonic energy in that direction—it’s over five thousand." Qin Yuesheng eyed the sudden spike on the glazed plate, noting the source with a heavy heart.

A monster with over five thousand demonic energy was a truly formidable threat.

When Qin Yuesheng reached his target, he saw a narrow alley packed with Celestial Demon-like monsters piled up like a mountain. As they scattered, each monster gnawed on a chunk of flesh, some even chewing on bones. On the ground, a skeleton lay—nothing left but a spine and skull. There was no need to guess what these monsters were feasting on.

Qin Yuesheng landed in their midst, drawing all eyes. The monsters who had missed out on meat instantly lunged at him, bloodthirsty and ravenous; their claws glimmered with a faint silver hue, even in the dimness.

Qin Yuesheng didn’t even need to act—all it took was a pulse of Nine Yang Internal Power. The monsters were incinerated to ash, their remains scattering into the night.

Of all the creatures, only one survived. Without a moment’s hesitation, it turned and fled at once.

Qin Yuesheng silently followed in pursuit.

Monsters always have their own lairs, and a horde like this only more so. If that creature fled home in fear, Qin Yuesheng could trace it all the way back and root out their nest.

After a winding chase, he arrived at the threshold of someone’s home. Outside, an old well had been dug. The water was deep, but the monster dove in headfirst without pause—splash—and vanished beneath the surface.

Qin Yuesheng walked to the well’s edge, peered down, thought for a moment, then jumped in after it.

The midnight water was unnaturally frigid, black as pitch with no trace of light.

But for Qin Yuesheng, this posed no problem. Using the Biluo Eye, he quickly locked onto the monster diving toward the depths. What seemed a small well from outside was deep as an abyss below. Qin Yuesheng swam down over three zhang, still without reaching the bottom. Strange little fish darted past his face in the gloom.

Finally, he reached the well’s base, just as the monster slipped into a small opening in the wall—barely the size of a jar’s mouth. Too small for Qin Yuesheng to fit, so he lashed out with a kick, smashing the entrance wide open several times over.

Beyond the opening lay a tunnel, its destination unknown, yet curiously free from any water seepage.

Inside, bones were strewn everywhere—some animal remains, some unmistakably human.

A rank, indescribable stench wafted from deep within the tunnel, clearly marking this as the monsters’ den.

"Who would have thought the underbelly of Chang’an would fester as a breeding ground for monsters. Truly, darkness hides beneath the lantern’s glow," Qin Yuesheng mused grimly, and strode deeper into the passage.

"Gah! Gah gah gah!"

After a walk of roughly ten zhang, a strange sound echoed ahead—two monsters conversing, one being the same that Qin Yuesheng had chased here.

With terror etched on its face, it exchanged frantic signals with its kin, who soon looked shocked as well.

The two gestured back and forth, then turned and bolted down the tunnel in panic.

Qin Yuesheng couldn’t understand their gibbering, but there was no way he’d allow them to warn the others. He flicked his fingers—two strands of Nine Yin Internal Power shot out—effortlessly piercing through the backs of both monsters’ skulls.

Killing them on the spot.