Chapter 194 - 115: Zombie Queen
Tang Guixin smiled bitterly.
"Then our only choice is to leave it to fate. We can either hope this demon can’t maintain its Divine Ability for long—as long as it can’t hold out for four hours and the barrier doesn’t break, we’ll be safe."
"After all, maintaining such a large-scale Divine Ability consumes a lot of Demonic Power."
"Or... we just wait to die."
A pall of pessimism fell over everyone present.
Everyone knew that demons were different from Human Race cultivators.
They were born with incredibly powerful bodies, and their reserves of Demonic Power far surpassed those of cultivators at the same level. They were notorious for their endurance.
’Four hours?’
They could probably last for two days.
Jiang Mu’s brow furrowed. He was at a loss.
’I have my Demon Slot hack. Against Tier Four or Tier Five demons, I can rely on my unlimited stamina to fight them head-on, even managing to kill opponents above my rank.’
’But this Tier Eight Great Demon...’
’The power gap is too great. Going out there would be suicide.’
’Damn it. If I’d known, I would’ve stripped that brat Yang Tianci naked to see what kind of mist-repelling Magical Treasure he had on him.’
Jiang Mu was annoyed with himself.
For a moment, the atmosphere became unbearably oppressive as despair spread through the cave.
"Wait! There’s another way!"
Tang Guixin’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she exclaimed.
All eyes snapped toward her, glinting with hope.
Tang Guixin explained rapidly,
"I once heard the Water Director mention a method in passing. If we can take a large number of demon corpses and render enough demon corpse oil, we can then soak cloth strips in the oil to make torches."
"Once lit, they can disperse the blood mist to a certain degree!"
"As long as the demon itself doesn’t appear, the blood mist alone can’t harm us!"
Demon corpse oil?
The group froze for a second, then their eyes lit up as they instinctively glanced toward the depths of the cavern.
In the battle just now, Jiang Mu had slain over a hundred demons!
Weren’t the bodies piled high in there the perfect raw materials?
There was a way out after all!
"Quick! Let’s get moving!"
Tang Guixin made a snap decision and started ordering everyone into action.
Some were put in charge of moving the corpses, some of building a simple rendering rack, and others of finding containers to collect the oil.
The tasks were clearly divided, and everyone moved with brisk efficiency.
At this rate, they should be able to render enough demon corpse oil within four hours.
Watching the others bustle about, Jiang Mu took the opportunity to relax, seating himself on a clean rock in a corner. He took out the folding fan he had picked up earlier and began to examine it.
Several of the fan’s ribs were broken and its leaf was severely damaged. Most of the Spirit Patterns on it had faded, making it look like a piece of scrap.
’Let’s see if I can fix this.’
Jiang Mu tried channeling the Demonic Qi from his Demon Slot, slowly infusing it into the fan.
He had just absorbed the Demonic Qi of over a hundred demons, so his Demon Slot was now brimming with energy. The "water level" inside had risen by more than half, making him feel quite wealthy in power.
As the Demonic Qi poured in, the folding fan began to tremble slightly.
Nurtured by the Demonic Qi, the broken ribs mended themselves, and the damaged leaf began to self-repair. The fragmented runes glowed once more with an eerie light, becoming even more complex and profound.
By the time he stopped infusing Demonic Qi, the folding fan looked brand new, completely restored.
Jiang Mu held the fan, sensing the information contained within.
After being repaired, the Magical Treasure could not only confine space, but its range was also far greater than when Yang Tianci had used it.
It could even interfere with an enemy’s spatial awareness to a certain degree.
’Not bad. A real treasure. Next time I run into a fast one, I’ll give them a taste of this fan first.’
Jiang Mu gleefully tucked the fan into his robes.
Just then, having finished arranging the oil rendering, Tang Guixin walked over and sat down beside Jiang Mu.
She looked at Jiang Mu’s youthful profile, her gaze growing distant, and asked softly,
"Lord Jiang, how old are you?"
Jiang Mu paused, unsure why she was suddenly asking his age. "In my early twenties," he replied casually.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
Tang Guixin asked curiously, "Are you from the Jiang family of Nanyuan?"
Jiang Mu shook his head. "Never heard of them."
"Then which sect did you train with before?"
"I’m unaffiliated."
"Are your parents cultivators, then?"
"Just ordinary merchants."
Tang Guixin grew more and more surprised with each question. "Then when did you start cultivating? Who taught you?"
Jiang Mu smiled and answered truthfully, "I only started cultivating after I joined the Demon-slaying Bureau. It’s been less than a year."
"What?!"
Tang Guixin’s eyes went wide with shock. She cried out, "Less than a year?!"
Jiang Mu nodded and said with a humble expression,
"My natural aptitude is poor, so I’ve only made it to the Fourth Realm. I just got lucky and became an orthodox Star Official. I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you, Master Tang."
The corner of Tang Guixin’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. For a moment, she was utterly speechless.
’The Fourth Realm in less than a year?’
’And he possesses an orthodox Star Position? What... what kind of monstrous talent is that?’
After a long moment, she sighed emotionally.
"If you’re not lying, then with an aptitude like yours, you would be considered exceptionally rare even in the entire Great Qing."
"Even the so-called peerless geniuses in the Capital City either come from prominent families that paved their way with Spirit Medicines from a young age, or they were prized students of famous masters who poured all their efforts into training them."
"For someone self-taught like you to achieve this... it’s no wonder you have such an arrogant disposition."
A person like that truly had the right to be arrogant.
Jiang Mu said with a perfectly straight face, "You misunderstand, Master Tang. I’m actually a very kind person. Everyone says so."
Tang Guixin was at a loss for words.
After a moment of silence, she asked, "Are your parents also in Hu State City?"
Jiang Mu shook his head.
"They’re gone. On the day the mist demons invaded, disaster struck my family. Out of everyone in the household, I was the only one who survived."
He didn’t mention anything about his "Little Demon."
Hearing this, a look of pity welled up in Tang Guixin’s eyes. She said softly,