That night.
At Landlord Zhang's estate in the county town, a bloody light shot up into the sky.
An unknown Demonic Path Martial Artist, wearing a mask with the "Fa" (prosperity) pattern from mahjong tiles and wielding two kitchen cleavers, hacked his way from the front gate of the Zhang estate to the back gate.
Then he hacked his way from the back gate to the front gate.
Back and forth, he killed his way through seven times in and seven times out.
He didn't even blink once.
So much blood flowed from the Zhang estate that it overflowed onto the street in front, staining a large area red.
The next morning, people heading to the market were startled by the sea of blood and hurried to report it to the authorities.
The constables who entered the estate to investigate the case were also badly frightened by the corpses littering the ground.
Having served for many years in a place like Baiyun County, they had never seen a murder case of this magnitude.
On the screen wall of the Zhang estate, the constables saw a line of bloody words left by the killer:
"The killer acts to plead for the people! Oppose land annexation, overthrow all reactionary bureaucrats and landlord classes!"
Everyone looked at each other, and for a time, it became a strange tale.
With the county magistrate's help, Chen Yun and her daughter bought a new residence at a very cheap price and even hired servants and guards.
With the county magistrate's protection, Third Sister's future days should no longer be filled with hardship.
Additionally, you left a martial arts cultivation technique for your niece, Shen Jia, and guided her in her cultivation for a while.
She has High-Grade bone aptitude. If Shen Qingshan hadn't been taken away, she should have already stepped onto the martial path long ago. Hopefully, starting her cultivation now is not too late.
Afterwards, you headed east, embarking on a new journey.
Year Thirty, age forty-eight.
As the number of demon souls increased, the rate at which the Ten Thousand Souls Banner fed back cultivation progress recovered considerably.
Your cultivation broke through, reaching Soul Tempering, second tempering.
Year Thirty-One, age forty-nine.
Your cultivation broke through once more, reaching Soul Tempering, third tempering.
This year, you crossed the boundary line between the Central Plains and the Eastern Wastes, the Cangqiong Ridge.
This is the longest mountain range spanning north to south within the Five Domains and also the one with the highest average elevation.
Crossing this mountain range cost you a great deal of effort.
Fortunately, you had the martial cultivation realm of Soul Tempering to support you.
If it were an ordinary person, you believe no matter what mountaineering skills they possessed, they could never cross this curtain-like geographical barrier.
You officially set foot on the land of the Eastern Wastes.
Here, there are no Central Plains imperial dynasties, no Southern Borderlands small kingdoms, and no Northern Frontier nomadic tribes.
Traces of human presence are extremely rare. What meets the eye are towering giant trees, deep mountains, and ancient forests.
However, the Eastern Wastes are not completely devoid of people.
Some martial sects and martial families settle in the Eastern Wastes or have outposts here.
Because martial forces require "spiritual veins."
In this world, "spiritual veins" refer to places where the Essence of Heaven and Earth converges. Cultivating in such places yields twice the result with half the effort.
The Eastern Wastes have many demon tribes, are close to the Great Wastes, and not only frequently suffer from demonic troubles but also have high-realm demon tribes roaming about.
Therefore, generally, small forces wouldn't come here.
Those daring to settle in the Eastern Wastes are all major powers, occupying the largest batch of spiritual veins in the Eastern Wastes.
For example, one of the Eight Pillars of the Five Domains, the Limitless Sword Sect.
This sect is arguably the one with the strongest combat power among the Eight Pillar sects. It specializes in slaughter and conquest, invincible wherever it goes, with verifiable battle records!
The fact that the Limitless Sword Sect has stood firm for tens of thousands of years in the Eastern Wastes, surrounded by demon tribes, shows just how ferocious the strength of its disciples is.
Historically, the Limitless Sword Sect has often been the first line of defense for humanity against invasions from the Great Wastes demon tribes, thus earning deep respect from martial artists across the Five Domains.
Year Thirty-Two, age fifty.
You replaced "The Only True Prophet in the Whole Game" with "Ginger Gets Spicier With Age."
"The Eastern Wastes are full of demons everywhere. No need to verify identities anymore. Just kill, kill, kill! At fifty, it's time to use the old age trait."
Chen Yi micro-managed outside the simulation.
You pursued demonic auras in the Eastern Wastes, hunted demon tribes, and collected demon souls.
Demonic auras were everywhere here, giving you a vast number of targets to choose from.
That meant you could be picky.
The best targets, of course, were those you could handle yet were not low in realm.
The more powerful they were before death, the more powerful they became as demon souls.
Relying on the large number of demon souls refined by the Ten Thousand Souls Banner that you could command in battle, you always fought with superior numbers. Combined with the "Alien's Biological Father" trait, the demon tribes simply had no way to deal with you.
It truly let you enjoy killing in the Eastern Wastes.
The number of demon souls collected in this year or two surpassed the total from the past five or six years.
The only pity was that the collected demon tribe materials had nowhere to be sold.
It was difficult to even see a living person here. Who would you sell them to? You couldn't sell them to the demon tribes, could you?
This year, your cultivation broke through once more, reaching Soul Tempering, fourth tempering.
"The Ten Thousand Souls Banner is impressive. As long as there are enough demon souls, cultivation improvement is so smooth, without any bottlenecks at all."
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was exceedingly proud.
"Of course! I told you, I'm an Immortal Artifact! You think I'm joking?"
At this moment, you were tracking a wisp of Soul Tempering realm demonic aura and arrived at a valley.
Cliffs towered on both sides of this valley. The interior space was narrow, overgrown with weeds, with only one entrance less than three meters wide.
The moment you entered the valley, your "Spider Sense" went off.
"Something's wrong..."
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner didn't think much of it.
"What's wrong? Soul Tempering realm demons aren't common either. When you see one, catch it, don't hesitate!"
"Look at this terrain, it's perfect for an ambush. There's danger, retreat!"
Just as you prepared to withdraw from the valley, you found the valley entrance already blocked by five Bull Demons.
These five big brutes standing there formed a solid wall.
"Screech—"
A piercing eagle cry resounded through the sky.
Looking up, several eagle-type demon tribes perched on the cliffs above, their fierce gazes looking down on you disdainfully.
And that wasn't all.
From beneath the overgrown weeds in the valley, rat demons roughly the size of humans stood up.
From the darkness deep within the valley, a golden-haired rat demon was carried out, sitting on a creaking bamboo sedan chair borne by four gray rat demons.
"Red-haired human! Let's see where you run to today!"
You realized you had fallen into a trap.
"To think you demon tribes also understand strategy."
The golden-haired rat demon slapped the sedan chair angrily.
"Nonsense! You've been hunting us like wild rabbits! How many of our brothers have you killed these past two years?! And you imprison our clansmen's souls in that tattered banner, making them serve you! Not letting them rest in peace even in death!!"
You scratched your cheek awkwardly.
From the demon tribes' perspective, you were indeed a devil.
This golden-haired rat demon was likely the king of the demon tribes in this area, able to command various different demon tribes.
This battle was destined to be anything but easy.
Your greatest advantage was being able to fight with superior numbers, but this time, the enemy's numbers weren't low either.
They even had flying demon tribes, controlling air superiority that you lacked!
Even if it was hard to fight, you had to fight. When the path is narrow, the brave win!!
"Hundred Demons Night Parade!!"
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner, now possessing a High-Grade Spirit Artifact body, had gained many new killing moves. Hundred Demons Night Parade was one of them.
Hundreds of demon souls within the banner simultaneously surged forth. In a state of briefly possessing physical form, they charged forward like ten thousand stampeding horses, ruthlessly crashing into everything ahead!
"Boom!!"
Under this move, a large number of gray rat demons were crushed into mincemeat. Blood splattered, and severed limbs smashed into the face of the Golden-Haired Rat King.
The Golden-Haired Rat King leaped into the air, dodging the attack, clung to the cliff wall, pinched its fingers, and whistled.
"Everyone, attack!!"
Bird demons swooped down from the sky. A large number of land-based demons surged forward from inside and outside the valley. Underground, there were even demon tribes tunneling up to attack.
You were completely surrounded, three hundred and sixty degrees!
You were utterly fearless, your fighting spirit soaring, pushing the bonus of the "Biological Father" trait to the max!
"Come on!! Let me show you a father's wrath!!"

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