Chapter 119: The Vapor Demon

"A mere branch leader of the Black Lotus Sect, plus a wealthy local family—and you managed to suffer the deaths of four internal-strength experts?"

"And even after the deaths of those four, the task was still not fully accomplished?"

Li Ju sat in his study, holding a brush, sweeping ink across the white paper on his desk.

"Reporting to the Sect Master, the Zhao family of Yangyuan harbored two additional internal-strength experts, and one of them was exceptionally powerful, capable of taking on three of us at once."

A man knelt prostrate before Li Ju.

"That is not a sufficient excuse for your failure."

"After all, I dispatched a full seven internal-strength experts for this mission."

Li Ju’s voice remained devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"Reporting to the Sect Master, the crux of the matter is that the Black Lotus Sect had cultivated a 'Qi Demon' within Yangyuan County. We were caught off guard by the creature's attack, which led to our heavy losses," the man replied.

"A Qi Demon?"

Upon hearing those words, Li Ju shifted his gaze from the desk to the man kneeling on the floor. He recalled the peculiar tongue he had seen earlier at the Zhao estate.

"Are you certain?"

"I am certain, my lord."

"That is truly fascinating."

Li Ju dipped his brush into the ink.

Qi Demons were not natural creatures of this world. They were vicious, cruel, and bizarre beasts cultivated by ancient martial artists of the True Qi path, using various methods to mutate ordinary wild animals. In essence, a Qi Demon was a war weapon forged by the martial artists of old.

"Cultivating Qi Demons—the Black Lotus Sect is truly daring."

A Qi Demon’s strength is formidable; even the lowest-level one possesses the power of an internal-strength martial artist, while higher-level ones hold the strength of a True Qi expert or even greater. Most importantly, they can be mass-produced and possess no self-awareness, making them perfect war weapons.

Yet, despite their power, the method of cultivation is extremely cruel. While the raw materials required are numerous, the essential core ingredient is always the same: humans.

Every Qi Demon is nourished by human blood and life. Even the lowest-level Qi Demon requires the lives and blood of a hundred people to serve as a culture medium; higher-level ones consume even more. Furthermore, the process does not end there. Once cultivated, the master must periodically feed the Qi Demon human sacrifices to maintain its vitality. In the era when they were first invented, countless people perished as mere material for their creation.

Because this was an affront to heaven, in the early years of the Great Yong Dynasty, all major factions joined forces to seal away the cultivation methods of the Qi Demons and strictly prohibited anyone from raising them. Anyone discovered doing so was to be hunted and executed by the entire world.

To this day, the ban remains in effect. It must be said that the Black Lotus Sect lives up to its reputation as a contemporary evil cult, daring to do what the rest of the world despises.

"No wonder the wealthy families of Yangyuan County were constantly killing people; it seems they were sourcing materials for the Qi Demon," Li Ju mused, recalling the arrogance of those families.

"But if the Black Lotus Sect is cultivating Qi Demons so brazenly, why does the Black Armor Army turn a blind eye?"

Li Ju tapped a few dots of ink onto the paper. Even his newly founded organization, the Three Origins Sect, could discover the Black Lotus Sect’s activities; he did not believe the Black Armor Army, which controlled the entirety of Caizhou, could remain unaware.

"Such willful blindness suggests either a secret deal or some unspeakable hidden agenda."

"The relationships between the factions within Caizhou are truly complex."

After sighing, Li Ju set down his brush.

"Where is the Qi Demon from Yangyuan County?"

"Reporting to the Sect Master, it has been killed. The carcass is currently stored at the Sanfeng Sect, under the personal watch of Hall Master Yang Ming."

"And the Black Lotus branch leader of Yangyuan?"

"He has been killed, and his corpse is also stored at the Sanfeng Sect."

"And the Zhao family?"

"Most of them have been killed. The body of the eldest son, Zhao Bao, has been sent to the Sanfeng Sect. Only a few escaped, and of the two internal-strength experts of the Zhao family, one is dead and one has fled."

"Pursue them. Kill them. I said I would wipe out the entire Zhao family; not a single soul must be left."

"As for the Black Lotus Sect's cultivation of the Qi Demon..." Li Ju paused, lost in thought for a moment.

"Order the members of the sect not to spread word of this for now."

Given the current situation, the matter of the Black Lotus Sect cultivating Qi Demons was far from simple. If they kept it quiet, only the Black Lotus Sect would target the Three Origins Sect. But if news were to spread... there was no telling how many factions would descend upon them.

...

"Reporting to the Inspector, our sect’s branch in Yangyuan County has been destroyed. The branch leader has been confirmed dead, and the Zhao family has suffered heavy casualties, with only a few escaping."

Crack... crack...

Inside a dark, stone cavern, the torches mounted on the walls sputtered.

"What of the Sect’s Guardian Beast?"

A woman with a black veil over her face sat atop a massive stone throne, her cold gaze fixed on the man below.

"Reporting to the Inspector, the Guardian Beast is dead, and its carcass was taken by the attackers," the man replied.

"First they kill our branch leader, then our Guardian Beast..."

"Have you found out which faction is responsible?"

"Was it the Human Alley or the Red Stone Palace?"

"Apart from the Black Armor Army, only those two factions in Caizhou would dare provoke us."

"But both should be preoccupied with the affairs in Quyang Prefecture. How could they have the energy to cause us trouble at a time like this?"

Though the surroundings were dim, the woman's snow-white skin shone under the flickering light.

"It was neither the Human Alley nor the Red Stone Palace. It was a faction called the Three Origins Sect."

"The Three Origins Sect?"

The woman’s voice carried a hint of surprise; she had clearly never heard the name before.

"The Three Origins Sect is a rising force that emerged in the last few months, primarily operating within Shimen Prefecture," the man explained.

"Does the Three Origins Sect possess any True Qi experts?" the woman asked.

"The attackers we have encountered so far have been internal-strength experts at most. We have not seen any True Qi experts within their ranks."

"A mere minor faction without a single True Qi expert dares to provoke the Black Lotus Sect? This is truly..."

"Audacious." The woman sneered.

"It seems I must remind the minor factions of Shimen Prefecture exactly what the Black Lotus Sect has relied upon to build its reputation over these past centuries!"