Chapter Thirty-Eight: Purification
Gongyang Yan’s handsome face was tinged with a trace of murderous intent.
“How I conduct my affairs, and what affairs I conduct, is not for some skulking rat to criticize. Deliver a message? Who does he think he is?”
Her words were laced with derision.
“The Yuan Dynasty will not be able to protect you for much longer.”
The apprentice exorcist’s eyes were blood-red, and demonic energy erupted ceaselessly from his body.
His form began to transform.
Fur sprouted all over him.
His mouth elongated, becoming the maw of a wolf.
His face twisted into a fearsome, bestial visage, his entire body shrouded in a dense aura of demonic power.
“Whoever slays these six demons, I will bestow upon you the Six Paths Exorcism Scripture of the Exorcist Division.”
Unmoved by the demonic transformation before her, Gongyang Yan gazed instead at the apprentices, speaking slowly.
The Six Paths Exorcism Scripture!
The most secret, untransmittable art of the Exorcist Division.
Only the Warden was permitted to cultivate it.
It was one of the division’s most powerful martial inheritances.
Yet Gongyang Yan threw it out as bait without the slightest hesitation.
All of the Exorcist Division in Dongbin City was shaken to its core.
“I am willing to serve you, my lord.”
Zheng Yishan stepped forward, his face flushed and twisted with anticipation.
“This is not your turn.”
Gongyang Yan cast him a cold glance.
It was as though ice water had been poured over Zheng Yishan’s head, making him shiver uncontrollably.
He was in charge of tracking the bat demons and the Night Demon.
Moreover, the Warden herself had given him a magical compass.
“Yes, my lord.”
Gongyang Yan’s gaze remained fixed on the exorcist apprentices.
“Heh, if I can kill all the apprentices you recruited before I die, it’ll have been worth it!”
The demonized apprentice shouted.
“Are exorcist apprentices all so spineless?”
Gongyang Yan’s voice carried disappointment.
“I am willing to serve, my lord,” Luo Jinglin said, saluting.
He took a single step forward.
But the demonized apprentice vanished and struck him aside with a single clawed blow.
Luo Jinglin bore a sacred sword.
If he had been allowed to wield it, he would have been a grave threat.
Thus, the demon struck first.
Gongyang Yan did not react as the demon injured his comrade.
Of the thirty-two apprentices, six had already become demons.
If the remaining twenty-six could not satisfy her, she would not hesitate to dismiss them all.
What was satisfaction?
Attitude.
Baili Feihong took a deep breath, his mind racing to analyze the situation.
If he could obtain the complete Six Paths Exorcism Scripture, it would solve the fundamental problem of martial arts technique for him.
His former colleagues had now become demons.
Their fates were sealed.
Gongyang Yan making the apprentices take action was not necessarily to have them slay their former companions, but to see their attitude.
A willingness to face death.
“Exorcist apprentice Baili Feihong, at your command, my lord.”
Baili Feihong stepped forth, hand resting on his Blood Sea Sabre.
His eyes were resolute as he looked at his six former comrades.
“All of you, attack together.”
Clap, clap.
Gongyang Yan began to applaud.
“Commendable courage, Baili Feihong. I remember you practice the Blood River Sabre Art, your skills learned at the Four Seas Martial Hall. If you slay them, you will take over the Night Demon investigation.”
Her gaze was appreciative.
Zheng Yishan’s jealousy was plain to see.
The Night Demon case had obscure clues.
Handing it to Baili Feihong, given his background, Zheng Yishan understood Gongyang Yan’s intentions.
She was planning to move against the Canal Guild!
So be it. I never wanted to be the scapegoat.
“Thank you, my lord.”
The six demons had completed their transformation.
They now appeared as six ferocious wolf demons, demonic energy surging around them.
Their power had surpassed that of an ordinary Nine-Blood Martial Master.
In truth, they paid little heed to Baili Feihong.
What was there to fear from a mere dock laborer?
The Blood Sea Sabre was drawn.
At this moment, Baili Feihong understood that with his current cultivation, it was impossible to hide anything from the Warden.
If he wanted more resources, to become a true martial powerhouse, he would need the support of the Exorcist Division.
And Gongyang Yan held his fate in her hands.
“Kill!”
The demonized apprentices showed no mercy.
Their fates were set.
From the moment they were exposed—or rather, from the moment they joined the Exorcist Division—they had never expected to leave alive.
“The great river surges, blood energy blazing like the sun!”
The fourth and highest form of the Blood River Sabre Art erupted from Baili Feihong’s hands.
His inner energy surged like the waters of the four seas, crashing in mighty waves.
Blood energy flowed like a mighty river, forming into a blade.
With a single swing, the blood energy shone as fiercely as the noonday sun, illuminating the streets of Dalizhen.
The signature art of the Four Seas Martial Hall.
Dismissed as unrefined by the Exorcist Division.
Yet now, terrifying blood energy surged behind Baili Feihong like a roaring river.
The waters of the four seas, suspended upside down, gathered into a blazing sun.
That sun’s blood aura transformed the narrow street into a field of molten lava.
Black smoke billowed from the bodies of the wolf demons.
They howled in terror, disbelieving.
But the blade flashed red as blood, slicing through them like a river.
In an instant, the force of the blood-soaked blade swallowed them whole.
“Magnificent.”
Gongyang Yan rose and applauded.
The remaining members of the Exorcist Division stared at Baili Feihong in utter shock.
“Your blood energy rises like wolf’s smoke. In just over half a month, your insight into the Blood Essence Formula has reached its peak. You have further refined your blood, stepping onto the path of Blood Tempering. From today, Baili Feihong, you are a Class D Exorcist of the Dongbin City Exorcist Division, now a full member.”
Baili Feihong’s stern face showed no emotion. Holding his sabre, he bowed and knelt on one knee. “Thank you, Warden. I will lay down my life to exorcise demons for you.”
“No—you are to exorcise demons for the sake of the people.”
Gongyang Yan corrected him.
“Yes.”
But Baili Feihong understood her true meaning.
Behind him, the other apprentices stared in awe.
“Take Luo Jinglin to the city for treatment. His courage is admirable. Award him a bottle of Essence Blood Elixir. May you reach the Blood Refining Realm soon.”
Luo Jinglin leapt up with joy, offering his thanks.
The other apprentices showed regret on their faces.
“Dalizhen... commence the Purification Protocol.”
Gongyang Yan’s gaze swept the scene.
She gave the order coldly.
“At your command.”
Many exorcists looked reluctant.
What was ‘Purification’?
It meant erasing all traces of Dalizhen.
That was the Purification Protocol.
Sin must be cleansed.
Baili Feihong, who once thought himself hardened to grand spectacles, felt chilled to the marrow.
But his voice was too weak to sway Gongyang Yan’s decision.
As if in response to an unspoken command, every inhabitant of Dalizhen was slaughtered.
The exorcist apprentices’ bodies and minds turned cold.
This was the Exorcist Division.
“Do you think we’re too heartless?” Ding Bo approached.
“Lord Ding.”
Baili Feihong saluted.
“The residents here were all under the control of the Netherworld. They had become its hounds.”
Ding Bo spoke of the Netherworld with hatred.
Baili Feihong could see that Ding Bo and the Netherworld shared a blood feud.
A resident’s body suddenly erupted with tadpole-shaped black runes.
“If you won’t let us live, then we’ll drag you to the underworld with us!”
The surviving townsfolk surged with evil sigils.
“These are Nether Curses. They unleash the body’s potential, granting the evil Netherworld’s curse power and inducing partial demonization.”
Ding Bo explained.
Baili Feihong did not reply. He drew his blade and charged into the half-demonized crowd.
Where one stands matters above all.
Gongyang Yan watched with appreciation.
A fine blade, indeed.