Chapter 85: The Gathering Essence Pouch, Acquired!
Stunned, he stared at Qi Xiu, the one who had severed his legs. Sensing no trace of Dao energy on this man—nothing but a mere mortal—King Jin Cai’s fury erupted instantly.
“A mere human! I will—”
He summoned the last shred of his demonic power, intent on crushing this fool who dared to challenge him. But the colorful cord floating above Qi Xiu’s wrist made him fall silent in an instant.
“What will you do?” Qi Xiu’s face was expressionless as he gazed down at the demon.
“Nothing,” King Jin Cai muttered, turning his head aside in defeat.
Damn it! What kind of power was that?
His demonic instincts warned him that this force could kill him with ease.
Qi Xiu took out a bundle of hemp rope and bound King Jin Cai like a crab, reciting an incantation as he summoned four water spirits to carry the demon away.
“Wait!” Seeing Qi Xiu about to leave with King Jin Cai, Zhao Shan hurriedly called out.
“Fellow Daoist, this demon abducted my young master. Might you show mercy and have him release the boy? We will be most grateful.”
“You took his young master?” Qi Xiu shook King Jin Cai and questioned him.
“I’ve caught plenty; how am I supposed to know which is his young master?” Bound and humiliated, King Jin Cai pouted angrily.
“He’s Sun Xing Shan, the county magistrate!”
County magistrate?
Qi Xiu’s brow arched. He recalled Lady Jia Yufei mentioning that King Jin Cai had taken her younger brother. So Sun Xing Shan was also one of those from that mysterious powerful family?
Song Ting Ye, Sun Xing Shan...
Sending their own kin to serve as magistrates amidst the chaos—what was that enigmatic household planning?
Knowing the immense, secret prestige behind Song Ting Ye and the others, Qi Xiu preferred not to get involved. He kicked King Jin Cai.
“Release him.”
“How? I already ate him. Unless you want me to excrete him now?” King Jin Cai sneered coldly.
“Impossible! My young master carries a protective artifact bestowed by the head of our family. Even ten of you couldn’t harm him,” Zhao Shan retorted immediately.
Qi Xiu pressed his palm to King Jin Cai’s brow, and the [Primordial] power on his wrist stirred restlessly.
“Don’t waste my time. Try any tricks, and I’ll send you to reincarnation.”
Feeling the terrifying force above his head, King Jin Cai gritted his teeth in secret.
You filthy human, if I ever recover, I’ll skin you alive and torment you for a hundred years.
Though unwilling, faced with the threat of death, he had no choice but to open his treasure pouch, recite an incantation, and shake it downward.
A crystalline, radiant jade cocoon dropped out, inside which a figure could be faintly seen sleeping.
Zhao Shan’s face brightened with joy at the sight and he quickly thanked Qi Xiu.
“Many thanks, Daoist. Zhao will remember this kindness forever. If you need anything, come find me at the Yu Lai Inn in the provincial capital. I will spare no effort to assist you.”
“No need.”
Qi Xiu wanted nothing to do with these powerful factions, lest he become entangled. He tossed down the jade cocoon, drove the water spirits to carry King Jin Cai, and hurried away.
Before leaving, he spoke a warning.
“Leave this county within a quarter hour, or bear the consequences.”
With that, Qi Xiu vanished with King Jin Cai into the thick mist and wild woods.
“Take Zhao Er and Zhao San, hurry!”
Zhao Shan struggled to carry the jade cocoon, enduring his pain as he spoke softly.
That mysterious scholar wouldn’t have issued such a warning without reason.
If they failed to leave the county within the allotted time, calamity would surely strike.
...
Swift as the wind, Qi Xiu brought King Jin Cai to a secluded valley he had scouted out. He cast another spell, summoning nearly ten water spirits, and moved a massive four-meter-high boulder aside.
A damp, shadowy cave appeared.
“All right, you’ll have to bear it here for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
He spoke as he retrieved [Sealing Talismans] from his pack.
One after another, he pressed them onto King Jin Cai.
Severely wounded, with less than one percent of his demonic power remaining, he couldn’t even muster the basic miasma. King Jin Cai could only watch helplessly as the golden talismans affixed themselves to his body.
They linked together, transforming into thick, sturdy golden chains, finally forming an ancient locking array that bit into his flesh.
Qi Xiu paused, seeing the seal take shape.
This was, after all, a demon of the Dao realm.
Three hundred [Sealing Talismans] were barely enough to form the binding spell, and it likely wouldn’t last long.
With King Jin Cai sealed, Qi Xiu turned and left.
Half an hour later, Qi Xiu returned to Dongli County.
The city, now devoid of any living people, still harbored remnants of half-demons.
Earlier, while King Jin Cai was battling those people, Qi Xiu had scavenged goods from the city and scattered nearly a hundred [Fish Fragrance Softening Talismans], rendering all the half-demons within unconscious.
“This filthy place needs thorough cleansing.”
Standing atop the city wall, gazing at the squalid county, Qi Xiu produced a talisman iron plate.
“Let this fire purify the city’s filth and grant it rebirth.”
[Martial Talisman—Purple Gold Red Gourd!]
Boom—
The talisman plate transformed into a cracked purple-gold gourd and crashed to the ground, detonating instantly.
Purple-red flames shot skyward, blazing fiercely, black smoke billowing.
But this was only the beginning.
Qi Xiu’s first martial talisman triggered the thirty-six talismans buried throughout the county, all resonating with the same power and erupting together.
In that moment—
Thirty-six fire pillars ripped through the earth, surging upward.
Fiery, fierce, and unstoppable, the purple flames swept through Dongli County like a flood.
A sea of flames raged, overwhelming and wild.
The remaining half-demons were instantly engulfed.
Yet the potent effects of the Fish Fragrance Softening Powder prevented them from awakening; they could only watch as their bodies were burned to charcoal.
A fitting retribution for their crimes of devouring the living.
The half-demons screamed as they turned to ash.
The entire city became scorched earth.
From the city wall, Qi Xiu could sense that, though the county was reduced to nothing, pitiful to behold, the lingering shadow and filth were cleansed by fire.
That was why he set this blaze.
Dongli County had been tainted for too long.
If not purified, even with the demons dead and the city returned to humans, the lingering corruption would render it a wasteland.
Forcing people to inhabit it could lead to infection, transforming them into monstrous hybrids.
Firelight danced across his face. Fulfilling the promise he made upon entering—leave none behind—Qi Xiu clenched his fist and turned away.
...
...
“Still refusing to speak?”
“Kill me if you like, I won’t tell!”
In the dim, cramped cave, Qi Xiu pressed King Jin Cai for the incantation to control the treasure pouch.
“Hah, I didn’t expect you to be so stubborn.” Qi Xiu chuckled at the demon’s defiance.
“What, you want to kill me? Death is nothing; my life was already borrowed. To have lasted this long is more than enough. Come on, kill me! If I so much as frown, I’ll take your name.”
King Jin Cai, having guessed Qi Xiu’s aim was the treasure pouch, taunted him with arrogance.
Without the controlling incantation, the pouch was as useless as torn cloth.
He was certain Qi Xiu wouldn’t kill him.
“Very good. You have spirit.” Qi Xiu laughed at King Jin Cai’s boldness.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”
“Cowardly human!”
Confident in his deduction, King Jin Cai grew even more insolent.
“But I will make you suffer.”
His bravado faltered as Qi Xiu pulled out a black brush from his bag.
“I’ve studied many arts, especially those of torment and abuse. I am quite accomplished. No rush, we have plenty of time. If you won’t speak, I won’t force you, nor will I kill you. But such a fine living specimen should not be wasted.
The treasure pouch is mere luxury to me. If you refuse, so be it. But you devoured my fellow townspeople—this debt must be settled.”
Qi Xiu slowly approached, raising the brush as King Jin Cai howled in anger, despair, terror, and desperate pleas. He began inscribing talismans one after another.
...
The first ten days.
After suffering roasting, limb-shattering, corrosion, and drowning, King Jin Cai still gritted his teeth in endurance.
He waited.
Waited for his demonic power to recover—once he could produce miasma, he would counterattack and kill this human.
...
The second ten days.
Qi Xiu devised a combination of toxic talismans, producing venom a hundred times more potent, giving King Jin Cai his first taste of “poisoned” and “worse than death.”
Yet King Jin Cai continued to endure.
His demonic power was building.
Just a little more, and he could produce miasma and strike back.
...
The third ten days.
King Jin Cai finally amassed enough power to raise his miasma.
This protective force, akin to the shield of a Daoist cultivator, was impenetrable by anyone below the Dao realm, able to crush all lesser beings.
But just as he was about to turn the tables, ready to repay Qi Xiu’s torment a hundredfold—
A rainbow-hued hand came crashing down.
Snap—
The miasma shattered, dispersing into black smoke.
King Jin Cai’s spirit broke along with it.
...
Day thirty-one.
“This is the incantation for the treasure pouch. Give me a swift end.”
He spat out a scroll, face drained of hope, no longer resisting.
Enduring prolonged agony, even a demon could not bear it.
Most demons delight in inflicting pain, not suffering it.
But most crucially—
Qi Xiu’s emotionless strike that shattered his miasma.
That blow destroyed not only his protective power, but also crushed his will.
There was no point in resisting.
Better to seek a quick death than continue suffering.
Qi Xiu smiled, exhaling deeply as he looked at the treasure pouch and its incantation.
“At last, it’s mine.”
...
(End of chapter)