Demonic Chaos in Xiangzhou

"Mr. Gu, I was just thinking of coming to find you."

Upon seeing Gu Ning'an step inside, Zhao Liu's face revealed a hint of surprise.

Gu Ning'an scrutinized Zhao Liu for a moment before smiling, "Has my sword been completed?"

"Yes!" As he spoke, Zhao Liu took down a wooden sword with a brownish sword sheath from a nearby rack and handed it to Gu Ning'an, saying with a smile, "My father originally planned to deliver it himself, but ever since that day he forged the sword drunk, he's been sleeping like a log... As you can see, at this hour, he's still in deep slumber!"

Gu Ning'an took the wooden sword, and as soon as he held the delicate sheath, it didn't feel like wood at all; it had none of the usual roughness. If one didn't know better, one might mistake it for jade.

Gripping the hilt, Gu Ning'an pulled the sword out!

Unlike the "clang" sound of a steel sword unsheathing, the sound of the wooden sword coming out was softer, like the gentle "tap" of jade being struck.

The wooden sword was about seven feet long, its blade surrounded by rings resembling "growth rings." The blade gradually narrowed from wide to thin, tapering gently at the tip.

The craftsmanship was exactly as Gu Ning'an had hoped—simple and elegant!

"A fine sword. Carpenter Zhao's skills truly are beyond compare." After sheathing the sword, Gu Ning'an tucked it into his sleeve, also retracting his finger that had been pointing at the sword earlier.

During their conversation, Gu Ning'an had used his spiritual power to scan Zhao Liu's Three Souls—Heavenly, Earth, and Human. To his surprise, Zhao Liu's body contained no trace of demonic intent.

"May I borrow some paper and a brush?" After Gu Ning'an spoke, Zhao Liu readily replied, "Of course," and went to fetch a decent set of writing materials.

Gu Ning'an placed the sword aside, prepared the ink, and then, with a swift stroke, wrote six large words on the rice paper: "Carpenter Zhao, Unrivaled in the World!"

Splash!

He shook the paper, and the ink dried instantly. Gu Ning'an handed it to Zhao Liu, saying seriously, "Display this. If there's nothing urgent, do not go outside these days."

"Ah, alright." Zhao Liu, a bit confused, agreed and began admiring the strong and powerful calligraphy.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Zhao Liu thought he saw a fleeting flash of light in the ink when Gu Ning'an finished writing.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I won't trouble you any longer. Goodbye," said Gu Ning'an, striding out of the carpentry shop. Zhao Liu, who had intended to send him off, ran to the door, but by the time she reached it, Gu Ning'an's figure had already disappeared from sight...

Huff—whoosh—huff—whoosh!

The sound of snoring echoed in the wood cabin. After Gu Ning'an used his spiritual power to check Carpenter Zhao's Three Souls, he quietly left.

Both Carpenter Zhao and Zhao Liu had normal Three Souls, without any trace of demonic intent.

But wasn't it the case that when the city gods of other counties randomly checked passersby, they found demonic intent in all of them?

To confirm the condition of the people's "Three Souls" in Lexiang County, Gu Ning'an traveled across the county, randomly checking ten people. To his shock, all ten of them had demonic intent hidden deep within their Three Souls!

To verify further, Gu Ning'an immediately headed to the home of Old Hu. At that time, Old Hu was having lunch with Hu Shi. While quietly observing, Gu Ning'an didn't detect any demonic intent on Old Hu or his grandson.

However, within Hu Shi's "Human Soul," he noticed some "black mist"!

After swiftly dispelling the black mist, Gu Ning'an quietly observed.

Just then, as Hu Shi was eating his meal, he suddenly froze, put down his chopsticks with a loud clink, and jumped out of his seat, shouting, "I must go find Mr. Gu!"

Old Hu sighed helplessly when he saw the scene. "This child reacts quickly, but why is he starting to waste food now?"

Outside the door, the hurriedly rushing Hu Shi bumped straight into a figure in a green robe. He was about to apologize and leave when he recognized Gu Ning'an's attire.

Excited, Hu Shi quickly said, "M-M-Mr. Gu! I have something to tell you!"

Gu Ning'an nodded with a smile. "No rush. Catch your breath and speak slowly."

It took nearly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before Hu Shi clearly recounted his encounter with the man without eyes.

After listening, Gu Ning'an was certain that this person was the key figure in the current chaos in Xiangzhou—a true demon.

However, he was unsure of the demon's intentions in approaching Hu Shi.

After sending Hu Shi back home and reminding him not to go out in the coming days, Gu Ning'an immediately made his way to Eight-Zhang River.

The injury Redtail Fish had sustained that day was not severe, and it had healed on its own within a single day.

According to Redtail Fish, the blindfolded man it saw that day gave it a sense of overwhelming danger and invincibility. If the man had intended to kill it, it would likely have been as simple as a wave of his hand.

By the time Gu Ning'an returned to the Ansi Courtyard, it was already evening. Almost simultaneously, a daytime patrol officer arrived with a message.

The patrol officer, acting on City God Xu's orders, conveyed the directives from above to Gu Ning'an.

The response plan was as follows:

1. All nearby underworld deities and spirits would be mobilized to seal off the entire Xiangzhou region to prevent further spread of demonic intent.

2. King Mingling, who oversaw the underworld deities and spirits of Daqian, was currently drafting an "Edict of Command."

The sole purpose of this edict was to make the demonic energy across Xiangzhou visible and unhidden.

Once the edict was completed and the true demon revealed itself, underworld deities and spirits from all regions would converge to suppress and kill it.

When Gu Ning'an asked about the completion time for the edict, the patrol officer could only offer a wry smile and reply, "I don't know."

Gu Ning'an could understand this. After all, an edict capable of revealing demonic energy on such a large scale was not something that could be crafted overnight.

After seeing off the patrol officer, Gu Ning'an first watered the kumquat tree before returning to his room to experiment with infusing Worldly Qi into the wooden sword.

By now, he had collected six strands of Worldly Qi. As he concentrated his thoughts, Gu Ning'an drew out a single strand of Worldly Qi and slowly guided it into the sword, starting from the hilt.

The thread-like Worldly Qi appeared as light as a feather, but controlling it was as difficult as moving a thousand-pound object. Fortunately, the wooden sword's capacity exceeded Gu Ning'an's expectations. After the first strand was infused, the sword hilt showed no signs of cracking or abnormality.

Using the same method, Gu Ning'an guided a second strand of Worldly Qi into the blade. This time, however, he noticed that the difficulty of control had doubled compared to the first infusion. Just fusing these two strands of Worldly Qi consumed a third of his spiritual energy.

Without hesitation, Gu Ning'an continued to channel the third strand of Worldly Qi. As expected, the difficulty increased once more, doubling again!

Huff!

Exhaling a deep breath, Gu Ning'an finally managed to infuse the third strand of Worldly Qi into the sword. At the same time, his spiritual energy was completely drained. Breathing heavily, he walked into the courtyard, sat cross-legged beside the young kumquat tree, and closed his eyes to meditate and replenish his energy.