Yi Xiao

"Phew."

Qin Yun was standing on the cruise liner's deck. With a flick of his sleeves, Quintessential Essence surged over, launching both the rhinoceros demon's halves out the cruise liner and into the river.

The rhinoceros demon had immense vitality. Even though it had been split in two and was plummeting into the river, it still had a lingering amount of vibrancy left in it.

"Whoever crosses the water god shall be killed!" When the rhinoceros demon's upper half was sent flying, it was still roaring angrily. It opened its mouth and spat out its heart. The heart was different from the hearts of ordinary demons. There were strange and dense black runes on its surface.

"Oh no."

Qin Yun, as well as the woman in the light-blue dress, had a change in expression.

The rhinoceros demon's huge eyes were filled with insanity.

"Peng!"

The black runes on the heart that it spat out expanded rapidly and with an explosive sound, it shattered, causing black liquid to spray in every direction.

Qin Yun immediately waved his hand. "Seal!"

The Sealing Spell instantly enveloped the black liquid that was splattering everywhere. But following some corrosive sounds, the sealing barrier was instantly torn through, as portions of the black liquid continued in its relentless assault.

Qin Yun hurriedly took a step forward and slashed with his sword! Instantly, the sword beam transformed into a screen of light that blocked the black liquid in the direction of the cruise liner. The same corrosive sounds were heard as Qin Yun's sword beam failed to block it fully as well.

"What an unrelenting poison." Qin Yun was alarmed.

The woman in the light-blue dress stretched out her left hand as well, causing blurry blue light to emanate and envelop the surroundings. The black poisonous liquid that was flying to her side of the river was blocked by the blue light.

However, the poisonous liquid that sprayed to the other side of the river's bank still hit several people despite having been obstructed by the Sealing Spell. These people immediately cried out tragically in pain as their bodies rapidly decayed. In a few seconds, these people had transformed into a pool of pus. The surrounding commoners turned pale with fright as they hurriedly retreated far away.

"These demons…" Qin Yun had encountered such scenes in the northern borders. The light in his eyes turned dark.

"Young Master Qin, thank you for saving us."

The military experts on the cruise liner heaved a sigh of relief as they hurriedly came forward to show their appreciation.

Lady Chen Shuang ran down the top deck of the cruise liner and looked gratefully at Qin Yun. "Brother Yun."

"Thank you, Young Master Qin."

"Thank you, Young Master Qin, for saving our lives." The seven renowned courtesans under deck began to appear one after another to bow.

"It's nothing." Qin Yun glanced at Chen Shuang before looking at the rest. "Also, you should thank someone else." If not for the Palm Lightning that bought him some time, he would not have been able to rescue them.

…

"Move away, quickly move away."

"Everyone, stay away."

The huge crowds that were here for the Courtesan Belle selection were ordered to leave as the soldiers and county servicemen shouted.

Having heard the angry roar of 'whoever crosses the water god shall be killed', countless people had run away in fear. However, with everyone hustling and with the narrow walkways, few could escape in time. Now that they were being shouted at, they no longer showed the same sense of urgency! It was because they had seen the three demons die. There was no longer any danger.

"Did you hear that? It says that the water god is crossed so it sent demons."

"So what if they come? At the Courtesan Belle selection, there are so many experts. Demons will only be on a suicidal mission when they come."

"However, about a dozen or two people died."

The surrounding commoners sighed. However, they were not panicking. There had been worse things that happened in this world. If it was outside the city… such things happened very commonly.

"I saw lightning just now. Three bolts of lightning. Boom, boom, boom. They struck the three demons just like that."

"Where did the lightning come from?"

"I didn't manage to catch the source."

"Look at that young master on the cruise liner. He had instantly traveled from a great distance away and reached there in a blink of an eye to slay the powerful demon."

The commoners broke out into a flurry of discussion.

Although Qin Yun was rather famous in Grand Dominance City six years ago, it was still some time ago. His looks and height had changed rather drastically. The number of people that could recognize his return were few and far between among the countless citizens.

******

By the riverbank, the surrounding troops were on full alert. The ordinary citizens could only watch from afar.

The county governor's son, Wen Chong, was standing at a corner. He was a little nervous as he looked at the pus on the ground.

"Brother Qin Yun, just a few splattering drops of poisonous liquid and they turned into pus?" Wen Chong could not help but ask, "When were demons this powerful?"

"How many demons have you seen?" asked Qin Yun.

"I haven't seen many but I have heard of many," said Wen Chong hurriedly.

"Without experts around you, it's best you distance yourself from demons." Qin Yun did not speak any further. Instead, he walked into the distance where the demon corpses had been fished out. The three demons had transformed back to their true form.

The woman in the light-blue dress was standing there holding a tree branch. She was prodding a demon corpse and examining it carefully. And when Qin Yun walked over, he first cupped his hands formally and said, "I'm Qin Yun. Thank you fellow Daoist for the help."

"I wasn't helping you either. I was only saving the innocent." The woman in light-blue did not lift her head but instead continued examining the demon corpses.

"These are demonic slaves," said Qin Yun.

"Oh?"

Only then did she raise her head to look at him. She said in great astonishment, "I have seen it mentioned in books. I had suspected that they could be demonic slaves but this is the first time I'm seeing them."

"Demonic slaves are indeed rare. Having roamed the world, I have only seen them in the northern borders," replied Qin Yun.

The woman in light-blue nodded before realizing something. She hurriedly said, "My surname is Yi. Greetings Brother Qin."

"Miss Yi." Qin Yun said with a faint smile.

"Brother Qin, have you seen demonic slaves before?" The woman in blue immediately asked.

Qin Yun nodded and said, "Yes."

"Brother Qin, can you talk about it in detail?" The woman in light-blue hurriedly asked.

Qin Yun looked at the demon corpses beneath and said, "As Miss Yi knows, we cultivators and demons have body cultivation Dharmic formulations! However, in our normal cultivation, we would be extremely careful, afraid that we would damage our bodies, which will sever our cultivation paths."

The woman in light blue nodded.

"However, demonic slaves are when some powerful demons forcefully and unscrupulously enhance the bodies of other demons through external forces. For example, using poison, pills or artifact refinement methods… All sorts of heinous methods would eventually refine a demonic slave." Qin Yun continued, "These demonic slaves would typically not have any of their memories. They would not fear death and would completely be subservient to their master's orders."

"They are terrifying during wartime." Qin Yun said, "They are completely unafraid of death. An enemy that has no fear of death is one to be feared. Furthermore, slightly stronger demonic slaves have internecine means. That rhinoceros demon spat out its heart because it wanted to kill even more people knowing that it was doomed."

The woman in light-blue nodded. "Yes, there is no question about death when one's body is split into two. The opponent would usually loosen up. Yet, it spat out its heart to launch a crazy attack."

"That is what a demonic slave is." Qin Yun was having mixed emotions.

Demonic slaves reminded him of the battlefield in the northern borders. It also reminded him of his good friends that suffered grievous injuries or even death as a result of demonic slaves.

Suddenly, the ground quaked gently.

Qin Yun looked into the distance. From afar, magnificent steeds were galloping over. The county governor and Commander Fang were leading a group of personal guards that numbered more than a hundred men.

Soon, the county governor arrived.

"Father." Wen Chong hurriedly went forward.

The county governor nodded. After he looked at the demon corpses on the ground, he looked at the light-blue dressed woman. He asked uncertainly, "Yi Xiao?"

"Uncle Wen." The woman in blue revealed a faint smile.

Qin Yun's heart stirred.

Yi Xiao?

"You were still a young girl the last time I saw you. You have grown up." The county governor smiled. "Let me introduce you to Young Master Qin, whom I mentioned in the letter to you."

"I have already seen Young Master Qin's prowess." Yi Xiao said with a faint smile.

The county governor looked at Qin Yun. "Young Master Qin, the companion I mentioned is this niece of mine."

"I too have already seen Miss Yi's Palm Lightning," said Qin Yun smiling.