Dao of The Demonic Cultivator

Before Hong Jian could react, Hu's towering and muscular form had already dashed forward.

With a thunderous crash, Hong Jian's head burst open like a watermelon, his blood and brain matter mixing with fragments of his skull, scattering wildly.

Some bone fragments even embedded deeply into the stone pavement, a testament to the terrifying force of Hu's punch.

Nearby, Long Meiji, who had hurriedly arrived upon receiving orders from Gui Yongren, witnessed the scene and her eyes widened in shock.

Hong Jian was a powerhouse focused on physical prowess. Even before the global spread of Psionics, he was renowned as Sunzi's most celebrated judo master and strongman.

After the Psionic burst, his innate talents catapulted him to the status of the strongest warrior in Sunzi. In terms of physical strength, even Gui Yongren, a ninth-level superhuman, was slightly inferior to him.

And yet, what kind of monster was this dark, hulking man who could shatter Hong Jian's skull with a single punch?

Long Meiji halted in her tracks, swallowing hard. "Aren't you coming over? Why have you stopped?"

Chu Xuan turned around, addressing the voluptuous woman several hundred meters away with a faint smile.

Without hesitation, Long Meiji turned and fled. Chu Xuan chuckled lightly. "Bao, take care of her."

With a monstrous laugh, Bao's figure vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared right in front of Long Meiji, startling her as she swallowed yet another gulp of fear.

Her speed, which she had always prided herself on, enhanced by two speed-boosting spirit companions, was supposed to be her strong suit. Yet, she had been caught up.

Long Meiji knew that fleeing was no longer an option. Only by fighting could she possibly survive.

"Giant Fireball!" she bellowed, forming hand seals swiftly, and released a massive fireball that almost completely enveloped Bao.

This was her innate talent—control over fire. Though many possessed this type of ability, she had developed hers to an unprecedented level. With just a thought, she could alter the fire's size and shape, even shaping it into vivid forms like firebirds or firewolves to attack her enemies.

But not content with just that, Long Meiji immediately channeled more Psionic energy into four talismans, sealing off all directions around Bao to trap him completely.

"Such measures should make it foolproof..." Long Meiji sighed in relief, thinking she had played her final card. The man before her couldn't possibly escape and would have to withstand her attack directly, giving her a chance to escape...

Suddenly, she felt a chilling sensation in her chest. Looking down, she found a blade wreathed in cold flames piercing through her ample bosom. "Wasn't he... supposed to be sealed by me..."

In her final moments, confusion flooded her mind. Why had her meticulously crafted talismans failed to restrain this enemy?

She couldn't have known that Bao possessed an innate ability called Shadow Step. Unlike spells learned by cultivators, the innate abilities of a corpse puppet didn't require casting, gestures, or even the consumption of Spiritual Qi, and could be activated in the blink of an eye.

Long Meiji's talismans had only just been deployed and were still mid-air when Bao used Shadow Walk, appearing behind her. What she saw was merely an afterimage left by his high-speed movement.

With a roar, Bao grabbed Long Meiji's body and triumphantly returned to Chu Xuan's side.

At this moment, Gui Yongren, surrounded by a host of psychic mediums and warriors, faced Chu Xuan from a distance. His gaze immediately fell on the headless corpse of Hong Jian, causing his pupils to shrink in shock. Bao dragged over Long Meiji's body as well.

In that instant, a deep terror swelled within Gui Yongren. What kind of formidable foe had suddenly appeared before him in the palace?

Gui Yongren steeled himself and said gravely, "Friend, what exactly do you seek in my palace? Speak freely. Whatever you desire, I can provide."

Chu Xuan shook his head, "It seems you still fail to recognize the disparity between our strengths. Song Junjie understands the times better than you."

Seeing the situation turning against him, Gui Yongren let out a low growl, his body emitting an endless surge of dark energy.

In an instant, it formed a grotesque and ferocious ghost with two heads and four arms, each arm wielding a powerful weapon: a ring pommel saber, a vajra, a steel mallet, and a trident.

Gui Yongren tossed a small orb to the ghost, which it swallowed immediately, appearing quite satisfied.

"This is Sunzi's strongest spirit, the Four-Armed Vajra, a ninth-level entity!" Gui Yongren declared. "Friend, you must be aware of the Four-Armed Vajra's terror. Let's each take a step back, and the vast sky and sea can be our witness. Everything that happened today can be erased!"

Chu Xuan cast a glance at the so-called strongest spirit, the Four-Armed Vajra, and a look of surprise flickered across his face.

Interesting. This "spirit" was essentially a fierce ghost, but its potential far exceeded those within the Myriad Souls Banner.

Many ghosts, even after consuming numerous living souls and evolving into ghost generals or kings, might not possess even a single lifebound ghost artifact.

Yet, this ghost not only wielded lifebound ghost artifacts but brandished four from the outset—a clear sign of its value for cultivation.

Given sufficient living souls, its potential was boundless.

With this thought, Chu Xuan's smile widened. He plucked a living soul from the Myriad Souls Banner and tossed it in front of him. "Want to eat?"

The Four-Armed Vajra's eyes widened. It had never encountered such pure soul energy. Even when it hunted humans on its own, it could never extract the living souls completely and had to consume them bit by bit. This living soul was like a lavish feast laid out before it.

However, the Four-Armed Vajra merely inhaled deeply a few times, then put on a defiant expression, as if determined not to be swayed.

Chu Xuan's smile grew as he effortlessly drew out ten more living souls from the Great Souls Banner and casually threw out a fierce ghost as well.

The ghost bared its teeth, ready to attack, but Chu Xuan restrained it, leaving it to stand confusedly in place.

Chu Xuan casually proposed, "Follow me, and you can feast on living souls every day to your heart's content." He then pointed at the bewildered ghost, adding, "And you can become as strong as this ghost."

The Four-Armed Vajra's eyes bulged. The enemy was using such sweet temptations to corrupt it. How could this be allowed? Was it truly resistant enough to withstand such corruption? Of course not!