The fairies I flirted with in the game became real?!

Upon seeing Li Muyang, the unexpected visitor who had suddenly arrived, the demon gorging itself on the pure-looking corpse of a woman abruptly raised its head.

Its blood-red eyes fixed on Li Muyang standing at the doorway, where to Li Muyang's surprise, he discerned a glint of confusion in the demon's gaze.

Their eyes met, and the snake-haired Princess of the Defunct Country let out a ferocious roar, rushing out from behind Li Muyang, its ghostly afterimage pouncing on the unprepared demon in an instant.

This demon had clearly not anticipated that someone could wander about outside at night.

Let alone a Puppet Master who controlled an evil spirit.

It howled miserably, trying to struggle.

Yet this creature was no match for Li Muyang, and it had lost its advantage due to its shocked and bewildered state.

In less than half a minute, the demon lay dead with a hideous expression in the courtyard.

The Princess of the Defunct Country absorbed the demon's life force, once again gaining experience points.

Li Muyang, looking at the body on the ground, narrowed his eyes.

"…This demon actually displayed emotion."

As he progressed, the demons he encountered were indeed stronger and even smarter.

Li Muyang had no intention of cleaning up the scene and swiftly left with the Princess of the Defunct Country.

Following the red dots on the map, he found the remaining five demons one by one.

Out of these five demons, three were hunting and feasting while two were hiding in the city resting.

The group of demons were completely caught off guard by Li Muyang's sudden attack, having not expected a Puppet Master to be out at night.

After all, Puppet Masters also needed to sleep at night.

This was an unbreakable rule of the world; no human could defy it.

Furthermore, with Li Muyang's superior wits, he easily slaughtered the remaining five demons.

[Task content: Search for traces of the demons and collect their fragments]

[Current progress: 19/61]

Looking at the counter on the task panel, Li Muyang let out a light sigh of relief.

"That makes one third completed, doesn't it?"

As for the fact that the creatures would get stronger later on?

Frankly, Li Muyang was rather looking forward to these demons becoming stronger.

His intuition told him that this group of demons was very special, different from the other evil beings of the Ancient Resentment Well, and they might be linked to some important plot development.

The stronger the demons, the more likely they are to pull strings in the storyline.

And this was probably the reason why the system had him kill these demons.

Past gaming experience has shown that the Heavenly Dao does not issue meaningless tasks.

In thought, Li Muyang washed his hands in the pool not far from the inn before returning to the serene inn under the cover of night.

Passing by the driver Ding Liang's room, Li Muyang paused out of curiosity to take a look.

This glance immediately stunned Li Muyang.

Because inside the room, Ding Liang was sitting cross-legged on the bed with eyes slightly closed, concentrated in meditation, surrounded by a faint spiritual energy.

In the Ancient Resentment Well, where everyone was asleep and their breath had turned evil at night, this young man had actually succeeded in entering Cultivation.

And in the state of Cultivation, he had not turned into an evil spirit but instead retained the breath of life only the living possess.

Li Muyang's eyes narrowed: "The creatures within the Ancient Resentment Well can cultivate? And after cultivation, they don't turn into evil spirits?"

He muttered softly.

However, this faint whisper, almost imperceptible, still broke the stillness of the night.

Ding Liang, who was originally sitting in meditation on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes, his aura dramatically changing. In an instant, the breath of a living being receded, replaced by the cold and sinister presence of an evil spirit.

"Ao hou!"

Amid the piercing howl, Ding Liang, who had transformed into an evil creature, pounced directly towards Li Muyang.

His strength at this moment was much greater than that of an ordinary person who had transformed into an evil spirit.

Li Muyang immediately exited the game and reloaded from a save.

"Dammit, after Ding Liang's cultivation became stronger, the evil spirit he turned into became stronger as well?"

And such frightening perceptiveness? Even such a low sound managed to wake it...

At this moment, Li Muyang finally understood why there were no ancient cultivation methods passed down from the Ancient Resentment Well, and only the Puppet Manipulation Technique invented by Little Wild Grass was passed down.

If the number of cultivators in the Ancient Resentment Well increased, it would also mean more evil spirits and monstrous beings.

Here, the only way to combat these evil spirits is the Puppet Manipulation Technique of the Evil Vein Clan.

Because the Evil Vein Clan cannot cultivate, even if they turned into evil creatures, they wouldn't become too terrifying to handle.

But if a Great Cultivator with strong cultivation were to become an evil creature... Tsk...

Li Muyang reloaded the save and returned to the inn.

Looking at the young man who was quietly cultivating in the inn, he silently left.

This simple entry-level cultivation technique from the Refinement Demon Sect was the limit of what he could pass on to the young man.

He would not impart any stronger cultivation techniques to Ding Liang.

But a cultivation technique that could at least allow Ding Liang to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm and have some self-protective ability when facing ordinary evil spirits.

That was enough.

The next day, Li Muyang and the excited Ding Liang once again embarked on their journey, heading towards the last location provided by Red Mountain Academic Palace where specters were said to appear.

The driver, Ding Liang, clutched the reins, filled with excitement.

Because when they got up in the morning, the townspeople discovered the bodies of six horrifying specters, and only then did they realize that six monsters had snuck into the town and were silently dealt with.

The entire morning, the city was abuzz with lively discussions about the incident.

In the streets and alleys, inns and brothels, everyone was talking about it.

People curiously guessed who the powerful and mysterious Puppet Master was, who didn't ask the townspeople for silver coins but silently took care of these six terrifying creatures.

In the inn's hall, even the travelers coming from the north to the south were enthusiastically discussing which Puppet Master was so powerful, mysterious, and yet so noble as to not seek monetary reward.

Only at Li Muyang's table was it quiet as the grave.

Li Muyang's face was indifferent as he ate his meal without uttering a word.

Ding Liang beside him was so anxious that he was scratching his ears and cheeks. Listening to the discussions nearby, his face turned red and then white with impatience, wishing he could jump out and tell everyone that the great and mysterious Puppet Master was right in front of them.

But since Li Muyang did not say a word, he could only fret silently, occasionally stealing glances at Li Muyang, not daring to say more.

It wasn't until Li Muyang finished his meal, got up to pay, and called for Ding Liang to leave, that the young man reluctantly went out to lead the horse.

"...My lord, why don't you tell those people that you were the one who slew the monsters in the city!"

On the official road out of the city, having held his tongue for the entire journey, Ding Liang finally couldn't resist asking once they were out of others' earshot.

From inside the carriage, Li Muyang's cool voice emerged.

"I don't like trouble, and I don't want to listen to their endless gratitude and auspicious words."

"Rather than that, hastening on our journey to reach the next place is what truly matters."

"If all goes as expected, our next destination will also have specters, and they'll be even more formidable than the creatures in this city."

"If you arrive late, for each day we're delayed on the road, perhaps a few more people will die."

Li Muyang's words startled Ding Liang.

He hurriedly whipped the horse's behind, saying, "Ah? Then we must hurry and cannot delay."

Under the morning sunlight, the drafty old carriage rumbled over the official road, rushing fervently towards the next destination.