【Year 7,400 — The mountain lord has swallowed a hundred and thirteen drops of demon blood. Before it now, both the Howling Moon wolf demon and the newly broken-through immortal flood dragon are pressed flat by its overwhelming presence. Your mountain lord divine ability has been enhanced】

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 87,200 years】

"..."

Shen Yi watched the derivation conclude, a burning, prickling sensation across his entire body like fire — but the improvement was just as unmistakable.

Lady Qinghua herself had only managed to condense just over eighty drops of demon blood.

The mountain lord had once been nothing more than a freshly broken-through budding-core spirit — what it had become now was, by any measure, a genuine leap in quality.

This was what made demon body-tempering techniques what they were.

The method was blunt, without question — but there was never any ambiguity about the price, and you always got exactly what you paid for.

Once the mountain lord's markings had receded beneath the skin.

Shen Yi dressed again, rose to his feet, and called up the Red Cloud. He reached into the small bell and drew out the trace of presence he'd quietly lifted from Yang Qianxiang earlier.

Following the trace as his guide, he rode the cloud and vanished from the spot.

The outskirts of Song Prefecture.

A group of people stood waiting outside the county town — among them, the gaunt Yang Qianxiang, and several others all clad in the Demon Suppression Division's black armor and red cloaks.

Quite the assembled force, all for the sake of waiting on a single person.

No one could say how long had passed.

A short, slight man in a black close-fitting jacket came running in from outside, not sparing an ounce of his qi for restraint — and at the sight of so many familiar faces, his expression shifted. "Called me back all of a sudden — you've all heard, haven't you?"

As the last remaining Gold-bell demon-hunter in Song Prefecture.

The short man's jaw was clenched tight, barely suppressing the fear in his eyes. "I did everything I…