Chapter 0260: Buried Soul of Qingsang
Luckily, Ye Jingming stayed behind and Wu Yu was barely able to keep up with him.
"To be honest, your speed is truly impressive. When I was at the third tier of the Jindan Dao Realm, I wasn't at half your current speed. I heard that you obtained the inheritance of the Transformative Daoist. I'm really jealous of you. There will probably be Shushan Sword Sages who will take you as a disciple shortly," Ye Jingming exclaimed.
"Senior Brother Ye, you are too courteous." Wu Yu enjoyed his current carefree status.
Ye Jingming continued, "Don't be resentful of their attitude. After all, this mission is really important to them. My senior brother, He Taozi, initially wanted to look for another seventh tier Jindan Dao cultivator and give him 700 merit points as reward. Your appearance was beyond his expectations. Therefore, they aren't very comfortable with you around. Please don't blame them for it. With regard to your talents, we still recognize it!"
After hearing Ye Jingming's explanation, Wu Yu could understand them.
He followed the flow and asked, "In other words, this mission will be very prickly? Is the demon very strong?"
Ye Jingming answered, "That's not entirely true. The main issue is that there are too many uncertainties. The information we have gathered came solely from the city lord of Qingsang City. The city lord of Qingsang City is a fifth tier Jindan cultivator. Based on his exchange with the demon, he was defeated in a single move. After which, he fled. That demon wasn't able to kill him directly. This shows that the demon should be below the seventh tier of the Yaodan Realm. Other than that, we have no other information on that demon. Even that city lord claimed that he didn't get a good look of the demon.
"The reason why the reward for this mission is so high is because of the brutality of the demon. Other than that, it might be because of the other unknowns. For example, the demon might have companions. Qingsang City is near Shushan after all. Ordinary demons wouldn't barge in alone."
Wu Yu finally understood the situation.
"Why are you explaining to him? It's just a waste of your energy!" Gu Hongming turned back and grumbled unhappily.
This person probably saw Wu Yu as a thorn in his eyes after Wu Yu taunted him. He had probably only made it to where he was through extremely tough training. Therefore, he was jealous of Wu Yu, who had inherited the legacy of Transformative Daoist and shot to fandom!
As the Galaxy Sword Sage did not take Wu Yu in as a disciple, Wu Yu's status wasn't great at all. Otherwise, Gu Hongming would be lowering his head in front of him.
In front of the pack, He Taozi chided, "Stop quarreling. Save your energy for when you are slaying the demons!"
"Let's focus on flying. Let's focus on flying." Ye Jingming smiled awkwardly.
Wu Yu had a rough idea in mind and didn't intend to converse much with them.
All he wanted was the 500 merit points. As for the others, he did not wish to be part of it.
Soon, their journey got tougher as they had to fly within the clouds. After approximately eight to nine days, they finally dropped below the clouds. It seemed like they were almost at Qingsang City.
Looking down from the clouds, Wu Yu could pick up a bloody scent. Looking ahead, a large river was flowing rapidly That huge river started in the direction of Shushan and brought Shushan's spiritual qi along. At a bend of the river, there was a large, dull green city. That was none other than Qingsang City.
There were various cities on the heavenly continent. These cities were different from cities of the mortal realm. For example, Qingsang City, East Imperial Kingdom, and others were all cultivation cities. The difference between cities and sects was that cities had an open concept. As long as one fulfilled the requirements, he would be allowed into the city to engage in trade, entertainment, and other activities.
Typical cities were under the jurisdiction of the city lord. A city lord had a similar status as the sect leader of a sect.
The largest city on the heavenly continent was none other than Yan Huang Imperial City! That was the core of the heavenly continent! At the same time, it was the center of various trades, businesses, and conventions. It was also where countless cultivators wished to be at.
Qingsang City wasn't huge. On a typical day, approximately 2,000 martial cultivators would be in it. It was the most lively place in the radius of a thousand miles.
However, the group could already pick up a deathly scent before reaching it. It was clear that the place had already turned into a city for the dead.
"Let's get down!" He Taozi frowned and gave his orders. Six cultivators from Shushan dashed down at once. Each one of them was young and talented, making them even more impressive.
Wu Yu soon found himself above the city. Looking down, most of the buildings in the city had collapsed. Blood was everywhere and had dried up into black blood clots on the ground. The streets were disordered with corpses piled up on the streets. Each one of them had horrified expressions just before they died. Taking a closer look, one could indeed see a hole in their chests. Their hearts had been gouged out.
"What kind of demon would be so brutal!" Ye Jingming growled angrily, his eyes bloodshot.
"Go lower and take a look! Search for clues! Split up and start working." He Taozi was still highly efficient. Without wasting a second, he immediately made his arrangements.
Since they were separating, Wu Yu chose the edge of the region after seeing them take one region each.
When they landed and just before they separated, there were also other people rushing over. That group of cultivators descended from the skies too and had four members. Among which, one of them wore an elegant, dull green armor. However, he was covered in filth and he looked extremely unkempt. He brought his subordinates along and they went on their knees in tears. "I, this lowly one, am the city lord of Qingsang City. Greetings to the various sword immortals from Shushan! You guys are finally here. You have to seek grievances for the 2,000 other martial cultivators for us. Please slay that demon!"
The four of them wailed loudly.
He Taozi was apathetic and chided, "Stand up! Stop crying there! Tell me all the details of this incident. Everything you know! Don't you dare hide anything!"
The four of them were the only survivors of Qingsang City.
"Yes, yes!" The city lord stood up immediately and wiped off his tears. "I was practicing on that fateful night. Suddenly, I heard screams from the outside. I was alerted immediately and led the city guards out. However, I found a mountain of corpses and rivers of blood the moment I stepped out. I heard that a black shadow was massacring the people in the city! The speed of that black shadow was incredibly fast. The majority of cultivators in Qingsang City weren't at the Jindan realm and couldn't escape in time at all. I pursued the black shadow and saw the streets filled with dead people. I was enraged. When I finally caught up with that black shadow, it was huge. Only a demon could be so huge. It was over six zhang tall and had multiple heads. The moment I charged ahead, I was hit by a ball of black fire and almost died! I understood that this demon was strong and thus I... fled... When I returned to take a look the next day, the entire Qingsang City had been slaughtered by that demon!"
"Is there any other information besides that?" He Taozi asked.
"Nothing."
"Be clearer on the appearance of that demon," Gu Hongming interrupted.
The city lord of Qingsang City said in a shaking voice, "I... That demon specializes in hiding itself so as to not let others see its real appearance. All I saw was that it was over six zhang tall and had several slim heads. It was brutal and had black flames surrounding its body. That's all I know."
"What kind of monster is that?" Wu Yu had read The Lore of the Divine Continent. Based on the description, there was quite a number of demons who would meet the description. It wouldn't be easy to track it down.
"Trash! Do you have a rough idea of the strength of this demon?" Gu Hongming roared angrily.
The city lord of Qingsang City shivered and continued, "Probably... sixth tier of the Yaodan Realm? Or perhaps seventh tier? I just know that I'm not a match for it."
It was, in fact, clear that it would be hard to get other information from him since he had fled the moment the fight started.
"Were they any premonitions before the incident?" He Taozi asked.
"No. Qingsang City has always been peaceful under the protection of Shushan."
"What's the last direction you know that the demon had headed to?"
"This lowly one doesn't know..."
He Taozi was turning green from anger. He didn't have sufficient information at this moment. How was he going to devise a plan to track and kill the demon? The demon might have fled after succeeding.
"Search the surrounding areas for clues. We must definitely find this demon!" He Taozi commanded.
The crowd dispersed quickly. Wu Yu had a lot of questions too. He wanted to contribute his strength for this mission and truly earn his rewards. Therefore, he worked extremely hard as he went around scrutinizing the crime scenes.
After covering several streets and seeing a large number of corpses, he noticed that the demon had not touched the valuables of the victims. All of the victims had died from having their hearts gouged out and had not suffered other attacks.
"What kind of demon is so brutal that it must gouge the hearts of others? What's the use of the hearts to it? To eat?" The gruesome crime scene sent a chill down Wu Yu's spine.
Among the victims, there were old and young people. There were even kids that were less than a year old. This clearly illustrated the brutality of the demon. Wu Yu wasn't particularly resentful of demons. However, he hated the demon that had brought this catastrophe to Qingsang City to his core. Killing intent was welling up within him.
From the state of Qingsang City, Wu Yu could easily understand humanity's hatred for demons and Nangong Wei's hatred.
After going one round, Wu Yu didn't find anything left behind by the demon. The truth was that the cultivators in Qingsang City couldn't even take a blow from the demon. In fact, the destruction of the buildings was mainly caused by the attacks of cultivators towards that demon. All the demon seemed to be interested was killing and digging their hearts out.
"The world is cruel and everyone in the world has their own miseries."
Wu Yu reached out and helped an infant that was less than a year old close his eyes.
He used the Argenti Chain to wrap up all the corpses he came across.
While doing so, he encountered He Taozi. Seeing that Wu Yu was acting strangely, he chided sternly, "What the hell are you doing!? Instead of looking for clues, why are you disturbing the corpses?"
Wu Yu replied, "Humans should be buried when dead. Otherwise, their souls will not be able to rest. I'm just doing what I should do."
He Taozi was taken aback. He waved his hand and wasn't in a mood to say another word. He probably had given up on caring for Wu Yu.
Wu Yu accelerated his pace. After half a day, he had basically gathered all the corpses together. Looking at these horrified corpses, he did have some discoveries. However, he still sent them to a huge mountain to the east of Qingsang City first. Controlling his sword, he dug out multiple holes and placed the corpses in them.
After returning to Qingsang City, the group had already gathered. Clearly, no one had found anything and they were in a foul mood.
Seeing that Wu Yu had returned, Gu Hongming grumbled unhappily, "You are indeed here to take advantage of others. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, you got emotional. Do you think you can get the 500 merit points like this?"
Wu Yu disliked him the most in the group. He smiled faintly and asked, "Could it be that Senior Brother Gu has made a huge discovery?
If you didn't, you aren't qualified to reprimand me."
"Wu Yu, you must be dying to get a beating from me!" Gu Hongming stared harshly at him.
Wu Yu was in no mood to entertain him. Instead, he looked to He Taozi and said, "Senior Brother Hu, I have some thoughts. Can you see if they make sense?"
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