A Compendium of One Hundred Demons: My Path to Immortality in a World of Demons and Monsters

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan paused slightly.

The moonlight in the courtyard was dim, reflecting the arrogance and displeasure on the young master's face.

The two attendants behind him quickly stepped forward, blocking Xu Yuan's path from the left and right.

"I am Liu Qingyun, the eldest son of the Liu family of Cangzhou." The young man stood with his hands behind his back, his tone carrying an innate sense of superiority. "Just now, the yin energy here was overwhelming. You are only at the third level of Blood Refinement, yet you dare to claim that you killed that evil spirit. Who would believe that?"

Xu Yuan slowly turned around and looked at him calmly.

Under the moonlight, that face was incredibly arrogant, yet there was an air of spoiled arrogance in its brows and eyes, a quality born from being pampered since childhood.

His cultivation level of condensing a single aperture is indeed outstanding among the younger generation in Cangzhou, but that's about it.

"Whether you believe it or not is none of my business," Xu Yuan said indifferently.

Liu Qingyun raised an eyebrow, as if he had heard some huge joke.

"Interesting." He turned to look at his two attendants. "Did you hear that? A mere brat at the third level of Blood Refinement dares to speak to me like that."

The two attendants chuckled in agreement, but their eyes flickered. Anyone who could reach the seventh level of Blood Refinement in Cangzhou Prefecture was a shrewd individual.

Although the young man in front of me did not show a high level of cultivation, his calm and composed demeanor was something that no ordinary person could possess.

"Young master, I find this person rather strange..." a follower advised in a low voice.

"Strange?" Liu Qingyun scoffed. "What's strange about it? It's just good luck. He got the benefit of someone else killing evil spirits and wants to use it to curry favor with the Demon Suppression Division."

After saying that, he turned to Xu Yuan, his tone carrying a tone of benevolent leniency: "I'm in a good mood today, so I won't hold it against you. As long as you hand over the token that slayed the evil spirit, I'll let you go."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan couldn't help but glance at him again.

His gaze was clearly like that of someone watching a clown perform.

"You dare to challenge me?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyun's face immediately darkened: "You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences. Guards, seize him!"

The two attendants exchanged a glance and stepped forward in unison.

Although they sensed something was amiss, they couldn't disobey their young master's orders, so the two of them reached out and grabbed Xu Yuan's shoulders from either side.

Just then—Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

This was because, according to the [Yin Qi Perception], a massive amount of Yin Qi, several times more concentrated than before, was rapidly approaching from thirty feet away.

Swift as a ghost!

"As expected, there's another one..." Xu Yuan's lips curled into a slight smile as he took a step back half a foot, just enough to avoid being captured by the two attendants.

"You dare to hide?!" Liu Qingyun roared angrily, about to take action himself.

"They're here..."

Xu Yuan suddenly spoke, his tone so calm it was as if he were reminding someone of something insignificant.

Before the words were finished, a dark shadow darted in from outside the courtyard wall like a large bird!

The figure landed in the courtyard, bringing with it a chilling gust of wind.

Before the two attendants could react, they felt a chill on their chests—looking down, they saw two black claws piercing through their chests!

"Heh...heh..."

The two stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the blood gushing from their chests before collapsing limply to the ground.

Liu Qingyun's pupils contracted sharply, and he staggered back several steps.

Under the moonlight, the dark figure slowly revealed its true form.

It was a woman.

A woman of breathtaking beauty!

She was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a dark green long dress, with a slender waist and skin as smooth as cream.

Her features were so exquisite that she seemed to have stepped out of a painting, especially her phoenix eyes, which exuded a natural charm with every glance.

However, at this moment, her beautiful eyes were covered with a layer of blood, adding a touch of bewitching beauty.

The woman's fingernails were as black as ink, and blood was dripping from them continuously.

"Ghost... Ghost General..." Liu Qingyun's voice trembled.

He could clearly sense that the aura emanating from the woman in front of him was far stronger than his—at least a mid-stage Ghost General, equivalent to a powerhouse who had condensed twelve apertures or more!

The woman did not look at him.

Her gaze was fixed on the pool of black water in the courtyard—the very spot left behind by the dead painted-skin ghost.

"Ah Qi..." the woman murmured softly, her voice as melodious as a nightingale's song, yet tinged with a chilling coldness, "Who... killed you?"

She slowly turned her head, her blood-red eyes sweeping over the two remaining living people in the courtyard.

When Liu Qingyun was swept by that gaze, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave and couldn't even speak.

Xu Yuan remained calm and stood in the same spot.

He had already sensed the presence of this painted-skin ghost through his perception of yin energy.

At the mid-stage of the Ghost General realm, comparable to those who have condensed twelve or more apertures, he indeed lacks the certainty of victory in a direct confrontation.

But that's about it.

"Did you kill him?" The woman stared intently at Liu Qingyun, and the courtyard instantly filled with murderous intent.

Under the invasion of yin energy, Liu Qingyun shook his head repeatedly, his usually not very bright mind working at lightning speed at this moment.

Suddenly, he pointed sharply at Xu Yuan: "It was him! He killed him! He was already here when we arrived!"

The woman's blood-red eyes instantly turned to Xu Yuan.

She looked the young human up and down—his aura was only at the third level of Blood Refinement, his clothes were ordinary, and he didn't have much of a bloody smell on him.

"You?" She frowned slightly. "A mere third-level Blood Refinement cultivator? You think you can kill Ah Qi?"

Xu Yuan remained silent.

He simply looked at her quietly, his gaze as calm as if he were admiring an interesting object.

This calm made the woman feel inexplicably uneasy.

Having cultivated for so many years, she has seen countless people trembling in her presence, as well as those who feign composure but are actually cowardly.

But the young man's eyes were truly calm.

That calmness wasn't feigned.

"Who are you?" she asked in a deep voice.

Xu Yuan still did not answer.

He simply raised his right hand and gently clenched his fist.

The next moment—

A powerful aura suddenly erupted from his body!

The disguise of the Blood Refining Stage 3 crumbled like paper, and the pressure of the True Essence from the Condensed Three Apertures surged out like a tide, instantly enveloping the entire courtyard!

"Condensed aperture?!" The woman's pupils contracted sharply.

Liu Qingyun stared wide-eyed at the scene in disbelief.

The person he was so arrogant about to take down just moments ago is actually at the Qi Condensation Realm, just like him?!

No, it wasn't just the initial stage of the Qi Condensation Realm—the intensity of that pressure was even stronger than that of someone who had just reached the first stage of Qi Condensation Realm!

"You...you were hiding your strength?!" Liu Qingyun's voice trembled.

Xu Yuan ignored him.

He simply looked at the woman, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"How strong is a mid-stage Ghost General?"

The woman's expression was solemn. She could sense that although the young human in front of her had only condensed three apertures, the purity of his true essence and the aura that made her feel a little uneasy... he was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

But she cannot back down.

"You killed Ah Qi, you must pay with your life today!" the woman shouted coldly, her figure transforming into a black shadow as she pounced on Xu Yuan!

It moved extremely fast, bringing with it a gust of cold wind.

Instead of retreating, Xu Yuan advanced, his right hand forming a claw as he struck out with a palm!

"Bang--!"

The two palms collided, and the true energy and yin energy collided, bursting out with a dull bang.

The shockwave spread, instantly turning the weeds in the yard into dust.

The woman took three steps back, a look of horror flashing in her beautiful eyes.

Xu Yuan swayed slightly, but remained firmly in place, as steady as a rock.