"Master said, if mortals saw him controlling zombies and fierce ghosts to eat you, it would damage his immortal image. That's why he didn't kill you in the town!"

"Here, let's have a duel to the death. It's been a while since I found an evenly matched opponent. Even Sister Little White at home can't beat... you..."

Before Little Strong could finish his sentence, the demonic cultivator struck fiercely with two palms aimed directly at him.

"Many cultivators die from talking too much. You, a mere spirit insect, talk even more than cultivators. Seeking death!"

"Take my Blood Fiend Palm!"

Two blood-red handprints, carrying immense mana, slammed into the spot where Little Strong had been standing. With two loud explosions, the place where Little Strong had stood was marked by two blood-red handprints, each three meters wide. The rocks, flowers, and trees around the handprints were crushed into powder!

But Little Strong had already vanished the moment the handprints hit.

The demonic cultivator was momentarily stunned. Then, he saw a flash of cold light. He felt intense pain in his left hand, and his left arm was severed cleanly from the waist. He dodged a sword aimed at his heart, but his other hand was cut off.

The demonic cultivator's face turned pale with pain. His feet turned into shadows as he tried to flee quickly, but the cold light closed in instantly. With a "swish," both his legs were severed!

"So... an ordinary demonic cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining is this weak. I used to underestimate my own strength!"

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Splat!

The flying sword, which originally belonged to the demonic cultivator, pierced his Dantian.

With his Dantian shattered, the battle was over.

Little Strong had completely defeated a cultivator at the same eighth level of Qi Refining.

Next, the fierce ghosts and zombies created by the demonic cultivator lunged at him, their wails echoing across the plain.

As the demonic cultivator was about to lose consciousness completely, he saw a giant white python slowly crawling toward him. On the python's head stood a young man from the Top Xuan Sect, who looked unremarkable except for being a bit handsome.

He wore the Top Xuan Sect's robe, exuding an immortal aura.

The young man said coldly, "Demonic cultivator of the Abstruse Dark Sect, you've committed countless evil deeds. On behalf of the Top Xuan Sect, I sentence you to be devoured by ten thousand ghosts!"

In no time, the demonic cultivator was reduced to a skeleton, and even the skeleton was gnawed to pieces by two zombies.

At that moment, a wisp of the demonic cultivator's soul floated out.

"Continue!"

The fierce ghosts pounced again, tearing the soul into fragments.

Even though his soul was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, he wasn't a ghost cultivator. His soul was fragile once out of the body, easily dealt with by any cultivator with a bit of mana.

Technically, Alaric Ye should have captured the demonic cultivator's soul as evidence for interrogation, but he knew too many of Alaric's secrets. He couldn't be left alive; silencing him was the best option.

After all, Alaric had already made a great contribution. The Top Xuan Sect never harshly criticized disciples who made significant achievements.

Alaric let out a long sigh of relief and picked up a coarse cloth bag and a Universe Bag embroidered with "Abstruse Dark Sect" from the blood-stained ground.

He first dripped blood onto the coarse cloth bag, which quickly expanded under his control. Then, he took out more than twenty human bodies with slumber talismans on their foreheads from the bag.

Among them were three of his fellow disciples who had come on the mission with him. The rest were ordinary people in plain clothes, likely the missing residents of Paoma Town.

This cloth bag, called the Absorbing Spirits Bag, could store living beings below the Foundation Establishment stage in a state of deep sleep. While inside, their bodily consumption would slow down, allowing them to survive ten to twenty days without food or water.

Seeing so many living people, Alaric felt a slight joy in his heart.

Although many mortals in Paoma Town had been killed by the demonic cultivator, at least he could save more than twenty people. He had been prepared for the worst, thinking all might have been slaughtered.

Alaric didn't rush to tear off the slumber talismans. Instead, he let Little Strong and Little White shrink back and hide in his clothes. After cleaning up the battlefield, he then tore off the slumber talismans one by one.

The slumber talisman was a low-grade yellow talisman that forced people into a deep sleep. As long as the time wasn't too long, they could survive.

Soon, the mortals woke up before the three fellow disciples, as they hadn't been poisoned. The three fellow disciples had ingested Zhou Yuan's poison pills, which, though unknown, could cause prolonged unconsciousness.

"Where am I?"

"Wasn't I sleeping? How did I end up here?"

"Hey, Old Wang, you're here too?"

"It's an Immortal Elder from the Top Xuan Sect! Everyone, kneel quickly!"

The crowd didn't have time to think too much. Seeing Alaric Ye in his Top Xuan Sect robe standing before them, they were so frightened that they quickly knelt down.

Alaric said, "You were all captured by demonic persons. The demonic person has been slain by this Immortal Elder. You may return home now. You strong ones, carry my three fellow disciples and follow me into the town."

"Yes, sir!"

"Immortal Elder, your benevolence is boundless. Thank you for saving our lives!"

The crowd kowtowed frantically, cold sweat dripping down their faces. They had known about the demonic disturbances in the town but never expected to be captured in their sleep.

Luckily, Alaric had saved them.

Soon, the crowd followed Alaric back to the town. Alaric instructed them to inform the town chief to take the ten or so fellow disciples to the town chief's residence. After handling everything, he took out his identity token from his storage bag.

He struggled for a while before managing to inject a bit of mana into the identity token.

"Alaric Ye, senior outer disciple of Spirit Beast Peak, encountered Zhou Yuan, a leading cultivator colluding with the Demonic Sect, betraying the sect. The demonic person has been slain, but more than ten fellow disciples are poisoned. Requesting urgent assistance with the Top Xuan Talisman!"

The identity token transformed into a streak of spiritual light and disappeared into the night.

Alaric went to the room arranged by the town chief and, unable to resist the poison any longer, fell into a deep sleep.

In this sleep, Alaric slept deeply, dreaming of all sorts of strange things.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he felt a cool sensation in his abdomen. His consciousness gradually returned, and he regained control of his body. When he woke up, he found himself on a flying boat of the Top Xuan Sect.

His head throbbed, and his mana was chaotic, but the cool sensation in his abdomen quickly alleviated these symptoms.

Around him were the ten or so fellow disciples who had come on the mission with him. However, they had not yet awakened, likely because his physical strength was remarkable, allowing him to resist the poison better and wake up earlier.

"Alaric, you're awake? Here is your identity token."

Alaric saw a familiar figure—it was Steward Zhang from Spirit Beast Peak, the middle-aged beautiful woman who had assessed him and given him Little Blue, the smelly fart worm, when he joined Spirit Beast Peak.