Chapter 464: Chapter 153: Breaking the Limit of the Twelve True Forms Fist, the First Level of the Vajra Undying Body, Immovable as a Mountain, Pillow Sea as Emperor
The Qing Province Demon Suppression Bureau.
The grand assembly hall.
An air of solemnity and killing intent intertwined, like an invisible, chilling veil that filled every corner of the hall.
Lining both sides were Demon Suppression Captains and Demon Suppression Guards, all clad in black, close-fitting attire. Their hands rested on the hilts of the Long Sabers at their waists, their eyes bright and as sharp as a hawk’s.
At this moment, every gaze in the hall was drawn as if by an unseen magnet, converging on the somewhat slender figure in the center.
Chu Fan was travel-worn, his clothes still stained with dust from the wilderness outside the city. The hems were damp with morning dew that had yet to dry, yet his aura was steady, and he showed no signs of injury whatsoever.
A corpse lay at his feet, hastily wrapped in black cloth and casually discarded on the floor. Blood had seeped through the edges of the cloth, a dark, ocher-red, faintly emitting the stench of blood and a sinister Demonic Qi.
This was none other than the remains of Mo Daozi.
Gaze after gaze shifted back and forth between Chu Fan’s calm face and the corpse.
This Mo Daozi had once committed countless atrocities in Qing Province, striking fear into the hearts of all who heard his name. Now, he was reduced to this. The expressions in everyone’s eyes were complex, their thoughts unreadable.
There was shock, doubt, and disbelief.
And beneath it all, a deep, almost imperceptible trace of embarrassment.
When Chu Fan was first inducted into the Demon Suppression Bureau, he broke precedent with his Spirit Awakening Realm cultivation and was immediately granted the title of Demon Suppression Guard. The day that news spread, it was like a boulder tossed into the Qing Province Demon Suppression Bureau, causing quite a stir.
Many veteran Demon Suppression Guards had privately voiced their complaints.
The reason was simple. Since the founding of the Demon Suppression Bureau, although the cultivation threshold for a Demon Suppression Guard was never explicitly written down, an unwritten rule had long been established: no one below the Third Heaven of the Divine Power Realm had ever held the title.
This wasn’t merely a symbol of strength; it was a hard-won lesson, paid for with the blood and tears of countless predecessors who fought to the death against Demon Fiends and heretics.
Those below the Third Heaven of the Divine Power Realm often couldn’t even protect themselves on perilous missions. The slightest misstep would mean death.
Yet who would have thought that Demon Suppression Envoy Yue Mankong would recruit a youth in the early Spirit Awakening Realm as a Demon Suppression Guard...
In their eyes, this act was tantamount to lowering the standards of the entire Demon Suppression Guard.
It was a slight against the honor they had earned with their own blood and sweat!
Even when rumors later spread that this boy had defeated a Divine Power Realm master in Cyan Yang Ancient City while only at the Spirit Awakening Realm, most people were skeptical. They figured it must have been a fluke or that he had relied on external help, not true skill.
But look at him now. How much time had passed since those rumors?
This newcomer, whom they had once secretly resented and deemed unworthy of his title, had actually slain the vicious criminal Mo Daozi—a man who had been wanted and hunted for days by the combined forces of the Demon Suppression Bureau and the Six Gates!
And who was Mo Daozi?
He was a genuine master at the Second Heaven of the Acupoint Realm, cruel and cunning, with the blood of countless righteous cultivators on his hands!
Many of their colleagues in the hall, even those at the Late Stage of the Divine Power Realm, had previously suffered at his hands.
Some had even lost their lives because of him!
And Chu Fan, a brand new recruit, had managed to kill a master at the Second Heaven of the Acupoint Realm?!
The stark contrast felt like a silent slap across the face, making the cheeks of the previously doubtful Demon Suppression Guards burn. A stifling feeling filled their chests, as if stuffed with cotton, leaving them choked and utterly uncomfortable.
Only the corpse lay there silently, telling a truth they were unwilling to admit: they had misjudged him.
However, as their eyes swept over to Mo Yunzi standing quietly by Chu Fan’s side, many of the frowning brows in the room began to relax slightly, as if they had found an explanation that could satisfy them...
’That’s right,’ they thought. ’Mo Yunzi is Mo Daozi’s junior sister, and her cultivation has reached the Fifth Heaven of the Divine Power Realm.’
Although Mo Yunzi was far from being her senior brother’s equal, she was still a formidable master in the Demon Dao.
’Chu Fan must be carrying a powerful Magical Treasure or Secret Artifact given to him by Envoy Yue Mankong!’
’He must have given a Magical Treasure or Secret Artifact powerful enough to threaten—or even kill—an Acupoint Realm expert to Mo Yunzi. Then, using her status as Mo Daozi’s "junior sister" to get close, she launched a surprise thunderous attack when he least expected it, and that’s how they succeeded!’
This speculation was both logical and reasonable, perfectly explaining what had seemed an impossible feat.
Using a high-level Magical Treasure to kill a stronger opponent, and using someone close to Mo Daozi to backstab him—it was indeed a time-saving, efficient method.
He had just taken a shortcut and relied on external power. While credit was still due, its weight was naturally diminished in the minds of the Demon Suppression Guards.
Thinking this, the expressions on many of the Demon Suppression Guards’ faces improved, and the suffocating feeling in their chests mostly dissipated.
Seated at the head of the hall, Demon Suppression Envoy Leng Qingqiu took in all the changing expressions below, a flicker of amusement, hard to detect, flashing in her eyes.
She didn’t expose their line of reasoning, merely giving a light wave of her hand. Her steady voice broke the hall’s silence. "Someone."
"Take Mo Daozi’s remains to be identified. Then make a trip to the Six Gates and collect the corresponding bounty for Chu Fan."
"Yes!"
As soon as her voice fell, two Demon Suppression Guards stepped out from the crowd. Accepting the order, they moved forward with crisp, efficient movements and carried the corpse, which emanated an ominous aura, out of the hall.
Leng Qingqiu’s gaze then shifted to Mo Yunzi beside Chu Fan. Her tone was flat, yet it carried an undeniable authority. "You. Wait outside."
Mo Yunzi’s delicate body trembled almost imperceptibly.
Ever since stepping into the Demon Suppression Bureau’s assembly hall, she had kept her head bowed, doing her best to suppress her aura and avoid drawing attention.
Now, being singled out by Leng Qingqiu, she didn’t even have the courage to lift her head and meet the gaze of the renowned Qing Province Demon Suppression Envoy. She only answered respectfully, "Yes," and cautiously backed out of the hall as if escaping a lion’s den.
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