The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 266: Chapter 263: This Mouthful is Powerful!

Once they had conquered Guiyuan County Town, things became much simpler.

Yang Fangyu and Li Huan led troops to clear out the demons in the nearby towns, while Bai Yuan held the fort in the county town.

Although the demons in Guiyuan County Town had been vanquished, they still had to guard against experts from the Demon Sect coming from the Great Wall, as well as forces of the Profound People like the Celestial Profound Sect and Cao Bang.

Under the temptation of the Viscount title, wanton murder had become all too common.

Not to mention, in Dingzhou, you could pin everything on the Demon Sect, making it the perfect place for murder and plunder.

That was why Bai Yuan, the strongest among them, remained in the city.

With Bai Yuan present, even if they couldn’t win a fight, escaping with his master-level disguise artistry would be no problem at all.

Bai Yuan sat cross-legged in the room that had previously belonged to the Guiyuan County Magistrate.

This was also where that young Demon had lived.

Bai Yuan looked at his panel. This harvest was unbelievably bountiful. The demons in the city had earned him nearly ten thousand enhancement points, which was far more efficient than his time in Ling Province.

"Add points!"

...

[In the 351st year of your Manggu Zhuhe Technique cultivation, you begin to research more ferocious venoms.]

...

[In the 571st year of your Manggu Zhuhe Technique cultivation, you attempt to infuse spirit into your venom.]

...

[In the 1,357th year of your Manggu Zhuhe Technique cultivation, your venom finally reaches mastery, its potency increasing severalfold!]

...

Bai Yuan poured all his enhancement points into the Manggu Zhuhe Technique.

Given the current situation in Dingzhou, he needed to increase his combat strength as quickly as possible.

And the fastest way to do that was, of course, through poison techniques. After all, poison was a force that could ignore cultivation realms.

In the Jianghu, one often heard tales of poison masters using their craft to assassinate enemies far beyond their own level.

Bai Yuan absorbed the insights on poison techniques that flooded his mind.

Infusing spirit into his venom had indeed produced an unexpected effect.

Spirit could be a great tonic, but it could also be a great poison.

He had long wanted to merge the two, but his previous poison techniques were too weak to fully contain the power of spirit. Now, the Manggu Zhuhe Technique had finally allowed him to achieve this goal.

He ultimately categorized all poisons into five types, divided according to the five elements: Metal Poison, Wood Poison, Water Poison, Fire Poison, and Earth Poison.

Each type of poison had its own unique properties.

Of course, if his Spirit Chef and poison techniques advanced further in the future, he could evolve countless new possibilities from the Five Elements Poison.

Even so, the power of these five spirit-venoms was already immense.

The only issue was that he needed to store a large amount of spirit in his body, and right now, Bai Yuan only felt hungry.

Because he had no spirit within him.

Only by storing a large amount of spirit could he use the Manggu Zhuhe Technique to convert it into spirit-venom.

Fortunately, there was plenty of spirit stored in the city right now.

The demon corpses were the best source of spirit.

With his Spirit Plundering skill, he could extract spirit from all things.

Bai Yuan immediately got to work.

Seeing their Sect Leader flash a cryptic smile at a pile of demon corpses...

Liu Li and Hu Ben couldn’t help but shiver.

"I don’t think the Sect Leader had this hobby before."

"I heard the Sect Leader used to be a Hunter. Hunters seem to have a habit of admiring their prey. It must be a habit from back then."

"That makes sense."

In their eyes, while demon meat was good, there seemed to be no need to spend all day with demon corpses.

...

Bai Yuan was very busy.

Although he had superb Spirit Plundering techniques, there were too many demon corpses. It took him a full five days to extract all the spirit from them.

Once the spirit was extracted from the demon meat, it became no different from ordinary beast meat.

"This meat is useless now. Distribute it to the brothers for a barbecue."

Bai Yuan casually said a few words to Hu Ben and left.

Liu Li and Hu Ben were both skeptical after hearing Bai Yuan’s words.

’This is all demon meat, and a lot of it is from fifth and sixth-rank demons! Back in Huanglong Prefecture, this would be a treasure worth a fortune, and he’s just giving it away?’

The two took some meat to roast and eat, only to discover that it had no nourishing effects whatsoever and was completely indistinguishable from ordinary beast meat.

Only then did they understand why Bai Yuan had told them to give it away.

However, this made them even more curious. What kind of method had their Sect Leader used to turn demon meat into plain meat?

Such a technique was simply unheard of.

Bai Yuan returned to the County Magistrate’s Office, carrying a jar full of spirit.

Without wasting any time, he began stuffing handfuls of spirit into his mouth.

If an ordinary person were to consume so much spirit, the consequences would be unthinkable—their body would undoubtedly explode.

But Bai Yuan was different. After cultivating the Manggu Zhuhe Technique, he had used his energy to form a special container within his body.

This container was used to store venom.

Otherwise, how could Bai Yuan have spat out all that venom before?

After his improvements, Bai Yuan could also store spirit in his body, convert it into venom, and use it when fighting enemies.

A mouthful of old phlegm laced with spirit—its power would be even more terrifying.

「The next day.」

Yang Fangyu and Li Huan returned to Guiyuan County.

They had cleared all the surrounding towns of Guiyuan County.

Aside from Yang Fangyu encountering a force from the northwest, everything had gone smoothly.

As for that force, they had wisely retreated after hearing about Yang Fangyu’s background and seeing the soldiers behind him.

However, this also proved that forces from the Outer States had likely already arrived in Dingzhou.

Previously, the trio of Bai Yuan, Yang Fangyu, and Li Huan had used their proximity to their advantage and seized Guiyuan County Town first. Securing other cities from now on would not be so easy.

Not only did they have to deal with the demons of the Demon Sect, but they also had to be wary of other Profound People.

...

「Fenggu County, County Magistrate’s Office.」

"Who the hell does Cao Bang think they are, trying to steal from our Celestial Profound Sect?"

The Little Daoist Child, Luo Dao Yi, spat on the ground.

Originally, Cao Bang had been fighting the demons in the city, and the Celestial Profound Sect attacked the city while the two sides were engaged.

They killed many of the demons in the city, and naturally, they also killed some of Cao Bang’s members.

Feng San came from the criminal underworld; he knew full well that the Celestial Profound Sect was not to be trifled with.

But he was the only one from Cao Bang who had reached Dingzhou so far; the others were still on their way. Left with no choice, he had to lead his men in a retreat from Fenggu City.

Not only did he lose over a hundred of his gang, but he also had to surrender Fenggu City. It was a complete and utter loss.

But Feng San knew very well that if he didn’t leave, Cao Bang would receive news in a few days that he had been killed by demons from the Demon Sect.

Cangsong Taoist and Monk Fatong, however, looked serene.

They were both renowned experts of the Celestial Profound Sect. Working together, dealing with a single Feng San was a trivial matter. Of course, their ambitions didn’t stop at a mere Fenggu County.

Fenggu County was just the beginning. They would only be satisfied after capturing at least one Prefecture City.

"Junior Brother Cangsong, why don’t we send some disciples to Huaiyuan Prefecture to investigate the situation with the demons? We cannot allow the Demon Sect to bring suffering to the people."

Monk Fatong wore a compassionate expression, though the bloodstains on his sleeves were somewhat incongruous.

Cangsong Taoist nodded. "Senior Brother Fatong is right."

The reason they hadn’t attacked Huaiyuan City directly wasn’t out of modesty, but because they didn’t want to be the first to stick their necks out.

Hundreds of monsters, Demons, and even barbarians were entrenched in Huaiyuan City. It was far stronger than a small county like Fenggu.

With their current strength, Cangsong Taoist and Monk Fatong simply couldn’t take Huaiyuan City.

Even if they managed to take it by force, someone else would just come and reap the rewards.

So they were waiting—waiting for a force from the Outer States to make the first move, so they could then reap the fisherman’s profit.

Just like what happened with Cao Bang.

"Dao Yi, take a squad and scout out the situation in Huaiyuan City."

Upon hearing his master’s command, Luo Dao Yi, who had been strutting around proudly just a moment ago, immediately looked as if he was about to cry.

Huaiyuan City was teeming with experts. Even just scouting would be fraught with danger.

"Yes, Master."

Although Luo Dao Yi was a hundred times unwilling in his heart, he could only accept the order.

He now deeply missed that Senior Brother Chen. If Chen Qing were still around, a dangerous job like this would never have fallen to him.

Luo Dao Yi led a team of Daoists and monks out of the city.

Elder Monk Fatong said, "Junior Brother Cangsong, the Demonic Qi in this city is too thick. I will take my disciples to perform a deliverance ritual, so I shall depart first."

Cangsong Taoist nodded.

Fenggu City was now the territory of the Celestial Profound Sect. As for the division of spoils, that wasn’t something the two of them needed to worry about for now.

They represented the Daoist and Buddhist factions of the Celestial Profound Sect, and the bigwigs would be the ones to fight over it back home.

Cangsong Taoist only needed to prove his own contributions.

As for becoming a sub-sect’s Sect Leader, he had never dared to hope for it. His lineage within the Celestial Profound Sect’s Daoist faction was not a prosperous one, so such a position was out of his reach.

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Compared to Huaiyuan City, he was actually more concerned with the Immortal Cave Mansion.

That Master Longevity of Longevity Palace, whether intentionally or not, had left behind a diary before his death. It contained a complete record of Master Longevity’s deductions about the Divine Mansion.

Later, this diary was obtained by Chunyuan Zhenren.

Unlike Master Longevity, Chunyuan Zhenren had no intention of continuing the search for the Divine Mansion and instead hid the secret away.

This lasted until Cangsong Taoist went to Longevity Palace, on orders from the Celestial Profound Sect, to investigate the disappearance of Jiu Zhen True Man.

He obtained the diary from the hands of Chunyuan Zhenren.

Cangsong Taoist was already skilled in Divination Techniques, and he identified the diary’s authenticity at a glance.

Master Longevity had already figured out how to open the Divine Mansion and had written it down in that diary.

But Cangsong Taoist never dared to try it.

Because Master Longevity had tried, and he had died.

He knew his own strength was not much greater than Master Longevity’s. Therefore, the only breakthrough was the young Sect Leader of the Divine Mansion Sect.

Only by capturing Bai Yuan and forcing the secrets of the Divine Mansion from his lips could he be fully prepared.

A flicker of greed flashed in Cangsong Taoist’s eyes.

According to the legends about the Founding Ancestor of the Divine Mansion Sect, a Martial Artist of mediocre talent had emerged from seclusion to become a Grandmaster of his generation. The treasures within the Divine Mansion must be heaven-defying.

As long as he could obtain the treasures of the Divine Mansion and advance one step further, Cangsong Taoist could become an existence on par with the Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect.

Compared to Huaiyuan City, this temptation was far, far greater.

Just then, a middle-aged Daoist approached Cangsong Taoist’s side and whispered a few words in his ear.

A knowing smile touched the corners of Cangsong Taoist’s mouth.