Chapter 60

"The commotion outside the city has even stirred the earth dragons. As the acting magistrate, I naturally cannot stand idly by."

Shen Changqing just needed to look at Ming Zhengyang's expression to understand what he was thinking, but he did not explain too much.

As the magistrate of Lin'an City, he was also a member of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

When did it become necessary to report to martial artists before doing something?

Upon hearing this, Ming Zhengyang did not ask any more questions.

"Magistrate Shen, your concern for the people is admirable. We have other matters to attend to, so we will take our leave!"

After saying this, he and another person left.

The demon essence had emerged, and it was not just the Seven Stars Sect that was vying for it.

If they arrived too late, and the demon essence fell into someone else's hands, it would be a big problem.

Shen Changqing did not stop them.

He then channeled his Heavenly Martial True Qi, lightly tapped the ground, and soared into the air like a large bird. When he landed again, he had already covered a considerable distance.

"I need to find a lightness technique at the Demon Suppression Bureau when I have time!"

Shen Changqing felt helpless.

Seeing the martial artists, each with their own lightness technique, moving gracefully, he felt different.

He relied entirely on his powerful True Qi, making him seem like a brute.

However, learning a lightness technique was a minor issue. He could practice it when he had time.

The most pressing matter now was the demon essence.

As Shen Changqing had said, he had no intention of vying for the demon essence. His only concern was that its emergence might cause other problems.

The scene of the earth dragons stirring and the deafening roar indicated something extraordinary.

The乱葬岗 (mass grave) outside the city was not far from Lin'an City, only about three to four li away.

Shen Changqing did not take long to reach the mass grave.

At that moment, he saw the mountains and forests collapse, trees topple over, as if a giant beast had crushed a large area. A strong, pungent smell of blood permeated the air.

Shen Changqing was on high alert as he stepped into the area.

Once inside the mass grave, the smell of blood became even stronger.

At the same time, a voice seemed to resonate in his mind, making him feel irritable.

"There's a problem!"

Shen Changqing immediately sensed something was wrong.

He stopped and steadied his mind.

The voice in his mind instantly disappeared.

Now, Shen Changqing was certain that the voice was related to the demon essence.

"According to the intelligence from the Heavenly Surveillance Guard, the demon essence should have fallen to a lower level. But even at a lower level, can it still have such power?"

He took a few deep breaths, re-evaluating the strength of the demon essence.

Back in the Demon Suppression Prison, Shen Changqing had seen the remains of demons and living demons.

The prison cells seemed simple, but they contained various taboos, almost completely sealing the power of the demons.

The demon essence could emerge because the seal had been broken.

This meant that the demon essence was not suppressed at all.

Shen Changqing focused his mind and continued deeper into the mass grave.

The ground was littered with discarded corpses and coffins that had been dug up, with bones scattered everywhere.

He did not pay much attention to this.

Stepping over the bones, he moved towards the location of the demon essence.

As he went deeper, his field of vision widened.

Finally, Shen Changqing stopped.

In front of him, the ground had split open, forming a deep canyon. Intense bloodlight was radiating from the depths of the canyon.

A force that even innate martial artists found intimidating was slowly rising.

"The demon essence is at the bottom of the canyon!"

Shen Changqing thought to himself, now understanding why the emergence of the demon essence had stirred the earth dragons.

The size of the crack in the ground indicated the magnitude of the disturbance.

Lin'an City was not far away, so it was natural that it would be affected.

Shen Changqing looked around.

He saw Cui Cheng and Ming Zhengyang, among others, standing on different sides, their faces grave.

Some martial artists had already drawn their weapons, ready to attack.

"Magistrate Shen, are you also here to vie for the demon essence?"

Seeing Shen Changqing arrive, a martial artist felt uneasy and asked from a distance.

As he spoke, everyone's attention turned to Shen Changqing.

They all understood that among those present, the most powerful was the official from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Shen Changqing smiled lightly. "You don't need to worry about me. I have no intention of vying for the demon essence. If anyone has the ability, they can take it. But if none of you can, I will have to take it to prevent it from causing harm to the world."

Hearing this, everyone was relieved.

Shen Changqing's words were clear: take it if you can, but if you can't, there's nothing to be done.

No one thought they were the one who couldn't.

The scene fell silent.

The ground had split open, and the demon essence was sealed deep within.

Now, it was just the first step of its emergence. Any martial artist could feel the demon essence rising rapidly from the depths.

They were waiting for it to fully emerge.

As the demon essence continued to rise, Shen Changqing noticed that the voice in his mind, which had disappeared, was resurfacing, making him feel an urge to kill.

He was startled and looked around.

Sure enough, some martial artists with lower strength or weaker mental fortitude had their eyes turning red, but they were still trying to control themselves.

Their hands holding their weapons trembled slightly.

Suddenly, one person attacked, slashing at someone nearby with a long sword.

"Liu Laoer, you ambushed me last time, and I haven't settled the score with you. Now you dare to vie for the essence, you're asking for death!"

"Hmph, the one asking for death is you!"

Liu Laoer seemed prepared, calmly facing the attack and counterattacking.

As the two attacked, some martial artists with grudges also couldn't resist and joined in.

The originally calm scene quickly turned chaotic.

Shen Changqing watched the chaos calmly, neither trying to stop it nor getting involved, observing everything as a bystander.

Similarly, the people from the five major forces and some martial artists were also watching.

"Such weaklings dare to vie for the demon essence, they are truly courting death!" Ming Zhengyang shook his head and sneered.

These people couldn't even resist the temptation, yet they dared to come here to die.

Even without them, the demon essence would be beyond the reach of these people.

The battle continued, and soon, people started dying.

Shen Changqing stood with his hands behind his back, quietly waiting for the demon essence to emerge.

Suddenly, a martial artist, driven by bloodlust, charged at him with a sword.

The nine-ringed great sword swung down, creating a fierce wind.

Shen Changqing calmly extended his hand, easily pinching the blade between his fingers. He channeled his Heavenly Martial True Qi, and the blade shattered into two halves.

He then flipped the half-blade and thrust it into the attacker's chest.

"Ah!"

The attacker screamed and fell backward, blood gushing from the wound.

The sudden turn of events shocked some people, and their eyes turned fearful as they looked at Shen Changqing.

Killing was as easy as plucking a flower, and his strength was terrifying.

At that moment, Shen Changqing's gaze fell on the ground, where a loud, dense sound was coming from, as if something was slowly climbing up from below.

"Could the demon not be dead?"

The sound made his face change.

The demon essence should just be blood, not capable of crawling out of the abyss like a living being. Even flying would be more plausible.

"Be careful, something is climbing up from below!"

Shen Changqing shouted, his voice reaching everyone.

Instantly, the fighting paused, and everyone's eyes turned to the canyon.

Soon, a decayed, bloodstained hand emerged from the canyon, followed by a corpse.

The corpse, as soon as it emerged, lunged at the nearest person.

The person was shocked. "What is this thing!"

The stench of decay mixed with blood was overwhelming as the corpse lunged, making people gag.

Despite his shock, he did not hesitate.

He swung his sword, and the corpse was cut in half mid-air.

The two halves of the corpse fell to the ground, writhing like worms, not completely dead.

Shen Changqing's face turned grim, and the sight of the undead corpse reminded him of something.

A corpse puppet!

But it was different from the corpse puppets created by the Zhang family.

In fact, there were many types of corpse puppets.

The corpse puppets of the Zhang family were one type, and the ones before him were another.

"These are corpse puppets, likely revived by the demon essence. To kill them, the simplest and fastest method is to cut off their heads. Otherwise, it's hard to completely destroy them."

Shen Changqing spoke loudly, revealing the identity of the corpses.

As he spoke, more corpse puppets emerged from the canyon.

Despite the horror of the corpse puppets, the martial artists, who were used to living on the edge, were not afraid.

Especially since the corpse puppets, though terrifying, were weak, no stronger than ordinary people.

Understanding the weakness of the corpse puppets, the martial artists found it not difficult to deal with them.

The only problem was the large number of corpse puppets.