Chapter 10

Suddenly hearing these words, Su Fu's eyes gradually turned cold. He waved the Soul Banner, and Tao Xiang was immediately slapped away, landing and turning into a withered branch.

"This is unexpected. Good monster, your target is actually me. Give me..." As he spoke, Su Fu suddenly sidestepped to avoid a cold light that stabbed from under his ribs.

The Soul Banner swept back, and Chen Yiyi immediately let out a惨叫 and flew to the wall. Then she slowly transformed, revealing herself to be the monster that called itself Jiuming.

"Frankly speaking, if you tell me where you learned the Demon Cultivation Classic, I might spare your life. Otherwise..." As he spoke, the Soul Banner trembled, and a section of peach wood was drawn out. The evil aura was released, spreading wildly.

Jiuming was startled. The claw that Su Fu had severed at some point had already regrown. Pointing at Su Fu, he bared his teeth and said, "It's actually the Soul Banner, and you also have the Demon Cultivation Classic. Kid, I, Jiuming, am getting more and more curious about your background."

"But if you think I only have these tricks, you're underestimating me..."

As he spoke, the surroundings suddenly changed. Tall buildings, dozens of stories high, sprang up around them, with almost no gaps between them, and it was unclear what material they were made of.

Su Fu narrowed his eyes, a killing intent seeping through. The environment changed again, revealing a room with a pure white tone. A strange bed was in the center, with a person lying on it.

On both sides of the bed were two elderly men, dressed in peculiar attire.

A voice echoed in the air: "Hmm, this place is truly strange. Ah, I understand, you are an extraterrestrial demon... Hehe, obediently hand over the Demon Cultivation Classic and the Soul Banner, and I, Jiuming, will spare you this time and won't report you to the Heavenly Dao Alliance. You know the Heavenly Dao Alliance, right? Hmph! It's a coalition of over a hundred sects. Kid, don't wet your pants out of fear."

Su Fu's heart was already filled with killing intent, which now boiled over. He shook the Soul Banner, and a sword was drawn out, ringing sharply.

*Bang—*

Another wave of his hand, and it seemed a window or door was closed. The surrounding illusion collapsed, and they were back in the previous room, with the windows and doors tightly shut, blocking out the cold moonlight.

The candlelight flickered. Jiuming, unaware that Su Fu had spiritual perception far beyond that of an ordinary Yinshen realm practitioner, was surprised that his secret technique was so quickly seen through. He let out a strange cry, his body suddenly swelling, and his claws trembled, emitting a greenish-blue light, indicating they were highly toxic.

In Su Fu's spiritual perception, there was no more illusion. He said coldly, "Your illusions are useless on me. Let's see how long you can struggle."

Jiuming's claws dug into the ground, and he pounced, his face twisted in a terrifying grimace. In mid-air, he transformed into two, then four.

"Merely a Guiyuan realm practitioner dares to underestimate me. Die!"

As this secret technique was unleashed, Su Fu was also surprised. He had heard the demon spirit talk about it before. The Body Outside the Body technique was extremely difficult to cultivate, involving the method of splitting the soul. As a division of the Eastern Capital's Spirit Desire Demon Lord, the demon spirit was well-versed in the Eastern Capital Demon Palace's secret techniques. Its *Nine Transformations of the True Spirit* had five major paths leading to the fundamental, and four minor paths, including "Body Outside the Body."

The demon spirit had often used the demon scripture to tempt Su Fu, so he had some understanding of it.

What virtue or ability did this mere monster have to obtain the fundamental transmission of the Eastern Capital Demon Palace?

A series of thoughts flashed through Su Fu's mind. He narrowed his eyes, the long sword in hand, and in a flash, his figure shot up, carrying a cold light.

*Swish—*

A streak of fresh red blood cut through the sky, and the monster's arm was completely severed. The three clones turned into withered wood and fell to the ground. Su Fu landed, his eyes cold and expressionless, saying, "Still want to escape?"

The peach wood was fully drawn out from the Soul Banner, which now floated in the air, enveloped in black mist. An evil spirit leaped out, with a sinister smile, and pounced on Jiuming, who was trying to break the window and escape.

This evil spirit was the main general of the Soul Banner. Once the Soul Banner was refined to twelve layers of restrictions, a main general would be reborn.

Without the protection of his illusions, Jiuming could not resist the evil spirit's invasion. He finally fell from the air, pleading, "Spare my life, Immortal Sir..."

His arm was severed, but the wound had already stopped bleeding and was slowly regenerating, which was quite strange.

"Now, you can tell me where you got your information from?" Su Fu waved his hand, and the evil spirit reluctantly withdrew from Jiuming's body, circling around him, watching him like a hawk.

Jiuming, fearing the evil spirit, knew that the Soul Banner was the most sinister of all. Once refined, it could corrupt living beings. Whether human or monster, once corrupted, they would gradually become demonic, losing their sanity and becoming controlled like the evil spirits, or directly turned into nourishment for the Soul Banner.

Su Fu did not deliberately refine the Soul Banner. Only those like Jiuming, whose death would not cause much trouble, would be used as nourishment. It wasn't that Su Fu was particularly kind, but to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Otherwise, the Soul Banner would not be limited to just four layers.

"Immortal Sir, on that day when I was injured by you, I sensed something. This morning, I used an illusion to test, and gradually confirmed it. Please spare my life... I am still useful, I can serve tea, fetch water, massage your shoulders, and do all sorts of things..."

The evil spirit circled around, and Jiuming, though named Jiuming, was extremely afraid of death. He dared not play any tricks, and his words were true.

Su Fu smiled coldly, "I will believe you for now. As for what to do with your life, tell me about your background first. If you hide anything, I will make you the nourishment for the Soul Banner. Since you know its origin, you should understand its power."

Jiuming's face showed a mix of fear and pain from his arm, but he forced himself to say, "Immortal Sir, I am from the Li clan of Bai Man Mountain in Juzhou. Due to some special circumstances, I left home five years ago and traveled to the Divine Continent. I only recently arrived in Qingzhou... Please spare my life, Immortal Sir, I am still useful."

Jiuming had to submit. First, he was naturally afraid of death. When his claw was severed in the inn, he was terrified by the aura of the *Demon Cultivation Classic* and fled through the window. Second, if he joined this person, he might have a chance to plot for the *Demon Cultivation Classic*.

"What is the name of this illusion? Where did you get it from, and why does your wound heal so quickly?"

Jiuming, a demon with intelligence, known as a demon spirit, still needed to cultivate the Mystic Female Demon Pearl to begin refining acupoints. Once a demon cultivates the Mystic Female Demon Pearl, they can truly transform into human form, shedding their original form, and are called demon kings.

Each demon tribe, large or small, has its own method of refining acupoints, though far inferior to the *Demon Cultivation Classic*. Therefore, before becoming a demon king, a demon's recovery ability is not much different from other living beings, which is why Su Fu was surprised by his healing ability.

"This illusion is called the *Heavenly Fox Moon Illusion* created by the Heavenly Fox Night Moon. I obtained it by chance... This wound is my innate ability, called Nine Li Regeneration."

Su Fu listened and thought to himself, "This demon has traveled far and is skilled in illusions. Keeping him around could be beneficial, compensating for my lack of experience. However, he knows too many of my secrets, so I cannot keep him..."

As he thought, the evil spirit moved. Jiuming, terrified, immediately knelt down, bowing repeatedly, and pleaded with a crying voice, "Spare my life, Immortal Sir, spare my life. I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child. Please spare my life."

A cold light flashed in Su Fu's eyes. The content of the illusion was the reason for Jiuming's death. No one except the demon spirit knew about it, and it could not be revealed. Therefore, he would not show any mercy. Moreover, this demon was so afraid of death that he might one day betray him to save his own life.

Jiuming was in excruciating pain, already at the end of his strength. Seeing that the other party had no intention of showing mercy, he desperately tried to fight back.

However, Su Fu suddenly retracted the evil spirit and embedded the peach wood back into the Soul Banner. Seeing the evil aura being suppressed and slowly dissipating, he only pointed the sword at Jiuming and said coldly, "Divide your spirit with me. I will spare your life today, but you must forget everything in the illusion. Your future depends on your performance..."

Jiuming was overjoyed but also felt a bit sad. Handing over his spirit meant his life was in Su Fu's hands, and he could no longer act as he pleased. However, compared to freedom, his life was more important, so he did not hesitate to divide his spirit.

Su Fu retracted it into his own mind. Just as he finished, the window and door were suddenly broken open, and two figures rushed in.

"Su Daoist, what is this?"

It was none other than Ji Sui Feng and Yun Xi.