Chapter Thirty: "I Shall Slay the Demons"

Chen Xuan followed his usual routine of tallying his abilities and cataloging them. Thanks to the "Gluttony" ability he had traded away, he had acquired Gilles de Rais’s horsemanship and black magic, bringing his total inventory to eight. If one counted the four he personally equipped, he possessed a total of twelve abilities.

Although, generally speaking, the quality of these reserve abilities was not high and their range of application was questionable, it was still far better than starting out with only the four he had originally available for trade.

Furthermore, after this trade, his performance points had accumulated to twelve. Naturally, he had already sent off another email requesting a promotion, though he had no idea how long it would take to receive a response. With October only two days away, he was already beginning to look forward to seeing how much his salary would be.

Chen Xuan did not forget to check each of the two newly acquired abilities.

Horsemanship went without saying; once equipped, he suddenly gained the courage to mount any wild horse. It was a pity that it seemed to apply only to horses, with no derivative functions for riding wolves, dragons, or giant rocs. Once unequipped, the relevant experience would vanish, though the impression of "I was a master horseman a second ago" would remain in his memory—a cognitive dissonance that served as a side effect of swapping abilities.

Black magic, however, was quite sinister. Its only function was sacrifice, using the heart of the sacrificed to extend one's own lifespan. It was no wonder that after Joan of Arc’s death, Gilles de Rais had resorted to such abstract acts as kidnapping children for live sacrifices; he was likely trying to buy more time for her.

The problem was that this ability came with a laundry list of penalties. For instance, the ratio of life gained was diminished a hundredfold, and one would be cursed by the souls of the sacrificed—it was purely a losing proposition. If one sacrificed a mouse, which has an average lifespan of three years, the life gained would be little more than a hundred days, while the user’s body would simultaneously suffer a "rat-ification" curse, transforming them into a monster that was half-human, half-rat.

Chen Xuan wasn't making this up; the experience inherent to the black magic ability itself had told him so. Gilles de Rais clearly knew this, which was why he had no choice but to target his own kind, specifically children who lacked the capacity for self-defense. Now that he had lost this ability, he likely wouldn't have another chance to delve into the study of black magic. Considering its potential hazards, Chen Xuan had no intention of trading it to anyone else.

What did pique his interest, however, was the shop trading app’s evaluation of the black magic.

— "Taboo +1."

That was the entirety of the remark. It didn't even bother to mock it as "gray-tier trash," as it had done with plenty of other white-tier abilities.

"Sir."

A familiar voice rang out. Chen Xuan quickly closed the inventory interface and turned around, feigning a casual demeanor. "You're here. Sit down, let me pour you some coffee."

He then froze slightly.

Liu Shuyue was not wearing her usual loose, comfortable robes. Instead, she was dressed in a fur coat, cloth trousers, and long boots, and she was covered in dust, as if she had just finished a grueling trek through the wilderness. And yet, she possessed the ability to keep herself clean with magic at any time.

"What happened to you... were you playing in the mud?"

Liu Shuyue shook her head with a smile. "How long has it been since you last saw me, Sir?"

"Don't call me 'Sir,' it sounds a bit strange. Why don't you call me by my name, or 'Shopkeeper' will do."

"Then... Chen Xuan it is."

"Hmm." Chen Xuan contentedly handed her a cup of milky coffee. "We saw each other yesterday afternoon, and it’s still afternoon now, so at most, that counts as one day."

"For me, however, it has been twelve days," she said, taking the cup.

"That long? Is your supply of instant noodles still enough? No, wait... the relief funds and grain should have reached Zhangwei City by now." Chen Xuan found this strange, as she had been visiting him daily to discuss the distribution of the grain.

"They haven't. In fact, they never intended to provide disaster relief from the start. All the refugees fleeing from Qingzhou have been abandoned." Liu Shuyue spoke slowly, as if this were the most mundane matter.

Chen Xuan was shocked! "What did you say? The relief is gone?" He had anticipated embezzlement or the substitution of inferior goods, but complete abandonment was beyond the pale; this wasn't the end of a dynasty where the government’s functions had completely paralyzed.

"Let’s not talk about that for now. I came to see you today because I want you to accompany me to see something."

"Does this... have something to do with the refugees?"

Liu Shuyue nodded. "Yes."

"Alright then... wait for me to close the shop." After hanging up the 'Closed' sign, Chen Xuan followed Liu Shuyue through the back door of the second-floor VIP room and entered her world.

The moment he stepped through, he couldn't help but let out a soft "wow."

Before him was a majestic and magnificent natural landscape. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of stone pillars rose from the horizon, each one lush and verdant. Despite looking like stalagmites, every one of them was dozens of kilometers wide at the base, essentially small, uniquely shaped mountains. They had everything a mountain should have; looking from afar, one could see caverns, waterfalls, dense forests, and birds in flight.

Below the mountains were lakes formed by shallow pools of water, crystal clear, reflecting the sky and white clouds. There were many tracks of animals wandering along the shores; it was clearly a paradise for them to drink and forage. Chen Xuan couldn't help but think of a nature reserve.

The two were standing on a small hillside, less than ten kilometers away from the "reserve."

"Where have we arrived?" He looked around, finding that not only was Zhangwei City nowhere to be seen, but there wasn't even a small town in sight. He did, however, spot a refugee camp at the foot of the hill, with a population of at least twenty thousand.

The only building within a hundred miles that looked even remotely decent was the thatched hut behind them. Clearly, Liu Shuyue had led those refugees away from Zhangwei.

"The southernmost edge of Qingzhou, at the border of the Great Wilderness of Ten Thousand Mountains."

"I understand." Chen Xuan realized immediately. No wonder she hadn't come to see him for days. "There was no way to survive in Zhangwei, so they forged their own path. That was a very correct choice."

"Is it?" Liu Shuyue smiled, though a trace of exhaustion lingered in the corners of her eyes.

"I think it looks pretty good here. There's water, there are mountains, and the natural resources are quite abundant," Chen Xuan remarked. "Organize people to hunt in the early stages, and fish and farm in the later stages; food shouldn't be a problem. The caves on the mountains are natural housing. If you find people to clean them up, they should be enough to accommodate these refugees."

The most they would lack was land-clearing tools. But were tools a problem for him? Whether it was machetes, axes, fishing nets, or seeds, he could easily buy them. Since Liu Shuyue had already done so much for the refugees, he would naturally help further.

"Honestly, the environment here is truly great... it could support tens of thousands of people. Why doesn't the Qingzhou government develop this place?"

"A Great Demon lives here."

"I see... wait, what?" Chen Xuan didn't react for a moment.

"Its name is Xuan, and it is a Green Dragon," Liu Shuyue said calmly. "Xuan is a hundred fathoms long, adept in water and capable of flight, with a body of steel and iron that blades and swords cannot pierce. It also favors raw meat, and humans are naturally among its prey. Since it first appeared, it has likely eaten thousands of people. As long as this demon remains, the Great Wilderness of Ten Thousand Mountains is an absolute forbidden zone."

She let out a sigh. "Of course... the records in the sect regarding the Great Wilderness are vague; no one knows if other Great Demons exist deep in the mountains, but at least near the southern border of Qingzhou, Xuan is the most powerful. Furthermore, there are nearly a hundred types of ferocious beasts here, making it one of the areas where demon infestations are most frequent."

"In that case... is it really okay to bring the refugees here?" Chen Xuan was confused.

"Ordinary people cannot survive here. Not to mention a Great Demon capable of stirring the power of heaven and earth, even an inconspicuous shadow phantom could take a dozen lives in the blink of an eye." Liu Shuyue did not mince words and continued frankly, "If you want these refugees to survive, you cannot let them remain ordinary people."

"For a person to cross the threshold of cultivating and sensing 'Qi,' they rely on two things: talent and external resources. Most of the time, sects only choose those with talent, because practitioners who rely solely on external resources have limited potential and find it difficult to ascend to the Great Dao. But it is undeniable that even the lowest-level practitioner is far stronger than an ordinary person who cannot sense Qi."

"According to the sect's secret scrolls, dragon blood is the finest of all external resources. Even someone without any talent can be reborn and change their fate after drinking fresh, hot dragon blood. Moreover, every part of a dragon is a treasure; its scales can be forged into armor, and its bones can become weapons. With this dragon carcass as a foundation, they will have a chance to survive in this desolate wilderness."

She stared at Chen Xuan, the light of the past returning to her eyes.

"Therefore, I must slay the demon."