I Swear I’m Not a Demonic Cultivator - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Demon Monarch, there are lots of mortals here!

The screams were the final cries before their souls were freed.

The terror was the inevitable agony of shattering old shackles.

Fang Zheng understood this with perfect clarity.

He had fully grasped the true essence of the Blood Sacrifice Floating Pagoda Great Prison-Suppressing Formation.

To usher in a new dawn of light, one must first embrace the deepest darkness.

Without hesitation, Fang Zheng poured his Spiritual Energy, every last drop, into the great formation beneath his feet.

Buzz—!

The same spectacle unfolded once more.

Serpentine, pitch-black array patterns instantly crawled across the entirety of Black Wind Village.

An eerie crimson glow surged skyward, enveloping the entire village in a blood-colored barrier, isolating it from the world.

The kneeling villagers’ screams abruptly ceased.

Their bodies, bathed in the crimson light, silently exploded one by one.

No flesh, no bones remained.

Only the purest black miasma, containing the essence of their life’s suffering, was mercilessly extracted by the formation and merged into the blood-colored firmament above.

Fang Zheng closed his eyes, quietly sensing it all.

He could feel each wisp of black qi rising, representing the liberation of a soul.

He could hear hymns of praise echoing from within the crimson light, as if sung by the very essence of the blood-colored barrier.

What a sacred ritual this was!

What compassionate redemption!

Fang Zheng’s resolute Dao Heart was once again sublimated through this “purification.”

When the last villager had transformed into black qi and merged into the celestial canopy, a system notification chimed:

Ding! Suffering energy conversion complete. Sin-Cleansing Divine Punishment generated!

This time, there were no enemies left to punish.

The colossal black qi, obscuring the heavens, swirled once in the air before coalescing into a massive black waterfall, cascading directly down upon Fang Zheng!

Fang Zheng neither flinched nor dodged, calmly opening his arms to receive this “baptism” of power.

In his eyes, this was the villagers using their final strength to offer their most sincere gratitude to him, their savior!

Boom!

Boundless Suffering energy surged into Fang Zheng’s body.

The Human Emperor’s Hell-Suppressing Body activated automatically at its peak capacity.

The pitch-black armor covering his body hummed with frenzied energy, the demonic runes upon it seemingly coming alive, ravenously devouring this pure, primordial power.

Fang Zheng felt his physical body growing terrifyingly stronger, at a frenzied pace!

Every inch of his bones and sinews, every drop of his blood, was being refined and reforged by this immense power!

His Cultivation Base surged upward, instantly shattering the barrier of the Initial Stage of Foundation Establishment and advancing relentlessly!

Intermediate Stage of Foundation Establishment!

Late Stage of Foundation Establishment!

Peak Stage of Foundation Establishment!

He only came to a gradual halt when he was a mere paper-thin layer away from the Golden Core Stage.

Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have successfully ‘liberated’ Black Wind Village and earned the devout faith of all the villagers!

The Human Emperor Banner has been nourished, greatly enhancing its power!

Guidance clarity has increased by 2.5 times its original level.

Fang Zheng opened his eyes, a flash of jet-black demonic light flickering momentarily within them.

He could feel the Human Emperor Banner in his hand had become heavier.

The banner’s profound black backdrop seemed capable of swallowing one’s very spirit.

The miniature world woven into the banner’s fabric had become even more vividly defined.

Power!

Unprecedented power!

This was… the power of a Guardian!

His heart surging with emotion, Fang Zheng extended his hand toward the blood-colored barrier overhead.

“Return, my loyal subjects.”

The blood-colored barrier shattered with a whoosh, dissolving into a sky full of pure, glittering light particles.

The particles converged and reformed.

The hundreds of villagers from Black Wind Village reappeared in their original location, their Spirit Bodies now flawless and radiant.

They gazed at their pure, immaculate bodies, feeling the newly awakened power surging within them, their faces lit with the same fervor and worship they had displayed in the village before.

Thump!

Led by a gaunt, sallow-faced man, the entire village prostrated themselves before Fang Zheng, touching their foreheads to the ground.

“Thank you, My Lord, for granting us new life!”

“We pledge to be the sword in My Lord’s hand, striking down all injustice in this world!”

Fang Zheng nodded in satisfaction.

“Enter the banner.”

At his command, hundreds of streams of light surged into the Human Emperor Banner, jostling for entry.

The banner’s surface shimmered with flickering silhouettes, becoming even more “lively” than before.

Fang Zheng waved the great banner, feeling the power surging through it, now many times stronger than before. A surge of heroic pride swelled in his chest.

Another village of mortals saved—Merit +1.

Truly, a most auspicious occasion!

In the distance, behind a massive boulder…

Lu Chuxue’s body trembled like a vibrating dildo, his teeth chattering so violently they threatened to shatter.

He clutched the communication jade token in his hand, his knuckles white from the death grip. The smooth, warm stone seemed to be the only thing offering him a shred of security.

He had seen it all.

He had witnessed everything!

The Demon Lord had shrouded the village in a bloody aura, turning hundreds of living souls into black miasma amidst silent screams.

Then, he had devoured that soul-devouring miasma, absorbing it all into his own body!

Finally, he had brandished his grotesquely evil black banner, trapping the souls of all the villagers within its folds!

The Demon Lord was even competing with Hundred Herbs Valley in their own domain, using their very resources!

He had to report this to the Sect immediately!

This was no longer about losing a mere medicinal field; a peerless Demon Lord had emerged!

Trembling, Lu Chuxue channeled his Spiritual Energy into the jade token…

Just as he finished his report, a shadow silently engulfed him.

Lu Chuxue froze instantly.

A chill shot up from his tailbone to the crown of his head, freezing his blood solid.

He didn’t even dare turn around.

A calm, emotionless voice spoke from behind him:

“Hundred Herbs Valley?”

It’s over.

Only those two words remained in Lu Chuxue’s mind.

Mechanically, inch by agonizing inch, he turned his head.

The face was right there, inches away.

Calm, serene, even… refined.

But in Lu Chuxue’s eyes, behind that face lay mountains of corpses, seas of blood, the wailing of ten thousand ghosts, and an endless abyss.

“D-Demon… Monarch… Lord…”

His voice was as thin as a mosquito’s whine, laced with a sob.

Fang Zheng frowned slightly.

That title again.

It was one thing for ignorant commoners to address him thus, but why did even he use it?

Could it be…? The term “Demon Monarch” is some kind of derogatory term for righteous cultivators in the underworld’s dark parlance?

That must be it!

Fang Zheng’s fury flared higher. Glancing at the jade token in Lu Chuxue’s hand, his voice grew three degrees colder.

“Trying to send a message?”

“N-no! No, no, no!”

Lu Chuxue’s soul nearly fled his body in terror. The jade token clattered to the ground as he frantically waved his hands.

“I… I was just… I was just trying to contact the Sect, to have them come… to come and pay homage to your supreme Demonic Might!”

He frantically scrambled for a reason, concocting a desperate lie to save his life.

Pay homage?

Fang Zheng sneered inwardly.

Such a fitting term!

He wants to summon more allies to deal with me, the “disruptor” of his “Medicinal Field,” and have me “homaged” into oblivion along with it!

“No need.”

Fang Zheng reached out and gently grasped Lu Chuxue’s shoulder.

Lu Chuxue shuddered violently, feeling an icy, all-encompassing power instantly seal all his meridians, rendering him incapable of even self-detonation.

What do I do? What do I do? Think, you dead brain, think of something!

Lu Chuxue closed his eyes in despair.

“I’ll find your fellow disciples myself,” Fang Zheng’s voice echoed in his ear, gentle yet laced with an unquestionable authority.

“Wait!”

“Demon Monarch, I know where the mortals are plentiful—where they’re especially plentiful!”

“I can also provide you with all the intelligence on Hundred Herbs Valley.”

“I can even guide you there!”