Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

A searing finger force flashed through the air, striking the shoulder of the assassin from the Black List of Blood Cloth Building. The man immediately staggered, with fresh blood spilling from his mouth and nose.

After being hit by Gu Chen\'s two Burning Vein Finger strikes, he felt an intense burning sensation inside his body, as if a fierce fire was raging within him. His meridians were severely damaged, and the flow of his internal breath had become incredibly obstructed.

He realized that Blood Cloth Building had severely underestimated Gu Chen\'s strength. They had thought that sending him, an assassin who was in the later stages of the External Qi Realm, to assassinate Gu Chen would be foolproof. But who would have imagined that Gu Chen, who had only recently stepped into the External Qi Realm, would possess such formidable power?

The assassin began to suspect that even a martial artist at the peak of the External Qi Realm might not be a match for Gu Chen.

This year\'s number one star on the Astral Ranking was far too monstrous.

He knew he couldn\'t escape, that he was certain to die here today.

With this thought, he showed some backbone, no longer attempting to flee but instead turned to face Gu Chen directly.

Boom!

A roaring sound came from within his body, and his vital blood began to burn fiercely. He was ready to fight to the death!

Seeing this scene, Gu Chen\'s expression remained calm. It was just a trapped beast struggling, not worth his concern. With a hiss, the long sword at his waist moved ever so slightly, and a brilliant flash of sword light vanished in an instant.

Thud!

Blood sprayed, and a line of red appeared on the neck of the assassin from the Black List of Blood Cloth Building, with scorching hot blood gushing out. Clutching his wound with both hands, he stared at Gu Chen with widened eyes, as if trying to engrave his image into memory.

Immediately after, there was a thud as the man fell to the ground, dead.

At this moment, Gu Chen\'s sword was still sheathed, as if it had never been drawn, making the previous flash of light seem like an illusion. This was the perfection of the Astonishing Swan Swordsmanship Skills, which pushed the concept of speed to an extreme.

As Gu Chen\'s mastery deepened, the power of the Astonishing Swan Swordsmanship Skills grew increasingly terrifying. Although it was only an intermediate-level martial art, with Gu Chen\'s robust cultivation backing it, it was no less formidable than some high-level martial arts.

After all, the power of a martial art does not solely depend on its rank; who wields it plays a significant role as well.

"This... He\'s dead just like that?"

"This was a Black List assassin!"

A group of Jianghu warriors standing by, upon seeing Gu Chen effortlessly dispatching an assassin from the Black List with just a few moves, were all filled with astonishment.

The strength of this year\'s number one star on the Astral Ranking seemed unfathomably deep. Each of his moves brought a different surprise to everyone, and they were very curious, wondering just where Gu Chen\'s limits lay.

Whether it was Qin Mu or the Blood Cloth Building\'s Black List assassin at External Qi Realm, Gu Chen had dispatched them with ease and elegance, leaving others unable to perceive or fathom his true strength.

"Lord Gu\'s cultivation is advancing too swiftly. Has he consumed some sort of miraculous elixir? How can he be so formidable?" a wandering martial artist exclaimed in awe.

"How do you know his talent isn\'t the reason?" another martial artist replied.

The wandering martial artist nodded in agreement; he had only meant to express his thoughts. In their eyes, Gu Chen\'s talent would rank among the top even across the entire land of Da Xia.

As long as Gu Chen didn\'t meet an untimely death, in the future, he was bound to become another great figure standing above millions of warriors, able to stir the winds and clouds of the world with a wave of his hand.

Soon after, the city defense soldiers of Phoenix Sun City arrived. At Gu Chen\'s command, they cleaned up the body.

Gu Chen didn\'t pay it much mind, considering it just a minor episode. With the rapid pace of his cultivation progress, even if Blood Cloth Building continued to send assassins after him, they would only be delivering resources to him.

The only pity was that he didn\'t find anything of value on the assassin\'s body, just a few thousand taels of silver bills. Regretfully, he pocketed these bills.

The affairs of Phoenix Sun City came to a conclusion. After resolving all issues there, Gu Chen immediately returned to Tiandu.

Several days later, in Tiandu.

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Beholding the endless, mountainous grandeur of the colossal city ahead, Gu Chen rode in on his horse. This time, he did not return home as usual but instead went straight to the Jing Tian Department in the outer city and met with Chen Yu.

Chen Yu, wearing a blue robe with a handsome appearance, nodded in satisfaction upon seeing Gu Chen return and said, "This time, you did very well in Phoenix Sun City."

Gu Chen clasped his hands together and responded with a deep voice, "It was merely part of my duties."

Chen Yu smiled and surveyed Gu Chen, saying, "It appears you have broken through to the External Qi Realm?"

"Yes!" Gu Chen replied, not intending to conceal it.

Chen Yu said, "If my memory serves me right, it has been no more than three months since you entered the Vein Opening Realm, hasn\'t it?"

Gu Chen replied, "I have to thank you for the Vein Opening Pill you told me about, Lord. Without it, I definitely wouldn\'t have broken through so smoothly."

If possible, Gu Chen wouldn\'t have wanted to reveal his cultivation progress so soon, but he had no choice; many people had seen him defeat Qin Mu—the situation had reached this point.

Moreover, with the resurgence of the demonic sects and the signs of chaos emerging in the world, he had to display his talent in the Jing Tian Department to gain more resources, to become stronger as quickly as possible.

Having reached the grand completion of the Meridian Connection Realm in just a few months did seem a bit too "demonic," but before returning, Gu Chen had prepared some explanations, as long as he didn\'t reveal all of his circumstances, it was acceptable.

"Did you break through to the External Qi Realm after reaching the limit of the Meridian Connection Realm?" Chen Yu asked with a serious tone.

Gu Chen hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Indeed."

Without reaching that degree, he wouldn\'t have been able to defeat Qin Mu, and this was something that absolutely couldn\'t be hidden.

Just as Gu Chen was about to share the prepared explanations with Chen Yu, who would have thought that Chen Yu would speak first, saying, "In that case, there is no mistake, you must be the \'Innate Martial Body\' mentioned in the rumors."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen was momentarily stunned, then after a moment, he asked with a puzzled face, "Lord, what is an Innate Martial Body?"

Chen Yu was taken aback as well, but he soon smiled and said, "It seems I was presumptuous; it\'s normal for you not to know, after all, you\'ve just been promoted to Metropolitan Procurator not long ago, and your knowledge in the martial arts is not so comprehensive."

Immediately after, he explained to Gu Chen what "Innate Martial Body" meant.

After listening to Chen Yu\'s explanation, Gu Chen\'s face showed a sudden realization. He indeed had never heard of this Innate Martial Body before, but upon hearing Chen Yu\'s explanation, Gu Chen had to admit that the Innate Martial Body was indeed extraordinarily powerful, capable of rapid advancement in the martial arts realm and possessing an extraordinary understanding of martial skills.

Most importantly, the abilities of the Innate Martial Body aligned quite well with his own abilities.

With this explanation, everything made sense and saved Gu Chen the trouble of having to use his previously prepared explanations.

Moreover, those explanations, if pursued further, really didn\'t have much persuasive power and definitely weren\'t as convincing as the Innate Martial Body.

To conceal the truth, Gu Chen could only nod in agreement, saying, "Lord, I did not understand the Innate Martial Body before, but what you described does indeed match my personal situation quite well."

At this point, Chen Yu added, "An Innate Martial Body should stand out from a young age, but I noticed your progress in martial arts was not particularly rapid in the past twenty years. Could it be because of your parents?"

"Yes, I was indeed fixated on the wrong path before and suffered severe injuries, after which I finally saw the light," Gu Chen replied, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. Chen Yu truly was considerate, even helping him sort out the causes and effects.

Chen Yu nodded slightly upon hearing this. Of course, he was well aware of Gu Chen\'s complete history, including the great change in temperament after recovering from his serious injuries in the duel with Liu Zheng.

"It seems I am also fortunate to have recruited an Innate Martial Body, a rarity not seen in centuries," Chen Yu joked.

"I\'m still deeply grateful for your cultivation, my lord," Gu Chen said with a bow, his voice sincere.

After all, he was dealing with a leader; sometimes flattery was necessary, and although Gu Chen had not worked within the system in his previous life, he was still clear about certain matters.

Chen Yu nodded slightly, his face filled with a warm smile. Compliments from a prodigy clearly pleased him more than those from an ordinary person.

"Alright, since you have reached the External Qi Realm, according to the rules of the Jing Tian Department, from today on, you are a second-rank Metropolitan Procurator," Chen Yu said seriously.

"Thank you, Lord!" Gu Chen got up, clasped his fists, and bowed.

A second-rank Metropolitan Procurator had greater authority, access to more martial techniques and treasures, and even some discounts—a small benefit indeed.

Chen Yu said, "Unless I miss my guess, you must be the quickest promoted Metropolitan Procurator since the establishment of the Jing Tian Department, even faster than I was back in the day."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Yu\'s expression turned solemn and he said, "However, do not get too pleased too soon. With the Six Union God Sect re-emerging in the martial world, great turmoil is about to unfold. Da Xia and the Jing Tian Department will be the first to bear the brunt, so you must prepare yourself mentally for all of this."

"According to the intelligence you\'ve sent back, as well as what the Jing Tian Department has collected during this time, the demonic cult has indeed obtained a secret technique that perfectly merges demons with martial artists.

Moreover, after the fusion with the demons, the martial artists will become indistinguishable from the demons, with significantly extended lifespans and their strength will increase exponentially. Most importantly, their recovery abilities will also greatly improve."

Gu Chen\'s expression turned grave. Even the lowest-ranked Panic Level Demon, or some peculiar creatures, had lifespans far longer than humans.

Peculiar creatures have at least a hundred or two hundred years of lifespan, and some demons live for several hundred, even up to a thousand years.

Who in the world does not desire immortality? This aspect alone—setting everything else aside—is a huge attraction.

Furthermore, after merging with demons, martial artists no longer need to engage in arduous cultivation. By devouring flesh and blood, they can enhance their own strength, which for some martial artists with lesser talent or who have reached their limits, is undoubtedly a shortcut.

Additionally, after merging with a demon, unless their hearts are shattered or their heads are decapitated, or they are dismembered, even severe injuries can slowly recover with the strength of the demon. More minor injuries can be healed on the spot.

This was evident in the case of Qi Changyun.

If one were to merge with a high-ranking demon, even losing limbs would likely be easily regrown, and any lingering injuries from youth would be no trouble at all.

With these points combined, there must be countless people within the demonic cult eager to merge with demons. The Jing Tian Department alone was already extremely busy suppressing demons, but with the emergence of demonic cult with such a secret technique, the tasks of the Jing Tian Department were bound to become even more arduous.

Even more so, given this situation, countless martial artists in the world probably want to join the Six Union God Sect for a chance to merge with demons. After all, there are no shortage of martial artists with physical deficiencies or nearing the end of their lifespans in the martial world.

Although the demonic cult has a terrible reputation, and everyone cries out against it, how many people wouldn\'t want an opportunity that could enhance their strength and, one could even say, change their destiny?

The Jing Tian Department had anticipated that, within a short period, the Six Union God Sect would dramatically increase its power and recruit many followers.

For this reason, including the Tiandu branch of the Jing Tian Department and its branches in other states, all have been tirelessly investigating the movements of the Six Union God Sect, aiming to eradicate them before they rise again.

But the demonic cult is very adept at hiding their tracks, and even now, the Jing Tian Department has not obtained much information. Reviewing the entire Jing Tian Department or even Da Xia, Gu Chen could be said to be the person who has had the most dealings with the demonic cult.

At this moment, Chen Yu said, "Prepare yourself today; King Huai should summon you tomorrow."