Chapter 57: There are quite a few of them

“The commotion outside the city has actually caused the earth to tremble. As the current County Magistrate, it is only natural that I cannot simply stand by and watch.”

By merely observing Ming Zhengyang's expression, Shen Changqing understood what the other man was thinking, but he did not offer much explanation.

As the Magistrate of Lin'an City, he was also a member of the Demon Suppression Division. Since when did he need to report his actions to people of the martial arts world?

Hearing this, Ming Zhengyang did not press further.

“Lord Shen is a man who cares for the people; I admire you. We have other matters to attend to, so we shall not linger. Farewell!”

With that, he and another person departed.

The emergence of the demon essence blood was not a matter being contested by the Seven Luminaries Sect alone. If they arrived too late and the essence blood fell into someone else's hands, it would cause massive trouble.

Shen Changqing did not attempt to stop them.

Activating his Heavenly Martial True Qi, he lightly tapped the ground with his toes. His body soared into the air like a great bird, and by the time he descended, he had already covered a considerable distance.

"When I have time, I must return to the Demon Suppression Division to find a lightness skill!"

Shen Changqing felt helpless. Watching those martial artists, each possessed a lightness skill that allowed them to move with elegance and grace. Looking at himself, he relied entirely on the explosive power of his profound True Qi, moving like a brute.

However, lightness skills were a minor matter; he could cultivate them slowly when he had time. The most pressing issue now was the emerged demon essence blood.

As Shen Changqing had thought, he had no desire to fight for the essence blood; his only concern was that its emergence might trigger other problems. The recent earthquake and that heaven-shaking roar both signaled that something was highly unusual.

The mass grave outside the city was not far from Lin'an. At most, it was only three or four *li* away.

It did not take long for Shen Changqing to arrive at the edge of the mass grave.

At this moment, he saw the mountains and forests collapsed and trees overturned, as if a giant beast had physically crushed a vast area. Immediately following this, a thick, heavy scent of blood permeated the air.

Maintaining a sense of vigilance, Shen Changqing stepped inside.

Once within the boundaries of the mass grave, the scent of blood in the air grew even more intense. Simultaneously, a voice seemed to echo in the depths of his mind, making one feel uncontrollably irritable.

"There is a problem!"

Shen Changqing immediately detected the anomaly. He stopped in his tracks and steadied his mind. The voice in his heart instantly vanished.

By now, Shen Changqing was certain that this voice was definitely related to the emerged demon essence blood.

"According to the intelligence from the Heaven Observation Guard, the emerged demon essence blood should have regressed to a low grade. But can even low-grade demon essence blood possess such power?"

He took several deep breaths, re-evaluating the sheer strength of the essence blood for the first time.

Back when he was in the Demon Suppression Prison, Shen Changqing had seen the remains of demons and even living demons. However, while the prison cells seemed simple, they contained various taboos that almost completely sealed away the evil powers imprisoned within.

The reason the demon essence blood could emerge now was that the power of the seal had been broken. In other words, the emerged essence blood was completely unrestrained.

Steadying his mind, Shen Changqing continued deeper. Since it was a mass grave, discarded remains were visible everywhere. He paid them no mind, stepping over bones as he walked toward the location of the essence blood.

As he ventured deeper, the surrounding view opened up. Finally, Shen Changqing came to a halt.

In front of him, the ground had split open like a bottomless canyon, and an endless crimson light reflected from the depths of the gorge. A power that would make even a Xiantian martial artist's heart tremble was slowly rising.

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

Shen Changqing mused. He now understood why the emergence of the essence blood had caused the earth to tremble. Looking at the massive fissure in the ground, one could see just how immense the disturbance was. Since Lin'an City was not far away, it was only natural that the city felt the tremors.

Withdrawing his gaze from the canyon, Shen Changqing looked around. He saw Cui Cheng, Ming Zhengyang, and the others standing in their respective groups, their expressions extremely solemn. Some martial artists had already drawn their blades and swords, looking ready to strike at any moment.

"Lord Shen, do you also intend to fight for the demon essence blood?"

Seeing Shen Changqing arrive, a martial artist asked from a distance with a cupped fist, his heart feeling heavy. As he spoke, almost everyone's gaze fell upon Shen Changqing. They all understood that among everyone present, the strongest was this gentleman from the Demon Suppression Division.

Hearing this, Shen Changqing gave a light laugh. "You needn't concern yourselves with me. I have no intention of fighting for the essence blood. If anyone is capable, they are free to take it and leave. However, if none of you have the ability to claim it, then to prevent the essence blood from bringing calamity to the world, I will have no choice but to step in, collect it, and bring it back to the Demon Suppression Division."

Upon hearing these words, everyone felt relieved. Shen Changqing had made it very clear: take it if you can, but if you can't, there is no other way. No one believed they were the one lacking ability.

The scene fell silent.

The ground had split, and the essence blood had been sealed deep within the earth. This was merely the first step of its emergence. Any martial artist could feel that the essence blood deep underground was rising at an extremely rapid speed.

They were waiting. Waiting for the essence blood to truly emerge.

As the essence blood continued to rise, Shen Changqing found that the voice that had vanished was surging from his heart once again, giving him an impulse to slaughter everything in sight.

Startled, he looked at the people around him. Sure enough, the eyes of some lower-level or mentally weaker martial artists had involuntarily turned crimson, though they were still struggling to restrain themselves. Their hands gripping their weapons were trembling slightly.

Suddenly, someone struck. A long saber swung toward a person nearby.

"Liu the Second! I haven't settled the score for your sneak attack last time. Today you actually dare to vie for the essence blood? You're seeking death!"

"Hmph, you're the one seeking death!"

Liu the Second seemed prepared; he met the attack unhurriedly and struck back directly. The moment those two clashed, other martial artists with grudges finally lost their restraint and attacked. The previously calm scene instantly descended into chaos.

Watching the chaos before him, Shen Changqing remained calm. He neither spoke to dissuade them nor intended to intervene; he simply watched everything unfold like a bystander.

The others acting as bystanders were the members of the five factions and a few individual martial artists.

"With such strength, they dare to fight for the demon essence blood? They truly have no concept of life or death!" Ming Zhengyang shook his head with a sneer. These people couldn't even resist the corrupting influence, yet they came here to die. Even without them, with the essence blood right before their eyes, these people wouldn't have the qualification to take it.

The battle continued. Before long, people began to die.

Shen Changqing stood with his hands behind his back, silently waiting for the essence blood to appear.

Suddenly, a martial artist driven mad by blood drew his saber and swung it toward him. The nine-ringed great saber slashed down, bringing with it a violent gust of wind.

Shen Changqing unhurriedly reached out. With ease, he pinched the blade between two fingers. Activating his Heavenly Martial True Qi, he gave a twist, and the blade instantly snapped in half. Immediately after, he threw the half-blade back, driving it directly into the man's chest.

"Ah!"

The man let out a miserable scream and fell backward, blood flowing incessantly from the wound in his chest.

This sudden turn of events startled some of the crowd, and their gazes toward Shen Changqing turned to fear. To kill so easily, as if plucking a leaf—his strength was terrifying to the extreme.

Just then, Shen Changqing's gaze fell upon the cracked earth before him. A piercing, dense sound echoed from below, as if something was slowly crawling up from the depths.

"Could the demon still be alive?!"

That sound caused his expression to change drastically. The demon essence blood should merely be blood; it shouldn't be able to crawl out of the abyss as if it possessed a physical body. Even if it flew out, it would be more believable.

"Watch out! Something is crawling up from below!"

Shen Changqing shouted coldly, his voice reaching everyone's ears. In an instant, the fighting ceased. Everyone's eyes turned in unison toward the canyon.

Before long, a rotten, blood-stained hand reached out from the bottom of the canyon, followed by a corpse crawling out. As soon as the corpse emerged, it lunged toward the nearest person.

The man turned pale with terror. "What is this thing!"

The stench of rot mixed with the smell of blood exploded as the corpse lunged, making people gag. Though terrified, he did not dare hesitate. He swung his saber, and the corpse was instantly sliced in half mid-air.

The two halves of the corpse fell to the ground, but they continued to wriggle slowly like worms, not having completely died.

Shen Changqing's expression darkened. The undying corpses before him reminded him of something.

Corpse puppets!

But they were somewhat different from the corpse puppets the Zhang family had artificially refined. In fact, there were many types of corpse puppets. The Zhang family's puppets were one kind, while these were another.

"Those are corpse puppets. They must have been contaminated by the demon essence blood and thus resurrected. The simplest and fastest way to kill a corpse puppet is to decapitate it; otherwise, it is difficult for them to lose their vitality completely," Shen Changqing announced loudly, directly identifying the corpses.

As he spoke, more corpse puppets were already crawling out of the canyon. Although they were horrifying, the martial artists present were all people who lived on the edge of a blade; they had no reason to be afraid. Especially since the corpse puppets looked terrifying but were actually quite weak, possessing strength no greater than an ordinary person.

Once their weakness was known, it would not be difficult for the people present to deal with them. The only problem was likely that there were quite a few of them.