Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Chen Yu, wearing a blue robe, sat at the head of the table and said, "With the resurgence of the Six Union God Sect in the martial world, signs of unrest have already begun to appear. Furthermore, not long ago, the Red Flame Demon Sect and the Holy Shadows Sect slaughtered the inhabitants of five of Da Xia's cities.

Although you stopped them when they reached the county town, the Six Union God Sect definitely has other schemes in the works and will not cease their pursuit so easily."

Hearing this, Gu Chen nodded slightly. Knowing the Six Union God Sect had mastered the method to control demonic spirits, they would never be content to stay out of trouble. They would continue to stir chaos across the land to reap the benefits amid widespread disorder.

After all, demonic spirits could only grow stronger by devouring the flesh and blood of living beings. Last time, their plan to cultivate Hades-level demonic spirits in Xu'an County had failed, but that didn't mean the Six Union God Sect would give up.

They would keep inciting conflicts because the more people died, the faster they could grow stronger.

In fact, over three hundred years ago, the Six Union God Sect did the same. However, back then, there were no demonic spirits to command; now that they had them under their control, they would be even less likely to remain quiescent.

Chen Yu said, "According to intelligence from the Jing Tian Department, members of the Six Union God Sect have been spotted around Qiongtian Mansion's city. It's very likely they are plotting something in the city.

Now that you have reached the Vajra Stage and have become a first-rank Metropolitan Procurator of the Jing Tian Department, after consulting with the deputy commander, we have decided to dispatch you to situate yourself within Qiongtian Mansion's city."

After a pause, Chen Yu continued, "Once there, you can go directly to the Lord of Qiongtian Mansion. He has already received the news. Once you arrive there, the entire city's army will be at your disposal, and the Lord of Qiongtian Mansion will have no second words."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen immediately stood up and said with a fist in the palm, "Gu Chen receives the order."

Seeing Gu Chen's agreement, Chen Yu nodded slightly and added, "Once you're there, should you require anything, you can send a message to Tiandu at any time."

"Alright," Gu Chen nodded, indicating his understanding.

At that moment, Chen Yu's gaze shifted subtly as he looked at Gu Chen, "Is the issue with Uncle Dingyuan and the Marquis of Wuwei resolved?"

Clearly, Chen Yu had heard something about the matter.

Gu Chen replied, "Rest assured, my lord, the matter has been resolved."

Chen Yu nodded and said, "Go to the city with peace of mind, I will take care of your family while you're away."

At these words, Gu Chen was instantly overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Many thanks, my lord."

After all, no matter how one put it, Chen Yu was a commander of the Jing Tian Department whose strength and status far exceeded Gu Chen's— at least, that was the case for now.

Therefore, with him present, Gu Mansion could truly be at ease, and Gu Chen could leave without further concerns for his family's safety.

"You may leave," Chen Yu said.

Hearing this, Gu Chen stood up and bowed with his fists before leaving the Jing Tian Department.

No sooner had he left Chen Yu's presence, than Song Yu, Wang Yan, and Xu Qing found him.

They too had evidently heard about the incidents involving Gu Chen, Uncle Dingyuan, and the Marquis of Wuwei, and had hurried over to inquire about Gu Chen's condition for fear that he had encountered some trouble.

Upon seeing Gu Chen safe and sound, the three were reassured.

Song Yu sized up Gu Chen and said somewhat sourly, "You're moving up the ranks awfully fast, aren't you? I've just become a second-rank Metropolitan Procurator, and you've already reached first rank. After this mission, you might even be fit to serve as a commander, right?"

Wang Yan, though typically straightforward and not much of a talker, nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with envy.

Of course, at the same time, both of them were sincerely happy for Gu Chen.

Xu Qing also chimed in with a rare bout of teasing, "Looks like we're now equal in rank. Perhaps the next time I see you, I should also address you as Lord Gu, right?"

Gu Chen heard this, shook his head with a light laugh, and paid no mind to their teasing. Then, they found a tavern in the inner city, listening to the music while drinking.

Knowing that Gu Chen had set up a residence in the inner city, Chen Yu postponed the mission's deadline by a few days, giving him time to move into Gu Mansion before departing.

That evening, after a few rounds of drinks, Song Yu, somewhat inebriated, clamored for some fun.

Tiandu's inner city was extremely bustling, especially at night, when it was aglow with lights and abound with places for entertainment.

Coming from a well-off background, Song Yu lived in the inner city but was single, having not taken a fancy to any lady. As for Wang Yan and Xu Qing, they were bachelors too. When Song Yu suggested going out for fun and offering to treat them, his proposal shone in their eyes.

However, Gu Chen did not agree, as he currently had no such desire. Seeing Gu Chen unwilling, the three could say no more and left with regret.

At night, Gu Chen left the inner city and returned to Gu Mansion in the outer city. As he approached the gate, his movements suddenly halted.

"Ugh..."

His handsome face was slightly flushed as he let out a belch, then he pushed open the gate and walked into Gu Mansion.

In the darkness, on the rooftop of a house a dozen yards away from Gu Mansion, a figure lurked, eyes filled with malice, watching Gu Mansion closely.

This person was none other than Cao Ying, who had been keeping a close watch on Gu Mansion. Just now, upon seeing Gu Chen staggering drunk, he was truly tempted to make a move and kill him on the spot.

But his rationality held him back. Cao Ying knew that even though he had reached the full Vajra Stage, making him as tough as copper and iron, he was absolutely no match for Gu Chen.

After learning of Uncle Dingyuan's and Marquis Wuwei's failures in the court, Cao Ying silently cursed the two as incompetent for not being able to handle a small matter. However, failing to have any other options, he would have to find another way.

Marquis Pingxi had ordered him to investigate the true cause of Cao Zhen's death, but no matter how much Cao Ying pondered, he felt sure that the culprit had to be Gu Chen.

```

Finding the cause of Cao Zhen's death had become the only purpose and value of Cao Ying in the eyes of the Marquis of Pingxi.

He was well aware of the Marquis's personality. Even though he had stood out from a young age, been granted the "Cao" surname, and even became the personal bodyguard of Cao Zhen, the Marquis's legitimate son, Cao Ying never let his guard down for a single day, living in constant fear and trepidation.

For no other reason than the deep understanding he had of the true thoughts in the heart of the Marquis—that he was valued by the Marquis solely for his usefulness, his worth.

In the eyes of the Marquis, there was a measure for everyone, and as soon as someone lost their utility, the Marquis would undoubtedly abandon them without hesitation.

And Cao Ying's only value lay in following Cao Zhen. Now that Cao Zhen was dead, his value had vanished, and the only reason the Marquis hadn't ordered his death immediately was because the Marquis wanted to know the truth.

If he couldn't even do that, the Marquis certainly wouldn't keep him around any longer.

Cao Ying's only hope was to kill Gu Chen and then present Gu Chen's head to the Marquis, telling him that Cao Zhen had been killed by Gu Chen.

In this way, the Marquis would have a target for his rage, and perhaps then Cao Ying would have a slim chance of survival.

Even though the Marquis was far away at the frontier and he himself was in Tiandu, a vast distance apart, Cao Ying never once thought of fleeing.

Because he knew too well the terrifying reach of the Marquis's power. The thought of escape was absolutely forbidden; should he choose to flee, Cao Ying would plummet into an abyss from which there was no return.

The reason he had been watching the Gu Mansion so closely lately was that he had been contemplating taking advantage of Gu Chen's absence to kill everyone in the Gu Mansion, letting Gu Chen taste the pain of losing his loved ones.

But alas, Cao Ying had not found the right opportunity to act, especially since this was Tiandu, and Gu Chen had gained the favor of the Crown Prince and King Huai, and had just been ennobled as a viscount, a not insignificant status.

During the days he watched Gu Chen, he often saw several strong warriors hanging around the Gu Mansion, silently protecting it.

Cao Ying feared that even after killing the Gu Chengfeng family, it would be difficult for him to escape.

Therefore, he changed his strategy. After all, Gu Chen was part of the Jing Tian Department, and there would come a day when he had to go on a mission. It didn't matter that Cao Ying was no match for him on his own; among Cao Zhen's guards, there were not only himself who had reached the peak of the Vajra Stage.

He didn't believe that seven or eight Vajra Stage warriors attacking Gu Chen all at once wouldn't result in Gu Chen's death.

After all, among them were two who, like him, had reached the second level of the Vajra Stage, the Iron-Cast.

With three Iron-Cast level warriors at the peak of the Vajra Stage, assisted by five others at the invulnerable level of the Vajra Stage, Cao Ying believed that Gu Chen certainly stood no chance of survival.

In the following days, after the house affairs in the inner city were settled, they informed Gu Chen, who then moved in immediately with the Gu Chengfeng family.

The three-section courtyard was about the same size as the Gu Mansion in the outer city, but the environment was much better, and the location was good too, not far from an extremely bustling street in the inner city.

Moving into the new home, Gu Chengfeng, Xu Qinge, and Gu Qingyan were all very happy, and even the maidservant Xiao Yu and gatekeeper Uncle Zhang were equally pleased.

Seeing that family matters had been settled, Gu Chen could finally relax. He had informed Chen Yu that he would set out the next day for Qiongtian Mansion.

The next morning, Gu Chen left Tiandu on horseback, heading for the city of Qiongtian Mansion.
Stay connected through мѵʟ

Though Qiongtian Mansion was adjacent to Tiandu, the city was still over seven thousand li away from Tiandu, and even with the superior horses provided by the Jing Tian Department, it would take Gu Chen five days and nights to arrive.

This mission was different from the last; no one else accompanied him, and it was just Gu Chen alone. However, Gu Chen was accustomed to solitude and didn't find it lonely.

After traveling continuously for three days and nights, Gu Chen planned to rest for the night. Instead of entering a city, he found a plains area with open terrain where he intended to spend the night.

In the nine states, wild animals often passed through the wilderness, but they were not like the fantasy beasts in the novels from his previous life that possessed intelligence comparable to humans—that would be demons, not beasts.

Beasts generally had low intelligence, and even those with exceptional bloodlines had, at best, intelligence comparable to that of human children.

It could be said that in the nine states, if there were no demons or ghosts, humans stood at the top of the biological chain.

Late at night, under a clear sky scattered with sparse stars, Gu Chen sat cross-legged on the plains, settling his mind, nurturing the inner qi within his body.

Since reaching the Vajra Stage, as his physical strength continuously improved and his meridians grew ever more resilient, they could fully withstand the surging inner qi in his body, which had reached a massive four hundred sixty-four years of cultivation.

It could be said that as long as there were cultivation points, Gu Chen's cultivation could rise swiftly within a short period of time.

With such a vast cultivation of inner qi, he was considered to have profound cultivation even among those at the Gang Qi Stage, let alone the Vajra Stage.

The only aspect in which Gu Chen fell short compared to a Gang Qi Stage warrior was the Gangqi, aside from the physical body.

Gangqi is formed by refining and condensing countless inner qi, with a qualitative difference between the two. Therefore, even with such profound cultivation, at this stage, Gu Chen had less than a thirty percent chance of winning against a Gang Qi Stage warrior, even one with Inner Gangqi.

And as for those like Chen Yu who had reached the Outer Gangqi, the pinnacle of the Gang Qi Stage, Gu Chen was even less of an opponent. There was an insurmountable gap between Inner and Outer Gangqi.

Even among those with Inner Gangqi, many might never be able to break through to the Outer Gangqi Stage.

Not to mention, Chen Yu had also cultivated an exotic Gangqi. Even among the many Gang Qi Stage warriors in the nine states, and even within the Da Xia Jing Tian Department at the same level, Chen Yu's strength was among the very top.

At that moment, Gu Chen, who was in meditation, suddenly twitched his eyelids and lifted the corners of his mouth in a smirk, muttering to himself, "The beast has arrived."

No sooner had he spoken than seven or eight figures rushed out from the surroundings, enclosing Gu Chen who was sitting in the plain.

The leader was none other than Cao Ying.

```