“Fellow Daoist, you are also a cultivator—why do you not help me slay this demonic Daoist, but instead turn a blind eye?”

“What?”

Samuel Brooks was taken aback, glancing back over his shoulder.

Then he saw, behind him, an old man in a dark green Daoist robe chasing after him.

This old man’s face was full of wickedness, holding a skull-topped staff, his entire aura sinister. In his hand, he carried a baby, which swung lifelessly with his leaps—clearly already dead.

So the “demonic Daoist” the girl spoke of was this old man, not him, Samuel Brooks!

“Courting death!”

The demonic Daoist saw the young Daoist in front of him suddenly stop, assuming he meant to block his way, and immediately struck out viciously, pointing his staff forward.

A dark green light, like ghostly fire, swept down upon Samuel!

Samuel froze for a moment, as if scared stiff, not even thinking to dodge!

“Get out of the way!”

The girl cried out in alarm. Even with her cultivation, she dared not face such ghostly fire head-on and could only dodge aside.

She was hailed as a prodigy of the Jiuxiao Immortal Sect, not yet sixteen this year, and already at the initial stage of Qi Refining.

That young Daoist looked not yet twenty—he probably hadn’t even reached the Qi Refining stage.

To face such ghostly fire without dodging—wouldn’t that mean dying without even a corpse left?

“Foolish!”

The demonic Daoist sneered, convinced the young Daoist had been reduced to ashes, and prepared to pass through the ghostly fire and escape.

But at that moment, the mass of ghostly fire ahead suddenly contracted inward, gathering together.

The young Daoist stood where he was, a ball of dark green ghostly fire floating above his palm.

“What?”

The demonic Daoist was stunned.

The Jiuxiao Immortal Sect girl behind him was also utterly shocked.

Meanwhile, Samuel Brooks wore a complicated expression, muttering under his breath.

“So weak?”

Samuel had crossed over and inherited the cultivation of his predecessor.

But a young Daoist who couldn’t even survive without food and starved to death on the street—how much cultivation could he possibly have?

He had always thought himself the weakest among cultivators.

But now, it seemed this demonic Daoist was even weaker.

“Damn you! How dare you humiliate me!”

The demonic Daoist flew into a rage, slamming his staff forward, unleashing a surging force.

In an instant, the surroundings plunged into darkness, ghostly winds howling, as if wailing spirits and howling demons filled the air.

Within the dark, ghostly wind, ghastly faces twisted and beastly visages roared, as if countless ghosts and monsters lurked within.

A wicked, eerie wind—claiming lives!

“Run!”

The Jiuxiao Sect girl cried out in alarm.

The young Daoist glanced at her, then turned his gaze back to the mass of ghostly wind teeming with a thousand demons.

Unhurried, he drew his sword!

And with a single slash—he brought it down!

The sword fell! The wind ceased!

One sword stroke, and the wind was cut still!

“Sword Qi Severing the Flow? Communing with Spirits?”

The demonic Daoist cried out, “You’re a Spirit-Refining True Person!”

His eyes were filled with terror, trembling uncontrollably.

He immediately turned to flee!

But as his upper body moved—

Half his body fell away!

That sword just now had cleaved him from shoulder to back, splitting half his upper body in two!

The sword edge was so fine, the sword intent so sharp, that his muscles and blood vessels hadn’t even separated at first—everything fit together perfectly, blood still flowing.

Only when he tried to move, intending to turn, did his blood and sinews separate, and his upper body fell away!

Blood and entrails spilled everywhere!

The stench of blood filled the air, making one want to vomit!

“This…”

Samuel Brooks was utterly stunned.

He had only casually swung his sword, intending to cut through the wind.

Who would have thought that wind, which seemed so menacing and full of evil, was so fragile? With one slash, not only did he cut through the ghostly wind, but also the demonic Daoist hiding behind it.

Wasn’t this demonic Daoist just too weak!

He hadn’t meant to kill anyone!

After all, he’d never killed before.

After all, killing is against the law!

In an instant, as Samuel Brooks considered whether to run, a hundred ways to escape flashed through his mind.

“Junior William Clark greets the True Person.”

The Jiuxiao Immortal Sect girl hurried forward, bowing respectfully.

This voice interrupted Samuel Brooks’s thoughts. He looked at the girl, narrowed his eyes, and said in a heavy tone, “What happened today must remain secret. Otherwise, beware—I’ll kill you to silence you and destroy the evidence!”

William Clark jumped in fright, quickly stammering, “Please calm your anger, True Person. I would never dare reveal this matter.”

Only then did Samuel Brooks nod in satisfaction, then looked at the corpse, pondering how to destroy the evidence.

William Clark quietly raised her head and saw Samuel Brooks staring at the corpse, seemingly troubled.

She was a bit surprised and couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “Senior, do you not want this demonic Daoist’s corpse?”

Samuel Brooks was taken aback and asked, “What use is a corpse?”

William Clark replied, “At the beginning of this month, the Great Xia Dynasty temporarily established the Demon Hunter Bureau and has already placed this Autumn Wind Demonic Daoist on the bureau’s wanted list, ranked one hundred and seventy-second, worth three Pure Yang Pills and a reward of thirty thousand taels of silver…”