William Clark shook his head slightly and said, “Whenever a demon is discovered by the local authorities in Daxia, it will definitely be reported. The Demon Hunting Bureau will never be kept in the dark.”

Samuel Brooks didn’t want to waste more words, so he said directly, “No matter what, the demon’s mischief is real. No matter how powerful it is, since it’s causing harm, I am determined to slay it this time!”

At noon that day, Samuel Brooks descended the mountain with his sword, to vanquish evil and uphold the Dao.

Watching his departing figure, William Clark’s eyes were filled with admiration.

Demons invade, and the world is in chaos.

Now, the demon in the Yongyao River is likely such a powerful being that even the Demon Hunting Bureau dares not act rashly. Yet this venerable master is willing to risk his life, resolutely descending the mountain with his sword to slay the evil.

Such chivalrous spirit is truly the model for us cultivators!

“Please go without worry, senior. William Clark will stay here and guard the Daoist temple for you.”

William Clark bowed and thought to himself, “If you do not return, I will surely find a successor for you, to carry on the name of Baihong Temple!”

Just then, at the foot of the mountain, Samuel Brooks suddenly stumbled and sneezed.

“Samuel Brooks, are you alright?” Little Bear poked its head out and asked with concern.

“How strange! With my cultivation, I should be immune to heat and cold—how did I almost fall flat on my face?” Samuel Brooks cursed inwardly, thinking, “Could someone be using a curse to try to kill me?”

“It must be those people on the mountain, casting a spell to kill you, then dismembering your body, scattering your remains, and finally setting up a fake grave to pretend to be your direct disciples and take over our temple.” Little Bear seized the chance to sow discord, hoping to get a new supervisor, and said, “Why not let me stay on the mountain to watch over things, so they won’t dig up your grave in the future?”

“What nonsense?” Samuel Brooks stuffed it into his pocket and said, “Don’t even think about slacking off. I still need your bear nose to sniff out demons everywhere.”

——

Meanwhile.

At the edge of the Guangshan region, in Luyuan County.

Amidst the mountains and forests, atop a rock.

A young man in black robes sat cross-legged, his expression cold and stern.

“Shishu, did you curse him to death?”

Suddenly, a strong and fierce tiger appeared in the woods, speaking human words, its gaze fierce, but its tail was broken.

The young man in black opened his eyes, expressionless.

“He’s dead.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m dead.”

Suddenly, blood streamed from the young man’s seven orifices. He fell backward and collapsed.

The tiger’s eyes, which had just shown the joy of revenge, suddenly froze as it saw its shishu fall backward.

“Curses are mysterious—no trace of the target.”

The young man in black, barely breathing, uttered these words and then died.

George Parker, overwhelmed with grief and anger, let out a long howl to the sky.

Then, with tears in his eyes, he ate his corpse.

——

At the foot of Fengyuan Mountain, Samuel Brooks still felt something was off about his momentary daze just now.

“What’s going on?”

At that moment, the Chaos Pearl between his brows trembled!

A surge of incredibly refined true qi flowed out from within the Chaos Pearl!

Samuel Brooks felt his cultivation instantly increase, equivalent to five years of hard training!

And in the midst of it all, a new insight appeared in his mind—he comprehended a new technique!

“Ming River Curse?”

Chapter 012: The Daoist Who Always Walks Ahead of You!

The Daxia Dynasty, Qingming Prefecture, Guangshan Region, Nanquan County.

This place is two hundred li from Fengyuan Mountain, at the edge of the Guangshan region.

On the official road, to the right side, a person walked slowly.

It was a young Daoist, tall and upright, with handsome features.

He walked along the road, his steps unhurried, yet his pace was not slow.

As he walked, the breeze blew and dust rose, yet his Daoist robe remained spotless.

Only his face was a bit pale, looking lost and dejected.

Yesterday, he had suddenly gained five years of cultivation and obtained the Ming River Curse.

With a thought, he understood the whole story.

Someone must have tried to curse him to death, but suffered backlash and died instead.

The Chaos Pearl, in the unseen realm, had seized a Ming River Curse and absorbed the other’s cultivation, refining it and feeding it back to him, increasing his own cultivation by five years.

After realizing this, Samuel Brooks felt a deep sense of regret.

Who exactly had he killed?

Where did that person die?

No head, no evidence, not even an identity—how could he claim a reward from the authorities?

Moreover, by calculation, killing the demon cultivator Qiufeng had only gained him half a year’s cultivation. This time, he gained five years, meaning this person’s cultivation was ten times higher than Qiufeng’s!

Qiufeng’s bounty was thirty thousand taels of silver, so wouldn’t this unknown demon be worth three hundred thousand taels?

Rounding up, that’s nearly a million taels—by this reckoning, he’d lost a million taels of silver for nothing!

“Samuel Brooks, how much farther to the Yongyao River?”

At that moment, a furry little beast poked its head out from the black cloth bag at his waist, its bright eyes shining, its voice childlike but its tone dejected.

After learning of this, Little Bear had lost its appetite and was gloomy.

How much silver had they lost for nothing this time?