Chapter Thirteen: Righteousness Seals the Demon

At this moment, the Qian family manor was enveloped in silence, not a sound to be heard. The heiress of the Qian household seemed stunned, staring blankly at her severed arm, from which black fumes rose. Master Qian and Madam Qian both had their mouths agape—well, they already were, but now their eyes widened even further in disbelief.

Only the chubby boy beneath the table continued gnawing at Xu Zhe’s leg, producing a series of crunching noises.
“I can’t bite through—how is that possible?” Blood dripped from the boy’s mouth as he spoke in confusion.
“Haoran righteous energy, tempered flesh… How could someone at the Qi Refining stage possibly possess such strength?” Master Qian seemed to regain his composure, staring dumbly at Xu Zhe. Though his mouth remained open, his throat now emitted speech.

“Eat him. If we devour him, we will become kings,” Madam Qian snarled, her eyes fixed greedily on Xu Zhe.
“But… but he’s protected by righteous energy, his body is fortified…” Master Qian hesitated, fear creeping into his voice.
“Useless! We’ve waited thousands of years, and finally one appears. If we don’t eat him, others will snatch him from us!” Madam Qian erupted in fury, her face flushed, veins bulging, her voice sharp and shrill.
“Useless, useless…”

The chubby boy poked his head out from under the table, his neck elongating until his face was right before Master Qian, grinning foolishly. “You’re a weakling.”
“No, I’m not! I’m not!” Master Qian roared, his anger boiling over.

With a thunderous crash, Master Qian overturned the table and, his gaping maw wide, charged at Xu Zhe.

Xu Zhe sighed inwardly.
I knew it would come to this. With tastes as extreme as theirs, devouring even insects, how could they possibly let a handsome man slip by?
The Qian family are not good people.

“Righteous Energy Seals Demons!”
Xu Zhe’s voice rang out deep and solemn. Spiritual energy surged within his dantian and raced along his meridians, enveloping his entire body.
There is righteous energy between heaven and earth—it dispels demons, slays monsters, and shatters evil.

Bang!
His fist shot forward. Master Qian hadn’t even reached him before a surge of righteous energy struck him, sending him flying and tearing his body apart midair. His remains scattered upon the ground, with black fumes billowing forth.

“This cannot be!” Madam Qian screamed as she rushed at Xu Zhe, her piercing voice echoing throughout the manor.

The Qian heiress finally seemed to recover, her remaining hand’s black nails growing madly—five deadly black spikes, slashing at Xu Zhe.

Xu Zhe frowned, preparing to dodge.
Suddenly, a slender shadow swept past. The chubby boy’s neck, transformed into the body of a giant serpent, wrapped around Xu Zhe’s feet and wound its way up, until his round, cherubic face grinned foolishly at Xu Zhe. “Handsome man.”

Good taste.

Xu Zhe opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly felt a faint sting across his body.
The Qian heiress’s five black nails had already pierced his righteous energy shield, shattering it and pressing like knives against his chest, breaking the skin.

---

“You… you dared break my righteous energy?” Xu Zhe stared at the Qian heiress in shock.

She ignored him, turning to Madam Qian and shouting, “Quick! His righteous energy is broken; bite through his skull!”

“Ha ha ha…” Madam Qian rushed forward, her head almost detached and hanging over her back, save for a blood-soaked maw bristling with sharp, serrated teeth, lunging straight for Xu Zhe’s head.

“Ah, you shouldn’t have broken my righteous energy,” Xu Zhe murmured, shaking his head and closing his eyes.

The Scripture of Sealing Demons with Righteous Energy seals demons with righteousness.
When righteousness is broken, it unleashes the demon within.

Boom!
Spiritual energy in his dantian surged, churning like a storm. The drop of dragon’s blood still clinging to the wall of his dantian was drawn in, and the once upright, masculine energy now roiled with wild chaos.

“Aaaah…”
The chubby boy’s neck, wrapped around Xu Zhe, suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream.
A violent force was tearing at him.

Xu Zhe’s eyes snapped open—gold and crimson lightning seemed to flicker across his gaze.

A torrent of murderous energy swept through the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of dull thuds—like a serpent, the chubby boy’s neck exploded into several segments, his head falling to the floor, rolling before dissolving into black mist that spread throughout the chamber.

“You…”
The Qian heiress, terror-stricken, could not finish her sentence before Xu Zhe seized her five black nails and pulled sharply.

Crack!
The nails remained intact, but her entire arm was ripped off.

“Roar!”
Almost simultaneously, Madam Qian’s blood-soaked maw descended. Xu Zhe flung the severed arm and black nails like a thick, short spear directly into her mouth, piercing through her skull and pinning her to the floor.

“No, this is impossible! A human at the Qi Refining stage can’t be so strong,” the Qian heiress cried, trembling in terror despite her demonic nature.

Bang!
Her only answer was a fist the size of a sandbag, crashing into her forehead and reducing her to a haze of black vapor that dissipated into the air.

Silence returned to the Qian manor.
The black mist continued to swirl.

---

On the floor lay two arms with black nails—one pinned through a skull.
Another skull lay nearby, belonging to Master Qian.
Beside it were several severed neck segments, remnants of the chubby boy.

A family of four, together in ruin.

Whoosh—
A gentle breeze swept through the room.

Xu Zhe’s eyes brightened suddenly, his body swayed, nearly collapsing.

His spiritual energy was spent.
But the Scripture of Sealing Demons with Righteous Energy was powerful indeed.

It was his first actual combat since his soul returned to his body, and his opponents were four demons, each as strong as an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Fortunately, this scripture had dual effects—when righteousness was broken, madness erupted, pushing him beyond his limits.

Otherwise, tonight’s outcome might have been uncertain.

“This place grows more intriguing by the moment. These demons, born from murderous energy, possess intelligence and the strength of early Foundation Establishment. In the Celestial Domain, such beings are known only from books.”

A smile appeared on Xu Zhe’s face.

These demons were unusual—their essence was pure yin and murderous energy, yet they could assume human form. Ordinary cultivators, unless their divine sense was strong enough, could never detect them.

They grew stronger by devouring cultivators, and could transform devoured parts into their own bodies, using them as weapons.

Such as the Qian heiress’s black-nailed arm, the heads of Master and Madam Qian, and the chubby boy’s snake-like neck.

The crucial point—

“Legend has it some demons conceal rare treasures within their bodies. It’s a pity this Qian family had none. If only there were more demons, I could test whether the descriptions in the books are accurate.”

Xu Zhe murmured quietly.

Bang—

Suddenly, a dull thud sounded from outside the door.

He turned to see a middle-aged man slumped at the entrance of the Qian manor, struggling to crawl away.

Seeing Xu Zhe, the man’s face turned ashen, and he cried out in terror, “Don’t come any closer… stay away from me!”

Xu Zhe paused, then strode forward:

“Brother, you didn’t hurt yourself, did you? Come, let me help you inside and check your injuries.”