No demons in all realms

Chapter 35 Overwhelming Demonic Energy

As he walked to the entrance of the academy, he heard footsteps behind him. It wasn't just one person; it was a group of people.

Su Yang stopped but did not turn around.

"Sir!" A shout came from behind, a mix of men and women, young and old, their voices surging like a tide.

Those were all the students and teachers of Guanghan Academy, more than a thousand people, who poured out of the academy and stood at the gate, a dark mass. Some were crying, some were shouting, and some stood there with their mouths open, unable to speak.

Su Yang stood there with his back to them for a long time without turning around or saying a word.

Then he walked away.

A sobbing sound came from behind me, growing louder and louder, like a river bursting its banks.

Su Yang walked away, and the crying faded into the distance, gradually becoming inaudible.

In his heart, he said goodbye to Guanghan Academy, goodbye to Qingniu Village, and goodbye to the past ten years...

He walked into the mountains without looking back.

Su Yang chose a very deep mountain.

The mountain was covered with old trees, their trunks so thick that two people couldn't wrap their arms around them, their canopies blocking out the sun completely. The mountain was inhabited by wild animals, miasma, and sheer cliffs; ordinary people couldn't climb it.

Su Yang found a cave halfway up the mountain. The entrance was small and mostly covered by vines, so it was hard to spot unless you looked closely. The cave was spacious, about two or three zhang in size, dry and well-ventilated, with a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground that felt soft underfoot.

He sat down in the cave, facing the entrance, and began his seclusion, his goal being the Realm of True Immortals.

Ye Jing said she was waiting for him in the Upper Realm, waiting for him to break through to the True Immortal Realm.

Su Yang didn't know how difficult it was to reach the True Immortal Realm, but he knew he had to achieve it.

The days of cultivation are monotonous and tedious. Every day, I start meditating before dawn, circulating my righteous energy within my body, refining my cultivation and spiritual power little by little.

The Thousand-Pound Fan rested on his lap. The first restriction on the fan had been lifted, but the second restriction remained.

That restriction was more solid and heavier than the first one, like a mountain pressing down on him. He had to use his righteous energy to grind it down little by little until the mountain collapsed and the rocks crumbled.

As the days passed, Su Yang's cultivation level also increased day by day. He stabilized at the early stage of the Celestial Immortal realm and began to move towards the middle stage.

The righteous energy within his body circulated more and more smoothly, and his perception range expanded from two miles to five miles. Within a radius of five miles, he could perceive the trembling of every leaf, the flow of every stream, and the chirping of every bird.

He didn't know how long he had been in the mountains. There was no day or night in the cave; he could only judge time by his senses—when the flowers bloomed, it was spring, and when the leaves fell, it was autumn.

It has been a year since I left Guanghan Academy.

His cultivation level had already reached the threshold of the mid-stage Celestial Immortal realm, just one step away from achieving it.

That day, Su Yang meditated in the cave as usual, his righteous energy flowing through his body, and the second restriction on the Thousand-Pound Fan was slowly loosening.

He could sense that the barrier was about to give way, like a wall about to collapse; if pushed just a little more, it would crumble.

Just then, his righteous spirit suddenly trembled.

Someone is coming, not one person, but three people. The three people are coming up from the foot of the mountain, walking very slowly, as if they are looking for something.

Su Yang's perception extended to the three people, and he sensed their cultivation levels: two were at the early stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, and one was at the middle stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm.

Su Yang frowned, ignored him, and continued to circulate his righteous energy.

But the three people drew closer and closer, until they finally stopped outside the cave entrance.

"There's a cave here," a hoarse voice said.

"Go in and take a look, maybe there's something good there," another voice said sinisterly.

The three of them pushed aside the vines and entered the cave.

As soon as they entered the cave, they saw Su Yang, a young man dressed in white, sitting cross-legged on fallen leaves deep in the cave, with a black and red fan on his lap, his eyes wrapped in gauze, and he remained motionless.

The three of them paused for a moment, then laughed.

"He's blind," the hoarse voice said. "He's even meditating with his eyes closed, putting on quite a show."

"Early stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm." The person with the sinister voice sensed Su Yang's cultivation level, and their eyes lit up. "A blind man, early stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, is in seclusion in this deep mountain forest. He must have something good on him."

The three people's thoughts were written all over their faces; Su Yang could guess what they were thinking without even using his senses.

He'd heard of murder and robbery before, but today he'd witnessed it firsthand.

"Fellow Daoists," Su Yang's voice was calm, "I am in seclusion and it is inconvenient to disturb you. Please leave."

The three people looked at each other but did not move.

"Blind man, it must be so boring for you to be all alone in this deep mountain forest." The mid-stage Tribulation Realm cultivator took a step forward, his hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist. "Hand over what you have, and we'll spare your life."

Su Yang did not speak.

His righteous energy was circulating within his body, and he was on the verge of a breakthrough, just a little bit short. He didn't want to make a move at this moment, and didn't want to fail at the last minute.

"I told you, please leave." Su Yang's voice deepened.

The three people still didn't move.

The cultivator in the mid-stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm drew his sword, its blade gleaming coldly in the dim cave. He walked towards Su Yang at a leisurely pace, with a hint of mockery in his voice.

"What are you pretending for, you blind man?" Before he could even raise his knife, Su Yang moved.

The Thousand-Pound Fan suddenly unfolded in his hand, and a dark red light burst forth from the fan surface, like a blood moon rising from the cave.

That overwhelming murderous aura surged forth once more, this time not passively, but actively, driven by Su Yang.

The three demonic cultivators didn't even have time to scream before they were engulfed by the baleful aura.

Their bodies flew out like pieces of paper, crashed into the cave wall, fell down, and landed on the ground, motionless.

They're all dead! They were all suppressed by Su Yang in the blink of an eye.

Su Yang remained seated, still holding the Thousand-Pound Fan in his hand, the dark red light on its surface not yet completely dissipated.

His heart was pounding violently, not out of fear or tension, but out of the unease that comes from being interrupted in his cultivation. It was as if someone had grabbed his throat halfway through a sentence, leaving him unable to breathe, stuck there, feeling suffocated.

He took a deep breath, trying to re-enter a meditative state, but he couldn't.

That malevolent energy surged wildly within him, like an enraged snake rampaging through his flesh and blood, unable to find a way out.

His heartbeat grew faster and faster, each beat like a heavy hammer pounding on his head, causing him to feel dizzy and his vision to go black, even though his vision was already black to begin with.

Su Yang covered his head with his hands.

It hurts so much, it's excruciating.

The pain wasn't physical; it was a pain that pierced his very soul, a pain that seemed to drill into his very bones, as if something was tearing at his brain, trying to rip him in two.

He remembered what Ye Jing had told him before she left: "Stay calm."

Ye Jing could tell there was something wrong with the murderous aura emanating from him; she had noticed it long ago.

But he just couldn't stay calm.

The lingering scent of the three demonic cultivators' blood still hung in the air. The smell seeped into his nostrils, irritating his soul and making his head throb even more.

"I cannot become a demon."

Su Yang gritted his teeth and repeated the same sentence in his heart, "I promised A-Jing that I wouldn't fall into demonic possession, and I must hold on."

He covered his head, stood up from the ground, staggered and almost fell, but used his Thousand-Pound Fan to steady himself and walked step by step toward the cave entrance.

The sunlight outside the cave shone on his face, stinging his eyes. Although he couldn't see, he could feel the light, like needles pricking his senses.

He stood at the cave entrance, panting heavily.

A mountain breeze blew by, carrying a certain scent.

Su Yang's senses followed the scent, extending to the foot of the mountain and to the small village at its foot.

His body stiffened.

The smell of blood was so strong, it was almost tangible.

Su Yang ran down the mountain like a madman. He ran very fast, as fast as the wind. Tree branches tore his clothes and stones hurt his feet, but he didn't care about any of it.

He just ran and ran, until he reached the foot of the mountain and that small village.

Then he stopped.

Corpses! Corpses are everywhere.

Men, women, old and young, lay scattered in pools of blood. Some were lying in the yard, some by the stove, and some on the edge of the field. An old man was holding a child. Both of them were dead. The old man's hands were still tightly wrapped around the child's waist, and they couldn't be pried apart.

Su Yang stood there, trembling all over.

He knew who did it—those three demonic cultivators!

They didn't wander into the cave by mistake; they slaughtered the entire village before going up the mountain.

Su Yang's headache worsened. The images of the corpses were transmitted into his mind through his senses, crystal clear, with every detail crystal clear.

The old man still had half a steamed bun in his pocket, half a pot of porridge in the stove, and the hoe on the ridge was still stuck in the soil.

Their lives were abruptly interrupted, just as his spiritual practice was abruptly interrupted.

The murderous aura emanating from Su Yang grew stronger and stronger. The red and black aura surged out of his body, swirling around him like smoke, becoming thicker and denser.

His eyes were also changing; something was churning deep within his pupils, like magma, like flames, like a ferocious beast about to break free of its cage.

He clutched his head and roared.

The sound was not human; it was like that of a wild beast, like a wounded wild beast howling in the night, mournful and desolate, sending chills down one's spine.