Chapter 1: I’ve Already Cultivated Demonic Arts, And You Still Want To Morally Blackmail Me?

The moon was dark and the wind was high.

At the foot of Little Cool Mountain, beneath thick layers of tree shadows, rows of dilapidated, cramped, and ugly tile-roofed houses lay packed together like the nest of bandits.

All around, miasma filled the air, demonic energy surged, the atmosphere was suffocating and chilling, making people feel terrified.

“Puchi!”

“Puchi!”

“Puchi!”

Under an old tree, a young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes, eight feet tall, handsome and striking, though his expression held a trace of laziness, sat in a dark black robe, harmless as could be, carefully sharpening the short blade in his hand.

“Junior brother, what are you doing?”

“Sharpening a blade this late at night?”

“Are you preparing to slaughter a pig to eat?”

A pure white fox, stained with faint blood and looking like it had messy-colored fur, leapt from afar a few times and landed before the young man, Xu Gu. Its pair of round big eyes were filled with curiosity.

As it spoke, it also looked somewhat greedy.

These days, it had eaten only human flesh, and it was getting a little tired of it. Occasionally improving its meal by eating some human-made braised pork or Dongpo pork elbow was also a good choice.

“Hush, don’t wake Master.”

“Otherwise, if Master knows I’m going to kill him, he will definitely feel sad.”

Xu Gu placed his hand before his mouth and whispered, “You know senior brother. Senior brother is a filial person and can’t bear to see our benevolent master feeling sad.”

“Ah?!”

The fox demon, who had been a little sleepy and only casually asked out of curiosity, suddenly woke up completely. All its fur stood up, panic-stricken, making dozens of tiny motions in a second trying to hide its nervousness.

The white fox demon asked cautiously, “Do you really have to kill Master?”

“Otherwise? Kill a pig?” Xu Gu looked harmless. “What is this… do you have an opinion?”

“No, senior… senior brother, I mean… if you kill Master, then you can’t kill me, right?” the white fox demon quickly said timidly.

“We’ll see.” Xu Gu said lightly.

“Ah?” The white fox demon’s face turned pale, sweating profusely.

Inside the largest courtyard of Little Cool Mountain, lights shone brightly, and screams rang endlessly.

“Damn it! Your chastity, is it really that easy to give away to someone else?”

The Ashbone Daoist’s expression twisted viciously as he grabbed the woman on the bed by the neck. The woman, like someone resigned to despair, stripped her clothes, revealing large patches of pale skin, undressing while crying.

Hearing the Ashbone Daoist’s words, she turned ashen. Seeing her senior sister, who had just been beaten to death for resisting the Ashbone Daoist, lying under the bed, her face twisted into an even more sorrowful smile.

“Resist!”

“Or do you still need me to teach you how?” the Ashbone Daoist roared.

But the woman never moved, her face pale and numb, letting him do whatever he wanted.

“Damn it, truly a bunch of useless things! So boring!”

A few breaths later, the Ashbone Daoist looked utterly disappointed and cursed aloud.

A streak of black light rose from his hand. He forcefully exerted strength, directly snapping the woman’s neck. A thread of black mist was drawn from her body and entered his own.

The Ashbone Daoist’s originally old and weak body suddenly looked refreshed, appearing much younger.

But he still wasn’t satisfied.

“Go call Xu Gu in!”

The disciples guarding outside finally breathed a sigh of relief, their bodies softening after being too tense earlier. They hurriedly ran out respectfully to summon Xu Gu.

The Ashbone Daoist was a demonic cultivator. Of course, everyone on Little Cool Mountain was a demonic cultivator. His cultivation method, named Great Demon Transmutation Method, was extremely cruel, using women as cauldrons and men as human pills during cultivation.

He needed supplementation once every month.

Now, not being called meant avoiding disaster for another month and earning their lives back. Naturally, these gatekeeping disciples felt relieved.

“So soon, I can finally repay my master?”

Hearing the Ashbone Daoist calling him, Xu Gu looked slightly excited. He put away the whetstone and ring-hilted blade and followed the two disciples.

“Senior brother, you seem excited?”

The two guiding disciples were puzzled.

“Master saved my life and taught me cultivation, letting me live like a demon. I always think about repaying him. Now that I finally have the chance, of course I’m excited.” Xu Gu smiled and explained.

The two disciples immediately grew solemn with admiration.

Then, exchanging glances, their hearts silently said:

“So senior brother… is actually stupid.”

Little Cool Mountain wasn’t big.

Though it was a gathering place for demonic cultivators, as everyone knew, demonic cultivators were not welcomed in this world, no better than rats in the sewers, hunted by all. Most demonic cultivators were either fleeing or preparing to flee. Naturally, they would not make their base overly grand or elegant.

Therefore, Xu Gu walked only a few steps before reaching the residence of his master, the Ashbone Daoist.

“Disciple Xu Gu greets Master.”

Xu Gu’s expression was respectful, his voice soft, even tinged with excitement and eagerness.

“Hahaha, you are indeed the most filial disciple! Come in quickly!”

The Ashbone Daoist heard the excitement and anticipation in Xu Gu’s voice and laughed loudly in satisfaction. “You have passed my test. Today I shall teach you the secret to building your foundation!”

The atmosphere between master and disciple seemed harmonious.

The Ashbone Daoist looked at the obedient Xu Gu, his smile never fading.

If someone else saw this, they might even think the scene was warm and touching—a perfect model of a kind master and a filial disciple.

Then—

Xu Gu smiled, suddenly pulling out a short blade from his sleeve. A flash of cold light burst forth, the blade razor-sharp, even coated with poison, stabbing fiercely toward the Ashbone Daoist.

He had followed the Ashbone Daoist for more than two years and, being a demonic cultivator, progressed with astonishing speed. He had already reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. His power was formidable, and with such a sudden ambush, the attack was terrifying.

At this moment, the Ashbone Daoist had never expected that his most obedient and demonic disciple would suddenly ambush him. He hurriedly retracted the hand he was about to use to ambush Xu Gu himself and tried to block.

“You little bastard, how dare you be so despicable and poisonous, and attack your master!”

The Ashbone Daoist roared, barely blocking the strike.

“Master flatters me.”

Though the strike had failed, Xu Gu wasn’t panicked. After all, he was only at Qi Refining seventh level, while the other was already at foundation establishment. The gap was enormous, and the opponent was his master, who knew all his techniques.

“You!”

The Ashbone Daoist felt a chill in his heart. He didn’t know why, but suddenly his disciple seemed so extremely demonic. Committing the heaven-defying act of killing one’s master—this brat not only felt at ease, he was even proud?

“This child cannot be allowed to live!” His eyes flashed coldly as green light surged from his pupils. A chilling aura swept from all directions.

The temperature dropped instantly. Frost formed around them, and the trees in the courtyard withered.

Toxic cold spread.

“Boy, you really think that after following me for two years, your wings have hardened? Today I’ll teach you something. All demonic cultivators lick blood off blades—every one of us has backup plans.”

Finishing his words, the Ashbone Daoist charged like a chaotic beast. Toxic cold surged around him, his image flickering.

It was his ultimate technique—Cold Beast Charge—capable of releasing intense cold poison, combining attack, defense, and escape into one. It was extremely powerful.

Used with his foundation establishment cultivation, the might was unimaginable.

He had never used it in front of others, hoping to one day defeat an enemy by surprise.

However—

Xu Gu’s expression didn’t change. He simply struck out with a palm.

Boom!

The Ashbone Daoist’s body flew backward, blood spraying everywhere.

In front of him, nine oxen and two tigers stood, all with blood-red eyes, locking onto him fiercely.

“This is…”

The Ashbone Daoist was terrified, staring wide-eyed at the roof where a massive hole had just been torn open. The nine oxen and two tigers had dropped down from there and tackled him.

But how could such beasts be on Little Cool Mountain?

“Master, though your humble disciple is unworthy, he is also a demonic cultivator.” Xu Gu shook his head.

He was a demonic cultivator, so of course he had a backup plan.

These nine oxen and two tigers were what he had prepared.

As a transmigrator, naturally he had a cheat. His cheat was simple: collecting fragment pieces of word traits in daily life, then fusing them into talent traits.

His first talent trait was none other than “Nine Oxen and Two Tigers.”

At first, Xu Gu thought that activating this trait would give him the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, or a body like that. But the result was the ability to command nine oxen and two tigers.

It was somewhat improper.

“So you actually learned beast taming. No wonder you’ve been sneaking into the deep mountains lately. You hid this well.” The Ashbone Daoist’s face was iron blue, his heart trembling. He felt fear for the first time, yet he didn’t plan to accept his fate, his eyes flickering as he searched for a way out.

“Master, why struggle? If you die by my blade, wouldn’t that spare you much pain? Your disciple truly cannot bear to see you suffer.” Xu Gu said solemnly.

“Cannot bear? You… I have an early class at eight tomorrow…” The Ashbone Daoist cursed madly upon hearing this, breaking down inside, wanting to tear Xu Gu apart.

This was infuriating!

He was going to kill me, yet he says it’s for my own good?

“It’s getting late. Your disciple doesn’t want to stay up.” Xu Gu gripped the ring-hilted blade, expression resolute. “Master, please fulfill me.”

“Xu Gu, I am your master! I am officially appointed, serving as a guardian in Great Cool Demon Cavern. If you kill me, the demonic path won’t accept you, and the righteous path won’t accept you either!”

The Ashbone Daoist’s expression changed drastically, resorting to emotional persuasion mixed with threat.

Xu Gu smiled as usual, gentle. “Master, you’re confused. Are you morally blackmailing us demonic cultivators?”

The Ashbone Daoist froze.

Just who here is the real demon?!

(End of this chapter)