Chapter Fifty-Four: Soul Ablaze

The Six Paths of Demon Suppression Sutra.
The first technique: Blood God Art.
Blood Suppresses Mountains and Rivers.
It is also known as the foremost divine power of the Demon Suppression Division.
The entry requirement: blood refinement five times.
Potential: limitless!
The stronger the blood energy, the greater the power of the technique.
It can be said to be the bane of all monsters, demons, and ghosts.
In the eyes of the Demon Suppression Division, there are no so-called deities.
There are only powerful evil entities, stealing humanity’s faith and occupying the fortune of the human race.
Thus, countless immortal sages and martial saints developed this divine art to suppress the mountains and rivers with their blood.
A mysterious force emanated from Bai Li Feihong.
His terrifying blood energy blazed like the scorching sun, burning all in its path.
The entire Chu Village was enveloped by Bai Li Feihong’s Blood Suppresses Mountains and Rivers divine power.
Any wicked soul who saw Bai Li Feihong felt as if a radiant sun was incinerating them.
Solar flames ignited their souls.
“Ah~~”
The great-grandmother of Chu Village was the first to react.
She struggled desperately, breaking free from her decayed body.
A distorted, spectral form resembling a tree demon emerged from her corpse, engulfed in raging flames.
In the inferno, it turned to ashes.
The tadpole-shaped black markings on Steward Chu Feng’s body turned into black smoke, attempting to resist the suppression of the terrifying blood energy.
But as Chu Feng’s soul burned, the black markings became rootless duckweed, annihilated by the blood energy.
All the remaining men of Chu Village
had their souls scorched in the flames.
Evil demons—
are not defined by form.
Harboring evil thoughts in the heart makes one a demon as well.
“Huff, huff...”
Bai Li Feihong collapsed to the ground, gasping loudly.
It was his first experience of the marvels of divine power.
His body felt a sense of emptiness, yet with eight cycles of blood refinement, his terrifying blood essence was bottomless, and using the divine art had not harmed him.
His golden marrow continued to produce ever more powerful blood energy, and a cool stream circulated through his organs, rapidly restoring his vitality.
After several breaths, he was back at his peak.
He only felt hungry—
very hungry.
He retrieved the Black Soul Jade.
Chu Village had now fallen into silence.
He took out the Demon Suppression token and activated its signal.
A surge of energy shot straight into the sky,
forming the unique emblem of the Demon Suppression Division.

This matter had already surpassed Bai Li Feihong’s ability to handle alone.
He needed to call for reinforcements.
“Master Chu, Black Heaven Deity.”
Evil cults, cherry blossom warriors, overseas cults, the influence of other nations—all these factors were intertwined, making it impossible for him to uncover the whole case by himself.
“The kappa’s corpse remains, so the task can still be submitted.”
“The great-grandmother and Steward Chu Feng of Chu Village, under the illumination of my blood energy, now carry neither demonic aura nor lingering souls.”
Bai Li Feihong sighed.
He checked his skill points.
832!
He had gained 679 points.
The bulk came from the kappa monster, the great-grandmother, and Steward Chu Feng—almost two-thirds of the total.
The remaining third was provided by the villagers of Chu Village.
Does killing people increase skill points?
Bai Li Feihong’s expression was peculiar.
The criteria for gaining skill points had always been a mystery.
He could not figure it out.
He simply ignored it.
He entered Master Chu’s mansion, found the kitchen, and cooked a meal for himself.
He ate his fill.
The Demon Suppression Division would need some time to respond to the signal.
He might as well satisfy his hunger in the meantime.
“Refining apertures, I must hasten my progress.”
“If I master aperture refinement, I could draw vital energy from heaven and earth, replenishing myself without needing to eat so much after every battle.”
At present, his energy still came from food.
He could cultivate to this stage only because of skill points.
If he’d had to rely solely on experience points for advancement, the sheer amount of food required would have bankrupted him.
A quarter hour later—
A white figure descended from the sky.
She surveyed the silent Chu Village, her brows knitting in concern.
Sensing the chaotic vital energy and faint traces of blood aura lingering, Gongyang Yan was astonished.
“Blood Suppresses Mountains and Rivers?”
This divine power required at least five cycles of blood refinement to be cast.
She herself had completed five cycles.
Her sixth was stuck.
The marvel of blood lies at the source of the body.
With each cycle of refinement, one gains dreadful power.
“Kappa monster, tree demon parasite, evil deity’s secret power?”
“Cherry blossom warriors, musketeers from the Rafa Empire—this village is truly strange.”
Yet, what does it matter if it’s strange?
The residents of Chu Village had all had their souls ignited by the Blood Suppresses Mountains and Rivers divine power.
Their souls burned to death.

Gongyang Yan stepped forward, traversing the air, and appeared before Bai Li Feihong.
“Lord Guardian, care to taste my cooking?”
Bai Li Feihong drank his wine and flashed a brilliant smile.
For a moment, Gongyang Yan felt hesitant.
This young Demon Suppression Envoy before her possessed a blood refinement talent far surpassing her own.
“Organ refinement?”
Gongyang Yan sat opposite Bai Li Feihong, her tone filled with surprise.
“The Six Paths of Demon Suppression Sutra names the six refinements of the mortal body as the first realm: body refinement. Body refinement is blood refinement, as blood energy circulates throughout the body. Whether refining bone, marrow, or organs, these are all benefits brought by blood refinement.”
Bai Li Feihong set down the wine jug. He knew his cultivation could not be hidden from the Guardian before him.
If cultivation is viewed as the evolution of life,
Gongyang Yan had already entered the second stage, while he was still in the middle of the first stage.
The marvel of the primordial embryo involves the vital energy of heaven and earth.
This is where the martial path truly takes flight.
Blood refinement, bone refinement, marrow refinement, organ refinement, aperture refinement, and spirit refinement—all are processes of building the mortal foundation.
But the foundation is the hardest to temper.
Without great perseverance, one cannot endure the solitude required to spend decades refining the body.
The marvel of the primordial embryo and divine powers is boundlessly profound.
Compared to the wonders of heaven and earth, in the eyes of many martial cultivators, the human body is but a small pond.
Gongyang Yan was deeply shocked.
For Bai Li Feihong to utter such words meant body refinement was already transparent in his eyes.
Aperture and spirit refinement would not be obstacles for him.
She herself had never practiced the Six Paths of Demon Suppression Sutra.
Yet she had given the only transmission jade slip to Bai Li Feihong.
“Back to the point—what happened in Chu Village?”
“The account books of several opium dens in Fairness Town record: ‘Chu, takes forty percent of profits.’ This ‘Chu’ refers to Chu Village and Master Chu.”
Bai Li Feihong did not look up, continuing to eat his meat.
His blood refinement technique circulated, converting all food consumed into blood essence.
Blood essence is precious—
the source of this method.
“The boss behind the opium smuggling?”
“Master Chu was involved, but whether he’s the real mastermind is uncertain. He is not in Chu Village. I suspect he left after the incident in Fairness Town. However, he just now contacted his steward Chu Feng by some means, so Master Chu should still be in the Dongbin region.”
Bai Li Feihong speculated.
“Also, Steward Chu Feng displayed anomalies—he had no martial arts traces, but when he used the evil technique, his body was covered in black tadpole patterns and immediately possessed peak bone refinement strength.”
“Possession technique?”
Gongyang Yan blurted out.
“Chu Feng is a follower of the Black Heaven Deity.”
“Black Heaven Deity? Impossible!!”
Gongyang Yan’s face changed dramatically, and she stood up, agitated.