Chapter 72 - 43: Sweeping 3
The bedroom floor was littered with scattered photographs, most of them showing a couple and a little girl, or pictures of the family of three. On the desk, one could see papers strewn about, densely covered in rambling, incoherent words.
Stepping closer, Su Zhou raised the Long Spear burning with Spiritual Fire. He lowered its tip toward the middle-aged man’s forehead. The temperature-less Spiritual Fire touched the man’s skin but didn’t burn him, as if it wasn’t even there.
’Not an Evil One?’
The feedback from his Divine Technique made Su Zhou subconsciously raise the Long Spear a little. He seemed to want to get closer and assess the situation.
But in that instant, the Dark Shadow that filled the entire ninth-floor apartment suddenly began to churn!
With the sound of rushing water, amorphous, shadowy tentacles shot out from all directions, roiling and lunging violently toward Su Zhou in the center of the bedroom!
SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT—
In an instant, a black substance like shadow, like sludge, covered Su Zhou’s body, spreading continuously as if trying to engulf and corrode him. The tentacles’ strength was surprisingly great. A normal person would have lost all ability to resist in a moment, their joints torn apart, reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.
The shadow even contained a cutting force like a sharp blade. The sludge surged, and the condensed black Spiritual Power formed a Light Blade that slashed viciously at Su Zhou’s neck!
CRACK.
But the moment it struck, it was the blade—one sharp enough to decapitate a person in an instant—that shattered.
"Heretical demon!"
At that moment, triangular, violet-cyan patterns appeared on Su Zhou’s neck where he was struck. They formed an interlocking chain, creating an incredibly sturdy structure. The black Spirit Blade’s attack hadn’t even left a white mark!
The instant after the Spirit Blade shattered, a low shout rang out. A torrent of violet-cyan Spiritual Power erupted, blasting cracks into the black shadow enveloping him and causing it to swell rapidly like a balloon.
Pure Spiritual Light burst forth from the bulging shadow. The Demon Fire was burning away the murky sludge, bit by bit, converting it into pure Spiritual Essence.
Su Zhou’s cold, vertical pupils appeared through the cascading ash. He held his Long Spear, staring at the middle-aged man who was still asleep before him.
—In an era before the resurgence of Spiritual Qi, no newly born Evil Demon could possess power greater than Su Zhou, who had already achieved a Perfection Awakening.
With a sweep of his spear, a violent wind carrying Spiritual Power purged the darkness from the room. Su Zhou strode forward, shattering the last few Dark Shadow tentacles still trying to entangle him, turning them into dispersing black smoke.
He had originally intended to run his spear straight through the unassuming middle-aged man before him—the clear origin of all the anomalies, and likely the Primordial Body corrupted by the Dusk True Demon that had murdered at least nine innocent people. But in the end, after a moment’s thought, Su Zhou stopped and lowered his spear.
He reached out a hand—one burning with the ’Evil-Devouring Demon Fire’—and placed it on the forehead of the middle-aged man who had just narrowly escaped death. Su Zhou closed his eyes and began to concentrate.
The violet-cyan Spiritual Fire instantly turned into ripples like water, seeping into the man through his seven orifices to explore the secrets within his body.
A moment later, Su Zhou opened his eyes again, his gaze filled with astonishment.
’What...’
’How could this be?’
He raised his hand, his expression incredibly complex. And at that moment, Yara’s voice echoed from the abyss.
"Su Zhou, faced with this situation, what do you intend to do?"
Su Zhou let out a long breath. The space between his furrowed brows had initially been filled with pure rage, but soon, his brow smoothed, and his gaze turned resolute.
"Wait."
Su Zhou said calmly.
"I’m not the kind of person who strikes down the ’innocent’ without reason."