Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

"Yes!"

The two brothers accepted the order, glaring viciously at the short, stout man.

Meanwhile, Jiang Mu circled around to the base of the high wall on the other side. With a mere thought, he threw Demon Shadow Number One into the wall as an anchor.

Using Instant Teleportation, he entered the temple.

He clutched the breath-concealing bone tablet tightly and crept toward the backyard, soon arriving before a meditation room lit by candlelight.

Before he could get close, he heard voices conversing inside the room.

"How much longer..."

The woman’s voice was weak, filled with suppressed anguish. "I can’t hold on much longer..."

Hearing this woman’s voice, Jiang Mu frowned slightly.

’Why does that voice sound so familiar?’

’I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.’

"Endure it. Just a little longer."

An old man’s voice soothed,

"The offerings will be here soon. The essence-replenishing Secret Technique I taught you is remarkably effective. Back when I was grievously injured and on the brink of death, my soul nearly dissipating, I relied on this very method to gradually gather my Soul Body and recover.

Once you’ve recovered, we’ll..."

Just then, the woman’s tone inside the room suddenly changed. She shouted sharply,

"Someone’s here!"

Jiang Mu was surprised.

’For a Fourth-Realm Demon, her perception is incredibly sharp.’

BOOM!

Amidst a spray of splintered wood from the window, a black shadow shot out from inside.

It was an old man dressed in black with a withered face. A sinister Ghost Qi emanated from him, and his ten fingers, like hooks, lunged straight for Jiang Mu’s face.

This was clearly the Ghost Cultivator.

Jiang Mu neither dodged nor evaded. His long saber, wreathed in a powerful gale, came slashing down.

SWISH!

The blade cut through the Ghost Cultivator’s body.

But Jiang Mu felt as if he had only slashed through a mass of air; the blade passed right through.

’I can’t hit him?’

Jiang Mu’s pupils contracted.

Meanwhile, though the Ghost Cultivator had been split in two, he began to reform in the next instant, maintaining his pounce. His sharp, green-glowing claws were already reaching for Jiang Mu’s heart!

Jiang Mu activated the Spirit Snake Body Step, his body sliding half a foot to the left.

RIP!

The ghostly claws tore his lapel, and a chilling Ghost Qi seemed to want to bore into the wound.

Jiang Mu circulated his Star Power, shattering the sinister Ghost Qi.

He was filled with shock and uncertainty.

This Ghost Cultivator’s state was quite similar to Beitang Batian’s Soul Body before he had attempted possession, only this one lacked a corpse to anchor it.

CRASH—

At that moment, the window of the meditation room behind him shattered again.

A graceful figure shot out from inside. Without even a glance at the battlefield, she transformed into a streak of azure light and fled toward the outer courtyard wall.

’Trying to run?’

Jiang Mu flipped his left hand, and a folding fan appeared in his palm.

He waved it at the fleeing figure!

[Drawing a Prison on the Ground!]

VMMMM—

The void trembled.

The Snake Demon, who had been moving as fast as lightning, suddenly faltered.

It was as if she had run into a layer of thick, viscous glue, and her speed plummeted.

Finally, her strength gave out, and she fell to the ground.

And Jiang Mu finally got a clear look at the Snake Demon’s face.

She was a middle-aged woman, past her prime but still attractive, with a pale face and a weak aura. Her pair of vertical pupils were filled with shock and suspicion.

But upon seeing this face, Jiang Mu froze.

’It’s her?!’

’No wonder her voice sounded so familiar!’

’Isn’t this the Snake Mother from back in Hu State? The one disguised as Shen Wanhai’s mistress, who was grievously wounded by Ling Ye’s sword and escaped by self-destructing?!’

The Blood Mad Saber he now wielded was something he’d picked up from this very woman.

What a small world for enemies!

’To think that after escaping Hu State, she’d run off to this godforsaken place and even found herself a Ghost Cultivator for a lover?’

"It’s you!?"

The Snake Mother recognized Jiang Mu at almost the exact same moment.

Her pale, bewitching face was instantly flooded with bone-deep hatred and a trace of fear.

She subconsciously scanned her surroundings.

When she confirmed she couldn’t sense Ling Ye’s aura, the Snake Mother visibly relaxed, but the hatred in her eyes burned even hotter.

"You damn brat! I never thought you’d break through to the Fourth Realm in such a short time!"

The Ghost Cultivator floated back to the Snake Mother’s side and asked sinisterly, "My dear, you know this boy?"

"I’d recognize him even if he were turned to ash!"

The Snake Mother gritted her teeth.

"He’s that little bastard from the Hu State Demon-slaying Bureau! He’s the one who ruined my plans and led that bitch Ling Ye to me! He’s the reason my Cultivation Level plummeted and my foundation was damaged!"

Hearing this, the Ghost Cultivator’s Ghost Qi surged, and the temperature in the temple’s backyard seemed to plummet.

"Since he’s an old enemy, we’ll settle all scores, new and old, today. I’ll slaughter this boy for you. Once you’ve recovered, we will go find Lord Painted Skin, borrow his Divine Abilities again, and help you break through to Tier Seven!

Then, we’ll find that Ling Ye and take our revenge!"

Before his voice had even faded, his figure blurred, transforming into a roiling black mist.

Countless sinister, ghostly claws shot out from within it, grasping at Jiang Mu from all directions!

The sound of wailing ghosts and howling wolves rose to a crescendo, disturbing the mind.

At the same time, the Snake Mother also made her move.

Although she was still grievously injured and her Cultivation Level had fallen to the peak of the Fourth Realm, she had once been a Great Demon approaching Tier Seven.

Her combat experience and command of Divine Abilities were far beyond that of an ordinary Fourth-Realm cultivator.

She opened her mouth and spat a stream of dark green venom at Jiang Mu’s face. Simultaneously, her hands formed a seal, and several spectral vipers condensed from Demonic Power erupted from the ground, hissing as they coiled around Jiang Mu’s legs to restrict his movement.

The two demons attacked in concert—one from afar, one up close; one corporeal, one ethereal—their coordination seamless.

"Profound Gang Qi Solution!"

Jiang Mu let out a low shout, and a dazzling, pale-gold Gang Qi instantly enveloped his entire body, like a suit of golden armor.

The venom splattered against the Gang Qi, unable to penetrate it in the slightest.

Then, Jiang Mu gripped his saber with both hands, and the [Taisu Heavenly Gang Blood River True Qi] within him erupted into motion!

"Blood River, Heaven-Breaking Slash!"

BOOM—!!

The gleaming saber turned crimson.

An aura of bloodlust, more ferocious than Ghost Qi and more tyrannical than Demonic Power, surged toward the heavens.

The Saber Aura exploded to several dozen feet in length.

Like an enraged dragon rising from a sea of blood, it carried the power to annihilate everything as it slashed toward the oncoming ghostly mist!