Moonlight poured down like water upon the earth.
A ray of moonlight fell upon that figure—a sturdy and extremely tall existence, standing nearly three meters in height. Though humanoid in shape, it had two black horns like those of an ox on its head, and its body was covered in a layer of deep, dark scales.
Its eyes were pure and transparent, like rubies—yet incomparably cold, as if devoid of any emotion.
He was a demon. Demons did not have the complex emotions of humans.
The only things that could stir his emotions were powerful beings of exceptional strength and prey that satisfied him.
Just like now—those ruby-like, pure and transparent eyes gazed in the direction where Ninth Uncle was, and the cold pupils revealed a faint excitement.
“Such immense destiny—it doesn’t seem like the protagonist of this age of ending law at all.”
“Not bad. Truly not bad.”
“Only a protagonist like this deserves to be my prey.”
“I will savor you properly…”
A trace of eeriness flowed through his eyes.
“Before that, let me send you some gifts.”
“I hope you can withstand them.”
“Otherwise, it would be too boring.”
As he spoke, a mysterious and profound blood-red formation emerged beneath his feet.
“Roar! Roar! Roar—”
Accompanied by countless terrifying roars, one after another black, grotesque creature walked out from the formation.
On their bodies, one could sense a fierce, beast-like aura and savagery, as if they wanted to tear everything before them to shreds.
Without a doubt, these were the “gifts” he had mentioned.
If the child of destiny of this world couldn’t even handle these “gifts,” then he would have no reason to act himself.
The strong would not generate a will to fight against the weak.
That feeling of crushing an ant would be far too boring.
Even if the other party was a child of destiny, the same applied.
“Go. Hunt them.”
“Bring death to this world.”
As his words fell, the grotesque creatures grinned, their mouths stretching wide, and with swaying heads, they unhurriedly walked toward the direction of the town.
——-
At this moment, within the town, Ninth Uncle’s expression grew increasingly grim.
That sense of danger in the dark was growing heavier and heavier, constantly warning him.
Although the chat group had already issued the hunting task, and he deeply trusted the strength of Bai Xuan, the Holy Master, and Tiga, he didn’t know how long it would take for the three of them to arrive. During this time, he had to protect this world.
Moreover, that vague premonition seemed to be telling him that the other party was already approaching his location.
He had to hurry and prepare.
Gritting his teeth, Ninth Uncle took out his years of accumulation from his room, as well as the many things he had exchanged for and crafted after joining the chat group.
Talismans, magical tools, pills… He carried all of them on his person.
His body moved quickly as he took out various unnamed magical tools densely covered in runes from his bundle and placed them in various locations throughout the town.
“Even if this old Taoist dies here today, I will take you down with me.”
“Slaughtering the world—this old Taoist will never allow such a person to exist in this world!”
Ninth Uncle said with firm determination in his heart.
He was not a truly powerful person, nor had he ever thought of establishing his own order.
He pursued strength in order to protect more people and eliminate more demons and monsters.
Becoming an immortal and attaining the Dao was what he sought, but this ambition did not supersede his desire to protect the people. He could sacrifice himself at any time for the lives of the common folk—even if it meant giving up the possibility of becoming an immortal and attaining the Dao.
This was also the reason he chose to leave the mountains.
To use his own power to create a sliver of peace in this world filled with demons and monsters.
He was a Taoist priest—a Maoshan Taoist priest.
From beginning to end, his conviction had never changed.
Asking the group members for help was not because he was afraid of death—it was simply because he worried his strength might not be enough to match the opponent, that he might not be able to stop him, and that the opponent would recklessly slaughter the people of this world.
His spirit eyes opened, and not far ahead, countless grotesque monsters reeking of blood were approaching. Their eyes were fierce beyond compare, carrying bloodlust and killing intent. Perhaps sensing his gaze, their approach actually quickened.
“Boom!”
Seeing this, Ninth Uncle didn’t hesitate. He formed a hand seal, and a mirror magical tool in his palm emitted a dazzling light.
Suddenly, endless rays of light burst out from various locations throughout the town, connecting with the brightest ray in the sky to form a transparent, invisible formation that enveloped the entire town.
After doing all this, Ninth Uncle tossed the mirror magical tool in his hand toward the sky. Accompanied by a fusion sound, the formation truly took shape.
Only then did a smile appear on Ninth Uncle’s face—though it vanished in an instant. He then took out his peachwood sword and walked out of the formation without looking back.
He knew the power of this formation—it wouldn’t hold for long.
Rather than staying inside the formation relying on luck to wait for the group members to arrive—and possibly being overrun by the demons before they came, with the villagers inside the formation being slaughtered—it was better for him to go out and draw the demons’ attention, buying time for the three supporting group members and the townspeople.
By now he had already walked outside the formation, his spirit eyes fixed on those demons.
As a cultivator, his flesh and blood naturally attracted those demons. They looked at Ninth Uncle greedily, eager to devour him completely.
“Roar!!!”
Suddenly, a black figure burst out from underground, opening its massive jaws to swallow Ninth Uncle whole, wanting to take him into its belly.
“Zzzap!”
Spiritual energy surged within Ninth Uncle’s body. Arcs of electricity appeared on his peachwood sword. With a casual wave, the arc of lightning, upon contact, erupted with terrifying thunderous light and destroyed the creature!
“Just like that, you want to eat this old Taoist?”
“You underestimate me far too much.”
Ninth Uncle let out a cold snort. Holding talismans in his left hand and the peachwood sword in his right, he charged into the horde of demons.
“Rumble!”
“Rumble!”
“Rumble—”
Countless arcs of thunderous light roared freely, and a large number of monsters were obliterated by the lightning.
At this moment, Ninth Uncle’s power was by no means weak—especially since he still had a large supply of pills, and he had accumulated quite a few talismans as well.
Whenever his spiritual energy was about to run out, Ninth Uncle would use a Five Thunder Talisman to destroy the demons around him, then quickly swallow a pill to restore his stamina, and continue fighting.
Gradually, more and more demons fell to Ninth Uncle’s peachwood sword.
One hundred, two hundred, three hundred…
In the end, even Ninth Uncle himself didn’t know how many he had killed. His hands continued repeating the motions of slashing, using talismans, and swallowing pills.
Finally, when he reached for another talisman, Ninth Uncle’s expression changed—his previously accumulated talismans had been completely exhausted.
Without hesitation, spiritual energy surged, and his peachwood sword unleashed thunder magic to blast the approaching demons to oblivion.
The talismans were exhausted. Once the pills were also used up and his spiritual energy was completely drained, he would die.
