Chapter 1: Demon-Slaying System
"Hiss—"
Li Xuanxiao woke up, his face contorted in pain.
He felt pain all over his body, and the back of his head felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.
He instinctively reached back to touch it, only to bring back a hand covered in crimson.
Holy crap! It's blood!
Li Xuanxiao sat up abruptly, but his brain spun with dizziness.
Countless memories flooded in like a tide.
Dayu Dynasty... Martial Artist... Demons...
In just a few seconds, he understood everything.
He had transmigrated and become a Constable in a small border city of the Dayu Dynasty.
Nowadays, demons are wreaking havoc on the human world, and Ningan City, located on the border, was the first to bear the brunt.
Ningan City was far from the royal capital and its power was weak; there weren't even a few decent Martial Artists.
To survive, they had no choice but to deal with the demons through false pretenses.
They mostly turned a blind eye to the demons preying on commoners.
As long as they didn't enter the city in large numbers, as long as they didn't slaughter blatantly, and as long as they didn't go too far.
Everyone could at least maintain a surface-level peace.
But the demons soon became unsatisfied with devouring ordinary people and began to target the human Martial Artists in the city!
Now, they had directly launched a small-scale invasion into Ningan City, forcing the County Magistrate to compromise.
And his predecessor, as a Constable of the yamen, had unfortunately lost his life in this invasion.
With the memories ending there, Li Xuanxiao suddenly understood the cause and effect.
He struggled to sit up and check his own condition.
After a thorough inspection, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the scene was horrifying, he didn't have any fatal wounds on his body.
The blood on the back of his head didn't seem to belong to him either...
Li Xuanxiao was startled; then whose was it?
He looked to the side, and several corpses were lying right next to him.
Blood flowed like a stream, extending all the way to where he was lying.
Only now did Li Xuanxiao notice the thick smell of blood permeating the air.
His stomach churned, and a surge of nausea welled up.
Li Xuanxiao struggled to crawl up, wanting to go outside for some fresh air.
He walked to the door and looked out through the half-open door.
Suddenly, his pupils constricted, and he instinctively covered his mouth.
Outside the door, several young demons were gnawing on human limbs.
The ground was covered in a layer of crimson, with severed limbs scattered everywhere.
Crows occasionally circled and landed, pecking among the corpses.
Li Xuanxiao backed away cautiously, retreating to a corner of the room, as far away from that door as possible.
Having transmigrated from a peaceful era, when had he ever seen such a scene?
At this moment, his heart felt like it was drumming, his breathing was rapid, and his scalp felt numb.
He took a few deep breaths to calm the panic in his heart.
Calm down, calm down.
Li Xuanxiao secretly calmed his agitated emotions and worked hard to gather useful information from his predecessor's memories.
In this world, demons ran rampant, and ordinary humans had no power to resist them.
To fight against demons, one must step onto the Martial Dao and become a Martial Artist!
Li Xuanxiao examined himself.
The good news was, he was a Martial Artist!
The bad news was, he had just stepped into the first layer of the Strength Realm, the lowest realm of all Martial Realm.
Stronger than an ordinary person, but against a demon, it was simply not enough!
Not to mention the main force of this massacre, those nearly ten demons at the Late Stage of the Strength Realm.
Even these few outside the door, young demons who had also just stepped into the Strength Realm, he was afraid he wouldn't be a match for them.
What to do?
Idea after idea flooded Li Xuanxiao's mind, but in the end, they were all rejected one by one.
When the difference in strength was too great, any number of schemes seemed pale and powerless.
"Damn it, am I going to be finished just after transmigrating?"
Li Xuanxiao cursed inwardly.
Suddenly, Li Xuanxiao's vision blurred.
A light screen instantly appeared!
[Demon Slaying System loading...]
[Loading complete!]
[Host bound — Li Xuanxiao]
[Newcomer gift issued — 20 Demon value points]
[Note: By slaying demons, you can obtain Demon value! Demon value can be used to improve the Realm of various Martial Arts and Cultivation Techniques...]
The rapid flicker of the screen momentarily dazed Li Xuanxiao, and then the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
The System, it came!
Li Xuanxiao immediately opened his personal panel, and the light screen instantly shifted.
[Host: Li Xuanxiao]
[Realm: Strength Realm Layer One]
[Cultivation Technique: Evergreen Art (beginner)]
[Martial Arts: Spirit Condensing Slash (beginner)]
[Demon value: 20]
After seeing his panel, Li Xuanxiao did not hesitate and invested his Demon value into his Cultivation Technique.
The improvement of the Cultivation Technique was the improvement of the Realm.
And the Realm was the foundation of everything.
His current cultivation of the first layer of the Strength Realm was still too low.
[Consumed 3 Demon value points, Evergreen Art has stepped into the Minor Achievement Realm!]
!!!
Li Xuanxiao was stunned; only 3 Demon value points could raise a Cultivation Technique to Minor Achievement?
Martial Arts and Cultivation Technique Realms were divided into five levels: beginner, Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, Perfection, and Transcendent.
Every Realm improvement required years of bitter cultivation and accumulation by Martial Artists, as well as tempering in actual combat.
If it weren't for the System, if he wanted to step from beginner to Minor Achievement, it would take at least three years!
Now, it happened in an instant!
The benefits of the System!
The corners of Li Xuanxiao's mouth curled into an arc; his current Realm had also risen two layers from the first layer of the Strength Realm, reaching the third layer of the Strength Realm!
But it wasn't enough!
With a cultivation of the third layer of the Strength Realm, he might be able to take down a young demon outside one-on-one.
But if the young demons attacked in a group, the one who would lose would definitely be him!
He had to continue improving!
No sooner said than done, Li Xuanxiao continued to invest the remaining Demon value into his Cultivation Technique.
[Consumed 5 Demon value points, Evergreen Art has stepped into the Major Achievement Realm!]
[Consumed 8 Demon value points, Evergreen Art has stepped into the Perfection Realm!]
[Insufficient Demon value, cannot continue to improve!]
After a series of prompts, Li Xuanxiao's Realm also rose with the tide, jumping to the eighth layer of the Strength Realm!
The change brought by the Realm improvement was very obvious; he felt a sense of power he had never felt before.
His body also seemed to have expanded by a circle.
Feeling the surging power within his body, Li Xuanxiao could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Of the 20 Demon value points, 4 were now left.
"Since there's not enough to improve the Cultivation Technique Realm, then use it to improve the Martial Arts Realm!"
With this thought, the light screen instantly changed.
[Consumed 3 Demon value points, Spirit Condensing Slash has stepped into the Minor Achievement Realm!]
As the light screen displayed the message, many memories flooded into Li Xuanxiao's mind.
They were all scenes of his own bitter cultivation and actual combat.
Along with them, the muscles and nerves of the relevant parts were also molded into a state consistent with the current Realm.
A true comprehensive internal improvement!
He opened his personal panel again.
[Host: Li Xuanxiao]
[Realm: Strength Realm Layer Eight]
[Cultivation Technique: Evergreen Art (Perfection)]
[Martial Arts: Spirit Condensing Slash (Minor Achievement)]
[Demon value: 1]
He nodded and silently closed the light screen.
Li Xuanxiao took a deep breath; now it could be considered settled.
As long as he didn't run into those few main demon forces at the Late Stage of the Strength Realm, he would have the power to fight.
At the very least, he could retreat unscathed.
He stood up and silently pushed open the door...