Chapter 92: Chop The Demon
The facial expressions of all outer disciples reflected the curiosity they felt.
Why did Master Su summon all the outer disciples to the plaza?
Another 15 minutes passed before all the outer disciples who were at Drizzle Peak gathered in the plaza.
Aura anxiously searched the faces of all outer disciples. Relief glinted in her eyes when she spotted Zen standing at the back of the crowd. Then she said slowly, “I have asked all outer disciples to assemble at the plaza because I have a task to give you.”
“What task?”
“It must be an important assignment. Otherwise, she wouldn't have called us to the plaza.”
“Don't we usually claim a task voluntarily? Why does she need to do in this way?”
Many outer disciples were confused and talked with each other.
Aura waited patiently till the outer disciples had stopped speaking. Then she announced slowly, “Your task is to chop the demon.”
“Demon?”
“Chop the demon?” “Really?”
“They actually ask outer disciples to chop demons? Do they want us to die?”
The outer disciples continued to whisper among themselves. Some of the older disciples had to share a little history with the newer disciples.
Most warriors in the Burning Sky Empire had heard of the phrases, 'chop the demon' and 'kill the ogre' when they first started to learn martial arts.
It was uncanny that after hundreds of years, the demon was still human beings' greatest enemy, while the ogre wasn't.
Everyone knew that aside from humans, the continent was also home to demons and ogres.
The three races had many conflicts with each other, which led to endless war and much killing...
Over the ages, the humans and ogres had gradually become the weaker races while the demons had grown stronger. Finally, they had reached the stage where the demons were set on annihilating the humans and ogres.
The humans and ogres were naturally unwilling to await their doom. It is said that an enemy's enemy is a friend. The humans had no choice but to ally with the ogres.
This was why the ogre Princess Qi married someone from the Burning Sky Empire.
It was also the reason why Princess Yvonne from the Burning Sky Palace would marry some ogre far away.
Thus, the intermarriages of the princesses had allowed the humans and ogres to ally against their common enemy, the demons.
“Your task will be to follow the trail in the Sky Forest and find and slay demons. We are not asking our disciples to hunt down demons on the Shura Battlefield. We're testing you, not sending you to war. Five inner disciples and five outer disciples will be sent from each of the thirty-three peaks in Cloud Sect!” Aura stopped for a while and then continued, “Chopping the demon is one of the lessons we must learn in Cloud Sect. It will be an ordeal for most disciples. However, if you survive the test, it will be a huge accomplishment for you. Further, each of the top three disciples who chop the biggest number of demons during the trial will be rewarded with a middle-grade spiritual weapon!”
“A middle-grade spiritual weapon!”
The reward tempted most disciples. They began chattering with each other animatedly.
For the outer disciples, a top-grade mysterious weapon was a great reward. Since a middle-grade spiritual weapon was several grades higher, the disciples found the reward more enticing. It was unexpected that a middle-grade spiritual weapon would be offered for such a test.
It was well known that a middle-grade spiritual weapon was priceless. For most disciples of Cloud Sect, it would take a lifetime to earn a low-grade spiritual weapon. But the reward of this task was one level higher than that.
Although all disciples were excited, Zen remained calm.
If Zen hadn't seen Yan earlier, he would have shown a keen interest in this reward.
But the fleeting glimpse on Hell Mountain and the fight against Vale made Zen realize that he had a long way to go in terms of cultivating his powers and strength.
So Zen's priorities had changed.
It was not that Zen didn't have any interest in this task. If Zen could cultivate his will and promote his strength during this task, he certainly wouldn't reject the opportunity!
Silence descended in the plaza as Aura lifted her hand. Then she continued speaking, "I believe that most outer disciples present have never seen a demon.
They can be called demons not only because they are aliens, but also because the demons have an innate evil spirit." While speaking, Aura waved her hand and lifted a part of the yellow cloth beside her.
Since only a corner of the yellow cloth had been lifted, the disciples couldn't see what was under the cloth. However, they felt a strong evil spirit emanating from under the cloth.
The evil spirit was the human's nemesis!
Many disciples had gathered in the plaza when they had heard the tolling. Initially, they had been curious. But after listening to Master Su, they had become excited about the prospect of getting a middle-grade spiritual weapon. Now that the evil spirit from the demon could be felt, their faces paled. Several disciples even trembled with fear.
“This is the evil spirit?”
“It is so terrifying. It seems as though the evil spirit is controlling my soul. I am so frightened...”
“I know that the demon under the yellow cloth is in no position to attack us. Why am I still scared?”
Zen narrowed his eyes when he felt the evil spirit.
Although the evil spirit was weak, Zen's heart had started beating twice as fast.
If Zen hadn't been confident of his strength, he would also be quite frightened now!
“I will choose five outer disciples for the trial to chop the demon. They will be chosen after the upcoming test,” Aura said. "I believe that all of you have guessed by now that a demon is under this yellow cloth beside me. This is an ordinary adult demon.
The demon's strength is powerful, but many human cultivators will be defeated by a demon which is much weaker simply because of the effect of the evil spirit!" Aura continued to explain.
One of the greatest advantages a demon had was its instinct to spread the evil spirit.
And the evil spirit had a powerful influence on a human's mentality. So, even if a powerful human was fighting a demon with weaker strength, it was common that the demon would tear the human to pieces.
The reason was that the evil spirit would disturb the human's mentality and frighten him into surrendering without actually fighting.
“So, the first step to chop the demon is to deal with the evil spirit.” After saying that, Aura pulled out a sword.
Then she walked around the demon, dragging the sword beside her. The disciples saw that she was making a circle in the ground with the sword.
After drawing the inner circle, Aura took two steps away from the circle and then began to draw another circle.
In a short while, Aura had drawn ten concentric circles; each bigger than the previous circle.
“Over the next three days, we will be testing the disciples to see who can get the closest to this demon. The disciples who can manage this task will be qualified for the trial to chop the demon!” After speaking, Aura reached out with her hand and removed the yellow cloth.
A collective, terrified gasp could be heard from the outer disciples as they saw the demon.
At the same time, a strong evil spirit spread from the demon. The outer disciples who had been the closest to the demon began walking backward at once. The crowd didn't stop until they were more than 70 feet away.
The demon looked like a human being, but it was much fatter and grotesque looking. Its body was covered in brownish-yellow skin. Two ugly eyes rolled on its head continually. Occasionally, it would focus its eyes on the outer disciples.
“It is looking at me. It is looking at me!” An outer disciple screamed before falling to the ground unexpectedly. He kicked his legs in fear as he scampered back. The disciple was so terrified that he had involuntarily wet himself.
Others were not that scared. However, when the demon glanced at a disciple, the normal reaction would be for the disciple to scuttle away in fright.
Aura looked coldly at the disciples that had run away or screamed in terror. Then she shook her head and said, “This demon is unable to fight. If you want to qualify for the trial to chop the demon, you must try to get close to it!”
As soon as Aura stopped, an outer disciple stepped forward, saluted her and said, “Master Su, I want to try!”
The disciple was named Johnson Qiu, and he ranked 4th among the outer disciples at Drizzle Peak.