Outside the main hall of the San Dao Association's residence, Song He stood on the steps. With a soft shout, the spiritual energy within his body surged forth.
Three palm-sized flags circled around him, casting down streaks of light that instantly drew the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, converging towards the entire residence.
A complex array pattern silently appeared on the ground beneath everyone's feet and rapidly spread outwards in all directions.
Before long, the entire large house, along with a thirty-zhang radius around it, was covered by the array pattern.
The demonic energy pervading heaven and earth, upon touching this array pattern, immediately disintegrated and retreated as if encountering its nemesis.
In a mere quarter of an hour, a pure land free from demonic energy was created.
Song He retracted his surging spiritual energy and handed the three array flags to Xu Liuqing, then, amidst a chorus of praise, slowly walked to Ji Yuan's side.
Now, with the protection of this San Yin Yuan Shui Array, the assembled commoners, even without the Buddhist scriptures of Huixin and the clear recitation of children's studies, no longer had to worry about suddenly falling into demonic possession.
"What's wrong?"
After chatting with his wife for a moment, Song He noticed Ji Yuan's pensive expression.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan replied, "I was wondering if I should also bring my master from the temple and a few senior brothers here."
The demonic energy in the city was not yet severe. Except for those with extremely weak states of mind, only after their mental state collapsed would they be susceptible to demonic energy and transform into demons solely driven by killing.
If their willpower was stronger, they would be fine for a short period.
At the Xuan Tian Temple, whether it was the old temple master Zhang Zhiya or Ji Yuan's senior brothers, their cultivation of the mind was quite good, and they could temporarily resist this level of demonic energy erosion.
However, if it continued for a long time, it would clearly not be a good thing.
But if the people from the temple were brought here, it would undoubtedly entail many risks. Without even thinking, it was clear that this place, which had gathered the city's experts, would attract the attention of those secretly plotting.
"Junior Brother, you don't need to worry. The temple has not been affected by the demonic energy."
The Fifth Senior Brother, standing nearby, spoke, allowing Ji Yuan to put his worries to rest.
Perhaps it was due to the protection of the ancestral legacy, or some other unknown reason, but the Xuan Tian Temple was currently unaffected by demonic energy. The possessed commoners outside even subconsciously avoided the temple.
Zhang Zhiya and the others, within the Xuan Tian Temple, were at least safe for the time being.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan finally let go of his worries, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
After another half-hour, Xu Liuqing walked over with his men, two long swords hanging from his waist.
Among the three leaders of the San Dao Association, only the Great Leader used a long saber as his weapon. The other two leaders each used a long spear and a pair of dual swords, respectively.
"Although the demonic individuals in this district have been mostly cleared, we still need to leave enough disciples to guard it."
Xu Liuqing glanced at everyone and then said with a solemn expression, "Therefore, besides myself, the San Dao Association can only spare twenty people to assist."
According to the original plan, besides Xu Liuqing bringing a trump card, the San Dao Association was supposed to provide dozens of disciples to deal with the possessed commoners around the county office.
But now, this number had been reduced to twenty, a decrease of almost two-thirds.
As a result, the pressure everyone would face would undoubtedly increase significantly, not to mention the demonic energy pervading the city and the unknown number of commoners already turned into demons.
However, one thing was certain: the journey to the county office would be fraught with peril, and the countless possessed commoners alone would be enough to cause everyone a headache.
Yet, this was a hurdle that could not be avoided.
"Is there really no way to squeeze out more people?"
Ji Yuan frowned.
If there were only twenty people, they would likely be exhausted before even reaching the entrance of the county office. By then, facing the possessed constables, as well as the two second-realm demonic cultivators Yuan Yongcheng and Sun Youfang, they would stand no chance.
Hearing this, Xu Liuqing shook his head helplessly. It was not just them who needed more manpower; the side responsible for the City God Temple also required a large number of people.
However, with countless commoners turned into demons, a large number of disciples were needed for protection. Coupled with the losses suffered by the San Dao Association in resolving the fallen barracks earlier, their losses were not small.
Therefore, it was truly difficult to spare enough manpower.
As for the other two sects, their disciples had suffered over seventy percent casualties, and there were not many remaining combatants. Those few people were only enough to help protect the commoners here.
"We can go over the rooftops, so we can avoid ordinary possessed commoners."
Zhao Yuansong suggested.
The possessed commoners in the city, apart from being fearless and only knowing how to kill, were essentially no different from ordinary people, at most possessing greater strength and speed.
If they traveled over the rooftops, they could indeed avoid the vast majority of possessed commoners, thus reaching outside the county office without expending much energy.
This way, everyone could conserve more strength to face the true enemy.
His suggestion was quickly accepted by everyone, as it was indeed a good solution at the moment.
Thus, after half an incense stick's time, Ji Yuan and the team responsible for dealing with the demonic individuals in the county office quietly departed from the San Dao Association's residence.
As soon as they reached the edge of the array's coverage, a group of people leaped onto the rooftops. Whether it was the twelve who had entered the realm or the twenty disciples of the San Dao Association, such feats of climbing walls and leaping over roofs were quite easy for them.
Incidentally, Guo Tao, who had only cultivated the Dragon Elephant Art for a few days, had, without ever practicing martial arts before, already successfully entered the realm and become a martial artist in the early skin-and-muscle stage.
This fact not only shocked Ji Yuan but also everyone else. They had a new understanding of the widely spread Dragon Elephant Art.
It seemed that for the Dragon Elephant Art, as long as the cultivator's own blood essence and vital energy were sufficient, their strength could increase at an extremely terrifying rate, completing in a short period what would take others years, or even decades, of hard work.
However, the corresponding price was the expenditure of countless silver coins.
And the same amount of silver could create three to four martial artists of the same realm, albeit requiring several times the amount of time.
But compared to the multiple times the cost, spending a little more time was not an unacceptable matter. After all, whether for martial artists or cultivators, to advance their cultivation further, the resources required were unimaginable for an ordinary person's entire life.
"The person who did such a thing should truly be cast into the legendary eighteen layers of hell!"
In the crowd, the young girl Xu Qiqi couldn't help but curse in a low voice.
Along the way, remnants of limbs were visible almost everywhere. The streets and alleys were filled with blood.
Hundreds, even thousands, of possessed commoners looked up at them with ferocious eyes, their mouths emitting unconscious roars like wild beasts.
It was truly a living hell!
No wonder Xu Qiqi couldn't help but curse, hoping that the person responsible for these actions would ultimately be cast into the eighteen layers of hell.
Everyone remained silent. Their anger was no less than the young girl's, wishing they could tear apart the person secretly plotting.
This scheme of theirs was just the beginning, and how many commoners in the county had it already harmed?
This was just one district, and Ji Yuan and the others had already seen over a thousand commoners possessed. The number of innocent people who had died as a result would only be more, perhaps at least several times as many.
After all, not every district had an entity like the San Dao Association, with sufficient manpower and strength to save the commoners in danger.
"Be careful!"
Jiang He let out a low shout, raising the heavy staff he had just acquired.
As his voice fell, several figures landed on the rooftop ahead. They were indeed several possessed commoners.
However, due to excessive killing, the accumulated demonic energy within them was already very potent, making their physiques comparable to martial artists in the early skin-and-muscle stage.
Seeing this, Li Junxian immediately rushed out of the crowd, his long sword on his back already unsheathed. With flashes of sword light, several heads flew into the air.
Five corpses rolled off the rooftop. Strangely, no blood flowed from their wounds. Instead, a dense aura of blood fiendishness, as if freed from its restraints, rapidly moved towards the black and white light screen in the sky.
Ji Yuan and the others' expressions suddenly darkened. They immediately realized that this was likely the reason why the person secretly plotting had set up such a large array.
The other party must be trying to collect a large amount of blood fiendishness!
In this way, the person's goal might not be solely to find that world-shattering spiritual treasure from three hundred years ago. They might also be harboring the intention of using this opportunity to cultivate some demonic art, or even to refine demonic artifacts.
"What demonic art or demonic artifact requires the blood sacrifice of tens of thousands of people in a county?"
Ji Yuan subconsciously muttered to himself.
Upon saying this, everyone's expression became even more grim. Although they were not well-versed in the demonic path, a moment's thought told them that any demonic art or artifact requiring the blood fiendishness condensed from tens of thousands of people would undoubtedly reach an extremely terrifying grade.
If a third-realm cultivator, using the blood fiendishness condensed from tens of thousands of people, could even forge a Golden Core and thus become a powerful cultivator who roamed freely.
And if it were a second-realm cultivator, it would be extremely easy to ascend to the third realm with this.
"We must not let that person's scheme succeed!"
Ji Yuan's expression turned cold, his tone conveying a rare chill.
If a second-realm demonic cultivator, even at the peak of their cultivation, was not entirely impossible for them to fight, with all their might, they would still have some chance of victory.
But if that demonic cultivator succeeded in their plan, absorbing the blood fiendishness of tens of thousands of people, and thus reaching the peak of the third realm, then there would truly be no hope of victory. They could be killed with a casual strike.
Not to mention that this also involved the lives of tens of thousands of commoners in the city!