Chapter 156: The Demon-Slaying Art

In the world of martial arts, every profession has its own principles and boundaries to follow—what they call their “way.”
The most obvious example is market trading: rarity drives up value; the rarer something is, the higher the profit. The same holds true for other industries—the more dangerous the job, the more rare treasures it may yield, along with corresponding risks and rewards!
This is also a manifestation of such a “way.”
Even fortune-tellers on the streets must adhere to their own values and “way”! Everything requires caution and care!
For instance…
Reading characters or predicting wealth comes at a low cost;
Figuring out someone’s whereabouts takes time and effort, so the fee is higher;
But if it involves secrets or treasures, the price soars—almost exorbitant, like “closing for three years to make a profit for three years”!
Of course…
Fortune-tellers are also at risk.
If dealing with ordinary people, they can charge freely; but if they know the opponent is powerful and has killed many, they’ll weigh the risks carefully—struggling between payment and personal safety.
Of course, they’d never accept ordinary prices. Why risk their lives for meager money? They need extra compensation for the danger!
Thus!
The detection fees skyrocket.
This is exactly how Happy operates—through repeated evasions and battles, he’s accumulated hundreds of kills, earning a notorious reputation. Any fortune-teller who tries to predict such things is deterred by his fame and worries about their own fate…
Of course!
This is just a small trick against fortune-tellers.
It was also the method used by many powerful figures in their past lives to evade deadly pursuers!
Kill ten people—gain a notorious reputation! Kill fifty—become a fearsome figure! Kill a hundred—become a local demon! Kill over two hundred—become invincible, able to evade detection…
For every ten kills, the detection cost for a villain rises slightly;
For fifty kills, it doubles!
At the level of a demon, the fees become unaffordable for ordinary people—each prediction costs thousands or tens of thousands of silver taels. But since everyone’s level was low in the early stages, the starting fees were high yet still bearable. Once reaching the advanced, life-or-death realm, according to fortune-tellers, each prediction carries the risk of death, keeping costs extremely high.
It’s painful just to make one such prediction!
As for the ultimate stage…
Kill two hundred people—evade detection entirely.

No one can resist such people anymore. Even I Ching masters don’t want to offend them. No matter how much money they have, they wouldn’t foolishly provoke these karmic consequences and bring disaster upon themselves for nothing!
As time passed, the changes in the hexagrams created by Happy became increasingly noticeable, attracting more and more people’s attention, and the forces pursuing him accelerated their efforts.
……
On the official road leading to Luoyang City, beside a light green river, two rows of lush willows swayed gently in the breeze, bringing coolness to those around; many players in Luoyang City loved this scenery!
Between levels, couples would come here to rest, dressed as scholars and graceful ladies, sitting or standing together, loving each other—adding to the atmosphere of a pure martial arts world amidst the passing travelers.
But on this day…
Outside Luoyang City was not peaceful.
On an open area not far from the road, a man wearing a tall crown and carrying a bone-shaped metal nunchaku dismounted from his tall, pitch-black horse. He moved calmly and with ease. If it weren’t for his hooked nose and calculating eyes, he would have seemed quite elegant.
Unfortunately…
His facial expression really deducted points!
Especially in contrast to the blue-clothed youth across from him, he appeared even more negative.
“Finally, I’ve caught up to you.”
The man in the crown spoke in a somewhat shrill, self-satisfied tone. Without returning his fine horse, he held the bone-shaped nunchaku that glowed silver-white in the sunlight and stepped forward toward Happy.
Happy frowned, his expression serious. Yet he didn’t even glance at the man in the crown. He stood calmly in place, scanning another direction while silently calculating time…
“…”
Realizing his opening remark hadn’t received the expected response and hadn’t even caught the other person’s attention—just silence as if they were distracted—the man in the crown’s face turned red, and anger flashed in his eyes.
After all, he was the famous “Nunchaku God” of Zhengzhou. With his “Ghost-Eating Stick” and the “Seventy-Three Ghost-Slaying Techniques,” he had defeated countless masters from Zhengzhou. How dare the other person treat him so lightly, ignoring him completely?
Although his brother had kept reminding him to be cautious and avoid direct confrontation, seeing the other person’s arrogant attitude somehow ignited anger in his chest!
With a roar!
“What a so-called ‘Blue-Clothed Gentleman Sword’! Take my move!!”

The man in the tall hat moved like a dragon or serpent, kicking up swirling dust as he rushed forward at high speed!
At the same time!
The staff emitted a silver-white glow, and with a loud clang, it produced a terrifying wailing sound as it descended from the sky. Amidst numerous afterimages, it seemed to extend continuously, aiming at Happy, who was several meters away…
“The Ghost-Slaying Art!”
Happy was momentarily stunned. He quickened his pace and finally focused on the man in the tall hat, who was now charging at him with both a knife and a staff. Dozens of silver-white skeletal skulls, illuminated by the glow, appeared like fierce, monstrous faces—dense and endless. Coupled with the special sonic attacks from the staff, the terrifying wails grew louder and more intense, and his speed far surpassed Happy’s.
“…”
Frowning, Happy’s left hand instantly took on the shape of a dragon. Just as he was about to strike, a thunderous tremor came from afar, shocking him. He immediately stopped his move and switched from grasping to resting his hand on his waist.
Whoosh!!!
The Battle Sword shot out of its sheath with a harsh ringing sound.
Happy moved swiftly, spinning gracefully. His fingers darted like lightning as he firmly grasped the hilt of the Battle Sword and pulled it forward…
Boom!!!
His movements were calm and effortless, yet an utterly destructive aura radiated from him. With his internal energy channeled into the sword, its deep blue blade glow instantly extended by over half a meter, slashing fiercely into the approaching staff.
Screech!!!
The monstrous faces rushed toward him but were instantly sliced apart by the deep blue blade glow, turning to dust like paper…
The countless other faces also vanished in an instant, like paper tigers!
Thud!
With a dull metallic crash, the man in the tall hat was flung ten meters away along with his weapon. He crashed to the ground, spitting out blood. His face was pale, filled with disbelief.
“How is this possible?”
Total defeat!!