Chapter 525 - 491: The Market Behind Demon Fiend Malice (2)

But now that the Malice on the Lion Demon had been completely removed, it was no longer so troublesome.

The lively Liu Qingqing blurted out, "Fairy, you can actually remove Demon Fiend Malice with your bare hands! Th-this skill is just too incredible!"

As soon as she said this, her mouth was immediately covered by her sister.

Everyone looked nervously at Song Ciwan, and Liu Tantan immediately apologized, "Fairy, my sister is a bit rash with her words..."

Song Ciwan simply waved her hand slightly. "It’s nothing."

Then she asked casually, "Clearing Demon Fiend Malice with bare hands, is that really something so few people can do?"

To be honest, she had never really paid attention to this issue before.

Previously, when her Cultivation was low, she had once dedicated herself completely to the profession of a Demon Cleaner at the Demon Refining Platform in order to obtain large amounts of Demon Fiend Malice.

At that time, Song Ciwan only knew that the Demon Refining Platform’s Washing Room had various lotion formulas and could recruit mortals to cleanse the Demon Fiend Malice. As for other things, like whether Cultivators could also wash demons, she had never even considered it.

Now that she was in Liangzhou and had met a team of Cultivators who frequented the area around Demon Suppression Pass, Song Ciwan felt that she could learn a lot from them to deepen her understanding of the local ways.

Zhou Mu quickly replied to Song Ciwan, "Reporting to the Fairy, the higher a Demon Fiend’s Cultivation, the harder its Malice is to remove. We Demon Hunters have been hunting demons in the wild for years and have long been troubled by Demon Fiend Malice."

Liu Qingqing also chimed in, "That’s right. Demon Fiend Malice is hard to wash. For low-level ones, below the Spirit Communication Stage, the Demon Refining Platform can recruit mortals to wash them. But for those with higher Cultivation, mortals can’t do it, and they even need to recruit Cultivators."

Liu Tantan added, "Fairy, there are no mortals in Demon Suppression City. Only other cities recruit mortals for Washing Demons. The Demon Cleaners at the Four Great Demon Passes are all Cultivators."

Zhou Mu spoke again, "Some Major Upper Sects also have special secret formulas for Washing Demons. When disciples from Major Sects go out to hunt demons, they might carry special Demon-Cleansing Talismans. Unfortunately, Demon-Cleansing Talismans are both expensive and rare, so they hardly circulate on the market."

Liu Qingqing pouted slightly and said, "They need Demon-Cleansing Talismans to cleanse demons, but our Fairy only needs to wave her hand. How can that be the same?"

As she spoke, she even imitated Song Ciwan’s gesture, gently raising her hand and sweeping it through the air, her expression both proud and full of admiration.

Liu Tantan quickly reached out and tapped her on the forehead, causing Liu Qingqing to shrink back and make a face at her.

Song Ciwan: ...

’Being suddenly praised like this is a bit embarrassing.’

However, listening to their words, she gradually began to understand.

It seemed that the business of purifying Demon Fiend Malice was, to some extent, monopolized by the Court and the top Upper Sects.

The Court has the Demon Refining Platform, the Washing Room, and special demon-washing potions; it could be said to handle the vast majority of the "demon-washing business" in the Nine Provinces Land.

Although the major Upper Sects had the ability to cleanse demons themselves, they couldn’t establish a Demon Refining Platform like the Court. At most, they could set up a place for Washing Demons within their own Sects or refine Demon-Cleansing Talismans for their disciples to carry and use.

The fact that Demon-Cleansing Talismans couldn’t circulate widely on the market was perhaps also because the Court wanted to monopolize the Washing Demon business—

The business of Washing Demons shouldn’t be underestimated. Although a Demon Fiend’s corpse is a treasure trove, a Demon Fiend corpse with its Malice unremoved is a treasure in a "stinking ditch"—untouchable and unusable, making it worthless.

With the Court and the major Upper Sects monopolizing the Washing Demon business, it was equivalent to monopolizing the vast majority of Demon Fiend materials.

In this way, whether they were disciples of Minor Sects or Loose Cultivators, they were all constrained by the Court when it came to Demon Fiend materials.

No wonder Zhou Mu and the others were so astonished when Song Ciwan cleansed the demon with her bare hands.

It seemed Song Ciwan’s action had touched upon some kind of forbidden line.

However, all taboos stem from a lack of strength. Having cultivated to her current realm, Song Ciwan, though she hadn’t lost her cautious nature, had become much bolder than before.

After hearing what Zhou Mu and the others had to say, she made no comment. Instead, she abruptly announced her name, "My name is Xing Lan. You may all call me by my name directly."

When Zhou Mu and the others heard this, joyous expressions appeared on their faces, and they immediately called out, "Xing Lan Fairy!"

Zhou Mu then quickly took the initiative to introduce himself and his companions by name.

Song Ciwan nodded slightly and walked over to the other Deer-Horse Demon Corpse lying on the ground.

She raised her hand again and lightly touched the Deer-Horse Demon Corpse.

[Malice. Death Malice from a Deer-Horse Demon Beast at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Communication Stage that cultivated a Foundation Establishment Method. Six jin and two liang. Exchangeable.]

Although this bizarrely-shaped Deer-Horse Demon Beast’s Cultivation was lower than the Lion Demon’s, its Malice was paradoxically more abundant.

So, it turned out to be a Demon Beast that had cultivated a Foundation Establishment Method!

Other than the Golden Lion Demon Gu Peng, who had previously come to challenge her, this was the first time Song Ciwan had seen a Demon Beast that cultivated a Foundation Establishment Method.

She couldn’t help but feel immense curiosity about this strangely-shaped Deer-Horse Demon Beast.

Song Ciwan then asked, "Captain Zhou, would you all be willing to part with this Deer-Horse Demon Beast and give it to me?"

Zhou Mu quickly said, "If Xing Lan Fairy likes them, please take both Demon Beasts. To our shame, because of the Demon Fiend Malice, we were originally only thinking of transporting the Demon Corpses back to the city to exchange for Battle Merits and then use that to thank you, Fairy.

Now that the Malice issue is resolved, you can just take both these Demon Corpses, Fairy."

Song Ciwan shook her head slightly. "I only want the Deer-Horse Demon Corpse."

As she spoke, she directly stored the Deer-Horse Demon Corpse from the ground into her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven.

Zhou Mu tried to persuade her further, but Song Ciwan stopped him with a wave of her hand. "I treated you all today. Let this Deer-Horse Demon Corpse be the payment. I’m not at a disadvantage, and neither are you. It’s a fair exchange. However, I have one other condition..."

Saying this, she didn’t keep them in suspense and stated her condition directly.

In fact, Song Ciwan’s request was very simple. She stated frankly that she had come from Jingzhou and was unfamiliar with everything in Demon Suppression City, so she needed a guide.

Just a guide? Wasn’t that simple?

The nine people present could all be her guide.

Zhou Mu was overjoyed and quickly invited Song Ciwan to return to the city with him and his group.

During the journey back to the city, whatever Song Ciwan wanted to ask, Zhou Mu and the others answered everything to the best of their ability.

So, Song Ciwan first asked Zhou Mu, "This Deer-Horse Demon Beast, where did you encounter it? Was there anything unusual about it during the fight?"

As soon as this question was asked, everyone had something to say.

So they all chimed in, one after another, recounting the thrilling details of the battle.

Zhou Mu then summarized, "This Deer-Horse Demon Beast was originally reinforcements brought by the Lion Demon, hiding in a desolate valley. Its Cultivation clearly wasn’t high, but its combat ability was strangely powerful. We all feel that there was something very unusual about that desolate valley."

Liu Tantan said, "This Deer-Horse Demon Beast could invert our attack Daoist Techniques. Fighting it, we couldn’t even exert half of our full strength. There was always an extremely awkward and strange feeling."

Listening, Song Ciwan asked for more details about the location where they had encountered the Deer-Horse Demon Beast.

Zhou Mu took out a desert map and gave it to Song Ciwan, telling her, "Fairy, this place is called the Mingqiu Desert. The terrain of the Mingqiu Desert changes every seven days. There’s a huge sandstorm every seven days without fail.

This map is also only valid for seven days. It’s been three days since the last great sandstorm, so in another four days, this map will be useless. If we want to enter the desert again, we’ll have to buy a new map."

Song Ciwan then asked about the prices in Demon Suppression City, "Where did you buy this map? How much did it cost?"

Zhou Mu said, "Maps of the Mingqiu Desert can only be bought from the military market. This map isn’t expensive, but it’s not cheap either. It costs three Battle Merits."

It turned out that the army stationed at Demon Suppression Pass was called the West Wind Army. The West Wind Army had set up a military-administered marketplace in Demon Suppression City called the Wind Chime Marketplace.

The exchange point for Battle Merits set up by the Court was also in the Wind Chime Marketplace.

Zhou Mu told Song Ciwan, "Fairy, you treated us and even completely healed our hidden injuries. If we were at a medical hall in the Wind Chime Marketplace, it would be impossible without spending over a thousand Battle Merits per person.

Fairy, a Late-stage Spirit Communication Demon Corpse, if its Malice isn’t removed, can be sold to the Demon Refining Platform for about three hundred Battle Merits. After the Malice is removed, it can be sold in the marketplace for five hundred Battle Merits."

As he spoke, he sighed again and covered his face. "Fairy, we’ve really taken huge advantage of you this time. This Lion Demon was at the Golden Core Stage. Now that its Malice is completely gone, its Demon Corpse can be sold in the marketplace for at least three thousand Battle Merits!"