Xing Yuan tilted her head, a hint of confusion on her face. Wasn't it him who attacked her first? Wasn't it reasonable for her to retaliate?
"Capture her! I want to make her my spirit beast," a man in extravagant clothing commanded his guards. His gaze towards the small beast was filled with fervor. He possessed a naturally unique constitution, allowing him to clearly sense that this spirit beast's bloodline was absolutely extraordinary.
Xing Yuan watched the approaching figures, a surge of annoyance rising within her. So bothersome.
With a light leap, her sharp claws instantly slit the throats of these individuals. It was her first kill, yet the beast's instinct made her excited upon tasting blood.
She licked her claws twice, observing the gorgeously dressed man who had ordered her capture with keen interest.
At this moment, he had fallen to the ground in terror. He was merely at the initial stage of the Mortal Realm, and his family held considerable influence in this area, so no one dared to provoke him. He was the most talented in his family, so much so that even cultivators at the late Mortal Realm were assigned to him as guards for his safety.
However, just now, this guard had been instantly killed by the seemingly beautiful spirit beast in a single encounter.
A flicker of boredom crossed Xing Yuan's eyes. They were too weak for her to even bother attacking.
She surveyed the slave market, teeming with sin, and shattered the cages holding the so-called slaves one by one.
Some tried to intervene, but Xing Yuan sent them flying with a single swipe of her claw.
Among these slaves were members of the demon, human, and spirit beast races. Upon gaining their freedom, the first thing they did with their battered bodies was to tear apart the humans who had tormented them for years.
Yet, they had forgotten that due to years of imprisonment and beatings, their bodies were too frail. Some, by sheer luck, succeeded while the humans were caught off guard, while others were killed by them instead.
Xing Yuan watched indifferently, not interfering. She had given them a chance; what happened next was their own choice, unrelated to her.
The disparity in strength was too great, so some quickly assessed the situation and fled.
Xing Yuan waited until the chaos subsided before reappearing. Streams of merit, invisible to ordinary beings, floated out from the bodies of the deceased and merged into Xing Yuan's form.
Under the shimmering golden light, Xing Yuan's eyes instantly returned to blue. An imprint flickered on her forehead, but it seemed to recede and hide again due to insufficient power.
Xing Yuan let out a comfortable sigh and then moved towards her next target.
This was the simplest method of acquiring merit from her inherited memories. As long as she established a slight connection with other beings and evoked some emotional response from them, she had the opportunity to claim the merit within them after their deaths.
The only prerequisite was that she absolutely could not be the one to initiate the action.
Compared to spiritual energy, Xing Yuan's need for merit was significantly higher. She had a feeling that to transform, she needed to absorb merit. Moreover, she hadn't forgotten that she still owed merit to her elder sister.
Not long after Xing Yuan left, Xing Yue, sensing the fluctuation of the formation she had placed on Xing Yuan, rushed over.
"Strange!" Xing Yue looked at the mess on the ground, a hint of confusion in her eyes. However, sensing that Xing Yuan had already left, she didn't think much of it and simply incinerated the area with a blast of fire.
"What was A Yuan doing here?" Xing Yue suddenly appeared.
Xing Yuan instinctively hid the paw that was slightly stained with blood behind her back, a smile gracing her face as she said, "Just strolling around. Aren't you busy selecting disciples, A Jie?"
Xing Yue gently stroked Xing Yuan's soft head and chuckled, "It's just that the formation on you suddenly had some fluctuations, and I was worried you might get abducted!"
"Don't worry! Even if someone wanted to abduct me, I wouldn't go with them." Hearing this, Xing Yuan happily pounced into her sister's arms, her face beaming as if expecting praise.
"Yes, our A Yuan is the most obedient." Xing Yue couldn't help but smile. How could the cub she raised be so adorable!
"A reward for A Yuan. What do you want to eat tonight?" Xing Yue carried Xing Yuan and walked away.
"I'm not a glutton! But I like whatever you like, A Jie." Xing Yuan emphasized, not wanting her sister to think she was greedy.
"Alright, alright, A Yuan isn't. A Jie is. So, A Yuan, will you accompany A Jie?" Xing Yue's tone was indulgent.
"Okay~" Xing Yuan replied, her lips unable to suppress a smile.
She gently nuzzled into Xing Yue's embrace again. Her sister was the one she loved most in this world.
Since it was a form of training, they couldn't stay in one place. Every few days, they would move to a new location, experiencing the myriad facets of life, which greatly improved their state of mind.
Xing Yuan had seen enough of the outside world and felt it was nothing special. Even bullying others no longer brought her any sense of accomplishment.
So, under the guise of going out to play, she spent her days collecting merit. As long as she specifically suppressed the formation her sister had placed on her before collecting merit, Xing Yue would never discover what she was doing.
One day, while Xing Yuan was collecting merit, a faint light suddenly entered her body. Xing Yuan felt a moment of bewilderment before warily scanning her surroundings.
"Phew, finally found you." Ying Qing was almost in tears. When he first left the demon realm, Xing Yuan was at Tianya Sect, and the sect's protective formation masked her aura, causing the formation disk to spin erratically, unable to locate her.
Later, after she came out, she changed locations every few days. The key was that the formation disk wasn't very flexible; it would only update to the next location after he had almost reached the previous one, like a treasure hunt.
Later, Ying Qing learned to be clever. Following the path indicated by the formation disk, he deliberately waited in the middle section for the disk to update. After a few trial-and-error attempts, he finally found the person, or rather, the beast.
Ying Qing opened the brocade pouch left to him by his master, which could only be opened after finding Xing Yuan. Upon reading the contents, he almost bit off his tongue.
However, he still stammered, "Um, I have no ill intentions. To introduce myself, I am a disciple of the Great Priest of the Demon Realm. Guided by the Heavenly Dao, I am here to escort you back to the Demon Realm to inherit the position of Demon Lord."
Xing Yuan looked at him as if he were an idiot. Was this how you tricked a beast? To ask her to inherit some Demon Lord position without any prior connection? He was crazy, but she wasn't.
After giving Ying Qing a look of disdain, Xing Yuan said sympathetically, "Uncle, if you are ill, I can introduce you to a very good medical cultivator. There's no need to talk nonsense on the street!"
Ying Qing: ...? Do you think I want to do this! It's the master's order. To avoid being expelled from the sect, he had no choice. ╮(•́w•̀)╭