Chapter 15 Because I Am Weak?

"Is it because I am weak?" The demon Li Chong's obsession was twisted and blurred, already unstable. He suddenly raised his head, staring at Xu Jingming, and roared, "I carefully eked out a living, afraid of offending anyone, just because I am weak? Should I die? Should I end up like this?"

"Just because I am weak, should my wife be taken and my children killed, dying unjustly in prison?" The demon Li Chong became even more insane, "I am not convinced, I am not convinced!"

As the minds of the two collided, everything the demon had experienced, his obsession, merged into Xu Jingming's consciousness, constantly impacting him, trying to use his obsession to shake Xu Jingming's perception.

"Alas."

Xu Jingming sighed, "I admit, you are very pitiful, and I sympathize with you."

The twisted demon Li Chong stared at Xu Jingming.

"If it were a peaceful and prosperous era, with strict laws, even if you were weak, you could get the protection of the law. If you encounter evildoers, you can use the law to deal with them," Xu Jingming said, "But what if there is no legal protection?"

"In times of war and chaos, people will kill for a bite to eat. At that time, the weak will be eliminated."

"In ancient times, during the tribal era, people fought with wild beasts for the right to survive! If you were weak, the entire tribe would not even have the right to survive."

"So how you survive depends on what era you live in."

Xu Jingming looked at him, "Now that demons are causing trouble, almost every young person is learning martial arts. Look at those who have achieved 'martial arts entry'; even if they encounter demons, their escape speed is much faster than ordinary people. Of those gangs that dare to bully you, how many dare to bully martial arts experts?"

"Martial arts entry..." The demon Li Chong murmured, "It's too difficult to achieve entry."

When he was young, his father also made him practice martial arts. But he was used to being lazy, and couldn't endure the hardship.

"From everything you've experienced, when your father was around, your family hired many guards," Xu Jingming said. "But when it came to you, there were fewer and fewer guards."

"Is it easy to run a pharmacy? Is it easy to make money?" The demon Li Chong roared, "Where would I get so much silver to support so many guards?"

"Being weak, an ordinary person, without powerful guards, not even enough guards," Xu Jingming said, "Do you really think that Lord Wang killed you because of your wife? There are plenty of beautiful women in this world! Your wife is already in her thirties, with two children. Would Lord Wang really go to the trouble of colluding with the county magistrate for her? Lord Wang was after your family fortune!"

"Lord Wang and the county magistrate were both after your family fortune. The two colluded to squeeze you dry. As for taking your wife? That was just Lord Wang's reason to legally swallow your family fortune." Xu Jingming looked at the demon Li Chong, "So I say, I sympathize with you. There's a saying, virtue is not matched by position! It was your strength that couldn't support such a family fortune, and you suffered the backlash."

"For the family fortune?" The demon Li Chong's figure became even more twisted, murmuring, "That's right, my wife is already in her thirties, the county magistrate squeezed all my cash, and Lord Wang seized my property."

"Father said..."

At this moment, the demon Li Chong remembered his father's instructions before his death.

"Son, remember to send five hundred taels of silver to Dongming Mountain outside the city before each New Year. In previous years, your father took you there. In the future, you must go yourself!"

"Father, we pay money every year, but those officials and gangs still come to demand kickbacks; it's useless."

"If you don't pay, there will be trouble! You must believe me."

"But my friend Luo's family doesn't pay, and nothing happens to them."

"You must pay, you must pay, remember that for me, cough, cough..."

"Yes, yes, I remember."

Li Chong naturally agreed with his father at the time.

But after his father died, he took over the family business. He still paid the money the first year. But after paying the money, he didn't feel any benefit. He still encountered various extortion and harassment problems.

So from the second year, he stopped paying.

Wasn't it better to keep five hundred taels of silver in his own pocket every year? Li Chong found that not paying didn't change anything in his life. He even thought his father was stupid and had been deceived.

"What exactly is Dongming Mountain?" The demon Li Chong stared at Xu Jingming.

"Dongming Mountain is a demon lair."

Xu Jingming looked at him, "There are many mountains called Dongming Mountain within Cheng'an Prefecture! They all belong to the most terrifying 'demon' in Cheng'an Prefecture. If you obediently pay the money, you are on the protection list! If you don't pay, you are on your own."

"A demon, protecting us?" The demon Li Chong couldn't believe it.

"Ordinary people hardly know what Dongming Mountain is, but generations of experience tell them that they must pay obediently," Xu Jingming said, "This is the environment in which the people of your hometown, Liu County, survive. You must follow this environment."

"You didn't even understand the environment you were in—first, not paying the demon; second, being weak yourself; third, not hiring powerful guards; and fourth, having a large sum of money. In such a world, do you think you would have a good ending?" Xu Jingming said.

"Laughable, laughable."

The demon Li Chong was completely convinced and understood everything, laughing, "In this chaotic world, you actually have to pay a demon."

"People have to pay demons; how laughable."

The blurred and twisted obsession completely collapsed, impacting Xu Jingming's mind and consciousness. This kind of scouring only made Xu Jingming's mind and consciousness even more firm.

The mind and cognition are one aspect; practice is another.

Xu Jingming read humanities books and underwent some tests in the mysterious place. He understood many principles! But these principles needed to be thoroughly ingrained in his mind through repeated practice.

Heart refinement of demons is to allow the demon's obsession to merge into one's own consciousness, as if personally experiencing everything the other party has gone through. Demons can form obsessions, naturally having a relatively strong impact.

Once the impact undermines the mind and cognition of a demon subduer, causing flaws and loopholes, it would be a big problem.

Xu Jingming experienced such an impact and scouring, but his mind became firmer.

"Different environments have different survival rules."

"This demon Li Chong violated the survival rules of the demon subduing world in all aspects, and thus had a tragic ending." Xu Jingming said silently, "The demon subduing world—first, it is for us demon subduers to hone our minds; second, it is to force countless mortals with a dangerous survival environment, causing 'demons' to appear among them; and third, it is to force these countless mortals who have had their memories obscured to practice martial arts. If they achieve martial arts entry, that is another cosmic lifeform!"

In the demon subduing world, almost every eighth-order cosmic lifeform has a registered account here.

The natives here are naturally real humans who have entered after having their memories obscured!

Every county has martial arts schools, giving them the opportunity to learn martial arts, and forcing them to learn martial arts through various methods.

When unable to cultivate into a demon subduer, learning martial arts is almost the only way out for the natives.

"In the demon subduing world, even if you die here, you wake up in reality," Xu Jingming thought to himself, "In such a world, you are naturally forced to cultivate."

"I hope this experience in the virtual world will give you some understanding."

In reality, many people will suffer head injuries. But in the virtual world, the 'price' of suffering head injuries is much lower. This is also the benevolence of the Cosmic Human Alliance.

The next morning.

Xu Jingming was eating breakfast when he saw Wu Qi sweeping the floor nearby.

"Uncle Qi," Xu Jingming called out.

Wu Qi immediately put down his broom and walked over, "Young Master, is there anything I can do for you?"

"There are people to do the chores; you should rest more," Xu Jingming said.

"It's boring to be idle," Wu Qi said with a smile.

Xu Jingming nodded, "Uncle Qi, if you have nothing to do, you can go out and take a walk. If you find any news about demons, come back and tell me."

"News about demons?" Wu Qi was stunned.

"Now that I've become a demon subduer, I naturally have to refine more demons," Xu Jingming said. After refining the demon 'Li Chong,' Xu Jingming could feel that his mental perception had become firmer in some aspects.

The mind is like this, needing to practice one's own cognition repeatedly! Refining demons is a way to deeply practice one's mind.

"I heard that dealing with demons is also very dangerous," Wu Qi said with some concern.

"Don't worry, Uncle Qi. Just like the last time the caravan encountered one, I took it down easily," Xu Jingming said.

Wu Qi nodded slightly, "Alright, I'll go out for a walk more often. If I hear any news about demons, I'll tell the Young Master immediately."

"Thank you, Uncle Qi," Xu Jingming said.

"It's my duty; I'm going now." Wu Qi set off immediately. He had been a small beggar who was saved by the Wu family's daughter. Later, the Wu family's daughter married into the Chen family, and he followed her to become a steward.

In his life, the daughter was the person he was determined to protect with his life.

With the daughter dead, all of Wu Qi's thoughts were naturally on the Young Master.

"The prefecture city has a population of several million; the probability of demons being born is much higher," Xu Jingming thought to himself, "But I can't afford to provoke the too powerful ones."

The stronger the demon, the higher the wisdom, and the more able to control itself.

The Dongming Mountain force, which is spread throughout Cheng'an Prefecture, even collects protection fees for a long time! Neither the official demon subduers, nor the demon subduers from large families and sects... none of the demon subduers can do anything about this demon force.

Xu Jingming knew his own limitations. Before becoming an eighth-order, he should act in a low-key manner.

Another half month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Uncle Qi wanders around the city every day, going to teahouses and other places where people gather, and has inquired about a lot of news about demons." Xu Jingming sat in the gazebo on the artificial hill in the back garden.

"However, the official demon subduers' news network covers the entire city, and they usually arrive at the scene as soon as possible! There are also some family demon subduers who arrive quite quickly. The weaker 'demons' are solved by these demon subduers as soon as they appear."

Those seventh-order cosmic lifeforms who descend into the demon subduing world like to deal with some weak demons.

Those weak demons are relatively safer to refine.

Xu Jingming had, after all, experienced the tests of the mysterious place, like the hundred kinds of life dilemmas on the sixth planet. Being able to pass these tests meant that, at the level of humans and demons, the probability of 'obsessions' being able to threaten Xu Jingming was extremely low.

Those ordinary demon subduers didn't have Xu Jingming's courage.

They avoided the strong demons, but solved the weak demons as quickly as possible.

"I haven't found a suitable demon."

"As for some of the famous ones in Cheng'an Prefecture, they are at least at the Earth Demon level, and I don't dare to touch them." Xu Jingming looked at the moon in the sky, then pinched a magic seal with his left hand and softly chanted, "Descend!"

Two intertwining lightning bolts struck down, one dazzling and blazing white, and the other restrained and dark, perfectly combined together.

"Bang."

The sound was very deep, and the pit in the ground was bottomless.

Xu Jingming looked at it.

"I've been studying the Yuan Chu Star Conjecture - Light Rays for more than three months, and have gradually gained more understanding. I've finally raised the 'thunder technique' to the supernatural power level, barely considered entry-level, and it's also the first supernatural power I've mastered," Xu Jingming thought.

The spell 'thunder technique' transforming into a supernatural power is the Five Thunder Technique recorded in the Myriad Stars Demon Refining Scroll.

Entry-level for the supernatural power 'Five Thunder Technique' requires the perfect coordination of two different thunderbolts! Its power is several times greater than a single thunderbolt.

Small success requires the coordination of three different thunderbolts, with the power several times greater than entry-level.

Great success requires the coordination of five different thunderbolts, with the power tens of times stronger than at entry-level. This Five Thunder Technique requires vast knowledge of Light Rays as a foundation to be cultivated. Xu Jingming can be considered a peerless genius in the Light Rays lineage, and only managed to barely achieve entry-level for the supernatural power 'Five Thunder Technique' three months after obtaining the inheritance, demonstrating the difficulty.

"The coordination of two thunderbolts can increase the power several times." Xu Jingming thought, "The supernatural power is initially complete, but unfortunately, there is no suitable demon for me to practice with."