Chapter 194: A Sudden Awakening

Beside him, Ji Qu sat there, stunned, unable to regain his senses for a long time.

Ruined!

The black banner was truly destroyed!

He watched Shen Changqing destroy the black banner with his own eyes, then obliterate two evil entities comparable to the Innate Realm with a single punch.

The overwhelming, sun-like power made the old veteran of the Demon Suppression Division feel a deep tremor.

However, what truly shocked Ji Qu wasn’t Shen Changqing’s strength.

As a late-stage Grandmaster, obliterating someone in the Innate Realm with a single punch wasn’t anything extraordinary.

What truly astounded him was that Shen Changqing had auctioned off the black banner simply to destroy the evil entities within.

Ji Qu had always believed that Shen Changqing’s intentions in acquiring the black banner involved some unorthodox method of controlling the evil entities.

But it turned out—

Snapping back to reality, Ji Qu was filled with emotion.

"Lord Shen spent seven hundred thousand taels of silver, and it was truly just to exterminate the evil entities. This act is beyond my expectations. Perhaps only someone like Lord Shen can shoulder the heavy burden of the Demon Suppression Division!"

Putting himself in Shen Changqing’s shoes, he knew he couldn’t bear to spend seven hundred thousand taels just to kill two evil entities.

After all, slaying two evil entities offered no real benefits.

At most, one could use the Clear Spirit Jade Pendant to exchange for some merit points.

But the issue was, how many merit points could the Yin and evil aura contributed by two Grievance Rank monsters be exchanged for? At most, it would barely reach ten points.

Ten merit points, when converted, amounted to only a few thousand taels of silver.

Spending seven hundred thousand taels to get a few thousand taels was utterly absurd.

Shen Changqing, upon hearing this, wore a faint smile on his face.

"Wealth is but an external thing. Being able to exchange money for the lives of evil entities is a worthwhile trade, no matter how you look at it. Moreover, if the evil entities fell into other people’s hands, the best case scenario is that they might seek to benefit the common people.

But the worst case scenario is that many villagers might lose their lives.

Since that’s the case, it’s better to eliminate the potential problems from the start."

Hearing these words, Ji Qu once again held him in solemn respect.

He realized that he seemed to be truly understanding Shen Changqing for the first time.

Having been in the Demon Suppression Division for so many years, he had seen some people who cared about the villagers, but he had never seen anyone as thorough as Shen Changqing.

"The people of Great Qin are truly fortunate to have Lord Shen!"

"Brother Ji is overstating it," Shen Changqing waved his hand.

Then, seizing the opportunity, he asked the question he had in mind.

"May I ask Brother Ji, if Shen wishes to purchase more evil entities, is there a special channel for this? Or can I simply buy them at the Yuanyang Auction House?"

Auctioning the black banner and receiving a wave of slaughter points had completely opened a new world for Shen Changqing.

Indeed!

If evil entities could be bought, why would he need to search the world for evil entities to kill?

As long as he had enough silver, he could sit in the Demon Suppression Division and continuously reap slaughter points.

With slaughter points, he could improve and fuse martial arts.

Then, he could sell the improved and fused martial arts, and use the money to buy evil entities.

In this way, buying and selling could reach a balance, and his strength could increase rapidly.

In the past, Shen Changqing would never have thought of this.

He didn’t know that evil entities could actually be bought and sold.

Only by participating in the auction had he opened the door to a new world.

"Buying and selling evil entities can provide a steady stream of slaughter points, and selling martial arts will ensure a stable source of silver. The only remaining problems are two:

First, are there enough evil entities in Jianghu for me to buy? Second, will buying so many evil entities arouse the suspicion of the Demon Suppression Division?"

Shen Changqing also had some concerns.

Although there were many evil entities in the world, the problem was that there weren’t many people who knew how to seal them, and the risk was high. Therefore, he wasn’t sure if anyone in Jianghu would continuously sell evil entities.

As for the last concern, the thought had only just arisen when he dismissed it.

Buying a few evil entities wouldn’t arouse much suspicion, and even if buying too many did arouse suspicion, he could completely use the excuse of hating evil.

Moreover, as long as his strength continued to improve, his concerns would correspondingly decrease.

In this world, ultimately, strength reigns supreme.

On the other side, after hearing Shen Changqing’s words, Ji Qu pondered slightly before giving an answer.

"Side doors are only a minority in Jianghu, and those who know how to seal evil entities are all people from the side doors. Although the side doors also cultivate martial arts, their greatest reliance, apart from martial arts, is on various other means.

Therefore, those who truly obstruct evil entities are only a small number.

But if someone offered a high price, I believe they would also sell. The Yuanyang Auction House has some channels in this regard, but I’m not sure how many."

Ji Qu’s words gave Shen Changqing a general confirmation in his mind.

"Then I can only wait until the end of the auction before asking the people from the Yuanyang Auction House."

Speaking of which, he looked at Ji Qu.

"Brother Ji is an old veteran of Jianghu, I wonder if you know anyone from the side doors?"

"Uh—" Ji Qu was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"When I was traveling in Jianghu in the past, I did know some people from the side doors. If Lord Shen has any ideas, I can help ask around."

"Then thank you, Brother Ji."

"It’s nothing." Ji Qu smiled, then his smile faded and his expression turned serious.

"Lord Shen hates evil and is dedicated to slaying demons and evil for the sake of the human race. I admire this, but if you were to buy a large number of evil entities, the silver spent would be considerable.

Moreover, those evil entities are already in the hands of the side doors, and there is almost no possibility of them causing trouble."

He felt that Shen Changqing was entering a misunderstanding, so he wanted to persuade him.

To this, Shen Changqing’s expression remained unchanged: "May I ask Brother Ji, are there any hidden dangers in the side doors controlling evil entities? You also said earlier that evil entities need to be nurtured, so how are they nurtured?"

"Of course, there are some hidden dangers in the side doors controlling evil entities. The Yin and evil aura on the evil entities is strong. If you are with evil entities for a long time, you may be polluted by the Yin and evil aura and become violent and tyrannical.

Some people may even be completely assimilated by the evil entities, thereby betraying the human race and becoming evil beings.

This is why the side doors are not welcomed.

But those who are truly polluted by evil entities are only a minority, otherwise the side doors would not have existed for so long."

Ji Qu explained patiently.

He knew a lot about the side doors.

"To nurture evil entities, to put it bluntly, is to nurture them with fresh blood. Evil entities, like the human race, need to feed, and what evil entities eat is raw meat and fresh blood. Only in this way can the strength of the evil entities be maintained.

However, the people of the side doors feed the evil entities with the blood of livestock. But in this way, those evil entities can basically only maintain their original realm without falling. It is almost impossible to improve their strength."

Shen Changqing nodded.

After Ji Qu finished speaking, he smiled slightly.

"Just as Brother Ji said, although the side doors control evil entities, there are also many hidden dangers. Secondly, to nurture evil entities, what if some people use humans to feed evil entities in order to improve the strength of the evil entities?

Brother Ji, don’t say that there is no possibility of this.

You and I know very well what human nature is like."

"Alas, there are indeed such phenomena, but once discovered, they will be directly exterminated by the Demon Suppression Division."

Ji Qu sighed, acknowledging Shen Changqing’s statement.

Hearing this, Shen Changqing scoffed: "Even if they are exterminated by the Demon Suppression Division, what then? The dead villagers will not be resurrected. Since they are only exterminated after the incident, why not make preparations earlier?

In my opinion, the side doors do have many contributions to the human race. They seal evil entities and control evil entities to fight for the human race, but the potential problems cannot be ignored.

I use silver to buy evil entities from them. After they get the silver, they can exchange it for various resources to improve their strength, and there will no longer be a danger of being assimilated by the evil entities. At the same time, they will still actively capture evil entities from all over the place.

In this way, the evil disasters in various places can also be reduced.

And what I have paid is only some external things, so why not do it?"

After Shen Changqing finished speaking, Ji Qu was stunned.

He instinctively felt that there was something wrong with what Shen Changqing said, but he couldn’t find any problems.

After thinking about it, it seemed to be a good thing that benefited the people.

Since he couldn’t think of any problems, he stopped thinking about it.

Ji Qu showed respect, but shook his head.

"Lord Shen’s idea is good, but in this way, the silver spent on buying evil entities will be a lot. It will be difficult for you to support it for too long with your financial resources alone."

Even if the other party sold three Grandmaster martial arts and used all the silver obtained to buy evil entities, how much effect could it have?

There were too many evil entities in the world.

Dumping a mere million taels of silver into it wouldn’t even make a splash.

Shen Changqing’s expression was solemn.

"Brother Ji, you are mistaken. The question is not how much can be done, but whether you have done your best. Even if I, Shen Changqing, am ruined, I can only exterminate a few evil entities, then I am satisfied.

Because I have done my best, I…"

Ji Qu’s heart trembled violently.

The four words were like a magic spell, directly bombarding his mind.

"That’s right, how many people in Jianghu can do things without a guilty conscience? I was short-sighted. Listening to Lord Shen’s words is better than reading ten years of books!"

At this time, Ji Qu suddenly realized, looking at Shen Changqing’s face with admiration and gratitude, as if the other party had led him out of the mist.

Instantly, he stood up and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Lord Shen, for dispelling my doubts!"

After finishing the bow, Ji Qu straightened up again.

Shen Changqing reached out to help him up, smiling lightly: "Brother Ji, there is no need to perform such a great gift. Shen is just speaking from the heart."

"For Brother Shen, it is speaking from the heart, but for me, these words have made me understand a lot of things, so I must thank you!"

Ji Qu’s expression was serious.

Seeing this, Shen Changqing also laughed heartily, putting the matter behind him.

How much of what he said was true, he knew it in his heart.

End of Chapter