He hadn’t expected to actually earn Demon Points from this.

And over sixty of them, at that.

This Blood Pearl...

[Divine Source]

"Divine Source? The origin of Divine Power?" Gu Zheng’s brows arched.

’So it’s the Divine Power Origin. No wonder!’

The power of an Evil God, bestowed upon a human, had forcibly elevated a martial artist—originally no more than a Grandmaster—to an existence comparable to the peak of the Super Body Realm.

This just went to show how powerful the energy contained within the Divine Power Origin was.

The crucial part was that it wasn’t just the leader, Luo Xihu, who exposed a Divine Source upon death.

The others, slain by his blades, had revealed them as well.

Theirs were just much smaller and dimmer.

Spirit Capturing!

Gu Zheng descended, swooping through the air to perform Spirit Capturing.

[Demon Points +21]

[Demon Points +19]

[Demon Points +20]

...

A pleasant surprise!

Each Divine Source from the frenzied men and women he had killed converted into about twenty Demon Points.

That was comparable to a Rank-2 Demon Fiend.

And yet, these people provided just that.

It just showed how generous the Evil God behind the scenes was, expending its own Power of Origin to strengthen them.

Last time in the Royal Capital, the Evil God Avatar that descended was destroyed, but no Divine Source had been released.

But these people possessed it, which undoubtedly meant this was not the same Evil God as before.

[Demon Points +19]

[Demon Points +20]

...

He continued the process, performing Spirit Capturing on every fallen person.

Gu Zheng harvested seven thousand Demon Points!

This was even faster than slaying Demon Fiends.

COUGH, COUGH~

A cough rang out. Cheng Zong pushed himself to his feet and faced Gu Zheng, who was surveying the scene. Cupping his fist, he said gratefully, "Thank you, Lord Gu, for arriving in time to save us..."

"There’s no need for formalities, Cheng."

Gu Zheng raised a hand, his gaze sweeping over the scene as the thick fog dissipated. In addition to the frenzied men and women who had died by his blades, more than a dozen of their own Demon Suppression Guards had also fallen, never to rise again.

Xue Ding, Nie Yunxiao, and Tao Qi were lucky. They were only injured and held on until Gu Zheng arrived.

Now, they stared at Gu Zheng, their faces a mixture of excitement and lingering fear.

Luo Xihu had been leading people to hunt them down for several days.

For days, they had been running in circles in the mountains.

The message Cheng Zong sent to the State City received a reply telling them to wait.

Luo Xihu’s strength was comparable to the peak of the Super Body Realm. Only someone from the Heroic Body Realm could guarantee victory.

However, there were only a few in the Heroic Body Realm in all of Fengzhou, and each had their own missions. They couldn’t make it over in time.

Fortunately, Gu Zheng was in the neighboring Nanyun Prefecture and arrived just in time.

...

"Cheng, what’s the origin of these people?"

Without wasting words, Gu Zheng pointed to the frenzied men and women from whom he had absorbed the Divine Source and asked, "Did the Evil God behind them turn them into this?"

"Whether an Evil God personally handled them, I can’t be sure. But it’s definitely related to an Evil God."

Cheng Zong took a deep breath, regulated his breathing, and answered, "These people are Divine Slaves. Luo Xihu, the one Lord Gu killed, was a Guardian—in other words, a Dharma King of the Cult of Evil they belong to!"

"A Cult of Evil? An Evil God Sect?" Gu Zheng’s brows arched.

"Yes."

Cheng Zong explained, "After the Daliang Mountain incident, we investigated in secret for a few days and discovered that the matter was related to a Cult of Evil. This cult appeared very early on, several years ago..."

"Several years?" Gu Zheng interrupted. "Are you saying an Evil God descended into the world before the Celestial Change?"

"Correct!"

Cheng Zong took a deep breath. "Before the Celestial Change, someone managed to communicate with an Evil God. They willingly became its dog, submitting at its feet to obtain power. This person is the Sect Leader of this Evil God Sect. We haven’t figured out their name or background yet. However, they have connections to the military!"

’Connected to the military?’

"A general from the army?" Gu Zheng murmured softly. "It seems the waters behind this Cult of Evil run deep."

"Right, have you found the Cult of Evil’s main den, or any strongholds?"

"We don’t know where the Cult of Evil’s Main Altar is," Cheng Zong replied. "But we did find one of their strongholds. It’s in the mountains less than thirty li west of Ciming Mountain."

’That’s all I need.’