When Li Shiwuwu awoke, he found himself in the middle of an iron cage, a black iron shackle around his neck, clearly a prisoner.

"Heh, you monster, you're awake?"

A burly man with a full beard sat on a tiger-skin chair, scrutinizing the person in the cage with obvious wariness in his eyes.

"Speak, what's your background?"

"It's not easy for ordinary folks to make a living, you dog, causing trouble and mayhem, are you satisfied now?"

Inside the cage, Li Shiwuwu slowly got up. At this moment, he seemed to have regained some strength, but the gnawing hunger that made his body gradually wither had not disappeared, still tormenting him.

"Open it!" he said, his tone lacking warmth.

"You dog, you're still acting up."

The burly man swung a horsewhip in the air, making a cracking sound, seemingly wanting to stretch his muscles and give the troublemaker a hard time.

But in the next instant, he saw it.

A bronze toad the size of a millstone flicked its tongue, and the iron cage visibly deformed, the shackles on the man's body falling off.

When he looked again.

Li Shiwuwu was already standing in front of him, like a sinister ghost, his shriveled hands gripping the man's neck, pressing him against the wall.

"Tell me, where is this place?"

The burly man struggled to turn his neck, looking out of the dungeon, where his gang of underlings were drinking and playing games, completely oblivious to the situation inside the cell.

"Master... Master Dao."

"Let's talk this over... talk this over."

Li Shiwuwu slightly loosened his grip, glancing at the Chopping Knife casually tossed in the corner, which Lord Guan picked up with his long tongue.

"Master Dao, my name is Liu Shaohu, just a town guard, usually leading some men to keep the peace. If I've offended you, please forgive me."

"As for this place, it's called Jule Town, within the borders of Tang City."

Li Shiwuwu nodded, a thought crossing his mind, and he probed, "Ah, last night I drank with a few immortals from Qingyang Temple, got a bit drunk."

Liu Shaohu was taken aback, showing a bitter smile.

"Master Dao, don't try to fool me."

"Qingyang Temple isn't far from here, just a bunch of old farts there. Even I could take them down one by one, how can they be called immortals?"

Li Shiwuwu showed no emotion: "Oh, then I remembered wrong."

"In that case, tell me, where do those seeking the path of immortality go?"

Liu Shaohu was overjoyed at the question: "Master Dao, there are some in town right now, the kind of cultivators you mentioned."

"There are three of them, preparing to subdue a demon."

"Subdue a demon? What kind of demon?" Li Shiwuwu's brow furrowed tightly.

He had spent over a decade with Qian Yuanzi, mostly living in the wilderness, and had never seen a demon, let alone a human-demon.

"This... this..."

"Master Dao, I'm just a town guard, quite ignorant, how would I know about these things? You've dealt with them, why not ask them yourself?"

Li Shiwuwu released his grip, then had Lord Guan spit out two finger-length pieces of gold, tossing them to the other.

"This morning's incident was my fault, compensate the townsfolk on my behalf."

"Alright, alright," Liu Shaohu nodded happily, thinking that although this Daoist looked terrifying, he seemed reasonable and sensible.

But in the next moment, Li Shiwuwu raised his hand and gave him a solid slap.

Harshly, he said, "I, a disciple of Qian Yuanzi, should suffer this loss, let you lock me in a dog cage for nothing?"

"The rest of the gold, use it to buy yourself some medicinal wine."

Liu Shaohu: "..."

Afterward.

Li Shiwuwu asked for a black bamboo hat to wear on his head, covering his face with a black cloth to hide his now shriveled and gaunt appearance.

He followed the burly man all the way to a large hall.

Inside, two men and a woman were already seated.

There was a young man in brocade holding a sword, an old monk in a yellow robe, and a beautiful woman carrying a bamboo basket.

"Esteemed ones, this Daoist Li is also here to subdue the demon. The more people, the better the chances against that fierce monster."

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Liu Shaohu bowed respectfully, introducing Li Shiwuwu to the group.

"Your name?" the young man with the sword asked indifferently, looking up.

"Li Shiwuwu."

"Which sect do you belong to?"

"Seed—Immortal—Temple."

Li Shiwuwu slowly uttered the three words, his gaze from under the hat fixed on their reactions, still not giving up on finding the origins of the Seed Immortal Temple.

"Tsk, never heard of it."

The young man chuckled, shaking his head, "Without a master, how do we know what you're capable of?"

"With this journey, you probably can't come along."

Beside him, the woman with the basket smiled like a flower: "Daoist Li, is that Lord Guan hanging from your ear?"

"Yes, why, do you want it?" Li Shiwuwu tightened his grip on the Chopping Knife, chopping wood he was skilled at, chopping people would be the same.

"Daoist, you've misunderstood." The woman chuckled lightly, continuing, "Since you have a Sui Beast like Lord Guan, you must have some skills."

"This demon-subduing trip, you're welcome to join."

Li Shiwuwu's gaze sharpened: "Sui Beast?"

The young man with the sword scoffed: "Don't even know what a Sui Beast is, are you some wild man from nowhere?"

"I just came down from the mountain, don't know these things, is there a problem?" Li Shiwuwu's tone was equally unkind.

"Tsk, turns out you're a rookie. Your master didn't tell you about these things, just let you out with a Lord Guan?" The young man now had a hint of envy in his eyes.

"Oh, you're talking about my master, he was skinned alive and burned to ashes because of me, want to go down and join him?"

Li Shiwuwu's casual words were like thunder, echoing in the ears of those in the hall.

Even the old monk sitting quietly with his eyes closed opened them abruptly, choosing to play the peacemaker after a glance.

He spoke: "This benefactor."

"Nowadays, within the Dayao realm, there are no longer the spirit beasts recorded in ancient texts, nor are there demon beasts, only 'Sui'."

Li Shiwuwu frowned: "Master, the Dayao you speak of, is it the Dayao Immortal Dynasty?"

When buying a horse in Tang City, he had heard this term from the Huaren Sect.

The old monk responded: "Yes."

"We are all subjects of Dayao, part of its multitude of beings."

He put his hands together in a Buddhist salute.

Continuing, he said: "'Sui' signifies disaster, ominousness."

"In short, they are strange, inexplicable, and extremely terrifying things."

The old monk sighed, glancing at the bronze toad hanging from Li Shiwuwu's earlobe.

"Those with lesser intelligence, like Lord Guan, we call Sui Beasts."

"And those with intelligence akin to humans, even as wise as demons, we call Sui Demons."

"Currently, in Jule Town, a Sui Demon is causing chaos, having already claimed many lives."

The old monk put his hands together, chanting a Buddhist prayer.

"Everyone, please unite and eradicate this calamity together!"