Chapter 289 - 283: Strange Harvest in the Demon Realm

Gradually, Song Ciwan seemed to find her way back into that wondrous state from before.

She drifted through the endless branches, her entire being seemingly transformed into a wisp of gentle wind in this vast sea of trees, a faint glimmer of light—no, she didn’t even exist.

It was as if she had become a cloud of energy, both present and not. She floated in the air of the Demon Realm, passing swiftly through all things, tangible and intangible alike.

And then, she saw the creatures of the Demon Realm.

The creatures she had thought didn’t exist were, in fact, everywhere!

For instance, a snake was coiled around a branch. From a distance, it didn’t look like a snake at all; it seemed to be part of the branch itself.

But as Song Ciwan passed through that patch of boughs, she suddenly noticed that a section of the branch had abruptly split.

The forked branch transformed into a long, dark-brown snake. The snake reared its body and shot upward.

Hanging from the middle of a branch above was a peculiar red fruit.

When she was farther away, Song Ciwan hadn’t noticed the fruit at all. But now that she was close, for some unknown reason, the sight of it sparked a terrifying, overwhelming urge within her to pluck and devour it.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who felt this urge.

Countless creatures of the Demon Realm did as well.

Like the snake that had just sprung into action, and the butterflies that suddenly took flight from the leaves—yes, butterflies, a kind that, when resting on a leaf, seemed to fuse with it completely!

There were also long-legged, spider-like insects, multi-legged centipedes, winged squirrels, toads hiding beneath thick moss, and a bizarre creature that shrieked wildly and looked like a skinned monkey...

The variety of strange creatures was impossible to describe in full.

In that instant, the seemingly tranquil world of trees erupted into a frenzy.

The long snake whipped its tail, the spider shot out silk, the centipede took to the air, the toad spat ice... Every creature unleashed its unique abilities. But wherever the skinless monkey passed, leaves rained down and transformed into a thick, bloody mist, engulfing the frenzied creatures rushing for the red fruit.

The long snake shrieked in pain. The spider fell from the tree, completely entangled in the very silk it had spun.

The flying centipede went rigid in midair, and the ice-spitting toad let out a bizarre cry before melting into a puddle of green liquid...

The skinless monkey shrieked as it charged toward the red fruit. Just as it was about to snatch it, the butterflies, fluttering like leaves, suddenly formed a single line.

The Green Leaf Butterflies circled the skinless monkey, dancing elegantly as a rain of faint green light drifted down.

The excited skinless monkey immediately dropped from its airborne lunge onto a thick branch below. Its agitated expression began to soften, growing peaceful.

Its long tail twitched, and its body slowly began to curl up.

It was as if a skinned Demon had suddenly reverted to its original state.

It remained curled, and a moment later, fur actually began to grow back on its body!

A moment later, the skinless monkey, originally about five feet tall, began to shrink. It hugged its legs to its chest, tucking its head down, as if it were returning to its mother’s womb.

It was dead.

All signs of life vanished. Motionless, it had lost its demonic life under the Green Leaf Butterflies’ rain of light.

When the melee first erupted, who could have predicted that the final victors would be those seemingly fragile butterflies?

And so, Song Ciwan stood beneath the red fruit, in her state of quasi-existence, and witnessed a melee that had erupted and concluded in a flash.

At the same time, the Heaven and Earth Scale manifested beside Song Ciwan, having collected a good amount of Death Qi.

[Death Qi, from the death of the Skeleton Demon Spider, one tael and two mace. Barterable.]

[Death Qi, from the death of the Demonized Serpent, two taels and one mace. Barterable.]

[Death Qi, from the death of the Demonized Skinless Monkey, one catty and one tael. Barterable.]

...

’Normally, the Heaven and Earth Scale wouldn’t proactively collect Death Qi from creatures I didn’t personally kill. In other words, if their deaths had nothing to do with me, the Scale shouldn’t be able to collect anything.’

’The rule of the Heaven and Earth Scale has always been that for me to collect something, be it an emotional aura or anything else, its appearance must be related to me in some way.’

’If there’s no other connection, there must at least be physical contact—or rather, contact itself probably counts as a form of connection.’

’It’s like when I was Washing Demon Fiends in the Washing Room. Their deaths had nothing to do with me, but through the washing process, I was stained by their Malice. That allowed me to barter away the Malice clinging to me.’

’That’s the connection established by the rule of contact.’

’But this... this is the first time I’ve ever been able to collect the Death Qi of these Demons just by being a bystander.’

For a moment, Song Ciwan felt a pleasant surprise, which was quickly followed by deep thought.

’Why is this happening? Have the rules of the Heaven and Earth Scale changed? Or is there something special about the Demon Realm?’

’I don’t need to overthink it. This must be due to the special nature of the Demon Realm.’

’It’s a shame I can’t stay in the Demon Realm for long.’

As Song Ciwan’s thoughts raced, she didn’t forget to carefully observe how the Green Leaf Butterflies would proceed to claim the red fruit.

A moment later, Song Ciwan paused. ’No, wait...’

Something even stranger was happening—

In the next instant, Song Ciwan discovered that the Heaven and Earth Scale hadn’t just collected the Demons’ Death Qi. It had also, in that same moment, siphoned away cloud after cloud of their Malice.