Chapter 37 : Chapter 37
Chapter 37: They Arrived at Dawn, and Died at Dawn Too
...
[ Talent fusion successful. Congratulations, host has obtained Refining Stomach ]
Talent Name: Refining Stomach
Talent Grade: Elite
Growth Potential: ★★★★☆
Duration: Permanent
Status: Fixed
[ Effect 1: Devouring Amplification ]
When consuming food containing qi and blood or spiritual energy, spiritual energy absorption efficiency increases to 150%, and is used to strengthen the physical body.
[ Effect 2: Hunger Instinct ]
By devouring the flesh and blood of Demon Beasts not below the host’s own realm, the upper limit of physical strength will be permanently increased.
[ Effect 3: Qi and Blood Armor ]
Excess energy from the Demon Beast flesh and blood consumed will automatically be converted into a qi-and-blood defensive armor, capable of blocking a single instance of damage equal to 80% of the host’s own strength value. (Resets once per day.)
Lu Zhan fixed his gaze on the growth potential.
He had always thought that each advancement would consume one star, but now it seemed that was not entirely the case.
Still, by now, he already possessed five talents.
Driving God, Windshadow Step, Never-Extinguishing Soulfire, Absolute Poison Spirit Body, and Refining Stomach.
Among them, Absolute Poison Spirit Body and Refining Stomach had even reached the Elite grade.
“Looks like I’ll have to get some Demon Beast flesh and blood to try in the future.”
“Forget it. I’ll rest first. Tomorrow I’ll go to the Demon Extermination Bureau’s Cultivation Room and raise my cultivation a bit. The third layer of the Aperture Opening Realm is still somewhat lacking in the end.”
Lu Zhan turned off the light and went to sleep.
But while he could sleep, some people could not.
...
Ding-dong!
Early the next morning, the doorbell rang.
Lu Zhan got up and opened the door.
Li Buran was standing outside, looking weary. It seemed he had been busy all night yesterday without resting.
Behind him were Wang Botao, Shangguan Ling, and the others, presumably here because of what had happened at Blackwater Hall.
“Captain Li, has the matter in Jade Bottle Bay been settled?”
Li Buran nodded. Sitting down on the sofa, he glanced around the simple room with slight surprise before withdrawing his gaze and saying, “Yes. Over in Jade Bottle Bay, Zhang Chi was sentenced to death and executed last night. The other jurisdiction heads were investigated, but no ties to the Five Poisons Sect were found. However, their dereliction of duty was severe, so they were all dismissed.”
Lu Zhan felt a little regretful.
If he had known, he would have killed Zhang Chi directly. At the very least, he would have been worth another two thousand or so Slaughter Points.
But at the time, he had no evidence of Zhang Chi’s crimes, so killing him outright would have been hard to justify. And after the evidence surfaced, going back to kill him would have felt like overstepping his place.
Li Buran continued, “The Demon Extermination Bureau wants you to manage both Peach Blossom Alley and Moon-Reflecting Street for the next few days.”
Peach Blossom Alley and Moon-Reflecting Street were adjacent, so managing both was no issue. However...
“What about Tao Xiao’an and the others?”
If he went to her jurisdiction, then where would the people from her jurisdiction go?
“They’ve been temporarily transferred to Jade Bottle Bay. You don’t need to worry. It’ll only be for a few days. Once the Demon Extermination Bureau recruits new jurisdiction heads in the next couple of days, Tao Xiao’an and the others will be able to return to their own jurisdiction.”
Lu Zhan remembered that the Demon Extermination Bureau did indeed have such a rule. When all the jurisdiction heads of an area were wiped out, nearby jurisdictions would be transferred over according to proximity.
Originally, Lu Zhan taking over Jade Bottle Bay would have been the most suitable arrangement, especially since he had just established his authority there yesterday.
But Peach Blossom Alley and Jade Bottle Bay were separated by two streets, making management somewhat inconvenient, so Tao Xiao’an and the others had been transferred there instead.
Lu Zhan accepted the arrangement. He did not really resist it.
He was going to kill demons anyway. Whether he did it in Peach Blossom Alley or in Moon-Reflecting Street made no real difference. There was only one thing he wanted to make clear first.
“I destroyed one of the Five Poisons Sect’s strongholds. I assume they’ll retaliate, right?”
“If you increase my jurisdiction, I may not be able to handle everything. When that time comes, don’t turn around and say I caused major losses and use that as an excuse to block my promotion to Official Demon Exterminator.”
Li Buran was not worried about that at all.
Lu Zhan’s fierce reputation from yesterday should be enough to suppress things for a while.
“Retaliation from the Five Poisons Sect? Heh. What a joke.”
A trace of disdain appeared on Li Buran’s face as he spoke.
Something stirred in Lu Zhan’s heart. “Oh? How so?”
Wang Botao looked a little excited as he chimed in from the side.
“Brother Lu, you haven’t checked the Demon Extermination Bureau forums, have you? I heard that last night a ship sneaked in from overseas, and its target was extremely clear. It was most likely coming for you.”
“Unfortunately for them, they were discovered by the Linhai City Demon Extermination Bureau before they even reached shore. That very night, the Bureau dispatched a Yuan Gang Realm expert to intercept them.”
“Guess what happened...”
Wang Botao deliberately left a pause, then answered his own question.
“They arrived at dawn, and they died at dawn too.”
Lu Zhan was somewhat surprised. He had not expected the Five Poisons Sect’s retaliation to come so quickly. Their courage truly was immense if they dared to come to Great Xia’s territory and run wild.
“How many of them came? They all died?”
Lu Zhan pressed.
“One Yuan Gang Realm expert, three Divine Sea Realm experts, and five Aperture Opening Realm experts. Everyone above the Divine Sea Realm died. The Aperture Opening Realm ones escaped. I imagine that senior simply could not be bothered with ants like them.”
Damn!
The Five Poisons Sect had clearly come intending to eradicate him completely. Fortunately, the Demon Extermination Bureau was backing him. Otherwise, this really would have been difficult to deal with.
Looks like he really had chosen the right side.
Still, that senior had deliberately let the Aperture Opening Realm Martial Artists go. It almost seemed as if he intended to test Lu Zhan personally.
But that suited Lu Zhan just fine.
“Oh, right. Because you uprooted one of the Five Poisons Sect’s strongholds this time, the higher-ups have directly promoted you to Official Demon Exterminator. When the time comes, you can go straight to the Demon Extermination Bureau and complete the promotion procedures.”
“After you become an Official Demon Exterminator, your salary and resource allotment will increase, and certain permissions will be opened to you as well. You’ll learn the specific details when you handle the formalities.”
Lu Zhan was slightly taken aback.
“I’ve become an Official Demon Exterminator?”
Wasn’t there supposed to be a three-month apprenticeship period? How had he been made official so quickly?
This time, even Wang Botao and Shangguan Ling were stunned.
“There’s no need to be surprised. Even in outside companies, if someone performs well enough, they can become permanent ahead of schedule. Our Demon Extermination Bureau is not some rigid antique that doesn’t know how to adapt.”
Lu Zhan’s strength was there for all to see. Blocking his promotion for a reason like that would have been hard to justify.
More importantly, Lu Zhan was steady and willing to do the work.
He was not like the other jurisdiction heads who only cared about their own little patch of territory.
When something truly happened, he genuinely stepped forward.
And he could withstand it. He had courage. He had talent. Was that not exactly the kind of person the Demon Extermination Bureau had been desperately seeking?
This time, the Bureau intended to use Lu Zhan as an example to properly stir up the newly joined Apprentice Demon Exterminators.
After that, Li Buran chatted with Lu Zhan for a while before leaving.
As for Lu Zhan injuring the jurisdiction heads of Jade Bottle Bay, not a single word was mentioned from beginning to end.
After all, everything Lu Zhan had done had been reasonable, lawful, and in accordance with the rules.
Zhang Chi had tried to snatch food from someone else’s mouth, so he ought to have been prepared to get beaten for it.
What was more, the two Commandants of the Demon Extermination Bureau were especially partial to Lu Zhan. In other words, he had powerful backing above him.
So even the most basic scolding was spared him.
After Li Buran left, Wang Botao and the others began patrolling the jurisdiction.
Lu Zhan took the opportunity to make a trip to the Demon Extermination Bureau’s Cultivation Room.
However, perhaps it was just his imagination, but Su Wenqing at the front desk seemed unusually wary of his arrival.
Lu Zhan did not care.
It was only that the Spirit-Gathering Array seemed to be helping him less and less.
It looked like he needed to find replacement resources, or a higher-level formation, as soon as possible.
Fortunately, now that he had the talent [Refining Stomach], Demon Beast flesh and blood could also become an important cultivation resource.
Later, he could go to the Demon-Suppressing Tower and exchange for a few portions of Demon Beast flesh and blood. Maybe he could even gain a bit of Slaughter Points from it. Heh.
Making his little calculations, Lu Zhan then opened the system and said,
“System, raise my realm to the fifth layer of the Aperture Opening Realm.”
[ Ding! The Slaughter System is wholeheartedly at your service. ]
[ Host has consumed 1000 Slaughter Points and begun cultivation... ]
[ Detected: Aperture Opening Pill x8. Cultivation speed can be increased by 150%. Detected: Spirit-Gathering Array. Cultivation speed increased by 50%. ]
[ Beginning entry into the Unceasing Cultivation State... ]