At a construction site thousands of miles away from the Longteng Internet Café…
Inside a coffin, the corpse lying motionless suddenly opened its eyes.
“Useless trash. Couldn’t even kill a rookie. Let’s see what happened.”
He closed his eyes and activated a secret technique. A ghostly image of the human-faced spider wailed above his head before dissipating. At the same time, a vivid playback of the scene at Longteng Internet Café from five minutes ago emerged in his mind.
A girl posted a talisman on the café door.
The vision zoomed in rapidly—then came a deafening roar, and nothing but blinding white light remained.
Agonizing pain surged through him. Even now, the righteous energy that clung to the spider’s fading soul hadn’t fully dissipated.
“Tch.” The corpse puppet dug out his scorched eyeball and casually tossed it aside. The flesh inside the socket squirmed, then two new eyeballs rapidly grew in.
“A new face, huh. Looks like a fresh recruit the Tianfu District Demon Slayer Division recently brought in. That power of his—it’s extremely effective against us.”
“Should I nip him in the bud?”
Murderous intent flickered in the puppet’s eyes.
But after thinking about his unfinished plan, he suppressed the killing urge.
“Forget it. If we cross paths again… I’ll deal with him then.”
Meanwhile…
Lin Lingling rubbed the back of her neck.
She couldn’t explain it, but there was this lingering chill crawling across her skin.
But never mind that—she used her strength to shove aside a couch that was nearly bigger than her, and beneath it, she spotted Chen Huaian’s raised rear end. His upper body was still buried under a mound of debris, looking like he’d taken a pretty bad hit.
“Chen Huaian! Are—are you okay?!”
She hurried over and pulled him out.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Not dead yet.” Chen Huaian stood up with Lin Lingling’s help, looking at the wreckage around him with lingering fear—the second floor of the entire Internet café had collapsed by nearly 60%, especially the room he had hidden in, which had almost completely caved in.
Except for the exact spot where he had curled up.
What kind of god-tier luck is this?
If that had actually collapsed, he’d be laid up in a hospital for at least a month or two.
“I’m really glad you’re okay.” Lin Lingling looked him up and down. Once she confirmed he wasn’t injured, she let out a sigh of relief.
Chen Huaian gave her a surprised look.
Didn’t expect this girl to actually care about me.
Then again, it made sense.
I mean, I am this handsome. It’s only natural girls would take a liking to me. Hahaha!
Chen Huaian puffed out his chest proudly.
And at that moment, the three Zeros sighed in unison:
“If you’d died, where would we find another high-paying job this easy?”
Chen Huaian: “…”
“Lin Lingling, was the talisman useful?”
“Yes! Super effective!” Lin Lingling lit up at the mention. Her normally stern face suddenly brightened, almost glowing with joy. She gestured animatedly:
“I just slapped it on! Bam! So fast—the spider just died!”
“That talisman costs 100,000 yuan,” Chen Huaian said, pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it to her.
“I know you’re just a high schooler without much money, but you’re not heartless, right? Sign this IOU first. You can pay the 100K back slowly.”
“O-one hundred thousand?!” Lin Lingling’s eyes widened in shock. She looked at him with puppy eyes:
“Can I maybe…”
Chen Huaian: “No.”
“B-brotheeer~”
“Still no. And calling me Onii-chan won’t work either.”
Chen Huaian’s eyes were cold and resolute.
He was loyal to Qingran—he’d fight for every last yuan!
Just then, a series of hoarse coughs came from the rubble below. Chen Huaian and Lin Lingling looked down, and a familiar voice croaked from beneath the debris:
“Could you maybe pull me out before you two finish flirting?”
“Brother Huaian, thank you so much this time. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I’d be toast.”
The bearded man, now missing an arm, leaned weakly against a wall, tears in his eyes as he looked at Chen Huaian and Lin Lingling.
He turned to Chen Huaian with a hopeful look:
“Are you thinking of joining the Demon Slayer Division? Our Division is great—good pay, breathing techniques, and you only need to complete one mission per month!”
Chen Huaian gave him a gentle smile and asked:
“If I join the Demon Slayer Division, can you investigate who embezzled my parents’ pension, arrest everyone involved, and have them executed?”
“Huh?” The bearded man blinked, stunned.
“That… uh… We’re not part of that system, so we don’t really have authority there. But hey, don’t worry! The Demon Slayer Division’s status is climbing. Eventually, you’ll have enough power to deal with that yourself!”
He sounded very confident.
With the breathing method now cracked, those resurrectors secretly supported by big shots would soon be suppressed by the Division. As its influence and authority grew, fewer and fewer forces would dare interfere. Venting a little personal grudge like that? Child’s play in the future.
But Chen Huaian just smiled and shook his head:
“Forget it. This world still seems a bit too peaceful. I’ll wait and see.”
“You’re not interested in the breathing method?”
“Nope.”
The bearded man fell silent.
After all, you can’t tell someone to ‘let it go’ if you haven’t lived through what they have.
If you can’t empathize, at least respect their choice.
“By the way, that human-faced spider was a wanted criminal, right? Can I get the bounty?”
“Ah—yeah, right.” The bearded man nodded and gave a bitter smile.
“So that’s why you came back—chasing the reward, huh? Well, that guy was worth 200,000. I’ll submit the claim to HQ later, and the funds will hit your account tonight.”
“Lin Lingling, can you tell me more about your breathing method?”
Chen Huaian watched as the bearded man was loaded into the ambulance, then turned back and asked the three Zeros.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t interested. This “breathing method” gave him a strange sense of familiarity—it felt very similar to the inner cultivation methods from the Cangyun Realm.
“What do you want to do?” Lin Lingling took half a step back, her expression alert:
“The breathing method can’t be passed on. There’s a chip implanted in my brain. If I try to pass it on, it’ll explode!”
Chen Huaian remained calm and responded gently, trying to reason with her:
“Since you’re trying to recruit me into the Demon Slayer Division, shouldn’t you at least give me a basic idea of what your selling points are?”
Lin Lingling thought it over and nodded. That made sense. As long as she didn’t reveal any core secrets, it was fine.
She explained honestly:
“Actually, I don’t know much myself. I’ve only completed the prologue and the first volume. The prologue helps the resuscitator open up their meridians—it’s the most basic part. And the first volume is about guiding qi into the body. But you can’t practice the first volume unless your meridians are open.”
“I see.” Chen Huaian touched his chin, eyes narrowing slightly in thought.
“So, what do you think? Interested in joining the Demon Slayer Division?” Lin Lingling slapped the nearby wall, and a gust of wind from her palm sent a few leaves fluttering from a roadside tree. She lifted her chin proudly:
“See that? I’ve only just opened my meridians, haven’t even started guiding qi yet—and I’m already this strong!”
Chen Huaian didn’t reply.
But his eyes were getting brighter by the second.
Then all of a sudden, he threw his head back and burst into laughter.
“Hahahahaha!”
So that’s it.
Everything connects.
Why did his right leg feel unusually strong before?
Why did he seem to hike faster uphill?
Why had the spiritual energy in the spirit stone bracelet begun to fade?
It was all because of one unexpected moment—when he’d had a needle jabbed into his right leg. That single moment had opened the meridians in his leg. And the bracelet’s spiritual energy had naturally flowed through the now-unblocked meridians, strengthening his entire right leg!
As for the Tide Art that Li Qingran had received as a reward for reaching Great Perfection in Qi Refining—it didn’t say it was exclusive to her.
Which meant… he could practice it too.
And clearly, the prerequisite for cultivating the Tide Art was—
Opening the meridians.
Without another word, Chen Huaian turned and left.
He was going home—
To open up all his meridians!
The age of the Tumor Superman is over.
Next to rise… is Immortal Venerable Chen!
