“You’ve been waiting here for so long?”
Chen Huaian shook his head as the plot unfolded.
The main objective was to increase Li Qingran’s survival rate in the Zhongzhou Secret Realm. At first, he had considered ways to prevent Li Qingran from going altogether. But now, the plot dictated that Li Qingran had to enter the Zhongzhou Secret Realm—to refine the Hundred Herbs Detoxification Pill for him.
How should he put it? He had expected this development.
Still, it felt… pretty nice to be remembered by someone.
Chen Huaian suddenly thought of his ex-girlfriend. Apparently, she had been making money by watching his livestreams. She even showed up on a variety show and now wanted to add him back on Green Bubble to make amends?
Damn you!
This woman never even came to see him when he was in the hospital.
Reality couldn’t compare to the emotional value of a virtual girlfriend.
Chen Huaian shook his head, catching a whiff of the blood on his clothes. It was only then that he remembered how much he’d been through earlier—he hadn’t even had time to change.
“We can’t stay in this hotel any longer. Shower first, then we leave!”
Chen Huaian quickly packed up a few belongings, grabbed some fresh clothes, and headed for the bathroom.
Baji stared at the packed boxes. It didn’t understand much, but it had a vague idea—its boss was about to leave.
[I hope the boss forgets about me when he leaves.]
Baji silently prayed.
Sure, there was plenty of spiritual energy to absorb here, but living under this constant state of fear? No way. It was losing weight!
Once it was free from the boss, all it had to do was find a place to settle down. As the world’s spiritual energy gradually recovered, there would be more than enough to go around. Eventually, even without the boss’s spiritual plants, it could achieve spiritual freedom.
But if it stayed here any longer, wouldn’t it end up like those people on TV?
Yes! That dreaded jade sickness!
Determined to fade into the background, Baji scuttled to an inconspicuous corner, hoping to reduce its presence as much as possible.
Hospital—
Although Lin Lingling had yet to become an official Demon Slayer, her superior—a burly, bearded man—still rushed to the hospital “as soon as possible” to check on her condition and investigate what had happened.
After all, she had been assigned a relatively simple mission. Given her abilities, there was no reason she should have sustained such severe injuries.
As he approached her ward, he overheard voices inside.
“A miracle! This is an absolute medical miracle!”
“Unbelievable! I’ve never seen a human with such a terrifyingly strong self-healing ability before!”
The bearded man halted at the door. Something felt off.
What the hell was going on inside?
He leaned in to listen.
“Can you believe it? When she was brought in, she had three broken ribs on each side. But now—those six ribs have practically fused back together on their own!”
“And look at her! She was covered in blood, yet her recent tests show no signs of anemia?! Can you believe that?”
“Do you know what this means? Her red blood cells and stem cells regenerate at a rate far beyond normal humans!”
“We should report this to the director. A case like hers could be a groundbreaking discovery for modern medicine!”
“No way. Her background is special. I got a call earlier telling us to shut up about this. Honestly, I don’t understand what these big shots are always trying to cover up. It’s getting ridiculous—”
So, 3000 actually has this level of self-recovery ability?
Why didn’t she mention this before?
She’s practically a hidden gem!
For someone to become an official member of the Demon Slayer Division, they had to meet two conditions.
First, they had to reach “Master-Level” status—meaning they had to handle five abnormal cases of any level.
Second, they had to be willing to join.
Of course, as the Director of the Tianfu Demon Slayer Division, he had the authority to bypass the first condition for promising candidates—like Lin Lingling.
But in reality, very few awakened individuals actually wanted to join the Demon Slayer Division.
The truth was, the Division had never really offered much to attract them. It forced its members to take on at least one mission per month, which meant guaranteed danger. And after witnessing the horrors of demons firsthand, most people—no matter how powerful—only grew more fearful of death.
What about money? Some awakened individuals could cash in on their powers easily. The Demon Slayer Division’s salary meant nothing to them.
And it wasn’t like the Division could easily punish those who abused their abilities.
Some resuscitators would scour antique markets for hidden treasures and flip them for profit. They weren’t harming society—so what could the Division do? Charge them for illegal acquisition of property?
That’s why recruitment had been so slow.
Lin Lingling was an exception.
This girl’s parents were divorced. Her father didn’t care about her, and her mother didn’t love her.
She didn’t even have enough money to keep attending school. What she lacked most was—money.
So the moment he offered financial support, this girl, who had barely been eating, immediately accepted with gratitude and promised to join the Demon Slayer Division.
But during her initial evaluation, her strength had only reached White Level. She hadn’t shown any signs of self-healing abilities at the time.
Could it be… after experiencing a life-threatening crisis, her self-recovery powers awakened?
The bearded man realized he had eavesdropped long enough.
He cleared his throat and stepped into the ICU, flashing his ID badge at the doctors.
“Alright, you can leave now. I’ll take over.”
The doctors, still a little reluctant, nodded and exited the room.
Once they were gone, the bearded man took out a syringe and administered the injection into Lin Lingling’s arm.
Roughly ten minutes later, she began to stir. Her lashes trembled slightly before her eyes opened.
“Boss?”
Lin Lingling blinked in confusion when she saw the familiar bearded face.
The man lifted the used syringe and waved it slightly.
“Cellular High-Speed Healing Agent—cost me ten merit points. I’ll put it on your tab.”
“Thank you.”
Lin Lingling bit her lip, her eyes wet with gratitude.
Each mission only rewarded between 1 and 100 merit points depending on the difficulty.
She currently had only 3.
She’d never be able to afford a high-end medical treatment like this on her own.
“Don’t mention it. I consider it an investment.”
The bearded man leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette, then looked at her seriously.
“Now tell me—how the hell did a standard mission nearly get you killed?”
“The intel was wrong.”
The moment she spoke, Lin Lingling’s anger flared up again.
She gritted her teeth.
“I don’t know how old that mission file was, but the information was crap. It said I’d be dealing with one Class 1 Black Rat demon—just one. But when I got there? It was a full-on infestation!”
The man’s brow furrowed.
“They multiplied?”
“Yeah! Two big ones and a whole swarm of babies. If they were carnivorous, I’d already be dead.”
He scratched his nose awkwardly when he saw the fury in her eyes.
Admittedly, as the Tianfu Division Director, he was partly to blame for failing to update the case records.
But how was that his fault?
There were so few people in the entire division!
He had just come back from a mission himself—he hadn’t even had time to sit down.
And speaking of which, this time he had tried out the [Return to Origin True Art] that was recently distributed.
He had to admit—it worked like a charm.
In the past, facing a Class A monster would’ve terrified him.
But after practicing Return to Origin, he landed a solid punch and sent that damned dog demon running!
“Yeah… our Demon Slayer Division is really starting to get somewhere.”
Thinking this, whatever guilt he felt for Sanling’s injuries disappeared.
“When I get back tonight, I’ll give her a volume of Return to Origin. That’ll boost her survivability too.”
He snapped out of his thoughts and asked:
“So? How many did you manage to kill?”
“All the females.”
Lin Lingling’s voice was flat.
“I wiped out the baby ones too. But when the male saw that, he went berserk. I couldn’t take him down.”
The bearded man blinked.
“Damn. Yeah… I’d be pissed too.”
But he still nodded, speaking with rare sincerity.
“You did well. You finished the job. I’ll send someone to wrap it up. But—hey—did you remember to use the potion to mask your scent?”
Lin Lingling’s face went pale.
Her mind, still foggy from the trauma, finally registered the thing she had forgotten.
“…I-I thought the mission would be easy. I was sure I could finish it in one strike, so… I didn’t buy the potion.”
“…You what?”
The man’s face changed instantly.
That means… the Black Rat demon can trace her scent—
—all the way back to Chen Huaian!
“Boss! Help! We need a doctor!”
Several medical staff had been eavesdropping just outside the door.
BANG!
Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through the ICU.
The heavy steel door blasted off its hinges and embedded itself into the wall like a missile.
All anyone could see was a dark, swift shadow leaping out the eighth-floor window.
