"Murder! There’s been a murder!"

Someone in the inn shouted.

Su Qing and Xu Ningying went out into the hallway.

There, they saw a Waiter from the first floor lying on the ground. A gaping hole had been torn through his chest, and his open eyes were filled with unwillingness and regret.

A crowd had gathered around the Waiter—the kitchen staff, the Shopkeeper, and the other Waiters had all rushed over.

"That’s the Waiter who ran into the Demon Cultivator on his way out. What a miserable end."

Su Qing shook his head and let out a sigh.

"That Mortal Soldier is useless now."

"By the way, we should head back to Zhengxuan City now, if possible."

"I have some questions for you, and I need you to look into something for me."

Xu Ningying glanced back into the room. On the floor, a longsword lay bent completely out of shape, making it all too conspicuous.

Looking at it now, she saw that the tip of the sword had even been corroded.

HISS— Su Qing followed her gaze and looked back as well.

’The Thousand Forged Sword was actually corroded?’

’The Demonic Qi is that terrifying?’

Su Qing felt a surge of belated fear. If he had used his fists back then, his hand would probably have ached for a long time.

"Isn’t this Demonic Qi’s corrosive power a bit too strong?" Su Qing said with surprise.

...

...

「The Flying Car was on its way back to Zhengxuan City.」

"..."

"You’re saying that the Demon Cultivator initially disguised himself as me to try and lure you out?"

"Mhm."

"His act was too fake, so I saw right through it."

"I just want to know, how does a Demon Cultivator have such a powerful ability, to create a feeling of Time freezing around me? The key thing is, that guy was too weak. I suspect he has other unknown abilities."

"When you get back, check with the Sect. Just say that when I fought him, things felt... off. For example, during the fight, I was completely unaware of my surroundings, and then there was that feeling of Time freezing."

"And that guy... he looked about seventy percent similar to the City Lord of Pingchuan City."

"Huh?" Xu Ningying immediately looked at Su Qing. "Why didn’t you question Song Chengyi back then?"

Su Qing shook his head. "It would’ve been useless. Now that he’s been exposed, he definitely wouldn’t choose to stay in Pingchuan City. Even hiding deep in the mountains and old forests would be far better than hiding in Pingchuan City."

’If I were in his shoes,’ Su Qing thought, ’I would definitely flee Pingchuan City.’

"..."

"You have a point. Besides, Song Chengyi of Pingchuan City has over a dozen wives and concubines. He wouldn’t even notice if one son went missing."

"However, his discipline was lax, and his own son actually fell to the Demon Dao. I will report this to the Sect."

Su Qing fell silent as well. He knew that this matter would undoubtedly be a massive blow to Song Chengyi.

It was like he had lifted a rock only to smash his own foot.

But Su Qing understood that the powerful and privileged deserved no pity.

Especially in a place like Pingchuan City, where productivity was not high at all.

...

...

"Finally, I’m back."

Xu Ningying rushed into her room and sat down on a wooden chair.

"Shouldn’t you be reporting to the Sect right away?"

Su Qing asked, puzzled.

"No rush. Let me enjoy a delicious meal at home first."

"What delicious food?" Su Qing asked, confused.

"It’ll be here in a moment. I sent someone to notify the owner of a nearby tavern to deliver a feast."

"In that case, I’ll go back to my Cultivation."

"Hey, I ordered a lot. It’s to mark the end of our mission, after all. I think we should have a meal together," Xu Ningying said, stopping Su Qing from returning to his room.

Su Qing raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you even got some for me. Not bad."

"What ’not bad’?! If you don’t change that tone of yours, when I’m stronger than you in the future, I’ll spit you to death every time I see you," Xu Ningying said, slightly angered.

"Hmm... After you report to the Sect, will you have to go through another entrance assessment?"

"Probably, unless the Sect waives it for me," Xu Ningying replied vaguely, as she wasn’t sure either.

Su Qing immediately shook his head. "In that case, I’d better get back to my Cultivation. Time is really important to me."

Indeed, Time was very important to Su Qing.

Because Su Qing needed to cultivate.

And Cultivation required Time.

His Five Qi God Demon Technique was still crying out to be fed.

Having witnessed an enemy with a brand-new, unknown power, the sense of urgency in Su Qing’s heart had not diminished.

Unknown meant something he couldn’t understand or deal with at his current stage.

’I already enjoyed plenty of happiness in my last life.’

’In this life, I first have to focus on just staying alive.’

’Since I’m in a safe place for now, I must strive to become stronger.’

...

Three Circulations.

Six Circulations.

Nine Circulations.

Su Qing stopped.

「A day and a half had passed.」

’I need to get some proper rest.’

—

Host: Su Qing

Realm: Body Tempering Limit [Cyan Flood Dragon Posture: Perfection]

Gathering Spirit Limit [Five Qi God Demon Technique+2: Great Success (190/3000)]

Physique: 923

Spiritual Qi: 10,321

Technique: [Geng Metal Sword·Demon+1: Mastery (115/1000)]

[Divine Concealment Technique+1, Divine Treasure]

Synthesis Lv13 (431/1400) [Synthesis Success Rate +13%, Mutated +1%, Evolution +10%, Divinization +1%, Demonization +1%]

—

—

Su Qing saw his Spiritual Qi value break ten thousand, but he didn’t feel much joy. No matter how high his Spiritual Qi value was, it seemed it couldn’t compare to the strength of his current Physique.

’I was a bit careless when I first defined the value of "1".’

Besides, his Spiritual Qi had only surged so much because he was currently enveloped by the dense Spiritual Qi of Zhengxuan City. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’I’ll go out and get something to eat.’

’And I’ll stop by the bookstore to browse a bit.’

Su Qing wanted to relax for a while.

’On second thought, I’ll go to the apothecary. I can sell some Great Replenishing Pills for money.’

Su Qing pushed open the door and walked out.

He happened to see Xu Ningying.

The sun was on the edge of the horizon, and Su Qing couldn’t tell if it was dawn or dusk.

After all, in spring, the temperature at sunset was about the same as the temperature at sunrise.

"Su Qing, long time no see. I was starting to think you’d died in your room," Xu Ningying said while eating.

She was holding a paper book in her hand.

’Right, this world doesn’t have things like cell phones.’

"I was just taking a break. I’m about to head out."

Su Qing replied, then added, "So you don’t need the Sect entrance assessment anymore?"

"Nope. After I reported to the Sect, they actually found traces of Demonic Qi on me, so they waived my entrance assessment."

"I only got half the Contribution Points, though."

"Oh, right! Speaking of Demonic Qi, that Demon Cultivator you asked me to look into last time... I found out what those strange powers of his are."

Hearing this, Su Qing sat down in a nearby chair and said expectantly, "Oh? Tell me about it."

"He’s likely both a Demon Cultivator and a different kind of Visualization Practitioner. The Sect calls them Fantasists."

"Fantasists? What does that mean?" Su Qing asked. ’Don’t tell me it’s just the literal meaning?’

"Normally, Visualization is a practice that makes a Cultivator’s soul tougher and more powerful."

"Fantasists, on the other hand, wield power created from boundless, fantastical desires. Because their Talents and imagined subjects are not fixed, their powers can be very strong, very weak, or they might just turn into madmen."

"..."

Su Qing felt like he understood, yet at the same time, he didn’t.

"So what you’re saying is, traditional Visualization involves visualizing a single subject, and the power gained is directly related to that one subject."

"But Fantasists don’t do that. They just let their minds wander, and anything they think of is a possibility..."

"So, whether it’s Visualization or fantasizing, both can create powerful abilities just through imagination?"

Xu Ningying nodded. "That’s more or less how the senior sisters and Elders Within the Sect explained it."

...