"Not especially" — as Shen Yi said it, he found he genuinely meant it, without a word of pretense.

"That's exactly what I don't understand."

Senior Brother Zhu looked away, settled himself back onto the skeleton, and watched Shen Yi quietly. "You actually listened."

When he'd offered that thread of white mist just now, Shen Yi had actually listened to the wandering wills within it with real attention — brow furrowed, but present from beginning to end.

That same white mist, in Zhu Jue's own ears, had always sounded like meaningless chirping.

"..."

Remarkable talent paired with insufficient heart; and those who'd clawed their way up step by step usually lacked the talent — and were running short on lifespan. Whichever way you looked at it, it was a headache — a knot with no clear way to untie it.

No wonder Great Qian had only ever produced thirteen Spirit-Transformation cultivators across its entire history.

Shen Yi put the Lion-Camel slip back on the shelf.

So as not to draw attention, he kept the remaining slip in his hand.

The loft was somewhat cramped, but also very quiet.

He picked another corner and sat down.

His own situation, when he'd called it "not especially," was, in truth, only marginally better than this skeleton-wearing senior brother's — after all, he'd only been in this world for under a year, and had witnessed plenty of hardship, but as for how deep his understanding of it actually went...

Compared to those Demon Suppression Division officers who'd fought their way up from the very bottom, rung by bloody rung, he was still a long way short.

But his advantage was time. As long as the road wasn't sealed off entirely, he'd work his way through it eventually.

Shen Yi looked at the panel.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 74,803 years】

This senior brother likely had two or three thousand years at most. He himself had more than twenty times that.

Technique in hand, resources not lacking.

If he still couldn't break through with all that, he might as well find a block of tofu and end…