Shen Yi hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly.
The original plan had been a month — cross into the Threshold Realm before the Demon Suppression Division inspection, deal with the predecessor’s accumulated mess, and somewhere in the process scrape away some of the bad reputation.
Not even two weeks had passed. He’d reached Threshold Perfection, cut down the majority of the demons that had been tangled up in the predecessor’s arrangements, and as for reputation—
People were showing up at the gate to report a missing coin purse.
That probably counted as decent.
Joining the Division should be close to certain.
He looked at the panel.
【Remaining Personal Lifespan: 46 years】
Two consecutive lifespan increases — one from achieving mortal peak, one from crossing into the Threshold. If he lived to a natural death, he’d make seventy-two.
In his old life, with the habits he’d had — cigarettes and alcohol close at hand, sleeping at irregular hours — surviving to that age would have required both exceptional ancestors and genetics of almost suspicious quality.
He wasn’t someone who didn’t know when to be satisfied.
But a natural death was a different matter from wishing for one.
In the space of just a few days, he’d faced situations that should have killed him repeatedly — and he’d barely left the county borders. The furthest he’d traveled was the wasteland outside Shiling Village. Without the cultivation he’d built, there wouldn’t be enough left of him to bury.
He’d considered, more than once, stripping off the uniform and attaching himself to some wealthy household as a private guardian. Heavy silver in hand, a warm and pleasant wife at home, door closed, blanket pulled up, doing his part for population growth.
Only — who could guarantee he wouldn’t wake up one morning as the next Liu Qi?
His cultivation level was considerably higher than Liu Qi’s had been. But Yin the Seventh, among all the demons he’d encountered, was hardly an impressive specimen either.
“…”
Shen Yi stared at the panel. The thought of finally having the chance to leave Baiyun County made the craving for more demon lifespan burn a degree hotter.
【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 652 years】
The Blood-Corruption Bladework was one step from its breakthrough. Tonight it was going over that threshold one way or another.
He began channeling lifespan into it.
Text surfaced line by line.
【Year one — following your earlier approach, you continue attempting to refine the blood-corruption energy attached to the blade by converting qi into astral force.】
【Year seven — you watch the red mist along the dark blade slowly solidify, and feel a quiet certainty settle in. “One method illuminates all methods.” The saying holds.】
【Year twelve — moving too fast. The blood-astral force shatters. Your meridians take damage. You revise your assessment: “one method illuminates all methods” is complete nonsense. A hair’s difference makes all the difference. No two leaves in the world are the same.】
Shen Yi felt the phantom ache radiating through him and shook his head.
After all these simulated years, still acting like a brute — still treating the body as something to gamble with whenever things got stuck. No intelligence, plenty of nerve?
Could we manage even the smallest amount of patience.
He increased the flow of lifespan.
【Year thirty-three — you repair the internal damage, settle your mind, and instead allow the blood-corruption and astral force to blend gradually, becoming familiar with each other.】
【Year fifty-nine — after years of attempts, your astral force undergoes a mutation. You sense your temperament growing increasingly volatile.】
【Lost: Jade Liquid · Four Harmonies True Astral Force — Perfection】
【Comprehended: Jade Liquid · Heavenly Astral Blood-Corruption — Perfection】
【Year ninety-seven — you fully suppress the murderous restlessness within. Feeling this mutated art’s power far surpassing what came before, you reflect that your original instinct was correct after all.】
【Year one hundred and twenty — years of suppressing demonic temperament have deepened your mastery over this path. The demonic malice is stripped away; what remains is sharpened killing intent alone. With a single pulse of thought, an invisible astral-corruption force covers the blade instantaneously.】
【Comprehended: Jade Liquid · Devouring Wolf Demon-Slayer】
【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 432 years】
If not for those last lines, Shen Yi might have concluded he’d taken a wrong turn entirely.
The Four Harmonies True Astral Force — learned less than a week ago — had transformed into something completely unrecognizable. Gone was the upright, overwhelming force; corrupted by blood-energy, even the name carried a predatory edge.
And the Blood-Corruption Bladework — originally so saturated with demonic character — had somehow reversed itself. The demonic flavor had stripped away entirely, leaving something cleaner underneath.
Devouring Wolf Demon-Slayer.
Shen Yi picked up Erhei. The dark blade cleared the scabbard.
As qi moved through the apertures, the entire length of the blade seemed to grow somehow darker — hard to describe precisely, like it had merged with the night around it, as if it simply wasn’t quite there.
“…”
He hesitated, then touched a fingertip to the edge.
The blade entered flesh without the slightest resistance. No blood drop fell — instead it sank into the blade itself, vanishing in a barely visible thread of red that traced slowly along the steel.
Shen Yi stared at his fingertip in silence.
Since the Golden Sun Eight Treasures Mysterious Body reached Perfection, this was the first time he’d been injured.
What disturbed him most wasn’t the wound itself. It was that until the flesh was already open — if he hadn’t been watching — he hadn’t felt it at all.
The dark ceremonial blade seemed made for nothing but killing.
He slid it slowly back into the scabbard.
The satisfaction was real. So was a new unease.
There are techniques at the Jade Liquid Realm this ruthless. He tried to think of a counter for a moment and came up empty.
If another version of himself were to come at him with this blade—
Direct confrontation: workable. Put distance between them, rain down the astral force over a hundred times, even a small hill would come apart under that.
But if the opponent had no interest in honor — came in close, draped an arm over his shoulder, made small talk while smiling, then drew the blade and drove it in—
“…”
Shen Yi shook his head and channeled demon lifespan into the Golden Sun Eight Treasures Mysterious Body.
The Jingang School’s approach was slow, no question about it.
But it suited him well.
The Mysterious Body was at Perfection, but physical refinement had no ceiling. Without the second volume to derive from yet, the returns would grow smaller and smaller — but a mosquito’s worth of flesh was still flesh.
【Year one — under the constant tempering of qi from the apertures, your body is slightly strengthened.】
【Year two…】
By the time dawn light was breaking thin and pale, Shen Yi had kept three hundred years of demon lifespan in reserve.
He got up, moved through a brief stretch. The skin’s resilience was harder to measure, but raw strength had increased by roughly another twenty percent.
He changed and went to the corner stall as usual. “One jian bing. Two eggs this time.”
“Only one today, Constable Shen? You always get two.” The vendor’s hands were already moving, his voice easy and curious.
“Not very hungry. Just don’t like going out on an empty stomach.”
Shen Yi set the coins down and smiled slightly, eyes level. No particular feeling of loss in them.
A man in his position had no business keeping company with someone like her to begin with. A Demon Suppression Division Deputy Commander even less so.
“We’re not deaf, you know.” The vendor glanced left and right before lowering his voice. “Last night — they took in a lot of people. All the big names from the yamen. You’re not one of those, so stop worrying.”
Shen Yi took the flatbread and looked down the main street.
Fast.
According to the predecessor’s memories, moves like this meant the Demon Suppression Division was taking full administrative control of Baiyun County.
Which also meant—
It was time for recruitment.
Whether he ended up somewhere worth being — that would be settled today.
(End of Chapter)