46: Accept the Demon Suppression Mission

Finally.

Xiao Zhuo walked out of the weapon shop with a pained expression, the heavy dragon blood saber firmly on his back.

The mountain of jinchen piled in his storage ring was now reduced to a mere three boxes.

After a brief thought, he found an Artifact Refining workshop and spent two hundred thousand jinchen on a brand new storage ring with a capacity of three hundred cubic meters—the original ring was already nearly half-filled by the corpses of two Calamity-rank Demons, making an upgrade imperative.

Returning to the Prince’s manor, he asked the butler if Prince Kang had summoned him. Upon learning there was no news, Xiao Zhuo went straight back to his room.

Placing a sixth-grade qi and blood pill under his tongue, he once again immersed himself in the White Mist Space.

The purpose of this trip was to verify whether this qi and blood pill could effectively replenish the depletion of life Origin caused by adding Attribute Points to the panel.

Sitting cross-legged, an abstruse power instantly descended, drawing upon the vast True Essence within his body to begin circulating the seventh-level Mind-Cultivation Technique of the Nine Revolutions Profound Essence Art.

The key to the seventh level lay in guiding True Essence to fuse with Divine Sense, giving rise to Divine Thought, and then using the power of Divine Thought to continuously expand and solidify the Sea of Consciousness, ultimately transforming the Sea of Consciousness into a vast “Divine Sea,” allowing Divine Thought to flow endlessly and naturally thereafter.

Divine Thought was a great weapon! Strong cultivators above the Divine Sea Realm could manifest invisible attacks from ten thousand meters away with just their Divine Thought, annihilating enemies in an instant.

Once the Divine Sea was achieved, Divine Sense would also undergo a qualitative change. The Divine Sense of ordinary Divine Sea Realm strong cultivators could easily cover a radius of fifty li!

There was a saying in the Yuan Realm: “Without entering the Divine Sea, one remains an ant.” The power of the Divine Sea Realm lay in its all-encompassing, crushing improvement—Divine Sense, True Essence, and Divine Thought were all far beyond what the Gui Zhen Realm could compare to. Throughout history, there had never been a record of a Divine Sea Realm cultivator being defeated by someone from a lower Realm!

This was precisely the fundamental reason why Xiao Zhuo was eager to find powerful Medicinal Pills to aid his Breakthrough.

Even with a vast amount of Attribute Points, if he couldn't replenish his life Origin in time, even with his profound foundation, he might still be drained of his essence by that abstruse power during the Breakthrough, turning into a withered skeleton!

At this moment, the extremely condensed liquid True Essence within Xiao Zhuo's body was surging madly into his Sea of Consciousness, fiercely colliding and fusing with his Divine Sense, painstakingly evolving Divine Thought.

Although he had already condensed the Flower of Divinity, his Sea of Consciousness could prevent Divine Thought from dispersing, but without forming a Divine Sea, he could not spontaneously generate Divine Thought or expand his territory.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, the nascent Divine Thought accumulated more and more, gradually filling it and beginning to impact and expand the boundaries of the Sea of Consciousness.

At the same time, Xiao Zhuo's Physical Body once again showed signs of wilting!

Vast amounts of True Essence and Qi and blood were being consumed frantically during the rapid Cultivation.

The panel compressed years of arduous Cultivation by ordinary people into a single day; how could his Physical Body withstand such a terrifying rate of consumption?

“Crack!”

Xiao Zhuo decisively bit through the Medicinal Pill in his mouth! A scorching Medicinal Pill liquid instantly slid down his throat, and a violent surge of Qi and blood energy erupted, rapidly replenishing the depleted life Origin.

True Essence originated from the combination of Qi and blood and external Spiritual Qi. Impacting the Divine Sea consumed vast amounts of True Essence, which inevitably consumed vast amounts of Qi and blood simultaneously, leading to the exhaustion of life Origin.

This sixth-grade qi and blood pill was quite effective, temporarily making up for the previous loss. However, against the terrifying continuous consumption of impacting the Divine Sea, it was merely a drop in the bucket!

Xiao Zhuo sighed inwardly.

Although a sixth-grade qi and blood pill was effective, he would probably need hundreds of them to Breakthrough to the Divine Sea!

If he wanted to reach the Peak of the Divine Sea, the required amount would be an astronomical figure!

“To rapidly Breakthrough to the Divine Sea, I must hunt Demon/Monsters! Calamity-Grade and above!” Xiao Zhuo had already made up his mind.

He had already inquired clearly: Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion purchased Demon/Monster corpses at a high price—a single Calamity-rank Demon was worth two million jinchen!

This amount of money was enough to buy more than a dozen seventh-grade qi and blood pellets!

When the comprehension ended, Xiao Zhuo’s Sea of Consciousness had expanded to a radius of ten li.

However, the threshold for the Divine Sea transformation was one hundred li!

This was far from his limit; his goal was for his Sea of Consciousness to be a thousand li as a starting point!

Exiting the White Mist Space, Xiao Zhuo swallowed another qi and blood pill, and his languid Physical Body regained its vitality.

He pushed open the door and stepped out again.

Destination—Ji Province Demon Suppression Division!

Currently, Demon/Monsters were attacking cities everywhere, and the Demon Suppression Division had widely issued notices, recruiting strong cultivators from the populace to reinforce various cities, with generous rewards.

For Xiao Zhuo, it was the best choice, as he could both hunt Demon/Monsters for resources and receive accurate intelligence from the Demon Suppression Division.

As for the Prince's manor, since Prince Kang said it would take a few days for discussion, Xiao Zhuo was naturally unwilling to wait idly.

The Ji Province General Demon Suppression Headquarters governed all Demon Suppression Guards in the entire province, presided over by Commander Fang Qin.

Fang Qin was also one of the three Myriad Manifestations Realm strong cultivators in Ji Province, and the only Myriad Manifestations Realm powerhouse who was personally out of the city, suppressing Demon/Monsters.

Xiao Zhuo left the Prince's manor, traversed five long streets, and soon arrived at the entrance of the General Demon Suppression Headquarters.

A majestic complex of dark buildings stood before him.

Over a thousand stone steps led directly to the top, to the imposing command headquarters.

On either side of the stone steps were rows of Demon Suppression Guard barracks. The office for handling affairs was located on that high platform.

At the main gate, a towering archway, over ten zhang high, stood majestically, with the six gilded characters “Ji Province General Demon Suppression Headquarters” shining brightly.

At this moment, people were bustling around the notice, countless Martial Artists gathered, and the content was consistent with what he had seen in the market: recruiting strong cultivators to reinforce all directions!

Xiao Zhuo pushed through the crowd without hesitation and came to a long table next to the notice.

Behind the table sat a middle-aged Demon Suppression Guard dressed in Centurion attire, his register already containing many names.

“I'm signing up,” Xiao Zhuo stepped forward, his voice clear, “but I only accept missions involving Calamity-Grade Demon/Monsters or higher attacking cities.”

The middle-aged Centurion looked up at the sound, saw a young man of about twenty, and his brows immediately furrowed: “Kid! Are you trying to amuse me at a time like this? Zhang Qiang, Zhao Hu! Get him out of here!”

Two Demon Suppression Guards behind him responded and stepped forward, about to escort Xiao Zhuo away.

Xiao Zhuo knew that the other party was underestimating his age, and a powerful Aura suddenly burst forth!

Thump! Thump!

The surrounding Martial Artists were caught off guard, forced to stumble and fall by this terrifying Aura!

The Centurion was even more startled, falling backward with his chair!

Fortunately, he reacted extremely quickly, spinning to regain his balance, thus avoiding making a fool of himself in public.

Xiao Zhuo's Aura was also retracted as quickly as it was released.

“Now, can I sign up?” Xiao Zhuo's expression was indifferent, his tone calm.

“Yes! Yes! Please forgive me, young master!” The Centurion's forehead oozed cold sweat, and he quickly offered a fawning smile, “It is our great fortune that the young master is willing to serve our Great Chen! Our great fortune indeed!”

He quickly finished processing the previous registration and immediately asked Xiao Zhuo for his native place, name, Realm, and acceptable mission intensity.

Xiao Zhuo answered fluently.

Soon, a heavy black iron token was in his hand—a special temporary token from the Demon Suppression Division.

This token could sense distress signals from Demon Suppression Guards within a hundred li and was also a credential for accepting and completing missions.

Following the instructions, he entered the interior of the General Demon Suppression Headquarters and arrived at a bustling hall.

“Chuyang City! Six Nightmare Grade! Depart immediately! Gather quickly!”

“Jingchuan City! One Calamity-Grade! Twelve Nightmare Grade! Sign up quickly! Time waits for no one!”

“Wuyun City! One Nightmare Grade! Seven Baleful Rank! Requires True Essence Realm combat power! A Senior from the Coalescing Aperture Realm is already leading the team!”

As soon as he stepped in, countless loud recruitment shouts surged into his ears like a tide. The Martial Artists spoke with full vigor, and the entire hall was like a noisy marketplace, even more like a team-up hall in a game from Xiao Zhuo's previous life, with voices rising and falling.

Xiao Zhuo ignored the surrounding clamor and walked directly to the mission counter.

His gaze swept over the real-time scrolling mission board behind the counter, instantly locking onto the names and locations of four cities where Calamity-rank Demons had appeared.

With the map clearly marked in his mind, Xiao Zhuo didn't hesitate, turning and leaving.

Stepping out of the General Demon Suppression Headquarters gate, a burst of azure light erupted around him!

Boom!

A sonic boom ripped through the sky, and he shot up like a bolt of azure lightning, soaring straight towards the southern horizon!

With his current strength, why would he need a team for anything below a King-Grade Demon/Monster?

His Sea of Consciousness was full, and his strength was greater than ever; there was no room for delay!