78: Chapter 78 Demon Hunting Message, Heavenly Book Settlement!

"Brother Chen, what a coincidence."

Li Changfeng wore his usual gentle smile.

Chen Ran sized him up.

This newly appointed Captain of the prison was in his early thirties, always smiling, and rarely seen getting angry.

"Does Captain Li have business with me?"

"Nothing major." Li Changfeng waved his hand, his tone casual. "I just heard from the brothers below that you ran into some trouble outside today?"

Chen Ran raised an eyebrow slightly.

The news traveled fast. Xu Kui hadn't even been brought in for an hour, and this Captain already got wind of it.

But thinking about it, it was normal.

Li Changfeng was a person with very sharp ears. After all, he was the Captain responsible for the upper levels of the prison, and his position was even slightly higher than his own as a member of the Internal Affairs Department.

"It doesn't count as trouble." Chen Ran said truthfully. "Just some ruffian from a small Gang in the Outer City, bullying others under their Gang's name. He happened to run into me, so I just sent him in."

"Oh?" Li Changfeng asked with interest. "Which Gang?"

"Flying Bear Gang."

Li Changfeng nodded, his smile unchanged.

"That Xu Kui, right? I saw the prison entry log." He walked two steps with his hands behind his back, his tone like casual chatter. "What's his background? What crime did he commit?"

Chen Ran glanced at him.

Xu Kui relied on the power of the Flying Bear Gang in the Southern City, forcibly collecting protection fees, committing arson and hurting people, and even forcing innocent commoners to their deaths. His brother, Xu Shan, was the Hall Master of the Flying Bear Gang's Battle Hall, an eighth-grade Martial Artist who was extremely protective of his own.

"Ran into him at a teahouse today. He didn't have eyes, brought people to cause trouble, and the constables of the City Patrol Division took them on the spot."

Chen Ran spoke lightly.

After listening, the smile on Li Changfeng's face faded.

"Arson? Forcing people to their deaths?"

His tone suddenly turned cold, his brows furrowed.

"How can such trash still be running around in the capital until now? Is the Six Doors in the Outer City eating for free?"

Chen Ran didn't answer.

He knew that Li Changfeng's righteous indignation was mostly for show.

But it wasn't entirely fake. This newly appointed Captain was an extremely slick person who believed in having a righteous cause for his actions.

If he really wanted to act, he had to stand on the moral high ground.

He was relatively loose in his work and offended no one.

He was quite popular within the prison, and many prison guards felt he was much better than Captain Wang.

"This is easy to handle." Li Changfeng made the final decision, his tone decisive.

"The Xu brothers have conclusive evidence of their crimes. We will deal with them according to the laws of Great Wei."

"Arson, wounding people, forcible abduction of women—report it directly and go through the fast-track death penalty trial."

He patted Chen Ran's shoulder, and the smile returned to his face.

Chen Ran understood in his heart.

Li Changfeng's actions were, simply put, a way to do a favor while the current was flowing.

Trash like Xu Kui was worth nothing to the prison even if killed, so this favor was well worth giving.

"Then many thanks, Captain Li."

"Hey, calling me Captain makes it distant. I'm a bit older than you; just call me Brother Feng."

Li Changfeng looked at the young man in front of him, the more he looked, the more satisfied he became. He previously knew that Centurion Zhao Wuji appreciated Chen Ran and directly appointed him as a formal member.

What kind of person was Centurion Zhao?

A real power figure in the Demon Suppression Division, ruthless and shrewd. The juniors who could catch his eye were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

He had also investigated a bit recently and found that this person had a steady state of mind and his Cultivation speed was not slow. No wonder he could be valued by Centurion Zhao Wuji.

Since Centurion Zhao Wuji thought highly of Chen Ran, it was necessary to build a good relationship with him in advance.

Chen Ran remained calm and politely cupped his hands: "Then I will trouble Brother Feng."

"Why be so polite with me." Li Changfeng waved his hand. "When you have time, I'll treat you to relax at the Bishui Pavilion. It's suffocating in the prison; you have to find some fun, right?"

"Okay."

Chen Ran nodded, crisp and neat.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting ways.

Just before leaving, Li Changfeng suddenly spoke:

"Brother Chen, I heard that the Demon Suppression Division seems to have sent quite a few people out recently. It should be much livelier in the prison in a while."

"Sent people out, for what?" Chen Ran asked, slightly stunned.

Li Changfeng looked around to make sure no one was there: "Let me tell you, they went outside the city to hunt Yao Beasts. It probably won't take many days before they return. Be careful when you are on duty..."

Li Changfeng's words were actually reminding him to increase vigilance these few days and be careful of being attacked by Yao Beasts.

After all, most of the casualties in the Internal Affairs Department came from the prisoners they held.

"Yao Beasts..." Chen Ran whispered to himself, his dark eyes suddenly lighting up;

"Many thanks for the reminder, Brother Feng. I will pay more attention."

"Hmm, don't tell outsiders..." Li Changfeng rubbed his chin, sighing slightly, feeling that this favor he sold was quite good.

When he looked back again, he found that Chen Ran was no longer in front of him.

Li Changfeng's smile froze on his face, and he asked suspiciously:

"Hey, this kid is strange. Why does it feel like he got even more excited after hearing about Yao Beasts..."

...

Returning to his own dedicated duty room, Chen Ran closed the door and bolted it.

As a formal member of the Demon Suppression Division, he had an assigned room within the territory above the prison.

The room was not big, with a bed, a wooden table, and an oil lamp. The environment was just a normal single room.

It couldn't compare to those specially purchased mansions, but it was much better than the prison duty room from the very beginning.

Chen Ran sat cross-legged on the bed, closing his eyes and focusing.

"Since the Demon Suppression Division is hunting Yao Beasts, doesn't that mean I'll be able to encounter Yao Beasts again in a while?"

Chen Ran pondered in his heart. Since he killed that spider Yao Beast last time, he hadn't encountered any new Yao Beasts for a long time.

Just the [Heavenly Net] effect obtained from it was comparable to top-tier martial arts. If he could stack other talents, wouldn't it be even more terrifying?

Thump!

Suddenly, a sound rang in his ear.

Deep in his Sea of Consciousness, that ancient and heavy [heavenly book of prison suppression] slowly emerged.

Unlike usual, Chen Ran noticed that the appearance of the heavenly book of prison suppression had changed significantly this time.

Especially the exterior, it had almost evolved from the original ordinary book; the pages had turned into golden pages, and various mysterious patterns were carved on the outside.

As the number of prisoners he detained increased, this heavenly book of prison suppression seemed to have changed as well.

"Is it an illusion? I always feel it's a bit different..."

Because he hadn't clicked on it for several days, he clicked on it all at once this time.

The messages accumulated over such a long time formed a torrent in front of his eyes.

[Guarded the prison for one day, rewarded with 1 year of Cultivation]

[Guarded the prison for one day, rewarded with 1 year of Cultivation]

[You participated in the arrest of the Xu brothers, with high participation]

[Reward: 2 months of Cultivation]

...

[Current total Cultivation: 140 years]

A majestic hot current surged from his Dantian, rushing along his Meridians.

The Qi and blood in Chen Ran's whole body surged, and every Meridian was buzzing.

That feeling of being filled with warm internal Qi was like a long-cracked riverbed welcoming a rainstorm, hearty and refreshing.

Even if it was just the Cultivation of an ordinary person for one year, with a full ten years of Cultivation stacked together, the effect was far beyond ordinary people.

The internal Qi surged in the Meridians, circulating back and forth.

Chen Ran could clearly feel that his Realm was being pushed up bit by bit by this massive amount of Cultivation.

The Cultivation kept flowing along the Meridians, turning into streams of warm current merging into his body.

Crack.

It was as if a shackle had torn apart.

A terrifying aura spread outward from his body, and the surrounding tables and chairs almost floated, as if to break through everything.

Chen Ran slowly opened his eyes, let out a turbid breath, and restrained his aura.

The terrifying aura instantly converged into his body.

"Reached the Middle Stage of the fifth grade."

After reaching the fifth grade, the improvement brought by each year of Cultivation was far less obvious than at lower Realms.

In the initial stage, one year of Cultivation would have an immediate effect, and the changes in muscles and bones were visible to the naked eye.

But after the sixth grade, the growth of Cultivation was like injecting water into a bottomless well. Although the water level was rising, the speed was definitely not that fast.

This was the chasm of the Martial Dao.

In the Great Wei Martial Forest, the vast majority of ordinary Martial Artists were stuck at the seventh grade for their entire lives, unable to even touch the edge of the sixth grade.

And those who could break through the sixth grade were all Disciples carefully cultivated by major Sects, or talented geniuses.

"It seems that the Cultivation of ordinary people is indeed not enough at this Realm."

Chen Ran muttered to himself. In his expectation, breaking through to the fourth grade should have taken a few months, but now it would probably take almost half a year.

He didn't know that if this sentence of his were spread out and others knew how envious they would be,

How many people were stuck at the fifth-grade Bottleneck, spending decades unable to advance further, and the other party actually complained that this speed was too slow?

But if they knew that it had only been about four months since Chen Ran started Cultivating, they would probably be shocked out of their wits.

Just as Chen Ran was sighing,

He suddenly discovered another line of text below the heavenly book.

The text emitted a pale golden light, flickering constantly.

Chen Ran's attention was drawn to it, and the text slowly condensed in front of his eyes.

The moment he saw the text, his pupils shrank, and his aura suddenly paused.

"This is...!"