84: Chapter 84 A Blessing in Disguise, the Nemesis of Evil

At this moment, in the center of Lin Ye's Sea of Consciousness, a rusty iron rod was suspended.

It hung there quietly, yet it radiated an invisible pressure.

That pressure was ineffective against Lin Ye, but for the intruder, the Demon, it was like the sky collapsing.

The dark shadow began to twist and struggle desperately, but it still could not stop its own dissipation.

This was the power of a Mythic-grade Life-Bound Weapon!

It was like a sleeping beast that hadn't even opened its eyes; it merely rolled over and casually crushed the ant that had broken into its territory.

The dark shadow let out a final mournful wail and completely vanished.

However, it didn't just disappear; it turned into something else.

A stream of pure spiritual energy, devoid of any Impurities.

Lin Ye felt his Sea of Consciousness shake violently, as if something had exploded inside.

Countless images flashed through his mind—the residual memories of the Demon, or what could be called its Soul resonance.

Lin Ye's perception range began to skyrocket!

Five zhang, six zhang, seven zhang...

That energy seemed inexhaustible. Lin Ye felt his head swelling as if it were about to burst, and his temples began to throb.

Just when he was about to reach his limit, the energy finally stopped.

It wasn't exhausted; rather, it was tightly bound around the ruyi jingu bang, no longer surging outward.

This was because Lin Ye's Soul could only handle so much energy infusion at once; any more would carry the risk of mental derangement.

As for the remainder, it would gradually merge into his Sea of Consciousness over the coming days.

“I didn't expect the Life-Bound Weapon to have a Soul-protecting effect. Truly, a blessing in disguise,” Lin Ye thought to himself.

“From the looks of it, players seem to be the nemesis of Demons.”

Perhaps this was also a form of insurance provided by the System to the players.

After all, players underwent Physical Body Transmigration. If their Souls were truly occupied by Demons, wouldn't that mean the Demons could use the players to return to the real world? The consequences would be absolutely unthinkable!

Wait!

His Life-Bound Weapon was Mythic-grade, which was why it possessed the power to crush the Demon.

If it were those players who had awakened ordinary Life-Bound Weapons, would they still be able to block an Demon's intrusion like he did?

Thinking of this, Lin Ye felt a wave of unease.

However, the first batch of players was guaranteed to awaken an Epic Life-Bound Weapon. The second batch might receive slightly worse treatment, but they shouldn't be completely stripped of everything; a Rare-grade guarantee wouldn't be too much to ask, right?

For the time being, the real world wouldn't face an invasion of Demons.

As for what happens later, that can only be discussed in the future.

Putting those thoughts aside, Lin Ye slowly opened his eyes.

Then he saw a large face leaning in close. Lin Ye was startled and instinctively leaned back.

“Lord Shen! What are you doing?”

“Ahem!”

Old Man Shen gave a tactical cough, then took a step back, sizing him up with a hint of doubt in his eyes:

“Are you alright? That thing just now seemed to... crawl into your body.”

“I'm fine, and I've never felt better!” Lin Ye was telling the truth.

His mind was now as clear as if it had been washed with spiritual water, and his five senses were so sharp he could count the individual specks of dust in the air.

Opening his attribute panel, his spirit attribute had jumped from twenty-four points to forty-eight points. This increase was nothing short of terrifying.

And this wasn't even the Demon's limit—it was just his own.

Old Man Shen used his Qi Observation Technique to carefully inspect him again. After confirming there wasn't a trace of an Demon's aura on Lin Ye, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

“That's good. By the way, where is that thing?”

“Uh, it dissipated.” Lin Ye didn't know how to answer. He couldn't exactly say it was shaken to death by the ruyi jingu bang, could he?

“It tried to devour my Soul, but it probably couldn't swallow it, and then it just collapsed on its own.”

Old Man Shen's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't press further.

Having lived for so many years, he naturally knew that everyone had their own secrets.

Since Lin Ye was able to survive the Demon's intrusion, that was his own capability; there was no need to ask for every detail.

“Alright, as long as you're fine.”

Old Man Shen turned and walked back to Wei Chongshan's corpse, bending down to pick up the head from the ground. He wrapped it in a black cloth and tied it to his waist.

As for the scattered pieces of the corpse, they had already begun to turn black and rot, emitting a pungent, fishy stench.

“I'll take this head back to the Demon Suppression Division to report. I'll give you half of the merit points I receive.”

“This... then thank you, Lord.”

Lin Ye cupped his hands in thanks.

He didn't make a show of declining. After all, he had contributed his share of effort, so receiving some merit points was only natural.

He couldn't help it; he wanted to advance too badly.

“By the way, Lord Shen, what about the bodies of those people?” Lin Ye pointed to the men in black he had shot.

“Don't worry about them. Just have the people from the magistrate's office come and haul them back later.”

Old Man Shen waved his hand dismissively. Then, as if seeing something, he walked toward an arrow stuck in the ground, pulled it out, and examined it.

“armor-piercing arrows. The Black Stone Gang is quite bold.”

Lin Ye also walked over. “Lord, these armor-piercing arrows are weapons regulated by the imperial court. If the Black Stone Gang can produce them, does it mean they have a military background?”

Old Man Shen sneered and shook his head upon hearing this. “Although the Qingzhou Army cannot be compared to the Great Wasteland Army, the Northern Guard Army, or the Canglan Army, it hasn't fallen so low as to cooperate with a small town Gang.”

“These armor-piercing arrows were most likely commissioned secretly by the Black Stone Gang.”

“They say armor-piercing arrows are regulated by the court, but who knows how many factions secretly possess them.”

“As long as it's not too blatant, the court turns a blind eye to it.”

“Besides, this kind of matter isn't under our Demon Suppression Division's jurisdiction. If you want, you can submit these arrows to the magistrate's office, or use them to squeeze some benefits out of the Black Stone Gang.”

Lin Ye didn't know what to say after hearing that.

The Martial Domain was not reality, after all. In this world, the laws of the imperial court often lacked such strong binding power.

Moreover, armor-piercing arrows were Sharp Weapons used to deal with Martial Artists, which was enough to make people take risks.

“Let's go, let's head back first.”

“Wei Chongshan colluded with an Demon. The Black Stone Gang must give my Demon Suppression Division an explanation for this.”

Lin Ye nodded and followed Old Man Shen out of the valley.

Behind them, Black Wind Valley returned to its peaceful state, leaving only the rustling sound of the night wind blowing through the gravel.

By the time they returned to Black Stone Town, dawn was approaching.

At the entrance of the magistrate's office, Old Man Shen stopped and looked back at Lin Ye.

“Go back and rest first. Wait for my notice.”

“Alright!”

Lin Ye didn't ask further questions. He shouldered his staff and turned to leave.

Old Man Shen pushed open the main gate and walked straight in. Two bailiffs on night duty were dozing off at a table; they jerked their heads up at the sound, and when they recognized the visitor's identity, they hastily stood up to salute.

“Greetings, Lord.”

“Mm, go and call your Mayor.” Old Man Shen gave the order and walked into the main hall on his own.

The bailiff didn't dare ask more, accepted the order, and ran off to report.

In a short while, the Mayor arrived.

The Mayor of Black Stone Town was surnamed Wang. He was in his forties, pale and plump, clearly hailing from a wealthy family.

However, at this moment, Mayor Wang appeared somewhat disheveled, even his hat was crooked.

As soon as he entered, he saw the cloth bundle on the table, which was still steadily seeping blood.

Seeing this scene, how could he not know what was inside?