Chapter 182 File Hunting

It was noon by the time Chen Mu returned to his small courtyard.

Pushing open the door, the little black dog immediately darted out from its dry grass nest in the corner, wagging its tail as it circled him, making soft whining sounds, exceptionally affectionate.

Chen Mu bent down to pet its head, drew a bucket of water from the well, washed off the bloodstains on his body, changed into a cloth shirt, and then sat on the bed in the main room, closing his eyes to focus.

His mind sank into the System panel.

[Chen Mu: Seventeen years old, Remaining Lifespan: Forty-two years, Plundered Lifespan: Two thousand three hundred and three years]

[Mastered Martial Arts: "Broadsword Technique" Perfection! "Taibao Horizontal Training" Perfection! "Sword Drawing Technique" Perfection! "Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique" Perfection! "Divine Void Step" Perfection! "Wind God Wings" (Not yet initiated) "Soul-Loss Art" Perfection! "Heavenly Illusion Shape-Shifting Technique" (Not yet initiated) "Hunyuan Wuji Calamity Body" (Second Layer)]

[Special Items: bear paw gloves (Flying Bear Dream-Entering Technique: Perfection), ancient demon seal.]

His gaze lingered for a long time on "Plundered Lifespan: Two thousand three hundred and three years."

Last night, he had consecutively slain Xu Changze and the Five-Tailed Demon Fox, and adding the remainder from before, the total had just barely broken through two thousand three hundred years.

However, the second layer of the "Hunyuan Wuji Calamity Body" had only advanced by sixty percent, consuming nearly four thousand five hundred years of Lifespan. To complete the remaining forty percent, according to this consumption trend, it would require at least another three thousand years.

"Still far from enough..."

Chen Mu whispered to himself. The puppy playing in the courtyard immediately perked up its ears, twisted its body to squeeze through the door crack, looked over with its golden pupils, and tilted its head at Chen Mu, seemingly understanding yet not.

He stood up, drank a mouthful of cold water, and organized his thoughts.

He needed more and more stable sources of Lifespan.

Efficiency, he must increase efficiency.

Chen Mu remembered the pile of backlogged dossiers Chief Liu had sent over a few days ago and stood up to go out again.

Seeing this, the little black dog immediately darted out and trotted after him.

Chen Mu paused slightly, looked down at it, but ultimately said nothing, letting it follow at his heels.

...

Yunmeng Demon Suppression Division office.

It was noon, but the office was much quieter than usual. Since the martyrdom of Xu Changze, both the county office and the Demon Suppression Division had undergone a purge and reorganization.

Chief Liu was temporarily handling some of the Magistrate's duties and was overwhelmed, with many bailiffs also being drafted to maintain order in the city and comfort the populace.

In the office room, only two young clerks were burying their heads in transcribing official documents. Seeing Chen Mu enter, they hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"Chief Chen!"

Chen Mu waved his hand and walked straight to the shelf holding the dossiers. Chief Liu had already reorganized the accumulated unresolved cases from past years and placed them in a separate spot.

He pulled out the thick "Unresolved Demon Hunting Record."

Holding it in his palm, he sat down at the wooden desk by the window and flipped through it page by page.

The little black dog lay quietly at his feet, occasionally raising its head, its golden pupils turning with the flipping pages.

The dossiers were recorded in great detail.

[Black Wind Cave · Profound Yin Python]: Occupying Black Wind Cave three hundred miles north of Yunmeng, it is rumored to have been cultivating for nearly four hundred years. It can spit out Profound Yin cold qi, condensing water into ice. The terrain inside the cave is complex, with many diverging paths and poisonous miasma. Assessment: Danger Rank Grade A-High, not suitable for anyone below the Late Stage of the Heart-Awakening Realm to engage lightly.

[Soul-Falling Gorge · Thousand-Faced Ghost]: Haunts the depths of the southwest Soul-Falling Gorge, skilled in transformation and confusing people's minds. It can extract souls and seize spirits silently. Victims often die with peaceful expressions, their souls completely lost. Assessment: Danger Rank Grade A-Medium, requires extremely high cultivation of the Divine Soul, and needs a Magic Treasure or Cultivation Technique specifically designed to counter soul bodies.

[Green Wave Pool · Poisonous Flood Dragon]: Lurks at the bottom of the eastern Green Wave Pool, having already grown a single horn, showing signs of transforming into a Dragon. It can stir up winds and waves, exhale poisonous miasma, and the pool water is highly toxic, with no vegetation growing within a ten-mile radius. Assessment: Danger Rank Grade A-High, requires methods to avoid poison and control water, and its final struggle before death is extremely terrifying.

...

Flipping through page after page, Chen Mu's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

These recorded demons were all tough nuts to crack.

The places they occupied were either dangerous natural strongholds, or they possessed strange and hard-to-guard-against Divine Abilities, or they had thick skin and flesh with extremely tenacious vitality.

More importantly, their strength assessments almost all pointed to the Heart-Awakening Realm, or even higher.

In the past, Chen Mu might have relied on the formidable strength of his Hunyuan Calamity Astral Qi, combined with his Divine Void Step and soul-slaying blade, to pick one or two places with relatively controllable risks to give it a try.

But things were different now.

He had just experienced the bloody battle at the City God Temple, killed Xu Changze and the Five-Tailed Fox Demon, consumed a huge amount of energy, his hidden injuries had not yet healed, his Protective Aura was not in a full state, and there was the imminent threat from the Beimang Fox Clan. If he rashly challenged these old demons now and fell into a bitter fight, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The risk was too high, and the cost was too great.

He closed the book, pushed it aside, and frowned deeply.

If he could not handle these Grade A targets, then there were not many choices left.

The Yangu Pit had nearly endless Ghostly Creatures, but the existence in the core area made him wary, the efficiency of guerrilla tactics on the periphery was gradually decreasing, and those three Heart-Awakening Realm Ghostly Creatures were likely already hating him to the bone, waiting for him to fall into their trap.

The half-day sweep of Fenglang Ridge had yielded over four hundred years of Lifespan, which seemed good, but he had only encountered relatively scattered and low-to-mid-level demons. If he went again, he would either need to go deep into dangerous areas to find stronger individuals, or he could only repeat low-efficiency purges, which was a drop in the bucket for him who urgently needed massive amounts of Lifespan.

And within Yunmeng City and its near suburbs, after the Xu Changze incident and the City God Temple turmoil, the slightly significant demons were either purged or had fled upon hearing the news, hiding even deeper.

He seemed to have fallen into a stalemate: he could not chew the high-yield ones, did not look down on the low-yield ones, and the medium ones lacked efficiency.

"Need a more efficient method, or a new hunting ground..."

Chen Mu muttered to himself.

He remembered Jiang Xiong's parting words, and the letter of recommendation to the Prefecture.

The Prefecture was vast and prosperous, and the demon scourge must be even worse; perhaps there were more targets there, and a broader world.

Just as he was focusing on his thoughts, the little black dog at his feet suddenly stood up, ears perked, facing the door, its throat emitting a low growl with clear vigilance.

Chen Mu instantly restrained his aura, pushing his five senses to the limit.

Footsteps came from outside the office room, drawing near from afar, accompanied by the slight sound of armor scales rubbing against each other.

That was not the sound of ordinary bailiffs or commoners.

Outside the main hall of the office.

A team of about twenty armored soldiers stood solemnly, each wearing leather armor, with long blades hanging at their waists, their auras steady, their eyes sharp; they were clearly well-trained elites.

They were surrounding a middle-aged man in his early forties, wearing official robes and a black gauze hat.

The man had slender eyebrows, fair skin, a short beard, and carried the three parts of friendliness typical of officials.

It was none other than the Magistrate of the neighboring Anlu County, Zhou Huaian.

Chief Liu had already heard the news and rushed to the front of the hall, putting on a polite smile and cupping his hands in greeting.

"Lord Zhou, you have traveled far. I failed to welcome you in time, please forgive me."

Zhou Huaian smiled warmly and reached out to support him.

"Chief Liu is too polite. This official and Magistrate Xu were classmates. Hearing that Yunmeng suddenly suffered a demon catastrophe last night, and Brother Xu actually... Ah! It is truly heartbreaking."