The residential complex grew lively at night. The lights from the ambulances and police cars intertwined, drawing quite a few people downstairs to watch.
The personnel responsible for testing knocked on the doors of the neighbors in Building 9, going door to door to check whether anyone had been contaminated.
There was no need to ask. Everyone nearby could guess who had gotten into trouble.
"Old Man Zhao, right? It had to be him. His home stinks worse than shit. If he didn't breed demons, who would?"
"That's true. The fourth floor has been sealed off. Luckily, the neighbor across the hall was on the night shift and hadn't come home. Otherwise, how terrifying would that have been?"
"Yeah. He'd been told so many times, but he just wouldn't change. Well, now someone came knocking at his door. He was probably in for some suffering."
"He won't be suffering anymore. I live upstairs and went down to take a look just now. There was nothing left inside."
A man who had finished his examination and come downstairs said, "Old Man Zhao is probably gone."
The crowd broke into another round of sighs.
Everyone in the complex had heard of Old Man Zhao's bizarre behavior. He truly was hateful and overbearing, but he had never caused any major trouble. Now that life and death were involved, they became somewhat more forgiving.
Yet some people were furious, wishing they could scatter even Old Man Zhao's ashes to the wind.
Li Haihua and Liu Qingxia cursed Old Man Zhao as they hurried to the hospital. When Liu Qingxia saw Li Ye scrolling through his phone on the hospital bed, her eyes instantly reddened.
He hadn't encountered a demon during his night run, only to run into one right outside his own home!
Before they could speak, however, Li Ye put down his phone and smiled. "I just need to finish two IV bags. It's nothing serious."
His parents let out a sigh of relief.
Liu Qingxia burst out cursing, "That damned Zhao! He couldn't even rest in peace after dying!"
"Li Ye, why are you staying in a room like this?" Li Haihua asked after glancing around the ward.
Their hearts had been hanging in midair just now. Li Ye was in a private room, and they had been terrified that something serious had happened to him.
"The government arranged it. They said I'd rendered meritorious service, and there'll be a reward later too."
Li Ye chuckled. "Mom, I'm hungry."
"Alright, Mom will go buy you something. Old Li, go ask the doctor again. See whether Li Ye really is completely fine."
After his parents left the ward, Li Ye picked up his phone again and looked at the information he had found about the Five Plagues Ghost.
It was a private ward with an excellent environment. Li Ye did not have to pay for this part; Huang Qingyi had arranged it.
As for Huang Qingyi, he had also gone for treatment. Whatever they needed to discuss could wait until tomorrow.
Li Ye truly did not want to discuss anything today. His attention was entirely on the Five Plagues Ghost and the authority he had obtained.
Li Ye had slain a god!
The information online was a chaotic jumble, and most of it was inaccurate. But Li Ye was not doing academic research, so he could still find some relevant records.
The Five Plagues Ghost was a demon that affected food, yet it was born from everyday things like rice, oil, sugar, vinegar, and chopsticks.
That was also why it was rare. Those daily necessities had to grow moldy, and people had to keep using them, for such a demon to be born.
Let alone in modern society, it had been rare even in ancient times. Who would keep using things after they had gone moldy instead of throwing them away? If you didn't come down with the plague, who would?
The Five Plagues Ghost first appeared alongside the Flame Emperor. In the recorded Red Emperor's Scripture for Subduing Plagues, it told of the ancient great being Shen Nong teaching ancient people how to cook food in cauldrons, thereby cutting off demons at the root.
That was more or less the same as the strange admonition Li Ye had heard.
As for the Five Plagues Ghost, Li Ye found a related record. From ancient times all the way to the Sui Dynasty, it had been called the Five Plagues God!
And the authority he had obtained—
"Li Ye, we brought you preserved egg and lean pork congee. Eat this for now. When we get home, Mom will cook for you."
His parents came in at that moment, looking visibly more relaxed.
They had asked the doctor. It truly was the mildest form of contamination, equivalent to an ordinary cold. Li Ye practiced martial arts, so after two IV bags, he could go home.
Li Haihua set the small table over the bed, while Liu Qingxia arranged the congee and picked up a spoon to feed him.
"I'm only getting an IV. It's not that serious."
Li Ye took the spoon and brought a spoonful of congee to his mouth.
It had been bought outside, so the ingredients were naturally as simple as could be. But right now, Li Ye did not care what it was. As long as it was food, it would do. He needed to verify something.
The moment the spoonful of congee entered his stomach, Li Ye immediately sensed the difference.
He could precisely detect the increase in his qi and blood, even if it was so slight it was nearly negligible.
The authority, Qi Devourer—the power Li Ye had gained—meant eating up all the flavors of the mortal world.
Its manifestation was that he could consume food, and everything he ate could nourish him in return.
And there was no limit to it!
In today's world, eating was extremely important for martial arts practice. If one could not eat enough, one could not practice martial arts. If one did not eat well, the results of practice would be poor.
Those with poor aptitude had to spend enormous sums on superior ingredients and tonics, supplementing them with better Training Methods to strengthen their qi and blood.
But there was always a limit to how much a person could eat, and it was impossible to absorb everything completely.
Li Ye's family certainly could not afford those top-grade ingredients that cost tens of thousands at a time, but he no longer needed to consider that now.
The power brought by the authority allowed him to absorb all the qi within food. No matter the quality of the ingredients, as long as they were edible, they could raise his qi and blood.
The only condition was that the food had to be cooked before it could have this effect.
This was information he had immediately comprehended after gaining the authority. Now, he was merely verifying it.
He had previously worried that he would never feel full again, but after eating, he realized he had worried for nothing.
He could still feel the food he ate. Under normal circumstances, he would still get hungry and full.
Seeing Li Ye rapidly finish the bowl of congee, Liu Qingxia said, "Li Ye, don't go night running anymore. Are you afraid you won't run into demons? Mom knows you understand a lot, but knowing a lot is useless. When a scholar met a soldier, reason could not be made clear. It's not like demons can be solved just because you know more."
Li Haihua echoed, "The critique of knowledge can't stand in for the critique of weapons. The state will deal with demons. Just focus on martial arts practice. Once you've mastered martial arts, you can do whatever you want when it comes to fighting demons."
"I won't do it again." Li Ye nodded.
Night running had only been for consolidating his foundation, but now that he had an authority, what the hell was there to consolidate?
He just needed to charge upward!
The two IV bags finished quickly. Li Ye completed the discharge procedures and went home with his parents.
Building 9 was still sealed off. To be safe, everyone in the entire complex had their doors knocked on and underwent testing to see whether they were ill or showed signs of contamination.
After Li Ye got home, Liu Qingxia opened the refrigerator and went into the kitchen to make a late-night snack.
The late-night snack was naturally simple. In just ten minutes, Liu Qingxia brought it out.
"Clean up after you finish eating, and get to bed early. You still have school tomorrow."
With that, his parents returned to their bedroom.
The fright had exhausted them too, and they still had work tomorrow.
The late-night snack was simple: a bacon sandwich, a bowl of oatmeal milk, and a bowl of steamed egg. Li Ye wolfed them down in no time. Feeling his qi and blood rise, he smiled in satisfaction.
It was not the authority he had once imagined, one powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth, but it was still very good.
In a sense, he did not have to fear illness, because Qi Devourer could even absorb the diseased qi in food along with the food itself.
In theory, as long as there was enough of it, Li Ye could eat garbage until he broke through the Dragon Gate.
What the authority also brought was an extremely direct perception of the growth of his qi and blood, allowing him to know exactly how far along he was.
Qi and blood could not be quantified. Just as each person knew the warmth and chill of water only after drinking it themselves, the strength of each person's cultivation could only be felt personally; only the manifested intensity differed.
There was no fixed standard for the qi and blood needed to leap the Dragon Gate either. If one's qi and blood was abundant enough, then one had leaped it. If it was not enough, then one had not.
But now, with the authority and Li Ye's direct perception of his qi and blood, he could know what stage he had reached and when he would be able to achieve Qi Circulation and break through the Dragon Gate.
If the standard for his own Qi Circulation was 100, then his current figure should be 80, and it would be difficult to raise further unless he spent heavily on tonics to force an increase.
Under normal circumstances, there should have been no possibility of achieving Qi Circulation. His previous decision not to practice martial arts had been correct; even another year of practice would have been a waste.
But now that he had obtained an authority, everything was completely different.
The preserved egg and lean pork congee he had eaten at the hospital had increased his value by 0.001, according to his own system of measurement. The late-night snack had increased it by 0.002.
So his qi and blood had now reached 80.003.
He did not even need martial arts practice to improve. Eating alone was enough!
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