Giant Bear

In the room, Wei Fan only felt the Golden Bell within his body vibrate steadily, Tiger Roars and Dragon Cries.

The purple Supreme True Qi and the Golden Bell had originally been as distinct as the Jing and Wei Rivers, with no connection between them. But now, every time the Supreme True Qi circulated, a portion of it was devoured by the Golden Bell.

On the Golden Bell's inner wall, besides the tiger soul from before, there was now an additional dragon-shaped figure.

The dragon was golden all over, baring its claws and dancing wildly, radiating an aura of supreme majesty. Its long body encircled the Golden Bell once.

Its only flaw was that its eyes remained shut, lacking the tiger soul's liveliness.

"Finally, there's another change. All that cultivation I poured into it wasn't for nothing!"

By now, he had poured a full two hundred and fifty years of cultivation into the Golden Bell Shield. Even something as high-end as blade intent had only received one hundred and fifty years.

Wei Fan withdrew from his inner vision and did not summon the Golden Bell.

If the Golden Bell appeared in his tiny room with its current power, the house would instantly be shattered and collapse.

He carefully sensed the Golden Bell's changes once more before extinguishing the lamp and going to bed.

Early the next morning, Wei Fan entered the constables' quarters with his saber hanging at his waist.

Hu Qing ran over, her face brimming with delight. "The Demon Suppressing Division's guide really came! How did you know they would come? Oh, right, did they contact you?"

"They came to see me first."

Wei Fan answered casually. It seemed the Reception Envoy had gone to meet Hu Qing, but her cultivation was a little low—only at the fifth level of True Qi.

At her age, such cultivation made her a genius in Cloud City. But in a place like the Demon Suppressing Division, it was not even enough to rank at the bottom.

The only thing Wei Fan could do was put in a word with the Reception Envoy. Whether Hu Qing could enter the Demon Suppressing Division was beyond his ability to help.

"Wei Fan, I'm not confident. That Reception Envoy brought two people who are still undergoing assessment. Do you know how strong they are? They're both great experts who have opened acupoints!"

Hu Qing wore a troubled expression. Ning Xuan and Su Xuerong's appearance had put immense pressure on her.

"If you're not confident, wait a few more years. Going to the Demon Suppressing Division with low cultivation isn't necessarily a good thing."

After comforting Hu Qing, Wei Fan went over and took his seat.

He had barely sat down when Luo Wen arrived.

"Are you really going out of the city to fight that old bear to the death?"

Luo Wen's eyes widened. Clearly, he had already heard about what had happened at the restaurant yesterday.

Wei Fan nodded.

Luo Wen looked worried and tried to persuade him. "That old bear has been in Cloud City the longest. His depths are unfathomable, and all the other great demons answer to his command. If you go, I'm afraid it'll be extremely dangerous!"

Among the great demons near Cloud City, the old bear was the most mysterious and low-profile. Though he commanded all the great demons, very few people had ever seen him.

The balance between Cloud City's government office and the demons owed half its existence to the old bear's restraint, keeping those demons from going mad and snatching people away to eat.

Wei Fan said softly, "If I don't go, Great Immortal Huang's descendants will enter the city!"

Besides, it was not as though he had no confidence at all. And from Xiong Wanxing's tone, it was an arranged duel rather than a fight to the death. That proved the Demon Suppressing Division's deterrence against the old bear was significant.

Even if the old bear won, he most likely would not dare kill him.

The old bear was no fool. He should understand that a genius like Wei Fan had surely already caught the Demon Suppressing Division's attention.

Luo Wen gritted his teeth. "They're truly despicable, using this to threaten you. I'll gather everyone shortly, and we'll go meet those demons together. It'll be troublesome if they gang up on you."

He had never managed to see through Wei Fan's true capabilities. What worried him most was that the demons would abandon all sense of honor. After all, besides the slain Tiger King and Great Immortal Huang, Cloud City still had Hu Meiniang.

And apart from those two, who knew whether their subordinates still had any True Realm great demons?

If this were a trap to lure Wei Fan out and all the demons besieged him together, then even with three heads and six arms, Wei Fan would be unable to handle it.

Wei Fan directly rejected the suggestion. He was not afraid of being besieged at all. He had the Golden Bell protecting his body, and he was also Innate Body Refinement.

So long as it was not a group of True Realm great demons joining forces to kill him, he feared no amount of encirclement.

If he had truly been worried about an ambush, he would have asked Ning Xuan and Su Xuerong for help yesterday.

"I'll just take Hu Qing and Zhou Qi with me to bring back the old bear's corpse. You stay at the government office and make preparations.

"Once I kill the old bear, I want you to immediately contact several chief constables and thoroughly uproot every force in Cloud City that is colluding with demons!"

A cold gleam flashed in Wei Fan's eyes. Once he defeated the old bear, Cloud City's demons would retreat, and every force colluding with them would reach its end.

The manpower from their eastern district alone was not enough to wipe out all those forces in one stroke. They needed to contact several chief constables as well.

With his current reputation, even though he was only a head constable, those chief constables would not refuse him face. Besides, this was also a chance to earn merit.

"Good!"

Luo Wen's spirits soared.

For Wei Fan to speak like this meant he was utterly confident in killing the old bear. If Luo Wen could follow Wei Fan in uprooting every force in Cloud City colluding with demons, then once the new city lord took office, the vacant clerk position left by Wei Qingyuan might very well become his.

"I'll arrange the manpower right away!"

Luo Wen left as though he had been pumped full of chicken blood.

Wei Fan sat in his place and closed his eyes, nurturing his blade intent. Near noon, he took Hu Qing and Zhou Qi toward Five Ridges Mountain.

The two already knew about Wei Fan's duel with the old bear. They had been extremely excited along the way, even more confident in Wei Fan than Luo Wen was, without the slightest worry.

After leaving the city, they spotted Ning Xuan and the other two standing on the road from afar.

Hu Qing cried out delightedly, "It's the Reception Envoys!"

Once Wei Fan drew close, Ning Xuan rebuked him, "Brother Wei, you made an appointment to fight demons outside the city and didn't even tell us. Do you still consider us friends?"

Upon hearing that Wei Fan had arranged a battle with demons outside the city, the three had rushed over in advance. First, so they could lend a hand if anything went wrong; second, because they wanted to verify whether Wei Fan truly possessed an Innate Body Refinement physique.

With the three joining them, the group of six headed for Five Ridges Mountain.

Wei Fan did not reject the three, nor had he ever intended to conceal his Innate Body Refinement. Such a thing could not be hidden anyway—the purple true qi was far too distinctive.

Unless he never used true qi for the rest of his life, sooner or later people would discover his Innate Body Refinement.

Five Ridges Mountain was not far from Cloud City, only five or six li away.

When Wei Fan's group arrived, they saw an enormous black bear seated atop a huge boulder some distance away.

Just the upper half of its body, raised as it sat on the rock, was nearly three meters tall. Its torso was thicker than a water vat, and its powerful muscles knotted and intertwined like tree roots.

"You brought help?"

The giant bear looked over calmly. When it spoke, its voice boomed like great bells, ringing through the air. Zhou Qi, still an ordinary man, could not bear it on the spot. He clutched his ears in pain and hurriedly retreated.

"They are my friends. They came out of curiosity to watch the battle and absolutely will not interfere!"

Wei Fan swept his gaze across the surroundings. This old bear was damn well a man of principle—when it said a duel, it had truly come alone. There was no sign of any other demons nearby.

He scanned the area once more before finally settling his gaze on the old bear.

Bear Demon: True Realm, Fourth Grade. Possesses divine strength. Commander of Cloud City's demons.

Kill it to obtain 160 years of cultivation.