Promotion

How could it not be enough?

Shen Che stared at the four glaring words on the panel, his expression freezing.

580 Time Value, and it still wasn't enough.

A thousand?

A number surfaced in Shen Che's mind.

Breaking through a cultivation technique's limit required a whole number—one thousand points.

It was a reasonable guess.

Where was he supposed to get that much Time Value?

Should he take on another demon-slaying mission?

But missions did not come every day, and he might not encounter demons at the True Meridian Realm.

Shen Che's thoughts raced.

He thought of a place.

The Demon Suppressing Prison.

That place was practically a treasure vault tailor-made for him.

The problem was how to get in.

The third level of the Demon Suppressing Prison was heavily guarded. Let alone a newly promoted official Demon Queller Envoy like him, even some seasoned veterans had no right to approach it.

Just as he was pondering a countermeasure, knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Shen Che opened the door and found a servant from the Demon Suppression Division standing outside.

"Lord Shen, Director Yan requests your presence."

Yan Xiu is looking for me?

Shen Che's mind turned, and he roughly guessed what it was about.

He followed the servant and arrived once more at the side hall of the mission hall.

Yan Xiu was still seated behind that familiar desk, holding a cup of hot tea and sipping it leisurely.

When he saw Shen Che enter, he set down his teacup.

"Li Zimo has already told me everything that happened."

Yan Xiu's expression was somewhat complicated. He looked Shen Che up and down as though he were examining some rare treasure.

"A Body Tempering Realm cultivator, killing a demon at the eleventh meridian of the True Meridian Realm with a single slash."

"Kid, you've truly given me a heaven-shaking surprise."

"I thought you had held something back during the entrance examination, but it seems I still underestimated you."

Yan Xiu was convinced that Shen Che must have come from some martial arts family with deep foundations, one that had used all manner of heavenly treasures to temper his body since childhood, allowing him to forge such a monstrous physique.

A child from an ordinary family could never possess such combat power while still in the Body Tempering Realm.

"You flatter me, Lord Yan." Shen Che had no intention of explaining.

Misunderstandings were sometimes the best camouflage.

"This isn't flattery. It's the truth."

Yan Xiu took out a black token from a drawer and handed it over.

The token felt icy in Shen Che's hand. A savage beast's head was engraved on the front, while the words "Demon Suppression" were inscribed on the back.

"This is the identity token of an official Demon Queller Envoy—the Demon Suppressing Token."

"This token is forged from special black iron. It contains a small storage space inside, enough to hold a few changes of clothes and weapons."

"At the same time, within a certain range, it can sense the presence of demonic aura. After slaying a demon, place the token near its corpse, and it will automatically record your merits, which can be exchanged for Contribution Points within the Division."

Shen Che accepted the token and turned it over in his hand.

This thing was far more advanced than his previous probationary token.

"By the rules, every newly promoted official Demon Queller Envoy receives a benefit from the Division as encouragement for newcomers."

Yan Xiu leaned forward slightly.

"You may go to the Scripture Pavilion and choose a True Meridian Realm cultivation manual, or go to the pill chamber and receive a Meridian Opening Pill."

He paused, a hint of persuasion entering his tone.

"Personally, I suggest choosing the Meridian Opening Pill."

"Your foundation is exceptionally solid, and the strength of your physique far surpasses that of your peers. The only thing you lack is cultivation."

"With the aid of this Meridian Opening Pill, you will surely be able to break open your main meridian in one stroke and officially enter the True Meridian Realm. By then, your strength will rise to an entirely new world."

His words were utterly sincere.

To any martial artist at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, the allure of a Meridian Opening Pill was fatal.

For it, the Li brothers had not hesitated to risk their lives by undertaking a promotion mission.

Yet Shen Che shook his head.

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Yan."

"I have no need for either cultivation techniques or pills for now."

Yan Xiu froze. "Then what do you want?"

Shen Che raised his head and stated his true purpose.

"I want to enter the third level of the Demon Suppressing Prison and remain there for a while."

The air fell silent.

Yan Xiu's expression shifted from astonishment to confusion, then finally into the peculiar look one gave a madman.

"What did you say? You want to enter the third level of the Demon Suppressing Prison?"

"Shen Che, do you know what kind of place that is?!"

Yan Xiu's voice rose involuntarily.

"Every prisoner there is a vicious, utterly depraved General-level Great Demon! An ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist would have their mind crushed by the demonic aura the moment they approached the third level's entrance, perhaps even die on the spot!"

"I know," Shen Che replied calmly.

"Then you still want to go?"

"It is precisely because the demonic aura there is powerful enough," Shen Che said, having long prepared his excuse, "that I want to borrow that pressure to force myself and see whether I can break through my bottleneck."

Rather than rely on external aids like pills, he would rather rely on himself.

This explanation perfectly matched the image of a "martial arts genius" he had displayed before.

Yan Xiu stared at him hard. After a long while, he suddenly laughed.

First came a low chuckle, followed by hearty laughter.

"Good! What a way to use demonic aura to break through!"

"Others avoid the Demon Suppressing Prison like the plague, but you brat are treating it like a training room!"

"You've got guts! I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

What Yan Xiu admired was precisely Shen Che's fearless, headlong drive.

"I approve!"

Yan Xiu slapped the table.

"But I can only give you half a day at most. That place is no good land. Stay too long, and even you may have your mind eroded by the demonic aura."

"Thank you, Lord Yan." Shen Che cupped his hands.

His goal had been achieved.

With the written order from a director like Yan Xiu, Shen Che's entry into the Demon Suppressing Prison went without the slightest obstruction.

He did not linger on the first or second levels.

There was nothing there that he needed anymore.

He passed through dark, damp corridors and headed straight for the stairs leading deeper underground.

The farther down he went, the thicker the stench of rot and blood became in the air.

The instant he stepped onto the third level's ground—

An indescribably terrifying pressure squeezed in from every direction.

The air here was as thick as glue. Every breath felt like swallowing gravel.

Strands and wisps of black-red demonic aura drifted visibly through the air. Like venomous snakes with lives of their own, they frantically burrowed into Shen Che's body.

Yan Xiu had not lied.

Had it been any ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist, the terrifying demonic aura would have directly suppressed and killed them the instant they entered this place.

But Shen Che was not ordinary.

After Golden Bell Shield and Iron Shirt had both reached perfection, his physical body had long since reached an inhuman level.

He drew a deep breath. The deadly black-red demonic aura rushed into his body in a frenzy, only to be instantly vaporized by the vast, surging blood and qi within him, roaring like a river.

It was like splashing a ladle of water onto red-hot iron.

With a sizzle, nothing remained.

He proceeded deeper along the dark passage. The cells on either side held demons of every imaginable shape.