Never To Be Separated

Not long after, a system prompt sounded in Shen Lin's mind. [Killed an Enlightened Wolf Demon, not yet Innate, lifespan 200 years, remaining lifespan 115 years, absorption complete.]

The Mantis Demon and Ape Demon from before only had a lifespan of 150 years.

This Meridian Opening Realm Wolf Demon had fifty more years of lifespan than those Martial Artist-level demonic creatures.

Having obtained the demonic creature lifespan he'd been longing for, Shen Lin walked towards Sun Zhi with a smile, and said loudly, "Captain Sun! Grab your stuff, let's go?"

His words jolted Sun Zhi back to reality. He looked at Shen Lin standing before him, opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.

That was...

Before the shock in his mind could dissipate, his body obediently stood up. He endured the pain and shouldered the wolf demon's corpse.

Even after following Shen Lin for a while, he still couldn't accept what he had just witnessed.

A wolf demon comparable to the Meridian Opening Realm, a powerful existence that could incapacitate him with a casual strike, was like a child in front of Shen Lin.

This guy... had been holding back all along!

After a long period of thought, this was the only conclusion he could reach.

The notion of breaking through during a life-or-death crisis was utter nonsense.

Sun Zhi didn't believe Shen Lin could become a Meridian Opening Realm Martial Artist in just a few days.

So there was only one explanation.

This guy had been a Martial Artist for a long time, but had been hiding his strength until now.

He had only recently begun to show his prowess because he had reached a critical juncture in his cultivation and needed to acquire cultivation resources as quickly as possible.

Considering Shen Lin's performance just now, Sun Zhi felt the other party was definitely not in the early stages of the Meridian Opening Realm.

He must have at least opened two meridians to have been able to overpower a wolf demon of the same realm.

Then the answer was obvious.

Shen Lin was about to break through to the Innate Realm!

Thinking of this possibility, Sun Zhi's eyes widened, and he subconsciously stopped walking.

The Qiulin County annals recorded the most recent Innate Realm Martial Artist twenty years ago.

That senior had served as the County Lieutenant of Qiulin County his entire life. At the age of eighty, he had an epiphany and broke through to the Innate Realm.

Legend had it that on the day he broke through, his white hair instantly turned black, the wrinkles on his skin disappeared, and he looked decades younger.

And Shen Lin, if he remembered correctly, was only twenty years old this year...

An Innate at twenty was unheard of.

"Captain Sun!" Noticing he had stopped, Shen Lin turned his head, a smile on his face, and said softly, "Tired?"

Sun Zhi abruptly raised his head, a smile forced onto his sweat-drenched face, and stammered, "Not tired, not tired..."

"That's good. Since we've completed this task, we should hurry to see Old Master Bai."

Hearing this, Sun Zhi was stunned and instinctively asked, "Go back to see Old Master Bai?"

He had thought Shen Lin was rushing through the night to get back to the County Yamen as quickly as possible to hand in the demonic creature's corpse for a reward.

As for the Bai family, Sun Zhi honestly didn't really want to go.

That family was too creepy.

Even if he wanted to do business in the future, he could just have a subordinate runner deliver the remaining money later. Why the rush?

"Yes!"

Shen Lin nodded naturally. "Business is all about integrity. Once we've given them the remaining payment, we can take on the next task."

Hearing this, Sun Zhi became even more certain of his previous guess.

Such urgency must be because he was eager to break through to the Innate Realm.

The two continued walking, and as the morning sun rose, Bai Family Village was already in sight.

Sun Zhi felt his vision blurring and his body growing hot.

The wolf demon's tail whip earlier had broken several of his ribs.

Without resting and traveling at high intensity, he had started to develop a fever and was disoriented.

Shen Lin glanced at him, looked around, and walked into a farmer's house.

Then, he came out with an old farmer.

The old farmer led a donkey pulling a cart.

Shen Lin walked up to the swaying Sun Zhi, took out all the silver notes he was carrying, and casually handed one to the old farmer.

"One hundred taels of silver notes, is that enough?"

The old farmer's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Enough, enough, sir... you're too kind..."

Shen Lin smiled, took down the wolf demon's corpse that Sun Zhi was carrying, and threw it onto the donkey cart.

Then, he looked at the shaky, vacant-eyed Sun Zhi, threw him next to the wolf demon's corpse, and said to the old farmer, "Old man, follow me!"

Shen Lin, pulling his donkey cart, arrived at Old Master Bai's house and knocked on the front door.

With a creak, the door opened, and a charming woman revealed half her face. Her eyes flashed upon seeing Shen Lin, and she whispered, "Young Master Shen, you... you're back."

Shen Lin, surprised to see Qianqian opening the door instead of the usual servant, paused. He turned and said, "Old man, keep an eye on the cart for me. I'll be out shortly."

Then, he followed Qianqian into the courtyard.

"Captain Sun, he's..."

"He got a bit injured fighting that Wolf Demon. He'll be fine after proper treatment back at the yamen. Nothing serious."

"Oh dear, Captain Sun is injured? That Wolf Demon must be fierce. But..."

Qianqian's eyes flickered as she looked at Shen Lin shyly. "Young Master Shen isn't hurt at all. You're even more amazing."

Shen Lin chuckled at this. "I have many more amazing qualities. You'll see them soon enough."

"Oh my!"

Qianqian's face turned bright red, her tail wagging rapidly behind her. She whispered, "Father is in the backyard!" and then ran off.

She scurried back to her room and buried her head in her pillow.

"Qianqian! What's wrong?"

The elegant and dignified Fox Demon Shen Lin had met before entered, asking gently.

"Shen Lang... Shen Lang..."

Qianqian murmured, her body trembling uncontrollably. She suddenly tore off her clothes and transformed into a silver-white fox.

Her mouth hung slightly open, drool dripping down, her eyes bloodshot, as if she were desperately enduring something.

Seeing this, the old fox demon sighed. "It's happening again. Have you fallen for him?"

The silver-white fox nodded and spoke in human tongue.

"I really, really want to sleep with Shen Lang, to hold him tightly..."

"Tear him into pieces bit by bit, and swallow him."

"To make him one with me, forever and ever..."

"Never to be apart!"