"You've got some talent, kid. That useless rat may have made no progress in four years, but he was still a Night Wanderer Envoy. You actually managed to survive after grievously wounding him. You really are the martial arts prodigy I had my eye on."
Meng Jianmin patted Lu Siye on the shoulder and burst out laughing, genuinely delighted that he'd discovered a genius.
"Just lucky! I just got lucky!" Lu Siye's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed from those two pats.
Jeez, that strength is even more ridiculous than mine.
As expected of the man in charge of Tianhai City's West District. His strength was truly terrifying.
"By the way, kid, do you want to join the Metal Unit?" Meng Jianmin asked, looking at him seriously.
"What benefits would I get if I joined the Metal Unit?" Lu Siye asked after a moment's thought.
"Night Patrol Envoys receive a fixed 300 points each month. The reward for every ghost they kill is increased by 50%. How does that sound?" Meng Jianmin offered him an extremely tempting deal.
"Those benefits are great. There must be a catch, right?" Lu Siye fell silent for a moment. He firmly believed there was no such thing as a free lunch.
"Night Patrol Envoys have to patrol the West District after dark and take on all kinds of assignments from the Town Demon Suppression Division. Aside from that, you're actually pretty free." Meng Jianmin scratched his head. Good benefits naturally came with heavy responsibilities.
"Then I'll pass. I prefer having a little more freedom." Lu Siye looked troubled as he turned down Meng Jianmin's offer.
His greatest trump card was the system, and the way it obtained Fear Points meant that he'd act quite differently from everyone else when exorcising ghosts. He might even be mistaken for a pervert.
Compared to points and money—mere worldly possessions—he'd rather preserve his good name.
"That's a shame!" Meng Jianmin said regretfully. Then he asked, "By the way, you should be close to igniting your Yang Fire, right?"
"That's right!" Lu Siye nodded.
"Good. I'll activate your Night Wanderer Envoy permissions first. Exchange for more Blood Replenishment Pills in the Town Demon Suppression Mall, and try to become a Night Wanderer Envoy within the month."
As he spoke, Meng Jianmin took out his phone and upgraded Lu Siye's permissions.
Lu Siye looked at the iron-tower of a man in puzzlement. For some reason, he sensed an inexplicable urgency in Meng Jianmin's words.
"Is something big about to happen?" After hesitating a moment, Lu Siye decided to ask directly.
Meng Jianmin paused, then stared at Lu Siye for a while before sighing. "The higher-ups won't let us reveal anything. All I can say is that, most likely sometime this month, the world is going to undergo a major upheaval."
Seeing that Lu Siye wanted to keep asking, Meng Jianmin hurriedly cut him off.
"Just focus on your cultivation and try to become a Night Wanderer Envoy as soon as possible." With that, he grabbed Black Abyss by the arm and shot away in a streak of golden light.
Wang Wenjing had said before that the time wasn't right, and now Brother Meng was saying there'd be a major upheaval. Could the two things be connected?
Watching the golden light disappear beyond the horizon, Lu Siye rubbed his chin and wondered.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed!
Still, if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up. For now, his main priority was to get stronger.
Lu Siye took out his phone and opened the Town Watch APP. As expected, he had a notification that his permissions had been upgraded.
He resubmitted the information about the Twin Ghost Infants, which had failed to go through earlier, then went over to Zhuang Xiaoman.
During the earlier fight, Black Abyss hadn't bothered with her, an ordinary person. And since Lu Siye had deliberately kept the battle away from her, she hadn't been caught in the crossfire.
After they waited in place for more than ten minutes, a patrol vehicle arrived from the distance and pulled up beside them. Several support staff got out.
Lu Siye handed them the longevity lock and Zhuang Xiaoman. Taking care of ordinary people caught up in supernatural incidents was part of their responsibility, too.
Then Lu Siye used Lingbo Microstep, ran up a wall, and leaped onto the roof of a low-rise building before heading toward Tongjiang Residential Complex.
A few minutes later, Lu Siye climbed in through his apartment balcony. He glanced toward the bedroom, then dropped onto the sofa.
With a thought, he opened the system panel.
Host: Lu Siye Fear Points: 2964 Cultivation Power: 170 (60) years (External: 155 years; Internal: 15 years) Martial Arts Techniques: "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill," Third Level; "Body Tempering Art"; "Five Tiger Soul Severing Blade Technique," Proficient; "Northern Darkness Divine Art," Beginner; "Lingbo Microstep," Beginner Special Items: Evil-Exorcising Fruit Knife; Blazing Blood Blade +1; "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill"; "Five Tiger Soul Severing Blade Technique"; "Northern Darkness Divine Art - Volume 1"; "Lingbo Microstep - First Volume"
Looking at the line for Cultivation Power, Lu Siye felt like crying. He'd originally had 170 years of Cultivation Power, but the battle had taken such a heavy toll on his vital energy that he could now bring out only about a third of his strength.
The Northern Darkness internal energy in his Dantian had also been depleted considerably. Judging by how it felt, more than half of it was gone.
And because saving people had been urgent, he hadn't properly squeezed the Fear Points out of the Twin Ghost Infants, which produced twice as much as normal. He'd only managed to get a little over a thousand points from them.
Tonight had been a massive loss.
The only good news was that he'd proved he could take on a Night Wanderer Envoy head-on at his peak—and even grievously wound one.
With a heavy heart, he closed the system panel, cleaned up the trash on the floor, and began cultivating.
The pill Meng Jianmin had given him was still continuously supplying him with vital energy. It was providing it even faster than his body could passively refine it.
The excess vital energy that he hadn't yet refined was automatically stored in his blood.
Once he focused his mind and entered a state of cultivation, he refined the energy much faster, and his depleted reserves began to recover rapidly.
About an hour later, Lu Siye opened his eyes again. The pill's medicinal power had been completely used up, and his vital energy had recovered to roughly two-thirds of its peak.
"What a great pill! If I'd had one of these earlier, I could've kept that damn Star Lord from getting away." Lu Siye sighed again, feeling a little regretful.
"I wonder what this kind of pill is called. Can I exchange for it in the Town Demon Suppression Mall?" Lu Siye couldn't help wondering.
He took out his phone, opened the Town Watch APP, and checked his information.
Name: Lu Siye Identity: Ordinary Member of the Town Demon Suppression Division, Tianhai City Strength: Half-Step Night Wanderer Envoy Battle Record: Grievously wounded the Netherworld Star Lord Points: 870
"When did I get so many points?" Lu Siye was baffled. He remembered having only a little over two hundred before.
He tapped the points details and finally understood why he had so many.
His previous balance had been 240 points. Then the Mirror Ghost next door had yielded 56 points; the falling ghost in Jucai District had yielded 74; and the Twin Ghost Infants counted as two ghosts, giving him 140 points.
But those were only a small part of the total. The biggest reward was the 360 points he'd received for grievously wounding the Netherworld Star Lord.
He exited the information page and opened the mall.
Lu Siye searched for the Blood Replenishment Pills Meng Jianmin had mentioned and checked the price: 10 points each.
He tapped one to see the picture. The pill was black, unlike the one Meng Jianmin had given him earlier.
He scrolled down and finally found a pill that looked exactly the same.
Blood Spirit Pill: Refined from various rare medicinal ingredients. Its medicinal properties are mild, and it can replenish a large amount of vital energy for martial artists. Can be used in battle.
Price: 300 points
"Yikes!" Lu Siye sucked in a sharp breath. The steep price immediately put him off.
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