Seeing that Brother Li and the others could think of only the Demon Suppression Division, Lin Chen's face darkened. "Tell me, is it possible that I was the one who killed Silly Biao?"
"You?"
Brother Li froze, then burst into laughter. "You killed Silly Biao? You little pretty boy—you'd be better off helping him put out a fire. And you think you could kill him?"
"Ha! Ha!"
At that, all the ghosts in the tavern burst into laughter. Clearly, they shared Brother Li's opinion. With Lin Chen looking like that, he might be able to put out a fire, but kill a ghost?
Not even ghosts would believe it!
"Why is it that whenever I tell the truth, no one... no ghost believes me?" Seeing this, Lin Chen couldn't help but sigh softly.
Brother Chun immediately stepped forward, his face wreathed in smiles. "Master, they're short-sighted and can't recognize a true god."
"Forget it. You're all going to die anyway. It's all the same!"
Lin Chen waved a hand. With a thought, he activated his Blood Qi True Flame. In an instant, the entire tavern seemed to be enveloped by the sun, and every ghost present began to feel terribly uncomfortable.
"You..."
"This is..."
Brother Li's expression darkened. He barked, "Xiao Chun, you've got some nerve! You actually betrayed me and brought a cultivator here!"
"Who betrayed you? I've always been Master's ghost, all right?" Brother Chun curled his lip, then continued, "Who told you to be stupid enough to believe a ghost's words?"
"I..."
Brother Li flew into a rage. Ghostly energy surged around him, and he roared, "Attack! Kill them!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At Brother Li's shout, the ghosts immediately charged at Lin Chen, seeming to think that their numbers would let them tear him to pieces.
"Die!"
Lin Chen poured all his strength into his Blood Qi True Flame and charged straight into the ghost horde. Any ghost he touched instantly turned to ash and vanished, without even having time to scream.
"Scarface, you're up!"
Seeing this, Brother Li's expression shifted. He immediately ordered Scarface to attack. As for himself, he fled toward the tavern's exit at top speed, taking two female ghosts with him.
Lin Chen's strength was at least Fourth Order, and he might even be Fifth Order. They stood no chance against him. For now, saving their own lives was what mattered most.
"Trying to run? You think you can get away?"
Seeing Brother Li try to flee, Lin Chen sped up his killing. In the blink of an eye, he had reached Brother Li.
"Take this!"
Seeing this, Brother Li's expression changed. He tossed the two female ghosts in his arms toward Lin Chen.
"Master, spare us!"
"We're willing to serve you!"
The two female ghosts hadn't expected Brother Li to abandon them, much less use them to hold Lin Chen back. Seeing Lin Chen coming for them, they hurriedly begged for mercy.
Thud! Thud!
With two dull impacts, the female ghosts turned to ash, and Lin Chen appeared before Brother Li once more.
Lin Chen looked at Brother Li with a half-smile. "Go on, run. Why'd you stop?"
"Master, spare me! I'm willing to submit to you," Brother Li hurriedly pleaded. "If Xiao Chun can do it, so can I. And I'm stronger than him, so I'll be more useful!"
"Damn..."
Hearing this from nearby, Brother Chun's face changed. Brother Li was trying to steal his position! The key was that he couldn't even refute him, because Brother Li was telling the truth.
Brother Li was a Third-order Ghost, while Brother Chun was only a Second-order Ghost!
"Master..."
Brother Chun looked at Lin Chen pitifully. He knew his life and death were in the other man's hands.
"What did you just say? I didn't hear you. Say it again," Lin Chen said to Brother Li.
"Master..." Brother Li hurriedly began.
"Your voice was too loud. You startled me!"
Lin Chen's fist came down. Under Brother Li's stunned, disbelieving gaze, his body exploded, then turned to ash and vanished.
Lin Chen looked at Brother Chun, his expression full of feeling. "That guy could've just said what he had to say. Why did he have to shout so loudly? He startled me so badly my hand shook. In the end, he was the one who paid for it."
"Master is right. He brought it on himself," Brother Chun said, nodding repeatedly. He felt a wave of relief in his heart. Lin Chen had killed Brother Li, which meant he was safe for the time being.
Lin Chen looked at Brother Chun and said calmly, "You don't need to butter me up. Don't forget the bosses in the other districts!"
"Don't worry, Master. I'll find a way to bring them out right away," Brother Chun promised hurriedly.
"That's enough for today. Contact me if you find anything." Lin Chen glanced at Brother Chun and said slowly, "I trust you won't run away, right?"
"Of course not!" Brother Chun shook his head quickly. He had seen Lin Chen's strength for himself. If he dared to run, his fate would be miserable.
Rather than thinking about running, he might as well sincerely work for Lin Chen. This backer was far better than any boss.
"Good!"
Lin Chen smiled faintly and looked at Brother Chun. "So far, no ghost has ever escaped me. If you run, I promise your afterlife will be very interesting."
Gulp!
Hearing that, Brother Chun swallowed. He had no doubt at all that Lin Chen had the strength and means to make good on that promise!
With all the ghosts killed by Lin Chen, the tavern no longer had ghostly energy sustaining it. It began to return to its original form: a dilapidated tile-roofed house.
After leaving Brother Chun a phone number, Lin Chen drove toward the city. On the way, he checked his system panel.
Origin: .
In addition to the seven thousand Origin points he had left before, Brother Li and his group had provided a total of thirty-eight thousand. That was less than what Silly Biao's group had given him.
But Silly Biao had dared to come into the city to negotiate because he was relying on superior numbers. In terms of headcount and influence, the city's bosses were actually weaker. They were simply better at joining forces, while Silly Biao had relied on brute force alone.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen chose to strengthen his abilities. The first levels of the Phoenix Undying Body and Dragon Roar Iron Shirt were both strengthened to their limits. The Blood Qi True Flame and Blood Qi True Dragon inside him seemed almost tangible, and his physical strength rose once more. With his current strength, he could easily kill Fifth- or Sixth-order beasts using nothing but his body!
"Keep strengthening the Phoenix Undying Body!"
With fifteen thousand Origin points left, Lin Chen chose to strengthen the Phoenix Undying Body. After all, it was currently his main way of killing enemies. The Blood Qi True Flame worked wonders against both ghosts and beasts.
By comparison, the Blood Qi True Dragon was somewhat inferior in that respect, while the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt leaned more toward defense and strength.
"What's going on?" Lin Chen's expression suddenly changed. After choosing to strengthen it again, he found that the Phoenix Undying Body was still at the First Level, and his Origin points hadn't changed at all.
"Strengthen the Phoenix Undying Body!"
Lin Chen tried strengthening it again, but the system panel still didn't change. Unwilling to give up, he tried strengthening the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt, but that didn't change either.
"Not enough Origin!"
In an instant, Lin Chen understood what was happening: he didn't have enough Origin. When he'd first obtained the Phoenix Undying Body, he'd tried to strengthen it and failed. The reason had been that he didn't have enough Origin.
Now his strengthening attempt had failed for the same obvious reason: he didn't have enough Origin!
"Does the Second Level need more than ten thousand Origin? Twenty thousand, or even more?" Lin Chen raised an eyebrow as a thought flashed through his mind.
Before you continue