Demon Suppression Division? Cultivator Forum!

"You're Lin Chen?" The square-face man looked at Lin Chen.

"That's right..."

Before Lin Chen could finish, the square-face man suddenly struck, a palm shooting toward Lin Chen's chest. Lin Chen instinctively swung his fist to meet it.

Boom~

Fist and palm collided, a muffled blast erupting. Lin Chen and the square-face man both stood unmoving.

"You're not an Awakened—you're a Cultivator!" The square-face man and the young man beside him spoke almost simultaneously.

Awakened?

Cultivator?

"Demon Suppression Division, an official organization." The square-face man looked at Lin Chen, his expression calm. "Lin Chen, let's go inside and talk."

So they really were from the government.

Lin Chen wasn't too surprised. When two people who were clearly not ordinary suddenly showed up looking for him, the most likely explanation was that they were officials. He just hadn't expected them to test him with a strike right off the bat.

Lin Chen was thinking about how to track down those Mutated Creatures. As an official organization, their understanding of Mutated Creatures had to surpass his own, so he could definitely get some useful information.

"Please, come in."

"Let me introduce myself. Demon Suppression Division, Wang Lin." Once they sat down, the square-face man began. "This is my colleague, Xu Fei."

"Hello to you both. You're looking for me..." Lin Chen gave a slight nod.

"You killed Hu Xiaoling, didn't you?" Wang Lin suddenly looked at Lin Chen with a serious expression.

Feeling Wang Lin's gaze, Lin Chen's expression shifted slightly, then he nodded. "That's right, but she was already parasitized and mutated. She wasn't even human anymore."

"We're aware of that. We checked the surveillance footage and know what happened to Hu Xiaoling." Wang Lin gave a slight nod, satisfied with Lin Chen's response.

When faced with his questioning, Lin Chen's first thought was to explain himself, which showed that Lin Chen still had some respect for the authorities.

With respect, he'd be easier to manage.

"To kill Hu Xiaoling and leave no trace, you're at least a second-stage Cultivator. We originally thought you were just a lucky Awakened." Wang Lin looked at Lin Chen with a complicated expression.

Hearing those two terms again, Lin Chen directly asked the question on his mind. "What's an Awakened? And what's a Cultivator?"

"Your elders never mentioned it?" Xu Fei looked at Lin Chen with some surprise.

"No."

Lin Chen shook his head. He didn't have any damn elders. In this life and the last, he was alone. Still, he understood what Xu Fei meant—he was suspecting Lin Chen had a powerful backer.

Lin Chen didn't deny that. The system counted, right?

"About a hundred years ago, Time Slots started appearing around the world. A Time Slot is a Space-Time Rift. Where it appears and how long it lasts are both uncertain."

"When a Time Slot appears, special energy surges out. If a living being can withstand that energy, it mutates. Humans who do this are called Awakened."

"Awakened have physical abilities far beyond ordinary people and gain the foundation for cultivation. If they obtain a cultivation method, they can go further and become Cultivators."

So that's it.

Listening to Wang Lin's explanation, Lin Chen understood. Awakened were just those with the foundation for cultivation, while Cultivators were those who had truly embarked on the path of training.

"So a Time Slot appeared at Qingzhou University last night?" Lin Chen looked at Wang Lin.

"That's right. A Time Slot appeared last night, and we came to handle it immediately, but there were still some casualties. In Hu Xiaoling's dorm, two classmates were eaten by her." Wang Lin let out a soft sigh.

A Time Slot appeared, and an Awakened popped up at the same time. No wonder Wang Lin and the other had initially guessed he was an Awakened. It wasn't until they tested him that they confirmed he was a Cultivator.

"Looks like that extra thousand points of Source must be related to the Time Slot." Lin Chen couldn't help recalling the extra thousand Source the system had given him.

"How many people successfully Awaken from a Time Slot?" Lin Chen asked curiously.

"If you can withstand the surge of that energy, you Awaken. The higher your intelligence, the harder it is to Awaken. The mutation rate for ordinary creatures is about one in ten. For humans, the Awakening rate is about one in a thousand."

Lin Chen's mouth twitched. No wonder the original body had died. One in a thousand—that was ridiculously low.

"We came here to confirm your identity. Since you haven't registered yet, we need to record your information and upload it to the Demon Suppression Division."

"Also, there's one more thing... We must solemnly warn you." Wang Lin suddenly looked at Lin Chen with a grave expression.

"The Demon Suppression Division doesn't just suppress Mutated Creatures. It also deals with human heretics, evil cults, and even Cultivator criminals."

Lin Chen gave a slight nod, understanding. Official constraints were inevitable. Otherwise, the world would have already fallen into chaos.

"Classmate Lin, you haven't joined the Cultivator Forum yet, have you?" Xu Fei suddenly looked at Lin Chen.

"Cultivator Forum?" Lin Chen shook his head slightly. He had only Awakened last night and become a Cultivator this morning. Wang Lin and Xu Fei were the first Cultivators he'd ever met. How would he know about any Cultivator Forum?

"Add me as a friend. I'll recommend the Cultivator Forum to you. Download the app and you can log in directly. The forum has official backing." Xu Fei looked at Lin Chen and continued, "You'll understand the forum's situation once you check it out yourself."

Lin Chen nodded slightly, added Xu Fei as a friend, and soon received the recommended app. He downloaded and installed it right away.

"Lin Chen, the rewards for killing the Mutated Rat and Hu Xiaoling will be deposited directly into your card." Wang Lin looked at Lin Chen.

"There are rewards?" Lin Chen looked surprised.

Seeing this, Xu Fei smiled and explained, "Of course. Sometimes when we can't handle everything, we post missions on the forum too. They all come with rewards."

Lin Chen's eyes lit up. Killing Mutated Creatures not only gave him Source to strengthen himself but also earned him money. Wasn't that killing two birds with one stone?

At this moment, Lin Chen seemed to see a wonderful new life waving at him!

"We've troubled you. If there are no other questions, we'll take our leave."

After Wang Lin finished speaking, he led Xu Fei out of the dormitory.

"I didn't expect the authorities to be so easy to deal with!"

After Wang Lin and the others left, Lin Chen couldn't help but sigh in admiration. But on second thought, it wasn't surprising. Nearly a hundred years had passed since the Time Slot appeared. With such a long time, even if the awakening probability was only one in a thousand, the number of cultivators wouldn't be small.

A well-established system for managing awakened individuals and cultivators had long been in place.

Once the forum was downloaded, Lin Chen immediately opened it and logged in. He briefly browsed through it, gaining a general understanding of the entire forum.

This was an official platform set up for cultivators to communicate. Besides cultivation discussions, there were also resource trades and bounty missions.

Lin Chen didn't need cultivation discussions—he could just directly strengthen himself. As for cultivation resources, killing Mutated Creatures would suffice. So he went straight to browsing the bounty mission section.

However, Lin Chen could only browse second-tier bounty missions for now. This was likely related to his rating, since Wang Lin had mentioned earlier that he was at least a second-tier cultivator.

"Senyuan Chicken Farm: A large number of chickens have mysteriously disappeared. Suspected Mutated Creature activity."

You're it!

Lin Chen glanced at the mission and directly chose to accept it. Then he called a ride-hailing car, preparing to head to Senyuan Chicken Farm.