How Long Has It Been Since You Brushed Your Teeth? Your Breath Stinks!

Beep... Beep...

Just as Lin Chen was heading to the school gate to wait for a ride, his phone suddenly vibrated. He opened it and saw a bank transfer notification.

"Fifteen thousand?"

Staring at the extra fifteen thousand in his account, a flicker of surprise crossed Lin Chen's face. In his past life, he couldn't earn that much in a whole year. Now he'd made it in a single night?

"Indeed, for an extraordinary being, money is the easiest thing to obtain," Lin Chen mused inwardly. In this life, the inheritance and compensation left behind by his parents' untimely death were enough for him to live comfortably.

So, unlike his past life, Lin Chen had little craving for wealth. This time, he would live differently—he wanted to see the scenery at the peak of the extraordinary.

As he passed the school gate, he suddenly spotted Shen Shiyuan under the shade of a tree, clearly waiting for Hu Xiaoling. Too bad Hu Xiaoling would never come. The fat guy's love had withered... never even got a chance to bloom!

Before a minute had passed at the school gate, a white sedan pulled up beside Lin Chen—the ride he'd booked.

"Senyuan Chicken Farm!"

The driver started driving and spoke up, "Hey, classmate, what are you going to a chicken farm for?"

"Suddenly got a craving for chicken."

At that, the driver's mouth twitched slightly. Craving chicken, so he goes to a chicken farm? Shouldn't he be heading to the market?

"If you want chicken, just hit the market. I've heard things have been rough around there lately," the driver added.

"Direct from the source, cut out the middleman's markup." Lin Chen glanced at the driver, then continued, "How do you know things are rough there?"

Lin Chen knew the Senyuan Chicken Farm had issues from browsing forums, but the driver clearly wasn't a cultivator—how did he know?

"I live nearby. Heard the farm's been losing chickens lately, dozens or even hundreds at a time. No one knows what's going on." The driver paused briefly, then sighed, "Some say the farm owner pissed someone off and got sabotaged. Others say it's a weasel spirit showing itself. All kinds of theories."

"And what do you think?" Lin Chen looked at the driver.

"How would I know? But all this talk of gods and ghosts—what era is this? Gotta trust science." The driver shrugged, then added, "My guess is a thief using some high-tech gadget to rob the place."

If Lin Chen hadn't seen Mutated Creatures and the mutated Hu Xiaoling with his own eyes, he'd probably think the same as the driver. But knowing how bizarre Mutated Creatures could be, he understood anything was possible.

The driver was a talkative sort, and they chatted idly until they reached the Senyuan Chicken Farm. Lin Chen got out and headed straight for the farm.

"Nobody here?"

After ringing the doorbell for a while with no response, Lin Chen pushed off the ground with force, vaulted over the wall, and entered the farm.

"Something's wrong."

Seeing the farm in complete disarray, Lin Chen's expression shifted. It was clearly the aftermath of some creature's attack.

If chickens were going missing, the farm would tighten security. But now it was this chaotic, with not a soul in sight—something had definitely happened.

Lin Chen quickly spotted a large hole in the farm's wall. The creature that attacked must have left through it. He immediately followed the trail.

As he tracked the traces, Lin Chen used his phone to inform Xu Fei about the situation at Senyuan Chicken Farm. Killing a Mutated Creature was fine, but with people possibly dead, the Demon Suppression Division had to be notified.

"I'll be there right away. Be careful yourself. If you can't handle it, don't force it!"

At the Demon Suppression Division, Xu Fei put down his phone with a grave expression. He'd just gotten back from Qingzhou University, and now he had another mission. What surprised him was that Lin Chen had taken on the bounty so quickly, without even scouting or investigating first.

Just as Xu Fei and Wang Lin were heading out, Lin Chen had already followed the trail to a forest a few hundred meters from the chicken farm.

Not long after entering the woods, a stench of blood hit him, accompanied by the sounds of a fierce fight.

"Is someone trying to steal my prey?"

Lin Chen's expression darkened. He'd spent seventy or eighty on a ride here, and now someone wanted to snatch the Mutated Creature? How could he let that happen?

With that thought, Lin Chen pushed off the ground and sprinted toward the source of the fighting. As he got closer, the stench grew stronger.

In the forest, a massive python was locked in battle with a tall, well-proportioned woman in a dark gray short-sleeved shirt. The woman was stunning—easily campus beauty material, the kind you couldn't forget at first glance.

"Let that snake go... pfft... let that girl go!"

Lin Chen shouted, but then noticed the woman was losing ground and quickly corrected himself.

The woman was visibly startled by Lin Chen's words, but the python showed no mercy. It lunged forward and slammed into her chest, sending her flying backward into a tree trunk.

Gritting her teeth, the woman stood up and yelled toward Lin Chen, "Get out of here! This is a Second-Order Mutated Beast—I can't beat it!"

A Second-Order Mutated Beast?

Lin Chen's eyes lit up. A Second-Order Mutated Beast's essence was definitely richer than a First-Order's. If he killed it, he might be able to strengthen himself again!

"Here I come, big prize!"

Lin Chen roared with excitement and charged straight at the python, leaving the woman nearby dumbfounded. Was this guy insane?

Rushing headlong at a Second-Order Mutated Beast to die?

The python didn't care who was coming. It lunged again, crashing straight into Lin Chen.

"Take this punch!"

Lin Chen leaped up and slammed his fist into the incoming snake head. The blow sent the python flying in a long arc before it crashed heavily to the ground.

"Who is he? That strong?"

The woman froze for a moment. A single punch had sent the python flying, leaving a clear dent in its head. His strength was beyond hers.

"Huh~"

Lin Chen let out a light exclamation as he watched the massive python slowly lift its head. "So it can actually block a punch backed by twenty years of my cultivation. Not bad for a Second-Order Mutated Beast. Looks like I'll have to get serious now!"

Before his words faded, Lin Chen tapped his foot and was about to charge at the python again. But at that moment, the python opened its massive maw wide and spat a cloud of dark green mist straight at him.

"Watch out—that mist is poisonous!"

Seeing this, the woman hurriedly called out a warning. She had suffered a hidden loss from that very poison mist during her earlier fight with the python.

Lin Chen activated the Blood Qi True Flame in his dantian. The so-called poison mist had no effect on him at all, but the thick, nauseating stench made him want to retch.

"The hell, how long has it been since you last brushed your teeth? Your breath is way too strong!"

Lin Chen threw a punch, and his fist, wrapped in Blood Qi True Flame, incinerated the surrounding poison mist on contact.

Swish~ Swish~

Just then, over a dozen small snakes burst out from the ground and lunged at Lin Chen. Clearly, the python had prepared other tricks while releasing the poison mist.

"All flash, no substance!"

Facing the incoming snakes, Lin Chen threw another punch. The Blood Qi True Flame touched the snakes, instantly reducing them to ash and making them vanish.

"Killed mutated venomous snake. Origin +100."

"Killed mutated venomous snake. Origin +100."

The system's kill notifications and the steadily climbing Origin points filled Lin Chen, who had been holding his breath, with delight. He fixed his burning gaze on the python and spoke eagerly, "Big treasure, got any more? Bring it on?"

Though these mutated venomous snakes didn't offer much Origin individually, their sheer numbers more than made up for it. In just this brief moment, Lin Chen had already harvested thirteen hundred Origin points.