Hidden Mission

Jiang Chen took the words to heart.

So he asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's your younger sister. You've spent more time with her than anyone since you were children. How could you not know what's wrong with her, and instead ask me?"

As Zhang Banxian spoke, he began preparing to meditate.

There was only one bed, and it was small.

As the junior, Jiang Chen had no reason to make his uncle-master sleep on the floor.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Chen asked, "Did she say anything during the day?"

Zhang Banxian was already sitting cross-legged. Hearing Jiang Chen's question, he replied, "During the day, your sister seemed to say that her school was holding a parent-teacher meeting soon. Midterms are coming up, after all."

At the mention of the parent-teacher meeting, Jiang Chen felt a pang of sadness.

Xiao Lan had been an orphan since childhood, so naturally, she had no parents.

Her only family was Jiang Chen.

But Jiang Chen was a student too.

He had classes during the day, and school let out late at night.

Whenever Xiao Lan's class held a parent-teacher meeting,

Jiang Chen had never been able to attend as her guardian.

As a result, the other children in her class were always calling her a child with no parents and no family.

Thinking about it, Jiang Chen made up his mind.

Then he asked, "Did Xiao Lan say when the parent-teacher meeting is this time?"

Zhang Banxian thought for a moment, then replied, "The day after tomorrow at four thirty in the afternoon."

The day after tomorrow at four thirty. This time, Jiang Chen decided he would be there no matter what.

He would let everyone in the class know that even if Xiao Lan had no parents, she still had the best big brother in the world.

Jiang Chen glanced at Zhang Banxian, who had already begun meditating, and said, "Why don't you sleep in my bed? I can put some chairs together in the living room and sleep there."

"No need. I spend most nights meditating."

Seeing how adamant Zhang Banxian was, Jiang Chen said no more.

He lay back down and gradually drifted off as he stared at the ceiling.

In his dream, Jiang Chen returned to his inner world.

He saw Omniscient standing alone atop a tall building.

He stood in the distance, facing the wind.

"What's so interesting about the distance?"

Jiang Chen asked curiously.

To him, the distance was just a blurry expanse, with no end in sight.

"I don't know. I just want to see it more clearly."

As Omniscient spoke, he sat down. A can of cola appeared in his hand at some point, and he tossed it to Jiang Chen. "Here!"

Looking at the cola in his hand, Jiang Chen couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd had any.

In this world, overrun by demons, simply staying alive was hard enough.

There was no way to get things like cola.

Jiang Chen opened the can and took a satisfied sip.

He savored it carefully, as if he were drinking celestial nectar.

"You're a strange one."

Omniscient glanced at Jiang Chen. "It's just a drink, yet you're treating it like something precious."

"It was my favorite drink in my previous life."

After finishing the can, Jiang Chen tossed it into the distance.

Then he asked, "Got any more?"

"The cola you drank wasn't real. It was just an illusion."

"What a shame!"

Jiang Chen felt a little disappointed. Something that delicious had turned out to be fake, merely conjured from thin air.

Still, he didn't dwell on it.

He asked, "Omniscient, you didn't call me here just to treat me to a can of cola, did you?"

"That's right."

"I have something else to discuss with you."

Omniscient stood not far from Jiang Chen and spoke.

"What is it?"

"It's about the Super S-Class Demonic Beast."

Omniscient got straight to the point. "Your soul power has recovered quite a bit, so I used some of it to look up information on this Super S-Class Demonic Beast."

"See if there's anything useful."

"Okay!"

As soon as Jiang Chen spoke, new memories appeared in his mind.

What he saw in those memories shocked him.

He saw many fully formed demons kneeling before a willow tree that had stood for who knew how many years.

The demons had all taken the form of women. They bowed respectfully to the black willow tree and called out, "Grandmother!"

Jiang Chen was astonished.

He hadn't expected a Super S-Class Demonic Beast to have so many S-Class Demonic Beasts under her command.

Wiping them all out would probably be very difficult.

But Jiang Chen didn't care much about whether it would be difficult.

People from Dragon Tiger Mountain would be arriving soon.

With Dragon Tiger Mountain there, what were demons even worth?

Seeing that Jiang Chen seemed completely unaware of the danger he faced,

and that he looked so calm, Omniscient assumed he had already thought of a solution.

So he didn't ask anything further.

He didn't draw any more soul power from Jiang Chen.

After all, what Jiang Chen would have to face was even more dangerous than before.

When it came to soul power, every bit he could save mattered.

At that moment, Jiang Chen's system quest refreshed.

Jiang Chen didn't say anything more.

He focused on reading the system quest.

Defeat the Super S-Class Demonic Beast and receive 100,000 Activation Points.

Special reward quest.

Jiang Chen looked at the quest. The task seemed quite interesting.

Thinking this, Jiang Chen said to Omniscient, "If there's nothing else, I'm heading out!"

Before Omniscient could answer,

Jiang Chen had already returned to the real world.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he checked the time.

It was just right for completing the system's special reward quest.

Jiang Chen got up. Seeing that Zhang Banxian had entered a meditative state, he decided not to disturb him.

He climbed out of bed, put on his shoes, and used Flash Step to leave through the window.

As soon as he left, Zhang Banxian slowly opened his tightly shut eyes.

Looking out at the dark night, he wondered, What is Uncle-Master Jiang going out to do so late?

I'll go take a look first.

He, too, left through the window after Jiang Chen.

At night, Jiang Chen traveled beneath the moon, using Flash Step all the way to the Ten Thousand Monster Forest.

This was a place ability users often visited.

For one thing, they could fight demons and improve their strength. For another, the monsters around the forest's outskirts were all low-level.

They weren't very dangerous.

And if they obtained magic crystals, they could sell them at a shop for a decent sum.

Before, Jiang Chen hadn't awakened his ability, so he had never been to a place like this.

Now that he had awakened his ability,

this was his first time visiting the Ten Thousand Monster Forest.

The system quest had just refreshed.

It said that collecting 100 magic crystals would earn him three chances to draw a prize.

Collecting 100 magic crystals wouldn't be difficult for Jiang Chen. What he cared about was the chance to draw prizes.

If he could draw a prize, he might get something unexpected.

He was looking forward to it.

First, he chose a relatively difficult area: the Level Three Monster Zone.

There was a forty percent chance that Level Three Monsters had magic crystals inside them.

That was a higher chance than with Level One or Level Two Monsters.

Jiang Chen wasn't considering Level Four Monsters for now.

That was because monsters at that level already had innate skills.

They would take too long to kill.

When he reached the Level Three Monster Zone,

Jiang Chen immediately drew his Zanpakuto and began cutting down monsters.

He was completely focused and didn't notice that Zhang Banxian had followed him.

Seeing Jiang Chen hunting monsters,

Zhang Banxian thought, Uncle-Master Jiang really works hard.

He's already so powerful, yet he's still getting up in the middle of the night to practice. I should learn from Uncle-Master Jiang too!

He didn't want to disturb Jiang Chen, so he planned to leave quietly and keep watch over him from a distance.

But just then, a piercing sound came from deep within the forest...