When Li Bai drove the battered-looking but surprisingly well-maintained Santana 2000 back to the residential complex where his rental apartment was, night had already fallen and the streets were lit up.
When he got home and opened the door, just as he'd expected, the Demoness had lost track of time again while playing on the computer.
He'd been called to the Public Security Bureau first thing in the morning to give a statement, then lured away by the Yao Family for half a day. After returning from their smuggling warehouse, he'd wasted the entire day.
After dinner, Li Bai threw himself into cultivation.
The Maha Bolan Sutra and the Innate Exotic Treasure he'd unexpectedly obtained, the Chaos Green Lotus, were the two foundations of his cultivation, even more important than his martial arts techniques and magical arts.
His upper, middle, and lower dantians were independent of one another, yet interconnected.
With the Maha Bolan Sutra's verses empowering him, Spiritual Power slowly formed in the sea of consciousness in his upper dantian, then began to ripple faintly in a strange rhythm.
The vibrations traveled downward from the top, quickly reaching his middle and lower dantians.
The cracks across the surface of the solidified Spiritual Qi particle in his middle dantian widened further. Spiritual Qi drawn from the Spirit Crystal surged against the hard mass like a rising tide.
With both forces working together, the solidified Spiritual Qi began to loosen bit by bit, dispersing into a gaseous state and joining the process of washing over the mass.
In his lower dantian, it was like a steady spring rain. Countless tiny droplets appeared out of nowhere, then pattered down.
The dense mist of True Qi continued to condense into liquid Gang Qi, eventually gathering into a small pool. Under the influence of the strange vibrations from his upper dantian, it slowly flowed into the eight extraordinary meridians, naturally forming the distinctive pulse of the martial arts technique Canglang Jue.
Even without the Chaos Green Lotus's help in prying open the Heaven and Earth Rules, Li Bai's Spiritual Power, Spiritual Qi, and Gang Qi spontaneously formed a unique connection. The Maha Bolan Sutra alone proved no less effective than the Chaos Green Lotus. With the verses empowering him, all three dantians entered a state of cultivation at once.
His cultivation progressed as slowly as a trickle, far from restoring his former strength. But to be able to cultivate at all in this world, where Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had all but dried up, was already a rare blessing.
At the desk, Qingyao Demoness's tail swished at lightning speed as her fingers tapped out a crisp, continuous patter on the keyboard, like rain beating down on plantain leaves. Lines of text appeared in the forum's post editor. She clicked Submit, and the post was sent out in a flash.
Another inflammatory call to battle had gone up, but there were hardly any responses.
The Huxi City forum "17th Floor" had been mercilessly flooded by "Li Bai's Demoness" for three days and three nights. One account had challenged countless netizens, fighting alone without losing ground. Unable to withstand her relentless, sleepless, and utterly deranged fighting spirit, the users of "17th Floor" had all admitted defeat.
If you can't beat them, can't you at least avoid them?
As a result, a bizarre scene had emerged on the forum. "Li Bai's Demoness" had become a household name there. Everyone on "17th Floor" knew of the terrifyingly combative maniac—or perhaps lunatic.
Although some people continued to fan the flames in secret, they couldn't overcome the growing fatigue caused by "Li Bai's Demoness"'s shamelessly excessive attention-seeking. On top of that, the topic at the heart of it all was Yao Bing, the murderer and rich second-generation heir. As time passed, the arguments over whether the psychologist Li Bai had spoken up for money, sold his conscience, or acted as a rich man's lackey had to die down.
What's more, not long ago, a group had gone to the Seventh People's Hospital to teach the "unscrupulous" doctor a lesson. But things had gone badly from the start: they'd hit the wrong target and been wiped out. It poured cold water on all the do-gooders. Talking big online whenever they pleased was one thing; trying to take real action was another.
Many netizens posted outrageous remarks online. But wasn't that, for the government, a kind of manageable outlet? Once people had vented their negative feelings and frustrations, at least they wouldn't have to dwell on what upset them for a while.
In a society governed by law, anyone who really believed they could do whatever they wanted would be finished not long after stepping out the door. Yeah—finished!
You had to believe that a government born of revolution was absolutely the most experienced at this.
Just as the Demoness was pouting over how lonely it was at the top, a boulder dropped into the "17th Floor" forum.
"Police Raid No. 69, Zijing Villa, West City; Take Yao Donghu, General Manager of Dongling Auto Company, Into Custody."
"Yao Bing's Murder Case Has Yet to Die Down, and Now His Father Is in Trouble."
Like mushrooms after rain, one report after another about the police taking Yao Bing's father into custody sprang up. The details were much the same, but news about Dongling Auto Company's involvement in smuggling still hadn't come to light.
Yao Donghu had never imagined that the police would completely clean out the smuggling warehouse in the outskirts of Beilun City. He'd even forgotten that he'd ordered Li Bai kidnapped. Events had spiraled out of control so quickly that he was caught completely unprepared. Before he could even arrange a few loose ends, the police had already rung the doorbell with an arrest warrant in hand. Everything he'd done up to that point had been in vain.
Father and son were questioned by the police one after another, and public attention on the Yao Family surged again after briefly declining.
Many netizens excitedly spread the news. Good and evil would each meet their due in time, and the law's net let nothing slip through. Yao Bing's father had used underhanded methods to protect his son, only to get himself arrested. It probably wouldn't be long before Yao Bing faced the full force of the law as well.
"Li Bai's Demoness: My Young Master made one move, and the Yao Family immediately fell! You bunch of blind fools!"
A particularly eye-catching post suddenly appeared. Qingyao Demoness, who loved stirring up trouble even when there was none, had finally found an opening to cause a scene.
This was too much to take! The users of "17th Floor" had never seen anyone so shameless.
If "Li Bai's Demoness" had previously been a die-hard defender with an outrageous fighting spirit, now she'd become a shameless glory-hog.
How thick-skinned did someone have to be to claim credit for someone else's work?
For the Demoness, nothing was off-limits. She only cared about having fun, and didn't give a damn what other people thought. Having so many people around to joke with was a real blast.
If Great Demon Li knew how the Demoness had been behaving these past few days, stirring up so much trouble online, he'd grab her by the tail and toss her into a pot to stew.
After ending his deep meditation to cultivate the Maha Bolan Sutra, Li Bai opened his eyes again. Daylight had already returned.
Ever since coming back from the other world, his bed had become nothing more than decoration. He always cultivated, undisturbed, while sitting on the sofa or a chair, hoping to recover his former peak strength from the other world as soon as possible.
As usual, he rinsed the rice and put it on to cook. He took a few frozen steamed rolls from the freezer and put them in the steamer above the pot.
Living alone, he kept things simple. Even now that he had a Demoness who ate without lifting a finger, all he had to do was add another scoop of rice and a few more buns.
The pot lid rattled as steam rose from the burner at full blast. Li Bai's phone rang.
He'd long since changed the ringtone. It was no longer the ending theme of Little Dragon Person, "I Am A Little Green Dragon." He'd replaced it with an ordinary, pleasant chime.
The Demoness's morning bite was already unforgettable enough. If he had to hear that ringtone too, he'd probably end up with a psychological scar.
The caller ID showed his direct supervisor. Li Bai didn't dare be careless and answered respectfully.
"Hello, Dean Zhou!"
"Have you been going out lately? Everything all right?"
"I've been out. Everything's fine!"
The dean was clearly concerned about his subordinate. After giving him paid leave, he'd still called to check that Li Bai was safe. Li Bai was very grateful.
"Do you have any plans lately?"
"Oh, no, nothing planned. Is something wrong?"
Li Bai could tell Dean Zhou hadn't called just to check on him.
"I happen to have a house call that needs someone to make a diagnosis. Since you're free right now, go in my place. If you need anything, I'll arrange to have someone bring it to you."
Just as Li Bai had suspected, Dean Zhou had work for him.
He was staying home anyway, and still getting paid. A house call suited him perfectly.
"All right. I don't need anything just yet. I'll see how things look first." Li Bai agreed without hesitation and took down the contact number and address for the visit.
After hanging up, he dialed the number Dean Zhou had given him.
Before you continue