The Old Clerk in the Storeroom

Lu Chen's eyes blazed with sharp light as he prepared to push forward in one go and refine the remaining pill as well.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A violent pounding on the door interrupted his cultivation.

"Lu Chen! Open up! Foreman Wang has work!"

Lu Chen frowned slightly, carefully stowed the pill away, dispersed the blood energy coursing through his body, and resumed his usual slightly frail appearance. Only then did he unhurriedly draw back the door bolt.

Outside, several Warriors pushed a handcart piled high with corpses, their faces twisted with disgust.

On the cart, more than a dozen demon beast carcasses lay stacked haphazardly—a low-rank demon resembling a vicious wolf, its bones exposed all over its body, reeking of decay and chaotic Killing Intent: the Rotten Bone Demon Wolf.

"Foreman Wang's orders!" One of the Warriors pinched his nose and slapped a task slip into Lu Chen's hand. "The marrow in these wolf bones is somewhat useful, but extracting it is troublesome and disgusting. It's yours. Finish it all within two days!"

With that, they shoved the foul-smelling cart into the Corpse Handling Room and fled as if escaping.

Lu Chen looked at the mountain of heavy work before him, voiced no complaint, and silently closed the door.

The Rotten Bone Demon Wolf was the most common low-rank demon encountered by the Demon Suppression Division's patrol squads—plentiful in number, low in value, but its corpse was thick with impure Killing Intent, making processing extremely tedious and exhausting. It was the worst chore any Corpse Handler could draw.

Foreman Wang was treating him like a tireless beast of burden, ruthlessly squeezing every bit of value out of him.

Lu Chen picked up his tools and began the monotonous, high-intensity repetitive labor.

One. Two. Three.

His movements were mechanical yet precise, without a single wasted motion.

Yet amid this seemingly mind-numbing work, Lu Chen never let his focus slacken.

He deliberately treated every demon wolf corpse as a practice target.

While moving the bodies through the cramped Corpse Handling Room, he wove the essence of the Body Evasion Steps into his motions, training himself to dodge and shift within a confined space without colliding with any obstacles, honing his fine control over his body.

Carefully, he drew a wisp of his meager Turtle Breath Qi from his dantian and slowly attached it to the special iron spike in his hand.

At first, the Qi scattered the moment it left his body, unable to adhere at all.

But Lu Chen persisted, trying again and again.

Finally, after failing over a hundred times, he managed to make a faint, barely perceptible strand of Qi linger on the tip of the spike for the briefest instant.

And in that instant, when the spike pierced the demon wolf's hard bone, he clearly felt the resistance lessen by a noticeable margin!

The efficiency of marrow extraction also improved by a hair.

This discovery filled Lu Chen's heart with elation.

He threw himself into the tedious work with tireless enthusiasm.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

His control over Turtle Breath Qi went from clumsy and difficult at the start to gradually smooth and practiced.

His Body Evasion Steps, through countless rounds of carrying and dodging, became more fluid and natural.

And his Demon Devil Lifespan accumulated bit by bit, contributed by each demon wolf he processed.

[Processed Rotten Bone Demon Wolf. Gained 8 months of Demon Devil Lifespan.]

[Processed Rotten Bone Demon Wolf. Gained 11 months of Demon Devil Lifespan.]

[Processed Rotten Bone Demon Wolf. Gained 6 months of Demon Devil Lifespan.]

Two days later, when Lu Chen finished the last demon wolf, he was nearly collapsing from exhaustion—pale-faced, eyes bloodshot.

Seven parts of it were genuine fatigue; three parts were deliberate pretense.

Foreman Wang arrived right on time, strolling over to inspect the results.

He looked at the rows of neatly arranged jars, all filled with purified demon wolf marrow. He casually opened one, saw the marrow's pure color without a trace of impurity, and noted the astonishingly high extraction rate.

"Mm... not bad, not bad!" Foreman Wang's face once again wore that greedy, satisfied smile. "You really are a good hand at this kind of rough, dirty work."

He patted Lu Chen on the shoulder and launched into another round of hollow praise and empty promises.

"Keep it up. Once this batch of materials is sold and the money comes in, your reward won't be small!"

Lu Chen kept his head lowered, putting on a look of tearful gratitude and willing submission, while silently tallying his gains in his mind.

His strength was steadily improving.

His lifespan was accumulating in a steady stream.

Foreman Wang's exploitation had, for him, become a kind of twisted gift.

"Clerk Chen, the Rotten Bone Demon Wolf marrow has been delivered." Lu Chen set the heavy jar gently on the ground, his voice low but enough to rouse the old clerk from his doze.

The man called Clerk Chen still lay slumped over the counter, dozing with half-closed eyes. On the small table beside him, a pot of cheap, murky wine gave off a sour, pungent smell.

After a moment, his eyelids twitched, and he reluctantly cracked them open. His bleary eyes swept over Lu Chen, then glanced at the dozen or so clay jars on the floor. He waved a hand impatiently. "Leave them there. You know the drill—log it yourself."

"Yes."

Lu Chen picked up the brush beside him and, on the register, wrote his name and the material details with practiced ease.

This time, however, Clerk Chen did not immediately lie back down as usual. Instead, he rose slowly, walked over to the pile of clay jars, and picked one up at random.

He pulled out the wooden stopper, brought it to his nose for a sniff, then tipped a little out onto his fingertip and rubbed it.

The next moment, a rare flicker of surprise passed through his murky eyes.

The quality of this bone marrow far exceeded his expectations.

Not only was its purity extremely high, but the faint trace of Demonic Power contained within it had also been preserved remarkably intact—this was not something that could be achieved through brute force alone.

Clerk Chen lifted his head, his clouded gaze settling back on Lu Chen as he scrutinized him carefully.

He saw the barely concealed exhaustion on Lu Chen's face, and he also saw those eyes—bloodshot, yet still as calm as a deep, still pool of water.

This kid... he seems different from the other restless, greedy, and foolish Corpse Handlers in the bureau.

Clerk Chen was silent for a moment. Just as Lu Chen finished his registration and was about to bow and take his leave, he suddenly spoke in a voice so low only the two of them could hear:

"Three Inches Behind the Demon Wolf's Neck, there is a section of Crisp Bone, slightly bluish in color, containing a trace of Moon Essence within. When extracting it, do not use brute force. Strike it with a gentle, vibrating force to keep it intact—its medicinal efficacy will be far better."

Lu Chen's body went rigid. The hand holding his brush paused for an instant.

He snapped his head up, staring at Clerk Chen with shock in his eyes.

But Clerk Chen acted as if he had merely muttered something trivial. He waved a hand, turned back to the counter, picked up his wine flask again, and said no more.

Lu Chen stood there, stunned for a moment. Then, facing Clerk Chen's retreating back, he bowed deeply.

"Thank you for your guidance, Clerk Chen."