After finishing all this, he stood up and slapped the Hundred Refinements Saber, which he never let out of his sight, onto the table.
Clang!
A clear, ringing blade-song, like a peal of thunder, exploded through the deathly silent Corpse Handling Room!
That fierce saber intent instantly lowered the temperature of the entire room by several degrees!
Every corpse handler hiding in the shadows felt as though an invisible blade had been laid against their throats. They shuddered all over and didn't dare take another breath.
"Zhao Da Niu. Sun Monkey." Lu Chen's voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority.
"Your subordinates are here!" The two immediately rushed in from outside and bowed to receive his orders.
"Pass on my orders." Lu Chen's gaze swept slowly across the dark corners, where everyone had fallen silent with fear. "Starting today, the two of you will take over all the storage, distribution, and waste disposal of Demon Materials in the Corpse Handling Room. No one is to hide anything, skim anything, or sell anything off. I'll personally review and sign off on every account."
"Anyone who disobeys..."
He extended a finger and lightly flicked the humming blade of the Hundred Refinements Saber.
"Behead them."
One word, cold as a thousand-year-old sheet of ice, instantly extinguished every improper thought in their hearts.
"As for the rest of you..." Lu Chen's gaze finally settled on Zhang Mazi's face, which was full of shock and uncertainty. "Since you have so much free time, clean the entire Corpse Handling Room from top to bottom. By nightfall, I want to see not a single hair on the floor."
With that, he ignored their wonderfully varied expressions, picked up the troublesome stack of case files, and headed for the Isolated Processing Room at the very back of the Corpse Handling Room.
"W-what does he mean?"
"He's going to handle all the high-risk corpses by himself? Has he lost his mind?!"
Zhang Mazi stared at Lu Chen's vanishing back, disbelief written all over his face.
Inside the Isolated Processing Room, the yin baleful energy was so dense it seemed almost tangible.
A Sha Corpse, its entire body an eerie bronze and its skin covered in corpse spots and pustules, lay motionless on the cold stone bed.
Its aura was fiercer and more domineering than that of any Sha Corpse Lu Chen had handled before.
[Detected a Secondary Mutated Sha Corpse, containing thirty-five years of Demon Devil Lifespan.]
A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Chen's face.
How was this a deliberate attempt to make things difficult for him? This was a gift in his hour of need!
Without the slightest hesitation, he drew the Hundred Refinements Saber and unleashed the Perfect Realm Demon Suppressing Saber Technique.
His blade flashed like a ribbon of light, yet made no sound.
Before the [Sha Breaking] trait, the corpse's hide, harder than steel, was as fragile as tofu.
Wherever the blade passed, all the Corpse Poison and Killing Intent were instantly annihilated by that invisible power of destruction.
In barely the time it took an incense stick to burn, Lu Chen had cleanly processed the mutated Sha Corpse that would have given three veteran corpse handlers trouble working together, turning it into a pile of flawless materials.
[Processed a Secondary Mutated Sha Corpse. Obtained thirty-five years of Demon Devil Lifespan.]
He didn't stop, and immediately went to the next corpse...
When night fell, Lu Chen emerged from the processing room, dragging his "weary" body behind him.
Behind him was a cart loaded with all kinds of high-quality Demon Materials.
Outside, Zhang Mazi and the others had been waiting anxiously for a long time. They'd expected to hear cries of failure or the thunderous boom of Killing Intent erupting.
Instead, all they'd heard was a deathly silence.
When they saw the cart piled high with materials shimmering with spiritual light, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
"T-this can't be..." Zhang Mazi's lips trembled as he muttered to himself.
Lu Chen ignored their shock and tossed the account book containing the evidence of Foreman Wang's crimes at Zhang Mazi's feet.
"This is Wang Defa's ledger. It has every one of your names in it."
Lu Chen's voice was like a cold wind blowing up from the depths of the underworld.
"I'll give you a chance. Return everything he's embezzled over the years, with interest, and put it all back into the bureau's treasury. Then each of you can go to the Punishment Hall and receive thirty lashes."
"If you do that, we'll wipe the slate clean. If you don't..."
He extended a finger and lightly flicked the humming blade of the Hundred Refinements Saber.
"Behead them."
One word, cold as a thousand-year-old sheet of ice, instantly shattered the last traces of hope and spite in their hearts.
Zhang Mazi shuddered violently. His old face, which had still held a trace of resentment and spite, now showed nothing but boundless terror.
He dropped to his knees with a thud, clutched the ledger tightly to his chest, and began kowtowing frantically.
"Spare me, sir! Lord Lu, spare me! We... we'll all do as you say! We'll go right now! Right now!"
Seeing this, the others came to their senses as if waking from a dream. They fell over each other to kneel, and the room filled with pleas for mercy and cries of remorse.
Lu Chen didn't look at them again. He simply turned and walked back to the brand-new office that was now his.
The door slammed shut.
Lu Chen sat calmly behind the desk, laid the Hundred Refinements Saber across his knees, and began meditating.
Foreman Wang was dead, but the Ghost Face Mask he had worn before his death was even more troubling.
"System." Lu Chen sank his mind into his consciousness.
[Host: Lu Chen] [Remaining lifespan: 45 years] [Remaining Demon Devil Lifespan: 455 years] [Martial Arts:] [Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art (Great Mastery)] [Demon Suppressing Saber Technique (Perfect)] [Shadow Demon Trace Steps (Minor Mastery)] [Talisman Crafting (Beginner)] [Traits: Eye of Delusion Breaking (Initial), Water Sha Affinity (Initial), Soul Devour (Initial), Mimicry (Initial)]
Four hundred and fifty-five years of Demon Devil Lifespan!
It was a fortune enough to drive any cultivator in Nanling Prefecture mad with desire!
Lu Chen's gaze fell on the Talisman Crafting technique he had just learned.
At Anle Duke's Mansion, a small Sun Flame Talisman had dealt tremendous damage to that entry-grade Demon Painting. It had given him an entirely new understanding of the power of talismans.
This would be his strongest trump card besides his saber technique.
"System, pour all my Demon Devil Lifespan into Talisman Crafting!"
[Command confirmed. Remaining Demon Devil Lifespan: 455 years. Beginning infusion into Talisman Crafting...] [The silver-white book blazed with light!] [You spent fifty years immersed in the world of Wind Thunder, watching the birth and death of the All-Heaven Divine Thunder Talisman day and night. After your soul was torn apart and reassembled countless times, you barely grasped the rudiments of Lightning Magic talismans.] [You spent a hundred years contemplating the ethereal nature and keen edge of the Unfettered Wind Formless Talisman. You began to understand what it meant to "command talismans with qi" and how "wind bolstered the power of thunder." Your Talisman Crafting technique neared Minor Mastery.] [You spent a hundred and fifty years in endless deductions, attempting to fuse the utterly different powers of wind and thunder. After countless failures and explosions, your soul was nearly annihilated by the frenzied energy...] [You spent your final hundred and fifty-five years teetering on the brink of life and death. At last, you caught a glimmer of inspiration! You successfully drew your first rune containing the power of Wind Thunder on talisman paper!] [Deduction successful!] [Talisman Crafting has reached Minor Mastery!] [Congratulations, host. You comprehended a new talisman from the Divine Firmament Induction Chapter—the Wind Thunder Spell-Breaking Talisman (Yellow Tier, Mid-Grade)!]