Brother Cat Tells a Story

Li Mo fell into thought as he watched Ye Wen holding the pitch-black token.

He remembered this token; it seemed he had stolen it from some wealthy and influential person.

He'd stolen it days ago. It was pitch-black and had nothing on it. If that person hadn't seemed to treasure it so much, he would have thrown it away long ago.

Could this token have some special use?

Seeing Ye Wen staring at him, Li Mo had no choice but to respond immediately, afraid that if he was too slow, Ye Wen would simply kill him.

"Kid, do you really think I wouldn't kill anyone? You still dare to deceive me now?"

Ye Wen said coldly, looking at Li Mo. He noticed Li Mo's unnatural expression and his guilty tone. Ye Wen certainly didn't believe his story.

"Mew, meow~ We snatched that token!"

The Cat Demon suddenly interjected.

"I left it with Li Mo. Strictly speaking, the token isn't mine either; I just found it in my territory.

We couldn't figure out its use, so we had Li Mo bring it to the human territory to gather information."

Interesting. Ye Wen couldn't be sure if they were telling the truth or lying, so he could only continue listening.

"Brother Cat, are you really going to tell him? Is he reliable?"

Li Mo suddenly looked at the Cat Demon and asked softly.

But being so close, Ye Wen could hear everything perfectly. They're planning to put on a show, huh?

Ye Wen didn't expose them and instead acted like an honest audience, watching the two of them—no, one person and one cat—perform.

The Cat Demon noticed that Ye Wen's expression hadn't changed at all and felt a bit discouraged. Why is this young man so composed?

Doesn't he have any curiosity? But since the play had already begun, it had to continue.

"In my territory, uh, my former territory, a zombie appeared. And not just any zombie, but an Ancient Zombie. It was someone who died at least ten thousand years ago and turned into a zombie."

Seeing Ye Wen's expression remain unchanged, the Cat Demon could only continue.

"This zombie came from a deep, dark canyon. It was always dead and silent inside, and I never paid it any mind before. It wasn't until recently, after the great changes in the world, that the thing emerged from the canyon.

Its strength is immense. Uh, right! It's just like you; it possesses terrifying physical strength.

I don't know if it's because it became a zombie, or if it had incredible physical strength even before it died.

Zombies, they haven't developed sentience yet, but they have the instinct to kill and drink blood.

It tried to catch me and drink my blood, but I couldn't defeat it. I was forced to abandon my original territory and flee.

This pitch-black token was obtained when Li Mo and I went to investigate if the zombie was still there.

It came out and attacked us again, and Li Mo stole it from it!

The canyon where the zombie appeared has also undergone a huge transformation. It used to be dead and filled with Yin energy, but now it's full of life.

I suspect there's a spiritual eye in the canyon. Before the world's changes, it should have emitted Death Spirit Qi. But after the world's changes, that spiritual eye must be emitting Life Spiritual Qi."

The Cat Demon stopped speaking again at this point. It began observing Ye Wen's expression again. Fortunately, he seemed to be thinking this time.

Ye Wen understood the meaning of the Death Spirit Qi and Life Spiritual Qi that the Cat Demon spoke of.

Spiritual Qi in this world had attributes. Although most Spiritual Qi was attribute-less, or had a primal chaotic attribute that any Cultivation Method could absorb and refine, some special Spiritual Qi had attributes.

For example, fire-attribute Demon Beasts or fire-attribute Mages could absorb fire-attribute Spiritual Qi. The skills they released by absorbing this attribute-rich Spiritual Qi would be stronger than absorbing attribute-less Spiritual Qi.

In other words, the Spiritual Qi in this world had the five elemental attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, as well as life and death attributes. These were the most common special attribute Spiritual Qi.

This was also one of the reasons why many Demon Beasts could cultivate and use skills.

Besides inheriting skills and Cultivation Methods from their bloodline, they could also absorb special attribute Spiritual Qi, which would stimulate their bodies to develop new skills.

Could this Cat Demon have gained its plant-based Cage Grass skill by absorbing Life Spiritual Qi?

And that's why it's always been fixated on the canyon where the zombie was born? Because there's a spring emitting Life Spiritual Qi inside.

With that, the Cat Demon had explained the entire cause and effect.

Ye Wen now understood many things. That zombie was very likely one of the former City Lords of Demon Suppressing City who had fallen!

He was killed here by a mysterious powerful being ten thousand years ago. By chance, his corpse fell into a spring of Death Spirit Qi.

After being cleansed by Death Spirit Qi for ten thousand years, under the great changes in the world, he was reborn from death.

Or rather, he absorbed all the Death Spirit Qi in that spring, leaving only Life Spiritual Qi behind.