Desperate Measures

Situ Bei's words

made Shen Changqing understand at once.

Sure enough.

The Demon Suppression Bureau knew about the demon essence blood.

After all, even Situ Bei, a Skywatch Guard, knew of demon essence blood. There was no reason for the Demon Suppression Bureau itself to have no information whatsoever.

With his suspicion confirmed,

Shen Changqing said, "Since the Demon Suppression Bureau knows about the demon essence blood, why has it made no further move? Are they simply letting the demon essence blood emerge into the world?"

To be honest,

he was deeply puzzled as well.

Since the Demon Suppression Bureau knew so much about the demon essence blood, why had it not reinforced the seal from the very beginning? Or, more simply, why had it not taken the demon essence blood away directly, instead allowing it to remain here and watching as the seal broke apart?

But Situ Bei's next words

cleared up Shen Changqing's doubts.

"Lord Shen may not know this, but the location of that demon essence blood is extremely well hidden. Only by paying a tremendous price could one possibly find where it is.

"According to the intelligence, however, the demon essence blood there is not of a high grade. It is not worth the Demon Suppression Bureau paying such a great price.

"Of course.

"When I say its grade is not high, that is only in comparison to the Demon Suppression Bureau. In the eyes of ordinary people, that essence blood is still a precious treasure!"

Situ Bei answered truthfully.

Shen Changqing nodded. "Can you determine what rank the demon essence blood about to emerge is at?"

"The demon that perished should have been a mid-tier demon. But after several centuries of weakening, its essence blood certainly could not have retained its original power. Its rank may very well have fallen, leaving it only comparable to a low-tier demon."

Situ Bei pondered for a moment before speaking.

Originally a mid-tier demon,

weakened over several centuries to the level of a low-tier demon.

Such an explanation

was perfectly reasonable.

After speaking,

Situ Bei glanced at Shen Changqing probingely. "Could it be that Lord Shen also intends to contend for the essence blood? If so, the Skywatch Guard of Lin'an City will certainly cooperate with you with all our strength!"

"For now, demon essence blood is of no use to me."

Shen Changqing shook his head.

He understood Situ Bei's meaning. The man merely believed that he intended to contend for the demon essence blood.

In truth,

demon essence blood was indeed a precious thing.

Though demons and evil spirits inspired fear, that did not mean there was truly nothing of value on them.

Among them,

the essence blood of demons

was one such treasure.

Some people could use special methods to refine the energy contained within demon essence blood and ultimately use it for themselves.

If he did not possess the panel,

Shen Changqing might have fought for it as well.

But now that he had the panel, he only needed to steadily kill some weaker demons and evil spirits to directly improve his strength. Compared to fighting over demon essence blood, it was better by heaven knows how much.

Moreover—

Shen Changqing guessed

that refining demon essence blood certainly came with other drawbacks.

Yet he could not say exactly what those drawbacks were. After all, the records on the first floor of the Archive Pavilion were ultimately limited.

Once he returned to the Demon Suppression Bureau,

Shen Changqing had already decided to spend some time properly making up for his lack of important knowledge about this world.

Suddenly,

a young man entered, walked to Situ Bei's side, and whispered something into his ear.

The two spoke so quietly

that even when Shen Changqing listened intently, he could not hear them clearly.

Very soon,

after the young man finished speaking, he took a letter from his robes and handed it to Situ Bei before respectfully withdrawing.

After he left,

Situ Bei took two steps forward and respectfully handed the letter to Shen Changqing.

"Lord Shen, a letter has arrived for you from the Capital Demon Suppression Bureau!"

"Hm?"

Shen Changqing could not help frowning as he casually accepted the letter.

Instinctively, a sense of foreboding rose within him.

He had only come out to carry out an assessment mission. Once it was completed, he should have returned. For a letter to arrive now, it was absolutely impossible for there to be no problem.

Taking a deep breath,

Shen Changqing opened the letter before Situ Bei and examined its contents.

Shen Changqing:

According to intelligence, demon essence blood is about to emerge in the Lin'an City region. This news will surely draw the attention of many experts, as well as demons and evil spirits.

To prevent the people of Lin'an City from being caught up in this, we hope that you can temporarily remain stationed in Lin'an City and ensure that the various forces do not endanger the city's common people.

Furthermore, there is no need for you to worry too much. Although your strength is not great, with the Demon Suppression Bureau's name behind you, the various forces will surely give you some face. So long as you do not do anything too outrageous, they will give you some face.

As long as you ensure Lin'an City's safety, it will count as one merit for you. For the next year, you will not need to take on any more missions and may remain peacefully in the Demon Suppression Bureau to cultivate in seclusion.

Within only a few breaths, Shen Changqing had read through the letter. The signature at the end bore the two characters Jiang Zuo.

After reading it,

his expression turned somewhat strange.

Clearly,

the Demon Suppression Bureau had only just received word that the demon essence blood was about to break free of its seal and emerge.

Only,

Shen Changqing could not help complaining inwardly about Jiang Feng telling him to remain stationed in Lin'an City.

Had the Demon Suppression Bureau truly run so short of manpower that they were sending someone who, on the surface, was merely a martial artist who had just opened his meridians to guard an entire city?

As for the words that followed, they were even more absurd.

What did it mean, that with the Demon Suppression Bureau's name behind him, the various forces would give him some face? Indeed, the Demon Suppression Bureau's name was often quite useful.

But one had to understand

that aside from the various forces competing for the demon essence blood, there was another, greater threat: demons and evil spirits!

Other factions might give the Demon Suppression Bureau face, but demons and evil spirits absolutely would not.

If those demons and evil spirits learned of his existence, they might even want nothing more than to get rid of him.

"They're grasping at straws in desperation!"

Shen Changqing sighed.

Sure enough, not a single mission from the Demon Suppression Bureau was simple.

Eliminating the strange monster in Ancient Moon Village had been a dangerous mission. Guarding Lin'an City now was an even more perilous mission, one that could cost him his life at any moment.

But there was no choice.

Jiang Feng's instructions had already reached him, and a steward of the Yellow Division Demon Exorcist Court could not possibly possess such authority as to confidently entrust the safety of an entire city to a trainee Demon Exorcist.

Therefore,

the higher-ups must have been behind this.

From a simple letter,

Shen Changqing could see just how dire the Demon Suppression Bureau's situation had become.

Standing beside him, Situ Bei saw his ever-changing expression and did not dare ask questions carelessly.

After a long while,

Shen Changqing finally emerged from his thoughts.

Since things had come to this, there was no way to refuse. All he could do was remain stationed in Lin'an City and suppress every demon, ghost, and monster.

With that thought,

he looked at Situ Bei, took out the report he had originally written and intended to personally bring back to the Demon Suppression Bureau, then handed it to the other man together with the Pure Spirit Jade Pendant.

"Send this letter and the Pure Spirit Jade Pendant to the Capital Demon Suppression Bureau as quickly as possible. Also, mobilize every bit of the Lin'an City Skywatch Guard's strength. I want information on every force and every expert above the Meridian Opening Realm currently staying in Lin'an City, in the shortest possible time."