People from two different worlds

Jiang Chen nodded slightly when he saw the Monster Transformation Cards he had drawn.

There was little to say about Te Chu Shi. His strength was roughly equal to General Yin's, but with Jiang Chen's current base strength, undergoing Demon Transformation into Te Chu Shi would probably make him slightly stronger than he had been as the Red Python Demon.

The Sea-Reliant Dragon was quite a good draw.

Not because of his strength. According to Journey to the West, he was only a minor demon serving Golden Horn and Silver Horn, probably about as strong as General Yin.

The main thing was that he was an aquatic monster. There was little description of his true form, and he certainly wasn't a dragon, but if Jiang Chen encountered a water ghost, he could be even more useful than the Chaos-Dwelling Demon King!

"Not bad. These two cards should be enough."

Jiang Chen took out his phone again and opened the Underworld App.

The Chaos-Dwelling Heavenly Blade had been terrifyingly powerful in the earlier battle. Only after returning home had he discovered that its blade intent had shredded all the resentment within the sharp knife, reducing it to scrap metal.

Jiang Chen opened the shop, intending to buy a suitable weapon.

Talismans, ghost artifacts, magical artifacts, pills...

The shop had many categories. Clicking on an item brought up a brief description and its shipping location. It worked much like Taobao, with most goods sold through the Netherworld or the Dao Alliance, though there were individual sellers too.

However, because the Underworld App charged a five-percent transaction fee, people often sold all sorts of things privately on the Unusual Person Forum.

Forum trades avoided the fee, but Unusual Persons were often cheated there, and some even fell victim to honey traps.

Naturally, Jiang Chen chose the official channel, mainly because he wasn't strong enough yet. Once he was, he thought he might deliberately walk into a honey trap and then rob everyone involved.

It had to be said that the system certainly hadn't chosen its host at random.

With his personality, Jiang Chen really was well suited to messing with ghosts' heads. After all, he even wanted to mess with people's heads.

He opened the magical artifacts category, which was divided into four grades: low, middle, high, and supreme.

Jiang Chen only had enough points for low-grade magical artifacts, but he wasn't disappointed. Anything that qualified for a grade was already extraordinary.

For example, among ghost artifacts, only an object containing a vicious ghost's deepest resentment had any chance of becoming a low-grade ghost artifact.

That was why Chen Xue had specifically told him that the sharp knife qualified as a ghost artifact and urged Jiang Chen to keep it safe.

"Forget it. I'll choose after I get back from the Zheng Family Manor."

After browsing for a long while, Jiang Chen gave up. He had discovered that the best low-grade magical artifacts and ghost artifacts often cost more than a thousand points.

As for the others, they might only be as sturdy as his sharp knife. If he used an overly powerful divine ability, he would probably ruin them. He simply couldn't afford that kind of waste.

He didn't buy any talismans or pills either.

Without true qi to activate them, talismans were too weak.

Most low-grade pills were used to dispel yin energy, calm the mind, and so on. Jiang Chen could accomplish all of that with demonic power, so there was no need.

"Too bad demonic power can't activate talismans," Jiang Chen said regretfully.

He still remembered the Golden Light Talisman Chen Xue had used. It had been quite powerful.

"But the Deer Power Immortal also practiced Daoist arts. I wonder if undergoing Demon Transformation into him would let me learn how to activate talismans with demonic power..." Jiang Chen murmured, his eyes brightening slightly.

Then he put it out of his mind and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Lin Youwei sat by a third-floor window in the October Café near the entrance to Jiangbei University of Finance and Economics. An antique-looking book lay before her, but she gazed out the window, lost in thought.

A young man rode a bicycle up to the university gates, parked it, casually slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked inside.

Lin Youwei followed him with her eyes. Something seemed to come to mind, and the corners of her lips curved upward.

A delicate, fair hand waved in front of her face, and Yang Chan's slightly mocking voice rang out. "All right, all right, stop staring. Your little sweetheart's already gone inside!"

Lin Youwei turned to glare at her best friend. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Despite her denial, a blush rose to her cheeks, as though someone had uncovered a little secret.

"My dear Miss Lin, your eyes were practically popping out, and you're still calling it nonsense?" Wearing yoga pants, a shirt, and a sun-protection jacket, Yang Chan sat down opposite her and crossed one long leg over the other, scrutinizing her face.

"Seriously, have you actually fallen for that guy? What's so good about him that the great Miss Lin can't stop thinking about him?"

Even Yang Chan was curious now. Lin Youwei was behaving exactly like someone pining over an unrequited love. She had come here early in the morning and sat for over an hour just to catch a ten-second glimpse of Jiang Chen?

Lin Youwei took a sip of coffee. "Don't be ridiculous. He got on Zheng Shaoming's bad side recently. My dad spoke to Zheng Shaoming's father about it, but these rich kids are used to throwing their weight around. Who knows what he might do behind our backs?"

"So the great Miss Lin skipped her morning qi practice to come here and act as his bodyguard?" Yang Chan teased.

"After I was abducted, I was left traumatized. For a long time, I didn't dare leave home to go to school. Then he started waiting for me at the entrance to the alley. Only when I saw him there every morning did I have the courage to go."

A look of reminiscence crossed Lin Youwei's delicate features, and her lips unconsciously curved into a smile. Those were her most painful memories, but also her most unforgettable.

"I knew it. There really was a story behind this," Yang Chan murmured, but she soon grew serious again. "Youwei, I understand how you feel, but you belong to two different worlds. Your love won't bring him happiness. It'll only bring disaster!"

"Someone as insignificant as Zheng Shaoming can already make his life miserable enough that you have to come protect him yourself."

"But do you realize that any one of your suitors could mobilize ten times the power Zheng Shaoming has just by lifting a finger?"

"Wake up. An egret soaring through the sky can never be lovers with an ant crawling on the ground."

Hearing this, Lin Youwei said nothing. She looked out the window and sighed softly.

It wasn't Yang Chan's words that troubled her. She was remembering the results from the last time she had someone assess Jiang Chen's innate cultivation aptitude: inferior, with no possibility of cultivation whatsoever.

Yin energy is erupting, and an age of chaos is coming. Ordinary people's lives really are worth less than ants' lives, Lin Youwei lamented inwardly.

She understood that her feelings for Jiang Chen weren't necessarily romantic, but she remembered his kindness. She wanted to use her resources to help him enter the Unusual Person World, even if it meant paying a price.

Even if his talent was poor, she had intended to plead with her master.

But an inferior aptitude ruled out every possibility.

Noticing Lin Youwei's dejection, Yang Chan changed the subject. "By the way, Weiwei, there's a group mission in three days. Are you going? Qin Ze's leading it this time. They say the Qin family's third young master has already reached minor mastery in Xingyi Fist, and his strength is at the peak of D+!"

"He's one of the leading figures among Jiangbei City's younger generation. He's handled three D+ solo incidents all by himself. With this group mission added to his record, he might even qualify to join the Martial Sect this year!"

A flicker of admiration appeared in Yang Chan's eyes.

"With Qin Ze there, and you too, Youwei, this mission will be a breeze. Besides, if you get out and meet more outstanding young men like him, maybe you'll realize there's nothing so special about an ordinary person."