One more catty, one more attribute point

Step!

Step!

Footsteps echoed in the dimly lit room.

Su Heng had returned to the eighth level.

In the circular hall, Ye Tong was half-kneeling on the ground, her expression somewhat vacant.

She still clutched the blood-stained dagger in her hand, and beside her, the basket was piled into a sharp little mountain with the flesh she had just harvested from the Wolf King.

"You did well."

Su Heng said with a smile, reaching out to pat Ye Tong on the head.

"Can I leave now?" Ye Tong asked in a low voice, her head bowed very low.

"Yes, you may," Su Heng said with a smile, "You've been quite troubled this time. After you get back, see Elder Li Xunhao for a share of the resources."

"Thank you..."

Ye Tong slowly rose from the ground.

Her entire being, like a soulless wooden puppet, left the eighth level with a vacant gaze.

Su Heng's eyes moved away from Ye Tong's retreating figure and he waited briefly.

Soft footsteps approached.

A figure in red slowly came into view; it was Li Hongxiu.

Li Hongxiu stopped about seven or eight meters away from Su Heng, a basket slung on her arm, and looked up at him.

"You..."

After a brief silence, Li Hongxiu asked curiously, "You must have noticed the Sky Demon Alliance's aura on that girl. Why didn't you kill her directly, and instead deliberately crushed her will like this?"

"Because I'm bored, and this is fun," Su Heng said with a smile.

Li Hongxiu was silent for a moment before shaking her head.

"You plan to use this girl to track the location of the other Demon Kings," Li Hongxiu stated firmly.

"Tsk, tsk," Su Heng remarked, "sometimes I don't really like smart people."

"I'm not human," Li Hongxiu said seriously.

Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e'-NovelBin.net

"…"

"Do you have a way to track that girl without her noticing?" Li Hongxiu asked.

"The Parasitic Species do have some tracking effects, but it's too apparent and the distance is too short. Solely based on my current ability, I probably can't do it," Su Heng replied nonchalantly.

"Then you still..." Li Hongxiu began, then paused, her expression freezing.

"Although I can't do it, your talent should be able to," Su Heng said with a smile.

Li Hongxiu's parasitic talent had stayed with Su Heng for a few days without his realizing it.

If it wasn't for finding clues on Chen Murong by chance.

This matter would have ended without Su Heng knowing who was behind it.

Su Heng had considered killing Li Hongxiu directly and merging with her monster corpse.

But this was very uncertain because the talent obtained from merging with a monster corpse was a degraded version and whether he could inherit this talent was still in question.

So,

the safest method was to have Li Hongxiu personally lend a hand.

"Why are you so sure that I will help you?" Li Hongxiu said earnestly, "I have to remind you that I am also a member of the Sky Demon Alliance, although I'm not exactly a core figure."

Su Heng took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Li Hongxiu.

"What is this?" Li Hongxiu reached out to take it, furrowing her brows as she opened the envelope to find a bill inside.

"You should know what kind of place Baihua County is."

From within the darkness, Su Heng's voice gradually reached her. "After the destruction of the Red Mansion, those delicate dancers won't have an easy time surviving in Baihua County without your protection, even with a bit of savings. The local officials, gentry, gangs—who among them aren't vicious like wolves and leopards?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"I don't think it's a threat; it's mutually beneficial," Su Heng said calmly, "What's important is that it's effective, isn't it?"

Li Hongxiu was silent for a while before admitting, "What you say is correct."

"The right choice," Su Heng nodded, his face wearing a smile.

Li Hongxiu, holding the basket, walked to the end of the room and poured the chunks of meat over the Wolf King's body.

The wriggling fats slowly digested and absorbed the dry flesh.

This scene,

seen by Li Hongxiu many times, still disturbed her, causing her to frown involuntarily.

She noticed the flesh being absorbed at an increasingly slower pace, and the meat mountain was clearly slackening and collapsing.

Like a melting ice cream cake.

"He won't last much longer," Li Hongxiu turned around and spoke to Su Heng from a distance.

"Is that so?" Su Heng walked closer and saw that indeed, as Li Hongxiu had said.

"No matter," he said indifferently, "before long, another Demon King will come to take his place."

...

...

...

He had returned to the fifth level.

Just as he pushed open the door to the study, he saw Elder Bai waiting there.

"I have a message from Li Dusi," said Elder Bai as she looked up, her voice crisp, "He said your weapon is ready and asked you to come over and see if it feels right in your hand."

"Really?"

Su Heng was somewhat surprised, then he calculated with his fingers.

It had only been seven days since their last meeting. So fast, he hoped that Li Daoxuan hadn't cut corners.

He entered the room, took a clean towel from the rack beside him, and wiped off the bloodstains on his hands.

Miss Bai wrinkled her nose.

"Is there anything else?" she asked. "If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

"What do you think of Elder You Kai?" Su Heng asked thoughtfully.

"Elder You Kai."

Miss Bai completely missed the deeper meaning in Su Heng's words, and naively said, "He's quite nice, see, he even brought me pastries from the Hundred Herbs Store."

"Uh, okay." Su Heng felt it was wishful thinking to get any useful information from Miss Bai.

It was really a flight of fancy.

He waved his hand, and Miss Bai bounced away cheerfully.

Putting on a cloak from the coat rack, Su Heng left the Demon Suppression Tower and soon arrived at Li Daoxuan's study.

In the tidy and bright study, with sunlight streaming in, there was a faint scent of ink.

Li Daoxuan was at that moment frowning, examining the documents on the table.

Upon seeing Su Heng,

he put down the documents in his hand, raised his head, and nodded towards the corner of the room with his chin.

On the spacious weapon rack, a reddish blade lay quietly in the shadows, surrounded by floating specks of dust.

This weapon, was two and a half meters tall.

Together with the broad and heavy blade, it looked like an oversized door panel.

The overall design did not resemble an ordinary sharp blade that was sharpened; instead, it was fashioned into a serrated shape, as per Su Heng's request.

The junction between the saw teeth and the blade was a ring of scarlet-colored flesh and blood.

Su Heng's eyes lit up.

He reached out to grasp the hilt and infused his strength into it.

The large swathes of flesh wrapped around the blade began to squirm, buzzing, and set the teeth spinning.

The speed increased rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, it distorted the air, emitting thick white smoke, bursting with a roar similar to that of a sports car engine.

Shhh!

With a downward swing of the sword, Su Heng split the air sharply, producing a piercing screech and creating a gust of wind in the room.

"How does it feel, does it suit you?" Li Daoxuan asked with a smile, caressing the beard on his chin.

"Did you make this yourself?"

Su Heng was very surprised; he glanced at the giant sword in his hand and then turned to look at Li Daoxuan nearby, who was wearing a smiling expression, "I didn't expect you to have such skill, it's truly unexpected."

"This is a craft I learned when I was young. I never expected that it would still come in handy even now, in my old age," Li Daoxuan chuckled.

"It's very nice," said Su Heng earnestly.

"That's good to hear."

"I have another question for you," Su Heng put the ghostly-crying weapon aside and reached out to pick up a cup of tea from the table.

"Hmm?" Li Daoxuan blinked, "What's the matter? You seem very serious."

"Do you know anything about Corpse Mountain?"

"It seems you have already been to the ninth floor of the Demon Suppression Tower," sighed Li Daoxuan.

"I have read her file. Liu Qingqing comes from Corpse Mountain; she was imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Tower more than twenty years ago. At that time, the Demon Suppression Bureau's situation was slightly better than now, but it was also showing a decline, lacking its former authority," Li Daoxuan explained.

"So, I'm very curious about something," Su Heng continued earnestly, "how did you capture that great demon."

"You're right, if Liu Qingqing were at her peak, even I wouldn't be her match," Li Daoxuan said. "However, when I encountered her, she was already gravely injured and, it seemed, she also had an offspring."

Li Daoxuan's voice lowered, as though he was referring to something taboo.

He looked up slightly towards the window.

That glance was purely psychological.

In Baihua County, Su Heng and Li Daoxuan were both among the top experts.

No one could escape their perception and eavesdrop outside. However, the fact that the head of the Demon Suppression Bureau showed such a tense posture indicated that the matter involved deep secrets.

"Offspring!" Su Heng was indeed shocked, "Demons can breed? Are you joking?!"

If demons could breed,

possessing both intelligence and formidable natural talents,

with long lifespans and the ability to reproduce like humans,

there would be no place for mankind in this world, just to be reared like livestock by demons.

This kind of struggle between races could not be changed by the emergence of one or two geniuses.

It seemed Li Daoxuan understood Su Heng's thoughts, and he explained, "Normally, demons are unable to reproduce like humans, and they don't seem to have strong desires in that area. But with a large number, there are always exceptions."

"For example, someone like Li Hongxiu who is half-human, half-ghost, she might be able to conceive and reproduce normally. Furthermore, the Yin Body Ta Sui. If it parasitizes a female creature, it can also reproduce, even altering the birthing process to produce a half-demon army. It's not very strong in head-on combat, but its talents are extremely formidable.

It's also lucky that it died early; otherwise, it would have become a great calamity."

"Cough cough!" Li Daoxuan coughed twice, "I digress, but the great demon on the ninth floor is likely a similar situation."

"I see," Su Heng tried to slowly accept it. He then asked, "Since Liu Qingqing was captured by you, what happened to her child? Did you kill it, or was it some other circumstance?"