Attaining Immortality, Starting From Slaying Demons

A nondescript loft within the Demon-suppression Bureau Office.

It was late at night.

Inside, the lamps were still brightly lit, occasionally emitting bursts of laughter and chatter.

Behind a low table, A'Qian's face bore a rare expression of seriousness as she held a writing brush, leaving line after line of text on the Gilded Document.

Silent behind her, Jiang Chengyun watched his grandmother's focused demeanor and then glanced at the handwriting that resembled the random crawling of earthworms, instinctively averting his eyes.

He still remembered those times when she was young and her handwriting was exceptionally elegant and fine.

Having spent too much time with the Howling Moon Demon King, even holding chopsticks had become somewhat awkward for her.

Dozens of demon catchers, steeped in the ways of the jianghu, couldn't keep still even when lined up, as a girl playfully mocked her colleagues with giggles and laughter, "Did you go on a picnic? Three traces of demon aura, all from the Jade Liquid Boundary, how dare you even come back?"

"None of your damn business."

The man rolled his eyes, picked up the Bronze Bell from the table, and turned towards the exit of the loft.

Facing him was an unfamiliar face.

He stopped out of curiosity and asked the young man, "Brother, you look new here, new arrival?"

Seeing the girl who had previously spoken in mockery waving vigorously, it was none other than Lin Rou, unseen for a long while, "Officer Shen, you're back too?"

Shen Yi nodded to the man before stepping into the loft.

"Officer?" The man paused, simply standing at the entrance without moving, only to then notice A'Qian and Jiang Chengyun both lifting their heads at the same time.

"Back and not even saying hello." Jiang Chengyun squeezed out a smile, startling the other demon catchers; it turned out that this Jiang, who seemed so lofty and superior, was not expressionless after all.

"Just got back," Shen Yi walked to the back of the line.

A'Qian, holding her brush dipped in ink, refrained from posturing cutely in front of so many people, "Just come directly here, since they're caught up in their conversation, they don't care about a little delay."

Honestly, she hadn't expected Shen Yi to join in on the hustle and bustle; he had been away for just a short time, less than two months in total—perhaps he had grown impatient.

She had heard from Jiang Chengyun that the young man had slain three Tiger Demons in Yong'an City, even including a juvenile Nascent Pill Realm presence.

Switching to a simpler version of the Condensation Elixir Method was indeed well within his means.

The moment A'Qian Granny's voice faded, the rest of the demon catchers very consciously made way for him, though their eyes couldn't help revealing a bit of puzzlement.

Skipping ahead in line wasn't a big deal, but one had to have a respectable level of skill—only that garnered recognition here.

When Shen Yi reached the low table, Jiang Chengyun reminded him, "Take out the bell."

Immediately after, a young man placed a silver bell radiating flowing light on the table.

Under the dazzling silver light, the demon catchers instinctively held their breaths, only Lin Rou with a stolen smile, perhaps having expected this as she had been shocked once before and naturally wanted her colleagues to taste this sensation as well.

"However..."

Lin Rou's gaze shifted to the table, also curious whether the young man had any other gains from escorting Officer Xiao away from Yong'an City.

A'Qian said nothing more, merely pinching her fingers into a spell.

The silver bell on the table trembled slightly.

Then spun around a few times.

"..."

Lin Rou and the demon catchers all looked somewhat stunned.

There was a reaction, sure, but what about the aura?

Jiang Chengyun frowned as he swept his gaze over them.

Under his gaze, everyone suppressed the desire to discuss, only daring to silently communicate through facial expressions.

Seeing this, Jiang Chengyun slowly retracted his gaze.

Shen Yi had only recently joined the demon catchers and had already slain a Nascent Pill Realm Demonic Beast—hardly something these slothful people had the right to question.

He lightly reassured them with a tilt of his chin, "No worries, you've only just joined us for two months and are still not proficient with the aura harvesting technique."

As these words were spoken, the demon catchers, who had not planned to say much, quickly took on an odd expression on their faces.

Two months, not proficient in the technique of qi gathering, Silver Bell.

These three things, associated with the same person, easily led them to think of unfavorable matters, and might even impact the founding principles of the demon catchers.

"..."

A'Qian smiled faintly, as if she had read their thoughts, and without further delay, swiftly formed another spell with her hands.

She had to show these little ones that the Silver Bell she offered was not meant for just anyone.

The Silver Bell trembled slightly.

The next moment, the entire loft was bathed in red!

A strong scent of blood invaded everyone's nostrils, rendering them instantly dumbstruck.

It was as if the dense essence of demon blood, due to its overwhelming quantity, was stuffed inside without bothering to count.

A'Qian's serene smile stiffened on her young face.

The brush in her hand trembled slightly, dropping a few specks of ink across the pages of the document.

Jiang Chengyun's face twitched involuntarily, as he strived to remain calm, but his hurried attempt to separate the essence blood betrayed his inner turmoil.

First, there were three droplets of heart's blood from minor demons that had just awakened their intelligence.

Then, there were four strands belonging to nascent-pill-stage demons.

Immediately following, five strands of heart's blood from Nascent Pill Realm demons were separated.

"..." Jiang Chengyun encountered such a situation for the first time. As the realms of the demons increased, the quantity of their essence blood surprisingly grew as well, making it seem reversed, didn't it?

His gaze fixed on the remaining dense mass of blood essence, his expression gradually becoming as numb and blank as the others.

From demons with Condensation Elixir Completion, four strands of essence blood floated calmly in the air, each one representing a name that once dominated a territory.

Among them, there was one he was all too familiar with... the Mountain Lord of Creek Terrace Mountain?!

Even now, the matter was far from over.

As all the essence blood was extracted, there remained the thickest strand of all.

The others had yet to react, but Jiang Chengyun staggered backwards, fixated on that strand of essence blood: "Who is this?!"

A'Qian set down her brush and closed her eyes in silence for a long time.

As if to calm the surprise in her heart.

But the two small hands she had placed on the table clenched tighter and tighter.

Finally, she breathed out that name: "White Deer."

It was an entity that had been entangled with the twelve Demon-suppression Great Generals and the Golden Bell Demon Catchers for hundreds of years.

And at this moment, it was quietly floating in the air, as if the slightest breeze could scatter it away.

A'Qian had once felt that demon catchers and the Demon-suppression Bureau were entirely different entities. What they did not dare to employ, the demon catchers dared; the sword they feared might harm themselves, the demon catchers did not shrink from.

But now, this sword had become so sharp it was unimaginable!

It even made one feel that the next moment it could pierce through one's own throat!

In the deathly silent loft, only the youth in black remained his usual calm self, only using the crimson essence blood to make the Silver Bell on the table lose its luster.

Shen Yi looked down: "What can I exchange for this?"

That was what he cared about.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chengyun suddenly recalled the expression on the other's face when he had walked into the hall in Yong'an City two months earlier. Despite the gap in time, their similarity was striking.

His eyes were intently fixed on the young man, his jaws tightly clenched.

Within those eyes, a hint of frenzy quietly emerged.