Li Daoxuany stiffly on the ground, his corpse-like body suddenly trembled twice before his eyes actually opened.


    His eyes stared straight up at the sky, which gave Luo Shuang quite a scare, almost causing her to stagger and sit down on the ground.


    "You old thing, you''re alright!?" Luo Shuang''s face was filled with disbelief.


    "Cough, cough!" said Li Daoxuan, "The problem is not big, I still have a breath in me."


    "When we left the Hong Family''s earthen fortress, I had already sensed someone following behind us. Pretending to faint just now was also an attempt to take the opportunity to deal with this person," Li Daoxuan said, covering his chest as he coughed violently. Su Heng hurriedly reached out to gently support him, helping him to sit up.


    Li Daoxuan''s hand moved like lightning, pressing heavily on his chest, and atst, a hint of color returned to his pale, ckened face.


    "I didn''t expect you to be able toe, now I can breathe a bit longer," he said.


    "You even deceived me," Luo Shuang eximed, joy mixed with shock on her face.


    "That fellow is quite alert; if I didn''t trick you, how could I have tricked him? I just didn''t expect..." Li Daoxuan shook his head and sighed.Su Heng noticed that although Li Daoxuan had woken up, his condition was still quite poor.


    Not only Li Daoxuan, but Luo Shuang, Wang Xindong, and others were the same—seriously injured and merely holding on.


    "I''ve brought you some healing pills," Su Heng said as he stood up and opened his long robe, giving it a couple of shakes.


    Handfuls of healing pills fell from his robe, piling up into a small mound on the ground.


    "Some elders from the Demon Suppression Bureau are on their way here; I arrived a bit faster," Su Heng suggested, "Stabilize your injuries here first, then we can make ns afterward."


    "Alright," Li Daoxuan nodded.


    "Thank you, Tower Master!" Luo Shuang cupped her fists towards Su Heng, her face full of gratitude.


    "I''ll keep watch for the night," Su Heng said without any pleasantries, his figure shed, and he sat cross-legged on arge stone at the entrance of the vige.


    Whether in the Demon Suppression Bureau or outside.


    As long as Su Heng was watching over, it was basically absolutely safe.


    Luo Shuang, Li Daoxuan, and the others distributed the pills and began to meditate and heal their injuries.


    The night was peaceful, with only the asional sound of leaves rustling in the breeze and a few chirps from the summer insects in the grass.


    The whole night passed in the blink of an eye.


    The sun rose from the eastern hilltop, its fiery red rays streaking across the sky.


    A ck crow with red eyes pped its wings and flew over Su Heng''s head,nding on the twisted deadwood beside him.


    "Hoo..."


    Su Heng opened his eyes and retracted his senses.


    His eyes gleamed with restrained brightness, his demeanor bing even more upright and tranquil, a change brought on by gradually adapting to the immense boost from the Transformed Dragon State.


    In the abandoned vige before him.


    Some of the elders with lighter injuries had already recovered and were up and about, while others with more severe injuries continued to sit quietly and heal.


    There were even a few young faces lighting a bonfire in an open space, grilling game they had presumably hunted from who knows where on a rack.


    A group of young people squatted by the bonfire, adding wood to the fire and chatting withughter and joy.


    Such a positive and heartening attitude amidst hardship was quite admirable.


    Su Heng withdrew his gaze.


    With a rummage in his bosom, he pulled out a diamond-shaped white snake scale.


    After disengaging the fusion with the Water Ghost Poison Sack, he ced the snake scale just below his heart. The scale merged into Su Heng''s dermis, bringing a cool sensation that spread outward like spring water on a summer day, eventually covering his whole body, forming aplete subdermalyer of inner armor.


    Thisyer of inner armor fit his body as if he was born with it, perfectlypatible.


    He opened and closed his five fingers, walked back and forth, and tried various movements, all without feeling any difort.


    He took his seat back on the stone.


    He used his fingernail to pinch his skin, which felt significantly more pliable.


    "Scale armor like an external shell in my Transformed Dragon State, snake scales beneath my skin, and a body as strong as steel wires and iron bones, now I''m really armed to the teeth," Su Heng mused. He hadn''t specifically trained in any defensive Cultivation Technique, but his defense had unknowingly be quite formidable.


    And this snake scale, which significantly increased his defensive power, was still the least noticeable of the White Snake Demon Scale''s effects on the Demon Corpse.


    Su Heng closed his eyes.


    Yet within a radius of over ten meters, every de of grass and every movement was clearly captured by him.


    This sensation was a bit like the Byakugan or the ability to see through the world. While ordinary people''s sight could only perceive what was in front of them, Su Heng could sense everything around him in a 360-degree radius without any blind spots.


    As for the most formidable power of the White Snake Demon Scale, it was still the golden energy runes that Su Heng had previously seen on Liu Qingqing and had left a deep impression. These runes, referred to as "Demon Pattern" in Su Heng''s attribute panel, allowed Su Heng to telekically manipte objects that the Demon Pattern had permeated.


    Crack!


    With a thought, he stretched out his hand and gently patted the stone beneath him.


    Su Heng reappeared to one side, while the yellowish-brown giant rock in front of him began to tremble violently.


    Dust fell from the rock, cracks spread, and then with a loud crash, the stone exploded, revealing a more than two-meter-tall stone golem amidst a cloud of dust and debris.


    With a head and arms, connected by golden "Demon Patterns," it could move freely like a normal human.


    With a thought from Su Heng,


    The stone golem rotated 360 degrees on the spot.


    It could also hop, kick, and even perform challenging maneuvers like aerial splits effortlessly.


    Su Heng yed with the golem beside him with great enjoyment, but upon sweeping his gaze over and noticing some people from the Demon Suppression Bureau in the vige being drawn over by curiosity, he coughed twice, gestured with his hand, and the stone golem disintegrated with a crash, turning into a pile of rubble on the ground.


    This talent was somewhat simr to the Wolf King''s Force Field Maniption, both broadly categorized under the ability of "telekinesis."


    The difference was that the talents of the White Snake were more refined, allowing for more varieties to be developed.


    Whereas the Wolf King''s Force Field Maniption had a farther range and was more direct in effect, primarily showcasing brute force.


    Both have their strengths and weaknesses.


    But the talent of the White Snake is applicable in more scenarios.


    "If only I could fuse the two talents,bining their advantages," Su Heng couldn''t help but think.


    After all, the number of changing monster carcasses he could fuse was limited, although he could switch them at any time.


    But that also required some time.


    In the heat of battle, who has that much time to fuss with these trivial matters?


    And carrying them all the time risks losing them by ident one day, which would be a joke.


    He could now use attribute points to strengthen the monster carcasses, but fusing two of them was not something he could do. Perhaps the Demon Suppression Bureau had simr records? Su Heng was not sure, but he temporarily noted this thought, nning to search for information in the scripture pavilionter.


    Tap, tap!


    Soft footsteps approached.


    Su Heng looked up to see Luo Shuang with dark circles under her eyes.


    "You look a bit better thanst night," Su Heng said with a smile, although Luo Shuang still looked exhausted, her aura had stabilized.


    "Thanks to the elixir you brought, and your staying up to watch over me," Luo Shuang said with a smile, "just having your figure sit here gives a sense of security."


    "The old master wants to see you," the smile faded from Luo Shuang''s face as she spoke in a low voice.


    "How is he now?" Su Heng asked as he walked alongside Luo Shuang, shoulder to shoulder.


    He asked, but in his heart, he already knew the answer. The two practiced the same Cultivation Technique; how Li Daoxuan wasst night, Su Heng could see at a nce. That feeling of amp running out of oil couldn''t be faked.


    "You''ll see when you get there," Luo Shuang sighed, seemingly reluctant to say more.


    Su Heng did not continue to question and the two hurried on their way.


    They soon arrived at a sunny slope behind the vige.


    Li Daoxuan stood on a rock on the slope, basking in the sun, nked by more than a dozen elders standing in silence, heads bowed. Even as the sun had risen and the golden sunshine drove away the chill, the atmosphere remained tense.


    Only when Su Heng approached did some of the elders nod at him, their faces showing gratitude and awe.


    Luo Shuang stopped and stood to one side.


    Su Heng moved forward alone,ing to Li Daoxuan''s side.


    Looking up, he saw the old man''s face flushed with vibrancy and his eyes gleaming brightly.


    But Su Heng shook his head, knowing this was thest rally. The body''s cells and organs were releasing theirst bits of energy. Once this energy was exhausted, the organs would fail, and there would be no saving him.


    "Do you have anyst words?" Su Heng asked, arms crossed over his chest, looking at the same sun as Li Daoxuan.


    "I thought you might be a little sadder," Li Daoxuan joked.


    "I think you would have anticipated death already," Su Heng said softly, "But as for the sun, when it sets and gathers the deste remnants of its dying light, it is also the moment it burns anew on the other side, climbing over the mountain tops, dispersing the fierce glow of dawn."


    Li Daoxuan was taken aback, seemingly not expecting such a profound statement from Su Heng, whom he thought to be a brainless brute.


    Thus, Li Daoxuan asked, "Then, would you like to be the sun of Baihua County?"


    He took out the jade Token, representing his identity as the Head of the Demon Suppression Bureau, from his robe. Su Heng paused for a moment, nodded, and reached out to ept it.


    "I am willing," he said.


    Su Heng expected Li Daoxuan might pass the Head position to him and was prepared for it.


    Both publicly and privately, he was willing to ept it.


    Privately, the Demon Suppression Bureau, backed by the imperial court, could provide Su Heng with the rich true energy he needed to enhance his strength.


    Publicly, his family and friends lived in Baihua County. The tragedy that had struck Changqing County was still vivid in his mind, and he didn''t want the same thing to happen to Baihua County.


    Inparison, it would be harder to make it on his own out there.


    Just gathering information on demons and roaming around would waste so much time.


    So Su Heng did not ponder much and nodded in agreement.


    Seeing him solemnly ept the Token, Li Daoxuan seemed relieved of a heavy burden, a smile appeared on his face, and he exhaled heavily. Read new chapters at


    "Is there anything else?" Su Heng asked patiently.


    Although they had not known each other long, their time together had been pleasant.


    Li Daoxuan taught him Tian Gang Demon Subduing and helped him recast the Ghost Sees Sorrow. Su Heng did not have many he considered friends, but Li Daoxuan was one of them. And now, this friend was about to leave.


    "Do you remember the first time we met?" Freed from the burden of being the Head of the Demon Suppression Bureau, Li Daoxuan seemed to regain some vitality.


    "I remember," Su Heng nodded.


    "Kid!" Li Daoxuan''s eyes twinkled with a golden light, "Let''s have another fight, shall we?"


    "You''re about to die, what''s the point of another fight?" Su Heng''s brow furrowed slightly, puzzled.


    "When I was a beggar, I fought with others over a half piece of steamed bun from a filthy gutter. When I got older, I fought desperately to prove myself to my master.


    And then, perhaps due to luck or other reasons, those from my generation, who were much better than me, all died, and I became the Head of the Demon Suppression Bureau. Since then, I have fought for various heavy reasons, and I could only win, not lose."


    As the sun finally climbed over the mountain top, countless brilliant golden rays shone on Li Daoxuan, casting a blurry golden halo on the old man''s body.


    "But now, I want to fight you for a reason that''s far simpler and purer."


    "What reason?"


    "Curiosity," Li Daoxuan suddenly burst into a loudugh, "I want to know, this ultimate martial force that was my lifelong dream yet never within reach, that can easily suppress everything, just how incredible a realm it is!"


    Whoosh!


    The moment Li Daoxuan''s words ended, without Su Heng nodding in agreement,


    A long punch turned into a ck light, tearing through the air and whistling straight towards Su Heng''s face.