One more catty, one more attribute point

Chapter 38: Chapter 36: Aristocratic Families

"Sister, who are you looking down on?" Su Heng muttered to himself in his heart.

His strength was now not just ten times that of an ordinary person, but as his weight and physique increased, his power became even more terrifying and exaggerated.

In other words...

According to the martial arts system presented by Su Li, Su Heng's potential was essentially limitless.

"You just mentioned the Cultivating Demon Form," Su Heng asked, "What realm is that?"

"Cultivating Demon Form, Gestating Demon Spawn, and Heavenly Transformation are considered the three great realms of us cultivators," Su Li replied.

"Within Cultivating Demon Form and Gestating Demon Spawn, there are three smaller stages—Muscle and Bone, Blood and Organs. As for the Heavenly Deceit Realm, that realm is too mysterious, too far beyond me. My master might understand it, but I do not know much."

Demon Form, Demon Spawn, Heavenly Deceit... These give me an increasingly enticing feeling.

"Gulp!"

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Su Heng asked again, "Then sister, which realm are you in now?"

"I have already stepped into the second stage of the Demon Form realm, Bone Forging," Su Li said, slightly lifting her chin with a proud expression.

"..."

Clutching her fists tightly, Su Li looked at him somewhat angrily, "What does your disdainful expression mean?"

"Truly a prodigious young talent," Su Heng complimented insincerely.

"I heard Ning Zhibai say that even those naturally talented, whose potential and comprehension are top-notch, still need about thirty years of hard work to cultivate a Cultivation Technique to completion and step into the Grandmaster realm," he continued.

"From my understanding," Su Heng said, "what they call a Grandmaster in the martial world is someone who has developed their potential to the limit yet has not transcended the human category."

"Clearly, you, a Demon Form realm martial artist, are stronger than a Grandmaster, even much stronger," he added.

"But you've only been studying abroad for two and a half years. Even with exceptional talents, it's impossible to surpass others' thirty years of effort in just two and a half years."

As he spoke, Su Heng pulled her hand away. Her fair and delicate palm had no calluses, "You don't look like someone who has undergone tough training."

"I've told you I'm a once-in-a-century genius..." Su Li withdrew her hand.

"Alright..."

She sighed, not continuing the joke this time, but seriously said, "Since you killed the water ghost, you must have realized something extraordinary about the demons."

"Yes," Su Heng nodded.

"Using a special method, the flesh and blood of these demons can be transformed into 'medicinal guides.' Combined with the corresponding Cultivation Technique and absorbing its medicinal power, it can trigger a mutation in the body, surpassing the human limit and gradually morphing towards the direction of the demons. That is the true essence of Cultivating Demon Form."

"You took a shortcut," Su Heng recalled his own cultivation journey.

He had painstakingly cultivated a Cultivation Technique from the very basics, without any external assistance, expended time and sweat, cultivated it to completion, developed his body's potential to the limit, and then broke through that limit to step into a new realm.

Therefore...

On the surface, Su Heng's realm was lower than Su Li's.

But in a real fight, it could only be said that even if Su Li used both hands and feet, she might not be able to defeat Su Heng.

Remembering the progress of the Vein Mutation on his status panel, he reasonably speculated that Su Li definitely had not completed the first realm of Cultivating Demon Form.

It was probably only about fifty to sixty percent of the mutation, which might make her foundation unstable.

"Cultivation should still proceed step by step; one must not be too hasty," Su Heng remarked softly, not expecting that his casual comment would seem to remind Su Li of something, making her complexion also appear somewhat gloomy.

Is there... a story to this?

Seeing that expression, Su Heng was quite astonished.

"Since the Demon Suppression Bureau has such a long inheritance, why have I never heard of it before?" Su Heng asked, puzzled.

"A superior healer treats diseases not yet manifest, a mediocre healer treats diseases about to flare, and an inferior healer treats diseases that have already occurred. Doesn't this explain why our work is well done?" Su Li smiled, "Before demons start causing trouble, we have already eradicated and suppressed them.

Naturally, common folk have never heard of the authority of the Demon Suppression Bureau."

"I see. Then why are demons appearing one after another now?"

"This..."

Su Li shook her head, "I'm not very sure myself. It could be a natural disaster, or it could be man-made, or even possibly both. I've only just joined the Demon Suppression Bureau two years ago. How could I know the answers to these questions?"

"What do you think, would you consider joining our Demon Suppression Bureau?" Su Li tapped Su Heng's arm and asked with a grin.

"I'll think about it…"

Su Heng did not immediately agree, instead, he was more concerned about Su Li.

He feared the dangers she might face during missions, and if by some misfortune they were parted by life and death, that would be heartbreaking for Su Heng.

"At our Demon Suppression Bureau, we have the Demon Suppression Tower, which holds the demons that have caused trouble in Qingzhou for hundreds of years. Any cultivation technique you wish to practice, you can find the corresponding demon's flesh and blood there for assistance," Su Li continued to persuade.

She had not thought too much about it, only feeling that Su Heng, with such terrifying talent, should not bury himself in a small place like Changqing County.

Demon Suppression Tower—To me, isn't this like a buffet?

Su Heng was somewhat tempted.

He slowly stood up, holding a piece of apple in his hand, and walked toward the window.

Suddenly thinking of something, Su Heng furrowed his brows and said solemnly, "Since one demon along with the corresponding cultivation technique can create a large number of Martial Artists with strengths far surpassing ordinary people. Then, within the Grand Zhou Dynasty, might there be those who choose to breed demons to fulfill their own ambitions?"

"The people you are talking about, we normally call them aristocratic families," Su Li quietly appeared behind Su Heng, her fair pretty face no longer smiling.

"Aristocratic families... Does the Demon Suppression Bureau not handle them?" Su Heng asked again.

"A hundred-year dynasty, a thousand-year aristocracy. Many of those families existed even before the Grand Zhou Dynasty was founded. The Demon Suppression Bureau can only check them, unable to completely root them out," Su Li sighed, answering somewhat helplessly.

Su Heng recalled the records in the county annals.

'Continuous heavy rain for ten days, plague transmission, people attacking each other, over a hundred thousand casualties in the city.'

'Drought in Yunzhou… casualties in three counties amount to a million, bones exposed in the fields, no chickens crow for thousands of miles.'

'Flood in Qingmu State, a dam burst, countless bodies floated, crows blocked the sun.'

Behind these seemingly common natural disasters, whether there were manipulations from those so-called families, Su Heng did not know.

If it were indeed the case...

Aristocratic families breeding demons, demons devouring humans. Ordinary people, in the eyes of these family disciples, are no different from weeds fed to pigs. The glories and riches of the mundane world are nothing but fleeting smoke in the face of such disasters.

"Smoke, smoke… Damn it!"

Su Heng suddenly looked up, his eyes widened, but noticed that the bright sunlight outside the window had dimmed without him realizing.

Under the iron-grey sky, threads of drifting mist, akin to streams, swept over the ancient tall city walls, spreading towards the city.