It had to be known that there were a total of 185 Star Alliances in the entire cosmic sector. For the Demon Cloud family to be ranked in the top 100 among countless ancient families, it was obvious that they had an extremely deep heritage.

“The current patriarch of my Demon Cloud family is a Lv. 10 powerhouse from the Primordial Research Institute, Pan Li Demon Cloud,” Qi Xiao said. “Of course, there are also three Lv. 9 Origin lifeforms! The family owns more than 30 galaxies.”

Redeye nodded.

“As for me…” Qi Xiao glanced at Redeye and said softly, “I’m currently the youngest Lv. 8 cosmic lifeform in the Demon Cloud family. Be it the patriarch or the family elders, they think highly of me. Once you date me, they will also review your information. It might be a little troublesome for you.”

“You don’t have to feel pressured. Let’s do things in private and not make it public.” Qi Xiao stared at Redeye. “We’ll make it public when we’re ready.”

“Okay.” Redeye nodded. He could sense Qi Xiao’s care and concern for him, and this made him vaguely feel that… taking the initiative to contact her might be the wisest choice he had made.

The demon refinement may have failed, but Redeye felt that the failure was worth it.

“I’ve revealed my real identity. What about you?” Qi Xiao looked at Redeye.

“I have to keep it confidential,” Redeye said.

“Confidential?” Qi Xiao was stunned. “Why?”

“You should know that I’m a high-level Demon Vanquisher,” Redeye said. “Actually, my true realm is the ninth realm.”

Qi Xiao was surprised. Ninth realm?

“Yes, I’m not far from becoming an Origin lifeform.” Redeye nodded. “I’m a peripheral member of the Primordial Research Institute. Our true identity needs to be kept secret; this is also a rule of the Primordial Research Institute.”

Qi Xiao smiled. “I never expected you to be a peerless genius. I also wanted to enter a top faction back then, but I was still lacking and failed the review.”

She was already very outstanding, but the acceptance threshold for the 17 top factions was too high.

“Then, what about your Junior Brother Wu Ming?”

Redeye said, “Although he uses the name Wu Ming—which means he’s not afraid of others knowing that he’s from the Primordial Research Institute—it’s best if you don’t spread it.”

Qi Xiao nodded. “Got it. How long do you reckon it will take to become an Origin lifeform?”

“Probably within a hundred years.” Redeye didn’t hide the truth.

Qi Xiao smiled and nodded. “That’s good! When you become an Origin lifeform, the elders in the family won’t be so much of an obstacle. You are probably aware of how many pointless rules an ancient family like the Demon Cloud family has. They will only make an exception when you become an Origin lifeform.”

Redeye nodded. He enjoyed this moment.

******

Demon Vanquishing World, Cheng’an Prefecture, Prefecture Capital.

Senior Brother Redeye and Qi Xiao’s relationship doesn’t seem ordinary, Xu Jingming thought and felt relaxed. After all, being able to smoothly complete the matter Senior Brother Redeye requested eased one of his worries.

When he returned to his residence, he saw Wu Qi talking to a few people.

“Young Master.” Wu Qi immediately greeted Xu Jingming. “I hired these five people this morning. They’re all locals.”

“Master.” The five servants bowed respectfully.

“This is Liu Fu. He will be the gatekeeper of the residence in the future,” Wu Qi introduced. “This is Cheng Daniu. He’s quite strong and will be in charge of chores in the residence.”

“Greetings, Master. I’m Liu Fu (Daniu).” The two bowed respectfully.

“This is Aunt Zhang, who will be the cook for the residence.”

“This is the Liu family’s third daughter and the Gu family’s youngest girl. They shall serve you as maidservants,” Wu Qi explained.

“Greetings, Master. I’m Liu Sanya (Gu Yu).” The two maidservants were good-looking and knew their place.

Xu Jingming smiled and said, “Uncle Qi, you’re really fast. You hired everyone so quickly.”

“There are many people on the market looking for jobs,” Wu Qi said. “I picked them out quickly. Every one of them will be on probation for a month. If there’s no problem, they will serve the residence for three years.”

Xu Jingming nodded. “I’ll leave everything to you, Uncle Qi.”

With the personnel hired, everything in the residence quickly went on track. Many spots were cleaned up, including the lake.

The residence looked much more presentable.

…

Night.

Xu Jingming sat cross-legged on the bed and took out a jade bottle.

Everything is in place. It’s time to begin the demon refinement. Xu Jingming was very cautious. It wasn’t difficult to kill the demon; with his strength, he was fearless against any demon below the rank of Earth Demon. However, it was different for demon refinement.

Let my first demon refinement begin! Xu Jingming removed the stopper and sucked. A wisp of intrinsic demonic aura rushed out of the bottle and entered his mouth before being swallowed.

Buzz!

When he swallowed this mouthful of intrinsic demonic aura, memories immediately attacked his consciousness.

When taking the brunt of the memories, everything was as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

Xu Jingming saw a young man named Li Chong. He was the owner of a medicine hall in Cheng’an Prefecture’s Liuxian County, and he had carefully managed the family business his ancestors had handed down to him! He also had a beautiful wife and two children. Overall, he was considered a respectable person in Liuxian County.

His father was in charge of the medicine hall in the past, but after his father died, Li Chong realized how difficult it was for his father to manage it personally.

He had to deal with the officials in the county! Even if they spat on his face, he had to smile obsequiously.

There were also some extortionists he had to welcome with a smile and give silver to. He wasn’t afraid of hooligans, but he couldn’t afford to offend the factions behind them.

After being mistreated everywhere, Li Chong finally understood the hardships his father had suffered.

He endured it! If he wanted to run a business, he had to endure all of this.

But one day, while he was still in the medicine hall, he was arrested by the county office and imprisoned. They said that a murder had happened and that he was suspected of being the murderer.