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nIt was now dawn.

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nWhen Xiao Ran arrived at the Divine Sword Guards headquarters, the rewards from the higher-ups had already arrived. Everyone received 10,000 taels of silver and a Earth-rank Low-grade Healing Pill.

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nAt Little Zhou’s beseeching, Shen Yiming taught him an Earth-rank Middle-grade skill technique.

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nHe’d been scared out of his wits during this period of time. What if one day his “Playing Dead Great Technique” didn’t work?

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nIf he was casually killed by a powerful enemy, he wouldn’t even know what hit him.

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nIn order to boost the means of preserving his own life, he quickly shoved the 10,000 taels of silver that he had just obtained into his robe.

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n“Brother Xiao, are you still going to the Celestial Dungeon?” While they were still in the courtyard, Little Zhou asked.

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n“I have some private matters to settle. I’ll go to the Celestial Dungeon after I’m done,” Xiao Ran said.

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n“I won’t accompany you then. I’ll try to master this Fleeing Cataglyphis Technique in the shortest time possible.”

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n“All the best!” Xiao Ran gave him some words of encouragement.

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nHe left the Divine Sword Guards headquarters and walked towards the Mendacious Brokerage.

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nThis brokerage had no professional ethics. They had sold his private information and almost caused a disaster.

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nWhen he arrived there,

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nhe bumped into an acquaintance, Old Bai, the dungeon guard colleague who had been transferred to the county office.

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n“Brother Xiao, why are you here?” Old Bai was surprised to see him.

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nAs he stood looking at Mendacious Brokerage, a dozen or so constables had sealed the place off and martial law had been imposed. A strong smell of blood wafted outwards from inside. The coroners were seen carrying corpses out.

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n“What’s going on?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“This morning, someone reported that a total of 32 people from the Mendacious Brokerage were killed. The county magistrate was furious and issued an inviolable order to hunt down the murderer.”

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n“Did they offend anyone?”

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nOld Bai lowered his voice. “He died a terrible death! His throat was slit with a sword. From the coroner’s assessment, he died around midnight last night.”

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n“Oh.” Xiao Ran was able to piece together the whole picture.

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nYama’s men found the Mendacious Brokerage and extracted information about himself from them.

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nThereafter they silenced them.

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n“By the way, Brother Xiao, why are you here?”

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n“I happened to pass by,” Xiao Ran said.

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n“Have you had breakfast?” Old Bai asked.

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nXiao Ran shook his head in reply.

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n“I’ve already settled everything here. Come! Let’s go have breakfast,” Old Bai invited him.

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nA short while later,

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nthe two of them sat in a breakfast shop, ordered some items and began eating.

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n“Brother Xiao, have you heard? The people from the Yin Incubation Institute have already arrived in the capital. They’re going to the palace to meet His Majesty later,” Old Bai said.

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n“I wasn’t paying attention to this news.”

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n“The county office is better informed, so it’s not surprising that you haven’t heard,” Old Bai said.

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n“They’re from the kingdom of Great Zhou and are one of the Four Great Institutes of Great Zhou. They are reputedly very powerful. On the surface, they’re here to exchange knowledge, but in reality, they’re probably showing off their strength. I wonder if the Dragon Lake Institute can stand up to them?”

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n“It has nothing to do with us. Don’t go digging around things that we have no right to know,” Xiao Ran reminded.

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n“I understand!” Old Bai nodded in acknowledgment.

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n“Brother Xiao, the four of us are free this weekend. Why don’t we get together? I heard that the Drunken Immortals Court has been rebuilt and is even more luxurious than before. They have recently brought in a batch of ‘new goods’.”

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n“We’ll see!” Xiao Ran said.

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nAfter their meal, Old Bai insisted on footing the bill.

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nThe two then went their separate ways.

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nWhen Xiao Ran reached the Celestial Dungeon, the whole place was a busy hive of activities.

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nUpon seeing him, the lieutenant’s eyes lit up and he quickly walked over. “Are you settling in well at the Divine Sword Guards?”

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n“Not bad.” Xiao Ran replied with a smile.

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n“I’ve already heard about you guys’ work there. Well done! You didn’t bring disgrace to our Celestial Dungeon.”

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nHe pointed to a demon beside him. His shoulder bones were sealed, and his body was bound with chains forged from 10,000-year-old Mystic Iron. However, it still could not stop the innate fiery flames burning on his body.

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nThe lieutenant was caught in a predicament. “Fortunately, you came. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t know what to do with this demon.”

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n“This is?” Xiao Ran looked at the demon with a puzzled expression.

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n“A half-step Profound Realm demon. He’s too unlucky. He had just finished eating a whole village and bumped into Deputy Sword Master Qin.”

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n“…” Xiao Ran didn’t know what to say.

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n“Lock him in the Purgatory, remove his demon core, and leave him to fend for himself,” the lieutenant instructed.

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n“All right.” Xiao Ran walked over and stopped in front of the demon.

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nIt was a Blazing Sun Fire Crow, and its wings were already severed.

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nWhen Xiao Ran approached it, it spat out a jet of flames without warning.

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n“How stubborn!” Xiao Ran responded with a snort.

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nHe made a grab for the flames and slammed them into its chest with enough force to send it flying.

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nHe stopped beside its fallen body with the torture device and took out its demon core .

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n“No…” The Blazing Sun Fire Crow screamed desperately.

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nWithout its demon core, the innate flames on its body vanished.

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n“Catch.” Xiao Ran tossed the demon core to the lieutenant.

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n“Just… just like that?” The lieutenant was dumbfounded.

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n“I had plenty of practice.”

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nHe grabbed the 10,000-year-old Mystic Iron chains and dragged the demon’s body towards the Purgatory.

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n“No wonder the higher-ups transferred him out but still retained him to take charge of the Purgatory. With good reasons too.” The lieutenant mused to himself.

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nWhen Xiao Ran reached the Purgatory,

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nhe locked it up in cell number 108. Here the Purgatory Netherflames and foul Yin atmosphere here were especially heavy. Without its demon core, the torment he suffered would double.

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nIn less than a month, he would die, as repentance for all his sins.

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nThe Golden Tome of Creation flipped to a random page and displayed two items: 800,000 Mastery points, Finishing Touch Sacred Brush (Numinous Treasure).

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n“That’s odd! All these rewards are comparable to a Profound Realm demon.” Xiao Ran noted with suspicion.

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nHe stood looking at the demon. The surrounding Purgatory Netherflames and foul Yin atmosphere engulfed him, but it never once screamed.

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nIn fact, its expression didn’t even change.

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nHis doubts grew stronger!

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nSomething was definitely fishy about it. This demon was probably not as simple as it seemed outwardly.

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n“Spiritual Clarity Eye.” Xiao Ran invoked his special eyesight ability.

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nHis eyes flickered with golden light. Hidden in the demon’s heart was a fiery red bead that emitted the aura of a Numinous Treasure.

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nHe sensed a powerful spiritual energy fluctuating in there. It had already reached Level 1 of the Earth Realm.

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n“So that’s what was going on. Looks like it has already been possessed by a great demon.” Realization dawned on Xiao Ran.

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nHe then retracted his Spiritual Clarity Eye.

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nWith a sudden violent grab, a burst of golden light appeared in his palm, and a huge suction force enveloped the fiery red bead in the demon’s body.

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nBang!

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nThe demon’s chest exploded and the bead flew out towards Xiao Ran’s hand.

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nAt this moment,

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nan overpowering spiritual soul energy rushed out of the bead in a valiant attempt to resist this suction force.

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n“Come here, you!” Xiao Ran barked out loud.

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nThe suction force doubled as he grabbed the bead firmly. He invoked his Immense Righteous Energy and directed it into the bead through his palm and forcefully suppressed the spiritual soul energy inside.

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nThe serpent demon was paralyzed with shock as he stared at the overwhelming Immense Righteous Energy blanketing the whole area.

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nWith the entire space locked down, he didn’t even have a place to hide.

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nBesides,

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nImmense Righteous Energy was the nemesis of all demons. On top of that, this wave was so dense and powerful.

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n“Who the hell are you?” The serpent demon hissed out angrily.

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nHe frantically circulated his spiritual soul energy to resist this overpowering Immense Righteous Energy.

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nHis efforts were akin to a mantis trying to stop a chariot. In other words, totally futile.

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nIn less than three seconds, he was captured by the Immense Righteous Energy and forcefully pulled out of the bead.

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nThe serpent demon struggled madly, trying to escape.

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nAll his efforts were in vain.

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n“Behave yourself,” Xiao Ran cautioned him.

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nHe channeled massive force into his arm and then violently smashed the demon onto the floor. The cell shook with a thunderous boom.

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n“Heavenly Slave Divine Finger.”

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nHe shot out ten fingers in rapid succession, all of which landed on the serpent demon.

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nThe serpent demon stopped trying to escape. Instead, it now writhed and rolled on the ground in excruciating pain.

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nXiao Ran watched calmly. He would let him enjoy the pain for a while before continuing with the interrogation.

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