Before this, the limit of Xuan Ji's imagination, as a poor man, was to one day win five million in the lottery, pay the taxes, and buy a "run-down little house" in the western suburbs, slowly paying off the remaining loan.

He never thought there would be a day like today.

Sheng Lingyuan calmly pushed away his hand, "You are the one maintaining the entire formation. If you can't maintain it - for example, if you fall asleep and the spiritual power of the formation is cut off - then this room will return to its original state."

Xuan Ji thought to himself, "Why sleep at all?"

In a house as big as the William Castle in the downtown area of a first-tier city, he could literally let himself go and even if he fell asleep, he would wake up laughing from his dreams.

"I never sleep when I'm at home," declared Xuan Ji, bouncing over to the large fabric sofa that now sat alone in a corner of the room like a miniature landscape in a bonsai garden.

He had cleared out all of his tea, alcohol, and snacks, presenting them as offerings to Sheng Lingyuan.

"What lesson do you want to work on today? Do you still want me to practice threading? I can do it while flying or even while doing a 720-degree spin!"

Sheng Lingyuan declined the offer for Xuan Ji to practice threading and instead instructed him to work on his spiritual awareness, as he felt that Xuan Ji's radar was not sensitive enough.

Without hesitation, Xuan Ji agreed, stating that even if Sheng Lingyuan asked him to wear two antennas on his head, he could transform into a router on the spot.

Sheng Lingyuan wandered around and dug up a sorrel plant from the greenery on his windowsill.

With a wave of his hand, a thin layer of black mist spread across the ground, and in the blink of an eye, an illusion was superimposed on the spatial array.

Xuan Ji stared in amazement as the once flat ground became undulating, with lush grass and dense trees, accompanied by the sounds of insects, birds, and flowing water.

His living room had transformed into a beautiful forest. He felt a coolness on the back of his neck and reached up to touch a droplet of water that had rolled down from the leaves above.

"This is too..." he trailed off.

Sheng Lingyuan reminded him, "This is an illusion. Everything you see and feel here is false."

Xuan Ji knew it was fake, but as he took a deep breath, the moist scent of soil and the fragrance of plants hit him, and he felt his lungs expand.

For a moment, he almost felt a desire to live in Sheng Lingyuan's palm forever. No wonder the ancients said that demons could bewitch the mind.

"The only real plant here is the sorrel you just saw," Sheng Lingyuan said. "Your task tonight is to break the illusion and find the real plant."

Compared to embroidering in the midst of lewd music, today's tutoring content was too refreshing.

Xuan Ji couldn't help but hesitate and take two steps back.

He confirmed, "Just find that plant and we're done?"

"Yes, don't pull the wrong one," Sheng Lingyuan played with a small teacup, smiling warmly at him.

Xuan Ji was so amused by his smile that he couldn't hear what he was saying clearly. He was completely lost and fell into a dreamland.

The air in Yong'an was not good these days, with PM2.5 levels exceeding 100.

However, Xuan Ji found himself surrounded by lush greenery, feeling lost and unsure of what to do. He had been proud of his second spiritual development, which allowed him to scan the entire headquarters building while sitting in his office.

But now, he was struck by a blow - he closed his eyes and could see the entire illusion in front of him, but couldn't find any flaws between reality and illusion.

In his eyes, the heavenly demon's illusion had no flaws at all. In this fantasy world, there were at least tens of thousands of buttercups, all looking like they were born from the same mother.

There was one right under his feet, and even though 99.99% of them were fake, Xuan Ji decided to pull it out and study it carefully to see the difference between the magical and real plants.

He gently tugged at the stem and pulled the buttercup out by its roots.

Even the dirt on the roots looked so realistic...

Wait, why was the root so long?

Xuan Ji's heart sank as he saw a thick, long animal hair attached to the buttercup's root.

Without hesitation, he spread his wings and flew into the air. At the same time, a thunderous roar shook his chest, and the ground split open.

A giant beast, quick as a lightning bolt, pounced out with its huge tiger claws aimed at Xuan Ji's face. If he hadn't dodged quickly, this thing would have scratched his face!

It was a small mountain-sized tiger with nine tails swishing behind it and a fierce human face on top. It could jump up to a hundred meters high.

"What is this thing?" he exclaimed.

"This is the Lu Wu," calmly replied Sheng Lingyuan, "one of the ancient heavenly spirits that fell from the sky. It is said to be one of the guards of the nine heavens, brave and skilled in battle, especially protective of its own. If you pull out the fairy grass under its protection, be careful not to be caught by it, or else..."

Xuan Ji flicked two coins with white flames and shot them like meteors towards the tiger's eyes, but Lu Wu casually slapped them away.

The divine beast opened its mouth and roared, and for the first time in his life, Xuan Ji felt the killing power of sound waves.

He was shaken by the roar and almost fell from mid-air.

"Your Majesty! Master! Master Teacher! Ancestor! Forefather!"

Xuan Ji flapped his wings in a panic, dodging a swipe from Lu Wu's claw. He felt like a mosquito being relentlessly pursued by an electric mosquito swatter.

"Please give me some guidance from the sidelines!"

Sheng Lingyuan curiously opened a bottle of sparkling wine, took a whiff, and then distanced himself from it.

"I told you not to mess up. Lu Wu is a primordial god and demon. Even the former leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan might not have been able to defeat him. I'm powerless to help you. You should run away quickly."

Xuan Ji: "..."

That old bastard!

Sheng Lingyuan continued to speak without any concern. "Since this is a illusionary realm, Lu Wu is just a beast within the illusion. If you break the illusion, it will naturally dissipate. It's not difficult."

Without giving Xuan Ji a chance to say anything, Lu Wu roared again, as if a thousand bronze gongs were exploding in his ears at the same time. He was temporarily deafened, and two lines of blood flowed down his outer ear canal.

If he killed him, the old demon wouldn't have anywhere else to go find chicken bones. Xuan Ji guessed that the injuries he suffered in the illusion would not be carried out, but the pain was real and the punishment would be too.

Xuan Ji was forced to focus solely on digging up the sorrel, with no room for any other thoughts.

He made several mistakes, almost being chased by a group of flying one-legged owls, and then accidentally pulling out a  snake with six eyes. The heads of these snakes were about the same size as the front of a car.

Xuan Ji had a close encounter with a snake. It probably hadn't brushed its teeth since the beginning of time, and Xuan Ji almost died from the stench...

That night, he tumbled around in this "Shanghai Compendium of Monsters and Beasts," and his family emblem never left his brow.

Finally, as the sky began to lighten, Xuan Ji felt a subtle difference in the atmosphere of the entire illusion, a discordant point.

He suddenly dove down from mid-air, pursued by a group of enhanced owl monsters. These owl monsters were carrying some kind of zombie virus, and Xuan Ji accidentally got pecked on the shoulder by one of them.

In no time at all, half of his shoulder was rotten to the bone, and the decay was spreading up his neck.

This won't do! Xuan Ji would rather die than show any weakness in front of Sheng Lingyuan.

He's going all out.

Suddenly, flames burst from his wings and he falls like a meteor.

Lu Wu and the snake, who have been waiting on the ground, rush forward and each grab a piece of his wings. The owl monster follows closely behind and pushes those gorgeous wings to the ground. The wings crash onto the ground, and feathers of flame-colored feathers fly everywhere, like melting gold and broken jade.

It seems like the monsters are about to feast on them.

But in the next moment, Lu Wu's ears perk up - there's no one under the wings.

Suddenly, with a "clatter," the wings scattered into a pile of coins, rolling and clattering on the ground.

At the same time, taking advantage of the bright light that concealed his escape, Xuan Ji rolled and crawled on the ground for four or five meters.

Half of his body was already rotten, but he grabbed a blade of grass with his remaining good hand and pulled himself up without hesitation.

He couldn't afford to make another mistake!

In the next moment, the roar of a tiger and the screech of an eagle disappeared at the same time, and the dense jungle evaporated on the spot.

Xuan Ji collapsed on the ground, holding a withered blade of grass, as his broken bones slowly healed and his flesh restored to its former smoothness.

Even his clothes, which had been torn to shreds, were resurrected without a single thread out of place. It was as if it had all been a terrifying nightmare.

From the TV next to him came the melodious music and the narration of a documentary: "From clusters of lush green seedlings, rice grows into golden grains, and with the various regional culinary customs, creates a diverse and flavorful cuisine..."

Xuan Ji: "..."

Outside the window, the sky had already turned white.

Sheng Lingyuan, the ancient demon with vast magical powers, not only managed to turn on the TV himself, but also dug out a dozen documentaries from Xuan Ji's collection.

When Xuan Ji was being chased by ancient monsters, Sheng Lingyuan enjoyed watching them with two ounces of yellow wine in hand.

"Ah, you're finally here?" His Majesty turned his gaze from the screen and pointed to Xuan Ji's phone on the coffee table. "That... has been ringing three times."

If the alarm rang three times, it meant that Xuan Ji would soon miss out on the perfect attendance award!

With a loud curse, Xuan Ji leapt up and grabbed his phone from the coffee table.

But instead of an alarm, he saw three missed calls.

"He Cuiyu has gone missing."

Xuan Ji called back, dialing the dispatch office directly.

Xiao Zheng answered without even a greeting, his hoarse voice cutting straight to the point.

Clearly, Xuan Ji wasn't the only one who had spent the night without sleep.

"Who?" Xuan Ji slapped his ear, feeling like he had been yelled at by a group of monsters all night and was still a bit groggy.

"It's Old Lady Yu," said Xiao Zheng, taking a big gulp of water. "At the last Penglai Conference, they directly caught Master Yue De and everyone dispersed unhappily. Our people have been keeping an eye on the other important figures - the Old Lady's entourage is full of experts, and our field agents dare not get too close. They followed her all the way back to her old mansion in the suburbs of Beilin City.

"Yesterday, after receiving orders from the Chief Huang, a few Thunder brothers went to reinforce them and conducted a night raid on the old mansion. They found that the Old Lady was not there, only a wooden puppet in the house. In addition, some information was extracted from the suspect Silver Shadow's interrogation. Come over and listen to it earlier."

There was a special interrogation room in the headquarters building, with white walls and floors - even the seams were pasted with snow-white paint, without a hint of color.

If one stayed in there for too long, they would start to suspect that they were going snow-blind. The ceiling and floor were fitted with sixteen Echo Sound machines that continuously blew towards the central cell.

The most elite agents of the spiritual-type abilities took turns interrogating around the clock. Even if Silver Shadow had already been thoroughly investigated once, they would still extract every detail, as if they were trying to get information from a copper brain.

Behind the interrogation room were a series of analytical instruments that simultaneously monitored the suspect's brain activity, inhibition, heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductivity, ensuring the authenticity and reliability of the interrogation results.

"This person from the True Nature Sect uses an app called 'Nirvana Return' for private communication, which is very deceptive," Xiao Zheng clicked on a flashy mobile software, which had a little animation of coins falling out with a "clatter clatter" sound, looking like a poorly made game.

"There are two ways to log in, one is through a verification code, and the other is through a regular registration with a phone number or email. If you log in through the latter, you will enter a knockoff fishing game, anyone who accidentally enters it would quickly delete it. The only way to enter properly is through a verification code, which is not obtained through a phone, but through their so-called 'true divine totem'."

Wang Ze said, "I remember that the blind man seemed to be kowtowing to a mythical creature, saying 'Long live, long live, long live' while doing so."

Xuan Ji cleared his throat and whispered, "That's a loose translation. The literal translation is 'My lord is the true god.'"

"Close enough, you get the idea," Wang Ze waved his hand. "So, how many kowtows do you need to do to land on the system?"

"Silver Shadow explained that it depends on your level in the system. The higher your level, the easier it is to obtain the verification code. Silver Shadow is at level ten, which is quite high - only the administrators are at level twelve. He only needs to kowtow ten times to obtain the code, which they call 'offering ten bows.' A beginner at level one needs to offer one hundred and twenty bows."

Suddenly, Sheng Lingyuan spoke up and asked, "How do you level up?"

Xiao Zheng couldn't help but glance at him. He had heard that this "Sword Spirit" had just taken human form and couldn't even speak Mandarin properly.

He still didn't know how to use a cellphone, yet he always managed to pinpoint critical issues.

"The members in the True Nature Sect complete tasks to earn points. The basic tasks include gathering to worship this statue of a mythical creature and introducing reliable people to join our organization. There are also tasks assigned by administrators. For example, the ones that Silver Shadow received. When you accumulate enough points, you can upgrade. During the upgrade, the sect will send several experienced members to contact you with something called 'True Pill' - there's a recording of an interrogation, let's watch it."

Xiao Zheng projected the computer screen onto the conference room and they saw Silver Shadow kneeling respectfully with two shining humanoid "flashlights" in his field of vision. They were probably two highly skilled individuals.

One of the flashlights grinned and said, "Congratulations, brother. Are you ready? It might hurt a bit when we draw blood, but for the effect, let's endure it. Otherwise, we'll have to make another cut when it clots later."

The elite members of the Bureau in the conference room twitched at the corners of their eyes, as if they were witnessing a scene of an unlicensed underground hospital scamming people.

Silver Shadow gratefully raised his hand as one of the "flashlights" approached him.

With the experience of a slaughterhouse worker, the flashlight sliced open Silver Shadow's wrist with one swift motion, and the sound of dripping blood immediately filled the air.

Combined with Silver Shadow's strange vision, the scene became even more eerie.

Another "flashlight" began reciting a bizarre incantation, causing Silver Shadow to tremble all over.

After listening to it twice, he stumbled along and recited it herself. Their actions were straight out of a "How to Design a Cult Ritual" textbook, sending shivers down the spines of those who witnessed it.

Without thinking, Wang Ze turned to look at Xuan Ji, only to see him shaking his head in rare disbelief.

This was not the language of the ancient demon clan, but rather a pure form of a spell.

Xuan Ji had a nagging feeling that he had heard it somewhere before, and it sounded very familiar...

Suddenly, Sheng Lingyuan half-opened his eyes and lazily gazed at the projection, but his eyes transformed into sharp knives.

Silver Shadow had recited the strange incantation countless times, and his vision suddenly underwent a strange transformation, causing everyone to gasp in amazement.

"What is that?"

"Wait! Did he regain his sight or... is it an illusion?"

Silver Shadow's vision suddenly became clear, just like that of a normal person.

He could see the two people in front of him, the surrounding environment, and all the colors of the world flooded into his naturally blind eyes.

The tremendous impact almost made Silver Shadow collapse to his knees. He trembled all over, and then his vision slowly dimmed and disappeared.

He was blind once again, and the two people with noses and eyes turned back into human-shaped flashlights.

Silver Shadow was gasping heavily, his body convulsing from the loss of blood. One of the flashlights seemed to be a water-type, as they tried to pinch his wound and quickly stop the bleeding.

However, Silver Shadow violently struggled and continued to chant the spell he had just recited, hoping to shatter the wound and see the light again.

"Alright, brother, calm down - shh...I understand what you mean," the flashlight comforted him by patting his shoulder gently. "You need to take it slow. If you bleed out all at once and die, what's the point of seeing anything? Hurry up and take the True Pill."

In Silver Shadow's view, the "True Pill" was pure black, even darker than the blackness seen by a blind person.

Two people held him down, one pressing on his body while the other pried open his mouth, shoving the unknown pill inside.

The blind man's consciousness grew increasingly hazy, and the voices of those around him began to fade in and out.

"Just sleep for a bit...and then you'll level up and wash your marrow..."

"The master said that your eyes were stained with mortal blood...once you've washed it all away..."

"Wash away...the mortal blood..."

"Clean..."

Silver Shadow must have passed out, as the memories after that were fragmented. Xiao Zheng pressed the pause button and looked up to see Sheng Lingyuan wearing a strange smile.

Xiao Zheng asked, "Do you...know what this is?"

Sheng Lingyuan rubbed his index finger joint and slowly said, "Many years ago, there was a madman who looked down on a part of his own bloodline. He created a set of 'Heaven-Defying Techniques' that could release this part of his bloodline, then swallowed spiritual objects to supplement his body, and finally patched himself up into the four-type monster you see now. It seems that this lunatic has successors."

Wang Ze raised his hand and asked, "What is that True Pill?"

Sheng Lingyuan smiled at him.

The lights in the conference room had been dimmed quite a bit for the projection, and his smile had an eerie and sinister feel to it.

"What do you think?"

Wang Ze couldn't help but shudder and sneak a glance at Xuan Ji.

He felt that this "Sword Spirit" was not an easy opponent.

But Xuan Ji didn't pay attention.

"I suddenly remembered something," Xuan Ji said. "If I'm not mistaken, the average lifespan of special ability people hasn't been much longer than that of ordinary people since the disbandment of the Qingping Division over 700 years ago, right?"

"Depending on the era, the average lifespan of special ability people has remained within a range of 50 to 100 years longer than that of ordinary people in the same period. The oldest employee in our Bureau is Dr. Wang from the Research Institute. There are rumors that he was born in the Ming Dynasty, but that's not accurate. He's only 236 years old, not that old," Chief Huang adjusted his reading glasses and looked up, his gaze shooting over the top of his glasses.

"He's the second oldest special ability talent now. Xuan Ji, what did you want to say?"

"Old Lady Yu's birth year is unknown, but we do know that she joined the Qingping Bureau a long time ago, which means she has lived for at least seven hundred years," Xuan Ji said.

"Don't you all think that the gap between the first and second place is quite significant?"