Chapter 20: New Skill Offspring
Jiang Yan had reached the Spirit Awakening Stage, and yet was suppressing someone at the Old Talisman Stage?
What was the difference between this and the Nine‑Headed Worm shouting for Benbo’erba to go kill Tang Monk and his disciples?
“Don’t panic, don’t panic!”
Ba Lie laughed heartily. “Of course it’s not about confronting a powerful Old Talisman-stage being head-on—that even I couldn’t handle. It’s merely a historical relic extracted from the corpse of an Old Talisman-stage being.
Originally, this item was placed in the treasury of the Jiangnan Provincial Headquarters, but because our Pan’an Branch performed exceptionally, headquarters rewarded it to us. Although it is more than half sealed, it still doesn’t always obey and occasionally acts up.”
A flicker of doubt appeared in Zhao Yinman’s eyes as she opened her mouth, “Director Ba, didn’t you say earlier…”
“Yes, Yinman, I almost forgot to tell you—I left a historical relic in the car. Go take a look for me. If an ordinary person stole it, that would be a real problem.”
Before she could finish speaking, Ba Lie cut her off.
“…Alright.”
Zhao Yinman nodded and turned to leave.
After the elevator doors closed, Ba Lie finally sighed in relief. He couldn’t very well tell Jiang Yan that headquarters kept intercepting new recruits, and because he had been waving banners and blocking the entrance to protest for days, they reluctantly gave him compensation.
A historical relic from the Old Talisman Stage that could purify earth-vein energy.
It sounded impressive, and Ba Lie was delighted at first.
But after bringing it back, he discovered that although it had decent combat power, it frequently flared up and became a burden.
His friend told him that the earth-vein energy in central Jiangnan Province had been chaotic recently, with a chance of earth-dragon surges. So headquarters bundled their consolation with a free earth-vein conduit clearing job—two birds with one stone.
Although it had many flaws, it was still an Old Talisman-stage historical relic, and Ba Lie couldn’t bear to return it.
Unexpectedly, the frequency of its disruptions had been increasing recently, as if it had gone mad, troubling Ba Lie greatly.
His sleep quality had plummeted.
Just the day before yesterday the suppression had ended, and based on past patterns it should have been obedient for a month—but it came up again today.
Didn’t it ever let him rest?
If Zhao Yinman spoke the truth, he’d lose the little bit of face he had—and forget about persuading her to come to the branch.
Thinking of this, Ba Lie urged, “How about it? This is a great chance to feel the might of the Old Talisman Stage early; it’ll help refine your spiritual sensitivity. After this opportunity is gone… it may not come again.”
“Alright!”
Jiang Yan nodded.
He believed Ba Lie wouldn’t trick him and was eager to witness high-level transcendent power.
Before that, he had one matter to handle and asked them to wait a few minutes.
Ba Lie happily agreed, took the elevator downstairs, and saw Zhao Yinman opening the car door, still searching.
She suddenly turned her head and said, “Director Ba, I didn’t see the relic—it may have been stolen. We need to contact the Security Bureau quickly to block off this area.”
…
Ba Lie looked up at the ceiling, speechless.
This girl was perfect… except too honest.
She didn’t see that he was making excuses to fool her, but to prevent things from escalating, he forced a laugh: “My memory’s terrible—my mistake. I think I left it at the office.”
“Director Ba, don’t think I’m stupid. You were clearly trying to divert me.”
“Um…”
Ba Lie looked embarrassed.
He was just about to explain he had the branch’s best interests in mind when she continued:
“You were afraid I’d discover that girl inside and it’d be awkward. Though she’s never had a boyfriend, I’d pretend not to see her—I’m not that nosy.”
“Haha, that’s right—Xiao Zhao is truly the branch’s top strategist!”
Ba Lie gave an awkward laugh. “After all, that girl being possessed by such a monster was already embarrassing enough. There’s no need to expose her and socially kill her.”
Although Jiang Yan didn’t let them enter, as an experienced History Walker he had already smelled the stench lingering in the hotel and heard the transcendent fluctuations and subtle sounds from the room. He quickly pieced together most of what happened.
He had been ready to help—but unexpectedly, Jiang Yan single-handedly forced the possessing demon out and saved the girl, resolving everything.
The process was handled with such maturity—it didn’t feel like the work of a newcomer.
This led Ba Lie to assume from the start that Jiang Yan was a veteran History Walker.
He pulled out a Marlboro from his pocket, lit one, and glanced at Zhao Yinman, regretting they couldn’t share it.
Sharing with the people would truly be Marlboro; smoking it alone was just selfish.
The first hit went deep into the lungs; he exhaled a smoke ring, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth: “We’ll send someone tomorrow to have her sign the confidentiality agreement—after all, she’s still ‘sleeping.’”
In Room 401,
Jiang Yan ignored the girl still in a “deep sleep” and looked at the skill‑type offspring nurtured by the Mountain Lady.
【Shift Form, Shadow Exchange (Basic Level 95%)】
【Quality: Common】
【Skill Description: The Mountain Lady is a type of white‑furred ape living deep in the mountains, solely female. She is adept at mimicking humans, attracted to handsome men. Through her white fur she merges into a human’s shadow, absorbing male essence in a yin‑yang supplementing method to enhance her strength. She excels at shadow teleportation and can manipulate filthy talismans and spells associated with Peach Blossom Dew.
Once reborn into a skill‑type offspring by the Dark God Embryo, she gains the ability to subtly control bones and muscles to alter appearance and height for disguise. She can temporarily transform into a shadow for three seconds, with a half‑hour cooldown before reuse.
Effect doubles under moonlight.
Frequent use carries a risk of her shadow assimilating into her flesh, leading to the growth of special white fur and enabling long‑term infiltration into shadows.】
【Evaluation: I envy you, I want to become you even more】
“She not only gave a shadow‑elemental form but also an accompanying disguise skill—nice drop rate.”
Jiang Yan was quite satisfied with this. Although the Mountain Lady was relatively weak in reality, she once attracted the incarnation of Erlang Shen in folklore before being subdued.
Compared to the pseudo‑invincible physical immunity granted by shadow transformation, he valued the disguise skill’s bonus more—having control over his own muscles and skeleton would significantly improve his physical fitness.
Previously Jiang Yan nearly exhausted himself creating the Coffin‑Burial artifact. Though his life wasn’t at risk, he had lost a great deal of flesh and bone, resulting in anemia, weakness, significantly reduced immunity, and other side effects.
He even now felt a faint throbbing pain in his right upper abdomen, accompanied by nausea.
There was a high probability… his liver cancer had worsened!
Fortunately, before the battle with Commander Lu, he chose to exchange parts of his flesh and blood from a wild‑boar cavalry with the Mouth of the Purified Altar to regain vitality. Then he successfully condensed the Ash Lamp, boosting his soul energy.
Combined with the newly acquired bodily control, he managed to maintain normal bodily functions.
If he were an ordinary person, he probably would have been rushed to the hospital.
As for sacrificing cancer cells to the Dark God Embryo … Jiang Yan had considered it, but the cell volume was enormous, and the target too small to locate. The cells had already integrated into part of his liver—he couldn’t simply cut it out, could he?
Even if the liver could regenerate, it would deal a second blow to his already weakened body, causing a chain reaction.
“The immediate priority is to strengthen the physique, then find skills or items to fortify the five organs, and the problem will be resolved. I’ll start planting spirit rice tomorrow.”
Jiang Yan pondered this quietly, not panicking—when issues arise, one solves them.
The Corpse‑Dissolution Court could bring the dead back to life; surely they could restore organs?
Since time was short, Jiang Yan picked up his phone, gathered the Coffin Spirit, and prepared to leave.
Pausing by the bedside, he stared at the girl whose eyelashes twitched slightly, and murmured:
“Let’s be honest—the front desk girl looked better without makeup than with it, but that’s no reason to hog my bed. If I don’t return tonight, I’ll get her to refund the room—I certainly didn’t sleep with her.”
With that, Jiang Yan closed the door and walked out.
In the quiet room, Chen Yu opened her eyes, looked at the ceiling light, and whispered:
“Thank you.”
Although she didn’t have control over her body, she felt as though she had a god’s‑eye view—realizing how foolish she’d been, especially with her flattering postures, enough to shame her to death.
It had all stemmed from jealousy and stupidity.
His compliment was not because he liked her, but only to protect what little dignity she had left.
“Ah ah ah—both gentle and handsome, powerful too. How can such a perfect man even exist, it’s just a pity…”
Chen Yu buried her head into the duvet, her gaze falling, but she quickly steadied herself and sniffled softly: “I’ll sleep a bit longer—tomorrow I’ll compensate you with a deluxe single room.”
Meanwhile,
Jiang Yan was already seated in Ba Lie’s red‑interior Maybach vs680, en route to the Bureau of Historical Correction.