Volume Two: The Anbei Consortium Chapter Twenty: The First Day of the Ghoul’s Employment

What An Kangyu valued was Li Yu’s strength and the potential background behind him. Although, according to his investigation, aside from taking the college entrance exam at fifteen, everything else about Li Yu seemed normal, but to An Kangyu, the greatest normalcy often concealed the greatest abnormality.

For an unaffiliated youth to reach such a level of cultivation by eighteen—if someone told him that, he’d have splashed cold water on their face to wake them up! So, precisely because he couldn’t find anything unusual, An Kangyu became even more convinced of the terrifying power lurking in the background.

The two spoke for quite some time on the second floor before finally parting ways. The car would later be delivered to a location convenient for Li Yu to pick up.

“What about that girl?” An Kangyu lingered in the showroom for a moment and instructed his aide, “Make her the store manager!”

This was a trifling matter for him. After mentioning it, he gave it no further thought.

“Sir, safe travels!”

Knowing Li Yu had arrived by taxi, An Kangyu had his own driver take him home.

Li Yu nodded. After returning home, he glanced at the time—there was still some free time, so he decided to visit the other world.

...

“Master, this is a sixth-tier cultivation method.”

Upon seeing Li Yu arrive, the puppet respectfully presented a booklet.

When he first entered the Qing family, Qingyi, the attendant of the Marquis, had gifted him the “Guiding Method,” a technique sufficient to cultivate to the eighth tier, leading Li Yu into the path of the divine. In addition, there was a secret manual, “Seven Star Thunder Codex,” tailored for the Thunderblood lineage.

The purpose of this manual was to open thunder acupoints within the body to harness the power of lightning. Yet after perusing it, Li Yu realized that the “Seven Star Thunder Codex” didn’t create new acupoints from nothing—it merely unblocked those naturally present in the body.

Thus, there was no need for him to cultivate it. His Thunderblood lineage, gained through the sign-in system, had already prepared everything. Not only that, but compared to the seven acupoints described in the manual, Li Yu’s body had unlocked thousands of identical thunder acupoints!

He took the cultivation method from the puppet and flipped through it. Its name was still the “Guiding Method,” but this time, it enabled cultivation up to the sixth tier. With the puppet’s thoughtful prior briefing, he quickly gained a general understanding.

The difference between the eighth and seventh tiers lay in the spiritual power within the dantian. In the seventh tier, the spiritual power liquefies. For cultivators, this wasn’t just an increase in quantity, but a dramatic refinement in quality.

“Let’s break through today!” Li Yu murmured to himself. Sitting cross-legged, he took out the Thunder Crystal he had earned from the system’s daily sign-in.

Pure thunder-attribute spiritual power surged continuously from the Thunder Crystal, being absorbed into Li Yu’s body with astonishing efficiency, without a trace of waste.

As time passed,

The spiritual energy within the Thunder Crystal gradually dried up, while the spiritual power swirling around Li Yu grew denser and more viscous.

“Young master is about to break through?” Little Emerald stood at the door, her mouth agape.

Even separated by the door, she could feel the violent lightning spiritual power stinging her senses.

Yesterday, she had just given Li Yu the cultivation method, and today he was already on the verge of a breakthrough? All her years of painstaking cultivation—had they been wasted on a dog?

She knew comparison was the thief of joy, but this speed… this wasn’t even a comparison between the same species!

After a long while, the spiritual energy in the room calmed down, and the door opened the next moment.

Li Yu was surprised. “Why are you here?” The door opened to reveal someone’s face right before his own, making his heart skip a beat.

“I was just about to call you for dinner...” Little Emerald paused, then exclaimed, “Young master, are you a seventh-tier cultivator now?”

“That’s right. Ah, I could have managed it yesterday, but it got delayed until today!” Li Yu nodded, sighing a little.

If he had known the cultivation method would be delivered yesterday, he wouldn’t have gone to buy a car, but would have come here to cultivate instead.

As for why he was so confident about breaking through—well, first, he was a cheater, ahem, had a system. Most importantly, his foundation was rock solid, his spiritual power conversion rate was terrifyingly high, and with the daily double experience from the system, his cultivation efficiency was simply sky-high.

How could ordinary people ever compare?

Little Emerald’s mouth twitched. “Will you have dinner now, young master?”

She herself was only a sixth-tier cultivator. At this rate, in a few days Li Yu might reach her level, and before long, the gap would only widen. Who would be protecting whom in the future was really anyone’s guess.

But then she thought, since she was so adept at managing household affairs, she still had a useful skill and wasn’t likely to be discarded anytime soon...

After dinner, Li Yu grew curious—he hadn’t seen Qing Anqi much lately. She had become as elusive as a dragon.

From the puppet’s memories, it seemed that during the days he was away, Qing Anqi’s appearances had become even rarer.

“Little Emerald, do you know what Anqi has been up to lately?” Li Yu asked.

From the pavilion outside, Little Emerald turned and replied, “Young master, the princess has some clan assignments recently. It’ll be a few more days before she’s free.”

Li Yu sighed inwardly. So young, already doing child labor—how pitiful.

With Qing Anqi absent, Little Emerald and Little Red always made him feel the distinction between master and servant. They were unfailingly deferential, and Li Yu found it uncomfortable to be around them for long.

He put away his fishing rod and, under the pretext of returning to his room, slipped back to Blue Star.

After all, the puppet could continue his cultivation for him. Sometimes, his presence in the other world could be more relaxed, giving the Qing family the impression that he balanced work and rest in his cultivation.

Otherwise, if he stayed on Blue Star for two or three days, given the difference in the flow of time, the Qing family would think he’d spent a whole month locked up cultivating—and they’d immediately sense something was off!

...

Having already eaten in the other world, Li Yu didn’t eat again at home. He left a note and prepared to head out for a walk.

He’d barely taken a few steps outside when he received a call from Huang Xiu.

Could something have happened again?

Li Yu’s heart skipped a beat and he quickly answered the call.

“Brother Yu, you have to get here quick! There’s a haunting at school!” Huang Xiu wailed.

At that moment, she was cornered, with two boys before her in grotesque postures. Accompanied by the sickening crack of overstrained joints, their limbs twisted into impossible angles, and sometimes their bodies floated off the ground.

Beside Huang Xiu was a short-haired girl, eyes tightly shut, refusing to look at the terrifying scene, clutching Huang Xiu’s sleeve with all her might.

The two girls were huddled on the floor, the back door right behind them. But to their despair, it wouldn’t open.

“Don’t panic. I’ll be right there!”

Hearing this, Li Yu grew anxious, but then realized something was off.

Wasn’t the wraith supposed to be on that side?

After communicating with the wraith, Li Yu’s expression turned strange. So it was a misunderstanding—this supernatural event was the wraith’s doing.

But since Huang Xiu didn’t know that a spirit was following her for protection, it was only natural she was scared out of her wits.

Still, something wasn’t right—it was only the first day...

Li Yu’s expression darkened. On the wraith’s very first day out, it was already at work? Who was so bold as to make a move so quickly?