I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

Zhong Jiu casually tossed the broken jade carving to Wu Yuanying: "Do you still want this thing?"

"No, no!"

Wu Yuanying snatched it away as if it were a red-hot branding iron and threw it into the trash can, afraid of getting any bad luck on it.

"The ghost is gone, you're safe now."

Zhong Jiu glanced at the sky outside the window; the sun was almost setting.

He prevented the cancellation of the hotel, acquired a promising female anchor, and even defeated a demon. This job was incredibly profitable, so there's no need to stay any longer.

"Please don't go! I'm scared..."

Wu Yuanying grabbed his sleeve, her eyes red-rimmed.

Today, both evil spirits and human schemes terrified her, and now she doesn't even have the courage to be alone.

"I have other things to do."

Zhong Jiu frowned; his grand plan to level up still required grinding monsters.

"Just stay with me for one night! I haven't slept for days, I'm afraid to sleep without you!"

Wu Yuanying blinked her big eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering, looking exactly like a little kitten begging for adoption.

She naturally has a cute and innocent image, and with that pitiful look, any other man would have softened his heart long ago.

Want a good night's sleep? Easy.

Zhong Jiu remained unmoved and chopped her neck with a hand chop.

Wu Yuanying rolled her eyes and fell asleep limply.

Zhong Jiu carried her to the sofa, clapped his hands, and complained, "Are you kidding? What's more important than catching ghosts and leveling up?"

……

While Zhong Jiu was busy grinding monsters, the citizens of Guiling City were already in an uproar.

"Have you noticed that the ghost stories have stopped? The square dancing downstairs from my house has even resumed!"

"More than that! The previously gloomy sky has completely cleared up, and even the blankets smell of sunshine!"

"Is the special operations team that amazing? They wiped out all the evil spirits as soon as they were formed?"

"Something doesn't feel right to me. Other cities are in chaos, but our Guiling City is peaceful. Maybe it was done by that mysterious master!"

As citizens stepped out of their homes and felt the long-awaited sunshine, they all felt as if they had returned to another world.

This "credit" naturally fell to the special task force, and the operators were bombarded with thank-you calls.

But every "thank you" felt like a slap in the face to the special operations team.

Zhong Yingmei had just hung up a thank-you call when she gave Master Changdeng a wry smile: "They're treating us like benefactors again. I'm so embarrassed."

"Who else could have done it? It must be the underworld!"

The Taoist priest, Changdeng, was filled with fanaticism, nearly breaking his peach wood sword in the process. "When the gods appear, evil spirits vanish! The ancients were right!"

"Yes, to wipe out an entire city of evil spirits, that's an incredible feat."

Zhong Yingmei sighed, feeling both ashamed and envious. If the special operations team had that ability, they wouldn't have to live in constant fear.

"What a pity! I haven't seen the true face of the gods yet. If I could see them with my own eyes, I would die without regrets!"

The Taoist priest, Changdeng, beat his chest and stamped his feet in frustration.

Zhong Yingmei's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly stood up: "The higher-ups have given a death order: we must contact the underworld! Pass the word down, mobilize everyone! Even if we have to turn Guiling City upside down, we must find their trail! I'll go to the Li family again, this time and ask Li Wanqiu to offer incense with me. If they are truly gods, they should be able to sense my sincerity!"

The moment Chung Ying-mei kowtowed before the statue, Chung Jiu, who was grinding monsters at the Inspectorate, sensed it.

But he didn't even lift his eyelids. He thinks he can just see anyone whenever he wants? That would be too beneath the dignity of a deity.

Even my sister is not allowed!

Haha, besides, their special task force is competing with our underworld for "ghost heads," so there's a conflict of interest in their "performance"!

Chung Gau is currently preoccupied with leveling up and has no time to pay attention to the official "star-chasing" behavior.

It's another day of sending out spirit soldiers to capture ghosts in the wild.

"My lord, twenty evil spirits have been brought here!"

"My lord, twenty-three evil spirits have been brought here!"

Two soul messengers knelt on one knee, with a string of evil spirits strung on their soul-binding chains. Each of them shrank their necks, more docile than quails under the imposing aura of the Inspectorate.

"Forty-three..."

Zhong Jiu glanced at it and felt a little regretful; he was still thirty units short of completing the upgrade quest.

Now the evil spirits in Guiling City are all like frightened birds, and they scurry into the ground whenever they hear the movement of the Soul Soldiers. It will probably take some effort to catch all thirty of them.

He hadn't expected Zhou Sheng, who hadn't returned yet, to bring any surprises. Usually, a team of Soul Soldiers could only capture a dozen or so at most, but today these two teams brought back more than twenty, which was already an extraordinary performance.

We can't expect Zhou Sheng to bring back thirty of them all at once, can we?

"My lord! Thirty evil spirits, captured in one fell swoop!"

Zhou Sheng rushed in, covered in dust, his armor stained with the black blood of the evil spirits, his face full of smugness.

Behind him, the soul soldiers escorted a string of evil spirits, exactly thirty, no more, no less.

"Oh?"

Zhong Jiu's eyes lit up, and a smile finally appeared on his lips. "Tell me, how did you catch him?"

"My men raided a den of thugs outside the city. A bunch of them were dividing their loot, and I wiped them out in one fell swoop!"

Zhou Sheng puffed out his chest and deliberately glanced at the other two soul messengers. Their faces were as black as the bottom of a pot, which made him feel incredibly pleased.

He was a squad leader when he was alive, so why is he on equal footing with others after his death?

In the underworld system, only merit can lead to advancement!

Today, his "exceeding expectations" definitely earned him the top spot.

"well done."

Zhong Jiu rarely praised him, and this compliment almost made Zhou Sheng jump up on the spot with excitement.

He stepped forward, and with a flash of golden light at his fingertips, the seventy-three evil spirits vanished into thin air.

Almost simultaneously, a system notification sound rang in my mind:

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the upgrade mission!"

A surge of immense power rushed into his body, and the vortex in his dantian expanded with a "hum," becoming more than ten times larger than before!

Zhong Jiu could even sense that even with his mortal body, he could now tear apart a level four vengeful ghost with one hand. His strength was soaring!

"Ding! Host has advanced to the eighth rank of Yin-Yang Official!"

"Ding! Your privileges have been upgraded. You can now freely enter and exit the City God's Mansion!"

"Ding! Reward: A set of Yun Brocade Official Robes!"

"Ding! Reward: One 'Yin Yang Brush' magical artifact!"

A series of notification sounds left Zhong Jiu completely bewildered, and it took him a long time to process them.

He actually got into the City God's Mansion?

That's the central hub of the underworld in Guiling City, a hundred times more impressive than his Inspectorate!

He turned to look at the stunned soul soldiers and said calmly, "From today onwards, if you encounter evil spirits again, you may execute them yourselves. You do not need to bring them to me."

The soul soldiers exchanged bewildered glances, and Zhou Sheng quickly asked, "May I ask, sir, what is the reason for this?"

"I have been promoted to the eighth-rank Yin-Yang Official and will be working at the City God's Palace from now on."

Zhong Jiu's tone was nonchalant, yet it was like a bombshell.

"You got promoted?!"

The soul soldiers gasped, their eyes widening in shock.

They only realized how difficult it was to get promoted after they entered the underworld.

Chung Kau's previous position as "Inspector" looked prestigious, but it was actually a sinecure that was not in the public eye. Only after entering the City God's Mansion could he truly step into the core of power in the underworld!

That place is in charge of all the affairs of the underworld in Guiling City. It is considered to be a powerful underworld official in charge of a region!

The three soul messengers looked at Zhong Jiu with envy and jealousy. How long has it been? He jumped directly from the ninth rank to the eighth rank and even entered the City God's Mansion. His promotion speed is like a rocket!

Zhong Jiu looked at his group of dumbfounded subordinates and chuckled.

He raised his hand to straighten the corner of his clothes. His previous coarse cloth clothes had been replaced with a brocade official robe embroidered with cloud patterns. The dark fabric made him look tall and straight, exuding an aura of majesty.

"Everyone, go and do your job."

Zhong Jiu waved his hand and walked out of the Inspectorate with a leisurely air. Now he needed to find a place to build the City God's Mansion.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on him, casting a long shadow.

The Inspectorate behind them gradually receded into the distance, while the open road to the underworld ahead had just begun.

While the rewards like the brocade official robes and the Yin-Yang brush were tempting, what truly captivated Zhong Jiu was the legendary City God's Mansion.

"The office of an eighth-rank Yin-Yang Official can't be any more shabby than that of a ninth-rank Inspectorate, can it?"

He stroked his chin, imagining whether it would be a magnificent palace with carved beams and painted rafters, or a gloomy and solemn ancient castle.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the system popped up a token, a size larger than the previous Inspector's token. The token had the words "City God's Mansion" engraved in gold on a dark background, and it felt cold to the touch and carried a faint sense of pressure.

[This is a token from the City God's Palace. The host must select a location to activate the divine palace's manifestation in the mortal realm.]