If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Back in the small courtyard arranged for him by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhou Yang first bolted the door and then walked around the courtyard wall.

There was a patch of freshly turned soil in the corner, a hole dug for planting vegetables, now empty. He stared at it for a moment, making sure no one was hiding there, before turning and going back into the house.

The room was simply furnished with a bed, a table, and a chair. Several dusty wooden crates were piled in the corner; it was unknown who had lived here before or what they had done.

He closed the door tightly and took out his spoils from his pocket.

That silver note was worth fifty thousand taels.

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was indeed generous. Zhou Yang spread the silver notes flat on the table, pressing his fingertips against the paper, able to smell the lingering ink. The Great Jin Imperial Merchant Bank's banknotes were exchanged on demand, with no deception of the young or old.

"System, redeem."

He silently recited it in his mind.

The cold, robotic notification sound echoed in my mind—

[Ding! Silver note successfully redeemed.]

[Lifespan granted: 500 years.]

Current lifespan reserve: 1747 years.

Zhou Yang squinted and tapped his knuckles lightly on the table.

More than 1,700 years ago.

He wouldn't have dared to dream of such a number before. When he first transmigrated, he had to rack his brains to deal with that old fox Fang Tian in order to extend his lifespan by a few decades, fearing that one wrong step would lead to utter ruin.

What now?

Killing the imperial advisor takes over five hundred years. Settling a debt takes five hundred years.

The business was getting smoother and smoother. He even started to enjoy this life of risking his life—provided, of course, that he got paid more.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the dusty, ancient jade.

This piece of jade was taken from the Crown Prince of Zhao. Back in Anyang County, he destroyed a branch of the Heavenly Principle Sect and casually stole this jade. At the time, he only felt that this thing was a bit strange, but he couldn't say anything else about it. Later he learned that it was a fragment of a dragon's spine.

Fragments of an ancient divine weapon, it is said that if they are collected together, they can reverse yin and yang and turn the world upside down.

Zhou Yang placed the ancient jade on the table and examined it by candlelight.

Its surface was covered in cracks, a dull gray, and it didn't resemble a divine weapon at all. It looked more like a piece of junk dug out of an ancient tomb. He reached out and touched the jade surface; it was cold. It felt like touching a block of ice, the chill creeping up his fingertips.

Sudden--

The ancient jade trembled.

It was so slight that you wouldn't have noticed it if his palm hadn't been pressed against it.

Zhou Yang frowned.

Again.

These past few days, this thing has been twitching frequently. Especially since we entered the capital, the attacks have become more and more frequent. Sometimes, he'll be asleep in the middle of the night when a sudden, burning heat in his arms will wake him up from his dream.

He stared at the ancient jade for a long time, and suddenly an idea came to him.

He pulled something else out of his pocket.

A bead the size of a fist, entirely black, with a faint glow on its surface.

This is a "spatial array eye," which I just bought from the black market yesterday. It cost three thousand taels of silver. The seller said it was a relic of a certain array master, capable of stabilizing spatial fluctuations and preventing divine weapons from exploding. Zhou Yang immediately felt that this thing had a connection with the Dragon Spine fragment, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what that connection was.

It's just intuition.

His intuition is always very accurate.

He held the array's core in his hand and slowly approached the ancient jade.

The two things are getting closer and closer. Three inches. Two inches. One inch—

"Buzz!"

The ancient jade suddenly burst forth with a dazzling light, and the black bead trembled in response. The two beams of light converged in the air and intertwined, like two snakes wrestling.

Zhou Yang abruptly released his grip and took two steps back.

The table started shaking, and the whole table started glowing.

A notification sounded in my mind amidst the light—

[A fragment of the dragon's spine was detected resonating with the spatial array's core.]

[Do you wish to consume your lifespan to repair the divine weapon?]

[Estimated consumption: 200 years.]

[Repair progress: 5%]

Zhou Yang was stunned for a moment.

Two hundred years?

He looked down at his lifespan reserve in his hand. One thousand seven hundred and forty-seven years. Two hundred years—just a drop in the ocean.

But that's two hundred years! Enough for an ordinary person to live three lifetimes.

He remained silent for a moment, biting his lower lip.

build.

If it's not repaired, this fragment is just a piece of scrap metal. He won't use it, and he'll have to worry about it being stolen. Since the system says it can be repaired, then he'll get it repaired.

"confirm."

He began to speak.

As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp, intense pain erupted from his body. It felt as if someone had reached into his chest cavity, ripped out all his internal organs, and then stuffed a ball of fire inside.

Zhou Yang grunted and knelt on one knee.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, hitting the ground with a soft, pattering sound. He gritted his teeth, suppressing a groan. He had experienced this pain before. The first time he burned his lifespan, it was even worse. The pain was so intense he wanted to peel his skin off and shatter his bones one by one.

I'm at least getting used to it now.

The candlelight flickered, casting shifting shadows on his face. Time ticked by. The stinging pain gradually subsided and eventually disappeared.

Zhou Yang pushed himself up from the ground, panting heavily.

He looked at the ancient jade on the table.

The originally dull gray surface now has a faint halo. Many of the fine cracks have closed. Although it is still broken, the true color of jade can already be seen. Faintly, golden lines run across the jade surface, like the back of a goldfish.

He reached out and picked up the ancient jade.

The moment the fingertips touched the jade surface, a powerful pressure spread from the palm of the hand.

Dragon's Might.

It was faint, but it was definitely the might of a dragon. It was as if a sleeping dragon was snoring in his palm.

Zhou Yang grinned.

"It was worth it."

He had just put the ancient jade back into his pocket when a strange thing happened.

An invisible wave swept across from the direction of the palace.

It happened very quickly. Faster than the wind, colder than light. It was as if a giant eye had opened in the night sky, taking in the entire capital city.

Zhou Yang's hair stood on end.

Divine thought.

He had only sensed this level of divine power from one person—the Imperial Preceptor. No, even stronger than the Imperial Preceptor.

Almost subconsciously, he began to circulate the corpse energy within his body.

A grayish-white aura of death seeped from his pores, enveloping his entire body. His heart stopped beating, his breathing ceased, and his body temperature plummeted to freezing. He was like a real corpse.

The divine thought swept over him.

There was no stopping.

They continued scanning forward, sweeping across the entire Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) compound, across the streets and alleys of the capital, and across every corner.

Zhou Yang held his breath, not daring to move his eyelids even slightly.

I don't know how much time passed.

The divine thought finally withdrew, receding like the tide towards the palace.

Zhou Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His back was soaked with cold sweat, which clung to his skin, making him feel sticky and uncomfortable.

"That guy in the palace..." he muttered to himself, "just who is he?"

He had never seen the master of this divine sense before. But the oppressive aura emanating from it was far stronger than that of the Imperial Preceptor. The Imperial Preceptor was at the True Essence Realm, so what about this one? The Heavenly Essence Realm? Or even higher?

Zhou Yang shook his head, suppressing these thoughts.

Thinking about these things is useless.

What he needs to do now is improve his strength as quickly as possible. He can worry about these things later when he can hold his own against that person in the palace.

He carefully put the ancient jade close to his body, walked to the bedside, and lay down fully clothed.

Outside the window, the moonlight was as clear as water.

The capital was quiet, as if nothing had happened. But Zhou Yang knew this was just the calm before the storm. The 5% repair of the dragon spine fragment had already attracted the attention of the imperial palace. From now on, he had to be even more careful.

Since the owner of that divine thought could scan the entire city in the dead of night, it meant that the other party was also looking for something.

Perhaps it is this broken piece of jade in his hand.

Zhou Yang turned over and closed his eyes.

Sleepiness washed over him. He fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he saw a giant dragon coiled in the clouds, looking down at the earth. The dragon's eyes were golden, just like the light emanating from the ancient jade in his arms.

The dragon opened its mouth and uttered a single word.

"Come."

Zhou Yang suddenly opened his eyes.

It was already daylight.

The chirping of birds outside the window rose and fell, and sunlight filtered through the window paper, casting dappled shadows on the ground. He sat up and touched the ancient jade in his arms.

The jade is still cool, just like last night.

That dream...

Zhou Yang frowned. Was it a coincidence, or was there something hidden in the fragment?

He couldn't figure it out for the time being, and he didn't want to think about it.

The most important thing right now is to settle this score.

He got out of bed, quickly washed up, and went out.

In the courtyard, Qin Shuang stood with her back to him. Her hair was tied back, revealing a section of her fair neck. The morning light shone on her, as if she were gilded.

Hearing the door open, she turned around.

"woke up?"

"Hmm." Zhou Yang yawned. "So early?"

"It's time to report to the Northern Garrison Command," Qin Shuang said. "Your identification documents were delivered last night. From today onwards, you are a captain in the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

General Flag.

It was one rank lower than a centurion, but it was still a legitimate official position.

Zhou Yang grinned: "Then shouldn't you treat us?"

Qin Shuang glared at him: "Didn't you just receive fifty thousand taels last night?"

"That's different." Zhou Yang waved his hand. "That's money I earned through my own abilities. Treating others is treating others, making money is making money. They're two different things."

Qin Shuang shook her head helplessly.

She'd seen through him; he'd always be the same. Money was more important than life, and profit was more important than anything else.

But I don't dislike it.

"Let's go," she said. "Don't keep the adults waiting."

Zhou Yang followed behind, humming a little tune.

The sun is shining brightly today. He's in a good mood too. A lifespan of seventeen hundred years, a fragment of a divine weapon being repaired, and a reliable superior.

Life in the capital is getting better and better.

He touched the ancient jade in his arms, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

The imperial palace. The dragon vein. And that terrifying divine thought.

Sooner or later, he will make those high and mighty people pay back the debts they owe him, one by one.