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

The rain in the capital had just stopped, and the roof tiles at the alley entrance still gleamed with the cold light of raindrops. Qin Shuang stepped into the highest government office in the capital—the office of the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—followed by two guards, her steps steady and resonant.

She clutched a silk scroll tightly in her hand, the seal tied with red silk. The scroll stated: "The Earthly Fiend Sect possessed prohibited gunpowder, which has been discovered by our side." The handwriting on the paper was neat, but it had been altered by her scribes beforehand.

The commander sat at his sandalwood desk, his brow slightly furrowed. Qin Shuang handed him the letter and whispered, "If this batch of gunpowder isn't reported promptly, there could be a major disaster."

The commander looked up and saw the gunpowder fragment in the letter—a mixture of metallic luster and blood color, which was left by Zhou Yang at the Earthly Fiend Sect.

"Report this matter truthfully, and I will record your merit." He tapped the table, the sound crisp and clear.

Qin Shuang remained calm and nodded her thanks. She knew that tonight's plan had already taken root in the shadows.

**Record of Merit**

The next day, the censor's announcement echoed from the Drum Tower in the capital.

"In order to eliminate the illegal gunpowder of the Earthly Fiends Sect, I hereby grant Zhou Yang, a special agent of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the authority to carry out his duties independently."

Zhou Yang stood on the stone steps outside the government office, raising an eyebrow slightly as he heard his name called. No one saw the hidden blood-red rune behind him—the power of "shortsightedness" he had gained by trading his lifespan.

The prefect handed over a document bearing a golden dragon seal, with a pattern of an embroidered spring knife printed on the back.

"From now on, you may take orders on your own; you do not need the Qin family to lead the way."

Zhou Yang took the document, gently rubbing it between his fingers, feeling the coolness of the paper. He didn't speak, but his gaze wandered over the distant city walls. The power network of the capital, like a series of fine threads, awaited his manipulation.

---

**Secret outpost**

At the herbal medicine stall on the street corner, Dr. Liu was packing up his medicine box.

"Opening a clinic in the city center can cover my actions in the shadows," he muttered to himself, toying with a copper needle engraved with ancient seal script in his hand.

A few days later, a new clinic opened in Zizhu Lane, with the words "Renxintang" written above the door. An oil lamp hung in front of the door, its flickering light illuminating Doctor Liu sitting on a wooden stool mending a tattered silk handkerchief.

As night fell, several figures quietly entered. They were Zhou Yang's men—a few agile young men dressed in dark blue cloth.

"Doctor, there's something important to do tonight," the leading boy whispered.

Doctor Liu looked up, his gaze catching Zhou Yang's figure in the lamplight. Without a sound, the two looked at each other for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment.

He handed over a box of herbs, at the bottom of which was a dark red box containing a "Life-Replenishing Pill" that Zhou Yang had refined using his lifespan.

"This item has a short lifespan and should be used with caution," Dr. Liu warned.

Zhou Yang smiled, reached out and took it, and replied softly, "I'll only use it in crucial moments."

After a brief conversation, the young people left, leaving Dr. Liu standing alone under the lamp, gazing at the clinic's sign.

"This place can serve as a base and also be used to win people's hearts," he thought to himself.

---

**The Chess Game of Officialdom**

Back at the Jinyiwei Commander's residence, Qin Shuang filed the gunpowder fragments and handed them to the censor for review. After examining them, the censor frowned slightly, but then recognized a familiar pattern in the markings on the back of the paper—the very same secret symbol Fang Tian had used years ago.

"This matter should not be made public; it must be handled discreetly," the censor said in a low voice.

Qin Shuang nodded, but her gaze swept towards the city wall outside the window. She knew that Zhou Yang's fame had been built on the gunpowder incident, but she was also secretly wary: if the gunpowder were to leak, the government would be even more vigilant.

At midnight, the commander summoned Qin Shuang.

"I have presented to the Emperor with tonight's report." The commander handed her a roll of silk, on which was written: "Qin is hereby granted the post of 'Northern Garrison Commander'."

Qin Shuang accepted the gift and replied softly, "Your subject will certainly be loyal."

She turned and left. As she stepped out of the government office, the streetlights cast her long shadow, like a cold blade piercing the night.

---

**Unrivaled in the Capital**

In the simple inn, Zhou Yang spread out his newly received dispatch order. The lamplight reflected on the paper, and the golden dragon pattern trembled slightly in the candlelight.

He rolled up the paper, stuffed it into his pocket, and then walked to the window. Outside, the bustling streets were brightly lit, and the cries of vendors rose and fell.

"The threshold of the capital has been opened," he whispered, his voice echoing in the room.

He thought of Dr. Liu's clinic. It was his window to gather intelligence in the shadows, and also a shield to conceal his identity.

The next day, Zhou Yang walked through the stone-paved streets of the eastern city and arrived at Renxintang. He pushed open the door and saw Doctor Liu taking the pulse of a middle-aged woman.

"Is there anything important today?" Zhou Yang sat down, his gaze sweeping over the medicine cabinet on the wall.

Doctor Liu looked up, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"Several Imperial Guards just came to report about the Earthly Fiends Sect," he said in a low voice.

Zhou Yang raised an eyebrow slightly, but his smile remained hidden.

"It seems our pieces are already in the opponent's territory."

Dr. Liu nodded and handed over a cup of warm tea.

"The wind in the capital is blowing very hard," he said softly.

Zhou Yang picked up the teacup, savoring the aroma of tea intertwined with the scent of medicine.

"I just want to live longer, and I want to live more enjoyably."

He chuckled softly, his voice echoing in the clinic.

---

**The Outline of the Ending**

Night fell again, and the lights of the capital city were reflected like a galaxy on the rubble of the city walls.

Zhou Yang looked down from the rooftop, and the occasional sound of drums in the distance seemed to remind him that every step he took was being recorded.

Doctor Liu stood at the door, holding a new prescription in his hands, a calculating look in his eyes.

Qin Shuang stood in front of the main hall of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, holding the fragment of gunpowder in her hand, the chill in her chest like a blade.

The three stood in different places, but all faced the same direction—the center of the city.

Their footsteps began to leave a deep mark on this turbulent capital city.

Zhou Yang leaned against the earthen wall.

The plaster on the wall was peeling badly, revealing the yellow mud underneath. The mud was mixed with straw, which had long been eaten away by insects; you could poke a hole with your finger.

He poked three holes.

The wound was on my right rib, and it throbbed with pain with every breath. The bleeding had stopped, and the bandages were wrapped tightly, as if digging into my flesh.

Zhou Yang didn't move.

He was looking at the panel in front of him that only he could see.

The numbers are jumping.

Remaining lifespan: 347 years and 8 months.

This was an unexpected windfall looted from the corpses of those members of the Earthly Fiend Sect. Killing people and absorbing their life force should have been a cause for celebration, but Zhou Yang felt a pang of unease as he looked at the string of numbers.

Living too long can also be a burden.

He closed his eyes.

Consciousness sank into that darkness. The words "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" appeared on the panel, followed by a bright red plus sign.

"Deduction".

He thought to himself.

The life expectancy figure jumped abruptly. As if it had been bitten, 347 years became 212 years.

The excruciating pain came without warning.

Zhou Yang's muscles tensed instantly. The veins on his forehead bulged, as if insects were burrowing under his skin. His bones made a creaking sound, not from breaking, but from reforming.

Sweat splattered on my knees, soaking the dust.

He was familiar with this kind of pain. Every time the system helped him deduce the cause, it was like taking his bones apart and putting them back together. The difference was that before, it was dismantling them layer by layer, but this time it felt like throwing them directly into a forge.

He bit his lip until it bled. The taste of blood filled his mouth.

pain.

But I can endure it.

Zhou Yang counted his breaths. One, two, three... By the seventieth count, the pain began to subside. In its place was a feeling of fullness. The muscle fibers were thickening, and the sound of blood rushing through his ears was deafening.

He opened his eyes.

His fingers clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked like popping beans. The air between his fingers burst open, emitting a low, mournful sound.

Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, fifth level.

Zhou Yang stood up. His shoulder brushed against the mud wall, causing it to crumble and crumble. He didn't exert any force; his muscles simply tensed naturally, yet a layer of plaster on the long-neglected wall peeled off.

"We need to find a different place."

He was talking to himself.

The voice was deeper than usual. It sounded like a drum was inside his chest, vibrating and creating an echo.

Zhou Yang took the token out of his pocket.

The token of the Earthly Fiend Sect. It was jet black and felt heavy in his hand. The front was engraved with a ferocious ghost face, and the back had the character "煞" (fiend). He had been too busy escaping to look closely before, but now, by the moonlight filtering through the roof of the dilapidated temple, he finally noticed something.

The material is wrong.

It wasn't iron, nor copper, nor ordinary obsidian. Zhou Yang held the token up to his eyes, examining it in the moonlight. The light shone through the thin edge, revealing an eerie dark red hue.

Like congealed blood.

Even more strangely, when he brought the token close to his chest, the system panel suddenly jumped.

Homologous substances detected

[Absorbable/Analyzable]

Zhou Yang narrowed his eyes.

Same origin? What do you mean by same origin?

He tried to access the "Analyze" option with his consciousness. The panel flickered, and the lifespan number decreased by another five years.

The excruciating pain did not come.

Instead, there is a flow of information. Not text, not images, but perceptions poured directly into the brain.

He "saw" the mineral vein.

A mineral vein lies thousands of feet deep underground. Dark red stones spread out like blood vessels. People are mining, dressed in the black robes of the Earthly Fiend Sect. They transport ore into the furnace; the fire is cold, but the smoke rising from it is hot.

Someone was talking through the smoke.

"Fragments of the dragon's spine..."

"The sect leader said we must get there before the Embroidered Uniform Guard..."

"That thing is a key..."

The information flow was interrupted.

Zhou Yang jolted back to reality, his forehead covered in cold sweat. A fragment of the dragon's spine. It's that thing again.

He looked down at the token in his hand. This thing was actually made from the mineral that was a byproduct of the Dragon Spine Fragment. The Earthly Fiend Sect wasn't looking for the Dragon Spine Fragment for cultivation, but to open their gate.

Which door should I open?

Zhou Yang flipped the token over, his fingers tracing the character "煞" (sha). The surface was uneven, engraved with intricate runes. He didn't understand runes, but the system did. He had sensed the energy fluctuations within the token just now.

This energy and system are very similar.

They are all cold, mechanical, and unreasonable forces.

Zhou Yang suddenly laughed.

He recalled when he first transmigrated, he thought this system was a reward for hard work, a perk for transmigrators. Now, it seemed this thing and the "divine object" the Earthly Fiend Sect was looking for probably came from the same source. They were both alien objects from outside this world.

interesting.

He tucked the token into his robes, placing it close to his heart. Since they shared the same origin, it might come in very useful in the future.

The sound of wind could be heard outside the temple.

Zhou Yang paused. He listened intently; there were footsteps in the wind. They were very light, like a cat landing, but they couldn't escape his current level five Dragon Elephant Skill. With his hearing greatly enhanced, he could even hear that the person's left leg was slightly heavier than their right.

Is he truly lame, or is he faking it?

Zhou Yang didn't peek out rashly. He bent down, grabbed a handful of ash from the ground, and smeared it on his face and hands. He then disheveled his hair and tore his clothes. In an instant, he transformed from a wandering swordsman into a beggar on the run.

He shrank back against the wall and held his breath.

The door was pushed open.

An old eunuch came in.

He was very old. The wrinkles on his face could trap a mosquito, and his back was hunched like a shrimp. He leaned on a sandalwood cane with a skull carved on the top.

Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat.

It wasn't fear. It was an instinctive alertness. The old eunuch had no murderous aura or imposing presence; he was just like an ordinary old man. But it was precisely this "absence" that made Zhou Yang's hair stand on end.

Returning to simplicity.

Grandmaster Realm.

The old eunuch stood at the doorway, not going inside. He raised his eyelids, revealing his cloudy eyes. His eyes darted around before settling on the direction where Zhou Yang was hiding.

"Come out."

The voice was like a sawing motion. Not sharp, but hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

"We can smell it. Hidden within the stench of blood is the stench of Dragon Elephant Kung Fu."

Zhou Yang didn't move.

He was calculating. Calculating the gap between himself and the Grandmaster realm. Calculating if this dilapidated temple had a back door. Calculating how much gunpowder he had left in his pocket.

After much deliberation, the conclusion was: there's no way to escape, and no way to win.

But he didn't show any fear on his face.

Zhou Yang emerged from behind the wall, hunched over, and coughed twice: "Old sage, you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm just a beggar..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

The old eunuch adjusted his cane.

Zhou Yang suddenly turned to the side. Where he had been standing, a crater the size of a bowl exploded in the ground. It wasn't the release of true qi, but pure internal force. Compressed air, bursting forth in an instant.

Our family name is Feng.

The old eunuch walked slowly inside, each step steady. His left leg was indeed slightly heavier than his right; it was an old injury, not an act.

"The top-ranked one among the twelve heads of the Eastern Depot has to kneel down and speak to us."

Zhou Yang grinned: "Eunuch Feng, with your great abilities, isn't it inappropriate for you to make things difficult for a wounded soldier like me who's about to die?"

"suitable."

Eunuch Feng stopped five steps away. From this distance, Zhou Yang could clearly see the age spots on his face.

"You killed members of the Earthly Fiends Sect, burned down the Eastern Depot's buildings, and abducted a maid from the Qin family. These crimes are enough for me to skin you alive and use your skin to fill the lanterns in the palace."

Zhou Yang reached into his robes. The token was there, the knife was there, and the gunpowder was there too.

"Then why haven't you made a move yet?"

Eunuch Feng laughed. His toothless mouth opened like a black hole.

"Because we're curious."

He stretched out his withered finger and pointed it at Zhou Yang's chest.

"Let me see that thing in your arms. If I see it correctly, I'll let you die a quick death."

Zhou Yang's heart sank.

This old thing also sensed the token's aura.

He slowly reached into his robes. Not to retrieve the token, but to grasp the short knife. The hilt was cold, pressed against his sweaty palm.

"Eunuch Feng," Zhou Yang said, "have you heard of Layman Jiaqian?"

Eunuch Feng tilted his head.

"What?"

"What I mean is," Zhou Yang suddenly drew his short knife, the tip pointing at the old eunuch's forehead, "that if you want to see my things, you'll have to pay extra."

A flash of light.

It wasn't aimed at Eunuch Feng, but at the earthen wall behind him. The full power of the fifth level of the Dragon Elephant Realm erupted, tearing the earthen wall apart like tofu, revealing the street behind it.

Zhou Yang was thrown out.

He didn't intend to fight. Facing a grandmaster, fighting desperately was suicidal. The only option was to run.

A sigh came from behind him from Eunuch Feng.

"You're young."

Then came the sound of something cutting through the air.

Zhou Yang didn't turn his head, channeling his inner energy into his legs. The ground cracked beneath his feet, and his body shot out like a cannonball. The wind whistled in his ears, stinging his eyes.

He has to get rid of this old man.

In the capital, being targeted by a grandmaster is worse than death.

Zhou Yang rushed into the alleyway. He turned left, turned right, climbed over the wall, and landed. His movements were fluid and graceful, each step taken in the shadows. This was the escape skill he had honed in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But the footsteps kept following behind.

Unhurried and unhurried, like a cat playing with a mouse.

Zhou Yang pulled out the token and ran while looking at it. The system panel was still flashing, and the "Absorbable" option was popping up. He gritted his teeth and clicked it.

Fifty years of my lifespan evaporated in an instant.

The token shattered into powder.

A surge of heat rushed into his dantian. Zhou Yang felt an itch on his back, as if something was trying to burst out. He didn't have time to think about it, because this surge of heat caused his speed to increase dramatically.

He shot into the depths of the night like an arrow.

The footsteps behind me finally stopped.

Eunuch Feng stood on the roof, looking in the direction Zhou Yang had disappeared. He touched his bald chin, a strange light flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Dragon's Spine Resonance?"

"interesting."

He turned and walked towards the imperial city. His back was hunched, like an old shrimp.

But every step he took was on the most vulnerable tiles of the roof. The fact that the tiles didn't break speaks volumes about his skill.

The night wind blew, scattering the dust from the dilapidated temple.

It also dispersed the bloodstains left by Zhou Yang.

A new hunt has just begun.