What do you mean you also want to return to the world?

"To be honest, I'm not surprised by your choice."

"Young people are full of youthful passion; knowing they possess immense power within them, how can they resist using it?"

"While I don't dislike passionate people like you, and even welcome you to join us, I must remind you: in the job of exorcising demons, relying solely on passion and enthusiasm will not end well."

"This is an industry where people can die."

"To become a Swordholder, you must always maintain a clear mind and keen insight, so that you can live longer."

Qi Fei sat behind the mahogany table, his hands clasped together, his head slightly lowered. If it weren't for the lack of a pair of reflective glasses, he would undoubtedly look like Commander Ikari.

"Now I'm going to test you. Come on, tell me, why would I livestream looking at people's thighs in broad daylight?"

"Cough cough cough..."

Shi Yan choked on his own saliva. He had just managed to convince himself to stay calm and not think about the scene from earlier, but Qi Fei brought it up again.

How would I know why you were livestreaming in broad daylight appraising... oh no, showing people their thighs? You've already admitted it yourself!

Seeing Shi Yan's constipated appearance, Qi Fei burst into laughter. As he poured Shi Yan some tea, he said, "Just kidding... Well, not entirely a joke. At least in our line of work, passion and enthusiasm alone aren't enough. If you want to live longer, you have to learn to relax."

Watching Qi Fei earnestly explain his reasoning, Shi Yan finally couldn't help but retort, "Just like how relaxed you were just now?"

"Of course, you could say it's a flexible job or not," Qi Fei said, "but it really is my job."

"The job of the Sword-Holding Bureau is... to look at women's thighs?"

"No, no, no, it's treasure appraisal, treasure appraisal." Qi Fei shook his head repeatedly. "Calling it treasure appraisal isn't quite right. To be precise, it's searching for potential crises."

"……ha?"

Seeing Shi Yan's disbelief, Qi Fei had no choice but to patiently explain, "You know our job is to exorcise demons, right? Have you ever thought about where demons come from?"

"Where do demons come from?" Shi Yan asked after considering his own experiences, "From those ancient tombs?"

Aren't those two great demons inside him the ones that the archaeological team dug out from the ancient tomb of Prince Jing of Dongshan?

"That's just one source. And monsters that can leave behind body parts are already very powerful and rare," Qi Fei said. "More than 90 percent of the monsters in this world are lesser monsters that can't leave behind a physical body. They usually only have a trace of their will or demonic power remaining on some ancient artifacts."

Hearing Qi Fei's words, Shi Yan seemed to understand something: "So you want to find these ancient artifacts that might still have demonic power by appraising them for people through live streaming?"

"That's right." Qi Fei snapped his fingers, revealing an expression that said, "This kid is teachable."

"But..." Shi Yan still felt it was a bit far-fetched, "Isn't this like looking for a needle in a haystack? Isn't there a more efficient way? Is this how the entire Sword-Holding Bureau works?"

When Shi Yan thought about how the entire antiquities appreciation section of DouB Live was filled with agents from the Sword Bureau, he felt a surge of resentment rising in his throat, a feeling he wanted to vomit but couldn't.

"Of course not." Qi Fei shook his head, quite proudly saying, "I'm the only one who came up with this idea right now. Everyone else is either a monk in a temple or sweeping floors in a dojo. How can they be as carefree as me?"

Shi Yan: "..."

"It seems you still have many things you don't understand about the Sword-Holding Bureau." Qi Fei sat up slightly. "Then let me tell you. First of all, the Sword-Holding Bureau isn't a national entity like the police or the military. The Sword-Holding Bureau's history is far longer than the history of the nation. We started slaying demons and monsters a thousand years ago, though it wasn't called the Sword-Holding Bureau then. So, we're only nominally superior to the nation; in reality, we're very independent. Of course, this independence is limited to slaying demons and monsters; we don't interfere in real-world matters. Do you understand?"

"Understood." Shi Yan nodded. "Casal Academy, huh?"

"Hey, you've read 'Phoenix Clan' too?" Qi Fei laughed. "That makes it much easier to explain. But 'Phoenix Clan' itself was written by one of our people."

Shi Yan was shocked: "The author of 'Phoenix Clan' is one of yours?"

"Yes, the Casal Academy has a real-life counterpart here, and quite a few of them," Qi Fei said. "But unlike in the novel, these academies don't train Swordholders; they train related professionals. The other path I mentioned to you yesterday was to send you there, but you're clearly not very keen on it."

"From your description, it sounds like a prison," Shi Yan said, half-jokingly. "I don't want to lose my freedom for the rest of my life."

"Hey, what are you saying? If people are pessimistic, then the whole world is a walled city," Qi Fei said. "But I understand how you feel, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here. Relatively speaking, the Swordholders are more independent. We won't be restricted in our freedom, nor will we be strictly watched over, that's all."

"What?"

"When we are required to risk our lives, we must step up."

Shi Yan opened his mouth, but suddenly felt the topic had become heavy.

"Yes, that's the true Swordholder. When we're needed, we must step up. We're in human society now, and we absolutely cannot allow demons to return." Qi Fei shrugged. "So what the Swordholders really need to do is simply deal with the demons after receiving a report. The work of finding the demons usually doesn't need to be done by us. Whether it's the government or our own intelligence personnel in the Swordholder Bureau, they'll do the searching."

Don't they need to go find it?

Shi Yan looked at Qi Fei's phone with suspicion, only to see the screen constantly displaying comments such as "Where's the streamer? Where's the streamer? Help!" and "How am I supposed to guide without your app?"

So you only became a streamer because you wanted to see legs? You've already given yourself away!

"It's not quite what you think, at least not entirely," Qi Fei explained, as if he could read minds. "Swordholders are a level above ordinary people when it comes to demonic energy. And most demonic energy worsens over time, like a bomb with a lit fuse. If our logistical response is slow, it will naturally be more troublesome for us to deal with. So we also voluntarily search for these demons, even though it's not our job."

"Otherwise, when the fuse really burns out, we'll be the ones who suffer."