I defeated the saint with a parry.

Everyone knew Zhang Li was doing it on purpose, but no one could really scold him. Many people silently mourned for Li Xuance for a while. If they had known this guy had a garrison order, why did they provoke him? He even let him put on such a big show.

The shadow hiding in the inscription space had already slipped away. Xu Ling mobilized the power of the inscription to view the mission file...

He instantly understood why Zhang Li had cursed certain beasts.

Holy crap!

Zhang Li left the inscription space with a dark expression: "Which bastards secretly accepted the mission while we were watching the competition?"

"What?"

Upon hearing Zhang Li's words, the faces of the people still in line instantly darkened. A few who didn't believe him looked at Xu Ling and found that Xu Ling also nodded: "I did indeed only see an empty, unprocessed file archive."

Oh, my goodness!

They all took out their waist tokens, looked ahead, and found that it was just as Xu Ling and the other person had said.

Suddenly, the campus was filled with the sound of cursing.

After reviewing the situation, everyone realized that more than ten people were indeed missing from the crowd.

At the time, they were all so focused on Xu Ling's dashing figure that they didn't even notice that a group of people were missing.

"You bastard! You resorted to underhanded tactics!"

Zhang Li looked at the few familiar faces and said in a low voice, "It's those beasts again. They always rob me, and now they're robbing me again. One day, I'll have to give them a good beating."

Just as everyone was about to leave, a voice came from the stele: "Don't worry, the Pill Sect has no shortage of missions. The demand over there is huge. Take another look, another batch has arrived."

The old turtle's voice quieted everyone down.

Zhang Li took the lead and tentatively looked around, and found that the files were indeed piled up again, which put his mind at ease.

The primary demand of the Dan Sect is for low-level materials to refine Qi and Blood Pills, as well as Breakthrough Pills and Rejuvenation Pills.

These are in high demand, and the Pill Sect happens to use these kinds of pills to train new members of the sect. So the consumption of both is combined, and they are directly listed on the Demon Suppression Division as tasks that can be accepted at any time. In other words, demon slayers will no longer have to worry about not having any tasks to take on in the future.

Even at the very least, you can get basic pills like Qi and Blood Pills or Rejuvenation Pills. If you don't want them yourself, you can exchange them for spirit stones to cultivate, which is a sure-fire way to make a profit.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Xu!"

Wang Dachui accepted several tasks from the Dan Sect, and before leaving, he did not forget to thank Xu Ling.

Xu Ling couldn't stand it anymore, and seeing that more people were approaching, he quickly grabbed Zhang Li and ran away.

The two wandered around for a while and found a quiet room in the Demon Suppression Bureau.

"interesting."

Xu Ling opened Li Tao's letter and immediately uttered two words.

"What's wrong? What did Li Tao write that made you laugh like that?"

The first line of the letter, written in an archaic style, could be translated as, "If my unfilial grandson Li Xuance has offended you, please don't take it to heart; I deliberately sent him to face setbacks."

Zhang Li chuckled: "If this second master of the Li family knew that his grandson's Dao heart was shattered, would he regret it?"

Xu Ling didn't respond, and continued reading the letter:

"Thanks to Lord Xu, the chaos in the market allowed my men to follow the clues and find the person behind the evil magic."

"He was a Spirit Platform Realm cultivator from the Fox Clan of the Myriad Demon Kingdom. He had many methods, and there was no other choice but to kill him. We were unable to leave him alive."

"The fox demon's dwelling has been there for at least ten years, and there are signs that someone has been there recently. The demon race should have other helpers in Fancheng."

"This matter involves extraordinary demons; please convey this message to the garrison commander, Lord Xu."

"Furthermore... the Li family is having a banquet tonight. We hope Lord Xu will do us the honor of attending. We may present you with the account books from back then."

He's a professional who's been in this business for a long time; he knows exactly what he's doing.

Xu Ling curled his lip: "I'm afraid I can't beat Li Xuance, and this letter won't even reach me."

"Isn't this a trap?" Zhang Li said worriedly. "Let's just take away those two lions at the gate and eat them out of house and home."

Σ(°ロ°)! What a genius!

Xu Ling glanced at Zhang Li in surprise, only looking away when Zhang Li felt embarrassed.

It's hard to imagine that this method of controlling the barrier beast was devised by people of this era.

Xu Ling remembered that Zhang Li was licking the lion at the door just two days ago, looking like a filial son, but today he was being used as a tool.

She's changed her mind.

Little did he know that Zhang Li had been feeding the two lions these past few days, and his savings were almost gone. Now, Zhang Li had shifted his allegiance and become a staunch supporter of Xu.

But Xu Ling had to admit that Zhang Li's move was indeed clever. He brought bodyguards and managed to get two lions to feast at the Li residence. It was impossible for them to be impoverished by the feast, but even if they weren't, they would still disgust the lions.

"Let's put that aside for now. How much of what the Li family said about the fox demon do you think is true?"

Zhang Li stroked his chin and thought carefully: "In the cases I've handled in Fancheng over the years, there have indeed been quite a few involving fox clans. When you escorted Li Xi to Fancheng, didn't you also encounter fox clans? These foxes rarely appear alone in a single den; they are most likely in a group. So, it seems there's some truth to it."

"But why are these demons running to Fancheng? There are powerful figures like the garrison commander here, as well as the most powerful Demon Suppression Division in Kangzhou, several major families, and many martial arts schools... They won't get any good out of here."

Xu Ling nodded: "Perhaps they have other plans. Don't forget, the mastermind planted the seeds here ten years ago. The Li family probably realized something, which is why they came to me and even showed me the account books. They want to ask the Demon Suppression Division for help."

On the surface, they were reminding me to report the matter of the demon clan expert to the garrison commander, but in reality, they wanted to talk about the family banquet, since I couldn't possibly not mention it... In this way, it seemed like they were inviting me, but in reality, they had something to say to the garrison commander.

But our garrison commander would never go to the Li family for a family banquet, neither for official nor personal reasons.

So I became the messenger, and in that case, we have to have a good meal tonight.

Are you going?

"No, no, I can't enjoy eating with people like that. I'd rather have a bowl of noodles and a drink on the street."

After leaving Zhang Li's place, Xu Ling went straight to see Xu Huaixu.

He told Xu Huaixu about Li Tao and the Li family banquet, and unsurprisingly, Xu Huaixu simply told him to go and eat and drink to his heart's content.

Xu Ling wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Xu Huaixu was in a particularly good mood, unlike usual, and the way he looked at him was strange.

Is this Confucian martial artist going mad with evil?

With Xu Huaixu's approval, Xu Ling took two lions from the entrance of the Demon Suppression Bureau at dusk.

At first, the two lions were reluctant, since it would have been more comfortable to just lie at the door and doze off. But when they heard that the Li family was hosting a dinner party and that Xu Huaixu had given his approval, they knew they had to go.

With one person and two lions, they walked with an air of authority, causing passersby to hide on both sides of the street from a distance, wishing they could stick close to the wall.

Although the demonic calamity has entered a cooling-off period, mortals' fear of demons is almost ingrained in their bones. Even if they recognize that these two lions belong to the Demon Division of Fancheng Town, they are still afraid.

"Where did this young master come from, actually treating the Lion Lord of the Demon Suppression Division like a private pet? Judging from the direction he's going, he must be heading to the Li family."

"When did the Li family produce such a young master? Could it be that another illegitimate son has appeared among the lords?"

"Didn't a young lady return to the city a few days ago? This young master isn't surprising..."

Despite his fear, he couldn't help but gossip. As expected of a citizen of Fancheng, he heard every single word of those sweet voices.

He didn't go directly to the Li family, but instead picked up Li Yang from the martial arts school.

When Lion saw Li Yang, he went up to him, sniffed him thoroughly, and then showed a disgusted expression: "Ew, what's that fox smell?"

Li Yang's smiling face instantly turned into a monkey's bottom: "I... just finished practicing martial arts, I'm covered in sweat."

The other lion covered its nose with one hand and said, "Tsk, your body odor is a bit strong. You should go take a shower."

Upon hearing this, Li Yang turned and ran back to the martial arts school. He didn't come out for about two incense sticks' time, having changed his clothes and put on a sachet.

It seems that the two words spoken by the lion crows were quite hurtful.