The male supporting character was actually myself.

Only the central part of Lingqiu Mountain remains; this vast mountain range was once a sacred land for the demon race, inhabited by hundreds of thousands of powerful demons!

Looking at the lifelike paintings, Yan Mingyue clenched her right hand and could feel the pain of her nails digging into her palm. She didn't know what to say, so she quickened her pace and went down the wooden spiral staircase at the end of the corridor.

"I wonder if the breakfast I prepared suits your taste..." Jiang Chen looked up when she heard footsteps, and her eyes lit up immediately.

The ancient costume added a touch of elegance and grace to Yan Mingyue, making her more charming and feminine than when she wore casual black clothes.

"I'm not a picky eater." She took a deep breath to suppress the turmoil in her heart.

I'm facing a nine-tailed fox demon who's been around for ten thousand years. She's a master at seducing people. I absolutely cannot let her win me over and drag the demon hunters into this mess!

Jiang Chen gracefully gestured for her to join him, and they chatted casually while enjoying the delicious breakfast served from the food-making machine.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in a grand building amidst the steel jungle of a bustling metropolis, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie angrily questioned, "What do you mean by 'disappeared'? My daughter was with two elite teams of demon hunters, just to hunt down a few small spider demons. How could she suddenly disappear?"

What about satellites?

What about telephones, GPS locators, and distress signals?

Those people are elite troops with excellent equipment, capable of easily defeating even millennia-old demons! Isn't there a single person who can send a signal to tell you what's going on?

Check the satellite surveillance footage and find the last place they were seen!

What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and find some clues!

"Elder Yan, don't be anxious." Wu Hongtu, the clan leader of the demon hunters, waved his hand to let the scolded information tracker leave quickly, and advised, "It's probably just that there's some problem with the equipment signal again. We've encountered this situation before."

Since it's a man-made product, it's inevitable that it will have some flaws.

This time, the Holy Maiden is traveling with Elder Mo, who is the most reliable person, and two elite teams. We brought her along only as a precaution in case of any unexpected situations. We really don't have any other secret plans.

I'm sure they'll complete their mission and come back soon.

Using a satellite positioning and monitoring system is very troublesome; you know only high-ranking military officials have the authority to use it. We've only temporarily lost contact; it's not time to resort to personal connections to use the satellite..."

Yan Mingyue's father, Yan Lang, was furious when he heard him speak so casually. "You make it sound so easy!"

My daughter, not a descendant of your Wu family, disappeared without a trace along with the rest of the group!

How much has Mingyue contributed to the Demon-Catching Alliance?

Now that she's lost contact and disappeared, is this how you, as the clan leader, try to smooth things over?

Is my daughter's life not worth as much as a favor from a high-ranking military official?

Who has benefited from all the profits that the Monster Catcher Alliance has worked so hard to generate over the years?

When there's profit, everyone rushes to grab a share, but when trouble comes, they all retreat into their shells like turtles! I've had enough of this murky demon-hunting alliance! If you won't come looking for me, I'll go find someone myself!

The little white cat perched on his shoulder, covering its mouth with its fluffy little paws and giggling. "Hehehe, I already blocked their tracking signals before we even entered the Spiderweb Mountain territory, you soft and cute little kittens."

All the devices are lying in my system space right now, go find them if you dare.

"What satellite positioning or surveillance? If you can find even half a shadow of a person, I'll eat my hat!"

Wu Hongtu, who is only 32 years old this year, has just taken over the position of clan leader from his father. He knows that these senior elders are not to be trifled with, but when it comes to critical moments, he still needs their help to seek more benefits.

Therefore, he smiled apologetically and said, "Elder Yan, please calm down. There is still no definite news to prove that they are missing. According to the original plan, after arriving last night, they will besiege the spider demons hiding deep in the cliffs of Spider Web Mountain. Due to geographical factors, this battle will take a long time."

It will probably not be completely over until dawn.

It's normal to lose signal in the deep mountains and forests, especially with all sorts of monsters interfering.

In that case, I guarantee that if there is still no news by tonight, I will immediately send someone to the military region to retrieve satellite positioning and surveillance video!

"Don't worry, sir. The Holy Maiden is the backbone of our demon-hunting alliance. No one would want her to suffer the slightest grievance or be in any danger!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Demon Hunter's Secret Project

Wu Hongtu used his silver tongue to analyze the pros and cons, and finally managed to calm Yan Lang down.

"My bottom line is 7 p.m. tonight. If there's still no news by then, you must immediately send more people to look for clues!" Yan Lang angrily issued this final ultimatum before accepting the plan for the upcoming extermination of the demons from the clan leader.

"Don't worry, I'll dispatch three reconnaissance teams to Spider Web Mountain right now. They'll give you an answer within two hours!"

Only after various reassurances and assurances were they able to send the angry and worried Yan Lang away from the clan chief's office.

"What a nuisance!" Wu Hongtu slumped into his comfortable, large office chair, scratching his hair as he felt quite annoyed.

I was given a severe scolding in front of my subordinates first thing in the morning. They didn't respect me, the clan leader, at all. They think they can ride on my neck just because they have the title of Father of the Holy Maiden?

If we don't give you some dirty and hard work and make things difficult for you, do you really think you're the king of the world?

Hmph! So what if he had a beautiful and capable daughter? He did a lot of stupid things back then when he insisted on marrying an ordinary person. Looks like I need to find an opportunity to bring up his past mistakes and teach him a lesson.

If they were to be more perceptive, they could simply offer up the Holy Maiden and make her the clan leader's wife, and everything would be fine.

If they still remain stubborn...

A new emperor brings a new court. Don't blame me for making a big splash as a new official and burning down those old guys who think they can do whatever they want just because they have merit and seniority!

Times have changed; now you need money and power to live a more comfortable life.

The Monster Catcher Alliance really needs to transform itself.

Demon cores are a scarce resource that will become increasingly rare in the future. If we don't inflate their price and efficacy, what will happen when all the demons are killed?

Those old fogies were so naive and stupid; they went crazy hunting monsters for any profit. If I had been born a decade or two earlier, I would have turned this highly technical business into a top global enterprise!

How could they still be treated like grandsons and suppressed at every turn?

It's a real pity that there are too few fairies nowadays, and too many of them are dependent on higher-ups, making it difficult for them to easily transform.

In life and in business, one must learn to leave oneself a way out. Now that the company you've been secretly supporting has been able to launder its money and get out of trouble, it's only right to find a way to transfer more assets there...

"The Fuyang City Demon-Catching Alliance branch, which is closest to Spider Web Mountain, immediately dispatches three of its most experienced reconnaissance teams to Spider Web Mountain to search for Elder Mo and the Holy Maiden's group. Report back immediately if you have any news." Wu Hongtu dialed the branch's internal communication line to issue the order and sent over the mission plan and route map of Elder Mo's group.

Despite my displeasure, I still had to send someone to check on the situation.

After all, their mission to Spider Web Mountain required urgent supplies, and the higher-ups had been sending people to urge them on, which annoyed Wu Hongtu to no end.

It's a pity that the demon hunter's spiritual power can only work on the demon's power, and demons are basically impossible to tame and use. Otherwise, I wouldn't have put up with this!

"If I could figure out a way to work on humans as well, I wouldn't have to be suppressed like this." Wu Hongtu tapped the table with his right hand, while his fat, round left thumb swiped across his phone screen, which was filled with orders that he couldn't refuse.

The little white cat crouched on his desk, peeked out, and secretly took a picture with his phone before sending it to its host.

The sixth concubine of a certain high-ranking official has finished her special supply of the Demon Core Essence Nourishing Pregnancy Pills, and three bottles of the new product need to be sent over.

A leader's mother caught a cold and needed two doses of the "miracle cure" elixir that supposedly cures all ailments.

XXX requests a special supply of the Demon Core Whitening and Anti-Aging Cream;

XX pre-ordered the limited-edition, spring-exclusive "Demon Core Essence" aphrodisiac...

A rough estimate suggests that these orders alone would require at least three hundred demon cores to supply.

"What kind of bullshit fairy cultivation plan is this? Get out of here! I need to find a way to fill these gaps first... Damn it, if I don't maintain these relationships, my company will be harassed everywhere!" Wu Hongtu frowned, a ruthless look appearing on his greasy face.

He got up and pressed the hidden red button under the table. The entire office was instantly enveloped in an invisible and colorless barrier that could block out sound. He then activated the anti-eavesdropping system and dialed a protected phone number.

Seeing Wu Hongtu sitting on the opposite sofa waiting for the phone call, the little white cat suddenly had a brilliant idea. It deftly took out professional equipment from its system space, connected it to the computer's USB port, and quickly copied all the encrypted data stored on the computer using the special talents of its system.

"Ha, this is the plan to hunt down demons that I just gave to the female lead's father!" The little white cat carefully flipped through a few pages, which were full of action plans that demon hunters across the country would be carrying out in the near future.

Its little paws quickly sent all the data to the host's email address.

Then the little white cat squatted on the sofa next to Wu Hongtu, carefully deciphering the phone number he dialed and analyzing the specific address...

"Hello, Professor Li?" The call finally connected, and he asked in a low voice, "How is our secret project progressing?"

"Mr. Wu, the progress of several of our projects is not going well."

The first project was a 'transformation plan' that cultivated people with weak spiritual power into fairies. Through our anatomical analysis of humans and fairies, we discovered that the energy flow between the two is completely different.

However, there was an additional discovery: even people with weak spiritual power have something similar to a demon core in their bodies, which I call a spiritual core.

This conclusion was drawn after dissecting dozens of people: the elixir of life is contained in the spiritual field located at the back of the dantian.

Like fairies, the stronger the spiritual power, the higher the quality of the elixir.

As for why it hadn't been discovered before, it's probably due to the difference between life and death. To obtain the complete elixir, one needs to dissect the person while they are alive and their spiritual energy is flowing smoothly, but the moment the elixir is lost, the person will die.

Similarly, if an autopsy is performed after death, the elixir will not be found, because the spiritual power dissipates completely at the moment of death, and the elixir disappears as well.

We conducted numerous comparative experiments and can basically confirm that the uses of elixirs and demon cores are completely interchangeable…”

Across from him, Professor Li was still rattling off various data comparisons, but Wu Hongtu's hands trembled slightly with excitement. "Professor Li, why didn't you tell me about such a significant discovery sooner? This discovery has truly opened a new door!"

"Didn't you say you didn't want me to contact you casually?" Professor Li said helplessly, his lips twitching. "You haven't called to ask about it lately either."

"I've been a bit busy lately, so let's get to the point. Any progress on other projects? The project researching elixirs has been spun off, and funding isn't an issue! We should focus on researching the uses of elixirs; they might come in very handy!"

"Oh, okay, the 'Transformation Project' has definitely failed."

The different operating mechanisms mean that humans cannot transform into demons.

Next is our 'Black Rose Project'—the idea of ​​using spiritual energy to catalyze mutations so that it can control humans, but this idea is also impossible to realize.

Some fairies can create illusions and manipulate humans, temporarily turning them into puppets, mainly using their innate skills. Through research, I feel it's more like a manifestation of spiritual power, but humans with spiritual power only experience physical changes; their spiritual power doesn't actually increase.

Instead of developing methods to mutate humans with spiritual powers, it would be better to consider directly producing large quantities of practical and threatening weapons.

Chapter Twenty-Five: They're All Mine!

Wu Hongtu frowned again and shouted in a low voice, "What's the use of that?"

Even if we manufacture a lot of guns and ammunition, how many people does the Demon Hunter Alliance have in total? Let alone direct confrontation, they could wipe us out with just one battalion!

Manufacturing that thing would not only be useless, but would also arouse suspicion that you have ulterior motives.

Which of the Demon-Catching Alliance's publicly known research and development centers doesn't have spies planted by the military, both overtly and covertly? They're worried about us getting out of control and want to keep the demon catchers like dogs in their hands!

That's why we need to find alternative ways to break free from control.

"And one more?"

"The last 'taming plan' also didn't go very smoothly."

The dozens of little demons you selected and sent over are all uncooperative; more than half of them have already died or been injured.

The only little dog demon I managed to build some affection for was the one whose demonic power I could use to help with small things, but he wouldn't cooperate at all with any tests that were even slightly threatening.

It is said that demons are simple-minded, but after all, they are demons who have cultivated for many years. They have their own thoughts and various factors such as bloodline suppression, which are really too difficult to control!