Chapter 21: Exchange

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Han Li walked out of the dilapidated farmhouse with a blank expression on her face.

She was dragging a massive gargoyle.

This gargoyle was twice the size of a regular gargoyle.

He was a gargoyle king.

He was a Class B+ Monster as recognized by the United Nations Security Council.

If he had continued to grow, he would have had a chance to become a Gargoyle Overlord.

If he had become a Gargoyle Overlord, he would’ve then become a Class A Monster and, what’s more, a leader-type monster.

If a Class A leader-type monster were to appear near any city, it would spell disaster.

Because their maniacal addiction to human flesh and souls would prompt them to attempt to control the tens of thousands of low-level monsters and launch attacks on a city’s safe zones.

In the past 23 years, the biggest crises in the history of Donglin City had all been caused by these Class A leader-type monsters.

Hence, the most important duty of all the demon hunters in Donglin City was to find all potential monsters or evil spirits and eliminate them immediately before they could mature.

If Han Li had encountered a gargoyle king in the past, she might not have even been able to get close to it, much less take it down.

Her only option would have been to return to the Security Base at once and bring the army and all her comrades to annihilate it together.

But now, this gargoyle king that could only have been vanquished by the combined effort of at least a battalion of troops and several veteran demon hunters was being lugged along by her like a lump of boneless flesh.

It was evident that the skin of this gargoyle king was densely covered in terrifying scars from a whip.

In her hands, this monster, who absolutely despised humans and was completely irrational, was acting as docile as a toady.

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However, paying no attention to its attempts at ingratiating itself, Han Li gripped her long whip tightly in her hand, applied some more force, channeled her spirit power, and crushed the gargoyle into pieces.

Flakes of silvery ash fell to the ground.

The ravings by her ears echoed unceasingly.

Compelled by these ravings, Han Li took out the Lower Abyss Research Report that she always kept close to her.

It seemed as if something like blood was flowing beneath the cover. It was possible to see threads of blood veins wriggling around.

She flipped open the book. A new page appeared. Under the page, worms squirmed.

Words and patterns that were designed to send those who beheld them into lunacy gradually emerged.

The ravings that echoed by Han Li’s ears explained to her the meaning of these words and patterns.

It was a brand-new formula!

The Elixir of Ascension!

Formula: 13 Soul Crystals, 2 Lich Brain Nuclei, 3 Ashes of a Gargoyle King, mix in 1/3 liter of Flame Demon’s Pith, and cook in Flame Bloom.

Usage: Consume!

Remarks: Mr. Umr was an expert in Abyss Research. He was astonished by the extraordinary potential of creatures in the abyss. Unfortunately, the Will of the Nether River that resided within the abyss wasn’t quite fond of Mr. Umr’s scientific research. To ward off the Will of the Nether River’s interference toward his scientific research, Mr. Umr developed this incredible potion. After 18,425 tests, this potion has scientifically been proven to be effective! Each abyssal creature that has consumed the potion has gone through interesting changes. (Sleep is bad for your health, Mr. Umr would always say to his friends, but only Mr. Gherros agreed. Hence, Mr. Umr gave this formula to Mr. Gherros as a gift. However, Mr. Gherros was in fact illiterate. So Mr. Gherros left this formula behind someplace, and it got lost.)

Listening to these terrifying ravings, Han Li almost plunged into insanity.

Fortunately, she was able to preserve her sanity.

She forcefully shook her head, allowing her sanity to return to her body.

“Is this the potion that will propel me further ahead?” Han Li asked herself.

The ravings continued skittering by her ears. Like ants nibbling on wood, they seemed to give her an answer.

Soon, a blurry picture appeared before Han Li’s eyes.

A Dual-horn Succubus had been stuffed into a pill by some entity.

The Dual-horn Succubus was constantly altering amid its struggle.

At last, the picture before Han Li’s eyes ended with a slim figure using its feet to step on scorching flames.

The Dual-horn Succubus had ascended into a Succubus Overlord after drinking the elixir.

However, Han Li felt restless as she gazed at the figure.

Her instincts were all telling her that the Succubus Overlord who had consumed that potion would end up miserably.

“I’ll return to the base for now.” Han Li stuffed a plastic bag containing the ashes of the gargoyle king into her jacket.

She knew that her only way out was to go into the fog once again and find the bookstore owner.

Only he could give her an answer.

…

In the evening, the cat food that Ling PingAn had ordered arrived.

An enormous bag full of food.

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Opening the bag, Ling PingAn poured some into a bowl and placed it on the counter beside the kitten who was still soundly asleep.

“I think she’ll like it.” Ling PingAn thought.

This cat food was from a top brand. It advertised that it was a top-grade cat food made exclusively by fermenting deep-sea cod.

Even the pets of wealthy merchants in the federation said that it was good after trying it.

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The unit price of each package was as high as .

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Enough for Ling PingAn to order himself takeaways for three days.

In all honesty, buying it kind of gave him heartache.

However, looking at the adorable kitten that was now sleeping soundly and thinking about all the torments she had suffered…

The compassion and sense of responsibility in Ling PingAn’s heart abruptly exploded.

Thus he felt certain that the money that he’d spent for the cat food was well worth it.

Looking at the sleeping kitten again, Ling PingAn sat down next to it at the counter. After some thought, he said to himself, “It’s still too early to eat. I think I’ll work on a chapter.”

And he started typing.

…

The elevator descended swiftly and soon arrived at the bottom floor.

“Welcome back, Officer Han.” The officer waiting at the elevator door was shocked when he saw Han Li. However, he quickly saluted. “What troubles have you encountered?” he asked.

It had been less than two days since Han Li had left on a mission.

Usually, after a demon hunter had accepted a mission, they would stay out for from three to ten days.

So this officer thought that Han Li must’ve encountered some kind of setback and had returned to ask for assistance.

“No, I’m fine.” Han Li shook her head solemnly.

“Then, why are you…?”

“I’ve returned to turn in my completed missions,” Han Li said.

“This way then!” Without giving it too much thought, the officer led Han Li toward the mission handover point deep within the base.

After a while, the entire base became all stirred up.

This was because the more than a dozen tasks that had originally been listed on the Donglin City Committee of Public Safety as to do were all of a sudden displayed as completed all at once.

And the one who had completed them was, each time, the same person.

Demon hunter Han Li!

The system refreshed itself immediately after Han Li’s additions were completed.

The photo of a person appeared on all the screens across the entire underground base at the same time.

And underneath this photo was the latest map taken with satellite remote sensing.

The color of the whole of Donglin City’s northern suburbs turned from light red and dark red to green.

This implied that the United Nations Security Council had confirmed the safety of Donglin City’s northern suburbs through its satellites.

After a brief silence, everyone cheered.

Because the northern suburbs being safe would mean that Donglin City would potentially be able to establish a brand-new local safety zone.

At the very least, they could take advantage of this time when the local monsters and evil spirits had been destroyed to reclaim massive areas of farmland.

Food was the key to human survival.

But Han Li knew that now was far from the time to cheer.

While the ravings by her ears were still torturing her, they had also allowed her to learn more about the truth.

Thus, she was aware that these so-called monsters and evil spirits that were raging across Earth were merely the low-level species from a terrifying world called Abyss.

Many high-level demons whose powers were so great that they were impossible to comprehend were drooling with anticipation as they waited to enter Earth.

The flesh and souls of human beings held a deadly attraction for them.

Han Li looked at the Contribution Points displayed on the electronic screen in front of her: 32,500 Points.

Then, she tapped on Flat Peach without hesitation to redeem it.

After some thought, she also navigated to Cerulean Spirit Tea and redeemed five packets.

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She quickly cleared her Contribution Points to zero.