"Looks like General Jing Yuan really does keep his word."
When Levi opened the door, he glanced around and noticed there were indeed a lot more Cloud Knights patrolling near his home.
Basically, as soon as one patrol passed by, another team of Cloud Knights came right after.
At this patrol frequency, anyone who didn't know better would think this was where a high-ranking Cloud Knight lived.
"But I guess this kind of treatment will only last for these two days."
Once Jing Yuan found out who had delivered that letter to him, the number of patrols around here would probably go back to what it used to be.
"But it's no big deal to me anyway!"
Levi shook his head, opened the door, and walked in.
Originally, he'd asked for protection to guard against retaliation from the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's.
But after seeing what he was capable of, he no longer feared any revenge from them.
With fists as big as sandbags, who could possibly stand up after getting hit by that?
If those Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's people dared to show up in front of Levi, he'd just charge in and give them a few solid punches.
Let's see if those people claiming to possess the blessings of abundance could take a beating.
They're all "creations of abundance" anyway, shouldn't be much different...
Either way, they'd still die.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
The Cloud Knights patrolling nearby paused for a moment at the sound. Beneath their helmets, their eyes turned toward Levi's tightly closed door.
"That's him…"
"Yes."
"He doesn't look any different from other outworlders."
Aside from being often seen with the Divination Commission's diviner Qingque and the Vidyadhara dragon lady Bailu, he didn't really stand out.
And since there were no signs that he'd ever set foot on any Path, he seemed like a completely ordinary outworlder through and through.
"Shh~ Keep quiet."
The Cloud Knights withdrew their gazes and continued their patrol route.
After returning to his room, Levi washed up and lay on his bed to rest.
Before sleeping, he opened the group chat and glanced at it. After confirming there were no new messages, he stretched his legs, tilted his head, and immediately drifted off to sleep.
———
Meanwhile, over at the Aurum Alley mentioned in the letter sent by the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's, a disguised figure followed the crowd into the busy street.
Jing Yuan adjusted the sunglasses on his face, looked at the bustling people ahead, and sighed.
"Even at night, the people of the Xianzhou are just as lively as during the day!"
"Maybe that's because they only just woke up."
A cold female voice came from behind him. Jing Yuan replied without turning his head, "Miss, you're one of 'them' yourself, aren't you?"
"I just finished my work for the day. I'm here to buy some late-night snacks. After all, on the Luofu, the only commercial street still open this late is Aurum Alley."
As one of the few night markets on the Luofu, Aurum Alley was a favorite hangout for night owls and overworked laborers who missed dinner due to overtime.
On top of that, the food here was good, both in quality and taste, so people naturally got used to coming here to eat.
Jing Yuan's eyes flashed with understanding.
He turned around, and in front of him stood a woman with a graceful figure.
"Hello, I'm Ji-I mean, Yu Qiao, one of the 'them' you mentioned."
He casually gave a fake name, but the woman clearly saw right through him.
"Since when did the General start using fake names? And if you're going to imitate them, be careful, young people with demonic bodies can get away with it, but at your age, it's not the same."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Dan Shu."
Not at all embarrassed that his disguise had failed, Jing Yuan raised an eyebrow when he heard the name.
"Ah, the Chief Alchemist of the Alchemy Commission? A pleasure, a pleasure!"
After greeting each other, Dan Shu bought some food right in front of him and then left Aurum Alley.
Watching her walk away, Jing Yuan's eyes flickered with something strange.
'The Chief Alchemist of the Alchemy Commission… why would she appear here?'
'This place isn't part of her normal activity area.'
Just as he was about to follow, he caught sight of a few suspicious figures from the corner of his eye.
Their gazes met. Jing Yuan smiled and waved casually at them.
Realizing they'd been spotted, those shady figures scattered immediately.
"Ah!"
"Ugh!"
"Pfft!"
"…"
"What are you all running for?"
After tying them all up, Jing Yuan clapped his hands and unfolded the secret orders he'd found on them.
He didn't even need to read most of the words, they were full of nonsense. There was only one useful instruction.
[Make contact with Levi. Test if he can be absorbed into the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's. If not, kill him.]
At the very end of the document...
[Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus]
That confirmed it.
"Carrying evidence around with you? How thoughtful of you to make my job easier."
Jing Yuan dropped his disguise and called over a few Cloud Knights to take the captured Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus followers away.
As he left Aurum Alley, he paused and looked back.
Even though they'd caught the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's people, he still had a bad feeling.
'Chief Alchemist Dan Shu…'
———
"Idiots!"
After leaving Aurum Alley, Dan Shu didn't go home, she slipped into a narrow alley instead.
She tossed the takeout food in her hand into a trash bin and coldly looked at the two figures before her.
No, calling them "people" was already questionable.
Their arms, heads, and torsos were all covered in branches, symbols of abundance.
This was what the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's followers called "The Aspect of the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus" or "The Branching Aspect", their so-called "true immortal form."
But in reality, it was what the people of the Xianzhou became after falling into demonic corruption.
The difference was that the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's followers still retained a sliver of sanity, while normal Xianzhou people who succumbed to corruption went completely mad, attacking everyone indiscriminately.
So in a sense, the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's followers really did have some skills.
"Leader…"
"Shut up!"
Dan Shu glared coldly at the one who'd spoken. "Do you realize that your bad intel got me noticed by Jing Yuan?"
If she hadn't hastily arranged a few followers to distract Jing Yuan, she'd probably be sitting in his office right now, having tea.
"My apologies, Leader! But please allow me to make up for my mistake."
"I've already replaced the Cloud Knights patrolling that area with our own people. Just give the order..."
"... and we'll grab that man who obtained the Abundance's miracle."
As he spoke, the believer's body trembled slightly, out of excitement.
Yes, the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's followers regarded Levi's complete recovery from his strange illness within just a few hours as a divine miracle bestowed by the Aeon of Abundance itself.
After all, even Dan Shu couldn't make sense of that illness.
A disease with no precedent, no cause, and no reaction to medicine, one that slowly ate away at the body, could never be cured by human power.
Yet in just a few short hours, he was healed, and reportedly, his strength had multiplied several times over.
Such a thing could only be done with the power of that merciful Alchemist.
"Then go. Move quickly. Before the Cloud Knights or Jing Yuan can react, bring him to our base."
———
[Kiana: Ugh, so boring~ My aunt told me to wake her up at four in the morning, and now she's still sleeping!]
Sitting on her bed, Kiana kept complaining in the group chat.
[Kiana: I don't even know what she's thinking! She told me to call her at four a.m., so I did, three or four times, and the first thing she said when she answered was to yell at me!]
[Kiana: I let it slide! Then I called her another three or four times, and she just turned off her phone!]
"..."
[Kiana: Hehe~ You're all asleep, right? I'm not waking anyone up, am I?]
————
Levi opened his bloodshot eyes and looked at the string of messages Kiana had sent.
[Ding! Failed to mute! Reason: The admin cannot mute the group owner!]
"Damn it!"
[Levi: You woke me up!]
Creak~
The sound of footsteps outside made Levi instantly alert.
Without changing his expression, he turned his head toward the door.
Seeing the shadow through the crack, he knew someone was watching him.
If his guess was right, it was the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's people who had delivered the letter earlier that day.
Failed to recruit him, and now they were angry?
The Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's sure had no class.
[Kiana: You're not asleep either?! Perfect! Wanna chat? Oh wait, today's my first day of school! With Mei! I'm kinda excited!]
Glancing at her long string of texts, Levi replied, [Not now. Someone's breaking into my house.]
After a second thought, he added, [It's night here. There's someone outside my door, they're clearly coming for me.]
[Kiana: What?! Wait, hold on, I'll request to go over there! Approve it, quick!]
Kiana panicked.
Levi's Honkai sickness had just healed today, so his body must still be weak.
If someone with bad intentions really broke into his house, that'd be bad!
After thinking for a moment, Levi approved her transfer request.
"Ah! So this is your, mmph!"
Before she could finish, Levi hugged her from behind and covered her mouth, gesturing for her to look outside.
Kiana nodded in understanding. The two of them quietly crept to the window and peeked out.
Even though the night made it hard to see, they could still vaguely make out the shapes of many people outside.
Among them were several already showing signs of demonic corruption.
Kiana couldn't help but whistle softly. "That's… a lot of them."
Turning to Levi, she said, "With that many, I might not be enough on my own. Let me invite the other two to wake them..."
Levi reached out and stopped her, giving her a reassuring look.
"Having you is enough, Kiana."
Hearing that, Kiana's cheeks turned slightly red.
Outside, the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's followers didn't know Levi was already awake, so they continued sneaking closer.
The one who reached the door first pressed himself against the wall, watching for any movement inside.
Quietly, he slid over to the window.
He was about to peek through the crack to see what Levi was doing, only to find himself staring into a pair of bright blue eyes.
He froze for a split second. Levi didn't.
He immediately swung his fist forward.
BOOM!
The shattered glass and the peeking follower both went flying out into the street.
The loud noise drew everyone's attention. Seeing their comrade twitching on the ground, the rest of the Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus's followers turned toward the window, where a white-haired girl stood.
Levi wiped the blood from his hand. His sleepwear disintegrated, reforming into the battle suit of the Herrscher of the Void.
Wings of energy unfurled behind him, and sharp subspace spears floated at his back.
A faint smirk lifted the corner of his lips as he looked down at the figures below, his eyes filled with disdain.
"Who's next?"
Swish!
Sensing danger, the closest follower immediately swung his weapon toward Levi's head.