Since Herr had left, the two naturally had no reason to stay any longer, especially since they could not afford the Mist Crystal Tea mentioned afterward anyway.

The waiter, following the manager’s instructions, led the two toward Reception Room Seven.

On the other side, Herr quickly handled the handover with the club staff. It was not until the wooden box containing the painting was inspected and delivered without error that Herr finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The middle-aged man standing beside Herr smiled and said, “Congratulations on securing the painting of the ladies, sir. Your mission to China this time should be considered a complete success.”

Herr rubbed the wooden box with satisfaction and asked, “Are the plane tickets booked?” He was thoroughly sick of this broken place, which had too many rules, too many cultivators, and even an elusive demon cultivator. Now that the painting was in his hands, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. As for that demon, they would see about that in the future.

The middle-aged man nodded and replied, “I bought tickets for the next few flights, so you can leave at any time, Mr. Herr.”

Herr nodded and walked out through the special passage, getting into a black car. Only after ensuring that no one was tracking them did Herr open the wooden box, intending to check the painting once more.

Sitting in Reception Room Seven, Bai Zhizhi saw Herr’s actions through his divine sense, so he leaned closer to the painting to get a clearer look. Unexpectedly, the moment his divine sense approached the painting, the artwork instantly caught fire.

Herr was a lightning element user and had no way to put out the fire with his abilities. They were currently in the enclosed space of a car carriage. The chaotic thrashing around not only failed to extinguish the flames but even set Herr’s own clothes on fire.

In the middle of the chaos, the painting was reduced to ashes with a sharp whoosh. The fire burned freakishly fast, bearing no resemblance to the burning speed of ordinary paper. By the time Herr and his companion extinguished the fire on their bodies, they were left with nothing but the wooden box and the scroll rollers in their hands.

Back in the reception room, Bai Zhizhi had not expected the painting to catch fire the moment his divine sense touched it. He was even more surprised that a ball of spiritual light emerged from the painting after it burned.

Although he was completely bewildered, it did not stop him from instantly wrapping the spiritual light with his divine sense and pulling it back.

With no time to check what he had swept back, he shoved the item into his storage tool first.

Just as he secretly put the item away, Manager Yang of the club pushed the door open in the next second, followed by none other than Jiang Lin.

The moment he saw Jiang Lin, Lin Xiaoyang stood up in pleasant surprise and called out, “Brother Jiang!”

Jiang Lin gave a soft response and then looked at Bai Zhizhi, his expression gentle yet seemingly carrying a trace of helplessness as he said, “Let’s go, time to go home.”

Lin Xiaoyang started to say, “Brother Jiang, the spiritual fruit, Zhizhi he…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Lin interrupted, “I know, let’s go home first.”

Lin Xiaoyang held his tongue. Bai Zhizhi was still feeling guilty about secretly stealing someone else’s thing, so he obediently listened to whatever Jiang Lin said.

After bringing the two out of the club and getting into the car, Jiang Lin handed the spiritual fruit back to Bai Zhizhi.

Lin Xiaoyang let out an exclamation of surprise, and Bai Zhizhi was also a bit puzzled, asking, “Why is this with you?”

Jiang Lin placed the spiritual fruit into his hand and explained, “You must have felt the difference in the outside world since coming out of the hidden residence. We are currently living in the Dharma Decline Era, where spiritual energy is scarce and cultivation is difficult. A spiritual fruit with such abundant spiritual energy is even rarer.”

Jiang Lin looked at him and smiled, adding, “Whether it is a spiritual fruit or a spiritual medicine, you can keep it for yourself or barter it for something else. But first, you must understand the value of these things. Once you know and understand, you can use them however you like.”

After eating dinner, Bai Zhizhi, who had taken a shower and changed into his pajamas, leaned on the table by the window in his room. The snake spirit fruit, surrounded by spiritual energy, was emitting a faint, bright luster, carrying the familiar sweet fragrance.

A gentle breeze blew in from the window from time to time, carrying the sound of cicadas resting on the trees. Whether it was the scent of the wind or the noisy yet strangely peaceful chirping of the cicadas, everything reminded him that this was not his familiar home.

These past few days had been incredibly chaotic. His older sister had left Qingqiu for training, and he had inexplicably arrived in this strange place. He did not know if his parents had realized he was missing or if they would be panicked and anxious.

After reviewing the events of this period, the final image in Bai Zhizhi’s mind was Jiang Lin returning the spiritual fruit to him.

Judging by the reactions of the club staff and Lin Xiaoyang, this kind of spiritual fruit should be an extremely rare treasure. Jiang Lin was also a cultivator, and living in this environment devoid of spiritual energy for a long time would only make him crave such things even more.

Yet, he brought the spiritual fruit back and returned it to him.

Despite having cold and arrogant facial features, he possessed gentle eyes. It seemed that ever since they met at the foot of the mountain, Jiang Lin had always smiled gently at him. Even when he attacked someone, Jiang Lin did not voice a word of blame.

What kind of person was Jiang Lin exactly? Was he simply a good person, or was he pretending to be good because he wanted more from him?

His clan members always said that the Celestial Clan was greedy and malicious, the Demon Clan was crafty and arrogant, and the Human Clan was treacherous and sinister, none of whom could be fully trusted. However, his intuition told him that Jiang Lin did not seem like a person pretending to be good.

When Lin Xiaoyang came over carrying a box of fried chicken, the first thing he saw was the spiritual fruit emitting a ghostly light on the table, along with the dispersing spiritual energy. He could not help but inhale deeply, swallowing his saliva before saying, “Why didn’t you put the spiritual fruit away? Leaving it out like this will cause the spiritual energy to escape, and it won’t be fresh anymore. What a waste.”

Bai Zhizhi glanced at the fragrant box in his hand and asked, “What is that you are holding?”

Lin Xiaoyang gave a small laugh, pulled up a chair nearby, and sat down next to Bai Zhizhi, replying, “Fried chicken and cola! This is from the best shop in the neighborhood. When I went to buy roasted sugar buns for Huanhuan just now, I bought a late-night snack for you too. You definitely haven’t eaten this stuff back on the mountain.”

As soon as the box opened, hot air carrying the scent of oil rushed over. Inside was not a whole chicken, but chicken wings and drumsticks. The surface was coated in something golden and crispy, and it smelled incredibly tempting.

Lin Xiaoyang grabbed a drumstick for himself and started munching. Seeing him eat, Bai Zhizhi finally reached out and took one. It was crispy upon entry, and biting through the crunchy outer shell revealed tender, juicy chicken meat inside. It was a very novel texture. Although the spiritual chefs in his palace had made countless delicacies, they had never made anything like this.

Lin Xiaoyang looked at him with a smile and said, “Tastes good, right? Let me tell you, the human world has endless delicacies. In the future, I will take you to eat all across the country!”

Bai Zhizhi licked his lips and nodded, saying, “It is delicious.”

Since this was a late-night snack bought for Bai Zhizhi, Lin Xiaoyang stopped after eating just one piece, asking, “What were you thinking about just now? Were you homesick?”

Bai Zhizhi shook his head and replied, “I was wondering what kind of person Jiang Lin is.”

Lin Xiaoyang smiled at those words and said, “Brother Jiang, he is a very, very good person.”

Bai Zhizhi looked toward Lin Xiaoyang.

Lin Xiaoyang explained, “The cultivation resources in our place are limited. Aside from striving for them ourselves, the country also distributes some resources to train us. However, there is definitely favoritism, and it won’t be equal for everyone. After all, rather than training someone with limited talent, it is better to focus on a few top talents. In the past, Brother Jiang’s master had limited talent, and the same went for Uncle Gao and Uncle Bi. As they grew older and their cultivation could not break through, continuing to cultivate became meaningless. But since they had contributed to the country after all, the higher-ups placed them into the retirement team, which was the original East District Team.”

Lin Xiaoyang could not help but reach out to take a chicken wing from the box, eating as he continued, “Back then, the East District Team was located in a very remote corner. Aside from receiving a small monthly allowance, they were practically ignored. Later, they picked up a child, who was Brother Jiang. They couldn’t find Brother Jiang’s parents, and after feeding him for a while, they couldn’t bear to send him to an orphanage, so they simply adopted him.”

“Who would have thought that Brother Jiang actually possessed spiritual roots too. Unfortunately, there were too few things that could aid cultivation back then. Plus, Brother Jiang’s cultivation grew very slowly in the early stages, so the higher-ups figured he was probably another one with limited talent and didn’t pay much attention. Later, when Brother Jiang’s master was nearing the end of his lifespan, Brother Jiang wanted his master to break through his cultivation level, so he signed up to go to the energy field.”

Bai Zhizhi asked, “You have to sign up to go to the energy field?”

Lin Xiaoyang replied, “Of course. Although it is dangerous inside, there are also opportunities. The number of practitioners is already small, and every single one is precious. To avoid causing unnecessary sacrifice, the people who can enter must have their strength evaluated.”

Bai Zhizhi asked, “What happened later? Did he go?”

Lin Xiaoyang said, “Of course he went. If he hadn’t, there wouldn’t be the Brother Jiang we have today.”

Even now, legends of Jiang Lin were still circulating. The eighteen year old Jiang Lin entered the energy field for the first time, and his cultivation broke through repeatedly as soon as he went in. It turned out that Jiang Lin did not lack talent; it was just that the spiritual energy he could absorb previously was too little, preventing his talent from being released.

During that time, a fierce beast unexpectedly appeared in the energy field, causing incredibly tragic casualties. It was Jiang Lin who gathered the Chinese cultivators together, and everyone joined forces to hunt the fierce beast. He also protected his own people to the greatest extent inside the energy field, reducing many casualties.

The practitioners from other countries who survived in the end were fewer than one in ten, showing how perilous the situation inside was at the time.

Jiang Lin became famous after that single battle, and after exiting the energy field, he received intense focus and training from the higher-ups.

Lin Xiaoyang sighed, adding, “Even so, Brother Jiang failed to keep his master. His master still couldn’t break through in the end and passed away. Later on, Brother Jiang took over the East District Team.”

Lin Xiaoyang whispered to Bai Zhizhi, “Actually, with Brother Jiang’s abilities, he should have had better prospects. Take Xiao Yu from Lin City, for instance, who is also a captain, but he has forty or fifty cultivators under him. It is nothing like our Brother Jiang, who has so few people.”

Bai Zhizhi asked, “Why doesn’t he recruit more people?”

Lin Xiaoyang replied, “Because of a sense of responsibility. Everyone who enters the East District becomes a responsibility to Brother Jiang. He won’t recruit people just to leave them to cultivate on their own; he will be responsible for every single person. So even though we have few people, every one of us is family.”

Lin Xiaoyang stretched his body and said, “Zhizhi, since Brother Jiang brought you back, regardless of whether it is temporary, as long as you spend a single day in this courtyard, you are one of our own. You can treat this place as your second home.”

After speaking, Lin Xiaoyang looked up at the trees outside the window. This courtyard was left to Brother Jiang by his master. To Brother Jiang, this place was his home, and since he accepted all of them, he naturally viewed them as family.

Having finished talking about the past, Lin Xiaoyang gave a slightly pleasing smile and asked, “Zhizhi, well, do you have a storage tool? What does your storage tool look like? Can you show it to me?”

Bai Zhizhi bit his chicken wing and looked at him. Seeing his eager face, Bai Zhizhi raised his left hand and gave it a gentle shake. A silver ring instantly revealed itself on his index finger.

The design of the ring was simple. The intersecting ends connected a fox tail and a fox head. The minimalist lines outlined them in a lifelike manner. On the fox head, there were two spots resembling black diamonds, serving as decorative eyes.

The storage bracelet his mother refined for him could not be revealed casually, but he had plenty of storage tools, so changing one out on a whim to let Lin Xiaoyang look at it was no problem.

Lin Xiaoyang did not touch it, but his eyes were almost glued to it, exclaiming, “Wow, so this is a storage tool. Does your family line have a very powerful grand demon? The fox demon Brother Jiang caught before didn’t know how to use chopsticks, ate raw meat, and didn’t even know how to wear clothes.”

Bai Zhizhi was completely different. Although he could not read the human script either, he had clearly received a fine education. His speech and mannerisms carried a noble air, making it obvious he was no ordinary demon.

Bai Zhizhi drew his hand back, concealing the ring on his finger, and continued chewing his chicken wing without answering Lin Xiaoyang’s question.

Lin Xiaoyang did not mind either. Having seen the storage tool, he was fully satisfied, but he still reminded him, “Remember never to display your storage tool carelessly in the future. This thing is too rare and will invite greed from others.”

His Brother Jiang had one too, which he obtained inside the energy field. If Brother Jiang had not been capable himself, that storage tool might not have been kept secure.

After giving his advice to Bai Zhizhi, Lin Xiaoyang strolled back toward his own room. On the way, he bumped into Jiang Lin, who was about to head out again. He quickly ran over and asked, “Brother Jiang, it is so late, where are you going?”

Seeing Lin Xiaoyang running toward him, Jiang Lin stopped his pace and replied, “To the Imperial Court Club. Something happened over there. Did you go give Zhizhi the warning?”

A storage tool, whether to ordinary people or cultivators, was considered a heavenly object. Every existing one was registered and controlled by the higher-ups, who would absolutely not allow a storage tool to fall into the hands of an uncontrolled person.

However, Bai Zhizhi’s tool was presumably inherited from his ancestors, so even the higher-ups had no justification to make him surrender it. Yet even if the official authorities did not demand it, the concern was that certain ill-intentioned people might plot and snatch it away if they found out.

From their interactions during this time, this little fox did not harbor any resentment or resistance toward humans, meaning he could be befriended. Jiang Lin did not want the greed of a few individuals to turn demons and humans into opposing sides, which was why he told Lin Xiaoyang to give the warning, ensuring Bai Zhizhi would not easily display his storage tool in the future.

Lin Xiaoyang nodded and said, “I told him. The Imperial Court Club is having trouble? What happened? Why are you going if something happened? You aren’t a police officer.”

Jiang Lin replied, “The painting Herr bought this afternoon caught fire as soon as it left the club. He thinks the club staff tampered with the painting. Previously, he changed his face to hide his identity, but now he isn’t hiding at all. He is demanding an explanation at the club and even tried to use his special abilities. Now they are causing a scene. I am closest to the Imperial Court Club from here, so I can only go over to take a look.”

When someone used special abilities on their territory, they could only rely on cultivators to suppress them, as ordinary people truly had no way to handle it.

Lin Xiaoyang quickly said, “I will go with you!”

When other bosses made an appearance, they always brought their subordinates along. How could his own boss make an appearance without bringing his subordinate!