Spiritual Energy Revival (13): 

That night, the cultivators of the Bureau of Demon Control noticed the surrounding spiritual energy once again rushing toward Zhou Qinghao’s residence.

Was Zhou Qinghao cultivating again? His talent truly made people envious.

After some discussion, those who wanted to cultivate no longer stayed in the dorms. Instead, they went to the training halls the Bureau had built specifically for cultivation.

Those places had formations set up, so the spiritual energy there would not be siphoned away by Zhou Qinghao.

Some people cultivated, some went to bed early, and others took the opportunity of nightfall to leave the Bureau.

One of those leaving happened to be the gatekeeper of the former high-risk warehouse.

He was not the only one who guarded the Bureau’s warehouses—there were others as well. It just so happened his shift was over, so he could go home and rest for a month before returning to take up guard duty again.

This job was given to injured cultivators who could no longer go on missions.

Like Gu Juntian, they were no longer able to fight demons or spirits, and had withdrawn from the frontlines.

Although the state gave them compensation and still paid them a salary enough to live comfortably, they were cultivators.

Ordinary currency could not buy what a cultivator needed.

If they were willing to live as ordinary people, they could still be happy. But if they were unwilling and wanted to continue cultivating, the best option was to take a minor position within the Bureau.

For example, this gatekeeper took turns every other month guarding the warehouse doors.

During that month, he could remain in the Bureau, bathe in its dense spiritual energy, eat meals infused with energy, and even use his salary to buy pills within the Bureau.

All of this was beneficial to his body.

At first, he was very satisfied.

But after seeing Gu Juntian eat heavenly treasures like common meals, dissatisfaction grew deeper and deeper in his heart…

This man’s name was Yu Shaocheng. He had joined the Bureau later than Gu Juntian, but still early enough. However, his strength was weak, his background not as good, so he had little presence within the Bureau.

After he was injured and unable to continue cultivating, the state’s compensation was generous, but nowhere near Gu Juntian’s.

Heavenly treasures were priceless—his allowance could never afford them. Yet Gu Juntian could casually take them from the warehouse.

How could that not make someone bitter?

Yu Shaocheng lived not far from the Bureau.

Returning home, he lit an incense stick, and soon, a phantom figure appeared before him.

Almost as if under compulsion, Yu Shaocheng recounted everything he had seen over the past month.

That phantom was the Ghost King.

The Ghost King knew that one day, he would clash with the Bureau.

So he laid his plans early, reaching out to Bureau members and corrupting them.

Yu Shaocheng was not the only one. Because of this, the Ghost King had near-complete knowledge of the Bureau’s affairs.

For example, he knew that Gu Juntian harbored thoughts of seizing another’s body.

He had once wanted to corrupt Gu Juntian directly, but never found the chance. Still, even without it, by analyzing the information he gathered, he could deduce that Gu Juntian did not want to die.

And if one does not wish to die, they will inevitably take action.

The most likely choice was body possession.

Because of this, the Ghost King deliberately sent items useful for possession into the Bureau through various channels.

For example, by giving a rogue cultivator a possession technique, then leaking information about him to the Bureau when he committed evil…

Once the Bureau killed the rogue cultivator, naturally they would seize the technique. And in the end, it would fall into Gu Juntian’s hands.

As long as Gu Juntian was not a saint, he could not resist the temptation.

The Ghost King originally thought Gu Juntian would choose a newcomer in the Bureau as his target.

With multiple agents inside, he was well-informed about Bureau matters.

When Gu Juntian suddenly inquired about the new recruits, he assumed Gu Juntian was selecting a suitable host.

But after Zhou Qinghao returned, Gu Juntian ignored the newcomers altogether.

Gu Juntian’s ambition was great—he actually intended to seize Zhou Qinghao.

But if it were him, he would have chosen Zhou Qinghao too.

That body was far too enticing.

“You should not have spoken out in front of Zhou Qinghao,” the Ghost King said coldly to Yu Shaocheng.

Yu Shaocheng had dropped a hint to Zhou Qinghao, which might have made him suspicious of Gu Juntian’s intentions.

The Ghost King intended to help Gu Juntian complete his possession.

In the meantime, he didn’t want Zhou Qinghao interfering.

Yu Shaocheng trembled. “I… I didn’t mean to…” He didn’t even know why he had spoken at the time.

“Luckily Zhou Qinghao didn’t notice. He trusts his foster father very much,” the Ghost King said.

Gu Juntian planning to possess Zhou Qinghao was excellent!

At first, he only wanted to weaken the Bureau. But now… he might even be able to eliminate Zhou Qinghao as well.

Gu Juntian had no idea the Ghost King was secretly watching him.

But he himself did want to deal with both the Ghost King and the Demon King. In the original storyline, after Zhou Qinghao’s death, the two unleashed countless massacres, killing untold numbers.

Especially the Ghost King.

He had turned a city of nearly ten million into a ghost domain, forcing its inhabitants to slaughter each other, feeding on their resentment and rising in power until he rivaled a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Not a single person in that city survived.

Gu Juntian did not want such a tragedy to happen again.

Unfortunately, he could not yet find the Ghost King or the Demon King.

Once his strength grew, he was determined to take Zhou Qinghao with him and end them both.

With that thought, dual cultivation had to continue.

At worst, he would just focus on tempering certain parts of his body first.

Early the next morning, Gu Juntian saw Zhou Qinghao looking refreshed once again.

It made him all the more determined to speed up his physical training.

He couldn’t afford to appear weaker than Zhou Qinghao!

Besides, after their soul fusion last night, Zhou Qinghao’s soul had grown stronger rapidly. By the time Gu Juntian finished tempering his body, Zhou Qinghao might already be capable of projecting his divine sense outward.

As expected of the one he liked—such astonishing talent!

During the day, Gu Juntian resumed his duties as usual.

Zhou Qinghao followed along, quietly observing.

“This mission will be led by Xiao Lou. Send him to Warehouse B and equip him with artifact B129.”

“Xiao Li, the monster at Xingyuan Village should fear fire. Bring more fire-elemental tools.”

“Seal off the sinkhole in City J for now. Don’t rush to explore it—avoid unnecessary casualties…”

…

Seeing Gu Juntian busy, Zhou Qinghao slipped away quietly.

He returned to Gu Juntian’s quarters and began searching carefully.

Gu Juntian treated him so well that he couldn’t help but secretly hope—perhaps his foster father didn’t really want to kill him.

Maybe he wasn’t planning possession at all.

But reality disappointed him. Soon, he found the missing items from the high-risk warehouse in his foster father’s room, including Netherworld Stone Milk.

If his foster father kept these things at home, it was definitely for a purpose.

Zhou Qinghao cleaned up all traces of his search and pretended to know nothing.

Over the following half-month, Gu Juntian diligently tempered his body every day, at least three hours each session.

For an old man, this was no small feat.

It was at this time that a great demon began causing trouble at the seaside.

In the original storyline, this same demon had appeared, killing many from the Bureau before Zhou Qinghao defeated it while heavily injured.

Afterward, Zhou Qinghao’s soul became even more unstable, leaving him unconscious for several days.

Ordinary cultivators could not handle this demon. Though reluctant, Gu Juntian still assigned the mission to Zhou Qinghao.

Now, however, Zhou Qinghao’s soul was stable and his strength had grown considerably. He should be able to deal with the demon easily.