Spiritual Energy Revival (14): 

During this time, under Gu Juntian’s feeding, Zhou Qinghao was full of vitality, looking very healthy.

Gu Juntian was quite satisfied with this. He liked Zhou Qinghao’s healthy appearance.

Sitting behind his desk, Gu Juntian assigned the task of exorcising a demon at the seaside to Zhou Qinghao: “Qinghao, this time the troublemaker is an octopus demon. Not long ago, it attacked a cruise ship and ate everyone on board. The sub-bureau people went to investigate, but they were eaten as well… You go handle it, and remember to take Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo with you. They should be able to help.”

Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo were not weak and were both good at fighting in the water. It was right to let them deal with sea demons.

But that octopus demon was very strong.

In the original storyline, the original host only sent Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo at first, and both of them ended up dead.

Now with Zhou Qinghao going along, the three of them would definitely be able to kill the octopus demon.

“Godfather?” Zhou Qinghao was a little puzzled.

During this period, Gu Juntian should have been preparing for possession. Zhou thought Gu Juntian wouldn’t agree to let him leave.

Seeing Zhou Qinghao hesitate, Gu Juntian thought Zhou was reluctant to leave him. “Qinghao, this octopus demon is very strong. I’ll have to trouble you with it.”

Zhou Qinghao agreed. “Godfather, don’t worry. I’ll definitely complete the mission!”

If the octopus demon was that strong, it really required his intervention.

But right now his soul had issues, and he didn’t know if an accident might occur in battle.

Still, with Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo’s help, at least he wouldn’t lose his life.

Zhou Qinghao accepted the mission. Taking Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo with him, they first took a helicopter to the airport, then the fastest plane to their destination.

After landing, they took another helicopter to the demon’s location.

With their Demon Management Bureau credentials, they had green lights all the way, not even needing security checks to board.

The three of them soon arrived at the seaside.

“Captain Zhou, are you in a bad mood? Why won’t you talk to us at all?” Su Xuancheng couldn’t help asking.

Zhou Qinghao said, “I don’t like to talk.”

By keeping his distance from these people, it would be less noticeable if Gu Juntian succeeded in taking over his body later.

Su Xuancheng felt a bit dissatisfied, but when he saw Zhou Qinghao’s face, his dissatisfaction quickly vanished.

Zhou Qinghao said, “That great demon is very strong. When I fight it, you two look for chances to attack from the side, and be careful.”

Fearing something might go wrong with himself mid-battle, Zhou repeated his warnings to Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo, telling them to be cautious.

According to the sub-bureau’s analysis, the octopus demon was at Foundation Establishment stage, so Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo hadn’t taken it seriously at first.

After all, they themselves were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But now, seeing Zhou so cautious, they became more alert.

The three used detectors provided by the Daoist sects to search the sea, finally finding traces of the demon.

Su Xuancheng sucked in a breath. “Based on the energy readings, this octopus demon has the strength of a Golden Core stage!”

Zhao Mo said, “No wonder Director Gu asked Captain Zhou to come!”

A Golden Core stage octopus demon was indeed troublesome. Zhou Qinghao drew his blade and charged into the sea.

If the battle dragged on too long, his soul might cause problems. He had to finish it quickly!

Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo followed behind him, muscles tense, ready for combat.

The octopus demon’s massive tentacles lashed out toward them. Zhou Qinghao raised his blade high and slashed forward…

One of the tentacles was instantly severed.

This octopus demon, active by the coast, had eaten many people already. It regarded Zhou Qinghao and the others as a fine meal too.

But it hadn’t expected Zhou to cut off one of its legs in just one strike.

The demon was cunning and immediately fled.

How could Zhou Qinghao let it escape? He chased after it and engaged it in battle…

Soon after, Zhou Qinghao returned to shore with the octopus demon’s core in hand, while Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo dragged its corpse.

Both Su Xuancheng and Zhao Mo were silent.

Before the fight, Zhou had warned them repeatedly, and they had braced themselves for a grueling battle. But Zhou had cut the demon down in just a few moves.

So what had they even come here for?

To clean up the corpse?

Zhou Qinghao himself found it unbelievable.

He knew his Golden Core had solidified a lot, increasing his strength.

But with his damaged soul, his combat power shouldn’t have been this high.

What was going on? Why did it feel like he’d gotten much stronger?

“As expected of Captain Zhou, too strong!”

“Captain Zhou, we’ve already prepared a hotel and food for you. Would you like to rest?”

“Captain Zhou…”

…

The sub-bureau people gathered around Zhou, eyes shining.

Zhou Qinghao said, “Lead the way.”

He did need a bath and some food, but he wouldn’t stay long.

He planned to rush back to the Bureau overnight.

Su Xuancheng was puzzled. “Captain Zhou, why are you in such a hurry to go back?”

Zhou Qinghao said, “My godfather isn’t in good health. I need to watch over him.”

Once Gu Juntian succeeded in possession, “Director Gu” would be dead.

So Zhou always told people he stayed at the Bureau only because Gu Juntian’s health was poor.

“Director Gu looked fine to me. He always seems energetic,” Su Xuancheng muttered.

Zhou Qinghao shot him a cold look.

Su Xuancheng immediately shut up.

While Zhou was killing demons, Gu Juntian sneaked into the high-risk warehouse and quietly returned everything he had previously stolen.

The last warehouse guard had been diligent, but the current one was lazy, making it easy to slip by.

Once Gu Juntian put everything back, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the warehouse was rarely inspected, if anyone found something amiss, it would be very bad for him.

Now that everything was returned, he had no more worries.

Though relieved, Gu Juntian didn’t fully relax.

In the original storyline, the possession didn’t happen inside the Bureau, but in a mountain near it.

There was a cave there, which was the original host’s secret base.

The original host had worried someone might stumble across it, so he hadn’t stored anything too valuable there. Still, there were some things that couldn’t be seen by others.

That night, Gu Juntian left the Bureau and went to his secret base.

To the north of the Bureau was a stretch of mountains. The base was inside one of them, in a natural cave.

It was about twenty kilometers away, not far. The surroundings were scenic, and deep inside the cave was a small spiritual spring.

In the future, he could even bring Zhou Qinghao there.

The cave had formations placed in it. After spending some time inside, Gu Juntian also installed a new portable protective formation bought from the Daoist sects, then left.

But shortly after he left, a ghostly shadow appeared nearby…

The Ghost King soon learned what Gu Juntian had done that night.

Gu Juntian had gone to the high-risk warehouse and to his secret base.

He must be preparing to act against Zhou Qinghao soon.

The Ghost King had considered sending someone to investigate Zhou Qinghao’s situation, but Zhou was too alert, so he hadn’t dared.

Gu Juntian, after running around all night, was exhausted.

He was just planning to rest for a couple of days when Zhou Qinghao returned.

So fast!

Zhou must have hurried back because he missed him.

His Qinghao was perfect in every way, except for loving him too much… During their dual cultivation, Gu Juntian could feel some of Zhou’s emotions.

Zhou trusted him completely, but also felt sorrow, probably worrying about his health.

Gu Juntian had told him he was fine, that his soul was strong and he was using spiritual energy to heal his body.

But Zhou hadn’t believed him, and there was nothing he could do—he’d just have to wait until his condition improved.

Once Zhou was back, Gu Juntian returned to his nights of indulgence.

With Zhou’s strength increasing, his own body recovered more as well, and afterward, his speed of tempering his body grew faster.

Gu Juntian was very pleased with this, but soon he ran into a problem.

Zhou Qinghao’s body began to change.

The Celestial Spirit Physique was usually innate—born flawless, loved by spiritual energy.

But this world was different. Fifteen years ago, there had been no spiritual energy here at all, and thus no Celestial Spirit Physique either.

Zhou’s Celestial Spirit Physique had awakened ten years ago.

Because of that, impurities inevitably existed in his body, so previously his physique wasn’t pure.

But recently, through dual cultivation, Zhou’s body had been repeatedly cleansed by spiritual energy, and his strength grew rapidly… His Celestial Spirit Physique had begun a second awakening.

This so-called second awakening was essentially Zhou’s body expelling impurities.

It didn’t affect his strength, but it made him have diarrhea and his body exude filth.

It was unavoidable, and he would feel uncomfortable.

Gu Juntian immediately told Zhou about this.

Zhou Qinghao was bewildered.

His physique had already awakened ten years ago. How could it suddenly awaken again?

Gu Juntian said, “Qinghao, in the back mountain there’s a cave with a spiritual spring inside. Stay there for a while.”

Not only was Zhou’s physique undergoing a second awakening, his cultivation was also about to break through.

Zhou absorbed spiritual energy at a tremendous rate. Previously, he hadn’t broken through because his soul hadn’t kept up.

But through dual cultivation with Gu Juntian, his soul had strengthened a lot. Now, he was ready to advance.

Breaking through from Golden Core to Nascent Soul required withstanding a lightning tribulation, which he definitely couldn’t do inside the Bureau, lest it destroy the formations and buildings.

The Bureau wasn’t poor, but it wasn’t rich either. Repairs would cost a fortune.

So it was best to let Zhou break through in the back mountain cave.

Anyway, there weren’t any urgent demon threats right now.

Leaving the Bureau? Zhou thought for a moment, then agreed.

Seeing Zhou agree, Gu Juntian immediately took him to the cave.

And within half a day, the Ghost King knew about it.

He was overjoyed—Gu Juntian was finally about to attempt possession!