The three Great Grandmasters exchanged glances, a lingering fear flashing in their eyes.
One of them said with a solemn expression:
"This is beyond anything we can handle. Report this up the chain of command immediately! For a Demon of this caliber, a being above the level of a Martial Venerable, to die here can only mean there is an even stronger entity out there! Let's just hope that entity is on the side of the Human race, or Hushi is going to face a catastrophic disaster..."
The other two nodded at once. Without wasting a moment, they loaded up the dozen unconscious people along with the corpse of the high-level Demon and transported them back.
As for the Death Silence Thunder Eagle, which had been the original target of their trip, they completely overlooked it. In their minds, the creature must have been devoured by the Demon—after all, to a Demon, a large fierce beast like the Death Silence Thunder Eagle made the best meal of all.
Meanwhile, the culprit who actually killed the Demon was already lying comfortably in bed.
Lin Yichen mentally tallied up the gains from his outing.
In less than an hour outside, he had not only acquired two practical skills and bound a protection target, but his personal wealth had also skyrocketed. You could say he made a killing.
For the rest of the day, Lin Yichen alternated between eating and cultivating. Though he now had the System, training every day had long become a habit; without it, he would have had nothing to do.
Even though his Mental Power was already formidable, he had no intention of giving up the Martial Dao.
After all, Telekinetic Master cultivation represented sheer power, while Martial Dao cultivation represented physical conditioning. Only by complementing each other could the two become even stronger.
Perhaps because his Telekinetic Master cultivation base was so high, his progress in the Martial Dao became remarkably smooth. In the span of a single day, Lin Yichen broke through to a Level 5 Martial Artist, and even advanced more than halfway through the rank.
You had to know that ever since breaking through to a Martial Artist, every single rank-up had taken Lin Yichen at least a month or more.
While part of that was due to his primary focus on Mental Power, even if he had dedicated himself solely to the Martial Dao, breaking through a rank would still have taken about half a month—and it only grew slower the further along you went. Yet now, he had advanced a rank and a half in a single day. Lin Yichen could only sigh:
"Is this what it feels like to cheat?"
Seeing that the outside world was already blanketed by the darkness of night, Lin Yichen stopped his cultivation.
Although his current Telekinetic Master cultivation no longer required sleep to recover his mental state, it was a matter of habit. Extra training was out of the question; he would never do extra training in this lifetime.
Before going to sleep, however, Lin Yichen brought up the System interface and looked at Xu Shiyue's cultivation status, prompting him to sigh:
"This little girl is really working hard."
At that moment, the System chimed in:
"Host, look at how hard other people are working, and then look at you! You're so young, how can you sleep?! Only through unremitting cultivation can you possess an indestructible body and win the favor of a wealthy beauty sooner!"
Lin Yichen was left completely speechless by the System's psychological manipulation.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo! What does a broke System like you know? Where did you pick up this crooked nonsense? I'm going to sleep, and I'm telling you not to disturb me, or else when I get ruthless, I'll even beat myself up!"
"..."
The silent night quietly slipped away amidst the System's speechlessness.
"Ring-ring-ring-ring!"
Early the next morning, a shrill alarm clock went off.
Swish! Thump!
Out of habit and carrying a trace of lingering resentment, Lin Yichen reached out to turn off the alarm, but he accidentally misjudged his strength. The alarm clock was sent flying directly by his powerful Mental Power.
It slammed heavily against the wall, and the alarm clock that had accompanied Lin Yichen for many years finally reached the end of its clock-life, leaving behind only a scattering of fragments and parts to mark the trace of its former existence.
Looking at the shattered alarm clock on the floor, Lin Yichen stood there in a daze for a moment. Then, acting like a heartless scoundrel, he used telekinesis to scoop up all the debris and casually tossed it into the trash can.
This small morning episode did not delay Lin Yichen from heading to school.
"Xiaolin, here so early?"
As soon as Lin Yichen reached the gates of Hushi No. 1 High School, the elderly security guard greeted him with a smile.
Hearing this, Lin Yichen smiled and nodded back.
"Morning, Grandpa Zhao. Have you eaten yet? If not, I've got a few steamed buns here."
With that, Lin Yichen lifted the bag in his hand.
Grandpa Zhao chuckled and shook his head.
"I ate ages ago! Keep them for yourself!"
Hearing this, Lin Yichen pressed no further. With a smiling farewell, he walked toward the classrooms.
"Good morning, Senior Lin!"
"Good morning, Senior Lin!"
"Morning, President!"
"Good morning, President Lin!"
...
Most of the students he encountered along the way recognized him and greeted him warmly. Facing the greetings from his junior schoolmates and peers alike, Lin Yichen responded to each one with a smile.
Not far behind Lin Yichen, however, a figure wrapped tightly from head to toe had been trailing him the entire time. Watching Lin Yichen up ahead—surrounded like the moon by a host of stars, treating everyone with his customary gentleness—the boundless affection in the follower's eyes seemed fit to overflow.
As if sensing the burning gaze from behind, Lin Yichen suddenly stopped and looked back.
That unexpected turn startled the figure into a flurry of panicked fumbling.
Limbs: What are we supposed to do?
Brain: No idea, I've already short-circuited.
Seeing the figure not far away acting as if their limbs had stopped obeying them while their eyes darted around in a frantic panic, Lin Yichen paused, but quickly recognized who it was: none other than Xu Shiyue, whom he had just run into yesterday in the Forest of Annihilation.
Witnessing such adorable behavior, Lin Yichen couldn't help but chuckle.
Realizing that Lin Yichen seemed to be laughing at her, Xu Shiyue instantly stopped her flustered movements, puffed out her cheeks, and walked toward Lin Yichen with a blushing face amidst the curious gazes of the surrounding crowd.
She didn't stop until she was right in front of him. Then, mustering all her courage and flushing a bright red, she said:
"Lin, Lin Yichen, g-good morning!"
Lin Yichen smiled as he looked at her, deliberately putting on a puzzled expression.
"Good morning. May I ask who you are?"
Hearing this, Xu Shiyue panicked. She hurriedly pulled off her hood and mask, revealing her breathtakingly beautiful face, and blurted out:
"It's, it's me!"
Even though this was only the second time he was seeing this now flawless face, Lin Yichen couldn't help sighing inwardly that some people were simply spoon-fed by the heavens.
Seeing how nervous Xu Shiyue looked, Lin Yichen said with a smile:
"Oh, it's you! Good morning, Xu Shiyue! You've changed quite a bit compared to a month ago! I almost didn't recognize you."
Blushing deeply, Xu Shiyue asked nervously:
"Th-then... do I look good?"
Lin Yichen seemed to thoroughly enjoy teasing this little girl. He intentionally paused for a moment before saying with a smile:
"You look very pretty!"
"Th-thank you!"
Receiving the praise of the person in her heart, Xu Shiyue's face turned completely crimson, though a wave of relief washed over her. After muttering a quick thank you, she scurried away in a rush.
Lin Yichen watched her retreating figure and smiled. It seemed the little girl's personality wasn't as introverted as it used to be.
To him, this was a good start, suddenly giving him the strange satisfaction of watching a child he raised grow up.
...