Chapter 48: Chapter 46: The Cutting Edge
"Your Demon Suppression Bureau sure acts high and mighty, I like it." A smile flickered across Su Heng's face.
"That's all in the past," Su Li shrugged her shoulders, "The Demon Suppression Bureau has gradually lost the ability to control the overall situation."
"You're asking so much because you want to join the Demon Suppression Bureau?" Su Li blinked.
"Mhm." Su Heng nodded, looking up at the sky outside, "But, I don't plan to follow your path, it's too slow, I can't wait that long."
"Then you plan to..."
"Aren't you supposed to write a letter and report back to your master?" Su Heng handed her the envelope from earlier, speaking earnestly, "No need to hide anything, just tell him exactly how things went down."
Su Li was silent at first, then nodded her head.
She burned the letter she had written earlier with a flicker of flame, then picked up her pen to start writing again, the scratching sound of the calligraphy brush on the paper once again filled the room.
Su Heng fell into thought.
Ordinary people need to hide their strength, showing three parts and hiding seven, so they have a trump card to retaliate when in crisis.
But Su Heng didn't need to do that.
With a plentiful supply of demon flesh and blood, Su Heng's power was growing at such a fast pace that one day for him was equivalent to ten years of arduous cultivation for others.
It is hard to imagine,
that just a month and a half ago, Su Heng was barely stronger than an average person.
And now, Su Heng was capable of tearing apart demons with his hands, performing craniotomies on the elders of demon-sealing noble families with outstanding results.
In such circumstances,
Su Heng naturally intended to stand out, to obtain resources and positions that matched his strength, and to rise rapidly, for that was the true path to greatness.
"Done!" Su Li said, handing over the newly written letter to Su Heng.
"Within the Demon Suppression Bureau, there are five different ranks from bottom to top: Disciple, Officer, Elder, Deputy Governor, and Governor."
"Disciples and Officers are Martial Artists at the Demon Form stage, while from Elders upwards, they belong to the Demon Embryo stage." Su Li's beautiful voice flowed gently, "Based on your current strength, if you were in the Demon Suppression Bureau, you would be somewhere between an Elder and a Deputy Governor."
Su Heng checked the newly written letter and found almost no issues, so he handed it back to Su Li.
As he listened to Su Li's serious analysis, he spoke calmly, "That was me three days ago."
"You…" Su Li was momentarily at a loss for words, her breathing growing heavy.
After a long silence, Su Li punched Su Heng hard on the arm, "You really are infuriating, how can you improve so quickly!"
"Xiao Qing, you check it too, see if there's anything we missed," Su Li said after making a fuss, passing the letter to Xiao Qing.
Xiao Qing took it over and carefully examined it, her delicate eyebrows slowly furrowing.
"What's wrong?" Su Li asked, curious.
Su Heng also raised his head, looking toward Xiao Qing.
"There's not really a problem," Xiao Qing stuck out her tongue, "But if I were the Governor, it'd be hard to believe the contents of this letter."
"It's too exaggerated,"
"…" Su Li was speechless, "What do we do then!"
She scratched her head, feeling as though she was about to lose a few strands of hair.
"Forget about it!" Su Li folded up the letter, stuffed it into a cylinder, and then tied it to the ankle of a black-feathered, red-eyed crow.
She went to the window and stretched out her hand to release it.
The crow cawed twice, flapping its wings and quickly disappeared into the clouds, out of sight.
"When they see you, they won't have a choice but to believe it," Su Li chuckled, then hugged Su Heng's arm and snuggled up to him, "How did I end up with such an outstanding little brother?" A look of joy and pride filled her face.
"Don't smear your snot on me," Su Heng said with some disgust as he pushed her away.
"Let's go outside and take a look," Su Heng heard the sound of suona coming from outside.
"Mhm."
Su Li nodded, the smile gradually disappearing from her face.
Su Li and Xiao Qing walked ahead, while Su Heng followed closely behind them at a measured distance.
Brushing off his clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles Su Li had made, Su Heng took out a white object from his bosom.
This object was roughly the size of a fist, looking very much like a mushroom without its stem, only a smooth cap remaining, and even had a cross-shaped cut on its surface.
Su Heng squinted slightly, and a grey-white attribute panel quickly appeared.
[Detecting demon remains... Identifying... Identification successful]
[Demon Remains: Tai Sui Fungus Strain]
[Current total fusion slots 2, available fusion slots 1, do you wish to fuse?]
"Fuse!" The fusion slots for demon remains seemed to be related to one's realm, and Su Heng had gained an additional slot after breaking through.
He undid his clothes and placed the cold Tai Sui Fungus Strain on his chest.
"Hoo..."
Within a long breath.
The Tai Sui Fungus Strain slowly melted, turning into countless white mycelium threads that penetrated the skin and integrated into the body, finally taking root in Su Heng's lungs.
If he could go to a hospital for a CT scan, he would find that Su Heng's lungs were now a whitish haze, much like white lungs caused by a serious case of pneumonia. But Su Heng didn't feel any discomfort at all, nor did he experience the intense emotional impact of the spirit plunging into hell.
It might be the attribute panel or perhaps Su Heng's physique was too formidable; the negative effects of fusing with the demon remains did not manifest in him at all.
He walked while silently feeling the changes brought by the fusion with the demon remains.
Last time he fused with the Water Ghost Poison Sack, there was hardly any increase in Su Heng's physical strength; he merely inherited some abilities of the water ghost.
But this time was different,
The Shadow Tai Sui was a Fierce-level demon, equivalent to a human's Martial Artist at the demon embryo stage, perhaps even stronger.
After fusing with its leftover demon remains, Su Heng clearly felt an increase in his strength.
He spread his five fingers wide and clenched them, his eyebrows gradually knitting together.
"About thirty percent strength increase... It's similar to half the boost that a Ghost Back would have given," Su Heng said with a satisfied expression on his face.
The boost provided by a Ghost Back was higher and more comprehensive, but it required "inflating" the two blood sacs on the back and had a cooldown period after use. The enhancement from the Tai Sui Fungus Strain, however, was a direct and normalized effect on himself, without much restriction.
However, Su Heng's stature and weight could increase indefinitely, and his natural strength could also do the same.
The Tai Sui Fungus Strain and Ghost Back, the former directly adds value to the base attributes, while the latter amplifies by fifty percent. In the long run, the increase from the former would become diluted, and the latter's benefits were clearly higher.
Beyond the boost in basic attributes.
The Tai Sui Fungus Strain also brought the formidable talents of Shadow Tai Sui, and this was what Su Heng valued the most.
The strength of Shadow Tai Sui was immense, and its talents did not disappoint Su Heng's expectations.
Unlike the Water Ghost Poison Sack which had many special effects, the Tai Sui Fungus Strain had only one effect—fungal species creation.
Su Heng could now create three different types of fungal species, namely—
The Mist Fungus, which could create a wide range of fog to shield perception;
The Parasitic Species, which could parasitize flesh and absorb nutrients from the host's body;
And the highly poisonous fungal species, possessing powerful lethal abilities that could make one wish for death, causing flesh to rot away rapidly and leading to demise within a short period.