Tu Xiao'an's worldview was once again completely upended, but to be fair, he'd only been in Wencheng for less than a week.

There would be plenty more bizarre things in the future that he would have no choice but to accept.

Three rather large wolf-dogs were lying about in the villa's courtyard, the so-called watchdogs meant to guard the property.

One of the wolf-dogs spoke in a human voice, "Everyone, keep your guard up. It seems like every week, one of our brothers mysteriously disappears. We still haven't figured out why."

Another wolf-dog replied, "You don't think the people from the Demon Management Bureau are watching us, do you?"

"Impossible. The Chief has connections with the Demon Management Bureau. I'm more worried that some other monster has targeted us."

"Three of our brothers vanished mysteriously last month, and another one disappeared this month. There were originally seven of us wolf-dog brothers, and now we're the only three left. We can't afford another incident."

The three large wolf-dogs spoke with great anxiety, their eyes showing no trace of viciousness. Being a watchdog was a tough job.

"Looks like you come here quite often," Tu Xiao'an said, shooting Luo Ziyun a peculiar look after overhearing the conversation between the three wolf-dogs.

Luo Ziyun puffed out her chest with a smug, haughty expression.

'Wait a minute...' Tu Xiao'an was suddenly taken aback, having noticed a problem. "Those wolf-dogs might be Awakened, but their Realm is very low. They're nowhere near the Spirit Monster Level. How can they speak?"

He didn't need to use Insight. He could tell from their auras alone that they were only around Level 13 or 14.

Moreover, their breed was completely ordinary—not even close to the level of Tu Xiao'an's own Xiaobai.

When Xiaobai awakened, his bloodline was enhanced, and he gained a pair of Yin Yang Eyes. A single glance from him could banish all Ghosts. He was a first-rate House Guardian Beast.

These ones, however, were just watchdog material.

"You don't even know that?"

Luo Ziyun wrinkled her nose.

"Awakened Creatures usually try to attach themselves to a powerful patron. For one, it's for protection—so they won't be captured by human Martial Cultivators for Alchemy. For another, it's to gain other benefits."

"A Rank Three Demon Spirit, for example, usually has ways to enable an Awakened Creature to speak prematurely. That's how they ensure the creature will follow them with unwavering loyalty."

Luo Ziyun continued her role as Tu Xiao'an's tutor, cramming his head with basic knowledge.

"So that's how it works."

'Fine, I'm a frog in a well. No, a snake in a well.'

"So, did you come here to grab a wolf-dog because you couldn't find a suitable ingredient for your soup base?"

Luo Ziyun sighed in resignation. "Business is tough these days. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"...Have you no shame?"

"Besides, I just made dog-meat noodle soup this week. I'm not catching a wolf-dog this time. I'll pick something different," Luo Ziyun said breezily.

Tu Xiao'an gave her a teasing look. "What's the plan? You're not thinking of catching that Rank Three Demon Spirit upstairs to make soup, are you?"

'That seems a bit too ambitious.'

She gave him a huge eye-roll. "Do you think a Rank Three Demon Spirit is that easy to catch? If I cause too much of a commotion, I might attract people from the Demon Management Bureau."

'But "not that easy to catch" and "impossible to catch" are two completely different things.' Tu Xiao'an found he could understand this woman less and less.

'So, if she really wanted to, it wouldn't be impossible, would it?'

It got to the point where Tu Xiao'an no longer felt any pride at all for having subdued a Rank Three Snake Flood Dragon.

He just heard her say quietly, "Besides, it would be useless even if I did catch it. Soup made from a Rank Three Demon Spirit isn't something an ordinary person can handle. They'd probably explode on the spot after one sip."

'What a show-off.'

'So the main reason is that she thinks it's useless because her customers wouldn't survive drinking the soup.'

"So you don't want a wolf-dog, and you're not going after the Rank Three Demon Spirit. Then what are you here for?"

Luo Ziyun replied, "It's not like those are the only two options in this villa. This is a Demon Nest! There's a dazzling array of choices."

"You have no idea how happy I was when I found this Demon Nest. Now I'll never have to worry about where to find my soup ingredients again!"

Black lines of dismay formed on Tu Xiao'an's forehead. "..."

Just then, in the villa's courtyard, an exceptionally tall and burly man dressed in black appeared, hauling a middle-aged man as he bounded up the stairs.

The man he was carrying looked like a chick being dangled in his grasp.

Huh?

The exceptionally tall and burly man had two sharp bull's horns growing out of his forehead, just like the Bull Demon King.

"Is that a Rank Two Bull Spirit?" Tu Xiao'an noted its unusual features. It had already undergone Transformation, walking on two legs, and its body was exceptionally strong. It stood two meters tall, but its most outlandish feature was the pair of protruding bull's horns. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Luo Ziyun explained, "That's a Half-demon. It was at the Rank Two Realm and underwent a forced Transformation, turning into something that's neither human nor Demon."

"That's possible, too?"

'It looks a lot like the Demon that Lin Fan turned into when he merged with his pet.'

"Only a Rank Three Demon Spirit has the power to help it undergo a forced Transformation, which massively increases its strength. Its form becomes mostly human-like," Luo Ziyun said calmly. "However, this kind of semi-transformation, done through external means, makes it forfeit its chance to ever achieve a full Transformation. In the future, even if it reaches Rank Three, it will always look like this—half-human, half-demon."

Tu Xiao'an asked in confusion, "If it loses the ability to fully transform in the future, then why would it do this?"

"There are many benefits. Aside from retaining a few animalistic traits, it's virtually identical to a human, and its power increases massively."

"Also..."

Tu Xiao'an interjected, "Also—you don't have to finish. I get it. Not every creature is qualified to pursue the path and undergo the Tribulation to become a Rank Three Demon Spirit. If one knows its bloodline is too limited and that it will never become a Rank Three Demon Spirit in its lifetime, then this is without a doubt its best option."

'If every creature that cultivated could reach Rank Three, the world would be full of them.'

Luo Ziyun immediately gave him a look that said, 'This one's teachable after all.'

It wasn't as if Tu Xiao'an was completely ignorant of this fact.

'Looks like that Rank Three Demon Spirit upstairs is pretty impressive,' he thought. 'It can help Rank One Awakened Creatures speak ahead of schedule and force Rank Two Spirit Monsters to transform, massively boosting their power.'

"Why is that Bull Spirit dragging a middle-aged man inside?"

"That man's prospects are grim. The transformed Rank Three Demon Spirit upstairs poses as a businessman. Whenever it runs into a business rival, it secretly has its underlings capture them. It'll try threats and bribes, and if that doesn't work, it just eats them."

Tu Xiao'an frowned deeply. 'It's basically a kidnapper and a bandit, completely unscrupulous.'

"We'll wait for the Bull Spirit to take the man upstairs. It's bound to come back down. When it does, we'll make our move. My target today is that bull. Beef soup is excellent, a great restorative," Luo Ziyun said, her beautiful eyes gleaming.

Tu Xiao'an asked, "What about that man? We're not going to save him?"

"Why would we save him?" Luo Ziyun fluttered her long eyelashes in confusion.

Tu Xiao'an: "...."

'An ordinary person is about to be harmed by a Demon. Shouldn't they step in to right the wrong?'

He really couldn't fucking understand this woman's principles. For the sake of her noodle shop's customers, she would go to great lengths to catch Awakened Creatures and brew a highly restorative soup base for them.

After eating her noodle soup, a customer's health would see a marked improvement. That was definitely a good deed.

And yet, when she saw an innocent person about to be harmed, she remained completely unmoved.

'What ambiguous principles.'