"You, how did you find this place!" Chen Dong stared wide-eyed at Jiang Wen, never imagining someone would come knocking on his door.
And so quickly too—it had only been a few hours before they’d tracked him down to his doorstep.
The corpse lying on the ground was none other than the puppet savage beast he had sent out.
Chen Dong’s heart pounded, already feeling a chill of fear.
"Guess," Jiang Wen replied, an amused smile on his face as he listened to Chen Dong. Watching Chen Dong struggle, he didn't mind playing with him.
Chen Dong stared at Jiang Wen and suddenly tried to slam the door shut, but found it wouldn't budge.
In that instant, he made a decisive decision and darted towards the house.
The mother worm was in the bedroom. As long as he could get in there and grab it, he could roam free, and this person wouldn't be able to catch him then. He could use the mother worm to create countless puppets.
If he could find more monster corpses, he could create an endless supply of puppets. By then, no one in this world could stop him.
Although he might have to live in hiding for many years, perhaps even losing contact with his parents, he could endure it. He just needed to wait until he was strong, until he became powerful.
"Once I create countless monstrous beast puppets, you'll all be begging to lick my shoes!"
The power of this spell increased with cultivation level.
However, it wasn't as omnipotent as one might imagine.
If someone who had just stepped into cultivation cast this spell, anyone with a little strength could resist it.
But Jiang Wen was different from others. Now that his cultivation had reached the Qi Refining and Spirit Transforming stage, he could use the immobilization spell with ease.
"How could this be!" Chen Dong thought, realizing he couldn't move a muscle, not even his eyes or mouth.
He stared at the door so close at hand, his heart plunging into an icy abyss.
"What the hell is this? Why can't I move all of a sudden!"
Ever since obtaining the mother worm and the giant corpse, Chen Dong’s inner ambition had grown. After cautiously testing the waters and realizing that no one else in the world was like him, Chen Dong had been exceptionally excited, thinking it meant he was the unique protagonist destined to reach the pinnacle of life with these things. But who knew his path to the peak would be cut short before he even started.
The world had suddenly shifted its style, changing from a realistic society to a world of the extraordinary. This was too unfair! Why was it doing this to him!
"Holding a divine artifact with an unsettled mind will eventually lead to backlash," Jiang Wen said, walking up to him and looking at him with a smile. "Your murderous intent has already been influenced by this mother worm. Once there is a first time, there will be a second. One day, you will become a puppet of the mother worm."
"…" Chen Dong opened his mouth, wanting to say something. But he found he couldn't speak; his throat felt as if something was stuck in it, preventing him from uttering a word.
Jiang Wen ignored him and walked straight into the room.
The furnishings inside were luxurious, showing that Chen Dong’s family was indeed wealthy. The large four-bedroom, three-living-room apartment was like a maze to walk through.
Sensing the location of the mother worm, Jiang Wen walked over and picked it up. The fleshy worm, as long as an arm, squeaked upon smelling Jiang Wen's scent.
It seemed very afraid of Jiang Wen, constantly wriggling its body, trying to escape. But as soon as a finger touched its head, the mother worm instantly quieted down.
"This isn't the place for you. Come with me," Jiang Wen said, not caring how the mother worm responded. He waved his hand, and a large opening appeared in his sleeve, sucking it in.
With the increase in his cultivation, the merit points required for this 'Universe in a Sleeve' technique had decreased significantly.
Jiang Wen had a premonition that when he could truly learn these spells, perhaps he wouldn't need merit points to maintain them anymore.
Walking out of the house, he saw Chen Dong still frozen in place. Jiang Wen picked up his phone and called Jiang Zhi, telling her about the situation here.
"Okay, I understand," Jiang Zhi agreed on the other end. Soon, two people in professional attire walked in.
"Hello, we're from the Special Affairs Department," one of them said, showing their credentials.
Jiang Wen nodded at them and pointed at Chen Dong in the distance, saying, "That's him."
"And this guy, I'll leave him to you."
With that, he handed the mother worm to the two of them, who looked at it with expressions of distress.
The mother worm looked like a monstrous worm from a science fiction movie, its mouth filled with teeth like a saw, which was very disgusting. Just looking at the worm's body made one feel a chill of disgust.
"This, what should we do?" one of them asked. "If this thing isn't restrained with special means, won't it suddenly attack?"
"Don't worry, the demonic power within it has been sealed by me. Now it's just a large flesh worm. You just need to lock it up in a steel cage, and it won't be a big deal. This worm is called a Symbiotic Worm. Tell Jiang Zhi and Jiang Ming this name, and they'll know what to do," Jiang Wen said.
Symbiotic Worms weren't strong to begin with; any cultivator could handle them. However, their ability was too bizarre—they could control the corpses of any dead demon beasts or cultivators, which was why they weren't liked by cultivators or demons.
Anyone with a little Daoist skill could easily handle this thing.
"I see, then we can rest assured," the two said, smiling. "We don't know the honorable name of this gentleman."
"Call me Shennong," Jiang Wen said with a smile, taking a few steps out of the house. He looked into the distance, dispelled his transformation, and then disappeared into the night.
The remaining two looked at each other, locked the mother worm in the iron cage, and then grabbed Chen Dong.
"Kid, come back with us for a bit."
"…" Chen Dong wanted to argue, but his body was completely immobile. In the end, he couldn't speak and was lifted into the car by the two.
On the other side, Jiang Zhi was eating snacks when she received the message. After looking at the message sent by her subordinate, she glanced at it.
"Shennong? I seem to have heard this title somewhere," Jiang Zhi frowned, thinking for a long time but not finding any answers.
"What is our heroine thinking about?" Cheng Gang walked over, looking at Jiang Zhi's expression with a smile. He sat opposite her and handed her the tablet in his hand.
"Given the increasing number of incidents, the higher-ups have decided to expand the size of our Special Affairs Department. By then, the Special Affairs Department won't just have us few people."
"Is that so? That's pretty good," Jiang Zhi nodded.
"I heard they're selecting capable people from various Daoist temples and monasteries. I don't know if they're truly skilled or just fakes," Cheng Gang said with a laugh.
"But the world is changing too fast; I haven't even adapted yet."
"Perhaps, it will only get faster and faster."
Jiang Zhi looked at the sky, the crystalline streamer becoming brighter and brighter.
