After sending the Fox Demon off, Zhou Yi had finally taken care of something that would have brought him problems.
If he kept carrying the soul of a fox demon around with him all the time, his identity would’ve been exposed if he ran into someone that was proficient in sensing demon energy.
Once again, his life returned to one that was peaceful and quiet. He would spend most of his time slaying demons, working on his shift and transcribing scriptures. Sometimes, he would even head to the Spring Breeze Court to learn more about arts.
Times passed by quickly.
Zhou Yi’s current goal was to buy a house and become a property owner. It was his lifelong goal that had followed him here from his past life.
Since his budget was around 3,000 to 4,000 dollars, he could only pick a smaller place that was located in the outskirts of the city.
He didn’t mind if the place was remote since no one would bother him.
The cheapest location that Zhou Yi could think of in Luojing was Xingjiao Subdivision. The place was considered to be the slums of the capital. It was a place where rich citizens of a certain status would never ever visit.
Despite that, a house with a small garden would cost around 3,300 dollars.
“Are you trying to scam me?” Zhou Yi scolded when he was offered the price. “I work for the Demon Slaying Department, just so you know. I still remember that this place only costs 3,000 last year. How did it get a 10% increase in just one year?”
“No, of course not I’m not scamming you,” the middleman denied with an awkward smile. “The prices around this place have been increasing for the past few years. What’s more, the owner of this place needed some quick cash to pay off his debt. I reckon the price will increase by another 100 dollars or so in a few months.”
Zhou Yi couldn’t help but sigh. Even after being reincarnated in another world, the real estate business remained the same.
The house he had picked out was situated in the eastern part of the Xingjiao Subdivision at the end of a dark alley.
On both sides of the alley were other houses, but their gates were facing the opposite side, which meant that this house was the only one facing this alley.
Unless a person actually walked down the dark alley, they would never know that there was a house entrance at the end of the three-foot-wide alley.
Zhou Yi knew that he wanted this place as soon as he laid eyes on it. It fitted the description of being concealed in the middle of the city.
After using his powers to make sure that the middleman wasn’t lying, Zhou Yi bit his lip and took out the money.
“Fine. I’ll take it!”
“Thank you very much! Folks from the Demon Slaying Department are always humble!” The middleman smiled and reached for the money. “Um… Sir? Please let go.”
Zhou Yi unwillingly let go of the money. He followed the middleman to the Housing Department so that they could sign a few documents.
Zhou Yi realized that working at the Demon Slaying Department had helped him a lot when dealing with other departments. Sometimes, it afforded him royalty-like treatment at these places.
He left the department with a huge grin on his face. He finally got his own place, even though it took him more than a lifetime to achieve it.
The plot that he bought was around 5,000 to 6,000 square meters. Apart from the main building, the plot also had two separate buildings connected to the main building. A jujube tree could be seen at the corner of the plot.
Under the tree were four simple rock stools and a stone table. Zhou Yi could rest under the shade when it was in the middle of summer.
Zhou Yi looked around his new home and realized that it was basically empty. All of the expensive pieces of furniture had been sold off by the previous owner, which was a good thing as it helped with the cleaning.
From Dust Removing Magic to Cleaning Magic, he used a series of techniques to totally clean the house. He swept most of the dirt into a toilet.
“I’m not going to use this toilet anyway. I’ll just leave it as it is.” As someone who had transcended the needs of a normal human, all the food he ate would be converted into magical energy instead of feces.
“I don’t need these worn-out pieces of furniture either.” Zhou Yi said as he pointed at the floor. After a short rumble, fire shot out from the ground and burned every item in the room until nothing remained.
He then headed to the Western Market and got himself a new bed, tables, chairs, cookware and other necessities. After adding in all the newly purchased stuff, the home took on a newer, more refreshing look.
Zhou Yi also hired a carpenter to make him a wooden sign so he could write the name of his house on his own.
At first, he thought of naming the place “Liuquan Mansion” but realized that it sounded like the name of an inn or a restaurant. In the end, he decided on the name “Breeze Villa.”
The last renovation work that Zhou Yi did for his new place was to remodel the Fengshui of the place. He didn’t need to set up barriers nor purposely attract Spiritual Qi as it would only tell others that a powerful cultivator resided on the property.
All he did was to make sure that the place had a smooth flow of energy and that no bad energy would linger around it. After all the renovations were done, only lights breezes would pass by the house, giving it a sense of serenity.
“This will be my home from now on…”
When Zhou Yi finished cleaning the last corner of the house, the sun was already setting. He headed to the Resource Division and invited his colleagues for a drink as a sort of housewarming celebration.
The night lasted until everyone was drunk and had left.
As soon as Zhou Yi hit the bed, he fell asleep.
He slept deeply and did not get the chance to erect a barrier like he normally would. The Huang-ting Scripture that he had been cultivating for the past dozen years had stopped for the first time.
It had been 11 years since he started living in this new world, and everything that he had experienced so far felt like a dream. However, after buying his own place, everything finally felt real.
Early morning the next day, the rooster’s crow woke Zhou Yi up from his deep sleep. The sun was just barely showing, and the stars and the moon could still be seen.
“What a relaxing sleep…” Zhou Yi stretched his body and let out a sigh before circulating the energy in his body once again.
Outside, the people of Xingjiao Subdivision were already moving about on the streets as they began their busy day.
Zhou Yi paced slowly on the street. He was not in a hurry to reach the Resource Division. Instead, he would stop from stalls to stalls to taste the delicacies they had to offer.
After having his fill from eight different stalls, Zhou Yi had only spent less than 50 cents. He couldn’t help but gasp at the difference in the price, where even a simple dish at Spring Breeze Court would cost around a dollar.
After the party from the night before, Zhou Yi had spent all of the 300 dollars he had left in his pocket. He could only blame his cultivator’s body, as he could take in more alcohol than any normal person could.
Compared to the Spring Breeze Court, Zhou Yi preferred the street that he now lived in. It was a place that was more down to earth.
Since there were no buses or trains in Great Qian, it would take at least half an hour to walk from Xingjiao Subdivision to the Demon Slaying Department. The two locations were separated by a dozen subdivisions.
However, Zhou Yi quickly found a secluded place where he used the Instinctive Method of Five Elements to move through the earth and arrive at his workplace in mere seconds.
His colleagues would greet him passionately whenever they saw him. A year had passed since he had joined them, and after experiencing countless near-death experiences together, they had built a very deep bond with one other.
When Li Xun saw Zhou Yi coming in, he quickly waved at him. He had a mysterious smile on his face.
“Come here. I have something good to show you.”
Zhou Yi thought Li Xun was going to show him some adult drawings as that was his favorite, but it was actually a memorial to the throne.
The title and content were as such:
A Call of Arms on Demonic Beings
As I’ve heard about the emperor’s worries of the empire’s safety, may I, your humble servant, offer my opinion on the current situation.
The demons have been going rampant; ignoring the rules and laws of Great Qian. They have murdered our people and brought chaos to humankind.
My emperor, as of now, we should march toward these demons and eradicate them, for they will perish, and we will emerge victorious.
This is the chance for my emperor to make a name that will last for eternity.
July Jingtai Year 51
Wang Bo’an
“Wang Bo’an?” Zhou Yi raised a brow. Could it be the same Wang’ Bo’an who wrote the Ten Strategies for Comfort the Demons?”
“Are you acquainted with expositor-in-waiting Wang?”
“We have met once…” Zhou Yi said and paused. “Wait, isn’t he the Editor-in-Chief?”
“That’s outdated information. After reading his memorial, the emperor praised him as a talent in governance,” Li Xun said enviously. “It only took him a few days to go from an editor to an expositor-in-waiting.”
The Editor-in-Chief was a lower-ninth-grade official, and the expositor-in-waiting was a higher-seventh-grade position. Zhou Yi could not believe that Wang Bo’an got a nine-level promotion.
“Isn’t that against the law?’ Zhou Yi frowned. “According to the Law of Great Qian: Promotion by the first founder of Great Qian, no officials can get more than three levels of promotion at once unless he or she is promoted due to his or her contribution to the military.”
At first, Zhou Yi thought that Wang Bo’an was an idealist who had an unrealistic goal to end the fight between humans and demons, based on his Ten Strategies to Comfort the Demons and the People. Now, it seemed like the book was written just to please the crown prince.
What Zhou Yi did not know was that Wang Bo’an had also submitted another memorial to the throne, titled the Ten Ridiculous Claims of the Tale of Execution. If he had seen it, he would’ve dropped his jaw to the floor.