Cultivation: From Poor Peasant to Celestial Lord

In the northeast corner of the Evil Suppression Department’s Government Office stood an unremarkable side hall. Its mottled gray tiles exuded an air of age and decay.

This was the records room, which housed the files on all demon- and cultivator-related cases in Anping County for the past several decades.

After the two departments merged, this place had become a complete disaster zone.

The old archives moved from both the Law Enforcement and Demon Slaying divisions, combined with a recent backlog of new case files, were piled so high there was barely room to stand.

Ordinary constables avoided it like the plague. Unless under direct orders from a superior, no one would willingly venture inside.

The heavy wooden door was pushed open, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Chu Bai strode inside and was immediately assailed by a strange smell—a mixture of mildew and old paper.

Behind the counter, an old official in a long, gray robe was dozing off, slumped over a desk. His head bobbed up and down, and a trickle of drool hung from the corner of his mouth.

Hearing the noise, he didn’t even lift his eyelids and mumbled indistinctly:

"Don’t bother me if it’s nothing important. If you need to look something up, find it yourself. The register is on the left..."

Chu Bai walked up to the counter and tapped his fingers lightly on the desktop.

Only then did the old official reluctantly raise his head, his eyes bleary as he glanced over.

He saw an unfamiliar young man. Although the man wore the black uniform that signified his rank, the old official had been navigating this Government Office for decades. What kind of official hadn’t he seen?

’This young, he’s probably just some young master sent here to burnish his reputation, or maybe a rookie who just started and doesn’t know the ropes.’

"Well, well, if it isn’t the new Patrol Banner Inspector?"

The old official yawned and casually grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the desk. He made no move to stand or salute, simply jutting his chin toward the dustiest, most rickety-looking bookshelves in the corner of the hall.

"The Department’s been busy lately, so we’re short on hands to organize anything. All those old files, cold cases, unresolved messes, and the ones the two sides just passed back and forth without ever closing—they’re all piled up in that corner over there."

"If you’re bored and looking for something to do, or just want to see what’s what, feel free to rummage through them yourself. But let me be clear: don’t mess anything up. If the higher-ups come down on me for it, I can’t take the fall."

With that, he slumped back over the desk, his dismissive attitude perfectly clear.

’In his view, this kind of initial zeal from a new official would last two or three days at most.’

’Even the former Director got a headache just looking at the mess in this records room. What could some wet-behind-the-ears kid possibly dig up?’

Chu Bai looked at the old official’s brazenly indifferent attitude, his own expression unchanging.

He didn’t lose his temper, nor did he slam the desk and start shouting like some hothead. He simply stood there quietly, his gaze fixed on the old official.

As he activated his Guardian Scripture, a faint but condensed thread of Divine Thought was silently released, enveloping the slumped figure.

"What is your name?"

Chu Bai’s voice was soft, yet it seemed to detonate deep within the old official’s mind.

The sensation was like being targeted by a dormant beast of prey; a chill shot up his spine and straight to the crown of his head.

CLATTER.

The melon seeds in the old official’s hand clattered onto the desk. He shuddered violently, all traces of sleepiness vanishing as he shot up from his chair as if on a spring.

He stared in terror at the calm-faced young man before him. The young man wasn’t emitting any powerful Spiritual Pressure, yet the official felt his heart pound and his breath catch, as if some great terror would befall him the next moment if he didn’t answer honestly.

"M-My name is Wang De. I’m... I’m the steward of this records room."

The old official stammered, a fine sheen of cold sweat instantly breaking out on his forehead. His previously lazy, arrogant demeanor had vanished completely, replaced by profound awe and terror.

’Those eyes... They’re terrifying! He’s nothing like a rookie. He’s more like a ruthless killer who’s left fields of bodies in his wake!’

"Wang De."

Chu Bai nodded slightly and retracted the pressure from his Divine Thought. "Light the lamps for these shelves, and bring me a ladder," he said coolly. "I want to review the unresolved case files from the past six months, especially those concerning the western part of the city."

"Yes! Yes! I’ll get right on it!"

As if granted amnesty, Wang De scrambled off to light the lamps and fetch a ladder. His movements were so nimble he seemed twenty years younger. He even thoughtfully found a clean rag and wiped the dusty desk until it gleamed.

...

Under the dim, yellow lamplight, Chu Bai stood on a tall wooden ladder, holding one yellowed scroll after another.

For an ordinary person, this was an extremely tedious and cumbersome task.

The records in this room were not only sloppily written, but thanks to the chaotic management before the departments merged, many of the files were contradictory. Missing pages and incomplete entries were commonplace.

For Chu Bai, however, this was the perfect place for him to put his skills to use.

Although his Guardian Scripture had not yet reached the stage of Minor Achievement, the mental agility and photographic memory it granted were practically a cheat code for this kind of clerical work.

Chu Bai flipped through the scrolls at an incredible speed, often taking in ten lines at a glance. The chaotic information, which would have been gibberish to anyone else, was rapidly dismantled, categorized, and reassembled in his mind.

’Three months ago, a woman’s body was found in a well in the eastern part of the city. The Law Enforcement Department claimed it was a Water Ghost, but the Demon-slaying Department ruled it a revenge killing. The case was never closed... a cold case.’

’Fifth month, the Li Family’s shop burned down. Traces of Fire Rat Demon Qi were suspected. Official conclusion: accidental fire... Dubious.’

’Sixth month...’

As he went through scroll after scroll, Chu Bai began to form a general picture of the dark undercurrents flowing beneath Anping County.

’It really is in a state of complete disrepair.’

The extent to which these two departments had shirked responsibility and passed the buck to each other was simply outrageous.