Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

Jiang Mu returned home, took a comfortable hot bath, and changed into clean clothes.

Yuan Ahqing took his blood-stained clothes to be washed.

The little girl’s hands and feet were becoming more and more nimble these days.

After eating some of the food Bai Xiang had left for him and filling his stomach, Jiang Mu summoned the Demon Slot from his sea of consciousness.

He first injected the Demonic Qi he had absorbed into the newly appeared point of light.

Just as he expected.

A Demon Shadow with a similar build to his own appeared before him.

Now, he had two Demon Shadows.

"Hmm, I’ll call you Number One and Number Two."

Jiang Mu communicated with the two Demon Shadows via his thoughts, simultaneously giving them cultivation commands.

The next moment.

Demon Shadow Number One and Shadow Number Two stood on either side of him and began to cultivate.

The resulting insights and feedback of Qi and Blood from their cultivation flowed into his own body like two converging streams, doubling the influx.

’Not bad. The efficiency has doubled,’ Jiang Mu thought with delight.

He then turned his gaze to the Demon Pill floating beside him.

This strange bead, formed after the Snake Demon’s Demon Shadow devoured its own kind, looked like a Pill. ’Is it meant to be eaten?’

Jiang Mu tried to touch it, but his hand passed right through.

He began to organize his thoughts.

’Absorbing a Demon Fiend’s Demonic Qi gives me a chance to obtain a corresponding Demon Shadow.’

’Each Demon Shadow seems to come with a special ability.’

’Butcher Zhang’s Demon Shadow can temporarily enhance my physique, and Huang Silang’s Demon Shadow can track low-level demonic energy.’

’But the subsequent Demon Shadows from the Snake Demons and others didn’t appear separately. Instead, they were devoured by the first Snake Demon’s Shadow, which ultimately condensed into this Demon Pill...’

’Demon Pill... Demon Pill...’

A flash of inspiration struck Jiang Mu, and he looked at the cultivating Demon Shadows.

’The Demon Shadows are illusory.’

’The Demon Pill is also illusory.’

’Could it be... a "tonic" meant to be fed to a Demon Shadow?’

At this thought, he had Demon Shadow Number One stop its movements and mentally commanded it to walk over to the Demon Pill.

Sure enough, the moment they touched, the Demon Pill seemed to have found its destination. It turned into a wisp of black smoke and was absorbed by Demon Shadow Number One.

BUZZ!

A white glow emanated from Demon Shadow Number One’s body.

But the white glow soon receded, and it returned to normal.

’That’s it?’

Jiang Mu was a little baffled.

Just then, a mysterious connection suddenly formed in his mind.

It was as if a peculiar, space-crossing link had been established between him and Demon Shadow Number One.

With a single thought.

SWOOSH!

The next second, the scenery around him changed in an instant.

Jiang Mu had vanished from his spot and appeared directly where Demon Shadow Number One had been standing!

Meanwhile, Demon Shadow Number One, which had been standing there, dissipated upon his arrival.

It returned to his sea of consciousness.

"Instant Teleportation!?"

Jiang Mu’s breathing suddenly quickened, his eyes shining with a wild light.

After feeding the Demon Pill to Demon Shadow Number One, the shadow had awakened a spatial replacement ability!

Its principle wasn’t simple movement.

It was—an anchor.

Demon Shadow Number One was like a "coordinate anchor" placed in space.

As long as it existed somewhere, Jiang Mu could, with a mere thought, instantly cross space, swap places with the Demon Shadow, and arrive at that coordinate!

He summoned Demon Shadow Number One again and had it remain in the room.

Then he walked out and closed the door.

Standing in the courtyard, Jiang Mu focused his mind and activated the ability again.

SWOOSH!

His vision blurred, and he was now standing inside the room, in Demon Shadow Number One’s spot.

The Demon Shadow dissipated accordingly.

’It even works through walls!’

Next, Jiang Mu began to frantically test the limits of his Instant Teleportation ability.

After repeated tests, he figured out the general rules:

The effective radius for the Instant Teleportation couldn’t exceed three hundred meters.

And the Demon Shadow could only be placed as an anchor for up to two hours; otherwise, it would automatically dissipate and return to him.

Despite these limitations, it was still a god-tier skill.

It would be extremely useful for surprise assassinations and desperate escapes alike.

It was far more useful than Xu Fu’s Divine Ability, which required him to be naked to teleport.

’With this, my chances of survival have skyrocketed.’

After calming himself down, Jiang Mu took out the Protective Talisman given to him by Director Ran Qingshan.

He channeled his Demonic Qi into the Talisman.

HISS—

The Talisman trembled lightly.

The dark red cinnabar patterns on its surface seemed to activate upon contact with the Demonic Qi, and the complex lines began to change.

A moment later, the light faded.

The Talisman, which originally had three main markings, now had a full nine.

’Three markings could block three attacks. Now that it’s upgraded to nine, it means it can block nine attacks.’

Jiang Mu felt a great sense of security.

’With the Demon Shadow’s Instant Teleportation as a backup, the nine-marked Protective Talisman for defense, and my own combat power that far exceeds others in the same realm...’

’I can even afford to be a little reckless against a Demon a full realm higher than my own.’

’Huang Dalang? I’m not afraid of him!’

---

Time flew by, passing in the blink of an eye.

In the days that followed, aside from his daily check-in at the Government Office, occasionally patrolling the streets for show, or watering the vegetable garden with Bai Xiang, Jiang Mu spent almost all his time cooped up in his courtyard.

With the twenty-four-seven boost from his two AFK-farming Demon Shadows, combined with his own diligent training, his cultivation speed was terrifying.

By just the fifteenth day, his Cultivation Level had already reached the peak of the Second Realm.

At noon, the blazing sun hung high in the sky.

In the sandy part of the courtyard, Jiang Mu was shirtless as usual.

Prolonged exposure to the fierce sun and high-intensity training had given his skin an even, bronze tan.

His abdominal muscles were clearly defined.

The lines of his shoulders, back, and arms were as taut as a bowstring.

He radiated a masculine power and beauty.

Compared to the "pretty boy" who had been hiding in a wardrobe when he first transmigrated, he was completely transformed.

"HUUUH—"

Jiang Mu slowly concluded his form, pressing his arms downward.

As he took a long breath, two streams of white mist, like white snakes, shot from his nostrils with a faint whistling sound.

’Finally, I’ve reached the threshold again.’

Feeling the Qi and Blood in his body surging like a great river held back by a dam, Jiang Mu was suddenly filled with emotion.

’This journey has been anything but easy.’

’From a terrified transmigrator in a wardrobe to a token Hall Master in the Demon-slaying Bureau with no one under him.’

’From an ordinary person too weak to even truss a chicken to a First Realm martial artist who struggled to break through.’

’And now, relying on my own arduous training and a "tiny bit" of external help, I stand at the peak of the Second Realm.’

’Finally touching the gate to the Third Realm, a dream for countless martial artists...’

’Every step has been fraught with peril, paid for in blood and sweat.’

Jiang Mu slowly clenched his fists.

"I, Jiang Mu, can beat my chest and say with a clear conscience that I have reached this point on my journey entirely through my own heaven-defying talent and diligent hard work.

"I have never relied on any unorthodox methods, let alone taken any shortcuts!"

"A true expert never complains about his circumstances!"

"Daddy System, gimme a boost!!"

BOOM—!

In that instant, the demonic blood in his Demon Slot poured into Jiang Mu’s body like a flood released from an open dam.

The solid bottleneck within him, as fragile as window paper, was instantly shattered by the torrent.

Third Realm, achieved!

Jiang Mu felt his whole body lighten as the pores all over his skin opened involuntarily.

In a daze, he seemed to feel the illusion of resonating with heaven and earth, faintly sensing the profound Spiritual Qi drifting in the air.

Unfortunately, he could only sense this Spiritual Qi; he could not yet absorb it for his own use.

Because he hadn’t yet established his Star Position.

A sharp light shone in Jiang Mu’s eyes.

’Next, I’ll go to the Bureau to get the Third Realm Cultivation Technique and begin establishing my Star Position.’

’Oh, right. I heard from Zhang Daxie that his younger brother, Zhang Xiaokui, has also been in seclusion trying to break through to the Third Realm these past couple of days. I’ll go see if that kid made it. If he broke through too, we can go to the Bureau together.’

Having made up his mind, Jiang Mu was in high spirits.

He turned his head and shouted to Bai Xiang, who was in the vegetable garden:

"Xiang’Er, hurry and get some hot water ready for your master! Once I’m clean, I’m off to walk the avenue of stars!"

Bai Xiang: (︶︹︺)