But for him, although it was a near-death experience, the rewards were substantial.

He lost those demon souls, but gained three demon spirits, enough to offset the essence of three hundred demon souls.

For Qin An, it was a small profit.

Furthermore, by killing these three bird demons, he also found out who was behind it all, giving him a clear target.

Once he returned, he needed to plan carefully.

"I think the Dragon Palace will be very interested in the news I’ve obtained."

As he thought of this, Qin An heard the sound of the wind approaching.

He looked up and saw Zhu Xueshuang arriving with her team.

Zhu Xueshuang was anxious.

She had rushed here at the fastest pace, with three Element Transformation Realm bird demons, and a heap of Void Shattering Realm bird demons.

These mixed demons were unbeatable, even for her, she would only lose her life there.

But Qin An was just a Great Success in the Void Shattering Realm; how was he supposed to survive such terrifying demons, Zhu Xueshuang couldn’t understand.

So she’s been praying for luck to shield Qin An, to help him hold out a bit longer.

Once they arrived, Qin An would be safe.

But when they got there, the first thing Zhu Xueshuang saw was Qin An standing by the river, calmly looking at them.

Zhu Xueshuang hurriedly raised her hand, signaling her Silver Dao Marshal to halt, then looked Qin An up and down.

"Are you okay?"

Qin An shook his head slightly: "It was extremely dangerous, I almost died, but fortunately, I survived in the end."

Zhu Xueshuang furrowed her brow.

She felt that Qin An’s words carried weighty information, but there wasn’t time to analyze it; she turned and asked.

"Where are those Element Transformation Realm bird demons?"

Qin An said flatly, "Dead." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Upon these words, Zhu Xueshuang and everyone else felt as if struck by lightning, standing there for a long time without reacting.

They were indeed puzzled as to why only Qin An was there and not those bird demons.

Now Qin An said, "Dead."

What does this mean, they understood very well?

It means those three Element Transformation Realm bird demons are dead beyond revival.

But what exactly happened?

Zhu Xueshuang asked: "Did someone help you kill them?"

Qin An shook his head, looking at the river: "They chased me to the river bottom, bird demons are weakened underwater, and I happened to be there, able to exert extraordinary strength, with enough foundation, and therefore could easily kill them all, it was a simple matter."

His speech was slow and calm.

He used the word "happened" three times, each utterance causing a jolt in everyone’s hearts.

When Qin An finished speaking, Zhu Xueshuang found herself unable to process it.

"Are you saying you slew three Element Transformation Realm demons?"

Qin An nodded, looking at the river: "If you don’t believe me, you can search the riverbed for their bodies; actually, it’s unnecessary; let me fish them out."

"These merits should all be mine."

After saying this, Qin An stomped his foot.

The river moved using an array.

In a few breaths, the river shook and the corpses of the three bird demons were washed ashore.

At this moment, nobody spoke; all fell into silence.

They had been holding onto a shred of hope, thinking Qin An lied.

But now, seeing these three corpses, they knew all Qin An said was true.

Zhu Xueshuang was silent for a long while before waving: "Merits are credited to Qin An, we’ll discuss this later."

Nothing more to say.

For everything that had unfolded told her that Qin An’s power was truly terrifying.

Words were useless.

All remained silent.

But the Evil Extermination Bureau is all about tasks and obeying orders is paramount.

So once Zhu Xueshuang spoke, the Silver Dao Marshal promptly began to clean the battlefield.

After the battlefield was cleared, everyone kept quiet, heading to the Evil Extermination Bureau.

The way back to the Evil Extermination Bureau was uneventful.

Zhu Xueshuang returned, joined by the other three Silver Dao Marshals to write a report detailing the mission.

After all, they still had to submit this to the Golden Dao Marshal.

Qin An was fortunate enough to be unharmed, so he didn’t linger at the Evil Extermination Bureau, instead, he headed for the streets.

...

After wandering through several alleyways, Qin An arrived at the Dragon Palace’s shop.

At this moment, the Dragon Demon was sitting idly in front of the counter, waiting to close up and rest.

Unexpectedly, before he had the chance to shut the door, he saw Qin An striding over.

The Dragon Demon snapped to his senses and stood respectfully to the side, cupping his fists: "Little Demon, greetings Mr. Qin, may I ask the purpose of your visit, Mr. Qin?"

The medicinal pills had long been completed, so there was no need for Qin An to come.

But now, Qin An sought him out.

The Dragon Demon reckoned something was amiss, and it wasn’t small.

After Qin An detailed the siege against him, he took a sip from a nearby teacup.

The Dragon Demon was stunned by the news, even after Qin An finished speaking, he still hadn’t reacted.

Qin An set the cup down with a pop, startling the Dragon Demon awake.

Qin An said calmly: "You should know better than anyone what this is all about; there’s a mole in the Dragon Palace, and their status isn’t low; you need to thoroughly investigate and find out who’s leaking information; otherwise, keeping this mole is a big problem for you."

"Especially with the Dragon and Phoenix conflict now, it makes you the Dragon Palace look transparent."

The Dragon Demon wasn’t a fool, understood what Qin An meant, and nodded: "Please rest assured, sir, the Dragon Palace will thoroughly investigate and definitely provide a reasonable explanation to Mr. Qin."

Anyone in his position, being chased for aiding the Dragon Palace would be upset.

So, an explanation is necessary.

Qin An nodded and said no more, then turned and left the shop, heading back to the Evil Extermination Bureau.

This incident deepened the sense of crisis in his heart.

If he hadn’t used strategy to ambush those three Element Transformation Realm bird demons, he probably would have died.

Now all his professions reached level eighteen.

Qin An planned to raise the Scholar Profession to level nineteen first, then step into the Element Transformation Realm.

During this period, he wouldn’t be taking any assignments.

Subsequently, Qin An returned to the Evil Extermination Bureau.

Due to it being late, he retired early.

...

The next day, as dawn broke, all was as usual in the Evil Extermination Bureau, and Tianyun Dao was just like any other day.

But at this moment, within the Dragon and Phoenix Battlefield, in the palace at the bottom of the sea, the Old Dragon King sat on his throne, holding the silver spear, yet his face was extremely solemn.

Beside him, Princess Long San handed over a cup of tea, helping the Old Dragon King calm his anger a bit.

"Father, this matter is clear, the mole is among the other eight brothers involved in the plan."

The Old Dragon King regained his composure and nodded slightly.

Only he and nine Dragon Princes knew about the pill.

Regarding the other Dragon Demons, they were told it was pills stored from before.

Now that Qin An’s information had leaked, it had to do with those initial nine Dragon Princes.

"Investigate for me." The Old Dragon King took a deep breath: "Long San, I entrust this to you, find out who it is, even if it’s one of my sons, I’ll execute him in front of all the tribes."

Princess Long San swiftly agreed and quietly left the palace.

The Old Dragon King’s face grew even grimmer.

Currently, within Long Jiu’s room.

His injuries were gradually healing.

These wounds were inflicted while he play-acted against the Phoenix Demon, to deceive others.

While Long Jiu was resting, his chest felt a sudden vibration...