The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

When Chen Guan opened his eyes, the ceiling slowly came into focus in his field of vision.

Every muscle in my body is protesting.

Excessive mental exertion caused a sharp, stabbing pain in my brain.

This is a consequence of consecutive deaths and forced overexertion, more severe than any other instance.

Long Ao sat on a chair by the bed, his face pale, but his eyes were still bright.

It seems that his injuries have stabilized and he is fine.

Chen Guan closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the system panel.

The live chat is flooded with comments.

The words were layered on top of each other, making it almost impossible to read the content.

He simply turned off the bullet comments temporarily. Luckily, he could turn them off, otherwise he wouldn't be able to see the road at all.

Popularity: 244514

However, he hadn't even had time to savor the joy of this achievement.

Then Tongzi's voice followed.

"Host, although your strength has greatly increased due to digesting the remnants of the divine essence, you are now in a state of contamination. To resolve this, you need to find a high-level medium to nourish your body and digest this power."

"For example, the current main body is like Long Ao who forcibly used uncontrollable power before. This system has now sealed this part of the power, but sealing is not a long-term solution. It is better to guide than to block. Please prepare in advance."

"Currently, a million popularity points are needed to cure the disease in one go."

Chen Guan's heart sank.

He orchestrated everything, intercepting Blood Butcher's ritual and presenting the main body with a gluttonous feast.

But this meal was too nourishing.

The body was so full from the food that it was completely stuffed.

A mix of immense satisfaction and profound loss.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and two people walked in. One was wearing a white coat and was probably a doctor. The other was someone Chen Guan recognized as Long Ye.

Long Ao's muscles bulged in response, and the golden dragon energy that had just overflowed from his body dissipated with a mournful cry under the invisible aura.

Long Ye was not particularly tall, and given his advanced age, he should have posed no threat whatsoever.

But just by standing there, the weight of the entire room fell on him, giving people a sense of mountain-like stability.

The old man's gaze swept over Long Ao, and finally landed on Chen Guan on the hospital bed.

The gaze was not hostile, yet it made one instinctively hold their breath.

"Grandpa!" Long Ao managed to squeeze out the two words through gritted teeth.

The dragon ignored his grandson.

He walked step by step to the bedside and gazed at the coffin.

When he spoke, his voice was not loud.

"It was my oversight to involve you two juniors in an incident of this magnitude."

As he spoke, he bowed slightly to the coffin lying on the hospital bed.

"On behalf of the Great Wall, I apologize to you."

Long Ao's eyes widened.

He had never seen his grandfather bow his head to anyone; his grandfather was notoriously stubborn and unyielding.

Chen Guan's heart skipped a beat.

He had anticipated many scenarios, but he never expected to receive an apology from this former top expert himself.

In his imagination, the old man should be even more unreasonable.

Chen Guan did not move, but simply looked at the old man.

Long Ye did not emit any external aura; he remained as calm as ever.

"The Great Wall rewards merit and punishes wrongdoing. You stepped forward in a time of crisis and saved the entire city with your own strength. We will remember your merit."

"But it is our dereliction of duty to let a student like you bear all this, and compensation must be given."

After he finished speaking, he nodded slightly to the doctor in the white coat behind him.

The doctor understood and stepped forward, handing over a thin metal plate.

The metal plate was activated, and a light screen was projected in front of the coffin.

The list was three pages long, with items densely packed together.

Long remained silent, simply gazing at Chen Guan, waiting for him to make his choice.

Chen Guan's gaze slowly swept across the light screen.

Elixirs, martial arts techniques, weapons.

Each piece is a treasure, its value immeasurable.

But his heart rate did not change at all.

These things can make his disguise look impressive, but they can't touch the core of the corruption within the coffin.

The system had already explained that the main body needed the nourishment of a high-level medium, and as for him, he didn't need these things.

He swiped the light screen, his fingertips sliding over the last page, then looked up to meet Long Ye's probing eyes.

"Thank you for your kindness." Chen Guan spoke clearly, "However, these treasures are probably a waste of my talents; using them would be a tremendous waste."

You could hear a pin drop in the room.

The shock on Long Ao's face turned into a blank.

His mind was buzzing.

This is an opportunity that could allow an ordinary person to rise to the top in one step!

Oh, no, Chen Guan is not an ordinary person at all, so it's alright.

Long also stared at the coffin, and a slight ripple finally appeared in his weathered eyes.

He has seen too many geniuses.

Faced with such a list of treasures, it takes extraordinary composure to remain calm; this is the first person to refuse.

This kid either has some powerful backer who would look down on these things.

Either they possess an astonishingly strong will.

Either way, it's worth reassessing.

"Interesting." Long Ye's lips twitched slightly. "You don't want the usual compensation? Then take a look at the junk I've collected over the years."

He waved his hand lightly, and a box appeared.

It was a very old box.

The dark red wood was covered with scratches, and the edges were wrapped with rough black iron, which was also covered with mottled rust.

A cloud of dust rolled in, instantly evoking a sense of antiquity.

"These are all items salvaged from battlefields or ruins, with unknown origins and purposes. Even official appraisal agencies can't figure them out."

Long Ye said it casually, "Take a look and see if there's anything you like, just keep it as a souvenir."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and opened the lid of the box himself.

A box of miscellaneous items appeared before Chen Guan's eyes.

A broken arrow.

A charred scale.

A half-rusted metal handguard.

Several ancient coins with illegible inscriptions...

They're all worthless junk, neither good to eat nor worth throwing away.

Long Ao frowned. He felt that his grandfather's actions were inappropriate. Using a pile of junk to compensate others would not sound good if word got out.

Although Chen Guan refused first, this is still too perfunctory.

Chen Guan, however, propped himself up and sat even straighter.

A premonition welled up in my heart; the real opportunity had arrived.

He reached out and slowly rummaged through the pile of junk.

Suddenly, he paused. Could his eyesight be better than a dragon's?

"Tongzi, let me take a look."

He called out in his heart.

My lord, times have changed.

The little Tongzi was indeed knowledgeable and quick to read, and a series of negative feedbacks flashed by, but Chen Guan's heart became more and more calm.

His fingertips touched a cool, smooth object.

It was a palm-sized piece of dark jade, irregularly shaped, with no patterns on its surface and a restrained luster.

It blends in with a pile of junk and is inconspicuous, but it feels unusually smooth to the touch.

The moment his fingertips touched the jade, the system's voice sounded in his mind.

"Host, the Ancient Jade of Spiritual Nourishment has been detected. It will construct a stable spiritual field to nourish the damaged soul and neutralize the pollution from the alien divine essence."

found it!

He actually managed to snag a bargain.

You can't laugh yet, it's not time.

He tried his best to calm his wildly beating heart, rubbed the jade stone with his fingers a couple of times, then pretended to reluctantly put it back and continued to rummage through other things.

He picked up other things and pretended to look at them.

Finally, he put on a bored look and casually picked up the dark jade stone again.

He held the jade in his palm and examined it against the light.

The jade itself is not translucent; it merely reflects the pale light in the ward and doesn't look particularly remarkable.

"This stone feels nice to the touch, and it looks quite old." Chen Guan looked up. "I'll take this one, as a memento of this incident."