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

When Baihu said this, his expression didn't change much: "It's said that there are familiar faces. After all, I stayed there for ten years. Even after so long, there are still a few familiar faces."

"not to mention."

His voice dropped a beat.

"There are some things that I'm afraid I won't be able to handle professionally if I have to face them on my own."

Chen Guan did not answer immediately.

He glanced down at the sealed box on the table; a faint purple light emanated from its edges.

The demon core of a tenth-tier void beast.

These are the chips.

The white tiger was waiting for him to speak.

"When are we leaving?" Chen Guan asked.

Upon hearing this, Baihu leaned back in his chair, knowing that Chen Guan had agreed.

"No rush, get some rest. I'll arrange your identity first."

"Don't worry, you just need to blend in. I'll take care of the rest. You can come back and be my student later."

He patted his knees, stood up, walked to the door, and glanced back at Chen Guan before opening it.

"By the way, deal with the demon core issue as soon as possible. The fusion of your Lightning Cheetah will take time, so don't wait until after you're on the top lane to do it."

"Um."

Baihu opened the door, walked outside, and then suddenly poked half his head in again.

"That bag of apples on your table is also from me. They've been washed, so feel free to eat them."

The door closed.

The sound of a white tiger's footsteps echoed in the corridor, gradually fading into the distance until they were swallowed up by a corner of a staircase.

Chen Guan sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the closed door. After a while, he finally turned his gaze to the sealed box and the bag of apples on the table.

He lowered his eyes, took off his coat and draped it at the foot of the bed, helped the old man out and placed him on the bed, then turned over and lay down. This time he didn't sleep on the floor; he stayed closer to him.

The ceiling light shone on his face; his expression was calm, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

But he did not close his eyes.

Chen Guan stared at the ceiling for a long time.

The light from the streetlights shone through the cracks in the window, casting a thin strip of light on the ceiling, which slowly moved from left to right.

He sat up.

The sealed box on the table sat there quietly, a faint purple light seeping out from the cracks in the box, flickering as if some living thing was breathing inside.

The bag of apples next to it was quite well-behaved, nestled in the plastic bag, its bright red color emitting the unique sweet aroma of fruit.

Chen Guan reached out and took one, then took a bite.

It was indeed sweet; there was no prank involved.

He opened the sealed box while chewing on an apple.

The moment the lid was lifted, a chilling aura wafted out of the box.

The demon core of the tenth-tier void beast floated in the very center of the sealed box. Its appearance was extremely familiar; it was indeed an old actor.

He watched for a while, then threw the apple core he had finished eating into the trash can.

Then, the Lightning Cheetah was released. Since they had returned to Huaqing, Chen Guan had put it away earlier and didn't want it to swagger around.

An arc of electricity flashed through the air, and the Lightning Cheetah's figure solidified in the cramped space of the dormitory.

As soon as the cheetah landed, it noticed the demon core on the table, forgetting even its fearsome old self.

Its ears perked up, and it sniffed the direction of the sealed box.

"This is for you."

The cheetah's tail curled slightly, but it didn't respond.

Chen Guan squatted down and looked at it at eye level.

"You only have one chance to get this."

The cheetah's eyes were fixed on him, its pupils reflecting the purple light of the demon core.

"If the fusion succeeds, your future will be much brighter; if the fusion fails..."

He paused.

"There is no option to fail."

The cheetah tilted its head, as if it understood, yet also as if it didn't.

However, its tail no longer curled up, but slowly unfolded, and the electric arc at the tip of its tail became active again.

Chen Guan stood up and placed the sealed box on the floor.

For demonic beasts, the fusion of demonic cores is not a rare operation, but the fusion of a tenth-tier demonic core with a fifth-tier core is too much of a difference in tiers. Without any auxiliary means to suppress it, the cheetah's body would be directly crushed by the power within the demonic core.

Fortunately, although the spirit of the system was offline, the shop was still usable. Chen Guan was unusually generous and bought some items to set up an array for Leopard.

He led the cheetah to the center of the formation and made it lie down. He said that it would be a lie to say that it wasn't tempted or envious when it saw the demon core before.

Now that the opportunity was right in front of it, it was still a bit dazed, unable to believe that such incredible luck had fallen on its head, and it had completely lost its usual quickness.

Chen Guan picked up the demon core from the sealed box.

The initial touch was strange; it was neither cold nor hot. But the moment his fingers touched the core surface, he experienced an inexplicable sense of weightlessness, as if something was pulling at his spatial perception.

He placed the demon core between the cheetah's front paws, not intending to touch it again. If he had Guan Jinyue's abilities, he might be able to subdue the demon core, but for now, it was better not to use it himself. He could only feed it to the cheetah.

"Don't move."

The cheetah lowered its head, its nose almost touching the surface of the demon core, and its breath caused the purplish-black patterns on the core to flow faster.

The moment the demon core touched the cheetah's forepaw, the array of light patterns lit up.

The light started shining from the edges, spreading slowly towards the center in circles along the lines carved on the coffin, like water seeping into parched earth.

The cheetah lay in the center of the formation, its fur standing on end. An arc of electricity shot along its back for a short distance before receding.

Its eyes were fixed on the demon core between its forepaws, its pupils constricted.

Chen Guan squatted outside the array, one hand on his knee and the other hand lightly pressing on the edge of the array.

He was waiting for the cheetah to get ready.

Integration is something that can't be rushed.

Even if the power within a demon core is docile, it's still a tenth-tier power. The leopard is only a fifth-tier power, so forcibly injecting it and letting it slowly seep in are two different things.

When the array of light patterns reached its third circle, the cheetah lowered its head.

Its nose touched the surface of the demon core, and its breath carried tiny arcs of electricity, intertwining with the purplish-black patterns flowing on the surface of the demon core.

Then, it closed its eyes.

Chen Guan pressed his fingers on the edge of the array with slight force, and spiritual power flowed in along the patterns.

The demon core began to vibrate.

The change was so small that it was almost invisible to the naked eye, but Chen Guan's senses detected it clearly.

The folded and unfolding patterns deep within the core accelerated, as if activated by something, and began to spread towards the cheetah's forepaws.

A purplish-black light seeped from the surface of the demon core, slowly climbing up the cheetah's forepaws, gradually seeping into its fur.

The cheetah's body began to tremble.

The remaining spatial attributes within the tenth-tier demon core are tentatively entering the cheetah's meridians, and every surge of power is pulling at its original structure.

This feeling is probably not pleasant for a fifth-tier demon beast.

Chen Guan kept an eye on the cheetah's condition, maintaining a steady output of spiritual energy in his hands.

The array's function is to buffer and disperse the excessively intense power within the demon core, then slowly introduce it at a rate that the cheetah can withstand.