High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Shen Chang'an's eyes turned cold, and his perception swept out without reservation, directly covering the forest within a two-kilometer radius.

There was no sound of breathing, no fluctuation of spiritual energy.

He moved like lightning, and in a few leaps he rushed to the sniper position where the gunshot had just been heard.

Apart from a patch of flattened weeds, there was no one there, not even a single shell casing left; the retreat was clean and efficient.

A classic combination of luring the enemy away and assassination. First, a low-level rat demon, tainted with demonic energy and prone to out of control, commits a murder, drawing Shen Chang'an, the most powerful fighter, out of the heavily guarded city. Then, in the wilderness, a large-caliber psionic sniper rifle is used to launch a sneak attack.

I have to say, this is a really vicious tactic.

A typical third or fourth-realm cultivator, if they hadn't activated their protective spiritual energy beforehand, would likely die instantly if shot in the head without warning. Unfortunately, the assassin severely underestimated Shen Chang'an's abnormally fast reflexes.

Shen Chang'an glanced at the empty woods, but instead of blindly chasing after them, he took out his phone and dialed Lao Zhao's number.

"Old Zhao, take the logistics team to the woods in the northern suburbs. I've been sniped."

Less than ten minutes.

With a deafening roar from its propellers, a helicopter adorned with the Black Tower emblem of the Night Town Division, billowing in the wind, landed steadily on the open ground.

The hatch opened, and a fully armed logistics team filed out, quickly taking over the scene and packing the headless giant rat into a body bag.

Old Zhao, wearing a large overcoat and with a furrowed brow, quickly walked to Shen Chang'an's side.

"Give."

Shen Chang'an casually tossed over the glass jar that contained a trace of primordial demonic energy.

Old Zhao caught it, and looking at the familiar black mist inside, his face turned very ugly.

The two walked to the sniper spot that had left no trace.

Old Zhao squatted down, picked up a clump of dirt, rubbed it between his fingers, and snorted coldly: "Quite clean hands and feet. However, a heavy anti-material sniper rifle capable of this range and power can't be hidden away easily. I'll have the intelligence team investigate."

He stood up, took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag in the night air, and began to analyze the situation at lightning speed.

"First, the fact that the other side chose to use long-range firearms to snipe you means that they know your strengths and weaknesses very well, and that they may not be able to take you down in close combat."

"Secondly, there is no residual demonic energy here, so the person who fired the shot is most likely a human."

"Humans are using firearms and getting involved with extremely dangerous demonic energy... These lunatics have some big schemes up their sleeves."

Shen Chang'an, hands in his pockets, said calmly, "Within a week, two incidents of demonic energy poisoning have occurred in Qingzhou District. Our territory has been used as a testing ground."

"This is serious."

Old Zhao stomped out his cigarette butt.

"I will immediately submit tonight's report to the Beijiang Municipal Bureau as an expedited request, and see if we can transfer a few lamplighters from above to provide support."

At this point, Old Zhao paused and reached out to tug at the collar of his trench coat.

"Also, starting tomorrow, I'll be back on the front lines. Right now, it's just you and Baiyin running around in Qingzhou District, and there are too many things to take care of."

Shen Chang'an frowned slightly and looked at the dejected middle-aged man: "Are you trying to kill yourself with those old, hidden injuries on your body? You're doing a good job as the logistics director, don't mess around with them."

"Get lost! Don't underestimate your Uncle Zhao!"

Old Zhao chuckled and cursed, patting his broad chest. "Back in my day, I was a tough guy at the peak of the third realm. Cultivators aren't as fragile as you little brat think!"

He waved his hand dismissively, urging without room for argument, "Alright, stop dawdling here. Hurry up and ride your beat-up bike back to the city. I'll keep an eye on the rest of the floor cleaning with the logistics team, and I'll head back once we're done."

Shen Chang'an knew Old Zhao's temperament and also knew that the current situation really required manpower, so he didn't make a fuss anymore.

"Okay, then take care of yourself. Call for help anytime if anything happens."

Shen Chang'an turned around, walked towards the pure black motorcycle, stepped onto it, and with a violent roar, he transformed into a blur and sped off towards the city.

It was past 11 p.m., and the night breeze was slightly cool.

A pure black heavy motorcycle slowly drove down the ramp into the underground parking garage of Guanlan Mansion.

As soon as Shen Chang'an pulled out the car key, he saw a scarlet cigarette butt flickering in the shadows in the corner of the garage.

Zhang Hai was wearing a coat and had obviously been waiting for him for a while.

The two tacitly avoided saying anything more in the garage, and went into the study on the first floor one after the other, closing the door tightly.

Shen Chang'an walked to the tea table, poured himself a cup of tea that had already cooled down, and drank it all in one gulp, forcibly suppressing the heat brought on by the continuous battles and travel.

"Is the situation bad?"

Zhang Hai pulled out a chair and sat down, his brows furrowed.

"That's a bit tricky."

Shen Chang'an fiddled with the empty teacup.

"In just one week, there have been two instances of demonic energy being deliberately injected into Qingzhou District. Moreover, tonight, while I was chasing a demon, I was ambushed by a large-caliber psionic sniper rifle in the woods on the northern outskirts."

Zhang Hai's weathered face also darkened. He knew all too well how dangerous these venomous snakes lurking in the shadows could be.

"It's alright as long as you're not hurt."

Zhang Hai paused, then his gaze suddenly sharpened as he stared at Shen Chang'an.

"Wait a minute, when you went on your mission today...did you wear a disguise hood?"

Shen Chang'an's hand suddenly froze.

When he arrived at Beiyuan Residential Area, the site had already been sealed off by the logistics team, and it was full of their own people, so he went straight in to save trouble. Later, following the red thread of the Thousand-Mile Silk Coil, he sped all the way to the northern suburbs to track down the rat demon. Because he was in a hurry, he completely forgot about the disguise!

The sniper lurking in the shadows must have seen his face clearly through a high-powered 8x scope!

"That was too hasty."

Shen Chang'an pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling somewhat irritated.

"I'm so used to being a student at school that I can't believe I've forgotten such basic counter-surveillance details."

"You're still too young."

Zhang Hai sighed and earnestly advised, "Chang'an, you yourself are a born monster. With your fifth-realm strength, you can roam freely anywhere. But you must remember, the people around you are not at the fifth realm! Once those madmen connected to demonic energy find out your true identity and address, they may not be able to do anything to you, but they will definitely target the people around you!"

Shen Chang'an's eyes turned cold, and he immediately said, "Uncle Zhang, how about I move out tomorrow? I'll live alone in the staff dormitory to avoid involving Aunt Li and Qingqing."

"Nonsense! If you move out now, aren't you just blatantly telling everyone that our family is related to you? Aren't you guilty of something?"

Zhang Hai glared at him and waved his hand.

"Now that your identity may have been exposed, just be more careful in the future. As for your family, don't worry too much."

"Besides, there are many different identities for the lamplighters, and they might think you're in disguise."

Zhang Hai continued, "Recently, I will find excuses to restrict Qingqing's weekend outings. As for school during the week... Qingzhou No. 1 High School is a gathering place for the children of the city's powerful and wealthy, with a high level of security. Even cult members would never dare to carry out a terrorist attack inside the school, as that would be tantamount to breaking ties with the entire Donghuang Kingdom's government."

Shen Chang'an nodded, knowing that Uncle Zhang was right, and temporarily suppressed his worries.

......

Back in his bedroom on the second floor, Shen Chang'an took a shower, dried his hair, and sat down at his computer desk.

Although Zhang Hai spoke lightly, as the garrison commander, he could never entrust the safety of his family to the enemy's "fearlessness."

He took out his phone, opened the app with the black ancient tower icon, and went directly to the equipment store.

He had originally planned to save the 1000 contribution points that had just arrived in his account that afternoon to exchange for cultivation resources later, but now it seemed he couldn't hold onto them for long.

He entered several keywords such as "defense," "protection," and "alarm" into the search bar, and soon a dazzling list of equipment popped up.

Shen Chang'an's gaze swept across the area quickly, finally settling on an item called the [Mother and Child Amulet].

A disposable miniature defensive force field generator. It can withstand the full force of attacks from experts at the Fourth Realm Spirit River Realm and below, lasting approximately three minutes. Upon triggering, the mobile app will immediately receive the highest-level satellite positioning alert.

Price: 1000 contribution points.

"Three minutes is enough time for me to get there and rescue them."

Shen Chang'an's heart bled as he looked at the price. But he still decisively pressed "Redeem Now".

"Ding—Exchange successful. Your current contribution value is 100. The item will be secretly delivered by a specialist tomorrow morning. Please check your mail."

"Nuclear-powered oxen and horses not only work year-round without rest, but we also have to subsidize their security costs out of our own pockets... When will this ever end?"