Chapter 58: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

"Hmm? I seem to have just heard Du En talking about his good comprehension again?"

Suddenly, from outside the main gate, the voice of the overseer Ren Li came through.

He acted as if he were returning to his own home, pushing the door open and walking straight in.

The door bolt, which had been locked tight, pulled itself back quite consciously and automatically.

Ren Li stood still, swept his eyes over the people in the courtyard, and finally let his gaze rest on Du En, blinking once.

"So you've broken through to the middle stage of Qi Refining."

Because they were not close to the overseer above them and could hardly obtain the other party's protection, if they really encountered an accident, there was basically no path to survival to speak of.

Because it was not a demonic beast of that value, it would not cause those few at the perfection of Qi Refining to have a dispute over the division of spoils.

People along the way consciously cleared a path.

The scene suddenly went quiet.

Appearing unexpectedly earnest, it always made Ren Li feel very gratified.

It was indeed much better; at the very least, the corpse transporters were not scared out of their wits.

Before he could let it flare up, Du En asked again: "By the way, coming over specifically this early, has some situation occurred?"

"I see, I understand. Many thanks for the notification."

Du En spoke directly like this, causing Xu Ran to snap out of it and nod with a wry smile.

They deceived themselves and others, looking at each other, thinking perhaps they should be bold enough to verify it; after all, could it really be like that?

They could not help but sigh with emotion about this again, especially when thinking of their own side, where the overseer—who, if not making things worse, was already showing great kindness—made them even more envious, jealous, and hateful.

Generally speaking, Ren Li would not take the initiative to come find them early in the morning; he would only walk out from the city, walk to the Corpse Burial Wasteland, exchange a few casual words with Du En and the others, and then go off to contemplate on his own.

"Hahaha, impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Therefore, Xu Ran spoke with some envy: "You guys have it good here; Overseer Ren is refined and easygoing, and cares for his subordinates—it is truly enviable!"

"Mm."

Du En pointed straight to the key point.

Then, their gazes turned toward Xu Ran in unison.

One year, Foundation Establishment in one year?!

Ren Li barely suppressed his emotions, then shook his head and acted mysterious, "Come to think of it, your words have indeed become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Two people got on the cart, five people walked, and they headed toward the Corpse Burial Wasteland.

They happened to run into the corpse transporters' convoy.

"These corpse burial workers really have good luck!"

"I think so too; I thought it was an illusion?"

"Is that so? Then, what kind of performance counts as outstanding?"

Recalling their own stumbling progress—without Du En leading and guiding them, they would likely still be like the other bottom-dwellers, crawling like turtles for thirty or forty years just to reach the middle stage of Qi Refining—and then comparing that to this terrifying standard of Foundation Establishment in one year.

The corpse burial workers had thought this matter was already over; they had not expected it to be like this.

Not until the flatbed cart had gone far away did they, standing by the side of the road, begin to sigh with emotion.

Ren Li's face twitched, his teeth feeling a bit itchy.

"You've asked the right person! In the major immortal sects, the entry standard for genius seeds is actually quite clear: it is whether or not one can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage within one year."

Hearing Du En's thanks, Ren Li immediately felt refreshed.

Although he was like a paralyzed-face person on ordinary days, if someone really helped him, he would truly offer thanks!

I thought it was something else!

Within this sentence, there was a hint of that flavor.

"That's right, that's right, so I must have seen it wrong..."

"Exactly, they've latched onto a good overseer!"

It could not be said to be very surprising; it could only be said that they almost laughed out loud.

Hearing this timeframe, Ning Cai and Wei Ming were instantly dizzy.

Ren Li spoke about the general situation.

You are familiar with them, you go up and greet them!

The meaning was obvious, and Xu Ran, whose attention was somewhat scattered now, subconsciously leaned over.

"What did I predict correctly?" Du En also knew how to play along appropriately.

"Looking at your appearance, it must be that some person of status has died again, right?"

"Was that demonic beast at the perfection of the first rank?"

"Tsk! Because of your interruption, I almost forgot the main business."

The two gray jackals consciously slowed their pace.

It was mainly because, although this guy Du En sometimes didn't give him face, spoke bluntly, and poked at people's sore spots, they were, at any rate, friends who could talk to each other.

The two plump and sturdy gray jackals, increasingly resembling demonic beasts, poked their heads out, and seeing that Du En had no objections, they pulled the flatbed cart, the two jackals in the lead, and dashed outside the gate.

So today's situation was clearly very abnormal.

But now, the corpse burial workers' flatbed cart had already gone far away, and they could only suppress their suddenly anxious hearts and head toward the place where they worked.

Seeing Ren Li sitting on the cart from afar, they immediately stopped and hurriedly moved aside to clear the middle of the road.

However, the unease that should be there remained.

Then.

On the other side, Du En and the others arrived at the corpse transport path.

"That Overseer Ren is not his father; it's impossible for him to give him precious pills for breaking through realms!"

I want to curse!

Because the situation had turned out this way, he had come over specifically to give notice, to ensure his subordinates wouldn't be caught completely off guard and end up wiped out if they truly encountered it.

There really are many people who envy it.

"Hmm, it's quite a rare demonic beast, a Forest Shadow Leopard; as the name implies, it is the shadow of the forest, with high stealth and high mobility. In these dense Southern Border mountains and forests, it is like a fish in water. Now that it has recovered from its injuries, it is clearly holding a grudge and has returned for revenge."

"Uh, I just gathered the courage to take a close look, and it seems, probably, perhaps, he is at the middle stage of Qi Refining..."

"I..."

"Hmm? Wait, that kid Du En, doesn't he seem a bit off?"

Don't bring up the sore spot!

I am clearly at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining; I've been here for nearly a year, I was at Great Perfection when I arrived, and I'm still at Great Perfection now—isn't the answer obvious?!

Hiss!

Is that even human?!

"Du En, it's not that I want to discourage you, but to be honest, if word got out that you eat spirit meals every day and still need two years of cultivation just to reach the middle stage of Qi Refining, it would only make others laugh their heads off."

Ren Li immediately followed up smoothly: "Those few supervisors at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, didn't they say they were going to hunt down a demonic beast before? And then? They failed because they couldn't agree on how to split the loot, and they were too embarrassed to say it out loud for fear of losing face, so they kept it under wraps for a long time. Well, look at that, it finally couldn't be hidden anymore these past two days!"

Before today, there had indeed been a period of time where no new corpses of victims had appeared.

Then, he overstepped his authority and waved his hand: "Alright, time to get to work."

How can the difference between people be so vast?!

While the five were stunned in horror, Du En remained calm, only calmly spitting out his words: "So that's how it is. Hmm, Supervisor, are you that kind of person?"

"Yeah, another late-stage Qi Refining cultivator died, but compared to the previous acts of evil cultivators, this one is actually quite a bit better; there's nothing sinister about it."

Upon hearing this, Ren Li couldn't help but tilt his head slightly and glance at Du En, wearing an expression that said, 'You kid better know how to be grateful.'

Clearly, according to the regulations, supervisors actually have a responsibility to protect and look after the laborers under them during the supervision process, but now, the fact that Ren Li even adheres to this single point makes people extremely envious.

(End of chapter)