Chapter 549: A Sense of Déjà Vu

After much coaxing and persuasion, Bu Yisi finally managed to convince Tang Luo and the other three to stay put with the reasoning that understanding the demons' situation — knowing oneself and the enemy — was the only way to win every battle.

Or rather, perhaps it was because these few people saw how hard he had worked to explain things, and decided to give him face.

After sending Tang Luo and the others off to tour everywhere, Bu Yisi slumped onto the sofa; this position of Corps Leader (Steward) really wasn't easy to sit in.

The composition of the Exorcist Holy Corps was relatively simple.

The highest level wasn't the Corps Leader, but a seven-member Council; the seven Councilors were the Corps' financial backers, its financial support.

They decided all major affairs of the Corps.

For instance, this summoning was only carried out after all seven Councilors agreed.

The Corps Leader was a rotating post, swapped among the seven Councilors every half year, holding a one-vote veto — convenient for all kinds of backroom deals, interest exchanges, and checks and balances.

As Vice Corps Leader, Bu Yisi managed the Corps' daily affairs.

Besides him, there were five other Vice Corps Leaders, but these five were sinecures, held by five powerful Exorcists whose status was higher than other Exorcists.

They could mobilize more resources, but they normally didn't handle any affairs.

The title "Vice Corps Leader" was rarely used; more often they were called "Generals."

Apart from the Generals and ordinary Exorcists, there were no further ranks within the Exorcists.

Below the Vice Corps Leaders, aside from Exorcists, were the Department Heads of various departments; departments were further divided into several Sections with Section Chiefs, and below them were ordinary members.

There were also some secret departments.

"Master, there sure are a lot of secret passages in this fortress." After touring the headquarters, Zhu Bajie said.

"Is that so?" Tang Luo didn't care much about these things.

"Want to go explore?" Ao Yulie was full of enthusiasm.

"Suit yourselves." Tang Luo waved his hand, signaling them to play on their own, and returned to his room.

The world's Heaven and Earth Qi was passable; one could barely cultivate and regulate breath to slowly recover from injuries.

"Second Senior Brother." Ao Yulie looked at Zhu Bajie expectantly.

"Explore what." Zhu Bajie said, "Let's go study those machines that can summon people first."

It's not like Bu Yisi said we couldn't look, so we're not good kids who just obey.

On the surface we agreed, but inside we'd already planned to research it ourselves.

"Then let's go." Ao Yulie's enthusiasm didn't diminish.

Back in the room, Tang Luo tossed Xiaotian Quan onto the soft bed, lay down himself, closed his eyes, and began regulating his breath.

Cultivating didn't require sitting in a lotus position.

It was just that doing so was more habitual and slightly more efficient; the concentration of Heaven and Earth Qi in this world set a hard ceiling.

No matter what posture one assumed, it wouldn't make any difference.

Like a test paper worth 60 points — even a super genius taking it would only score 60, whether they did it seriously or wrote with their feet.

Dinner, washing up, sleep.

The first day passed quietly like this; Ao Yulie and Zhu Bajie's expedition yielded nothing.

They found that sealed important room and studied it carefully.

They discovered these machines were just ordinary steam engines; nothing unusual could be discerned.

The so-called summoning had hidden circumstances — either this machine wasn't the key, or these machines had already been swapped out.

There was plenty of time ahead; they weren't in a rush.

Early the next morning, after eating breakfast in the cafeteria (the Gourmet Cube recipe list grew longer again), a group of chosen Saviors were led off to training.

Naturally, the three with broken legs were excluded — they had neither resonated nor could they walk.

They lay in hospital beds weeping bitterly.

Everyone put on uniforms — not Exorcist uniforms, but training uniforms.

Exorcist uniforms were costly; although every Exorcist had several spares.

But there was no need to wear them for training; training uniforms were enough.

Only, the place they were led to wasn't the training ground some had imagined at first.

The sacred weapons they'd been longing for were already waiting for their "favor."

The place the group was brought to was a room resembling a classroom.

A frail-looking old man who seemed like a gust of wind could topple him was waiting for them in the classroom.

"What's going on?"

"Aren't we supposed to train?"

"Where are our Exorcist weapons?"

A group of high schoolers voiced their confusion.

"You haven't even learned to walk, yet you want to run?" The old man in the classroom was small in stature, but his voice was loud. "Today I'll teach you some basic common knowledge. Because of the summoning, you already comprehend language and writing on your own, but as for everything else — how much do you know?"

"First, let's get acquainted with demons."

This was also what Bu Yisi had told Tang Luo and the others yesterday.

The first period of PE class was always a theory class; whether it was useful or not, that was the rule.

The group sat down obediently, waiting for the loud-voiced little old man to lecture.

The students expressed calm acceptance.

The little old man nodded in satisfaction; that was more like it.

"This thing..."

As the little old man handed out booklets and spoke about demons, Zhu Bajie looked at the demons' appearances in the book and felt a sense of familiarity.

Demons usually disguised themselves in human form, hiding among crowds, difficult to detect.

A demon in human form is just an ordinary person.

And their appearance when they tear off their disguise resembles a giant black "hairball."

A thing like a peach pit, about two meters in height — this is the demon's body; an unknown black substance grows from the body, densely covering it, similar to hair yet possessing the properties of tentacles.

A demon's primary means of attack relies on these black tentacles that grow from its body.

Severing these tentacles can only weaken a demon; only destroying the body is the true way to kill a demon.

Most of the black tentacles are not long, similar in size to a normal adult's arm, constantly swaying.

A small portion grow to over ten meters in length, sweeping like whips, lashing out, with astonishing destructive power.

Ordinary exorcists cannot withstand even a few strikes.

There have been no few tragic cases of exorcists being whipped in two by a single lash.

"Master, doesn't it look like that thing we encountered in Beiou that time?" Zhu Bajie said.

Ao Yulie examined the picture for a moment: "Senior Brother, you mean those half-human half-beast hairy monsters from the Corrupt Blood reality mission?"

"Right, these hair-like tentacles — I feel they're a bit similar." Zhu Bajie said.

"One is an oval ball, one is a human." Ao Yulie felt they weren't similar.

Things covered in black hair are a dime a dozen.

The picture isn't actually clear, and it's still black and white.

It's enough to identify a demon, though — after all, looking like this, as long as you're not amnesiac and blind, you'll definitely recognize it next time you see it.

But for scrutinizing details, it's far from enough.

"We'll go catch one later and see for ourselves." Tang Luo settled it with a final word — no need to argue; practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

"This is the lowest grade of demon," the little old man's voice echoed in the classroom, "also the weakest among demons; as long as you have hands and feet, have courage, you can all kill low-grade demons."

"Lowest form?"

"The weakest — are there not just one kind of demon?"

Everyone asked questions in succession; the learning atmosphere was extremely lively, feeling like reading a game walkthrough with a big-shot explaining it.

Suddenly I love studying; studying makes me happy.

The slackers who were unwilling at first now had an extremely strong desire to learn; as for the original top students, needless to say, they had already begun silently memorizing these demons' data.

"Of course there are — the Sacred Heart evolves, grows stronger; demons are the same." The little old man said.

It can also be put another way: demons evolve to grow stronger, and so does the Sacred Heart (weapon).

Above low-grade demons, naturally, are mid-grade demons.

Mid-grade demons take the form of beasts, beasts covered in black hair!

Flipping to the back and seeing the mid-grade demon's appearance, Ao Yulie instantly showered Zhu Bajie with rainbow farts: "Second Senior Brother, I was wrong! Second Senior Brother, you're still the most awesome!"

Second Senior Brother slacked off during the Journey to the West — almost forgot this guy is still very reliable when needed.

Now that Eldest Senior Brother isn't here, Second Senior Brother has hoisted the banner; he handles things very reassuringly.

Think about it carefully — rather, it's Eldest Senior Brother's explosive temper that easily botches things, ultimately creating a "never mind how many people I beat up, just tell me: is the matter settled or not?" situation.

The mid-grade demon's appearance is very similar to the black beastmen Tang Luo and the others have seen.

However, unlike low-grade demons with a uniform appearance, mid-grade demons' appearances are not fixed and unchanging.

Their combat methods are also varied.

The danger level rises not just a little — in the little old man's words, encounter a mid-grade demon, run immediately.

Ordinary exorcists are no match for them at all.

"Above mid-grade demons there are still high-grade demons, but they're few in number; you may not encounter them — we'll talk later." The old man said.

After saying a few more things about demons, the little old man announced a class break — continue in half an hour.

Tang Luo and the others left directly under some people's complex gazes.

Since they already knew what demons looked like, they naturally had to go put it into practice.

Without saying much to the others, the three found a deserted spot, soared into the sky, and flew off directly.

In midair, the three's clothes also transformed into exorcist uniforms.

Only Xiaotian Quan remained unchanged, crouching on Tang Luo's shoulder, looking lazy.

When we encounter demons later, remember their scent... wonder if different demons smell the same, hope there's some commonality.

That way, even if demons disguise themselves, they can be found in the vast sea of humanity, among all living beings.

Xiaotian Quan is a capable hound, after all.

Because demons all disguise themselves in human society, to find demons, heading for crowded places definitely won't be wrong.

Tang Luo's group's first stop — not the city they just entered.

That city is very close to Headquarters, extremely safe; the last time a demon appeared there was over thirty years ago.

They had to go farther, to places with more people, to more easily encounter demons.

Spending an hour, flying far out, the three descended in a city they didn't even know the name of.

The dashing exorcist uniforms combined with the group's outstanding looks and bearing made them like fireflies in the dark night — so distinct, so outstanding.

Impossible to hide at all.

Then, they were found!

Only those who found them weren't demons, but the Holy Regiment's field personnel.