Ch 14: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

This demon, of unknown origin, had a towering aura of demonic energy and intense murderous intent, indicating considerable strength.

Thus, even though this strange demon lacked much blood energy and wasn’t burdened by karmic debts, the two gate gods didn’t dare to lower their guard. However, their tone became much more polite.

“What kind of demon are you? Do you have a document issued by the Supervision Department to enter Huaiyang City?”

“The Supervision Department? What is that?”

Jiang Lin asked the system, but the system was also perplexed: “I only have background information related to the plot. This Great Sheng Dynasty existed several hundred years before the plot, so I’m not too clear on the specifics either.”

Jiang Lin: “…”

Forget it, I’ll have to rely on myself.

He smiled warmly, looking as innocent as possible: “Greetings to you both, divine generals. My name is Jiang Lin, and I come from White Tiger Ridge. This is my first time in the human world, and I wish to learn about the customs and traditions of Huaiyang City. We have many special products in White Tiger Ridge, and perhaps we could engage in some trade.”

At this point, he pretended to hesitate and asked, “The Supervision Department? What kind of place is that?”

When the two divine generals heard that he didn’t even know about the Supervision Department, they confirmed that he was indeed a demon who had just come out of the deep mountains and forests.

Listening to the rest of Jiang Lin’s words, they found it amusing, but also felt a bit of self-satisfaction and disdain.

It wasn’t that they looked down on demons, but in the past few hundred years, they had seen countless demons emerge from the wilderness, all of them ignorant bumpkins who had never seen the world, talking about doing business. What good things could come from those remote, desolate mountains and forests?

The disdain in the eyes of the two golden-armored gods didn’t escape Jiang Lin’s notice.

He smiled slightly to himself but said nothing.

The golden-armored war god on the left, who was holding a battle axe, said, “You might not know, but the Great Sheng Dynasty is a human dynasty. The Human Emperor is protected by purple energy and blessed by immortals and gods. When the dynasty was first established, the Supervision Department was set up to gather talented people from all over the world, specifically to prevent beings with special abilities, like gods and demons, from causing trouble.”

This was more or less what Jiang Lin had anticipated.

He then asked, “I have no intention of causing trouble, just want to see a different world. In my case, what should I do?”

He dressed elegantly and spoke in a refined manner, completely different from the wild demons they had expected.

The two golden-armored gods exchanged a glance, both feeling uncertain, and politely said, “You need to go to the Huaiyang City branch of the Supervision Department to register and obtain a short-term residence permit. During this time, Supervision Department personnel will accompany you on your outings.”

This was close surveillance, to prevent him from causing trouble. Jiang Lin understood this.

He didn’t mind, though; instead, he was quite interested in the Supervision Department, finding this management model remarkably advanced.

Led by the golden-armored god, Jiang Lin went to the city’s Supervision Department, where he obtained an identity wooden plaque. After registration, he was allowed to live and move freely within Huaiyang City for one month.

He was even assigned a small courtyard.

The Supervision Department sent a young Taoist named Chen Yu to accompany him.

Jiang Lin took one look at him and noticed that the man’s cultivation was impressive, though his expression was quite arrogant.

“Mr. Jiang, for the next month, I, Chen, will be your guide.”

Jiang Lin nodded, “I appreciate it.”

On the first day, he wandered around Huaiyang City.

During his stroll, he discovered that the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty were indeed very prosperous, and commerce was thriving. Most of the city’s residents were dressed in brightly colored clothes.

There were also many food stalls, but Jiang Lin noticed that although the variety seemed abundant, most of it consisted of different kinds of cakes and steamed or boiled food.

He wanted to taste something but found himself awkwardly without any money.

After thinking for a moment, he honestly told Chen Yu, “Young friend Chen, I’m very interested in these foods, but I don’t have any money on me. I wonder if I could trade this instead?”

He extended his hand, revealing a well-preserved ginseng root lying in his palm.

Chen Yu’s eyes lit up immediately.

He coughed and said, putting on an act, “This ginseng has a good appearance and is worth ten taels of silver.”

Jiang Lin’s expression instantly turned cold.

He looked at Chen Yu with a faint smile. “Oh? A ginseng root this large is only worth ten taels of silver?”

Chen Yu, not noticing Jiang Lin’s expression, continued speaking on his own, “You might not know, but these ginseng roots and similar items are usually only used for ordinary medicinal purposes. They can’t fill your stomach, nor are they of much practical use. Around here, they’re practically worthless…”

Chen Yu was quite adept at this sort of thing.

Most demons who managed to enter the human world found it hard to stay long, if they even made it past the gates of Huaiyang City. So, tricking these demons who could only come for a brief visit was something the people of the Supervision Department did without hesitation.

After all, they figured they’d never see these demons again in their lifetime.

And even if the demons did realize they’d been deceived later on, what could they do? The Supervision Department was guarded by numerous skilled sorcerers and even had divine beings as protectors. Could a demon possibly break through that?

As Chen Yu smugly continued to try and fool Jiang Lin, he suddenly realized he could no longer speak. A heavy pressure, like a mountain, bore down on his shoulders, forcing his spine to bend under the weight.

Struggling, Chen Yu raised his head and found the demon in front of him staring at him with a half-smile.

Jiang Lin played with the wild ginseng in his hand. “Oh? Worthless? I’ve heard that a few-hundred-year-old wild ginseng like this is highly valued among humans, always in demand.”

As he spoke, he did not hold back his oppressive aura. Soon, cold sweat soaked through Chen Yu’s back.

Only then did Chen Yu realize he had kicked an iron plate. Hastily, he tried to change his tone, “This… I may have been mistaken. Allow me to take another look?”

Jiang Lin replied, “It seems you don’t recognize this at all. Let’s go to the Supervision Department and have someone there take a good look.”

With that, Jiang Lin decided to change his approach. He unleashed the full extent of his aura, letting his power as a great demon radiate freely. The pressure was so intense that the spiritual sword on Chen Yu’s back hummed, eager to draw itself in response.

This commotion quickly drew the attention of the Supervision Department.

In an instant, several beams of spiritual light shot across Huaiyang City, all converging on Jiang Lin’s location.

Jiang Lin didn’t bother to suppress his power. He leisurely strolled through the streets with a pale-faced Chen Yu in tow.

Before long, someone arrived. Seeing the state of Chen Yu and Jiang Lin, they quickly stepped forward to inquire, “Mr. Jiang, what has happened here?”

Jiang Lin glanced at the man who spoke, a middle-aged human Taoist with abundant spiritual energy, though still far from matching Jiang Lin’s power.

Coldly, Jiang Lin said, “I came here as a guest, intending to be polite and avoid causing trouble. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to be treated like a fool.”

He held out the ginseng in his hand. “I know this can be exchanged for silver here. So, please tell me, how much is this ginseng worth?”

The middle-aged Taoist, seeing the ginseng and then looking at Chen Yu’s expression, immediately understood the situation.

This wasn’t unusual in the Supervision Department. The higher-ups typically turned a blind eye to it, but Chen Yu had clearly overstepped.

“You’re trying to deceive a demon lord of this caliber? And not only that, you even got caught!”

“What’s wrong? Is it difficult to name a price?” Jiang Lin asked when he saw the man in front of him hesitating.

At that moment, several more flashes of spiritual light appeared, and a few more figures arrived. Among them were two Taoists and, surprisingly, a demon.

Jiang Lin glanced at the demon and saw that it was a plant spirit.

While the Taoists could only sense Jiang Lin’s powerful aura, the plant spirit, as a fellow demon, felt something different. Faced with this great demon, she found it almost impossible to muster the will to resist.

Stepping forward with difficulty, the plant spirit greeted him, “Green-Clad of the Huaiyang City Supervision Department, I greet you, Mr. Jiang.”

Jiang Lin paid her no mind and continued to focus on the middle-aged Taoist.

This was where the difference in strength became apparent. Earlier, someone like Chen Yu dared to deceive him. But now, with Jiang Lin fully unleashing his aura, even while adopting such an arrogant demeanor, no one found it inappropriate. In fact, they believed that this was exactly how a great demon should behave.

Not understanding the situation, the others turned their gaze to the middle-aged Taoist.

Seeing this, the Taoist dared not hesitate any longer and hastily offered a significantly higher number: “This… with such quality, it’s worth 1,200 taels of silver.”

Earlier, Jiang Lin had asked about the prices of small stalls and knew that one tael of silver had a purchasing power roughly equivalent to 2,000 yuan in his previous world. Given the quality of the ginseng in his hand, this price seemed about right.

“1,200 taels?” Jiang Lin pointed at the now pale-faced Chen Yu. “And you just said it was only worth ten taels?”

The others: “…”

They glared at Chen Yu. Even though it was common for the Supervision Department to take advantage, this was going too far, wasn’t it?

The middle-aged Taoist was Chen Yu’s senior in the sect and couldn’t help but defend him, “Please don’t blame him, Mr. Jiang. Chen Yu is young and inexperienced. Perhaps he didn’t recognize such a rare item, and that’s why…”

“Do I care about that?” Jiang Lin interrupted.

At that moment, he fully embodied the role of an arrogant and unreasonable demon, sneering, “I came here for the first time, so I was being polite. But it seems you’ve taken my courtesy for weakness.”

Pointing at Chen Yu, he said, “Now, tell me, how do you plan to resolve this?”

Chen Yu was inwardly bitter. His cultivation level was low, so he hadn’t initially seen through Jiang Lin’s strength. Moreover, Jiang Lin had been so polite earlier that Chen Yu had assumed he was an easy target.

But who could have guessed that the “soft” exterior was just a facade, hiding sharp thorns that hurt deeply?

He hurriedly said, “I was blind, and I beg you, sir, to forgive my youthful ignorance.”

“You are indeed young,” Jiang Lin replied. “But whether you’re young or not is none of my concern.”

He continued ominously, “In our White Tiger Ridge, any young demon who dared to offend me would have grass ten meters tall growing over their grave by now. So, do you want me to do it, or will you take care of it yourself?”

Chen Yu: “…”

The others: !

Their expressions changed drastically. After much pleading and explaining that such violence wasn’t the way of the human world, and after offering many benefits, Jiang Lin finally “reluctantly” let the matter go.

An hour later, Jiang Lin sat in the large courtyard that the Supervision Department had just arranged for him.

The system sighed in admiration, “You played the role quite convincingly, Host.”

Jiang Lin smiled, “Treating people the way they deserve to be treated—there’s no truer saying.”

He had acted so aggressively not just because of Chen Yu’s attitude but also for another reason—while strolling through the market, he had detected a faint demonic aura at the city gate with his spiritual sense.

That aura was weak, and when he took a moment to check, he saw the two golden-armored gate gods coldly driving someone away.

Given that the gate gods acted this way, there was no way the Supervision Department was unaware.

Since the entire Supervision Department was judging people by their appearance, why should he be polite?