Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 112 Re-entry
The fighter jet hovered, and a person leaped down, landing in front of Shen He and Zhong Qin. It was none other than Teng Manyun.

She was wearing a black nano-combat suit, and her neat short hair made her look even more dashing than Zhong Qin. Her gaze exuded a faint sense of authority, a result of the accumulation of war and slaughter.

She landed in front of the two, glanced at the surrounding environment and the corpse of the dragon-transformed warrior on the ground, and then turned her gaze to Shen He: "You did this?"

Zhong Qin: “…”

Shen He nodded: "Yes."

"So you've already mastered the Form Intent Divine Force."

Teng Manyun smiled slightly and turned to Zhong Qin, saying, "It seems our Special Affairs Bureau is about to have another rising star."

"You flatter me, senior."

Being too modest isn't your style.

"what……"

The two chatted and laughed for a while before returning to the main topic and turning their attention to the corpse of the Jiao Bian Shi.

Teng Manyun glanced at the corpses, then at the terrified pigs and the badly damaged factory, her expression somewhat strange: "Why did you suddenly decide to raise spirit beasts, and these... pigs at that!?"

Shen He laughed and said, "It's just a personal hobby, a small test."

"Then your hobby is causing quite a bit of trouble."

Seeing that he didn't want to explain, Teng Manyun didn't press him further, but just looked at the corpse of the Jiao Bian Shi: "These guys from the Blood God Cult need a lot of flesh and blood materials. Since they can't get them from humans, they've turned their attention to beasts, which is why they attacked your farm."

Shen He nodded: "I share the same view."

"So, are you planning to keep your pig farm running?"

Teng Manyun looked at him and said, "The one who comes next time might not be the Jiao Bian Envoy."

Shen He laughed and said, "Since they've already been planted, we can't just give up halfway. Besides, I've grown attached to them after raising them for so long."

As he spoke, he glanced at the Spirit-Toothed Boar behind him.

Zhong Qin was speechless for a moment: "You never said you had feelings for us, but you have feelings for them?"

Teng Manyun expressed her understanding: "Then let's leave it at that. Although the activities of the evil god cult are rampant now, they are mainly concentrated on the front line and small cities. Tianbei City is currently relatively stable, and no sixth-order evil god followers have appeared. They suffered such a big loss at your hands this time, and they may learn from this and dare not come to cause you trouble again."

"Ok!"

Shen He nodded, indicating his agreement.

"However, you will need to spend some time repairing and cleaning up the pollution from the evil god's power."

Teng Manyun waved her hand, instructing her men to clean up the scene, while she continued speaking to Shen He: "We need to take away and destroy the body of this Jiao Transformation Envoy, but we will record your merit. Now, let's complete the formalities and officially enlist you in the Special Bureau."

Shen He had no objection: "Where should we do it?"

"This is fine."

Teng Manyun smiled and said, "In these extraordinary times, we should keep everything simple."

After saying that, he opened his personal terminal and sent a contract document to Shen He.

After reviewing the document carefully and confirming its validity, Shen He readily signed it.

"From now on, you are a member of the Tianbei City Special Bureau. This is your electronic ID, which is valid throughout Yunlan Star and even the entire Empire."

Teng Manyun chuckled and said, "Based on your martial arts skills and the assessment of this battle, you can directly obtain the rank of lieutenant. From now on, I will call you Lieutenant Shen He."

"You're joking, senior."

Looking at the identification documents on his personal terminal, Shen He felt a pang of emotion; he had finally been formally employed.

Although he was only a junior officer, to be honest, he was not young anymore. Even someone like Teng Manyun was only a captain.

After all, this officer system is the officer system of the entire human empire, so its value is extremely high.

Even though Teng Manyun has powerful backers and has risen to the fifth rank through years of experience, making great contributions to the Special Bureau, she is still only a captain.

To become a colonel, one must be at least a sixth-tier professional and have accumulated sufficient military merits.

General officers need no introduction; their prestige is terrifying. Even the most junior major general requires an eighth-level professional to hold the position.

According to information Shen He gathered online, the military commander of Yunlan Star is a major general, who is also one of only two eighth-tier professionals on Yunlan Star.

He was able to become a lieutenant as soon as he joined the Special Bureau for two reasons: first, the restrictions were relaxed during the special period; and second, the strength he demonstrated in this battle was no weaker than that of a regular fifth-tier professional, making him qualified to become a lieutenant.

Although junior officers are the lowest rank among non-commissioned officers, it is still a transition from soldier to officer. They have a certain status and power, whether on the front lines or in the rear, and are no longer just poor, lowly soldiers.

Of course, all of this is meaningless to Shen He; the real key lies in…

"You have killed a Flood Dragon Transformation Envoy. According to the Special Bureau's regulations, you are rewarded with 3,000 merit points, which you can exchange for the reward you want in the merit exchange vault."

Teng Manyun guided Shen He to access the Special Bureau's network through his personal terminal and open the Merit Exchange Vault.

Shen He glanced at it and saw that the storehouse was very rich, ranging from the most basic money to advanced currencies such as spirit stones, as well as various pills, spiritual items, cultivation techniques, and profession-related information and items. It could be said that it had everything.

It has everything that's available on the market, and it even has things that aren't available elsewhere, fully demonstrating the power of official institutions.

Teng Manyun pressed her advantage, saying, "These are extraordinary times. All combat departments have increased their rewards, and our Special Bureau is no exception. The price of these merit items has dropped by at least one-third compared to the past. Now is the perfect time to fight hard."

"It's really good."

Shen He nodded: "When do you need me to start work?"

Teng Manyun smiled: "When do you want to start work?"

Shen He looked around: "This place needs some time to rebuild, and there are some trivial matters to deal with, plus the impact of this battle... How about six months?"

"Can!
Teng Manyun nodded: "The onboarding training usually takes several months, but I don't think you need it. We can just deduct it directly. It's a fourth-tier versus a fifth-tier. Although you killed that dragon-transformation envoy, the spiritual pollution from the Blood God should not be underestimated. Half a year of recuperation is necessary."

Shen He glanced at her: "Thank you!"

“No need.” Teng Manyun smiled faintly, then turned to look at Gao Tian: “Although the current situation is somewhat tense, it has not yet reached the point of being out of control. Both sides are at a loss, and it may be a protracted war. We don’t need to rush. We just need to increase our strength as much as possible.”

There was a hidden meaning in his words.

"protracted war?"

Shen He murmured something, his expression shifting.

……

A moment later, Shen He saw the two off and returned to the factory to take stock of the losses.

Because of the sudden attack by the Blood-Transformed Dragon and the collapse of the factory, his pig army suffered heavy losses this time, with more than a thousand dead and countless wounded.

Fortunately, most of the dead were unevolved ordinary pigs. Only seven or eight of the superior spirit pigs were lost, not to mention the elite ones, which he had already collected into his Myriad Spirit Armor before the attack, thus perfectly avoiding this calamity.

Even so, Shen He still held the Blood God Sect accountable for the blood debt of those more than a thousand pigs, and he would make them pay for it in blood if given the chance.

After releasing the contracted spirit beasts from the Myriad Spirits Armed Forces to rebuild their nests, appease the pig herd, and prepare a sufficient amount of feed, Shen He left the pig farm and returned to Tianbei No. 2 Middle School after finishing all the chores.

Although he has graduated and can no longer stay on campus as a student, it doesn't matter. If he can't stay in the student dormitory, can't he stay in the staff dormitory?
"Little river!"

Shen Qingyue stepped forward, her brows furrowed as she looked at him: "Why did you suddenly decide to join the Special Affairs Bureau?"

Shen He shook his head and smiled: "It's better to rely on yourself than on others. In this situation, if we don't grow and mature through experience, we will be powerless to deal with the crisis."

"This……"

Shen Qingyue stared at him blankly for a moment before she realized what he meant: "You should have told me sooner."

Shen He laughed and said, "Isn't it good to have two plans?"

Shen Qingyue: "..."

After calming the young lady down, Shen He opened his personal terminal and browsed the various items in the merit vault.

First and foremost are spiritual objects to aid in cultivation. This is his current priority and the fastest way to improve his strength, so it requires close attention.

There are many spiritual items, and the inventory is large, mainly consisting of various pills, as well as some spiritual items such as Qi and Sha, and even professional items that directly increase experience, which is enough to meet the cultivation needs of sixth-level professionals.

But... the price is very high!
After all, it is a spiritual item for cultivation, capable of directly increasing one's strength. At this critical juncture, it is bound to be highly sought after, and its price will naturally remain high.

However, Shen He was not in a hurry to buy anything. He looked at other items, especially cultivation techniques, and memorized all the information about them before finally exchanging for a bottle of fourth-grade True Essence Pills.

After the exchange, someone would deliver the goods to his door. Shen He informed Shen Qingyue and told her to be careful when receiving them, while he lay down in the life support capsule.

Inside the life support pod, naked, he struck a pose resembling a coiled dragon, his internal energy circulating and forming a continuous cycle, gradually increasing his power.

As an advanced martial art, Xingyi Shenwu Jing can operate autonomously. Whether in motion or stillness, awake or asleep, the martial arts essence will operate autonomously, just like breathing, constantly improving the martial artist's skill, although the efficiency is slightly low.

But even with low efficiency, piling up soil into a mountain still represents a qualitative change.

Over the years, Shen He has been able to keep up with his cultivation level while juggling various tasks, including online battles and pig farming, thanks to his independent cultivation of Xingyi Shenwu, his spirit beast accessories, and his in-game purchases of medicine. These three methods complement each other.

But now he's not going to play online.

Rather... it was Zhuangzi's dream of a butterfly!
That's right, he's going to indulge in Zhuangzi's butterfly dream again.

Although it seemed inappropriate at this time and juncture, Shen He was still determined to pursue his dream of butterflies.

Because he was very clear about his own situation, his current cultivation level would soon reach the fifth rank with the help of self-cultivation, spirit beast pendants, and paid medicine. At that time, he would have to find a way to obtain Gang Sha and refine the martial arts golden core.

But are Gang Sha so easy to obtain? Without fighting a few battles with the evil god cult, don't expect to have enough merit to buy Gang Sha.

Without the support of the protective energy, relying solely on arduous cultivation, one cannot even dream of refining the Golden Elixir to the ninth level without several hundred years of practice.

Therefore, he must fight, but before he does, Shen He must try his best to improve his strength and methods of dealing with the enemy in order to avoid being caught off guard and losing his life.

But at this point, he had few ways to improve his strength.

Zhuangzi's dream of being a butterfly was the last resort.

If he doesn't dream of the butterfly now, then after a few months when he officially joins the Special Bureau, he won't have much of a chance to dream of the butterfly.

Due to the flow of time, he needs to develop for a period of time after his dream of the butterfly before he has the resources to "abstain from grains and AFK" and return to the real world to handle various matters.

A few months from now, he will most likely not have that kind of time.

Therefore, the only way to help Mengdie is now to take advantage of this six-month recuperation period, nurture her body, and provide her with a safe environment and the ability to fast.

In this way, when he takes up his post at the Special Affairs Bureau six months later, he can switch back and forth between the real world and the Dream Butterfly World, while simultaneously taking care of the development of the Dream Butterfly World and the work of the Special Affairs Bureau.

It's a win-win situation, so why not do it?
Having explained everything to Shen Qingyue, Shen He no longer hesitated. His body in the life support pod coiled like a dragon, while his consciousness drifted away like a butterfly, entering another world.

"Crash!"

The darkness receded like a tide.

The air was damp, the smell of fish was pungent, and there was the sound of waves crashing.

Shen He opened his eyes, only to find everything blurry. He couldn't see things in the distance, and even things nearby were hazy. It seemed he was in a reed bed, where the withered yellow reeds shimmered with a golden light under the morning sun, a beautiful sight.

He had no time to appreciate it, for his body felt weaker than ever before, even more so than the little beggar Gouwa who froze and starved to death in his first life. The only difference was that Gouwa died from hunger and cold, while he…

Twilight, decay, old age, heaviness.

I am very old and my days are numbered!
Shen He shakily reached out his hand, which trembled uncontrollably, and gently touched his face. He felt that his face was rough, slippery, and his skin was loose and weak, with several prominent age spots.

The original owner's memories also flooded in at this moment, and were completely absorbed by him, the one who dreamed of butterflies.

"Yunmengze!"

Dongting Lake!

"Old, Old Zhong?"

(End of this chapter)