As night fell, Stirling sat cross-legged on his bed, awaiting the daily arrival of the Yearning Malice.

  Stirling was using the Yearning Malice to irrigate his viscera every day. He also used enhanced blood-nourishing soup to boost his Aether. His cultivation speed was like a rocket soaring into the sky. In less than a month, he refined 20 percent of his viscera. The remaining parts will be refined within four months at the latest.

  Soon, Stirling sensed the restlessness in the air, knowing it was a sign of the approaching malice. He quickly activated the Malice-Converting Technique. The Aether in his body flowed fast. But soon after, Stirling raised an eyebrow. The malice he absorbed today felt odd from the usual.

  After thinking for a moment, Stirling immediately reversed the Malice-Converting Technique. The next moment, a notification appeared in his vision.

  [You have refined a trace of Yearning Malice, lifespan +0.1 days]

  [You have refined a trace of Glittering-Malice, lifespan +0.1 days]

  …

  Stirling opened his eyes somewhat incredulously.

  Something's wrong! Stirling stood up straight away, then went to the window, opening it a bit to look outside. To Stirling's surprise, the street outside was completely silent. It was as if no one had noticed the Glittering-Malice at all.

  Stirling felt a vague unease, a feeling he had not experienced for a long time, which made him sense danger.

  Could it be another external malice invasion? With the situation unclear, Stirling couldn't make a scene. He decided to sit down and finish his daily refining exercises. Tomorrow he would try to find out what was going on from Lance.

  Time flew by. Early the next morning, Stirling hurried to dress, took the bundle with the broken sword, and went out.

  When Stirling got to Night Watch, everyone was still on duty. It was as if nothing had happened. No one mentioned Glittering-Malice's incident from the night before.

  Stirling was deeply puzzled, but dared not reveal his suspicions.

  Hesitantly, he went to the archives and found a chair without fuss to sit on, waiting for Lance's arrival. After all, Lance hadn't finished reviewing the case file yesterday. He should come to review it again this morning.

  Sure enough, a short while later, Lance returned with two watchmen and his attendant.

  "Lord Lance, the case file is exactly as it was yesterday, untouched." Zoe greeted Lance with a fawning smile.

  Lance didn't look at Zoe but fixed his gaze on Stirling. Seeing Stirling's furrowed brow and silence, he looked at the files on the workbench.

  "Hmm," Lance gave a soft hum and continued flipping through the files.

  After a while, Zoe, seeing Stirling still standing there motionless, insinuated:

  "Lord Lance has been standing here for so long; why hasn't someone even poured him a cup of tea? Was all that attentiveness yesterday only an act?"

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  Stirling, who had been frowning, snapped out of his reverie and looked at Zoe as if he were an idiot and said, "You moron."

  "My lord, look at Luis Chilavert! He's utterly lawless and foul-mouthed!" Zoe heard Stirling insult him. Instead of being angry, he felt delighted. He pointed at Stirling and tattled.

  Upon seeing this, Lance immediately burst into a tirade, "Drag this asshole out and chop him up!"

  The watchman Witt next to him heard this and got excited. He rolled up his sleeves and headed towards Stirling. Out of nowhere, Lance kicked him in the backside, shouting in a huff: "I said, chop up this damn foul-mouthed lackey!"

  Lance pointed at Zoe as he spoke.

  Zoe: "???"

  Witt: "???"

  Both men were momentarily stunned; their minds were blank.

  "My lord, Zoe didn't… said nothing bad, did he?" Witt asked, forcing a smile.

  "Well, so you Night Watchmen have got bolder, daring to disobey the Patrol shaman, huh?!" Lance's eyes narrowed, his cold and dangerous expression like a cobra poised to attack.

  Watchman Witt looked at Lance, then at the indifferent Stirling. He appeared to understand something. He grabbed Zoe by the hair and forced him in front of Stirling: "You foul-mouthed idiot! How dare you slander Luis? Kneel and kowtow until Luis felt satisfied!"

  Zoe, his face pale, didn't understand what was happening. But when he heard the words, he instinctively kowtowed to Stirling.

  Zoe knew Patrol Shaman's style well. He was seriously trying to impress. The dull thuds echoed as if someone were hitting a watermelon hard.

  Stirling, looking at Zoe, who was now bleeding from the thumps, felt utterly bored. His mind was troubled by the events of the previous night, which only added to his frustration. He kicked Zoe aside and then bowed to Lance, saying,

  "Lord Lance, I have important news to report."

  Lance realized Stirling must have found some important clues. Otherwise, his master wouldn't be saying this now. Lance waved his hand. The people around understood at once and dragged the unconscious Zoe away. Only Stirling and Lance remained in the room.

  "Master, one day apart feels like three years. I've missed you so much." Seeing that no one was around, Lance immediately resumed his lickspittle-like demeanor.

  "Enough nonsense. Did you notice anything unusual about Yearning Malice last night?" Stirling asked, frowning.

  "Unusual? No," Lance felt surprised; then he shook his head.

  "Glittering-Malice, whose is that belonging to?" Stirling asked again.

  "Glittering-Malice belongs to the Vajra Temple. Why do you ask, Master?" Lance was puzzled.

  "Vajra Temple… I knew it…" Stirling's many doubts instantly cleared up, and he immediately understood. So, the Vajra Temple's plan in Farfield City was still underway. He didn't understand why the Night Watch and Patrol Shaman hadn't discovered it.

  Thinking of this, Stirling said gravely: "I suspect the Vajra Temple is hiding in Farfield City. When you get back, investigate this in-depth."

  "Master, it's not that I don't want to do it, but my work is only to manage the Yearning Malice. Investigating the external malice invasion is under the Night Watch; it is not my duty." Lance said with a bitter face.

  "Night Watch…" Stirling thought for a moment. Then, he inferred a possibility that seemed far-fetched. "How much do you know about Magistrate Hoffmann?" Stirling continued.

  "Well, Hoffmann is usually very low key, and your servant doesn't know much about him. I've noticed that the special envoy is watching Magistrate Hoffmann like a hawk. Maybe the special envoy knows more than we do." Lance finished speaking and then asked: "Should we ask the special envoy?"

  Stirling raised his hand, shook her head, and said: "Never mind."

  "I'm giving you a task: store some malice in it every day. The method is simple: just pour malice into it." Stirling said, handing Lance a porcelain jar that was hanging from his waist.

  "Okay," Lance felt stunned. He didn't get why Stirling was so into collecting malice, but he accepted it anyway.

  "I'm very satisfied with your sword. Try to collect as many similar weapons or pieces of demon flesh as possible for me."

  Stirling said, then pulled a tiny capsule-like object from his pocket and handed it to Lance.

  "Put this between your back teeth. If you fall into enemy hands, immediately crush it with your Virl-Malice."

  "Follow your orders, Master!" Lance took the capsule, then inserted it between his back teeth and said with a smile.

  "By the way, Master, what should we do with that clerk?" Lance asked.

  "Didn't you say to execute him? Why are you asking me?"