I drew a talisman to save the sun from its bleeding state.

Chapter 38, Phase 1 Main Quest Begins

Liu Zhen was taken aback: "Huh? Is that so? Cough cough, that's fine, protecting one more person isn't difficult, as long as you don't wander off... Is this yours?"

Zhou Zheng: "Girlfriend."

Liu Zhen laughed heartily: "That's good, that's good. By the way, does your girlfriend need any pills to replenish her spiritual roots? I've prepared some."

Zhou Zheng squinted slightly as he looked at Liu Zhen. It's best to avoid owing favors if possible. Besides, what does Xiaoxue need? Do you think I can't get it for her?

Liu Zhen looked completely at ease, his hand already inside his clothes, ready to take out the storage ring.

Zhou Zheng took out his phone, opened the photo album, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards him: "Brother Liu, do you recognize this wild beast?"

Seeing that Zhou Zheng was changing the subject, Liu Zhen had no choice but to regretfully withdraw his hand: "Let me see."

Seeing her boyfriend reconcile with her father, Xiaoxue's worries vanished, and she happily ate her fried dough sticks.

Liu Zhen glanced at the photo album and was stunned: "Holy crap! Where did you find this?"

Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow: "Is it troublesome?"

Liu Zhen said with a bitter face, "Now I know why the Celestial Venerable sent me here. This is the ancient demonic beast Zhu Yan, troublesome... of course it's troublesome. Last time I fought it, I was just a lowly soldier in the Thunder Department. I risked my life to hold Zhu Yan's throat and buy time so that everyone could work together to severely injure this guy. In the end, the seal was handed over to Ganzhou... let me think, right, it was handed over to the Xu family. As long as we find the descendants of the Xu family, we can find out the location of the seal."

The scene immediately fell silent.

Liu Zhen asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Zhou Zheng leaned back tactically: "The Xu family? You don't mean the Xu family that was wiped out within the last twenty years, with only a handful of descendants left, do you?"

Xiaoxue swallowed hard: "Could all of this be a coincidence?"

Liu Zhen's lips twitched: "The Xu family was fully responsible for this matter back then. If the entire Xu family had been wiped out, there would really be very few people who know the truth."

Zhou Zheng calmly sipped his soy milk: "Besides these, are there any other clues?"

Liu Zhen scratched his head: "There's another clue connected to the ancient magical beasts, and that's the Twelve Beast Rings. Each beast ring possesses immense power, and if someone can collect all twelve beast rings, they can use them to control the magical beasts to do evil. After all, these are ancient magical beasts, and without beast rings or other methods to suppress them, these ancient magical beasts will only do what they want."

Of course, another way is to seal these creatures away using human lives instead of beast rings. Back then, our Thunder Department used one of those beast rings and human lives to defeat Zhu Yan.

Zhou Zheng asked curiously, "Brother Liu, do you know about solar storms?"

Liu Zhen: "...I work the night shift." The hour of Chou (丑时) is naturally from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., so worrying about solar storms is a bit unnecessary.

Zhou Zheng: "Alright."

Liu Zhen hurriedly said, "Don't worry about other things for now. We must find out where Zhu Yan is sealed, lest someone awaken this ancient demon beast and wreak havoc on the world."

Zhou Zheng remained unmoved, calmly sipping his soy milk and pondering: The sun's abnormal release of a solar storm affected aerospace, Project 427, the partner company, and ultimately, Xiaoxue. And then, coincidentally, the Xu family was wiped out… no, it should be that the Xu family was wiped out, and then the abnormal solar storm occurred.

On the surface, they are two separate things, but there is always a vague sense that they are connected.

Zhou Zheng murmured, "Then what does war and disaster mean?"

Liu Zhen asked in surprise, "War and calamity? Zhu Yan is an ancient magical beast that governs war, what's wrong?"

Zhou Zheng was speechless, finally understanding what was going on. Zhu Yan was in charge of the war field, which was perfect. Xiao Zhengjun was the owner of an arms company, so it was only natural that the enemy would target his daughter, Xiaoxue.

So the timeline is roughly as follows: Someone wanted to break the seal on the ancient demon beast Zhu Yan. Many years ago, they secretly wiped out the entire Xu family, waiting for an opportunity. Finally, the right opportunity arrived. Taking advantage of the problems with Project 427, they started by investigating the children of the participants, such as Xiao Xue. Then Aunt Xue Ting sought divine guidance and found her here, and she herself became involved in the scheme.

Was the disruption of the situation and the instigation of war intended to buff Zhu Yan and facilitate its breakthrough from its seal? Furthermore, the sun's life force is declining, which will inevitably increase the chances of the ancient demonic beast Zhu Yan breaking through its seal.

Or rather, the day the sun began to bleed was just the beginning, an appetizer, and much more severe situations will follow. As the sun slowly weakens, its yang energy will also gradually diminish, and some dark forces will surely seize this opportunity to wreak havoc on humanity.

Zhou Zheng asked, "If war breaks out near the Zhu Yan's sealed territory, would it be beneficial to the Zhu Yan?"

Liu Zhen nodded vigorously: "Yes, definitely! It will make it easier for Zhu Yan to break through the seal. These ancient demonic beasts are extremely difficult to kill. As long as they are given even the slightest opening, they can wake up and break through the seal."

Zhou Zheng nodded to indicate that he understood, so the situation was clear. Xiao Xue was an important person and needed to be protected. Xiao Zhengjun should also be included in the protection scope, but since nothing had happened to him yet, it proved that the enemy didn't dare to confront the authorities directly and only dared to do some underhanded things. However, once Xiao Zhengjun returned, some protection measures needed to be arranged to prevent any real trouble from happening.

Zhou Zheng calmly took a bite of his fried dough stick: "Brother Liu, can you beat him in a one-on-one fight?"

Liu Zhen: "...Good question. Actually, we should report this situation and call a group of people to come and fight it, instead of making me go up and fight it one-on-one."

Zhou Zheng: "You can't even beat it after it just broke the seal?"

Liu Zhen: "You think you can beat a hungry lion that's just woken up?"

The ancient monster was severely injured by a group attack, not by me alone. It was severely injured, not weak or weak.

Zhou Zheng: "Understood."

Liu Zhen hurriedly said, "In short, finding out the location of the seal and preventing Zhu Yan from breaking through the seal is the most important thing right now."

Zhou Zheng: "Okay, I understand."

A question mark appeared above Liu Zhen's head: "What do you know? Still eating?"

Zhou Zheng: "They've been planning this for decades. What good will it do for me to rush things now? The Xu family has been wiped out. Since things have come to this, let's eat first."

Liu Zhen grinned: "That's right, I'll make a call first and tell them to get ready."

Zhou Zheng nodded in satisfaction: "That's more like it. This round is at least half secure, unless the enemy has a way to keep Lei Bu busy dealing with Zhu Yan."

Liu Zhen pondered for a moment: "It shouldn't be, but we can't underestimate the enemy because of that. Since they know about Zhu Yan and its sealed location, and have been planning for this for decades, the power behind them must be considerable."

"Slurp slurp..."

Zhou Zheng was drinking his soy milk with peace of mind.

Liu Zhen: "...I'll make the call."

This guy is a demon spirit; he has nothing to worry about.

After the meal, Liu Zhen called his colleagues to prepare a prevention plan.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Zheng went to the living room to draw talismans. Only when he filled a notebook with talismans could he go out to do errands with ease and peace of mind.

Xiaoxue, on the other hand, was dragged away by Tang Ying to stretch her muscles and bones, looking miserable.

Aunt Xue Ting saw that there was nothing else to do, so she went upstairs.

Xuan Yizi pondered for a long time, then went to Liu Zhen in private to ask for a way to resolve the disordered spiritual energy. Liu Zhen casually gave him a pill and sent him away.

Xuan Yizi laughed heartily, holding the talisman paper and cinnabar brush, and sat opposite Zhou Zheng to begin drawing talismans.

Liu Zhen was so anxious he stamped his feet, but he had no good ideas. His main task here was to protect Zhou Zheng. As for whether he could resolve the Zhu Yan issue, that would be great if he could, but if not, he would have to report it to the Thunder Department.

It wasn't until almost noon that Zhou Zheng finished his work and made a video call to Xu Fan: "Are you busy?"

Xu Fan: "...Good morning, not too busy, what's up, Brother Zhou?"

Looking at his sleepy eyes, Zhou Zheng cut to the chase: "Do you know that your ancestors once sealed away an ancient demonic beast?"

Xu Fan yawned: "I don't know, but the Xu family definitely has some connections and influence. I guess I got this position through a deal with the Xu family."

Zhou Zheng nodded: "Then do you know that it was the Xu family who sealed the ancient demonic beast in Ganzhou?"

Xu Fan yawned repeatedly: "What could I possibly know? I'm just an illegitimate child. Anyone who knew that would probably be dead by now."

Zhou Zheng smiled brightly: "Someone wants to break the seal and let the ancient demon beast reappear in the world, and the first target of this demon beast is probably the Xu family bloodline."

Xu Fan instantly snapped out of his daze, his face filled with shock: "What!?"

Zhou Zheng glanced at the time: "We'll go over after we finish eating. You'd better find some clues, or you'll be eaten by the ancient monsters."

Xu Fan: "Holy crap!"