"Upon hearing the words 'spirit coins' and 'spiritual incense', Fang Xiu's interest was piqued. He had only seen pictures of these two items on eerie forums but had never seen them in person.
Spirit coins are the main currency used among exorcists, but few actually treat them as money. In truth, they are a type of spiritual material, a special type of steel known as 'steel of the soul', that was developed by the Investigative Bureau headquarters for the purpose of conducting spiritual energy.
This steel is extremely valuable and possesses the ability to conduct spiritual energy. Exorcists can use spirit coins to craft weapons, armor, and other equipment. Regular weapons and armor are useless against the supernatural, but equipment made from steel of the soul can be imbued with spiritual energy to fight against the supernatural.
One should never underestimate the importance of equipment in battle. The reason why humans are able to stand out among animals is due in part to their use of weapons and equipment. When regular weapons and armor prove ineffective against the supernatural, equipment made from steel of the soul becomes crucial.
As for spiritual incense, it is also a precious resource developed by the Investigative Bureau headquarters. Spiritual incense can ease an exorcist's loss of control over their spiritual energy.
Loss of control is a challenge faced by every exorcist. As their strength grows, so too does the pollution of their spiritual energy, which can lead to loss of control. However, spiritual incense can suppress this pollution and is like a life-saving elixir for every exorcist.
Wang Dehai continued to make phone calls, mobilizing manpower and resources. The energy contained within the Investigative Bureau was evident in this moment. Other departments were easily called into action at his command.
After finishing his phone call, Wang Dehai turned to Fang Xiu and said, "Xiao Wang, take Mr. Fang to the lounge to rest. Xiao Shen will hold an emergency meeting!"
With that, Wang Dehai left with Shen Lingxue, while the young man referred to as Xiao Wang led Fang Xiu to the lounge.
In the lounge, Fang Xiu calmly sipped his tea, but his mind was constantly racing.
The number one exorcist in Green Vine City had died so easily, killed by two supernatural entities.
These two entities were likely of a higher level, but this also showed the fragility of humanity. Even with spiritual energy, humans are still at a natural disadvantage against the supernatural.
The simplest example of this is the female doctor at the Qing Shan Mental Hospital."
"The female physician is not particularly strange, but her skin is as hard as steel, making it impossible for ordinary firearms to penetrate. On the other hand, even though an exorcist can activate their spiritual power to mobilize most of their muscles and unleash strength beyond that of an ordinary person, they can still be injured or even killed by a bullet.
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That's the difference.
In the end, it's the exorcist's low margin of error. Even if you possess powerful abilities, your body is still flesh and blood. If you make even a slight mistake, you could be killed by a strange creature. Bai Qi is a good example, as he was killed by a surprise attack.
The situation is different for strange creatures. They possess powerful abilities and have a high margin of error. It's difficult for an exorcist to instantly kill them with one blow.
It's like I can make countless mistakes, but you can only make one. How can you win?
However, Fang Hui is not concerned about the natural disadvantage exorcists face when dealing with strange creatures.
Because it's the exorcists who are weak, not him.
He sat quietly in the rest area, looking out the window and seeing many workers in work clothes rushing around. Obviously, Bai Qi's death was a big deal that could shake the entire Green Vine City.
Soon, the afternoon arrived.
Fang Hui estimated that things should have settled down by now, and it was time to take action.
He didn't plan to sit here all day.
Then he looked at the young man sitting next to him. The young man's face had been pale all morning and he hadn't recovered yet.
It's unclear whether he was concerned about Bai Qi's death or worried about being held responsible for a lapse in his intelligence work.
Fang Hui slowly got up and walked over to the young man.
The young man only reacted then.
"You-"
He had just spoken one word when Fang Hui struck his neck hard with a chop of his hand."
A young man suddenly lost consciousness and passed out. After knocking him out, Fang Xiu quickly took off the man's work clothes and put them on himself before leaving the lounge.
He planned to disguise himself as a staff member to gather intelligence, which would not have worked under normal circumstances, but now the entire investigative bureau was in chaos due to the death of Bai Qi, so it was the perfect time.
With his senses heightened, he heard the sounds of conversations and phone calls in the offices and corridors as he walked around the investigative bureau pretending to be in a hurry.
"Although Captain Bai is usually cold, his strength is unquestionable. He was the strongest in the entire Green Vine City. I never thought such a powerful spirit master would die like this."
"Yeah, who would have thought? In my opinion, this death could have been avoided. If you want to blame someone, blame Captain Yang and Captain Bai. They were always competing with each other, trying to win and lose. If these two had worked together, there's no way Captain Bai could have been ambushed and killed."
"Brother Li, I haven't been at the investigative bureau for long. Can you tell me in detail about the conflict between Captain Yang and Captain Bai?"
"What conflict could there be? It's purely a matter of pride. Captain Bai is recognized as the strongest, but when it came to the captaincy, Captain Yang won. Captain Bai has been resentful ever since."
"No, if Captain Bai is the strongest in Green Vine City, how did he lose to Captain Yang?"
"Heh, it's because of Captain Yang's ability. Do you know what his ability is?"
"I heard that Captain Yang's ability is luck."
"That's right, Captain Yang's ability is luck, which is a passive ability. Apart from making people lucky, it's useless. That's why Captain Yang is considered the weakest captain by other spirit masters from other cities."
"No, then how did Captain Yang win the captaincy? Captain Bai is invincible among second-order spirit masters."
"How else could he have won? He won by luck. On the day of their match, who knows what Captain Bai ate that wasn't clean, he had diarrhea and couldn't use his full strength. He was afraid of letting anything out, so he lost. Although Captain Yang's ability is not strong, he is still a second-order spirit master. Faced with an opponent who dared not exert himself, Captain Yang naturally won easily."
"What? If he had diarrhea, why didn't he pause the match?"
"Are you stupid? Don't you know what kind of person Captain Bai is? He's a typical high and mighty man. If you ask him to pause in front of everyone to go to the bathroom, it's even more uncomfortable than killing him. So he could only pretend nothing was wrong and fight. Poor Captain Bai thought no one knew he had diarrhea, but there were many spirit masters present who were keen-eyed and noticed the smell."