"Yes."
Gai Fu's voice rang out, "And to prevent future troubles, Lieutenant Li, I hope you can eliminate those two evil spirits that have already been born... and destroy those two child corpses.
Because after a long time, those two seemingly dead child corpses will also awaken and turn into evil spirits. I know they were once your friends, but I think they wouldn't want to become man-eating beasts in the future, right?"
Li Hai remained silent.
"Li Hai."
Just then, Zheng Dashan, who had been listening to their conversation, said in a deep voice, "Please kill us."
Yu Fen, who was beside him, also spoke, "Li Hai, what this invisible Li Hai said is right. We truly do not wish to become man-eating evil spirits. Our family has never done evil in the first half of our lives, and we do not wish to do so in the latter half, it's just..."
She silently turned to look at the two child corpses on the ground and said mournfully, "Li Hai, can you allow this humble woman to... to destroy their bodies myself?
They were too young. After suffering so much with me and Dashan, in the end, they couldn't even keep their bodies intact.
As their mother, I... I can't bear it."
As she spoke, Yu Fen collapsed to the ground, hugging the two dried child corpses and weeping softly.
"Li Hai."
Zheng Dashan, who had been standing silently at the side, suddenly said, "Yu Fen is just a woman; she doesn't understand the bigger picture.
Don't take her words to heart. I—"
The phosphorescence in his eyes flickered, and then he resolutely said, "Li Hai, how about I handle this matter? I'll chop off the heads of my two children!"
As soon as Zheng Dashan said this, Yu Fen trembled all over, holding the child corpses even tighter.
Li Hai, however, still frowned and remained silent, unsure of what he was thinking.
Just then, Gai Fu, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke again:
"Alas~ Although it's regrettable, doing so... is not possible."
Li Hai looked up at the sky upon hearing this, staring at the hovering group of yellow talisman paper birds, and asked in a deep voice,
"Why? Can't they even destroy their own bodies?"
"No, as parents, they... are not cruel enough."
Gai Fu slowly explained, "For evil spirit infants that have not yet awakened, merely cutting off their heads is not enough; they must be... completely ground into powder."
As soon as this was said, Zheng Dashan immediately slumped to the ground, all the strength he had mustered shattering. His wife, Yu Fen, completely collapsed onto the two child corpses.
But just when the situation seemed almost unsolvable, Li Hai seemed to suddenly think of something and abruptly spoke:
"Commander Gai, you've been saying that the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 incomplete manual cannot do this or that, so—what if the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual were here?"
"The 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual?"
Gai Fu's voice paused for a moment on the other side, then resumed, "Lieutenant Li, if there truly were the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual here and now, then not only could these few evil spirits be cleansed of all evil and defilement and revert to humans.
Even the myriad floating corpses that have completely died in this Yellow Springs Filth Sea could also return to life and be reborn into the Human Realm."
"Then the problem is perfectly solved."
Li Hai's expression finally lifted from the gloom, and he smiled, "Now tell me where the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual is. I'll go get it myself. Is it at the Zhan Mo Si Headquarters?"
"No."
Gai Fu sighed, "Lieutenant Li, you should give up. Perhaps it's because the Old Heaven cannot bear for perfect and flawless divine objects to exist in the world; the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual, which originated from ancient times, has been lost from the Human Realm for thousands of years."
"Is that so?"
Li Hai was silent for a moment, then looked up and laughed, "Alright then, I'll take half an hour to deduce a Complete Manual based on that 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 incomplete manual."
"What did you say?!"
Gai Fu was greatly alarmed upon hearing this and quickly said,
"Lieutenant Li, you... what nonsense are you speaking?! You want to use an incomplete manual? To deduce a 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual in half an hour, are you crazy?!"
Li Hai ignored him, simply sat down on the ground, his face solemn, eyes slightly closed, posing as if in a state of Enlightenment.
In reality, he shifted his mind to his personal interface, to the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》.
That's right, Li Hai planned to consume a fragment to upgrade this scripture, elevating it from an incomplete manual to a Complete Manual.
"Can't do it too fast. If the Complete Manual is deduced in a few seconds, that would be too outrageous."
Li Hai, sitting with his eyes closed, secretly thought, "Hmm, so—I'll use half an hour. Half an hour to deduce the Complete Manual should be reasonable enough, right?"
Yes, he thought this was reasonable.
He believed that spending "a whole" half an hour, "that long," to deduce a Complete Manual from an ancient incomplete manual was a very reasonable matter, a small thing that could be perfectly explained with the word 'Genius'.
Unfortunately, Li Hai was mistaken.
In this world, there had never been such a Heaven-Defying Prodigy.
There was no other way. Since his Transmigration to this Yu Continent, he had never encountered any so-called difficulties on the path of Cultivation; it had always been smooth sailing, like breaking bamboo.
But Li Hai didn't know that merely because of his words, Gai Fu's side had already exploded, and all the lieutenants were utterly stunned.
Dozens of miles away, in the temporary Demon Slayer Division stronghold—"Oh my dear mother!"
Zeng Ying's eyes were as wide as copper bells, staring straight at Li Hai, who was sitting with his eyes closed on the light screen, stammering, "Brother Li, you... you are my elder brother, you, how can you—you are too outrageous! Half an hour—to deduce a Complete Manual from an incomplete manual, you can't even dream like that!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Old Quan, Old Quan!"
Pi Shangzhi grabbed Quan Xiangxun and shook him vigorously, hissing, "You've read more history books. Tell me, has there ever been anyone in history with such a monstrous Comprehension Ability?"
"No, no, no!"
Quan Xiangxun, whose head was spinning from the shock of Li Hai's 'wild words,' squeezed his fat face and said loudly, "There was none in the past, there is none now, and in the future—there will never be!"
"Eh?!" Pi Shangzhi was stunned, "You mean, you don't believe Brother Li can deduce the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》 Complete Manual?!"
"Hoo~"
Quan Xiangxun let out a long sigh, pulled away his hand, and pouted, "Brother Li's martial Dao talent is indeed formidable, one could even say it's Heaven-Defying and shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun.
But I just don't believe he can deduce the Complete Manual from a mere incomplete manual in half an hour. Forget half an hour, even a whole year wouldn't be enough!"
"Old Quan, what you're saying..."
Gong Lianhong, who was beside them, frowned slightly and said, "Even if Brother Li can't deduce it in a short while, it wouldn't take a year..."
Before she could finish speaking, Gai Fu, who had been silent, suddenly said, "I also agree with Lieutenant Quan's opinion.
I believe Lieutenant Li—it's simply impossible for him to deduce the Complete Manual of the 《Heavenly Lotus Earthly Sage Scripture》."