Is this what a zombie is?

117. Respect the elderly and love the young.

"Oh dear, it's right on time."

Jiang Chen struggled to lift his eyelids and saw Tai Sui holding a pocket watch with an air of seriousness.

He wore the most innocent smile, with the most guileless expression, while saying the most infuriating things.

"I set up a betting pool with them. I bet on Gluttony for one hour, and on Mirage for three hours. I bet you wouldn't last two hours. But you actually lasted two and a half hours."

"Tsk tsk tsk, is it because you can't bear to leave your ex-girlfriend and say a final goodbye that you've taken so long?"

Jiang Chen didn't even have the energy to roll his eyes, so he didn't even give Tai Sui a glance and completely ignored his provocation.

For a creature like Tai Sui, who loves to have fun, the angrier you are, the happier it is.

So ignoring him and letting him make a fool of himself is the best counterattack.

"Alright, stop teasing him, let him calm down."

A warm, gentle hand gently helped him up.

It is a clam.

She had reverted to her most common, mature, and sophisticated appearance, the one Jiang Chen was most accustomed to.

Shen held a glass of warm water and brought it to his lips.

The warm liquid slid down my throat, dispelling some of the fatigue and chill.

It took Jiang Chen a while to recover before he felt like he had come back to life.

He ignored Tai Sui, who was still muttering to himself, and instead looked at Shen, asking, "Sister Shen, do you know where Master Cat is?"

Shen paused for a moment: "If you need anything, ask it. Nine Lives is very wild. It won't stay in one place for too long. It will come back when it wants to. If it's happy, it will come back to stay for a few days. If it's unhappy, it's normal for it to not show up for several years. If you need anything from it, you can tell us."

"It's nothing serious," Jiang Chen shook his head, the image of Luo Zhen appearing in his mind. "Just now outside, I ran into a familiar spirit. She's growing very fast; she can already speak, think for herself, and start living independently."

Shen's eyes flickered slightly, as if she had thought of something: "The acquaintance you mentioned, is it Attorney Luo?"

"You know him?" Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised.

Shen nodded, a hint of approval in her beautiful eyes: "I met him when Jiuming brought him here. He was indeed a person with a terrifyingly strong will."

Jiang Chen perked up and pressed on, "Then do you know why he got himself back in jail this time?"

"To go even further!"

Go further.

Jiang Chen quickly came up with the answer.

"It's for the totem!"

"That's right. His purpose in going back to prison was to allow his spiritual patterns to evolve to a higher level—that is, totem."

"Spirit runes are the first step on the path to totems, and also the ticket to becoming an unparalleled powerhouse."

"Possessing spirit runes means that you have made a preliminary contact with the power of rules. Such people can form their own system and dominate a region, or even establish a sect, just like the grandmasters who founded a school in ancient times. They are very strong, but their power still has its limitations."

Shen's tone became serious, his eyes flashing with awe for that supreme power.

"But totems are completely different. A totem represents a complete and thoroughly mastered rule. Possessing a totem can even transform into the rule itself, as is the case with the Four Divine Beasts. They are also the foundation of the Four Divine Beasts' families for thousands of years, passed down through bloodlines from generation to generation, almost like gods, virtually immortal."

Spirit runes can evolve into totems, but it is very difficult to do so.

Throughout China's thousands of years of history, only a very few people have been able to achieve this level of accomplishment.

It is important to know that the predecessor of the five-clawed golden dragon totem was the spirit pattern of the First Emperor. It was formed by absorbing the faith of hundreds of millions of people through the Imperial Seal of the State, and it took thousands of years to become a totem.

"But isn't this a bit too fast? Master Cat said that it's been less than five years since Attorney Luo awakened, and now he's already challenging the totem?"

This is progressing too fast. Isn't Attorney Luo afraid that the foundation will become unstable?

"If he hadn't received the gift of dragon energy, he would have needed to accumulate experience for at least several decades before he had the potential to challenge the totem."

Tai Sui took the initiative to speak, and when the topic came up, he became a little more serious.

"That dragon energy was like a seed to him. After combining with the spirit pattern, he was able to glimpse the path of totems. All he is doing now is finding suitable soil and fertilizer to let this seed take root, sprout, and eventually grow into a towering tree."

Jiang Chen was deeply shaken. He hadn't witnessed the self-destruction of the five-clawed golden dragon totem, but he had indeed received a small reward.

But comparing yourself to others is just asking for trouble.

They weren't as extraordinary as Ai Yi, who directly inherited the core legacy and acquired the totem in one step.

Everyone just benefited a little from the dragon's aura, so we're all on the same starting line.

On my side, I only enhanced my eyesight and developed a function like the ability to observe qi, which can be considered a functional auxiliary skill.

Attorney Luo has already embarked on the broad road of cultivating totems.

The other party is not only exceptionally talented and incredibly strong, but also possesses terrifying execution ability; this is their second time being imprisoned.

Looking at myself, my own troubles are still not completely resolved.

No, I can't fall behind either.

However, knowing that the other party's imprisonment was not out of interest, but rather due to their own goals and direction, Jiang Chen felt relieved.

Some people are just impossible to miss; the moment you think about them, they appear.

Just as Jiang Chen's heart was churning with emotion, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Meow!

/ᐠ-˕-マⳊ

The black cat emerged gracefully from the shadows; it was none other than Cat Master, who had been missing for eight months.

It leaped lightly and jumped onto the bar.

"I think I heard you calling me?"

"Where have you been for the past eight months?" Jiang Chen's sense of urgency eased slightly upon seeing Cat Master, replaced by a feeling of relief at seeing an old acquaintance.

Cat Lord sat down gracefully, glanced at Jiang Chen, and said, "I went to an orphanage and played with human cubs for a few months."

"An orphanage?"

Jiang Chen was taken aback, and a comical image instantly flashed into his mind of a cool black cat being chased all over the place by a group of naughty children.

Are you serious? You've gone to an orphanage to volunteer? You can even take care of kids?

This art style just doesn't look right. Where's your high-class demeanor, you ancient monster?!

"What, is there a problem?" Cat Lord seemed to have sensed Jiang Chen's thoughts and snorted in dissatisfaction.

"It's nothing, I just didn't expect you to be so kind-hearted, Cat Master."

"I just like being with innocent little kids. It makes me happy, unlike some middle-aged humans who have all sorts of messy and filthy thoughts in their heads all day long. It's annoying to look at them."