Walking over to the young man and seeing the dense black runes quickly disappearing, Chen Heng felt quite surprised.
"It might be because your qi blood is too powerful, causing this demonic qi to feel fear."
In front of him, the young man got up with great difficulty and gave a bitter smile, "After all, that demon was most likely the strongest helper it could call over, and yet it was beaten to death by you so easily. Wouldn't you feel afraid?"
The young man spoke quite casually, not seeming to give too much mind that Chen Heng was a stranger.
"That makes sense," Chen Heng nodded.
He looked at the young man and said, "To be honest, I wasn't preparing to meet you like this
"However, since we ended up meeting, I might as well ask you."
Chen Heng looked at the young man and suddenly smiled, "Just who are you?"
"Who am I?"
Looking at Chen Heng, the young man felt a bit surprised, as if he could not understand why Chen Heng did not know who he was.
"As you can see, I am a Protector."
In the end, he lightly coughed a few times before speaking.
"A Protector?" Chen Heng frowned, "What does that mean?"
Seeing his reaction, it was the young man's turn to feel surprised, "You don't know what Protectors are? Then you…"
Looking at Chen Heng, he suddenly realized something, "You're not a Protector?"
"That's right," Chen Heng shook his head, "I'm just an ordinary high schooler."
"An ordinary… high schooler…" looking at Chen Heng and thinking of that scene of him ripping apart that demon, the young man felt quite speechless.
Just in what way are you ordinary?
However, he soon understood.
"So it's like that," the young man coughed a few times as a trace of blood leaked out of his mouth, "You're not a Protector; you're a natural Awakener."
"Awakener?" Chen Heng repeated, "What's that?"
"They are special people…"
The young man struggled to his feet before saying, "I'm sure you've read novels before, right? It's like those people with special abilities in those novels. Awakeners are those people but in real life."
Chen Heng felt quite surprised, "Awakeners. People like that really exist?"
The young man nodded confidently, "Of course. Otherwise, what's with you? Don't tell me that your strength was the natural result of your cultivation?"
"How else?" Chen Heng replied calmly.
After all, his strength was indeed something that he had gained by cultivating.
It was just that he had done so not in the real world but in simulations.
However, this did not change the fact that it was still the product of his hard work.
"Do you really believe that someone could possess such great strength at such a young age just by cultivating?"
Looking at Chen Heng, the young man spoke, "You're definitely an Awakener, and the power you've awakened is very strong.
"On the surface, it looks like your strength was the result of your cultivation, but much of it was due to the power you awakened.
"Otherwise, for normal people, no matter how good their talent is, it is impossible to reach the level you've reached at your age."
The young man coughed up some more blood as he spoke.
"I just don't know what your awakened power is."
Hearing this, Chen Heng thought to himself. Before, he had been wondering what kind of excuse to give; after all, just pinning it on talent would sound a bit too unbelievable.
Now, without him having to think of anything, someone else had given him an excuse again.
"Then what about you?"
Chen Heng frowned, looking quite doubtful, "Surely you're not an ordinary person either, right?"
The young man gave a bitter laugh as he said, "Me? I'm also an Awakener. Strictly speaking, all Protectors are Awakeners. However, different to you, my ability is a bit special: I can use special methods to get rid of abnormalities and affect other people's minds…"
"Get rid of abnormalities and affect minds…"
Chen Heng looked at the young man.
This seemed like a mental-type ability.
"What are abnormalities?" Chen Heng asked.
"That kind of thing," the young man said as he pointed at the empty plot of land.
At the empty plot of land, there were motes of black aura flashing.
Within the haziness, an old alleyway could be somewhat seen.
"This is an abnormality and the origin of demons."
Looking at the old alleyway, the young man sighed and said, "You can also see it, right?"
Because his ability was a mental-type one, his memory was better than most people's.
As such, he could clearly remember that Chen Heng had been at the old alleyway during the day. Because he had been there for a while, Chen Heng most likely had been able to see it as well.
Seeing his gaze, Chen Heng thought for a moment and nodded.
"That's right."
The young man nodded, "Exactly. Only Awakeners can see abnormalities like this. To ordinary people, they only see the original scene.
"These abnormalities continuously grow and their influence also becomes greater. As time goes on, they begin to give off demonic qi that can affect other creatures.
"Under the right conditions, if demonic qi fuses with compatible people, they will become demons, just like that fellow," the young man said as he pointed at the demon's corpse.
"Sounds troublesome."
Chen Heng frowned and asked, "Then what are Protectors about?"
"Protectors are an organization for gathering Awakeners to fight against abnormalities and a possible apocalypse."
The young man instinctively touched his chest but did not find anything there, and he said, "I have a manual about it at home; would you like me to bring it for you next time?"
"Yes please, thank you," Chen Heng nodded, "By the way, what did you mean by that apocalypse?"
The young man replied, "As time passed, people have found more and more abnormalities like this, and if they keep on growing, one day, the entire world will be consumed by the abnormalities and an apocalypse will descend.
"We Protectors were established to prevent this."
"Sounds quite good," Chen Heng said as he thought to himself.
Indeed, from how things seemed, as time went on, the abnormalities all over the world would quickly grow and demons would continue to appear.
If this went on, perhaps the situation could develop into an apocalypse.
Perhaps this was where the dense deathly aura that Chen Heng had seen was coming from.
The young man suddenly spoke and smiled at Chen Heng, "How about it? Would you like to join us? If you join us, it will benefit you greatly."
"How so?"
Chen Heng looked at the young man, "I'll be able to go all over the place and fight with abnormalities?"
"Information, riches, power…"
Looking at Chen Heng, the young man smiled, "The Protectors is a relaxed organisation, and no one will force you to do anything. The reason I came to deal with this abnormality was for some payment."
"How do I join?" Chen Heng asked.
"As long as you're willing, there will naturally be people coming to find you in the future," the young man said as he smiled.
"Then I'll be looking forward to it." Chen Heng looked at this fellow and felt quite curious; he had never seen an invitation like this.
"I should also let you know that as someone who recommended you to join, I'll also receive a handsome payment."
The young man shrugged and said, "If you write my name as the person who referred you, I'll give you half of that referral fee. How does that sound?"
The young man grinned and said, "Don't worry, I won't take it all for myself; with the strength you've displayed, I don't dare to take it all for myself. Otherwise, I might be beaten to death by you."
"I'm a good student and follow the law; I'd never kill a person," Chen Heng shook his head.
The young man felt quite speechless and pointed at the demon's corpse as he asked, "What's that about then?"
"That's not a person," Chen Heng said as he shook his head.
Following this, they exchanged contact methods. Chen Heng also found out the young man's name—he was called Liu Qi and was a B class Protector.
According to Liu Qi, a B class Protector's standing was about in the middle.
Watching Liu Qi leave, Chen Heng stood there and thought to himself.
"He didn't show any signs of lying and the Fortune Mark did not react either…"
Looking at Liu Qi's departing figure, Chen Heng thought to himself, "Most of what he said should be true."
Chen Heng naturally would not easily believe a stranger.
As such, when he had started to talk with Liu Qi, he had used his powerful mental energy to sense if there were any fluctuations in Liu Qi's mind to determine if he was lying or not.
At the same time, he had also used the Fortune Mark to divine Liu Qi's fate and what he would encounter.
The result was quite ordinary.
His mental energy confirmed that Liu Qi had not been lying, and the Fortune Mark had not shown any danger.
This meant that Chen Heng coming into contact with him would not bring him any new danger.
This was why he had let Liu Qi go so easily.
"It seems like things are becoming more troublesome…" Chen Heng thought to himself.
The information that Liu Qi had told him about remained in his mind, causing him to think to himself.
After a while, Chen Heng came back to his senses and returned to the martial arts establishment.
The next day, Chen Heng was surprised to find that the Protectors moved even faster than he had expected.
In just one day, there were people from the government coming to find him.
"Are you student Chen?" a woman wearing a uniform sat in the guest hall and looked at Chen Heng with curiosity.
The uniform she wore belonged to the Demon Resistance Department.
Chen Heng's teacher, Liu Ruhai, was sitting by the side, and seeing people from the Demon Resistance Department visiting, he could not help but feel a bit nervous.
He looked at the people and asked, "Why have the Demon Resistance Department come to see Heng'Er?"
"No need to be nervous, Master Liu."
The woman stood up and looked at Liu Ruhai as she spoke respectfully, "We have come to invite student Chen to join the Demon Resistance Department."
"Join… the Demon Resistance Department?"
Hearing this, both Liu Ruhai and Chen Heng felt quite surprised.
Wasn't it the Protectors? Why was the Demon Resistance Department here?
Chen Heng felt quite surprised and thought to himself.
"Heng'Er, he… has only just started to cultivate the Solid Rock Body Forging Technique and has not condensed a Martial Body yet…" Liu Ruhai frowned, "Wouldn't it be a bit too early for him to join the Demon Resistance Department?"
As the head of the Solid Rock School, he was not unfamiliar with the Demon Resistance Department.
In actuality, every year, there would be some people from the Solid Rock School who would choose to join the Demon Resistance Department.
It was fine for ordinary people, but Liu Ruhai was not very willing for Chen Heng to join the Demon Resistance Department.
Chen Heng was not an ordinary disciple.
In the past few months that Chen Heng had joined the Solid Rock School, Chen Heng had performed very well and was the most outstanding of his disciples.
He had already taken him as his disciple and was preparing to nurture him as the future pillar of the Solid Rock School.
Even if he was to join the Demon Resistance Department, it had to be after he condensed a Martial Body.
"Please rest assured, Master Liu."
As if she could tell what Liu Ruhai was thinking, the woman smiled and said, "Your disciple only needs to join in name only and will not be given any actual tasks.
"This is a kind of protection we give for new geniuses. They can enjoy our members' benefits without having to go on dangerous tasks.
"We will give him periodic exams but will not force him to do anything."
Essentially, what she was trying to say was that he would just become an honorary member and receive good treatment.
This sounded quite good.
Listening to there, Liu Ruhai did not mind and looked at Chen Heng as he asked, "What do you think, Heng'Er?"
From how he saw it, it would be fine either way. As such, what mattered was what Chen Heng wanted.
Hearing Liu Ruhai's words, Chen Heng smiled and looked at the woman as he asked, "I just wanted to ask—after joining the Demon Resistance Department, what specific section will I be under?"
The woman gave Chen Heng a deep look before smiling and saying, "Protectors."
As expected.
Chen Heng nodded and said, "If that's the case, I have no objections."
"That's good to hear."
The woman smiled and took out a large stack of documents and placed it in front of Chen Heng, and she asked him to sign after reading through them.
Chen Heng went through the documents and after confirming there were no problems, he picked up the pen and signed his name.
He then wrote Liu Qi's name in the box for the referrer.
After putting away the documents, the woman spoke, "In three days, someone will bring you for a test; I hope you can make preparations for that.
"The results of the test will determine your treatment, so don't hold back and show us everything you've got."
Hearing the woman's words, Chen Heng's expression was calm as he nodded, "I will."
Following this, he stood with Liu Ruhai and watched as the Demon Resistance Department's people left.
"It's a bit troublesome."
After those people left, Liu Ruhai shook his head and said softly, "You have not even condensed a Martial Body yet and yet you're joining the Demon Resistance Department. In two days, I'll go meet some old friends and ask them to take care of you there."
In response, Chen Heng only smiled and did not say much.
Time gradually passed.
Soon, it had been three days since then.
Just as the woman had said, the Demon Resistance Department's people came again, and the person in the lead was that woman again.
She was called Bi Yi and was a manager in the Demon Resistance Department.
"When we go, you will most likely meet someone you're familiar with."
After Chen Heng got in the car, she sat next to Chen Heng and said, "Don't be too surprised when that time comes."
"Someone I'm familiar with?"
Chen Heng felt quite surprised before quickly coming to his senses, "Liu Qi?"
Bi Yi nodded, "That's right. According to the Protectors' rules, when the person being recommended is doing the test, the referrer needs to be there. You were recommended by Liu Qi, so he will naturally be there as well."
