89: Investigate carefully to find clues

“The list of qualifiers for the first stage of trials: Ding San, Wang Wu, Mu Feng…”

In front of the New Recruit Camp's bulletin board, Li Dong—no, now "Mu Feng"—saw his alias prominently displayed, but his heart remained calm.

This outcome was already within his expectations. In contrast, some of the other successful candidates around him were overjoyed, congratulating each other, while a few who failed were dejected, preparing to pack up and leave.

“Brother Mu Feng, congratulations!” A fella with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks sidled over, a smile plastered on his face, “I knew Brother you weren't an ordinary person!”

Li Dong recognized him as one of the people who had mocked him in the mess hall earlier. His current demeanor was truly… interesting.

“Just lucky, just lucky,” Mu Feng maintained his honest appearance, scratching the back of his head.

“Ah, Brother Mu Feng, now you're an official member of the Demon Suppression Headquarters! You'll have to take care of me in the future!”

“I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare.”

After fending off a few sycophants, Li Dong silently collected his new identity token and a heavy bag of merit points. These merit points were good things; they could be exchanged for many Cultivation resources and access permissions within the Headquarters.

He didn't rush to celebrate or show off. Instead, he immediately went to the Demon Suppression Headquarters' "Wen Yuan Pavilion"—a place publicly declared as a library, but actually an information archive. With his new identity token, he gained permission to enter the first-floor area.

“Mu Feng, new here? What do you want to look up?” An Old Executive with white hair but exceptionally sharp eyes asked without looking up, his hands still turning the pages of a thick beast-skin scroll.

“Greetings, Executive,” Mu Feng respectfully bowed, “I… I want to look up… any records of… um, abandoned mines or remote valleys around the Capital City Suburbs.”

The Old Executive finally raised his eyelids and glanced at him: “Newcomers are interested in these things? Not going to look at Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals to improve your Cultivation?”

“I… I'm just curious,” Mu Feng chuckled honestly, “Our village Elder always said it's never a bad thing to know more about the land.”

“Hmph, nonsense,” the Old Executive mumbled, but still pointed to a row of bookshelves nearby, “The Capital City Suburbs Gazetteer and Abandoned Area Exploration Records are all over there, go find them yourself. No damage, no taking them out!”

“Thank you, Executive!”

Li Dong buried himself in the old papers. The archives here were far more numerous and disorganized than he had imagined. While flipping through them, he secretly activated the [core experimental data chip].

[System Notification: Based on chip data, filter geographical information related to "high-concentration Spiritual Qi anomaly points," "special vegetation growth environments," and "abandoned sacrificial sites."]

This chip was practically a super search engine. Soon, several locations in the far Capital City Suburbs were marked in Li Dong's mind. One of them, named "Black Wind Gulch," had certain environmental parameters, according to the chip's data, that showed a degree of consistency with the early cultivation conditions of the "Soul-Devouring Demon Flower."

He also reviewed some reports on special Yao Beasts and some scattered ancient book rubbings. Among them, a few vague records in a damaged copy of "Miscellaneous Talks on Spirituality" caught his attention.

"...Spirituality, the essence of heaven and earth, gathers in mountains and rivers, or condenses in Dragon Veins... In ancient times, there were evil arts that stole the Spirituality of Dragon Veins to nourish evil creatures, bringing disaster to the common people..."

“Dragon Veins?” Li Dong's heart stirred. This thing sounded mysterious. Could the ultimate goal of the "Soul-Devouring Demon Flower" be related to these so-called "Dragon Veins"? If so, He Tianzheng's schemes were far from ordinary. He recalled the withered Soul-Devouring Demon Flower in the Phantom Demon Illusion and the "spiritual essence" extracted from it. Was this "Spirituality" the power stolen from the "Dragon Veins"?

The more he investigated, the tighter his brows furrowed. He found that for the suspicious locations marked by the chip, the Wen Yuan Pavilion's records were either blank or vague, as if something had been deliberately erased or covered up.

“Hey, kid, found some treasure? Your brows are furrowed like a rock in a latrine pit.” The Old Executive had ambled over at some point.

Mu Feng was startled and quickly closed the scroll in his hand: “No, nothing. I just don't quite understand it; I recognize these characters, but they don't recognize me.”

The Old Executive scoffed: “If you don't understand, go Cultivate. Don't waste time here.”

When Li Dong left the Wen Yuan Pavilion, a small portion of his merit points had already been spent. He exchanged them for several "Wind-Sniffing Talismans" specifically used for detecting Demonic Qi, a few bottles of "Spirit Pills" that could temporarily enhance perception, and some healing and detoxifying Medicinal Pills. These items were all in preparation for the upcoming on-site investigation. Of course, his apparent strength remained at the Early Stage of Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, not revealing too much.

The Executive in charge of resource exchange was a lean middle-aged man. Seeing the obscure Talismans, Medicinal Pills, and several detailed maps of the Capital City Suburbs on Mu Feng's exchange list, his eyes held a strange look: “You're Mu Feng, right? What do you, a newcomer, need these things for? Don't tell me you want to go treasure hunting alone in the wilderness?”

“Executive, you jest,” Mu Feng gave an honest smile, “I'm just timid, so preparing more things makes me feel at ease. Besides, I also want to familiarize myself with the areas around the Capital City; that way, if I have a mission later, I won't be clueless.”

The Executive narrowed his eyes but ultimately said nothing. After all, Mu Feng's permissions were compliant, and although the items he exchanged were strange, they weren't prohibited.

In the following days, Li Dong spent most of his time in the Wen Yuan Pavilion and his barracks, apart from necessary daily drills. During training, he would subtly “reveal” some minor talents in "Spirituality" perception.

For example, during a simulated Formation crack training, the instructor set up a rather complex maze Formation.

“This Formation has thirty-six Formation eyes and one hundred and eight variations. Who can find three safe exits the fastest?” A stern-faced middle-aged instructor said in a deep voice.

Everyone concentrated on their investigation, some performing hand seals to deduce, others relying on experience to explore.

Mu Feng, pretending to be deep in thought, circled the edge of the Formation a few times, then “casually” pointed in several directions: “Instructor, I think… the Qi in these places seems a bit smoother?”

The instructor was stunned. Upon closer inspection, the three locations Mu Feng pointed out were indeed the three safe exits! Although his explanation was very “rustic,” the result was incredibly accurate.

“How… how did you see that?” The instructor was somewhat surprised.

“I don't know either,” Mu Feng scratched his head, “It's just a feeling. Our village's old hunter used to say that when hunting, following your feeling is sometimes more accurate than your eyes.”

“Feeling?” The instructor looked at him thoughtfully, not asking further questions.

After several such instances, some instructors who were originally neutral and didn't belong to any faction also began to notice this seemingly honest country boy who often did surprising things.

Li Dong also keenly noticed that the Demon Suppression Headquarters was not a monolithic entity. Although He Tianzheng wielded immense power, he didn't control everything. For instance, the Old Executive in charge of the Wen Yuan Pavilion seemed to have no fondness for him. And a few instructors, when mentioning He Tianzheng, had a subtle, almost imperceptible hint of detachment in their tone.

“It seems the waters of this Demon Suppression Headquarters are deeper than I imagined.” That night, Li Dong lay in bed, pondering. His strength had increased, his authority was higher, and he had more clues, but danger also followed. He knew very well that the things he had looked up and the supplies he had exchanged would sooner or later attract the attention of those with ulterior motives. The closer he got to the truth of the "Soul-Devouring Demon Flower" and the "Forbidden Experiment," the more likely he was to touch the sensitive points of certain core powers in the Capital City.

“I can't just talk about it anymore.” Li Dong turned over. “I need to find a way to go and see those suspicious places with my own eyes.”

He remembered that the Headquarters regularly issued patrol missions to conduct routine inspections of certain areas around the Capital City to prevent the proliferation of Yao Beasts or other anomalies. This might be an opportunity.

The next day, Li Dong went to the mission assignment office.

“I'd like to apply for… a patrol mission,” Mu Feng said to the Executive in charge of registration, his tone carrying a hint of the shyness peculiar to country folk.

The Executive looked up at him: “A patrol mission? You're a newcomer, and your Cultivation is only at the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment. Those places aren't peaceful.”

“I… I want to get more experience,” Mu Feng insisted, “I'm not afraid of hardship.”

“Oh? Which area do you want to patrol?”

Li Dong already had a plan in mind and rattled off several place names, including "Black Wind Gulch." These locations were all filtered from the Wen Yuan Pavilion's data and the chip's hints, a mix of real and fake, solid and deceptive.

“Black Wind Gulch?” The Executive raised an eyebrow. “That place is desolate, but there are quite a few Yao Beasts. And a small team just went there a while ago, so there shouldn't be much to gain. Why are you interested in it?”

“I… I heard the scenery there is… special,” Mu Feng stammered for a long time before finally coming up with this sentence.

The Executive was amused by his reason: “Scenery? Alright, if you insist. But I warn you, if something really happens, the Headquarters won't be responsible for collecting your corpse.”

“I understand, I understand,” Mu Feng nodded repeatedly, but thought to himself, 'You won't be responsible for collecting my corpse; I'll have to collect others' corpses myself.'

Having received the patrol token for Black Wind Gulch and other places, Li Dong felt he was one step closer to the secrets hidden in the shadows. He just didn't know whether this step would lead him to opportunity or a deeper whirlpool.