123: Chapter 123 Return, Breaking Limits!

Su Wan stood before that row of metal cages, her fingers gripping the hilt of her sword tighter and tighter.

Several villagers were still locked inside the cages.

One middle-aged woman's face was already half-mutated, the corner of her mouth torn, teeth protruding, and a low, whimpering sound constantly coming from her throat.

She still had a glimmer of consciousness in her eyes, tears streaming down her blackened skin, while her body twitched uncontrollably.

Beside her, an old man gripped the iron bars with both hands, his fingernails having already turned into claws, making the metal bars creak as he clawed at them.

Su Wan looked at them, and the fire in her chest began to flare up.

Without the tacit approval of those people, how could these projects have existed for so long in such a large place within the territory?

Even as rampant as the Black Seed were, they still needed resources, channels, and cover...

Baijin Mountain had been hidden for so long; the surrounding patrols, local records, abnormal population reports, pharmaceutical shipments... every single one should have left a trace.

Yet, it had always existed here.

It wasn't until Lu Cheng and his group stumbled in that the source of the problem was finally exposed...

Zhou Lize was already dead...

But Zhou Lize's death only meant that there was one less black hand pushing things from that location.

In the deeper reaches, many others were still alive.

They hid within the rules, hid within the order, hid in places ordinary people couldn't see, continuing to treat people as materials and cities as pastures.

Su Wan's knuckles turned white.

Her own leveling speed was still too slow.

The Source Gathering Realm was already much faster than in her previous life, but placed in front of that group of people, it was still not enough.

She had to grow up before they noticed.

Grow up until she could drag them all out and hack them to pieces, sword strike by sword strike.

"Su Wan."

Lu Cheng's voice came from the side.

Su Wan snapped out of it and looked at him.

Lu Cheng was crouching in front of an experimental terminal, holding the memory chip he had just removed, his face looking grim.

"Don't touch the cages yet."

He said: "The pharmaceutical reactions in these people haven't stabilized yet; opening them randomly might cause trouble. Wait for reinforcements to bring professional equipment."

Su Wan nodded, her voice sounding a bit cold.

"Mm."

Ning Wei looked down at the corpses of the Black Seed members on the ground, her eyes also very heavy.

"They deserve to die."

Lu Cheng put the chip into a storage bag and took photos to back up the black leather manual and several experimental records.

He looked up at the depths of the mine.

"We'll hold this place and wait for people to arrive."

The few of them didn't speak again.

In the mine, only the low hum of equipment and the suppressed gasps of the contaminated villagers remained.

Time ticked by second by second.

About twenty minutes later, the roar of an aircraft came from outside.

Immediately after, the sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed from the direction of the mine entrance.

Lu Cheng raised his hand instantly.

"Don't relax."

Le Jinghe immediately raised his muzzle, Ning Wei also sidestepped into the shadows, and Su Wan's sword blade slid slightly out of its sheath, cold air spreading along the ground.

Soon, a squad of fully armed soldiers rushed into the mine.

Leading them was a man in his thirties, wearing the standard combat uniform of North District 3, with silver markings on his epaulets and a steady, heavy aura.

Hua Hai Realm.

As soon as the man entered, his gaze swept over the corpses all over the floor, the cages, the experimental beds, and the restrained Wei Heng, and his face darkened on the spot.

"North District 3 Special Operations Team 3, Captain Han Su."

He looked at Lu Cheng and the others.

Lu Cheng didn't respond immediately.

He raised his terminal, his gaze fixed on the other party.

"Code."

Han Su paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Green Mountains do not close."

Lu Cheng replied: "White mist has no gate."

Han Su reported the second set of temporary identification codes, which matched perfectly with the ones popping up on the academy terminal.

Only then did Lu Cheng lower his hand.

"Confirmed."

He handed over the storage bag.

"The on-site data, chips, experimental records, and some corpses of the Black Seed members are all here. Wei Heng is still alive, semi-beastified, the one fixed on that bed. The villagers are severely contaminated; the ones in the cages still have consciousness, so we didn't dare unlock them."

Han Su took the data and looked deeply at Lu Cheng.

"You did very well."

His voice was deep.

"From discovering the anomaly, to evacuating the masses, to locking down the stronghold, killing the peripheral members, and preserving the on-site evidence... very standard."

"The situation level will be reassessed this time; for you students to be able to achieve this much is already far beyond the mission requirements."

After saying that, his tone shifted.

"Leave the rest to us. The pollution samples, the interrogation of the involved personnel, the investigation of local links—all of this must be reported to the North District 3 Command. You are to evacuate now."

Lu Cheng frowned.

"Can't we stay and assist with the investigation?"

Han Su shook his head.

"The remaining content involves the internal lines of the Black Seed, local regulatory loopholes, and special pollution sources. Students do not have sufficient clearance."

He said it very directly.

"You have already performed meritorious service; don't continue to get dragged into this."

Lu Cheng looked at Su Wan and the other two; the three of them exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

Lu Cheng quickly handed over the situation on the scene again.

Han Su's subordinates began to take over the mine.

Outside Baijin Mountain, more troops from North District 3 had already blocked the roads.

The village had also been isolated.

When Lu Cheng and the others were arranged to board the return aircraft, Han Su personally saw them to the entrance.

"I will specifically mention your team in the report."

He said: "Especially you, Lu Cheng. Decisive judgment, strong operational capability, no obvious mistakes in on-site handling."

Lu Cheng looked back at the depths and said: "I only hope that all of this can have a result..."

...

The aircraft ascended, and Baijin Mountain shrank bit by bit outside the porthole.

After returning to the academy, the mission settlement came very quickly.

That same evening, Avril's projection popped up.

The pink-haired girl floated on the light screen with a standard professional smile on her face.

"Ding! The Baijin Mountain mission has been re-evaluated."

"Original mission rating: Selection C-level."

"Adjusted rating: Selection S-level."

"Participating personnel: Lu Cheng, Su Wan, Le Jinghe, Ning Wei."

"Points settlement: Lu Cheng seventy points, Su Wan fifty points, Le Jinghe fifty points, Ning Wei fifty points."

Le Jinghe immediately sent a string of exclamation marks in the group chat.

[Le Jinghe: Holy crap! Fifty points! I'm taking off!]

[Ning Wei: Mm.]

[Le Jinghe: Ning Wei, your reaction is too calm! This is fifty points!]

[Ning Wei: I saw it.]

[Le Jinghe: ...]

Such high-difficulty missions were usually only tackled by strong student teams in the later stages of the selection.

There hadn't been many students in previous selections who completed a Selection S-level mission right after enrollment.

The next day, the academy mission board and the freshman points leaderboard were updated simultaneously.

Lu Cheng's name remained at the top.

The names Le Jinghe and Ning Wei also suddenly entered many people's field of vision.

Especially Le Jinghe.

The Mechanical Institute exploded.

"Who is this guy? Just started school and got into a Selection S-level mission?"

"Lu Cheng's teammate? Then it's fine."

"Awesome, someone from the Mechanical Institute finally made it to the leaderboard!"

In the following days, Lu Cheng's life became monotonous again.

Attending classes, training, getting guidance from Shen Guhong, accompanying Xia Xi and Qian Shuying for training...

Occasionally taking on small missions to rack up points.

After these small missions and training, his points rose all the way to 330.

The seventy points from Baijin Mountain were equivalent to several ordinary missions.

On the freshman leaderboard, President Ji Guyan remained second in the entire school. Unlike Lu Cheng, President Ji Guyan completed various missions almost every day, but even so, his points were only 210 so far.

However, what was even more outrageous was that every time he went on a mission these past few days, he happened to run into Su Wan.

And every time, Su Wan brought a bento made with love...

These past few days, Hextech was refreshed twice, but they were both green Hextech. [Equipment Treasure Bag I] gave a pair of shoes he hadn't chosen before:

[S-level: Thunder Step Boots: Crafted from Wind-Running Beast tendons and thunder-patterned silver gold. Actively triggering the boots grants two effects: can accelerate instantly, dashing like a lightning flash over short distances, and the next kick attack carries the power of a thousand thunderbolts.]

[Emergency Armor: When teammates have no armor, slightly increases their defense and health status.]

As his Qi and blood continued to rise, new problems began to appear in Lu Cheng's body.

His physical strength couldn't quite keep up.

When he usually threw punches, exploded, or compressed his Qi and blood, he could feel significant pressure on his skin, tendons, and bones.

In the training room, Lu Cheng had just finished a round of explosive testing, and a deep fist print appeared on the alloy target.

Shen Guhong stood by the side, listening to the data screen, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"Stop."

Lu Cheng withdrew his fist and shook his wrist.

"What's wrong?"

Shen Guhong didn't answer immediately; he walked to his side, reached out to press his shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and had him circulate his Qi and blood for a cycle.

A few seconds later, Shen Guhong looked up.

"How much has your Qi and blood reached now?"

Lu Cheng thought about it.

He hadn't reported this value too precisely.

But since Shen Guhong had already seen it, there was no point in hiding it anymore.

"It has compressed and broken through five points."

The training room went quiet for a moment.

Shen Guhong stared at him, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"You really are a monster."

He walked half a circle around Lu Cheng, his eyes rarely showing a hint of complexity.

"Your biggest problem right now is obvious: your Qi and blood are rising too fast, and your physical body can't keep up. You need to continue polishing your skin, tendons, bones, and internal organs; just follow the way you cultivated at the very beginning and grind through the foundation all over again."

Lu Cheng nodded, "Understood."

Shen Guhong asked again: "How much are you planning to compress before breaking through?"

Lu Cheng answered very straightforwardly.

"Ten points."

Shen Guhong's fingers paused.

He looked at Lu Cheng with an even stranger expression.

"Ten-point compressed Qi and blood... you really dare to think that."

Lu Cheng smiled.

"Since I've trained this far, I have to test where the limit is."

Shen Guhong was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded.

"Fine. Everyone has their own choices, and you have the ability; if you want to walk this path, I won't stop you. Don't spend your credits randomly; exchange them all for body-refining potions, strengthening medicinal baths, periosteum nutrient solutions, and internal organ repair agents—don't skimp on any of them."

"The thicker your Qi and blood, the greater the backlash when you break through."

"Your physical foundation is very strong now, but at the ten-point threshold, the pressure will be incredibly exaggerated."

Lu Cheng noted it down.

That same day, he went to the resource department and exchanged all the credits he had for body-refining potions.

In the next few days, Lu Cheng's training volume was maxed out again.

Classes during the day.

Missions in the afternoon.

Medicinal baths and physical tempering at night.

The Hundred Rivers Returning to Body Breathing Technique was also pushed to the Origin level by him.

[Hundred Rivers Returning to Body Breathing Technique · Origin]: Can turn the entire body's flesh, blood, tendons, and bones into tributaries of Qi and blood; normally disperses Qi and blood to stabilize the source core, and in battle, it can converge all rivers into one, instantly gathering all the body's Qi and blood to unleash a strike far exceeding the norm.

A few days later, Lu Cheng's Qi and blood value steadily increased to 9.84.

In the energy room, Lu Cheng panted heavily; at this value, even an A-level Origin breathing technique was hard to push any higher.

This last step could only rely on Heartsteel...

The next day, the Heartsteel bonus refreshed.

The familiar system prompt rang in his mind.

[Heartsteel effect triggered.]

[Obtained Qi and blood bonus: 40 points.]

On the panel, that row of numbers jumped violently.

[Qi and blood: 100 × 10.24]

Boom!

Lu Cheng's body shook violently.

A terrifying pressure exploded from within his body, and his flesh, bones, and internal organs trembled dully at the same time.

The Qi and blood were too thick, so thick that every inch of his body felt a bursting sensation.

Lu Cheng braced his hands on the ground, his fingertips digging directly into the gaps of the alloy floor, and the veins on his forehead bulged one by one.

Inside his body, the Hundred Rivers Returning to Body Breathing Technique was running crazily.

Countless tributaries of Qi and blood surged, pressing toward every inch of flesh, blood, tendons, and bones in his body.

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth, and a low grunt squeezed out of his throat.

"Holy crap, it hurts!"