43: Chapter 43 Departure! Guancheng!

However, the bus to Guancheng was already parked at the entrance of the Orphanage, and Zhou Sanlang was sitting in the driver's seat, honking the horn to urge Chen Mo.

"Forget it, I'll deal with it when I get there."

Chen Mo shook his head, stopped overthinking it, grabbed his schoolbag, and walked into the small courtyard of the Orphanage.

He saw that Director Gu Sanding and all the children from the Orphanage were waiting for him in the courtyard.

"What… are you all doing?"

Chen Mo was a bit confused; he was just going to Guancheng, was such a big scene necessary?

"Xiao Mo."

Director Gu Sanding stepped forward and stood on tiptoe to straighten his clothes.

"Good luck. Xueni, the younger ones, and I will be waiting at home for your good news."

"Don't worry about us. Director Zhou has already submitted the report about our Orphanage, and this year's funding has been increased to 600,000. Things will be better from now on!"

Chen Mo opened his mouth to say something, but looking at the hopeful gazes of Director Gu Sanding and the children, he ultimately just smiled.

There was no need for him to get emotional now; he just needed to make everyone believe that he could take first place!

"Rest assured, the first place in the Provincial Joint Examination will definitely be mine."

"I am also determined to get into the National Martial Arts University."

"Xueni!"

Chen Mo waved at Xueni, who was beside Director Gu Sanding, and the little girl immediately trotted over to Chen Mo.

"Remember to buy a better TV later so you can watch Brother Mo's performance with everyone."

Chen Mo affectionately ruffled Xueni's hair, and the little girl nodded with a silly grin.

"Also, remember to give Wangcai some meat. The little puppy has been with us for over half a year, and he hasn't even chewed a single bone."

Listening to Chen Mo's nagging instructions, the smile on Xueni's face grew even brighter.

No matter how strong he became or what level his power reached, he would always be her Brother Mo.

The superman she could always rely on, the one who could support the entire Orphanage!

"Alright, that's all. The secret stash Brother Mo left for you should still have quite a bit of money left. Later, I'll have Director Zhou and Principal Liu deposit the prize money into that card as well."

"Keep this money safe; it will be the capital for you and the younger ones to embark on the path of martial arts in the future."

After saying this, Chen Mo shouldered his small backpack and boarded the bus without looking back.

"Chen Mo, are you sure about leaving all that money to the Orphanage?"

On the bus, Zhou Sanlang frowned. The money allocated by the city government to the Orphanage was enough for their expenses; there was no real need for Chen Mo to do this.

"You should know that martial arts cultivation is incredibly expensive, especially for you Talent-based Martial Artists, who need Talent Planners to map out how to maximize your talents."

"Just this alone costs more than a million; it's at least in the tens of millions."

"I am well aware of that."

Chen Mo nodded. Just the First-Grade Martial Artist blood qi pills he had consumed during this period cost at least hundreds of thousands, not to mention the consumption as his realm increased in the future.

But so what?

"Well, I won't try to persuade you otherwise then. If you run into any difficulties, contact me, and Luo City will find a way to help you resolve them."

Seeing this, Zhou Sanlang stopped trying to dissuade him, closed the bus door, and the bus began to slowly start.

Looking at the children waving at him outside the window, Chen Mo's desire to become stronger grew even more intense.

However, not long after the bus drove away, several extremely faint cracks appeared on the originally smooth road surface.

Within the cracks, a nearly imperceptible light flickered.

"Chen Mo, did you know that Cheng Men and Zhao Zihao didn't come?"

When the bus drove out of the urban area of Luo City and onto the highway, Wang Jun leaned over to Chen Mo and asked.

"Hmm?"

"They didn't come?"

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment and suddenly turned his head to look back.

He saw that the bus was basically filled with old acquaintances.

Excluding Wang Jun beside him, Xie Jing, whom he had met before, Zhuo Jida, Su Qingyue, and those powerful Ascetic Martial Artists—they were all present without exception.

Cheng Men and Zhao Zihao had given up the opportunity to participate in the Provincial Joint Examination, so their vacancies were naturally filled by the next in line.

"Yeah, I heard they went directly to the Henan Province Military Department."

Wang Jun was quite well-informed, completely different from Chen Mo, who was almost in a primitive state.

"That's fine. The paths are different, but the goal is the same."

Chen Mo didn't think much of it, nodded, and leaned back in his seat to look at the scenery outside the window.

Luo City is not very far from Guancheng; it's a journey of a little over an hour, less than two hours.

"Everyone, please take out your ID cards and Martial Artist certificates; we need to perform an inspection on you all!"

A police officer who looked upright and awe-inspiring boarded the bus, holding a glowing circular crystal in his hand.

Except for Chen Mo, the others were used to this situation and naturally took out their documents.

Chen Mo didn't think too much about it and also took out his documents to wait for the inspection.

Three people followed behind the police officer, each of them surging with very powerful blood qi.

The inspection process was very simple: check the documents, then place a hand on the circular crystal; it would be over once it flashed with white light.

"Thank you all for your cooperation. You may now enter Guancheng."

After confirming there were no issues, the lead police officer nodded, signaling that the bus could pass through the checkpoint.

"What is this checking for?"

Chen Mo was a bit puzzled; he didn't seem to have ever encountered such an inspection within Luo City.

"You don't know?"

Chen Mo's question left Wang Jun stunned, and he looked at Chen Mo with a puzzled expression.

"Right, you've never left Luo City, so naturally you wouldn't know what this is about."

Wang Jun slapped his forehead. He had forgotten that Chen Mo had grown up in the Orphanage and had absolutely no exposure to these things.

"You should know that there are not only Abyss Beasts in the Abyssal Rift, but also the Abyssal Race."

"The Abyssal Race, just like us, possesses unique talents, except they can share some low-level talents within their race."

"One of the talents is called Disguise, which allows them to transform into humans from the inside out."

"Previously, there was an incident in Guancheng where the Abyssal Race infiltrated, which caused quite significant casualties at the time."

"Since that time, anyone who wants to enter Guancheng from the outside must undergo an inspection."

"Also, see the crystal ball in the police officer's hand?"

Wang Jun pointed to the crystal ball in the police officer's hand outside the bus.

"That is the talent of a Sixth-Grade Steel Blood Realm Martial Artist from our Great Xia, which can distinguish whether the person touching it is human or from the Abyssal Race."

"Now, almost every city entrance has set up such a checkpoint; the higher-ups don't want a tragedy like the one in Guancheng to happen again."

After listening to Wang Jun's explanation, Chen Mo finally understood.

"By the way, you're already a First-Grade Martial Artist now, why are you still using this old-timer phone?"

"I remember that you were using an old-model smartphone in the Abyssal Rift before, weren't you?"

Wang Jun was a bit puzzled. Nowadays, people who are without a phone are almost self-isolated, yet Chen Mo could actually endure such a life.

"It broke, and I haven't had time to replace it."

"Once I get to Guancheng this time, I plan to buy a new phone, and I won't need this old-timer phone anymore."

Chen Mo smiled. He didn't really care about these things, but smartphones certainly offered many more channels for obtaining information.

Ever since he transmigrated, he had been burying himself in training and basically hadn't really understood this world.

If he hadn't just passed the inspection, he might have been arrested as an Abyssal Race spy right now.