25: Promotion task
Early morning.
The first ray of dawn light pierced through the gap in the curtains, casting a long, narrow beam of light onto the floor.
Chen Nian exhaled a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within his eyes, a flash of brilliance flickered and vanished.
His night of Cultivation had ended.
He could clearly perceive that the spiritual energy surging through his Meridians was no longer the trickle of yesterday.
It was now a rushing, ceaseless river.
A sense of power overflowed from every corner of his body, filling his limbs and bones.
He clenched his fist, and his knuckles emitted a series of crisp cracking sounds; the air seemed to have been crushed by this gentle squeeze.
He summoned the System panel in his mind.
A semi-transparent panel immediately popped up.
γ demon slaying and evil eradication system γ
γ host: Chen Nian γ
γ Realm: Awakening Realm (Rank 50) γ
γ Physique: Prison Suppressing Divine Body (Rank 18) γ
γ Skills: Mountain-Collapsing Fist (Rank 10), Myriad Things Yuan Absorption Art (Rank 1), Heart-Devouring Demon Silk (Rank 2) γ
γ points: 71 γ
The data on the System panel clearly reflected the results of his night's work.
He had increased his Realm by two whole levels.
Although he lacked the support of a top-grade qi condensing pill, his leveling speed was indeed a little slower.
But this "slow" was relative.
Before, it was three levels a night.
Now, it was two levels a night.
If this speed were to get out, it would be enough to make those so-called Geniuses at the Spiritual Energy Bureau doubt their own lives.
It seemed that his terrifying Cultivation speed was mainly thanks to the γ Myriad Things Yuan Absorption Art γ.
The Medicinal Pill was just the icing on the cake.
However, Chen Nian did not dwell too much on this issue.
A new day had begun.
He needed to accept new missions, hunt more Demonic Evils, and obtain more points.
This was the foundation of him becoming stronger.
He casually swiped open the operation interface of his Spiritual Energy Bureau terminal, preparing to scout for a suitable target in the mission list.
However, before he could even click into the mission hall,
a prompt with an official mark popped up first.
γ Notification: You have a new Breakthrough mission; please handle it in a timely manner. γ
Chen Nian raised an eyebrow slightly.
Breakthrough mission?
He had previously learned about this mechanism in the Spiritual Energy Bureau's internal database.
For every Rank of Special Agent, to promote to a higher Rank, one must complete a Breakthrough mission personally assigned by the Spiritual Energy Bureau.
This was both an assessment and a test.
Through the mission, the Special Agent's comprehensive strength, adaptability, and psychological quality would all be fully evaluated.
If completed, one could smoothly promote.
If failed, one would have to return home, continue to settle at their original Rank, and wait for the next assessment opportunity.
But the problem was that there were prerequisites for accepting a Breakthrough mission.
According to the regulations, a Special Agent must independently complete at least ten missions of their current Rank and receive an evaluation of "Excellent" or above in the mission assessments to be eligible to apply for promotion.
But what about him?
At most, he had only completed one official First-Level Agent mission.
Even counting the emergency mobilization he participated in yesterday, that was only two.
He could promote now?
He had studied the Spiritual Energy Bureau's rules and regulations, and this didn't seem to comply with them.
The most outrageous thing was that this mission was actually a Breakthrough mission for a Level Three Agent.
Level Three?
But he was clearly a First-Level Agent; the normal promotion route should be to first become a Second-Level Special Agent, and then promote to a Level Three Agent.
This mission was actually asking him to skip Second-Level and promote directly to Level Three.
This was even more against the rules.
However, he didn't care too much about these trivial matters.
If there was a mission, he would accept it.
If there were Demonic Evils, he would kill them.
As long as it could make him stronger, what were the rules?
Were they edible?
Once promoted to a Level Three Agent, the difficulty of the missions he could accept would increase significantly, and the Demonic Evils he encountered would naturally be more powerful.
By then, the points he obtained would be several, or even dozens of times, what they were now.
For him, this only had advantages and no disadvantages.
As for whether there were any special arrangements behind this, he couldn't be bothered to think about it.
Since the Spiritual Energy Bureau dared to assign it, he dared to accept it.
It just so happened he didn't know what mission to choose, and now it saved him the trouble of choosing.
He extended his finger and opened the detailed mission brief.
On the pale blue light screen, lines of cold text appeared.
γ Mission ID: B-743 γ
γ Mission Rank: Level Three Breakthrough γ
γ Mission Background: In the past week, 8 civilians have gone missing after entering the abandoned mental hospital in the northern part of the city, and 3 Second-Level Special Agents who went to investigate have lost contact. The final image data transmitted back shows the existence of abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations within the hospital. γ
γ Mission Objectives: 1. Investigate the abnormalities occurring within the mental hospital. 2. Confirm and handle the source of the extraordinary power causing the disappearances. 3. Search for the whereabouts of the missing persons as much as possible. γ
γ Mission Rewards: 30 contribution points, 50,000 Dragon Country currency, and qualification for promotion to Level Three Agent. γ
Looking at the content on the mission brief, the corners of Chen Nian's mouth curled up slightly.
Interesting.
He was very clear about the division of duties for different Ranks of Special Agents within the Spiritual Energy Bureau.
First-Level Agents mostly did investigation, logistics, and auxiliary work, rarely facing true combat.
Second-Level Special Agents would begin to directly handle some Demonic Evils that were not too strong and were the true frontline combat personnel of the Spiritual Energy Bureau.
And for agents at Level Three and above, what they had to face was exactly this kind of situation.
Situations where the circumstances were unclear, the consequences were serious, and it had even caused vicious incidents involving Special Agent casualties.
According to the information in the mission brief, those three Special Agents were, in all likelihood, in grave danger.
To be able to make three Spiritual Energy Bureau Special Agents vanish into thin air without even being able to send out a distress signal, the extraordinary power hidden behind this was definitely not simple.
If it were any normal First-Level Agent, seeing such a mission description, they would probably be too scared to accept the mission.
But Chen Nian did not; instead, his blood showed signs of heating up a little.
"I wonder how many points the thing behind this is worth?"
He muttered to himself, and deep in his eyes was undisguised anticipation and heat.
Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Nian exited the mission interface.
He quickly got up, finished washing, ate breakfast, and then headed straight for the target location.
...
...
An hour later.
Chen Nian stood in front of a dilapidated, abandoned mental hospital.
Before his eyes was a corner forgotten by the city.
This abandoned mental hospital was located on the edge of the city and was once the largest psychiatric treatment institution in Donghai City, later abandoned due to a bizarre fire.
It is said that the fire burned nearly a hundred patients and medical staff to death, and since then it had become a famous "haunted house," which even homeless people dared not approach easily.
The main building here was five stories high, its outer walls covered with withered vines, and most of its windows were broken, like hollow eyes.
Chen Nian took a deep breath.
Even from a distance, he could feel the cold, sinister aura emanating from inside the building.
That was not ordinary cold, but a chill that seeped into the marrow, carrying an evil connotation.
Under the blessing of the Rank 18 Prison Suppressing Divine Body, Chen Nian's perception had become a hundred times sharper.
He could clearly "see" the resentment and evil energy, so dense it had almost materialized, like black fog, shrouding this abandoned mental hospital.
This place had clearly already become a lair for Demonic Evils and Ghostly Creatures.
And those three missing Second-Level Special Agents had, in all likelihood, already become nourishment for this lair.
"It seems I've found the right place."
Chen Nian sneered and strode towards the abandoned mental hospital.
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