136: Chapter 136 What Blinded My Eyes?

Gods.

A piece of information suddenly flashed through Chen You's mind.

"That broken map and emblem from last time," he asked, "you said it pointed to a forbidden existence cursed by the laws, something like an ancient god..."

"Does that thing... count as a god?"

Hill's expression changed again, but this time, her smile carried a trace of playfulness and inscrutability.

"When you truly stand before him, you will naturally know the answer."

She was starting to speak in riddles again.

Chen You pursed his lips; he already knew the answer to this kind of deliberate obfuscation.

He cut straight to the next important point: "Is there only a chance of dropping it? The chance..."

"Is it big?"

Hill's smile became flawless once more, and she spoke slowly in a tone like an incantation.

"The fall of a god is itself the most brilliant tragic song in the long river of time. As for whether a 'god core' can be born, that requires... fate."

Here we go again.

"Fate?"

Chen You raised an eyebrow, then asked in a tone that almost made Hill lose her composure again.

"Are there any items that can increase 'fate'?"

"Like an 'Intense Fate-Binding Incense' or a 'Guaranteed god core Lucky Ticket'?"

"How many gold coins per ticket? Is it limited?"

"..."

Hill's mouth twitched violently.

She felt her logic processor was about to crash because of the man in front of her.

Intense Fate-Binding Incense?

Guaranteed god core Lucky Ticket?

Why didn't he ask for a 'God Slaying Guaranteed Gacha Pool' while he was at it?!

Seeing that the elegant NPC lady was about to devolve from an epic guide into a bristling customer service agent, Chen You thought to himself: Serves you right for liking to act.

He had already obtained enough information and did not stay any longer.

With a thought, Chen You's figure in the lobby of the Supreme Tower became illusory and vanished.

Leaving behind only a bewildered and frustrated Hill, whose epic sense of atmosphere had nowhere to be expressed, standing there in disarray.

After a long while, she let out a long, long breath, muttering to herself in a voice only she could hear:

"Elegance, maintain elegance..."

...

The lights of the Qinling Command Center came into view.

Chen You stood up and stretched his neck.

Before he could even open his mouth to share the explosive news of 'god slaying' with Sun Feng and the others waiting nearby, Director Li Guoan, with a solemn expression, strode over.

"Come with me."

Director Li Guoan's tone was unquestionable; he even reached out directly, grabbing Chen You's arm and pulling him toward the exit of the command hall.

"Director Li, what happened?"

Chen You was startled; something that could make Director Li Guoan this rushed was definitely not a small matter.

"Good news, and also big news," Director Li Guoan said quickly, without looking back.

The two left the room, passed through the corridor, and arrived directly outdoors.

The afterglow of the setting sun was still casting its last sliver of light on the horizon.

On the platform outside the command room, the atmosphere was solemn.

More than a dozen young people dressed in standard training uniforms stood rigidly in two lines.

Their posture was straight as pines, their gazes sharp as eagles, possessing both the iron-blooded discipline of soldiers and the quiet temperament of scholars.

Seeing Director Li Guoan and Chen You enter, everyone snapped to attention with a 'swish,' their eyes converging uniformly on Chen You.

Filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and a trace of unconcealed excitement and reverence.

He was the creator of the 'Immortal Summer' guild, the first person in huaxia civilization to step into the extraordinary era, a living legend!

"These are the first batch of candidates for the dragon scale project."

Director Li Guoan let go of his hand, stood next to Chen You, and said in a low voice.

His gaze swept over those young and resolute faces, his eyes full of expectation.

"Physical fitness, political background, psychological evaluation, willpower... all indicators are top-notch."

"Most crucially, according to the preliminary cultivation technique test of Purple Heart Seven Scenes, they have all successfully sensed the existence of spiritual energy."

Director Li Guoan paused, turned his head, and looked at Chen You with an extremely serious gaze.

"However, instruments and data are ultimately cold. Only you are someone who has truly walked this path."

"Help me see if they are truly 'the right material.'"

The implication was that he wanted Chen You, the only 'Senior Disciple,' to examine these future 'Junior Disciples' for the nation.

To see if these future 'junior disciples' had any problems that the data detection missed.

Chen You instantly understood Director Li Guoan's meaning.

He nodded, walked two steps forward, and calmly swept his gaze over every single person.

These chosen prodigies were all exceptional individuals.

Under Chen You's gaze at this moment, they couldn't help but hold their breath, even feeling an inexplicable pressure.

Chen You didn't need to deliberately look; Spiritual Sight was already projecting everything onto his retina.

Inside the bodies of those dozen or so candidates, he clearly saw strands of spiritual energy points, thinner than a strand of hair, faint like fireflies.

Although this spiritual energy was negligible, it was undeniably real.

It flowed slowly through their meridians, proving that they had indeed taken the first step in sensing heaven and earth and drawing energy into their bodies.

The dragon scale project was a success.

Even Chen You couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

Just then, he suddenly remembered the skill he had previously acquired but never used even once.

Gazing at Qi to See the Heart.

Since he was going to look, he might as well look thoroughly.

With another thought from Chen You, the scene in his vision underwent a massive transformation once more.

If Spiritual Sight saw the 'energy' on a material level.

Then Gazing at Qi to See the Heart saw the more ethereal, yet essence-piercing 'aura.'

To be precise, it contained two different directions: Gazing at Qi and Seeing the Heart.

He saw that on Mu Xi, the soldier standing at the very front, rose a sharp, fierce, crimson aura, like a drawn sword.

He saw that on the scholar Lin Miao, there was a gentle, peaceful cyan aura.

The auras of the others were also varied; some were heavy like mountains, some agile like water, some scorching like fire...

Although their forms differed, their core revealed an upward-striving, pure quality.

It wasn't just people; everything in his vision seemed to be covered with a special color.

"Interesting..."

Chen You thought to himself.

This skill, it seemed, could indeed pierce through falsehood and reach the true heart.

In fact, this skill contained even grander auras, but Chen You hadn't understood them yet.

He subconsciously swept his gaze across the entire area, wanting to see what different auras different people possessed.

The guarding soldiers had the iron-blooded killing intent; the researchers had the brilliance of rationality...

However, when his gaze fell upon the materials expert Qian Zhonghua, his pupils instinctively contracted.

Above the head of Academician Qian Zhonghua, who was well past sixty but vigorous, lingered a visible, dead-gray aura, like years of accumulated dust.

Within that patch of dead gray, there were a few strands of black threads, thinner than hair, coiling like venomous snakes, exuding an ominous sense of ending.

What... what was this situation?

Chen You's heart clenched, and he abruptly blinked, turning off Gazing at Qi to See the Heart.

The Academician Qian Zhonghua before him was currently discussing something in a low voice with two Assistants, his complexion ruddy and his voice loud, showing no sign of abnormality at all.

A hallucination?

Chen You didn't believe it. With another thought, Gazing at Qi to See the Heart was activated!

The vision shifted, and that heart-palpitating, dead-gray aura still hovered above Qian Zhonghua's head, perhaps even slightly denser than before.

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Chen You's back.

He didn't know exactly what this represented.

But it was definitely not a good sign!