24: Chapter 24 Ten Years

'Slap!'

The slap came hard and crisp, directly stunning Deputy Director Lv Haidong in his chair.

Deputy Director Lv Haidong covered his face, looked up dazedly, and stared at the furious Director before him, momentarily forgetting how to speak.

"Are you f***ing out of your mind?!"

"The Qiu Family has been wiped out, all of them died on Yunfeng Mountain, and all their combat power is gone!"

The director of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau is called Director Qin Siyuan. He is over fifty years old this year, and although he is slightly older than Deputy Director Lv Haidong, strictly speaking, the two have a relationship as fellow disciples.

They studied under the same master and learned the same lineage.

Although they were superior and subordinate, Director Qin Siyuan had never made things difficult for his junior fellow disciple over the years.

But this time, Director Qin Siyuan really could not tolerate it.

The Qiu Family is an ancient family of the Xia Kingdom and possesses a complete lineage. Ancient families like this have always been a key focus for the Xia Kingdom.

Currently, there are a total of twelve ancient families in the Xia Kingdom that truly possess complete lineages, and each one is a precious existence.

Their records hide that piece of unknown history, and their bloodlines may awaken the techniques of their ancestors.

But now, just because of his arrogance, Deputy Director Lv Haidong has buried the entire elite of the Qiu Family.

Having buried so many elites and talents, the loss caused by Deputy Director Lv Haidong is already immeasurable.

The Mysterious Investigation Bureau is certainly hard to absolve from blame. Although it was Deputy Director Lv Haidong who committed the offense, Director Qin Siyuan also bears inescapable responsibility. The main problem now is that Deputy Director Lv Haidong not only buried the Qiu Family's effective strength but also angered the great snake on Yunfeng Mountain that was about to undergo Flood Dragon Transformation.

If Deputy Director Lv Haidong had not provoked those matters, the Qiu Family would not have been destroyed, and after that great snake on Yunfeng Mountain underwent Flood Dragon Transformation, it would have become a solid and formidable asset for the Xia Kingdom.

That would have been the best outcome, but now, everything is ruined.

"I saw with my own eyes bullets passing through its back! With so many people from the Qiu Family, even if they just wore it out, they could have killed it! How could it be like this?!"

Only then did Deputy Director Lv Haidong realize that things had not developed as he had imagined.

The situation was now completely out of control.

Although the higher-ups had not spoken yet, he knew that Deputy Director Lv Haidong was completely finished this time. And he, as the director, would inevitably be implicated. What he needed to do now was find a way to distance himself.

...

...

The world is quietly changing.

More and more people have noticed signs of the resurgence of spiritual energy.

On social media platforms, discussions about the extraordinary, cultivation, and Rising Beings are increasing day by day; some are fanatical, some are panicked, and some scoff at it.

Until the president of that Western hegemonic nation personally made a series of evidence public, announcing that the world was heading toward a brand new and unknown realm.

Countries followed suit one after another, acknowledging this fact.

For a time, revelry swept across the globe.

Soaring into the sky and diving into the earth, extraordinary power—things that only appeared in movies and television—were finally about to become reality.

Countless people were filled with excitement, as if a brand new era was about to begin.

Then, reality gave them a harsh slap in the face.

Even in such a new era, the state apparatus remained an unshakable behemoth. Those who attempted to rise during the chaos and wanted to reshuffle the deck were ruthlessly suppressed and immediately became obedient.

The chaos quickly subsided.

Countries entered a strange period of silence.

There were no wars, no conflicts; even that eagle nation, which always liked to act as the world's policeman, quieted down and retreated into its own borders to focus on development.

It was a very subtle calm.

Like the tranquility before a storm.

However, peace was destined to be short-lived.

War and slaughter are the main themes of humanity.

After a mere three years of peace, war broke out again. This time, the scale and intensity of the war far exceeded the past.

The fundamental purpose of launching wars was nothing more than to plunder resources, and since the resurgence of spiritual energy, the Xia Kingdom, one of the largest countries on this planet, had also been coveted by many.

Especially after learning that the Xia Kingdom possessed many blessed lands and grotto-heavens, it naturally became a target for everyone.

Humans are always full of curiosity and a strong desire to explore unknown things. Another two years passed, and everyone had become accustomed to the changes in the world.

The Xia Kingdom fully incorporated the use of spiritual energy and cultivation into the education system, and the new generation of children began to sense heaven and earth spiritual energy from a young age.

Technology also saw a great explosion under the catalysis of spiritual energy, and many things that once only existed in science fiction movies gradually became reality.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and while the world changed drastically, Yunfeng Mountain seemed to have been forgotten by time.

It was still listed as a restricted area, and no one was allowed to enter. Even though the spiritual energy in the mountain was the most concentrated in the entire hundred-mile radius, no one dared to come here to build a dojo.

The person responsible for guarding this place was Gu Xiao, who had kept watch here for ten years.

Ten years of wind and sun had made his face look a bit older, and frost had added to his temples.

He had long since grown accustomed to the days of patrolling the foot of the mountain, occasionally looking up at the thick fog that never dispersed, wondering when the one at the summit would awaken.

On this day,

Gu Xiao had finished his patrol as usual and was about to go back to rest,

when suddenly,

a breeze blew from the summit. The wind was very light and gentle, yet it carried a certain indescribable aura. It passed through the dense forest, brushed against the mountain rocks, and carried an unspeakable rhythm.

Gu Xiao's footsteps paused, and he turned his head abruptly.

Fog, so thick it could not be dissolved, was diffusing down from the summit.

The fog grew thicker and closer, like a white tide, swallowing the mountainside in the blink of an eye.

Gu Xiao stood at the foot of the mountain and looked up, seeing something slowly emerging from the vast white sea of fog.

At first, it was just a silhouette.

The silhouette was astonishingly huge, coiled on top of the summit like another mountain. The fog swirled around it, sometimes obscuring it, sometimes revealing it, making it impossible to see its full appearance, only allowing one to vaguely sense that overwhelming pressure.

Then, the fog parted for an instant,

and Gu Xiao saw a silvery-white figure.

The figure was as thick as a mountain ridge, coiled on the summit, circle after circle, almost occupying the entire mountaintop.

The silvery-white scales flickered in and out of view in the fog, each the size of a washbasin, with faint golden patterns on the edges, like some kind of ancient rune.

Pale golden vertical pupils, separated by the dense fog covering the mountains and plains, penetrated dozens of miles of distance to stare at Gu Xiao.

It slowly raised its head, and that pair of golden horns emerged in the fog—short, yet containing a kind of heart-palpitating power. With its movement, the spiritual energy of the entire Yunfeng Mountain trembled, cheered, and surged toward it.

Gu Xiao's whole body stiffened, unable to move.

Li Xiuyuan's awakening was without warning, too sudden, so much so that Gu Xiao was completely unprepared mentally.

He was first overjoyed, happy that Li Xiuyuan had successfully undergone Flood Dragon Transformation, but immediately after, he thought of that tragic battle on Yunfeng Mountain ten years ago and wondered whether Li Xiuyuan's anger had truly subsided.

"Come here, I have something to ask you."

A voice rang out from the vast mountain forest, reaching Gu Xiao's ears.

An invisible pressure fell onto Gu Xiao's shoulders, as if a mountain had pressed down.

He took a deep breath, looked at the massive figure in the sea of fog, and then lifted his feet to walk into the mountain.

Behind him, the fog surged, swallowing the path he had come from.