107: Chapter 107 The Mysterious Golden Light Deep in the Qinling Mountains: Is it for Childbirth or for the Birth of a Sect?

Bureau of Anomalous Affairs, Director's Office.

The smell of braised beef instant noodles wafted through the air.

Gu Changan had just stuck his fork into the paper lid of the instant noodle cup and hadn't even had time to press it down when Chen Xiaobei burst through the office door like a monkey with its tail on fire.

"Boss! Stop eating! Something huge happened! The satellite alarm is ringing so hard it's about to burn out the main server!"

Gu Changan frowned, pushed the noodle cup aside, and pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands. "What's the panic? If the sky falls, the air defense System will hold it up. Unless an alien fleet is riding right into our faces, catch your breath first."

Chen Xiaobei slammed a tablet down in front of Gu Changan, his finger trembling as he pointed at the high-resolution satellite cloud map on the screen.

"This is more ridiculous than aliens! Look at the core protection zone of the Qinling Mountains!"

The screen showed a comparison image.

On the left was an image from three days ago; the depths of the Qinling Mountains were lush and green, with rolling waves of emerald. On the right was a real-time capture from ten minutes ago; the originally dense primeval forest looked as if a chunk had been forcibly bitten off, leaving a bald patch.

A full thousand acres of greenery had vanished, replaced by an abrupt, grayish-white rock platform.

Even more absurdly, a vast complex of magnificent ancient buildings with upturned eaves and bracket sets had appeared out of thin air on this platform. They reflected sunlight so brightly it was blinding, and they even emitted a visible seven-colored halo.

"This is the heart of Taibai Mountain in the Qinling Mountains, a national-level nature reserve," Chen Xiaobei swallowed hard. "Even to build a public toilet, you'd need a permit from the provincial government. This thing... this scale is on par with the Forbidden City, isn't it?"

Gu Changan stared at the picture, his face instantly darkening, cooling faster than the instant noodles he hadn't gotten to eat.

"Has the Technical Division analyzed it?"

"They have. It's not an illusion; it's a physical object."

Chen Xiaobei pulled up another set of data. "The Bureau of Geology is going crazy. They detected a violent change in the terrain overnight. Three original mountain peaks were... were leveled."

Leveling three mountain peaks just to build houses?

Gu Changan gave a cold laugh, the kind born of extreme fury.

Meanwhile, deep in the Qinling Mountains.

On the plaza of that "Aotian Sect" which had appeared out of thin air, a young man dressed in flamboyant white robes with a longsword on his back stood on a high platform, laughing wildly at the sky.

"Hahahaha! Is this the Newbie Gift Pack from the Strongest Sect System? It's as powerful as expected!"

Xiao Aotian looked at the training ground beneath his feet, which had been forcibly transformed by the System, his heart filled with grand ambitions.

He was a Transmigrator. In his past life, he was a delivery driver, and he had just transmigrated yesterday and awakened the System.

The System told him that as long as he established a Sect and recruited many Disciples, he could obtain supreme cultivation and achieve Ascension in broad daylight.

For the location, he had taken a fancy to these mountains, which were rich in Spiritual Qi.

As for trees or protected animals, in the eyes of this future Immortal Venerable, they were all just weeds and ants.

"System, this Mountain-Guarding Array is quite good, though the commotion from leveling the peaks with local materials was a bit loud."

Xiao Aotian stood with his hands behind his back, looking like a total poser. "But it doesn't matter. Now that I have arrived, this world must submit to my feet."

In a corner of the plaza, over a dozen people were kneeling, shivering.

They were wearing windbreakers and carrying hiking backpacks, clearly a group of hikers who had entered the mountains for a trek.

At this moment, their faces were bruised and swollen as they looked at the man in ancient costume on the platform, who seemed like a lunatic, their eyes filled with terror.

"Stop crying!" Xiao Aotian heard the sobbing below and impatiently flicked his sleeve. A blast of Qi hit the ground, exploding into a pit.

"Being able to become the founding Disciples of my Aotian Sect is a blessing you've earned over eight lifetimes! In the cultivation world, countless people would beg me on their knees for this opportunity!"

"Big brother... no, Great Immortal, we still have to go to work..." A programmer wearing glasses raised his hand while trembling. "I have a project going live tomorrow. If I don't go back, I'll be fired..."

"Work?" Xiao Aotian looked as if he had heard the world's biggest joke, his face full of disdain.

"Mortal fools, your heads are filled with such petty, mundane things. From today on, your lives belong to me! Whoever dares mention leaving the mountain, I will let them taste the pain of ten thousand swords piercing the heart!"

After saying that, he pointed casually.

In the distance, a thousand-year-old tree that would take three people to encircle snapped with a "crack," severed by invisible Sword Qi, and came crashing down.

The hikers huddled together in fear, their screams echoing through the valley.

Xiao Aotian was very satisfied with this feeling of holding the power of life and death.

This was power! This was the absolute suppression of a Cultivator over a Mortal!

Bureau of Anomalous Affairs.

The red phone on Gu Changan's desk had already rung for the fifth time.

"Director Gu! It's Old Zhang from the Forestry Bureau! Are you guys going to handle this or not?! Those are yews and dove trees! That whole area is full of national first-class protected plants! My heart is bleeding!"

"Director Gu! The System alarms at the Land Bureau are about to explode! Illegal occupation of farmland and forest land exceeding a thousand acres—this guy is going to rot in prison!"

Gu Changan hung up the phone, his face devoid of any expression, except for his eyes, which were as cold as if he were looking at a dead man.

He methodically buttoned his uniform collar and took the law enforcement recorder from the desk to clip it to his chest.

"Xiaobei."

"Present!"

"Notify the action team; everyone mobilizes." Gu Changan picked up the thick copies of the 'Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China' and the 'Forest Law' and stuffed them into his briefcase. "Bring the surveying drones and the engineering demolition team."

"Demolition team?" Chen Xiaobei was stunned for a moment.

"Those are illegal structures." Gu Changan straightened his cuffs. "Since there's no planning permit, we follow the procedure for illegal construction. Demolish them."

Five minutes later, the rotors of three black-painted helicopters roared as they took off from the base, soaring like three giant black eagles toward the heart of the Qinling Mountains.

On the helicopter, Gu Changan looked down at the rolling mountain ranges until that shocking bald patch appeared in his field of vision.

The pristine primeval forest looked as if a piece of flesh had been forcibly gouged out, revealing grayish-white bone. And upon that wound, that magnificent palace appeared so ironic and ugly.

"Director, a large number of life reactions have been detected in the target area. Besides that high-energy reaction source, there are over a dozen ordinary people, suspected to be detained tourists," the pilot reported.

Gu Changan turned on the loudspeaker switch for the cabin door.

At this moment, Xiao Aotian was "lecturing" the hikers, forcing them to memorize the Sect rules.

Suddenly, a massive roar came from overhead, and a wild wind kicked up sand and stones from the ground, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.

"What is that?" Xiao Aotian frowned and looked up.

He saw several giant steel monster birds hovering in mid-air. The immense wind pressure made his flowing white robes flap wildly, and his hairstyle instantly turned into a messy bird's nest.

Immediately after, a majestic and icy voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, echoed throughout the valley.

"Attention to the illegal construction unit below! You are suspected of seriously violating the 'Regulations on Nature Reserves' and the 'Land Administration Law'!"

"Cease all illegal activities immediately! Everyone, put your hands on your heads and squat down! Submit to inspection!"