Chapter 286: Mouse, Come Out

Hui Ya hasn't carried out a mission in a long time.

The last time was when four administrators jointly activated him, seven years ago.

A black‑market smuggler obtained half of a fifth‑tier crystal core's central array, attempting to reverse‑engineer a conglomerate's spiritual‑Qi compression patent.

That mission took eleven minutes from locking onto the target to confirming the kill.

For seven years he has remained in an isolated cabin on the seventh underground level of Upper City, his body immersed in temperature‑controlled nutrient fluid, while a sixth‑tier crystal core sustains his meridians at minimal power consumption.

When the activation command arrived, Hui Ya's first reaction was not excitement but confusion.

Four administrators jointly signed?

Just for a new gang in the underground black market?

He pulled up the mission brief and scanned it line by line.

Natural spirit stone.

Old‑era cultivation system.

Unknown energy cycle.

Hui Ya's confusion vanished.

In its place came a professional vigilance.

He opened his eyes in the nutrient fluid, his gray‑green tactical ocular implant snapping into focus, encompassing every screw in the cabin within its view.

Three minutes later, Hui Ya completed a self‑check of his full-body armament.

He did not take the main entrance.

All official passages from Upper City to the slums are equipped with identity‑verification systems; an internal security officer's movements must leave no record.

Hui Ya tunneled straight through a disused sewage pipe from the seventh underground level, slipping silently along the rusted, acid‑corroded walls into the slums' drainage system.

Twenty minutes later, he emerged on the outskirts of the underground black market.

Hui Ya changed into a tattered waterproof coat, exposing a crudely crafted second‑tier prosthetic on his left arm—a standard part of his disguise.

In the slums, those without prosthetics stand out more than those with them.

The black market's layout has changed.

Previously the area was teeming with gangs; every thirty steps you could see a different gang's graffiti on the walls.

The Iron Blood Society's Iron Fist Totem, the Poison Python Gang's serpentine pattern, and the Wild Wolf Gang's fang emblem have all been replaced by a single simple symbol.

A sword, planted on a mountain.

Ancient Immortal Sect.

Hui Ya made a circuit through the black market.

The changes go beyond the symbols.

Formerly the black market's rule was each gang self‑governing, reapers ran rampant, and the lower‑class had to hug the walls just to walk.

Now the streets are much cleaner; at least no one is slashing people in public.

A few patrol squads in matching gray vests paced the passage, stun batons strapped to their waists, but none drew them to swing.

Interesting.

Hui Ya slipped among a group of scavengers, following them deeper into the black market.

After two bends, he spotted a makeshift shed.

A long queue stretched before the shed, filled with rag‑clad paupers.

At the end of the line, a burly man equipped with a third‑tier prosthetic was handing out something.

Hui Ya slipped into the line, perking up his ears.

"Next! Extend your hand," the burly man's voice rasped.

Ahead of Hui Ya stood a frail middle‑aged woman, a rust‑stained metal rod serving as a prosthetic where her left leg had been amputated. She trembled as she extended her hand.

The burly man placed a gray pill the size of a fingernail into her palm.

"Take it, and tonight find a quiet spot to sit cross‑legged and circulate Qi along the route drawn on this paper."

The burly man handed over a folded thin sheet,

"Remember, this costs nothing, but don't try to sell it. Selling is useless; the pill will turn to ash three double‑hours after leaving the body."

The woman took the pill, her face full of suspicion.

"Is… is this really free?"

"The head of the Ancient Immortal Sect said that heavenly and earthly spiritual Qi belongs to everyone and should not be monopolized by anyone."

The burly man mechanically repeated the line, his tone as if he had said it hundreds of times.

Hui Ya's tactical ocular implant magnified the image of the gray pill while activating its built‑in micro‑analysis module.

Data streamed rapidly across his visual field.

His complexion changed.

The purity of the spiritual Qi contained in the pill far exceeds that of a third‑tier crystal core.

It is even cleaner than some fourth‑tier crystal cores he has seen.

Moreover, it shows no sign of artificial compression—clean to an absurd degree.

Hui Ya quietly slipped out of the line.

He needs more information.

Following the main passage deeper into the black market, Hui Ya soon located the core base of the Ancient Immortal Sect.

The abandoned air‑raid shelter.

Four guards stood at the shelter's entrance, all equipped with third‑tier prosthetics.

Hui Ya glanced and judged the four men's combat proficiency to lie somewhere between late Foundation Establishment and early Purple Palace.

To him, it's no different from papier-mâché.

But he was not in a hurry.

The mission objective was reconnaissance, not pulling out nails.

Hui Ya went around to the rear of the air raid shelter and found an entrance to a ventilation duct.

The duct's inner diameter was less than sixty centimeters; ordinary people couldn't possibly crawl inside.

But for Hui Ya, it was not a problem.

He slipped into the ventilation duct like a snake.

The interior of the duct was pitch black; Hui Ya switched to infrared vision mode and advanced silently.

Five minutes later, he was directly above the circular passage inside the air raid shelter.

Through the vent's grille, Hui Ya saw Tie Tu.

This former president of the Iron Blood Society stood in the center of the passage, with a long table made of scrap metal set before him.

The table was piled with hundreds of discarded spirit qi crystals, ranging from first to fourth stage.

Tie Tu extended his right hand, palm down, hovering above the pile of crystals.

Hui Ya's tactical artificial eye captured an impossible sight.

Those crystals shattered on their own beneath Tie Tu's palm.

It was not a physical shattering, but the spirit qi sealed within the crystals was forcibly extracted by an invisible force.

Visible silver threads of light rose from the shattered casings, converging into a fine stream that plunged into Tie Tu's palm.

Hui Ya's analysis module spat out errors wildly.

【Warning: Target's energy circulation pattern does not match any known database.】

【Warning: Detected autonomous spirit meridians operating within the target's body.】

【Warning: Target combat power assessment being revised; original assessment invalid, recalculating……】

The data flickered in Hui Ya's vision for three seconds, finally settling on a number that made his pupils contract sharply.

【Target combat power assessment: Sixth Stage Mid.】

Sixth Stage.

Same level as himself.

Hui Ya's breath hitched.

Tie Tu's fourth-stage energy gathering engine had clearly been scrapped.

Half a month ago, he was still a wreck who couldn't even lift a hoverbike.

Now…… sixth stage?

Not a sixth stage achieved through crystals, prosthetics, or any known mechanical means.

It was pure autonomous circulation of the meridians.

Hui Ya recalled the line from the mission briefing that the four managers had repeatedly emphasized: 'Old Era Immortal Cultivation System.'

Immortals exterminated three thousand years ago.

Not relying on crystal power.

He decided to retreat.

The mission briefing was clear: upon detecting power fluctuations beyond sixth-stage comprehension, retreat immediately and report to headquarters.

Although Tie Tu himself was only sixth stage, the means by which he rose from a wreck to sixth stage in half a month—whatever stands behind it—is absolutely not something he can provoke.

Hui Ya turned his body, preparing to retreat the way he came.

Just then, the air inside the ventilation duct solidified.

Not a metaphor. It was a physical solidification.

His alloy joints locked up.

The processing of the sixth-stage crystals suddenly lagged, and everything in his field of view went black.

That interference weapon, developed at billions of credits by the conglomerate and claimed to shield against all detection, died at this moment.

Tie Tu slowly lifted his head; his remaining fleshly eye locked precisely on Hui Ya's hiding spot.

"Rat, come out."