Chapter 54: Departing for Hanyue City

The cultists hidden within the mountain didn't even have time to scream before being melted into ash.

Along with several surrounding small peaks, they were leveled to the ground.

Qin Xiaoyuan lowered his hand. "Anyone who can master this move is considered outstanding even among the Divine Image Realm. If one's control slips even slightly, they will suffer severe backlash themselves."

Jiang Qin fell silent.

He suddenly thought—if that day in Heitu Cheng, that otherworldly deity had used this move, would he have been able to escape?

The answer was no.

As if seeing his doubt, Qin Xiaoyuan continued his explanation:

"You haven't had much contact with otherworldly deities. They're not as terrifying as you imagine. Perhaps we're inferior in raw power, but when it comes to the various techniques of wielding that power, deities are far inferior to us humans."

Otherworldly deities are born with extremely powerful strength, looking down upon all races in the world. A casual strike from them brings disaster-level destruction, so naturally they never bother studying techniques for using power—total destruction is all they need.

But human Martial Artists are different—breaking through realms is shackled by the Heavenly Dao.

Therefore, to defeat enemies stronger than themselves, they painstakingly research all kinds of techniques, and martial arts were born from this.

As long as the martial art is strong enough, even if one's realm is weaker than the enemy's, one can still fight!

Qin Xiaoyuan went on to tell Jiang Qin many things students couldn't access.

This was also a precaution against the unexpected.

After all... this little fellow's luck was simply heaven-defying. Even Qin Xiaoyuan himself, in all his years of martial cultivation, had only once assisted a senior in battling a descended otherworldly deity at the Frontier—yet Jiang Qin, less than a mere two months into his martial path, had already come into contact with otherworldly deities twice.

After hearing all this, Jiang Qin benefited greatly.

He bowed with cupped fists and said: "Thank you, Principal. This time you specifically brought me out to strengthen my resolve to grow stronger, so I can break through to the Divine Image Realm as soon as possible."

"Not bad." Admiration appeared in Qin Xiaoyuan's eyes. Extraordinary talent yet neither arrogant nor impetuous—he was growing more and more satisfied with Jiang Qin.

"Remember, once you arrive at Hanyue City, don't indulge in sordid affairs. Whatever you want to do, go ahead and do it. Remember that standing behind you is the entire Zhenling Academy and the Zhenling Bureau. You just focus on doing what needs doing; I'll handle the rest of the trivial matters for you."

This was equivalent to releasing a signal.

This trip to Hanyue City probably wouldn't be easy...

But what Jiang Qin feared most was having no trouble. Without encountering hardship, how could he raise his strength? How could he improve?

Time flew by.

Two days passed.

Early morning, on the rooftop of one of the buildings in Zhenling Academy.

A deep-blue aircraft sat parked on the rooftop, its shell occasionally flashing with flowing light. Both its design and texture were full of technological beauty.

The wings were shaped like butterfly wings, currently folded upright.

Hanyue City was located in the westernmost region of Huaguo, far from Modu—thousands of kilometers away. If traveling by car with transfers along the way, it would take at least several days.

But riding this aircraft, it would only take two hours to arrive.

This aircraft was of course not prepared by the Academy, but by the Jiang Family.

Steward Jiang bowed slightly: "This time I will accompany the young master to Hanyue City. This is also the master's intention. On this trip I will only step in to help when the young master's life is in danger; at other times I will absolutely not interfere. I hope the young master permits this."

Jiang Qin was speechless. You say it as if I don't agree, you won't follow anyway.

He nodded. "Then let's go together. Sorry for the trouble on this trip."

No sooner had his words fallen than three more figures walked over in this direction.

It was Lin Laotou.

Behind him followed Su Lingwei and Chen Xiaohu.

After the baptism of the Spirit Pool, Su Lingwei's realm had stabilized at the mid Spirit Sea Realm, her physical body's strength had also been enhanced, and her entire being radiated an ethereal quality.

A token engraved with the character "Zhen" was tossed toward Jiang Qin.

The reverse side was engraved with Jiang Qin's name.

Lin Lao began to explain: "This is the exclusive token of a formal Investigator. Holding this token, one can mobilize Intern Investigators and peripheral personnel. As long as it's not a state-secret location, no one has the right to stop you while carrying this token."

Then the old man looked at his granddaughter, glaring:

"Remember what I told you—don't learn from this kid, chopping people into pieces at the slightest provocation. When you encounter danger, don't be stubborn. If you can run, then run. This old man is advanced in years; I don't want to bury a child before its time..."

After a long string of nagging, it went in Su Lingwei's left ear and out the right.

Immediately after, Lin Lao looked at Chen Xiaohu. By now he had shed his previous frivolity and gained a few degrees of steadiness.

"You're the same. Before, you were like a shrinking turtle—when something happened, all you thought about was hiding. Now you're hard-headed again, every time you fight it's like you want to perish together with your opponent. Sure, you can take a beating, but if the enemy traps you, a war of attrition can wear you to death..."

From the old man's behavior, it wasn't hard to tell where Chen Xiaohu's Ancient Martial Arts Method had come from.

After another bout of nagging, the four of them—Jiang Qin included—finally boarded the aircraft.

"Shenlan, activate. Destination: Hanyue City."

As Steward Jiang issued the command, the aircraft began to operate. The folded wings spread out to both sides, and once the device activated, the surrounding Spirit Energy surged over wildly.

Shenlan gradually rose into the air, turning toward the west.

A mechanical voice sounded.

【Energy replenishment complete. Entering ultra-high-speed travel mode in 3, 2, 1...】

The aircraft shot off with a "Whoosh—", piercing into the sea of clouds above, leaving a long trail across the sky before vanishing from sight.

A corner of Zhenling Academy.

Li Yunyan, who had just finished a night of cultivation, gazed in the direction the aircraft had disappeared, silently clenching her fists.

Since entering Zhenling Academy, she had not relaxed for a single moment. It wasn't until last night, after completing five rounds of Spirit Refining, that she broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm. Among the new students, such strength already ranked at the top—yet she couldn't even see his back.

Just wait. I will catch up!

She withdrew her gaze and walked toward the direction of the Student Union.

She wanted to test just how big the gap was between her current self and the Jiang Qin who had just entered the Academy.

…

Above the sea of clouds, a flying vessel sped along at high speed.

Modu had already been left far behind.

Inside the Shenlan, Steward Jiang took on the role of advisor, briefing the three of them on the situation in Hanyue City so they wouldn't know nothing once they arrived.

"Hanyue City's geographical position is special; it's famous for the Hanyue Ore it produces."

Hanyue Ore is a mineral used to forge Spirit Artifacts—regardless of whether they're high-grade or low-grade Spirit Artifacts, it can be used, and its sales are excellent.

"Because Hanyue City is too remote, Otherworld Rifts appear there extremely rarely. Coupled with certain special reasons, the Zhenling Bureau hasn't deployed many personnel—only one official Investigator and a hundred Intern Investigators were assigned to garrison it. That official Investigator is called Zhou Cang, and because he made a mistake, he's already been dismissed from his post…"

"Although Hanyue City today is still under the state's control…"

"In reality, the control is in the hands of three major conglomerates. They've recruited large numbers of Martial Artists under their banner—publicly called mining teams, but in truth they're their private guard armies. Because of this, neither the Public Security Bureau nor the Zhenling Bureau has much influence over them—one could even say none at all."

……