Chapter 11: First Arrival

Su Qu didn't leave this time.

Afraid there might be another mishap, he stayed a night at Yu Lin's home.

Until the next day.

Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains into the living room; Yu Lin entered carrying soy milk and fried dough sticks.

"Su Qu, wake up." He nudged Su Qu on the sofa:

"I brought breakfast back."

Su Qu turned over, buried his face in the pillow, and mumbled:

"Let me sleep five more minutes..."

Yu Lin directly pressed the hot soy milk against the back of his neck.

"Hiss—" Su Qu jerked awake, his hair all messed up: "You little brat, you're ruthless!"

"It was you who told me to do that."

Yu Lin then said something, turned around, placed the breakfast on the coffee table, and first picked up a fried dough stick to take a bite:

"Who were those people last night?"

Su Qu yawned, slowly opening the soy milk lid:

"The Divine Authority Association, a bunch of late-stage chuunibyou weirdos."

He took a sip of soy milk and continued: "They think awakening Heavenly Authority makes them gods."

"Are you going to take revenge on them?"

He raised an eyebrow at Yu Lin.

"Of course." Yu Lin said calmly:

"I'm not a magnanimous person."

Su Qu suddenly laughed, his eyes filling with even more admiration: "Funny, neither am I."

"Always narrow-minded!"

He took a big bite of the fried dough stick, speaking indistinctly:

"They've gone up against you, who is suspected of having 'Heavenly Fortune' and possibly even a 'Miracle'—they've kicked an iron plate."

Yu Lin didn't respond further, just quietly finished his breakfast.

"Let's pack up our luggage." Su Qu wiped his mouth and stood up.

"We're leaving now."

"Luggage? Can't we go home tonight?" Yu Lin frowned.

"Go home?" Su Qu snorted:

"What home? You still want them to find you? I can't always be by your side—I'm busy!"

Yu Lin thought he still had seven days before entering the mythic mission, so not being at home would be inconvenient.

However, since he can choose to enter at any time, it shouldn't be a big problem.

He asked again: "When will I be able to move freely?"

"Finish the bureau's training and you'll be free." Su Qu waved his hand: "Soon—just half a year, mainly to teach you qi cultivation techniques."

"Don't think having Heavenly Authority makes you invincible; unless you truly possess the Miracle Authority, when those old monsters of the qi cultivation path strike... you'd better run."

"Reaching the Profound Realm in qi cultivation can also grant some authority abilities, such as the Daoist Five Elements Daoist Method."

Yu Lin nodded; he didn't bother asking what qi cultivation was now—he'd learn everything at the Civil Affairs Bureau—and turned back to his room to pack.

Moments later, he came out with his backpack: "All set."

Su Qu had also groomed himself by then.

He placed a hand on Yu Lin's shoulder, curling his lips into a smile:

"The first time might make you a bit dizzy—just bear with it."

"Why does what you say sound a bit off?"

"Ah, don't worry about the details—let's go!"

The next second, their figures melted into the shadows like ink, leaving only half a cup of unfinished soy milk in the living room, glimmering in the sunlight.

Of course.

A hand reached out, taking the soy milk and the trash together.

A soft murmur sounded:

"You kid, you're pretty hygienic......."

Jing Cheng, outskirts.

Yu Lin followed Su Qu into the Civil Affairs Bureau headquarters; the building looked no different from an ordinary Public Security Bureau, even the sign at the gate still read "Shangping District Public Security Bureau".

"On the surface, the Civil Affairs Bureau is just configured like the Public Security Bureau." Su Qu explained while walking:

"There are branches nationwide, Jiang Cheng included."

"Originally, after awakening Heavenly Authority like the other three, you should first report to the Jiang Cheng branch, then be escorted by the branch to headquarters for training."

He paused, curling the corner of his mouth into a smile:

"But your situation is special, so I was directly sent to pick you up."

Yu Lin nodded, his gaze sweeping over the staff coming and going in the hallway.

They wore uniforms like police, but each had a dark-gold badge on the chest—within the intricate pattern one could faintly make out the three characters "Civil Affairs Bureau".

"The headquarters has nine action teams in total," Su Qu continued, "each with different numbers of personnel and responsible for different areas."

"My Second Team has only five members, mainly responsible for support in the East China region."

He pushed open a glass door, gesturing for Yu Lin to follow:

You four new recruits, after training ends, will first undergo branch experience, and then you may freely choose to join one of the nine groups, but they will decide whether to accept you based on your performance.

Of course, if you perform excellently and meet the standards… perhaps you could even form Group Ten.

Yu Lin raised an eyebrow: "Then can you now tell me the information about the other three?"

Su Qu gave a mysterious smile: "You'll know when we meet later."

While they were speaking, they had already arrived at the doorway of a conference room.

Su Qu raised his hand, knocked on the door, and then pushed it open.

Inside the conference room, a middle‑aged man in uniform stood with his back to them by the window.

Hearing the door open, he turned around; his face was rugged, his height about 1.75 m, and his uniform was immaculate, as if he were a soldier.

Besides him, there were four other people in the room.

Standing beside the middle‑aged man was a sweet‑looking young woman in the same uniform, a nameplate on her chest reading—Chen Tian.

The girl standing by the window had a stylish short wolf‑tail haircut, with a few strands dyed silver‑white at the ends.

Wearing black work pants and a tight vest, with mysterious geometric Totem tattoos on her arms, she was slicing an apple with a Butterfly Knife, the blade flashing between her fingers like a butterfly.

In the corner, a boy was fiddling with three Ancient Copper Coins.

He wore a Daoist robe washed to a faded white, a Bagua Mirror hanging around his neck, and the coins clinked crisply from time to time.

Muttering under his breath, he looked up at Yu Lin, as if calculating something.

Finally, there was a delicate‑looking youth sitting on the floor.

He sat cross‑legged on the floor, cradling a large bag of chips, crunching them into his mouth.

His fair cheeks were puffed out like a hamster's, his eyes narrowed into slits from satisfaction.

His arrival seemed less enticing than the snack in his hand.

"Hello, Yu Lin," the man said with a slight smile, his voice deep and powerful:

"I am Zhang Jiangping, Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, and also the leader of Group One."

"Welcome to our midst!"