Chapter 146 - 145: The Saying that Dogs are Easier to Keep than Cats

On the main avenue of the Blue Sky Ocean Bathing Beach.

Su Qiong, dressed in her slim-fit Management Bureau uniform, stood by the road, checking Li Jing’s reply message with one hand on her slender waist.

When she spotted someone Sky Controlling towards her, her eyebrows furrowed.

When she saw the person landing right in front of her, she looked puzzled.

"Li Jing?"

Of course, the one who arrived was Li Jing.

He was already near the ocean bathing beach, so flying over to the main gate was just a quick trip.

Despite Su Qiong knowing his real name, she had no idea what he looked like. Li Jing glanced at the Management Bureau guards stationed not far from the gate, and lowered his voice with a smirk.

"If you don’t recognize my face, you should at least remember my smell, right?"

"Why would I remember your smell if I don’t have to?"

Su Qiong rolled her eyes and whispered back.

"Do you have any idea how many people I meet in a day? If I had to remember them all, I’d die of exhaustion!"

As she spoke, she took out a uniform with a wave of her hand.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense. Come with me to change into this uniform. From now on, you’re my deputy."

"Deputy?"

Li Jing was taken aback, his face peculiar as he took the uniform.

"Can someone from outside the bureau hold a position like deputy?"

"If I say you can, then you can."

Feeling self-important, Su Qiong responded.

"Don’t worry, I won’t assign you tedious personnel management tasks unless it’s necessary. I’m giving you the title of deputy just so you can operate with me without raising eyebrows."

" Fair enough."

Li Jing smiled and followed her towards the gate.

He certainly wouldn’t mind partnering with Su Qiong.

Having someone familiar around is much better than being surrounded by strangers.

Also, as a human-shaped monster, Su Qiong can’t easily take actions in the public when exploring.

The fewer people taking actions, the more opportunities he would have to gain experience.

With Su Qiong leading the way, Li Jing smoothly passed the gate’s defense.

Walking towards the coastline inside the ocean bathing beach, Li Jing took a glance at Su Qiong’s Health Bar above her head.

4497.

The last time they met, the Health Bar above her head was a classic 4396.

In less than half a month, it’s already 4497.

It seemed that she had benefited a lot from her previous exploration of the Secret Realm and was about to reach Four Realm.

Scratching his head over who was doing whom the favor, Li Jing murmured.

"I do have two full-scaled Rat Demon’s meat from Three Realm on me... Do you want them?"

"Rat Demon’s meat?"

Su Qiong stopped in her tracks and looked over with glowing eyes.

"Yes!"

Seeing her affirmative response, Li Jing nodded with a smile.

"I’ll give it to you when we reach the changing room."

"How much?"

Su Qiong responded swiftly.

"It’s on me."

Li Jing waved his hand and said.

"You’re the reason I can go into the Secret Realm this time. Consider it as my return gift to you."

Looking at Li Jing’s sincerity, Su Qiong beamed with agreeability.

"Since you’re so considerate, it would be impolite of me to refuse."

As she spoke, her movement became even more exaggerated, her waist waiving and her buttocks swaying more noticeably.

Li Jing startled upon seeing her state, then he accepted it.

Su Qiong is a Dog Demon.

What do dogs do when they are thrilled?

Wag their tails...

Su Qiong wasn’t showing her beast-like traits at the moment and couldn’t be seen with a tail, thus looking a bit peculiar.

She indeed was in high spirits.

Dog Demons, like Cat Demons, are predators and have the ability to absorb the flesh and blood of other monsters.

However, this kind of stuff is hard to come by.

She had no lack of money.

But she had no suitable reason to buy monster flesh in the Spiritual Objects market. She couldn’t refine medicinal pills or artifacts. If she bought large quantities, it would raise suspicion.

All she could reasonably buy was the blood flesh of first-realm monsters that barely contained demonic energy.

The ridiculous price aside, they weren’t particularly useful.

Looking back.

Just like what Li Jing witnessed, Su Qiong was just a fraction away from reaching the Four Realm.

The close yet unreachable progress distressed her.

She was delighted when Li Jing offered the two pieces of Three Realm Rat Demon’s flesh out of the blue.

...

Swiftly, under Su Qiong’s guidance, Li Jing arrived at a vacant tent by the coastline.

Seeing there was no one else in the tent, Li Jing took out the two full pieces of Rat Demon’s meat that he had stored away.

These two pieces were originally reserved for Jing Ming while he was selling the Rat Demon’s meat. They were specifically selected from two late-stage Rat Demons from the Third Realm.

Ji Qing and Jing Ming both provided critical assistance with the Rat Demon incident.

Ji Qing accepted two pieces of Rat Demon’s meat that have turned into hamsters, he should give Jing Ming something as well, right?

However, just like Ji Qing, Jing Ming was picky. He rejected the gifts because both pieces of Rat Demon’s meat were from field rats, telling Li Jing to keep it.

The two pieces of Rat Demon’s meat had no use in his hands.

It wasn’t worth much to sell them, and giving them to Su Qiong was fitting.

As soon as Su Qiong saw the properly dissected and boneless Rat Demon’s meat, her mouth watered.

In terms of scent, she, a Dog Demon, was much more sensitive than Ji Qing and Jing Ming.

With just one whiff, she was sure that the two pieces of Rat Demon’s meat came from late-stage Rat Demons from the Third Realm.

The nutritional value of late-stage Rat Demons from Third Realm is incredibly rich. Simply devouring a bit and digesting it would likely advance her into the Four Realm.

Unable to wait to take the two pieces of Rat Demon’s meat, she looked up at Li Jing eagerly.

"Do you need help changing?"

"..."

Li Jing.

She’s really going the extra mile.

It is said that dogs are easier to raise than cats, and there is some truth to it.

Declining Su Qiong’s "kind offer", Li Jing silently asked her to leave the tent.

...

A moment later, Li Jing came out of the tent in his Management Bureau uniform.

Su Qiong had been waiting at the entrance of the tent, seemingly much "calmer" now.

Seeing Li Jing came out, she whispered.

"The Secret Realm Passage just stabilized at 9 this morning. The Research Institute estimated the passage would remain stable for around seven days. The personnel from Jianghai City Management Bureau have already entered as the vanguard to establish a base. There is news that the entrance on the other side of the passage is still the old location. However, we have to wait a bit longer before we can enter, until further news comes in."

Continuing, she said.

"This time Xiang City Management Bureau sent approximately a thousand people, out of which I’m in charge of 276. My team were the first here, the rest of Xiang City Management Bureau personnel are still making their way here and are estimated to arrive in the evening. Once we enter the Secret Realm, I’ll introduce you to my team, so they will know who you are."

"Ok. "

Li Jing nodded and asked.

"What’s the current situation in the Secret Realm? Any abnormalities?"

"No abnormalities for now, but there must be a problem since the Secret Realm Passage reopened just half a month later."

Fortunately, Su Qiong responded.

"If nothing goes wrong, this matter is related to the unknown wisdom civilization in the Secret Realm. The Secret Realm Passage was likely opened by this unknown wisdom civilization through some means. We’re not sure about their purpose, but the cost of opening the passage mustn’t be small. Thus, this time, the exploration of the Secret Realm will focus on dealing with the unknown wisdom civilization, with resource collection being secondary."

After listening to her explanation, Li Jing asked again.

"So, are we going underground in the Secret Realm this time?"

"Essentially, yes."

While asserting this, Su Qiong looked at him suspiciously.

"You knew we’d be going underground, I assume you did some in-depth research after last time. That’s helpful because it saves me the trouble of explaining it to you. Anyway, we might directly face the unknown civilization hiding underground in the Secret Realm this time. They’re not virtuous, so be careful not to lose your life in the mission."

Having said that, she took out her phone to check something and instructed.

"Stay here by yourself for now and don’t wander around. I have a meeting to attend, I’ll come to get you once we can enter the Secret Realm."

"Alright, you do your thing, don’t worry about me."

After commenting, Li Jing watched as Su Qiong walked away. He then turned to look towards the Secret Realm entrance near the sea.

The last time the Secret Realm opened, contact with the unknown civilization was confirmed by two leading scientists from the Research Institute.

Liu Yushan’s actions were intended to slow down the Management Bureau’s exploration of the Secret Realm.

What Jiang Guanwen did, however, was rather intriguing.

He left the Secret Realm from the beginning, hid until the Secret Realm Passage closed before reappearing, and stole the Research Institute’s data to seek a path for himself.

Since he had dealings with the unknown wisdom civilization in the Secret Realm, it wasn’t solely for benefiting him. He must have given something in return too.

What was it that he paid?

Everyone was clueless.

But considering what Li Jing knew, there was a high probability that Jiang Guanwen exhibited a maneuver, took advantage, and then tricked the unknown civilization in the Secret Realm.

Jiang Guanwen returned to the mortal world, mostly due to accepting a specific mission.

But he had no intention of completing the task and quietly waited for the Secret Realm Passage entrance to close.

Only when the passage closed and there was no chance for the unknown civilization to come to the mortal world, did he reappear.

The unknown civilization inside the Secret Realm might not be aware that they had been tricked. Based on this presumption, the reopening of the Secret Realm Passage could be an attempt to respond to Jiang Guanwen, who has yet to return to the Secret Realm.

Unfortunately, the person is now dead, otherwise they might be able to lure out the unknown civilization through him.

While sorting out these thoughts, Li Jing squinted.

Regardless, the reopening of the Secret Realm must be greatly linked to the unknown civilization within it. It is possible that this time they will take massive offensive actions.

The Management Bureau, on their side, doesn’t need his reminder.

At the moment, Zhou Tian’s Great Formation has already been set up at the entrance of the Secret Realm.

There seems to be another exceptional and massive array that is covering the surrounding sea area and the beach entirely.

This level of defense clearly shows that the Management Bureau has made predictions about possible incidents.

However, Li Jing felt that it would be better to remain cautious at this end in case anything happens – he didn’t want to risk his life for nothing.

He was here to gain experience, not to risk his life.

...

Time quietly passed, second by second.

Around noon, the Management Bureau staff gathered on the beach started moving. They took off towards the Secret Realm entrance in batches, penetrated the sea surface and entered the Secret Realm.

Li Jing stood on the beach, not in a hurry.

So far, staff from the Management Bureaus across the region have not yet arrived.

There are about more than ten thousand people in the entire beach encampment. Most of them seemed to stay outside on guard. Those who entered were just the second group of personnel after the Jianghai City Management Bureau.

Earlier, Su Qiong also mentioned that only the vanguard led by her arrived from the Xiang City Management Bureau.

The follow-up personnel are still being assembled.

At the management bureaus of other cities, only the vanguards have arrived too.

Exploration of the Secret Realm can’t start immediately.

They have to wait for at least a day after entering the Secret Realm for the main force to be assembled before the exploration can begin.

After a while of quietly waiting on the beach, Su Qiong hurriedly came over.

"Let’s go, we are heading in."

Seeing that Su Qiong wasn’t accompanied by others, Li Jing instinctively asked.

"Where are your other subordinates?"

"They have already entered."

She replied, handing over a communication earpiece.

"I forgot to give you a communicator. I couldn’t notify you."

"..."

Li Jing was speechless. He put on the communicator, hovered into the air.

Su Qiong followed suit.

In a short while, they joined a new group of Management Bureau staff entering the Secret Realm underneath the sea level.

...

With a spatial displacement function, they arrived in the Secret Realm.

The first thing Li Jing did when he arrived was to look around.

Unfortunately, besides the Health Bar above Su Qiong’s head, his gaze didn’t find anything that looked like a Health Bar.

The area around the encampment had been completely cleared.

After arriving at the encampment of the Xiang City Management Bureau personnel, Su Qiong introduced him to everyone under the capacity of her deputy.

After Li Jing had been acquainted with a few team leaders, Su Qiong arranged for him a personal tent, and then hurriedly left for another meeting.

Li Jing was understanding about this.

Currently, Su Qiong holds quite a high position, managing an exploration team of thousands of people.

This time, almost three hundred people came just because most of them didn’t practice pupil technique and thus couldn’t follow them here.

After just entering the Secret Realm, Su Qiong would definitely be busy for a while.

But Li Jing didn’t plan to stay obediently in the tent.

Without internet or entertainment in the Secret Realm and with him not practicing, there was nothing to do in the tent alone. So he thought it would be better to wander around, perhaps he would stumble upon a "surprise".

He walked out of the tent and instructed Little AI softly.

"Little AI, keep monitoring the environment. Notify me immediately if there are any anomalies."

"Received."

The screen popped up with a bubble.

No network connection only affected Little AI’s online search function. The functions of other hardware were not affected and could still work normally.

...

About two hours later, Li Jing toured the whole encampment of over twenty thousand meters radius.

"Surprise" didn’t occur.

Little AI kept monitoring the surrounding environment and didn’t find any abnormalities.

On top of being listless, Li Jing was somewhat uncomfortable.

Even at the border of the encampment, he didn’t see any Health Bars outside.

As far as he could see, the Management Bureau had severely damaged the "ecology" around the camp after the previous exploration. So much so that even after half a month, no strange things could be seen around.

It seemed that he could only pin his hopes on the upcoming exploration.

Just as he was about to return, Su Qiong’s voice suddenly came from his communication earpiece.

"Where did you go alone, Li Jing?"

"I’m strolling around, have you finished your meeting?"

Li Jing responded.

"It’s over. Come to the tent and find me."

Su Qiong started, speaking quickly.

"I just received a task to lead our team from the Xiang City Management Bureau to the ruins to confirm the situation, clear a safe zone, and wait for the arrival of the follow-up personnel to establish a camp."

Things are happening already?

Li Jing was surprised, and then responded.

"Alright, I will come right away."