After sorting out his thoughts, Luo Cheng once again suppressed the irritation in his heart and glanced at his wristwatch. This watch was something he had casually bought at a store before leaving Li'an No. 2 City. He always felt that relying on two phones might not be entirely safe, and if he really gained something, the new phone’s positioning system could potentially mark the location where he encountered the secret realm. After much consideration, Luo Cheng simply bought a watch and a few flashlights, intending to break free from his usual overreliance on technological devices.
Excessive caution might be troublesome in some situations, but at times, it could also help one avoid danger. The content he had viewed on his phone earlier had been preloaded and screenshotted in advance, and he had even deliberately switched his phone to offline mode.
Now, he was waiting. According to the "prophecy" in that gossip news article, this secret realm event would occur around 7 PM on the 30th. Or at least, the abnormal fluctuations of spiritual energy would happen around that time. It was already 5 PM, and in the shady side of the mountain, the sky had darkened considerably. Luo Cheng was starting to worry. Would the limited visibility cause him to overlook or miss the anomalies signaling the secret realm's opening?
With unease in his heart, time passed by minute by minute. Then, at around 6:40 PM, when the sky had completely darkened in the shady side of the mountain, Luo Cheng had already heightened his focus and packed away his makeshift tent and sleeping bag.
Suddenly, the space around him trembled, and then, as if in response, even the air in this part of the world seemed to freeze in place.
Luo Cheng’s heart, which had been pounding wildly, also became sluggish due to this stagnation. His breath similarly halted in an instant. Then, some kind of power spread outward from a certain point in this world, sweeping over Luo Cheng’s entire body before continuing past him. It expanded in all directions, encompassing an area of more than ten li. Then, that power contracted again, pulling Luo Cheng, who was near the center of this fluctuation, and drawing him into a certain trembling core.
With his entire body frozen by this external force, the only thing Luo Cheng felt fortunate about was that, to be safe, he had already taken a stomach-filling pill at noon today. Its effects lasted for a month, keeping him 90% full. Additionally, he had a water pouch in his mouth containing ten liters of water. If he conserved it and drank at the most extreme limit, it could barely sustain his water needs for about a month.
The range of this tremor was extremely vast. Not only could those caught within it clearly sense it, but even the nearby cities could detect the abnormal fluctuation of spiritual energy.
Spiritual energy was a special type of energy that permeated the entire world, available for practitioners of various cultivation paths to absorb and control. It was like the wind, present everywhere in the world. After the fusion of technology and spiritual energy, it could even serve as a spiritual energy network, replacing the internet from the technological era of hundreds of years ago.
Therefore, cities constantly monitor fluctuations in spiritual energy in the surrounding areas. Events such as the emergence of hidden abodes, the appearance of secret realms, and even the birth of great demons can be detected through these fluctuations. Once identified, the authorities quickly analyzes and determines the general location of the event. Afterward, they dispatch personnel to monitor, explore, or remain vigilant as needed.
This time, a clear fluctuation, suspected to be the emergence of a secret realm or an ancient relic, appeared very close to Li'an No. 2 City. As a result, the city immediately dispatched law enforcement personnel from the Qingtian Squad.
Various cultivation forces stationed near Li'an City, as well as rogue cultivators active in the vicinity, also sensed the unusual spiritual energy. With information spreading rapidly through the internet, within about half an hour, those capable of acting had already rushed to the back mountain of Black Tiger Mountain, where Luo Cheng had disappeared.
However, upon arrival, they found nothing. They only discovered traces at the location where Luo Cheng had frequently camped and moved around.
"Someone must have been here before."
"Is it a cultivator who sensed the disturbance and was in the mountains?"
"Doesn’t seem like it. These are clearly marks made by a tent, and there are these footprints... probably a mortal?"
"A mortal?! What would a mortal be doing in these deep mountains, in a place full of snakes, insects, rodents, and the shady side of the mountain?"
The first speaker raised their head at these words, looking at a certain spot in the sky, furrowing their brow in thought. "Don’t forget, there was a powerful fluctuation of spiritual energy here just recently. It’s obvious that a secret realm or cave dwelling appeared not long ago."
"You mean? But how would a mortal know this information in advance? The internet, our internal network, and even the Cultivators' Alliance have no record of any relevant news!"
The first person shook their head. "Maybe it’s some kind of opportunity? Even for us cultivators, even if someone from our family has been a cultivator for five hundred years, how could we develop properly without encountering some kind of fortuitous encounter?"
The other person slapped their forehead. "Right, right, every year, among those who become cultivators due to a fortuitous encounter, there are quite a few who were originally of ordinary talent, unable to enter a cultivator academy, and didn’t have money to cultivate."
While the two were talking, several people suddenly flew over on their swords from a distance. Upon seeing the Qingtian Squad uniforms on the two, they quickly flashed an awkward yet polite smile. Then they chose another spot to carefully begin their investigation, trying to find any lingering traces of spiritual energy fluctuations in hopes of discovering a way to enter the secret realm or cave abode.
The two Qingtian Squad members exchanged a glance. "What now?"
The person who spoke first pondered for a moment, then raised their hand and directly grabbed at the surroundings. They took all the traces left behind by Luo Cheng during his camping, along with the dirt and certain faint traces that ordinary people couldn’t perceive, as well as tiny hairs, and casually stuffed everything into a bag used for miscellaneous junk. "Let's go."
The other person chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "You're so kind-hearted."
"It's a rare opportunity. Just because we don't care about this place doesn't mean others won't. Let's call it doing a good deed for the day." The person smiled casually.
If it weren't for this Qingtian Squad officer casually grabbing everything, if someone had discovered that an ordinary person had previously entered this suspected secret realm or cave dwelling, they might have been targeted by some old experts who specialize in preying on newbies. Finding a hair or catching a trace of energy, they might find some clues. And by using unorthodox methods, they could even deduce and find that lucky person.
At that time, if the items and opportunities were snatched, that would be one thing, but if someone was marked in the wilderness, their life might just be lost right there.
———
"What the hell is going on here?! How can someone just disappear without a trace?!" Lao Si is basically Old Four by the way. had a gloomy face, almost having the impulse to immediately cast a few spell techniques and blow up this city, but he didn't dare to. The Qingtian Squad was stationed in the city, and he estimated that as soon as he made a move and cast a few spell techniques, the members of the Qingtian Squad, who would detect the abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations in the city, would immediately capture him.
The younger brothers all had expressions of ferocity, displeasure, confusion, and bewilderment.
"Yeah, Fourth Brother! That kid was just fine in the city, so why did he suddenly run away?"
"His colleague said he went to another city to visit relatives. Should we check which city he has relatives in?"
With a "slap," a hand struck the younger brother's head. Lao Si's face twisted with anger. "Check my ass! Where are we supposed to check? Are we going to hack into the official information network? Or can we openly go around the city, grab his acquaintances, and interrogate them by soul extraction and soul-snatching?! Do you think this city was built by my father?!"
The younger brothers shrank and lowered their heads again, each with a guilty expression and unwilling to speak.
Lao Si, feeling frustrated, turned and walked into another room. He took out his phone and dialed Brother Wu. As soon as the call connected, his expression and tone immediately switched to a fawning, flattering, and ingratiating mode. After the call was picked up, he started grumbling and complaining. "Wu-ge, we've been asking around in the city for two days and confirmed that the kid isn't even in the city anymore! He even quit his job! They say he went to another city to visit relatives. But he didn’t tell his coworkers, old classmates, or acquaintances where he was going, and no one who knows him is aware that he has relatives in other cities. What do you think about this..."
On the other end, Brother Wu was first stunned, then raised his eyebrows: "Relatives?? Another city??" As he spoke loudly, his mind quickly recalled that the couple had never mentioned having relatives in other cities.
However, it is not impossible that he went to visit relatives. Although the world now has many more deep mountains, old forests, and vast territories and oceans after the recovery of spiritual energy, making it much harder for people to travel to other cities, it’s still possible for ordinary people to travel.
It’s normal for families to have distant relatives in other cities or for siblings to be sent to work in other cities.
But he could roughly confirm that at least the couple’s direct relatives were in Zhiluo No. 7 City. And because neither of their families had anyone else who had cultivated successfully. Moreover, when they were struggling and not getting anywhere, they gave the only remaining elderly lady in their family a longevity pill which allowed her raise the youngest child in the family to adulthood.
As a result, most of their closer relatives had already died off, and as for distant relatives... Sorry, he wasn't any relative of theirs, so how could he possibly get these indirect pieces of information?
“Can the kid’s coworkers or friends still get in touch with him?”
Upon hearing the question, Lao Si quickly continued with a fawning smile: “They couldn’t get in touch with him! His colleagues said they called him and sent a message on WeChat the day he resigned, but they couldn’t find him at the time!”
Brother Wu narrowed his eyes, rubbing his chin. After hearing the other person’s words, he sneered coldly, his expression turning grim: “It seems all this talk about running to relatives is nonsense! That kid must have found something in some relic or on that phone.”
Lao Si's eyes widened in sudden realization, and as if Brother Wu was standing in front of him, he was about to use all his strength to flatter him: “Then, what happened after that...”
Brother Wu sneered again: “No need to waste time there. There are still seven years until that secret realm opens. We’ve already waited more than ten years, so a little longer won’t matter. Of course, in these years, keep an eye out for any news about that kid. If we can’t find him, then seven years later, we’ll block him inside the secret realm. Our people have already entered that place a few times. Once inside, no matter what methods we use, as long as we clean up properly, there won’t be any trouble. In fact, it will make things easier for us.”
“Right, right! Wu-ge, you always think ahead. Then we’ll head back…”
“Wait. Before you go, gather some photos of that kid’s daily life or something. Don’t let him jump right in front of us while we fail to even recognize him.” Brother Wu said casually, then hung up the phone.
It wasn’t that he underestimated him. That kid, in the end, was just an ordinary person. Even if he had extraordinary talent and was a once-in-a-generation cultivation genius, there was no way he could surpass his own cultivation in just seven years. If he didn’t show up by then and avoided the secret realm where his parents died, so be it. But if he went, then Master Wu had the means to make sure he never left alive!
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