"Heavenly Radiance Third Institute? What are you doing here?"
Ye Qingyan, residing within Ye Ling's body, asked as she saw the Heavenly Radiance Third Institute completely surrounded by the army below.
Following the battle with the Great Serpent, the entire area around the Heavenly Radiance Third Institute had been placed under martial law, taken over by the military, and no civilians were allowed to approach.
The Heavenly Radiance Third Institute was now heavily guarded, with a large group of researchers in the underground base dissecting and processing the Great Serpent's remains. There was no point in coming here anymore.
Ye Ling said calmly, "You can't continue to occupy my aunt's body. I'll help you find a new one."
"A new one?" Ye Qingyan was startled. "What kind of body could be found here for me to possess?"
"Moreover, I am now outside the cycle of reincarnation, essentially an evil spirit not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao. Even if I possess a body, that body will quickly corrupt. It's not a long-term solution."
"Are you suggesting I kill someone for you every so often?"
"I'm not that idle," Ye Ling said calmly. He instantly appeared inside the Heavenly Radiance Third Institute, casually knocked out a researcher walking past him, threw the researcher into a storage room, and then transformed into that researcher.
"Your current state is not suitable for possessing a human, and ordinary human bodies cannot withstand your cultivation."
"Then why can my aunt withstand it?"
"My aunt is an exception." Ye Ling walked through a group of fully armed soldiers with natural ease, swaggering into the elevator.
"Wait!"
A shout came from a distance. Ye Ling paused slightly in the elevator.
Ye Qingyan taunted, "Your disguise isn't very good. It seems you've been discovered."
"No one can discover me."
Ye Ling retorted, turned around calmly, and held the elevator door for the approaching person.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Wang Liren hurried into the elevator and thanked Ye Ling.
"You're welcome."
Ye Ling smiled and nodded, surprised to encounter the person who had come to check the water meter at Jian Shishi's house before.
Wang Liren hummed a tune, fiddling with his work ID badge on his chest. He then looked at Ye Ling and said, "You scientists work really hard. I remember there was a subterranean dragon unearthed in Dunhuang not long ago, right? The higher-ups ordered you to quickly analyze its genes. I didn't expect another snake that was about to evolve into a flood dragon to appear today!"
"Yeah... the overtime pay isn't much, and I haven't been home to see my daughter in three months," Ye Ling lied with his eyes open.
"You're better off than me. I haven't been home in half a year. My mother scolds me every day, telling me to quit this job. Can this job be quit? It concerns national security, we can't be selfish!"
Ye Ling nodded, "Indeed. In our line of work, although we operate in the shadows, we must not lack a sense of responsibility. The safety of so many people outside depends on us."
"I like what you said, brother. Let's be friends. I'm Wang Liren, and you are?"
"You can call me Yu Ge."
Ye Ling and Wang Liren chatted casually. Before the elevator even reached the ground floor, Wang Liren had already begun to treat Ye Ling as a confidant. They even exchanged phone numbers and arranged a dinner date.
Of course, the name and phone number Ye Ling provided belonged to the researcher he had knocked out.
"Old Yu, I have something else to do. See you next time!"
"Mm."
After exiting the elevator, Wang Liren gave Ye Ling an enthusiastic hug before running towards the depths of the underground base.
Watching Wang Liren disappear, Ye Ling's smile slowly faded. He turned and walked in another direction.
"As a senior who witnessed your entire conversation with that young man, I sincerely feel he is pitiful, and you are too terrifying," Ye Qingyan said to Ye Ling as Wang Liren vanished around the corner. "Now that I've fallen into your hands, I don't know whether to feel fortunate or scared."
Although Ye Ling had only had a normal conversation with Wang Liren, Ye Ling had perfectly embodied another character, completely understanding Wang Liren's thoughts and quickly winning him over.
Setting aside any discussion of strength, Ye Ling's ability to manipulate people's hearts alone was enough to make him a scourge upon this world!
"He's just a young man in his twenties. It's easy to understand his thoughts. What's so terrifying about that?"
Ye Ling walked to a corner without cameras and resumed his original appearance. He then quickly concealed his presence and headed in the direction Wang Liren had gone.
"As if you're not a young man in your twenties," Ye Qingyan grumbled from within Ye Ling.
"Since you entered my body, you've become much more talkative. Is this your true personality?" Ye Ling followed behind Wang Liren, teasing Ye Qingyan as he walked.
"You're quite cute for someone who likes to retort so much."
"You!"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye Qingyan was instantly enraged. She fiercely bumped Ye Ling's soul within his body, but it didn't budge him at all.
Ye Qingyan huffed, "You junior should show some respect. We share the same surname, Ye. Perhaps I'm even your ancestor!"
"Being born early doesn't necessarily make you an elder."
"What do you mean?"
"It depends on how long you've lived."
"Even by age, I am your elder!"
"We have important business to attend to."
Ye Ling didn't argue with Ye Qingyan further on this matter. He said calmly, and then walked with Wang Liren to the Great Serpent's corpse.
The Great Serpent's body, which Ye Ling had killed, was now covered with white cloths and being moved into trucks by large cranes.
A large portion of the underground base had collapsed, and the entire research institute had become a dangerous building. However, thanks to Ye Qingyan's sword strike, the trucks on the ground were able to drive in. Otherwise, the researchers wouldn't have known how to transport the Great Serpent's remains back.
Wang Liren was responsible for the safe transfer of the Great Serpent and preventing suspicious individuals from approaching.
Unfortunately, Wang Liren could never have imagined that the person he should have been most wary of had chatted with him the entire way.
Ye Ling's gaze swept over the segments of the Great Serpent's body. He quickly identified his target and walked towards one of the pieces of the corpse.
Seeing Ye Ling's actions, Ye Qingyan instantly understood what Ye Ling intended to do and quickly said, "Although possessing an animal in my current spiritual state wouldn't be against propriety, this Great Serpent is completely dead. You're not thinking of having me possess its body, are you?"
"This snake is female," Ye Ling said calmly, placing his hand on a section of the snake's body covered by a white cloth.
"So?" Ye Qingyan was still confused. "Even if it's female, it's completely dead. Even if I possess it, I won't be able to live."
"When I killed it earlier, I sensed new life gestating within it. I held back then and didn't destroy its eggs when I killed it. I didn't expect it to be useful now."
Ye Ling said, spiritual energy flowing from his palm into the snake's body, quickly locating the hidden snake egg.
"The life within this egg is already close to death. If you possess this egg now and hatch from it, it will be considered a rebirth and you will re-enter the cycle of reincarnation."
"You'll be able to cultivate normally from now on."
"I'm going to become a snake?" Ye Qingyan hesitated.
"Not a snake." Ye Ling's spiritual energy meticulously probed the creature inside the snake egg.
"The reason this Great Serpent never evolved into a flood dragon is that it retained its essence for this egg. This is likely nurturing a flood dragon. With diligent cultivation in the future, it might even evolve into a dragon."
"That Great Serpent consumed many people and absorbed a lot of vital energy. The energy within this egg is greater than you imagine. If you possess it, combined with your centuries of accumulation, perhaps..."
"You can directly break through to the eighth rank."