Chapter 1 Beginning

September 27, 2015, 9:25 AM, Sunny, no clouds

Li Yeyu, female, 18 years old, Xijing Qin Xing Academy, Combat Department student, an ordinary cultivator beauty.

Currently, she is gathering with a group of students on the playground, waiting for further instructions.

"There's a special assignment today, but Dad didn't mention it, so it must be top secret."

Among the group, Li Yeyu, who is taller than the average girl, stood towards the back. Thinking that this time she might be going to some remote mountain corner like her dad to carry out a mission, she couldn't help but feel a little depressed: "Sigh, I wonder when I can take a break. We've been training for a month, and the physical training every day is treating us like professional athletes. My bones are about to fall apart… I really want to drink milk tea and eat crepes…"

Of course, despite thinking so much in her heart, she maintained her cold, calm, and indifferent persona on the outside.

You can cut off my head, you can let my blood flow, but the persona cannot collapse. This is a family motto.

After standing foolishly on the playground for ten minutes, the school leader's speech finally came through the broadcast. Li Yeyu finally learned the objective of this mission—this time, they would be going to the Kunlun Ruins area in the Northwest Plateau to cooperate with the local troops in a joint defense and blockade: "This isn't difficult. As long as nothing unexpected happens, it's basically a semi-vacation."

At this time, the instructors and professors had also entered the field, ready to lead the team to the airport. Li Yeyu also saw her father, Li Wanyan—the old Professor Li, with his resolute and serious face, was following behind a young man. He also maintained a cold, calm, and indifferent face, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

But this did not stop his daughter from tsk-tsking: "The leader is Professor Su. Dad warned me not to provoke him, but he wouldn't say why, just trying to act cool. But I can actually tell that he must have been beaten up by him!"

"Although Dad usually likes to brag, his strength in the Security Bureau is quite good. His Tongyou Divine Power (ability to traverse the underworld) is more refined than mine, and he can almost continuously jump in the shadows. Without talking about winning or losing, if he focuses on dodging, it's difficult to defeat him… Professor Su is so young, yet his strength is so strong. It's no wonder he was granted the professor position through a special exception."

Thinking of this, Li Yeyu couldn't help but feel a little envious: "Sigh, when can I become a professor? After becoming a professor, maybe I can replace Dad's position and let him go home and spend more time with Mom…"

If the old Professor Li knew that his daughter's thoughts were actually about letting him retire and go home to be taken care of, one wonders how complex his emotions would be—a rebellious daughter!

They rode in troop carriers to the airport. The various airports that had been continuously expanded and renovated in recent years now revealed their true purpose: almost every day, one could see various new types of aircraft that had never been seen before taking off and landing at airports across the country, conducting experiments. The debut of various cutting-edge creations made many military enthusiasts cheer and call it satisfying.

But compared to the real behemoth—the Xuan Niao-class (Black Bird) aircraft, those novel new aircraft were just small toys.

"Wow, so big, so beautiful!"

Seeing the sleek, aerodynamic body, the huge wings that seemed to block the sky, and the hazy and harmonious spiritual light surrounding the entire fuselage, which every Awakened One could clearly see, Li Yeyu also wanted to praise and cheer with the students and friends around her. But because of the education she had received since childhood, she still maintained a poker face, a persona that made it difficult to see through her psychological state—of course, this did not affect her excitement in her heart: "So handsome! Are we going to take it to carry out the mission this time?"

"So awesome!"

When they really boarded the plane and learned which instructor and professor their respective teams belonged to, Li Yeyu was once again surprised: "Huh, it's Professor Su? I thought it would be either Dad or the vice-principal."

A typical team consists of six to ten people. Li Yeyu's team only had four people, but they were basically geniuses with a spiritual energy affinity of over 80%. They had good cooperation during the training camp and jointly won the first place in team points.

It is only because modern society has such a large population base that it is possible to find so many geniuses with innate Dao bodies and integrate them into teams.

Originally, Li Yeyu thought that the academy would assign them an experienced, veteran professor who had transferred from the Security Bureau to lead the team. Otherwise, some teachers' hard power would not be as good as theirs, which would be a bit awkward. But she didn't expect the academy to directly throw them to Professor Su—now there's definitely no problem. Who would dare to say that Professor Su's strength is not enough?

"Professor Su is indeed not bad. Not only is he strong, but he's also quite handsome."

That being said, when Li Yeyu recalled seeing Professor Su eating lunch with her teammate Shao Qiming in the school cafeteria, eating more than twenty people's worth of food in one meal, she didn't know why, but the throbbing in her heart completely disappeared, and she felt that it was better to just admire his appearance. In fact, Li Yeyu was filled with awe for Su Zhou's inner self: "What kind of structure does he have to hold so much… As expected of a transcendent!"

"Although he's handsome, never mind."

Inside the aircraft, Su Zhou introduced the specific mission to the team. When they disembarked and headed towards the mission objective in an armored vehicle, Su Zhou also tried his best to fulfill the responsibility of a professor, asking about the students' situation and planning to slightly adjust some training plans based on individual circumstances after understanding everyone's strength.

"It can be seen that Professor Su is very talkative, but Li Hanshan, this taciturn person, is a typical case of autism—there's a problem with the Chongming Li family's sound inheritance. The Chongming Bird's 'voice like a phoenix' power cannot be exerted, and even speaking too much has negative effects. It's been cultivated since childhood. Isn't that autism?"

Li Yeyu had already prepared a series of answers in her heart, but after Su Zhou ran into a wall with Li Hanshan, he just glanced at her and stopped, hesitant to speak. In the end, he even gave up asking, muttering words like, 'Could it be that geniuses are all autistic? But I'm not autistic…' Then he turned his head and stopped talking.

Li Yeyu, who was only pretending to be taciturn, was shocked on the spot—ask me! Why do you have a look on your face that says, 'You don't seem to like talking either, so I won't ask.' I'm not Li Hanshan, the autistic one. His setbacks have nothing to do with me!

"Speaking of which, Li Hanshan is also—clearly he looks good, why is he a taciturn person who trembles when someone asks him a question!"

Thinking of this, Li Yeyu couldn't help but use the corner of her eye to look at the other two slightly more normal teammates in the team: "Guan Wanjing should be a descendant of the 'Only Martial Liu Family'. This lineage doesn't emphasize bloodlines, but emphasizes tempering the body and scientific training. The reason it's called the Liu Family is mainly because the founder's surname was Liu… Well, his muscles are indeed very strong and handsome, but they've all been trained into muscle armor. I'll pass on that."

"It seems that only Shao Qiming is good. He always has a smile on his face, looks good, and is very talkative. He has good talent and a normal physique. He's my type!"

—But do I have a lot of types that I like? No, if I like one type every day, then it's not being a generalist, it's being devoted!

Thinking wildly all the way, Li Yeyu always maintained a poker face. The group arrived near the Kunlun Ruins and came to the camp under Bai Canglang's guidance.

The spiritual pressure around the Kunlun Ruins was indeed unusual. Ordinary cultivators might not feel it, but as a wielder of Tongyou Divine Power (ability to traverse the underworld), Li Yeyu felt a clear sense of oppression. She felt a strange atmosphere was emanating from the distant, luminous mountains, making her feel very uncomfortable.

Just as Li Yeyu was thinking about finding an opportunity to speak up and report her feelings, Su Zhou frowned first and said, "I feel demonic energy."

"The situation is not quite right."

"So that strange atmosphere from just now was demonic energy?" Everyone present couldn't help but become alert after hearing Su Zhou's judgment—although the Kunlun Ruins was the base camp of the Simulated Dao Sect, it was normal to have demonic energy. However, Su Zhou's meaning was clearly not about the obvious demonic energy, but that he had sensed something was wrong.

"You guys stay in the camp first. If there are any missions, just go out as normal… Li Yeyu, your father is an old leader in the Security Department, so he should be very familiar with the relevant procedures. You will be the captain for this operation."

After discussing with Bai Canglang for a while, Su Zhou issued instructions and then went to the main camp to attend a meeting.

Huh, me? For a moment, Li Yeyu didn't react, but she found that her body instinctively and seriously nodded in agreement.

The die was cast. She couldn't refuse what she had agreed to by saying things like, 'I'm not suitable. Perhaps you should find someone else for the position of captain.'

After Su Zhou left, Li Yeyu took on the responsibility of the captain and began to assign rooms and issue instructions. The entire team would temporarily cultivate and wait for the distress signals from the areas they were responsible for.

Fortunately, the other three members of the team had no objections. After all, one was autistic, and the other two were not power-hungry people who insisted on being the captain. So they began to organize their equipment.

Combat and exploration students are required to undergo practical combat assessments, so they naturally need to take elective courses on the weapons used in combat.

Shao Qiming's weapon was very ordinary. It was a handgun with spirit power bullets and a special high-performance blinding flashlight. Combined with his spirit power attribute, the strong light emitted by the flashlight could even eliminate low-level spiritual entities on a large scale—he was not a main combat member. His position was as an auxiliary healer, so he did not pursue destructive power. He only needed to be able to protect himself and provide control.

As the vanguard of the team, Guan Wanjing's weapon was a war hammer, a special large shield, and a shotgun—he had undergone shooting training, and after applying to become an official cultivator, he immediately obtained a legal gun license through connections. The shotgun itself was also specially made, and in critical moments, it could also be used as a hammer. At that time, he could abandon the shield and dual-wield war hammers for output.

Li Hanshan was a reconnaissance and long-range attacker. His weapon was a military sniper crossbow, forged using traditional spirit tool techniques. Its killing power and braking power against large targets at short distances were far greater than bullets. It was a weapon designed for various giant demon beasts and monsters. Because he didn't know if it would be convenient to shoot inside the ruins, he also carried a long sword for close combat.

As for Li Yeyu herself, as a stealth and reconnaissance specialist, her weapon was also a handgun with spirit power bullets, and her close combat weapon was an armor-piercing cone that was convenient for striking and breaking away from an attack, and also to break spirit power shields.

The scenery of the Kunlun Mountains was quite beautiful, and the spiritual energy concentration was extremely high. Even though it started to snow heavily soon after, it did not affect the cultivators' cultivation. Feeling the spiritual energy that was far richer than in ordinary areas and cultivating in this environment, not to mention Shao Qiming and Guan Wanjing, who were already smiling normally, even Li Hanshan, who was suspected of having autism, looked much better.

Even Li Yeyu herself felt a tingling sensation in her body when cultivating here. The speed at which spiritual energy permeated her body was much faster than usual!

"The plateau area puts a lot of burden on the body, but the spiritual energy is rich, which can accelerate the body's adaptation to this unusual environment. While increasing the speed of cultivation, it also tempers the body!"

"No wonder ancient cultivators chose to cultivate under waterfalls and seclude themselves in snow mountains. There is indeed a reason for it!"

At this time, Li Yeyu realized why the academy had gathered all the combat and exploration students this time—although there was danger in carrying out missions, the rewards were also great! Staying safely in the rear could guarantee safe cultivation, but there were no benefits of being on the front lines.

"I really hope that we can continue to cultivate peacefully like this."

Although she hoped so, Li Yeyu, who could feel the surrounding eerie atmosphere, was also very clear that this was basically impossible.

Sure enough, the next day.

A scarlet distress signal lit up in the area that Su Zhou's team was responsible for.