Po Jun Sword

Lin Yan took the elevator from the third floor to the fifth.

Dressed in military uniform, he stood straight as a ramrod outside the director's office and called out loudly, "Reporting!"

"Come in." A refined-looking middle-aged man in uniform sat inside the office. Strands of white mingled in his neatly combed hair.

"Have a seat."

Lin Yan sat down.

Director Liu flipped through the documents on his desk. After a while, he said, "Congratulations on successfully passing the Quasi-Warrior assessment."

"An eighteen-year-old Warrior is no ordinary thing."

"And those results..."

He had not personally witnessed Lin Yan's test. Seeing the neural response test score on the report, he had nearly thought there was a mistake.

But on second thought, he knew that was impossible. There could be absolutely no errors in test results for something like this.

Lin Yan sat upright, not growing complacent because of the praise. "You flatter me, sir."

Director Liu smiled and shook his head, then got straight to the point. "Regarding your application to undergo the Warrior practical assessment, the military district has issued a document approving it. However, the format will be somewhat different. Of course, you may choose to refuse. In that case, we will conduct a unified practical assessment for all Quasi-Warriors after the monster tide."

Lin Yan was somewhat puzzled. "What?"

What did he mean by a different format?

Director Liu of the Affairs Office explained, "Team Leader Liu Mingxuan of the military district's security division learned that you have now advanced to Warrior level. He has requested your transfer to join a newly formed temporary Special Operations Squad and carry out a secret mission with him. The mission location will be deep within the Wilderness Area."

"Huh?"

Lin Yan was a little dumbfounded. He had only asked for some swordsmanship guidance, and now they were directly transferring him away?

"Regardless of whether the mission succeeds, so long as you return safely after this trip deep into the Wilderness Area, you will pass the Warrior assessment and obtain Warrior qualifications."

Lin Yan grumbled inwardly, Well, obviously. If I'm heading deep into the Wilderness Area, I wouldn't be able to come back without that level of ability.

After thinking it over, Lin Yan asked, "May I know the details of this secret mission?"

Director Liu smiled. "If you agree, Captain Liu Mingxuan will coordinate with you and introduce your mission objective."

"However, this mission is highly dangerous. I hope you will consider it carefully."

Lin Yan thought seriously for a moment. Liu Mingxuan did not seem like an unreliable person, and they had no conflicts between them. There was no reason for him to harm Lin Yan. Besides, Lin Yan owed him a favor for teaching him swordsmanship.

Moreover, he had no experience entering the Wilderness Area. If he joined this Special Operations Squad, with the support of other team members, he could grow faster as well.

Taking a little risk was worth it.

"I agree."

"Good. Your Special Operations Squad's codename will be 'Starlight.' In a moment, I'll arrange for someone to take you to your operations base. Now, I will teach you the Gene Energy Cultivation Method."

Director Liu tapped a few keys on the keyboard on his desk, and an article appeared on the large transparent screen beside Lin Yan.

Lin Yan carefully read its contents.

Once one's genes were optimized to the Warrior level, one could absorb energy from the universe and merge it into the body's cells. During this process, the bones, cells, blood, internal organs, skin, and everything else would evolve.

This process of integrating cosmic energy into one's cells and turning it into one's own energy was Gene Energy.

On Earth, there was only one method for cultivating Gene Energy: the Five Hearts Facing Heaven Cultivation Method.

The article was not long, and Lin Yan quickly committed it to memory.

Only after seeing that he had memorized the contents did Director Liu speak. "Your degree of genetic optimization has already reached the required threshold for cultivating Gene Energy. You can try cultivating it after you return."

"However, the Five Hearts Facing Heaven Cultivation Method is not very efficient at absorbing energy. As a National Defense University student, you should also know about Guidance Techniques. Through a Guidance Technique, you can increase your cells' capacity and extend the effective cultivation time."

"This can increase cultivation efficiency severalfold or even dozens of times."

"However, such Guidance Techniques are very precious."

"The military district's training plan for you is to grant you authorization to collect a full set of Series 5 combat equipment, as well as ten thousand merit points' worth of secret manuals in Guidance Techniques, movement techniques, and attack techniques for you to choose from."

"You may not know much about the military's merit point system, so let me explain briefly. Compared to the Limit Martial Hall's online store, ten thousand merit points have purchasing power exceeding one hundred million Huaxia credits!"

"This is the highest training standard within the military!"

An eighteen-year-old Warrior was an exceptionally valuable talent. He had reviewed Lin Yan's file, which recorded his performance in the military. Despite not yet reaching Warrior level, he had mastered the Thunderclap Sword with proficiency and had even come close to the fifth level. His firearm skills were even more outstanding, as he had repeatedly killed F-class Monsters with an M64 sniper rifle.

This showed that Lin Yan not only possessed outstanding talent and astonishing comprehension, but also excellent military qualities and combat aptitude.

The military district had evaluated Lin Yan as an S-rank talent with immense training value.

Even Lin Yan was surprised by the level of support. He was only a Beginner Warrior, yet they were directly granting him authorization to collect Series 5 combat equipment. That was quite rare.

But it also showed, from another angle, that the military district had high expectations for Lin Yan's rate of progress.

Director Liu tapped on the keyboard, and countless images immediately appeared on the large screen beside Lin Yan. "This is the military's internal secret manual exchange system. You can take a look and choose something. Since you will soon be carrying out a mission, strengthening yourself is very important."

Lin Yan examined it carefully and was somewhat surprised. He had originally thought that Hong's "World Exterminating" and Thunder God's "Nine Heavens Thunder Blade" existed only in their martial halls' online stores. He had not expected them to be available in the military exchange system as well.

It seemed they had reached some sort of agreement.

The exchange cost was as high as ten million merit points. Even with the half-price discount granted by military rank, it would still cost five million merit points!

The longer Lin Yan looked, the more indecisive he became. With the system in hand, he did not actually have an urgent need for these secret manuals. His Supreme Induction Guidance Technique had even been judged to be ultimate-grade.

It was absolutely top-tier on Earth.

Besides, of Earth's two strongest people, one used a gun and the other a saber. He was more compatible with a battle sword, so there was no need to change the path he wanted to take because of them. Their secret manuals were not suitable for him.

As he scrolled through the screen, his eyes lit up when he saw an SS-rank sword technique.

"Po Jun Sword," category: sword technique. Rating: SS-rank. Price: 1 million merit points (full price), 500,000 merit points (half price, requirement: colonel rank).

The Po Jun Sword was famous to Lin Yan. It was the sword technique of the former president of National Defense University. He had heard that after the former president broke through from War God to Planetary level, he joined the government's highest-level special missions department and became one of Huaxia's foremost experts.

But whether it was merit points or military rank, he did not meet the requirements.

He opened the detailed information for the Po Jun Sword and saw that it had nine levels in total, along with a matching Guidance Technique.

However, the nine levels could be purchased separately.

"Po Jun Sword," all nine levels—Price: 1 million merit points (full price), 500,000 merit points (half price, requirement: colonel rank).

"Po Jun Sword," first eight levels—Price: 500,000 merit points (full price), 250,000 merit points (half price, requirement: lieutenant colonel rank).

"Po Jun Sword," first four levels—Price: 20,000 merit points (full price), 10,000 merit points (half price, requirement: captain rank).

"Po Jun Sword," first three levels—Price: 10,000 merit points (full price), 5,000 merit points (half price, requirement: Second Lieutenant rank).

"Po Jun Sword," first two levels—Price: 5,000 merit points (full price), 2,500 merit points (half price, requirement: Second Lieutenant rank).

"Po Jun Sword," first level—Price: 2,000 merit points (full price), 1,000 merit points (half price, requirement: Second Lieutenant rank).

His rank was merely Second Lieutenant, so only the first level qualified for the half-price discount. At full price, he could buy the first three levels, but that felt like a terrible loss.

A loss of a hundred million in the truest sense.

Seeing Lin Yan's conflicted expression, Director Liu immediately guessed what he was struggling with and smiled. "Strictly speaking, based on your performance in this monster tide war and the fact that you have now become a Warrior, your military rank can be promoted. But such matters must wait until after the war, when the military district conducts its unified evaluations."

"However, given your special circumstances, I can grant you special authorization. You can purchase the first four levels at half price."

The hundred million he would have lost was back.

Lin Yan happily clicked to purchase the first four levels of the Po Jun Sword.