"The danger has been neutralized. Every Gray Blood organization warship has disintegrated."
After receiving the news, Qing Mu let out a long breath. Black Tiger, Old Mu, and Feng Zheng also relaxed their taut heartstrings. They had actually been locked onto in reverse by the Gray Blood organization and had nearly gone from hunters to prey. Today had truly been perilous.
Wang Xuan said nothing. He disliked this feeling intensely. His own safety was completely beyond his control, driven by others. That was not what he wanted.
From the old man's perspective, there was nothing to criticize. The fishing operation had succeeded, and this battle had been clean, swift, and beautifully executed, dealing the Gray Blood organization a grievous blow.
But from Wang Xuan's perspective, if even the slightest accident had happened today, their spacecraft would have been blasted into scrap metal, and none of them would have survived.
"Got something on your mind?" As a master of Old Arts, Qing Mu naturally possessed extraordinary perception and noticed that Wang Xuan was in low spirits.
Wang Xuan did not hide it. "The fishing operation succeeded today, but as bait, we could have been swallowed by a big fish at any moment. In the end, life and death were decided entirely by luck."
Black Tiger, Feng Zheng, and Old Mu said nothing, but they all agreed with him. Still, they had weathered many crises and had grown somewhat accustomed to them.
"I'll report this matter to those above," Qing Mu said, temporarily letting the issue drop.
Wang Xuan silently pondered. Though the Exploration Organization was powerful and reaped abundant rewards from every operation, being a chess piece whose fate others threw onto the board made him deeply uncomfortable. The thought of withdrawing had begun to take root.
He wanted to explore the field of Old Arts freely. He did not want to become a pawn in certain organizations.
Deep within the Great Canyon, clouds surged toward the heavens as energy cannons bombarded without cease.
This contingent of the Gray Blood organization still did not know that their escape route had been cut off, nor that their own medium warship had been completely blown apart. They continued advancing.
But trouble soon found them. Deep beneath the canyon lay a large number of modern High-Energy Weapons, which launched a fierce counterattack against the invading Gray Blood organization.
Only then did they realize something was wrong. If this were an immortal's tomb, how could so many high-tech weapons have been deployed here? There were even more energy cannons than they had.
Advanced robots came running out one after another, firing energy guns at them in sweeping barrages.
The Gray Blood organization's people realized the situation was bad and swiftly retreated, immediately contacting the rear for support. But they could not get through at all.
"Who are you? Why have you set an ambush here and targeted us?" the Gray Blood organization's people shouted.
The people deep within the Great Canyon flew into a rage. "You attacked our underground experimental site, and you still dare claim that we targeted you? Ridiculous!"
Both sides nearly blasted the Great Canyon to pieces. Some mechs charged all the way to the front line, their energy guns spewing beams of light while their alloy blades swung through the air.
The battle was extraordinarily brutal!
The Gray Blood organization still had small spacecraft nearby, but seeing the two forces tangled together inside the canyon, they had no way to lend support.
In the end, the Gray Blood organization's people collapsed and began a desperate rout. The spacecraft took flight first, but before they could get far, they were hit and exploded in succession.
Relevant Department personnel were waiting in the distance, while the Exploration Organization had also been lying in wait for a long time. Seeing the Gray Blood organization's people flee in defeat, they naturally showed no mercy.
The people deep underground in the Great Canyon fell silent. They realized they had been watched, and that more than one force had come to the Greater Khingan Range.
They had a premonition that they most likely could not resist this time. They roughly guessed which side had arrived. They could only blame themselves for secretly conducting research here for so many years without reporting it to the Relevant Department on Old Earth.
But they were unwilling to surrender without a fight and hand over all their scientific achievements. They decided to reveal some of this place's extraordinary nature, making the coming negotiations easier.
While communicating with the other side through a connection, they transported several items up from the depths underground. One was actually a section of golden bamboo, complete with leaves and brimming with vitality. Most astonishingly, when they activated it with some kind of instrument, rosy clouds shot upward, erupting with powerful supernatural force.
In an instant, the nearby spacecraft all suffered interference, as though they had been struck by some kind of shockwave.
"The raw material for Golden Bamboo Slips?" Wang Xuan was moved. Standing before the spacecraft's large screen, he could not tear his eyes away. Even the leaves on that bamboo were flowing with golden radiance and blooming into a rain of light. It was what had disrupted the various precision instruments nearby.
Qing Mu was astonished. "Supernatural power is being released through that bamboo, and it's one-way, ensuring that they themselves aren't affected by the shock."
What exactly was hidden beneath this land? That research institute from New Star was openly displaying such an extraordinary plant without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Over so many years, the major organizations and financial conglomerates of New Star had found only four Golden Bamboo Slips in total on Old Earth, yet they had never obtained living native bamboo like this. There was actually some beneath the Greater Khingan Range?
Boom!
Clearly, the upper ranks of the Exploration Organization and the Relevant Department had both received reports. They swiftly moved to eliminate the Gray Blood organization's remaining forces, then ceased fire and accepted the connection from the underground experimental site, opening negotiations.
"Qing Mu, take Jin Chuan and accompany the Relevant Department personnel into the canyon. Find out what exactly is going on with that underground experimental site."
At that moment, the old man contacted Qing Mu again, telling him to bring several capable assistants deep underground.
There was no doubt that the Exploration Organization had always maintained close ties with the Relevant Department. Otherwise, there would not have been such cooperation today.
Black Tiger, Feng Zheng, and Old Mu watched eagerly. All of them wanted to enter the Great Canyon and take a look at what this research institute from New Star had discovered and what scientific achievements it had made.
They knew there would be no danger now. Spacecraft filled the skies outside, and all sorts of High-Energy Weapons were trained on the canyon. The people underground would have to be insane to start a war.
"Little Wang, Black Tiger, you two come with me." Qing Mu was the first to disembark from the spacecraft. Then he selected six more people from the other groups and led them forward.
Feng Zheng and Old Mu were slightly disappointed, but they understood. Though there should not be much danger, those with better combat skills still needed to be chosen.
Jin Chuan also arrived with eight people and waited at the entrance to the Great Canyon.
Seven people from the Relevant Department arrived. The leader was around forty years old, responsible for liaison and preliminary negotiations. He wore black-rimmed glasses.
The moment Wang Xuan saw his profile, his heart gave a sudden leap.
Ever since he had heard the old man speaking with Qing Mu a short while ago, he had been suspicious. Could it have been his former colleague?
Now he saw this middle-aged man again. He was actually wearing the same style of black-rimmed glasses as that old fellow from Wang Xuan's office, and Wang Xuan nearly began imagining things again.
Fortunately, he was certain that even if this man wore a Realistic Human Skin Mask, he absolutely was not that old fellow. As a master of Old Arts, Wang Xuan possessed powerful intuitive senses.
Beside the man in black-rimmed glasses stood two military personnel, both masters in the field of Old Arts.
The remaining four were all specialists in life science research. This time, they had mainly come to accompany those four inside to inspect and confirm certain matters.
The Great Canyon had been battered into a complete mess. A small spacecraft appeared and carried them deep inside, all the way to the end, before plunging into an enormous cave.
They then left the spacecraft and saw the underground fortifications. They had been built comprehensively, with every facility constructed to modern standards.
The lights were bright, the underground space was vast, and it was filled with a modern atmosphere, as though they had entered the interior of a skyscraper.
Underground, there were extensive living quarters as well as the most advanced laboratory areas.
The group rode an elevator more than a hundred meters downward before it stopped. They then left the underground area, so full of modernity, and headed toward a stretch of caverns.
"This is where we made our most astonishing discovery. Since we have decided to share it with Old Earth, we will now conceal absolutely nothing..."
The people from New Star accompanied them, explaining as they went.
Their organization was not insignificant. It was highly renowned on New Star, a life science research institute called "Origin."
It sounded like nothing more than a scientific research institution, but it had footholds in many fields and vast industries. Otherwise, it could not have supported the construction of such a massive experimental site on Old Earth.
At the very least, they did not fear mercenary organizations like Gray Blood, because the Origin Life Research Institute itself controlled sufficient security forces.
"How did you find this place?" the middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses asked as they walked.
This was the Greater Khingan Range, thick with primeval forest. It was not some famous mountain or great river, and there were no mythological legends about it. Without some clue, anyone who came here to turn over the earth and casually dug hundreds of meters down was either crazy or stupid.
A female researcher from New Star explained, "We deciphered a set of Pre-Qin Bamboo Slips and learned of this place from them. After exploring for many years, we finally found it."
"What was recorded on those bamboo slips that made you pursue this place all the way here?" the man in black-rimmed glasses asked.
Wang Xuan stood not far from him and was equally interested in these questions.
"The bamboo slips mentioned a Female Daoist practitioner. She seemed to have enjoyed great renown in that era and aspired to join the ranks of the Transcendent Immortals. Although the bamboo slips recording her were damaged and the text incomplete, they mentioned this location, so we followed the trail here."
The people from New Star had once excavated several damaged corpses of Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners on Old Earth and extracted anomalous substances from their bones and hair, substances of astonishing scientific value. Since there was a Female Daoist practitioner here who might have become an immortal, they had naturally been incomparably tempted.
One had to know that the foremost experts among Daoist practitioners could all be called legends of myth, possessing all manner of inconceivable abilities. Their ruins were exceedingly difficult to find.
Once any news about them emerged, even if it was in an era where New Arts had risen to prominence, it would still draw extraordinary attention from all major institutions.
Besides, the Transcendent Immortals could not be found. Many believed that the foremost Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners might have been the immortals of legend!
"Did you find that Female Daoist practitioner?" the middle-aged man in black-rimmed glasses asked.
"We found her." The female researcher walking beside him deeper into the cave answered with certainty. She instructed someone to activate the stone chamber ahead.
Amid rumbling sounds, the stone door opened, and an indescribable aura immediately flowed out.
In fact, even before entering, Wang Xuan already believed the female researcher's words.
He felt something extremely familiar, as though he stood within the Inner Scenery Realm. He caught traces of Mysterious Factor. That substance was actually drifting down slowly here!
Then, everyone was stunned.
Ahead stood a golden bamboo stalk with a diameter of a full meter. It had been split open and fashioned into a small boat. Lying within it was a young woman, lifelike, as though she had only fallen asleep not long after.
This woman fit modern standards of beauty. Her delicate skin was snow-white and crystalline, her hair black and lustrous. Not a single flaw could be found in her features. She was extraordinarily beautiful.
"She still has vitality!" Qing Mu's expression turned grave as he spoke right away, sounding somewhat tense.
Though the woman had her eyes closed and did not move, the faint aura emitting from her made Qing Mu's heart pound with alarm. It was like a herbivore encountering the king of beasts, seized by intense unease and the urge to flee.
Wang Xuan was also staring at the woman in the Golden Bamboo Boat. He could indeed sense a powerful life force.
This young woman's body had not decayed. Her clothes bore the heavy style of the Pre-Qin era, yet after all these years, they had remained intact just like her body.
"That's right. Her body seems to still be alive!" The female researcher from New Star nodded solemnly.
Thanks to Silver Alliance leader Three Lives Fate Zonglie the Hunter. Thank you for the Silver Alliance support.
And thanks as well to Miss Jiaran and the owl with weak thrusting, for becoming alliance leaders. Thank you for your support.
Before you continue