Cornerstone

At this moment, in the training hall.

"The Supreme Patrol Division of Divine Land oversees all matters related to Otherworldly Users, while the Supreme Supervisory Division is responsible for oversight. The use and management of Otherworldly Users follows measures that are strict without lacking flexibility. The discovery, activation, transfer, trade... of all Otherworldly Users must be registered with the Patrol Division. After registration and review, private legal ownership within a limited scope is permitted."

Engineer Zheng, whom Wenren Sheng had met that morning, was continuing the class and earnestly teaching the trainees basic knowledge.

At that moment, a male trainee suddenly raised his hand. He had delicate features and looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, at the age of high spirits and ambition.

"Student Wang Xia, what is your question?" Engineer Zheng asked kindly.

Before becoming an expert, everyone was merely temporary staff. The older they were, the lower their status instead...

Wang Xia said seriously, "Otherworldly Users are so important and dangerous. Why allow private ownership? We are not some loosely governed Western world. The Palace Administration should manage them strictly and prohibit private ownership."

"Heh." Engineer Zheng smiled. "What you said makes some sense. But the current measures are determined by the characteristics of Otherworldly Users. The activation and growth of some Otherworldly Users are entirely unpredictable. Some must even be passed down within a single family line before they can be activated and developed. Such matters were mentioned repeatedly in Records of Ancient Gods and Monsters, where ancient people recorded them as tales of gods, monsters, and strange phenomena."

Wang Xia did not sit down and continued, "Teacher, I have read that book. But compared with that small benefit, the risks are far greater. Are we really going to abandon a safer management method for the sake of a few Otherworldly Users? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

"Putting the cart before the horse?" The kindness on Engineer Zheng's face gradually faded. He shook his head. "No. Not putting the cart before the horse means that the latter is more important, important enough that one must bear the risks brought by the former. But those few Otherworldly Users are often even more important."

Wang Xia still seemed unconvinced.

Engineer Zheng could only say, "Let's not talk about distant examples. Take Manager Wenren of our Club. You should all know that it was his first time activating an Otherworldly User, yet within a year, he received an Expert Level Evaluation in the Mysterious Realm."

"Of course I know that. Teacher Wenren is the idol of us young Otherworldly Users." There was a trace of admiration and longing in Wang Xia's eyes.

"But what you do not know is that our Club also has a great expert. She was the one who brought Manager Wenren into the field, and her Otherworldly User was inherited from her ancestors. No one else can activate it, or even touch it," Engineer Zheng said solemnly.

"This is not an isolated case. An inherited Otherworldly User, nurtured and cultivated through countless generations, is often extremely powerful. It also has a high degree of compatibility with its host and grows quickly. Nearly every generation of hosts can receive an Expert Level Evaluation or even higher. They can be used to resist extremely high-level dangerous incidents, so private legal ownership must be permitted."

"Who is that person?" Wang Xia immediately asked.

Just as Engineer Zheng was about to say her name, his expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly ran down from the podium.

The trainees were bewildered. Then they saw a white fluorescent tube hanging from the ceiling directly above the podium, swaying back and forth before crashing down! "Sigh, that great expert is getting more and more formidable. Now even her name cannot be mentioned," Engineer Zheng said with lingering fear. "You may think getting hit by that would be no big deal, but let me tell you, if you cannot avoid it the first time, an Ordinary Otherworldly User at my level can easily become tainted by that Otherworldly User's aura. Then danger will come one after another."

Wang Xia was dumbfounded. He could still tell whether what had just happened was a coincidence.

Her Alien Power was actually so powerful that merely mentioning the host's name could trigger repeated retaliation! He no longer spoke of putting the cart before the horse, because the miraculous nature displayed by this single Otherworldly User was enough to completely overturn his previous understanding of the mysterious.

No wonder that even with the rapid development of modern weapons, and the emergence of the Doomsday Mushroom, which could already completely replace Otherworldly Users in maintaining strategic balance and safeguarding lasting peace, Otherworldly Users still firmly occupied the upper ranks.

What had just happened was the cornerstone protecting the status of Otherworldly Users...

If Otherworldly Users were completely rejected, then when faced with what had just happened, how could those Ordinary People fight back? Amid his shock, Wang Xia suddenly grew excited, his body filled with strength. Wasn't this even better? After all, he himself was one of them. He wanted to go higher and farther in this field.

The other trainees were even more excited, whispering among themselves.

"I never expected our Club to be this impressive. It really is full of hidden masters..."

"Don't say 'our Club.' We're only trainees. At most, we have the advantage of being familiar faces."

"I heard the threshold for getting in isn't that high. You can apply for an interview with a Skilled Level Evaluation."

"That's only for doing grunt work, like the person on stage... If you want shares, you need an Expert Level Evaluation. It's much like companies in ordinary industries."

Zhao Han, who was seated in the middle, was also excitedly chatting with several female trainees she had become close to, expressing her hopes for the future.

As she spoke, delight suddenly appeared on her face, and she stopped talking to the classmates beside her.

The Seed of Narration, which she had only used once yesterday morning, had recovered and sent her another new prompt.

Its recovery speed now seemed much faster than before she came to the Club?

Mm, it must be because I've worked so hard these past few days that it has finally grown without me realizing it.

Zhao Han thought with gratification, then reflected on the prompt that had appeared in her mind.

"After hearing Teacher Zheng speak, Zhao Han suddenly had an idea. She recalled the prophecy she had received before. The person in this Club whom she could not approach should be the great expert he was speaking of now."

"And just as the students said, this Club is indeed filled with many secrets. Take Wu Shanshan, whose relationship with her had only just begun to ease. Who could have imagined that she was actually the biological daughter of Teacher Wu, Deputy Manager Wu of the Project Center?"

It had given her two important pieces of information at once?

Not bad, not bad.

Zhao Han was even happier, but as she thought further, her face suddenly went pale. Then it flushed bright red, and she lowered her head.

Because she suddenly remembered that when she had first met Wu Shanshan last week, she had imagined Wu Shanshan to be a new employee who had risen through improper means.

Now, it seemed that had been nothing more than a groundless slander born from her own heart.

With a relationship like that, Wu Shanshan had no need to curry favor with anyone else to rise in rank, because Old Wu himself was also an Expert Level figure in the Mysterious Realm.

In other words, she genuinely liked Teacher Wenren. Their relationship was a pure one between teacher and student...

Her initial hostility toward Zhao Han had not been due to competition for a position, but rather those matters between women and men.

At that moment, she was immensely grateful that she had never liked gossiping about others, much less using baseless speculation to slander them. Those shameful thoughts had merely passed through her mind at the time.

Otherwise, she truly could not imagine how she would face Wu Shanshan now, or how she would face her good friend Xu Yunshuang. No one would like a girl who baselessly slandered others...

External Relations Center.

Wenren Sheng was sitting on a sofa, holding a small meeting with the colleagues here.

"As for the Ordinary Person who sought special assistance yesterday, after our preliminary review this morning, we determined that he was unsuitable for assistance. Therefore, we did not transfer the case to the Project Center," said a young professional woman in her twenties.

Wenren Sheng leaned back slightly, neither approving nor disapproving.

Seeing Wenren Sheng glance at her, she explained, "After our preliminary inquiries, we found that the Patrol Division has already followed up on this matter. It would be best for us to wait until they request assistance before intervening. First, we are short on manpower right now, and many projects are reaching their final stages. Second, if we get involved rashly, it could easily cause unnecessary conflict with the Patrol Division."

"Mm." Wenren Sheng nodded. "As for the Project Center's matters, once this week is over, I'll work overtime to handle them. By the way, did you ask that person how he learned about our Club?"

Tianxing Club did not conduct business openly with the public. It only dealt with local Palace Administrations, as well as corporate or family clients with whom it had established trustworthy relationships.

These matters were all handled by the External Relations Center. They carefully selected projects that balanced risk and return, while filtering out clients who made too many demands for too little money. Of course, assignments from the Patrol Division often could not be refused...

That was the nature of private organizations, and also why the Patrol Division's status was so important.

"Oh, we specifically asked him about that. He only said that when he was making inquiries on some forum on the Internet, someone proactively contacted him. If we obtain further information, we will notify you promptly," the professional woman immediately replied.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Manager Chen." Wenren Sheng stood up.

Not only had he gained nothing, he had also been forced to promise to work overtime. This trip seemed to have been a loss.

Thinking that, he turned and walked out of the office.