The Grand Ancestor Makes a Move (Part 1)

In a secret room within the Zhejiang Provincial Department of State Security, a middle-aged man with a stern face, an imposing presence, and a slightly pale complexion sat cross-legged on a stone bed, inhaling and exhaling. The prominent bulges on his temples indicated that he was an extremely powerful internal martial arts master. After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the man stopped cultivating and slowly opened his eyes, but they were sadly devoid of any spirit. He sighed deeply and said in a low voice, "I never expected these Japanese devils' ninjutsu to be so formidable. It looks like it will take a month or two to recover from this injury." Then, he opened the door to the secret room and walked towards the conference room.

This middle-aged man was the deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of State Security, but he also held another identity as the head of the Zhejiang branch of the Special Department. The Special Department was an even more mysterious entity than the Department of State Security, carrying out more sensitive missions unknown to the public. Its members were basically extraordinary individuals, such as legendary martial arts masters and those with special abilities. Similar departments existed abroad, like ninjas and samurai in Japan, and vampires, wizards, and sorcerers in Europe, who served government agencies.

The middle-aged man's name was Chen Jiaying. He was a disciple of the Wudang Sect's Hao generation, making him Song Feng's grand-nephew. He was a standout among the Hao generation disciples of Wudang. At the age of forty, he had already become a Three-star Warrior in the Special Department. The Special Department classified strength by stars, from one to five. Generally, the heads of provincial branches were required to reach the three-star level, while the heads of special operations teams like the Dragon Group, Tiger Group, and Leopard Group were four-star or above. The heads of the Special Department itself were all five-star level. As for the Guest Elders of the Special Department, their strength could not be categorized by stars; it was unknown. They were typically legendary figures in the martial arts world. For instance, another identity of martial arts masters like Song Feng, the second disciple of the Wudang Sect Leader, was that of a Guest Elder of the Special Department. Of course, even the second-generation disciples of Wudang, the highest existence in Wudang, Zhang Hupan, had inexplicably become Guest Elders of the Special Department.

This time, the Zhejiang University National Key Materials Research Base had invented a metal alloy whose performance in all aspects far surpassed current technological levels. If applied to the aviation field, China's aviation industry would advance to a new level, reaching the pinnacle of global aviation. Unexpectedly, before this invention could be officially reviewed and approved by the expert group composed of five academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Japanese had already learned of this highly classified national secret through spies lurking in China. Of course, the Japanese were not foolish enough to use their military to seize this technological achievement; instead, they dispatched members of Japan's Special Department to participate in this operation.

Japan had dispatched elite ninjas this time, equivalent to China's Three-star Warriors. This demonstrated how highly the Japanese valued this operation. Caught off guard, they managed to succeed, and Chen Jiaying was severely injured in his confrontation with the Japanese ninjas.

In the conference room, the members of the Zhejiang Special Department looked anxiously at Chen Jiaying, who sat at the head of the table with a slightly pale face.

"Boss, what should we do? If we don't stop them soon, those Japanese devils will take our technological achievement back," said a burly young man, about twenty years old, with a worried expression.

Chen Jiaying looked at his eager disciple, Wang Ming, and said sternly, "How many times have I told you not to be impatient, but to handle things calmly? Have you learned nothing all these years?"

Wang Ming was about to defend his actions, but after being glared at by Chen Jiaying, he shrank back and dared not make a sound.

"Chen Sheng, what did headquarters say?" Although Chen Jiaying was as anxious as his disciple, he asked the middle-aged man sitting to his left with a calm expression.

"The fastest Headquarters can get here is four hours from now."

"What? Four more hours? By the time they arrive, the item will have already been smuggled out," Wang Ming couldn't help but exclaim again, earning another fierce glare from Chen Jiaying.

"However, Headquarters mentioned that we have a Guest Elder at Zhejiang XX University. Perhaps we can seek his help first," Chen Sheng added.

"Mm," Chen Jiaying nodded, agreeing with Chen Sheng's suggestion. He then asked another young man who looked very capable, "Have you kept a close eye on the Japanese?"

"Yes, they've now hidden themselves in the Songxia Japanese-funded Enterprise. I suspect this enterprise, besides making money in China, might also be a secret Japanese department. They'll likely move by tonight at the latest," the young man replied methodically.

"Good work. But tell your subordinates not to make any moves. These devils are extremely powerful. If I'm not mistaken, the group Japan sent this time is their Ghost Group. Japan has invested heavily this time," Chen Jiaying said in a deep voice.

"If our Dragon Group were here, those devils wouldn't dare to be so arrogant!" Wang Ming grumbled resentfully. Wang Ming's greatest wish in life was to become a member of the Dragon Group, the true elite of the Special Department, incomparable to their local units.

Winter nights always arrived early. Although it was only eight o'clock, the sky was already extremely dark. "Screech!" A speeding military jeep screeched to a halt in front of the entrance to the first male dormitory. The license plate was the ostentatious Military 00009. A burly young man got out of the driver's seat, and a distinguished middle-aged man got out of the passenger seat. They hurried towards the dormitory's reception office.

These two were Chen Jiaying and Wang Ming. After a brief meeting, Chen Jiaying once again solemnly instructed them not to act rashly against the Japanese devils. After carefully inquiring about the Guest Elder's situation, he and his disciple Wang Ming rushed to Zhejiang XX University. Despite running many red lights along the way, the traffic police, seeing the Military 00009 license plate, did not dare to obstruct them.

Zhang Hupan, a truly strange Guest Elder. Chen Jiaying couldn't find any description of him in his files. He didn't know his origins, his sect, or his specialties, only that he was a genuine Guest Elder and a freshman at Zhejiang XX University. It wasn't surprising that Chen Jiaying couldn't find substantive information about Zhang Hupan. When Song Feng arranged for Zhang Hupan to become a Guest Elder of the Special Department, it was merely to obtain a super pass for social mobility. Having experienced the world for a while, Song Feng knew about the corruption of current societal norms. To minimize worldly interference for Zhang Hupan and to show filial piety, Song Feng had asked his junior, who was one of the heads of the Special Department, to issue a Guest Elder card. As for Zhang Hupan's true identity, Song Feng naturally kept silent.

If Song Feng knew that his good deed of obtaining a Guest Elder status for his ancestor would cause Chen Jiaying to disturb this highest existence of Wudang, he would be so angry he'd spit blood. As a disciple of Zhang Sanfeng, an ancestral figure of the Wudang Sect, disturbing him for some worldly matter would be a grave sin. If Kuye and the others found out, they would skin him alive, even if he wasn't killed.

Fortunately, Chen Jiaying knew that the Guest Elders were either respected or noble and should not be treated lightly. He knew he had to personally invite him. If he had been ignorant and sent a subordinate to summon Zhang Hupan, it would have been a huge blunder. A disciple of the Hao generation attempting to summon his own ancestor through a subordinate.

At this moment, Chen Jiaying and Wang Ming, the Wudang master and disciple, were unaware that the person they were waiting for was their sect's ancestor. While eagerly awaiting Zhang Hupan, they were also secretly wondering who this Zhang Hupan could be.

Today, Zhang Hupan happened to not be out. Instead, he was watching his roommates play cards with great interest, their faces flushed with argument. For some reason, Zhang Hupan found himself increasingly drawn into ordinary life. Perhaps it was to compensate for a century of never experiencing a normal life. In any case, Zhang Hupan now saw himself entirely as an ordinary person. But facts were facts, and no one could change Zhang Hupan's current status as a Nascent Soul Stage expert. The moment Chen Jiaying and his disciple approached the campus, Zhang Hupan's spiritual power detected these two powerful auras, which were, of course, only powerful relative to ordinary people. Simultaneously, Zhang Hupan could clearly sense that both of them were cultivating authentic Wudang internal martial arts techniques.

When the dormitory's loudspeaker echoed through the dorms, "Zhang Hupan, someone is looking for you," Zhang Hupan went downstairs with curiosity to meet the Wudang disciples who had come to find him in the secular world for the first time. He didn't expose the fact that his mischievous friends, who immediately dropped their cards and followed him down, knew that the visitors weren't the Scottish beauty or Liu Xizhen. Usually, it was these two beauties who looked for Zhang Hupan, which was why those lecherous friends instantly stopped their fiery battlefield. (To be continued)