Psychological Profiling

Night slowly fell.

Feng City sank into darkness once more.

In the living room of a private residence, Jiang Ran slowly opened his eyes and sat up, then stretched comfortably.

He had slept especially soundly.

The weakness caused by Buddha's Wrathful Vajra had completely faded. His blood and qi surged through him, even more vigorous than they had been at his peak.

Jiang Ran got up and went to the window. He lifted a corner of the curtain to check the area.

The old residential district was still quiet. Only the wind could occasionally be heard in the distance. There was no sign of any monsters.

Once he had confirmed it was safe,

Jiang Ran sat back down on the sofa and pulled his phone from his pocket.

As usual, he logged into the forum first to see how things had changed online.

Almost every time he entered the Abyssal Void, the information landscape changed dramatically.

Sure enough, as soon as he refreshed the home page, the first post's title caught his attention.

[The Strongest Transcendent Right Now!? A Solo Kill of an Ancient Exotic Beast in the Business District (Video Included)]

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and clicked on it.

He was curious to see how far the other Transcendents had progressed.

But as soon as he opened the post and saw the video's thumbnail, his expression turned strange.

That street... looked familiar.

He opened the video and skipped ahead a few seconds. His guess was quickly confirmed.

It was the entire battle between him and Zhi from earlier that morning.

The camera angle remained high above the ground. The image occasionally shook from the shock waves of explosions, but was otherwise fairly steady.

"Taken by a drone..."

Jiang Ran mused.

There really were all sorts of capable people around these days. He hadn't noticed it at all.

Still, he didn't feel particularly bothered about being filmed.

Modern surveillance and recording technology was everywhere. Unless he had some kind of precognitive ability like Observation Haki, there was no way he could avoid it completely.

If he couldn't avoid it, then it didn't matter.

He was wearing a mask, and his hoodie was pulled low over his face. For now, his identity in the real world wouldn't be exposed.

Jiang Ran skipped the video and went straight to the comments.

The comment section had exploded. There were already more than twenty thousand replies, and new ones were coming in several per second.

Most of the comments were full of shock and admiration, which Jiang Ran could understand.

After all, until now, most people's understanding of the supernatural in the Abyssal Void had been limited to written descriptions in other posts.

This video not only filled in the blanks about supernatural combat, it also raised the bar for what people thought was possible.

But compared with the reactions of ordinary people,

the other Transcendents were mostly silent.

They were the ones best able to grasp the enormous gulf between the power displayed by the black-clad figure in the video and the abilities they themselves had gained.

After closing the forum, Jiang Ran checked the time.

Nine seventeen p.m.

There were a little over two hours until he returned.

He had to hurry.

Jiang Ran pulled the Bagua Copper Coin from his pocket and weighed it in his palm.

After entering the Abyssal Void today, he'd gone straight to hunting Zhi, and hadn't yet used his one divination attempt for the day.

He couldn't waste it.

He'd already decided what to divine.

Setting aside things as rare and elusive as a Seed of Return to Void, the remaining options were Special Items, weapons and gear, or cultivation methods.

Among these, what he urgently needed most was the next chapters of the Blood-Qi Circulation Method:

the Blood-Flow Chapter and the Blood-Nourishing Chapter.

He didn't know how long it would take him to complete the Blood-Sensing Chapter.

But when it came to something fundamental, the sooner he prepared, the better.

So Jiang Ran silently formed his question, then raised his hand and tossed the Bagua Copper Coin into the air.

The coin spun rapidly, giving off a faint hum.

A few seconds later, a clear sense of direction arose in Jiang Ran's mind.

North, about thirty kilometers.

Inside the Safe Zone?

Jiang Ran furrowed his brow.

That was a bit of a problem.

A large number of survivors had gathered in the Safe Zone. That meant... the clue to the Blood-Flow Chapter might not be on a monster.

As he pondered this, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

Jiang Ran took it out. The screen lit up with a new message.

It was from Wang Zhenguo.

"Boss, I've finished dealing with all the corpses. We got 17 Spirit Crystals in total. I've also gathered some information.

"There seem to be two main paths to supernatural cultivation, though the specifics are being kept well hidden. I'm still asking around.

"There are currently five major factions in the Feng City Safe Zone: the Federation, Voyage Group, Li Group... The Li family's influence isn't limited to Feng City. Apparently, they have operations in several major cities around the world.

"Also, because of the video online, a lot of people are asking about you."

Jiang Ran read the message, thought for a moment, then replied:

"Wait for me at the place we met last time."

He still planned to go to the Safe Zone.

Besides looking for clues to the Blood-Flow Chapter, his Heavenly Net Pouch was nearly full again.

He could have Wang Zhenguo handle another batch.

Wang Zhenguo's efficiency had exceeded Jiang Ran's expectations.

The last time they'd met, Wang Zhenguo had been an ordinary man trapped on the top floor of a hotel, waiting to die.

In less than a day, he was already able to reliably handle large numbers of monster corpses.

He had both the adaptability and the knack for getting things done.

Wang Zhenguo quickly replied that he understood.

Jiang Ran put away his phone and got up to prepare his gear.

He changed into a hoodie from the homeowner's wardrobe.

Then he put on his mask and tactical waist pack, and tucked a few Blue Spirit Crystals close to his body.

Once everything was in order, he opened the door and slipped into the night, heading toward the Safe Zone.

An hour later,

Wang Zhenguo was waiting outside the warehouse where they'd met last time.

When he saw Jiang Ran emerge from the shadows of the street, he immediately stepped forward and greeted him respectfully. "Boss."

At that, Jiang Ran's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

They had signed a Blood Oath, but having a middle-aged man more than a decade older than him call him "Boss" made him feel like he was in a gang.

After a moment's thought, he said calmly, "Let's change what you call me."

"You'll be handling resource trades and gathering intelligence. Sooner or later, you'll need to establish an organization," Jiang Ran said as he walked.

Wang Zhenguo seemed to consider this. A few seconds later, he tentatively asked, "President?"

Jiang Ran nodded and said nothing more. He walked straight to the warehouse and raised the rolling door.

After Wang Zhenguo had followed him inside, Jiang Ran lowered the door again, shutting out the outside world.

He turned around and, without bothering to hide what he was doing, focused his thoughts.

Hum...

The mouth of the Heavenly Net Pouch opened.

The next moment, more than a hundred Cat Monster corpses began to appear out of thin air in the empty space ahead, piling up one by one.

Wang Zhenguo stood to the side, watching silently, his expression calm.

When he saw the video online, he'd already realized that the black-clad figure in it was the man standing before him.

As for the ability to store and retrieve corpses out of thin air...

Wang Zhenguo wisely didn't ask.

A subordinate would learn what he needed to know in time.

Asking about things he wasn't meant to know would only make matters worse.

Besides, Jiang Ran trusted him completely.

After receiving the message that the corpses had been processed, he hadn't even asked who Wang Zhenguo had sold them to or how the transactions had gone.

That trust put Wang Zhenguo at ease.

Soon, all the corpses had been taken out, forming a small mountain inside the warehouse.

Jiang Ran turned to Wang Zhenguo. "Keep the Spirit Crystals from this batch, along with the ones from last time. Use them as you see fit, whether for recruiting people or buying information."

He paused, then added, "If you get a chance to become a Transcendent, you can try for it. If you need more, I have some."

Wang Zhenguo listened, startled, and opened his mouth as if to say something.

But Jiang Ran had already raised a hand to stop him. "Come on. I want to take a look around the Safe Zone."

With that, he led the way to the warehouse entrance and raised the rolling door again.

Wang Zhenguo watched Jiang Ran's back, his lips moving slightly, but in the end he swallowed all the words he wanted to say.

He took a deep breath, tamped down the emotions churning inside him, and hurried after Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran had made this arrangement after careful consideration.

Gray Spirit Crystals were no longer much help to him in his cultivation.

More importantly, if he wanted Wang Zhenguo to keep managing resources and running an intelligence network for him, Wang Zhenguo himself would need some strength and influence.

An ordinary person would struggle to establish himself in a place like the Abyssal Void, where strength was everything.

So he might as well give Wang Zhenguo the first few batches of resources and help him grow as quickly as possible.

The two soon entered the Safe Zone, one after the other.

The streets along the way were noticeably livelier.

It was still quiet, but they could at least see scattered fires and hear faint voices.

Walking half a step behind Jiang Ran, Wang Zhenguo said quietly, "There are about 1,300 registered survivors in the Feng City Safe Zone right now, but more than half of them aren't actually inside it."

"But that number is growing rapidly, and the rate is getting faster."

Jiang Ran nodded. He'd expected as much.

As news of the Abyssal Void spread, people with resources and connections in the real world would surely do everything they could to gain entry.

The major factions would want to bring more of their own people in. Ordinary people would be willing to spend their entire fortunes for a chance. The Federation also needed to bolster its forces...

A surge in numbers was inevitable.

They walked along the main street for a while.

Jiang Ran adjusted their direction from time to time.

The sense of direction from the divination kept pointing north, but as they ventured deeper into the Safe Zone, it grew more specific.

Finally, after crossing two streets, Jiang Ran stopped.

His gaze fell on a man not far ahead, just coming out of a convenience store.

The man looked to be in his early thirties. He wore a dirty windbreaker and carried a bulging backpack, chatting and laughing with a younger man beside him as they headed out.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But in Jiang Ran's eyes...

The man's body was covered in gray-black fur.

His mouth stretched unnaturally wide, almost to his ears, and a long, crimson tongue extended from it, greedily licking his lips.

Drool dripped from his chin. His eyes were fixed on his companion, filled with undisguised hunger.

As if he were about to devour the man alive at any moment.

The passersby around them, Wang Zhenguo included, showed no reaction at all.

Jiang Ran was already used to it.

Of course, no one else could see this.

It was a scene produced by his Psychological Profiling.