Reward

The words had barely left his lips.

The black hair on the Kingdom of Hairy People inhabitant stood on end, every strand trembling in unison.

Immediately after, at a speed visible to the naked eye, a dark red, blood-like glow began to emanate from the roots.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran swung his other giant hand almost instinctively.

BANG!!

The thunderous sound of the two palms slamming together exploded through the basement.

The shockwave kicked up the rubble and dust in the corners once more.

Before the creature could even let out a scream, it was crushed into a mass of mangled flesh and gore between the palms.

The dark red blood-light flickered between the gaps of his fingers before extinguishing completely.

Jiang Ran exhaled slowly.

The Vajra Dharma Manifestation dissipated, the crimson blood-energy and gilded Buddha-light receding like a tide, retracting back into his body.

The basement returned to silence, leaving behind only the stench of blood.

Jiang Ran stood where he was, his brows slightly furrowed.

He was recalling the words of the creature.

Those words... immediately reminded him of a post he had read early on regarding the speculation of Myth Revival.

It analyzed whether figures like Jiang Ziya and Zhuge Liang had also entered a place similar to the Abyssal Void, and why they had eventually vanished into the long river of history.

Now it seemed...

That post might have actually guessed some things correctly.

But this was not something Jiang Ran could consider at the moment.

He shook his head, suppressing the distracting thoughts.

Before entering the Abyssal Void this time, he had actually considered many possibilities.

For instance, could the records of the Kingdom of Hairy People be incorrect?

After all, having been passed down for thousands of years, no one could guarantee their authenticity.

Even with the corroboration from Li Baishi, Jiang Ran had always remained skeptical.

And as for Psychological Profiling...

Although he trusted this core skill, he had never regarded it as absolute truth.

After all, the human heart is unpredictable.

There had been no shortage of examples of cannibalism throughout history.

Therefore, he had not acted rashly, choosing instead to observe first.

Now it appeared...

The ancients did not deceive me.

Jiang Ran turned and walked toward the man shivering in the corner.

The man's face was deathly pale, his entire body trembling. Seeing Jiang Ran approach, he instinctively tried to shrink back, but his back was already against the wall; there was nowhere left to retreat.

Jiang Ran crouched down in front of him, looking at him calmly, his voice softening:

"Tell me where you met him, and everything that happened afterward."

The man opened his mouth, and after a few seconds, he managed to organize his words: "My name is Zhao Ming... I came in for the first time three days ago, hiding in a supermarket in the north of the city... Then yesterday afternoon, while I was queuing at the Safe Zone registration office, he was standing right behind me..."

He recounted the events intermittently.

The two had chatted a bit at the registration desk. The creature, calling himself Old Zhang, claimed to be in the building materials business and said he had just arrived and didn't know anything.

Seeing that the other party spoke politely and that they were both newcomers, Zhao Ming had lowered his guard.

After registering, the two walked around the Safe Zone together. Old Zhang acted perfectly normal, even sharing some survival tips he had picked up.

"He said he knew where to find good supplies..." Zhao Ming's voice trembled, "I believed him... I really didn't know he was that kind of thing..."

Jiang Ran listened quietly, then asked softly: "Did you remember everything he said just now?"

Zhao Ming nodded blankly.

"Go tell this information to Xia Xuan at the Safe Zone Municipal Bureau." Jiang Ran stood up, "Tell him I sent you."

Having said that, Jiang Ran paid him no further mind.

He turned and walked toward the spot where the creature had been crushed into pulp.

Amidst the mangled remains, a fist-sized White Light Orb lay quietly wrapped in the gore.

Jiang Ran reached out without changing his expression and retrieved it from the bloodstains.

Then, without looking back, he walked toward the basement exit.

His footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

In the basement, only Zhao Ming remained.

He sat blankly in the corner, and it took a full ten minutes before he slowly regained his senses.

He gasped for air, his back already soaked through with cold sweat.

With trembling hands, he pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and opened the forum.

His finger hovered over the post interface for a long time.

Finally, he took a deep breath and began to type:

[Brothers, you absolutely won't believe what happened to me today!!!]

After Jiang Ran emerged from the ruins, he did not return to the Safe Zone.

Instead, he found a relatively intact residential building nearby, pried open the door to a third-floor apartment, locked it from the inside, and drew the curtains.

Only then did he finally relax completely.

The wound on his forehead had stopped bleeding, but it still throbbed with pain.

The sense of weakness would recover in half a day at most.

Jiang Ran sat on the living room sofa, took out the White Light Orb, and examined it carefully in his palm.

He had been in such a rush to kill the Hairy Person precisely because he feared the creature might have some self-destruct method; if it exploded, the Blood-Qi Circulation Method on its body might be damaged.

He hadn't expected... that it would drop a light orb just like the Exotic Beasts.

To be honest, everything in the Abyssal Void currently looked quite like a game demo.

Killing monsters dropped items, and divine abilities were equivalent to skills.

It was just missing things like an experience bar.

But regardless, the item was in his hands.

And he had learned some extra information as well.

Jiang Ran hesitated no longer and closed his fingers.

"Activate."

The White Light Orb suddenly flared, turning into countless specks of light that surged into his brow.

[Congratulations, you have obtained the Blood-Qi Circulation Method.]

A massive amount of information flooded into his mind like a torrent.

Blood-Flow Chapter.

Blood-Nourishing Chapter.

The two sections connected to form a complete early-stage cultivation system.

Jiang Ran closed his eyes to digest the information.

A full half-hour later, he slowly opened his eyes, a flash of realization crossing his gaze.

"So that's how it is..."

With this, Jiang Ran finally had a clear concept of the transcendent cultivation realms.

According to the description in the complete Blood-Qi Circulation Method:

Blood Sensing Realm: Perceive Blood-Qi, guide the Blood-Qi to complete a Great Heavenly Cycle, and perform initial tempering of the flesh, blood, tendons, and bones.

Upon stepping into the Blood-Flow Realm, Blood-Qi would flow like a rushing river, with both its circulation speed and total volume increasing significantly.

After breaking through, Blood-Qi could form small cycles within the body, doubling explosive power and endurance during combat.

As for the final Blood-Nourishing Realm, it was a qualitative change.

The Blood-Qi would condense like mercury, possessing inherent healing effects and extremely strong recovery capabilities.

Currently, thanks to the assistance of those Blue Spirit Crystals, he was likely in the mid-to-late stage of the Blood Sensing Realm.

Once he stepped into the Blood-Flow Realm, he wouldn't have to be stingy and reluctant to use Blood-Qi in combat anymore.

The road ahead was still long.

Jiang Ran liked this feeling of having a clear path.

He also liked... the process of becoming stronger, step by step.

He stood up and stretched his limbs.

The pain in his arms had lessened significantly.

His goal for what came next was simple: accumulate Spirit Crystals, cultivate, and raise his realm.

Just then...

Hum.

The phone in his pocket vibrated.

Jiang Ran pulled out his phone, the screen lit up, and it was a message from Wang Zhenguo.

"President, I have communicated with the Deep Realm Inspection Team.

They are currently looking to excavate an Ancient Tomb located at the foot of Cuiping Mountain and are in urgent need of Transcendents, so they have offered a reward to invite you to participate."

Jiang Ran looked at the message, lost in thought.

The Federation suddenly wanting to excavate an Ancient Tomb within the Abyssal Void certainly wasn't because they had nothing better to do.

It was likely that the Federation had discovered some anomaly in other Ancient Tombs or had obtained some important intelligence, making them anxious to explore.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ran pondered for a moment and replied:

"You negotiate the reward. Once it's settled, send me the time and location."

Inside the Feng City Safe Zone building.

Third-floor conference room.

Wang Zhenguo sat on a leather sofa, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, looked at Jiang Ran's reply, and put his phone away without changing his expression.

Three people sat opposite him.

The leader was a middle-aged man around forty, wearing a crisp dark blue uniform with an emblem on his shoulder strap.

Crossed swords and olive branches.

Below it were the words Deep Realm Inspection Team.

Behind him stood two young people, a man and a woman, also in uniform, with serious expressions.

"Mr. Wang, have you considered it?" The middle-aged man wore a formulaic smile. "The conditions we offered should be quite sincere."

Hearing this, Wang Zhenguo put down his phone and shook his head calmly:

"Not enough."

The middle-aged man frowned slightly: "Two Blue Spirit Crystal, plus one hundred white spirit crystals, this is already the highest offer we can give. You should know, the value of one Blue Spirit Crystal..."

"Twenty Blue Spirit Crystal." Wang Zhenguo interrupted him directly. "I don't want a single white spirit crystal."

The words fell.

The conference room suddenly went quiet.

The young man behind the middle-aged man couldn't help but step forward, anger appearing on his face:

"Do you know how much effort it takes for us to kill a First Realm Exotic Beast!? It takes several tanks surrounding it to have a chance to kill it, and now you ask for twenty right off the bat!? Do you think the person behind you is more powerful than a tank!?"

Wang Zhenguo's expression remained calm.

He raised his eyes to look at the young man, then turned his gaze back to the middle-aged man's face and said softly:

"Fine, then why don't you drive your tanks in."

"..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the office fell into instant silence.

"President, the reward is settled.

Fifteen Blue Spirit Crystal, five paid in advance, and the rest paid after the mission is completed.

The Deep Realm Inspection Team said to gather at the foot of Cuiping Mountain at five o'clock, and I have already sent the coordinates to your phone."

Wang Zhenguo was walking out of the building as he said this, a smile on his face.

This deal was negotiated quite nicely.

Although he couldn't get twenty, the price of fifteen Blue Spirit Crystal was definitely an astronomical figure for the early stages.

There was silence on the other end of the line for two seconds.

Immediately after, a burst of noisy sounds came through.

Wang Zhenguo's footsteps paused, and he frowned slightly: "President? Over there..."

"Alright, I know."

Jiang Ran's voice came from the receiver, devoid of emotion, with a slight panting.

Then the call was hung up.

Beep... beep...

The busy signal rang in his ear.

Wang Zhenguo held his phone, standing on the street of the Safe Zone, a bewildered expression on his face.

What is going on?

What is the President doing?

At the same time.

In front of a half-collapsed residential building.

Jiang Ran let his right hand drop, shoved his phone back into his pocket, and caught his breath.

The wound on his temple had already scabbed over.

However, he had gained a few new abrasions, and the cuff of his left sleeve was torn, leaving several white marks on his skin.

The surroundings were in shambles.

Over a dozen monster corpses lay scattered across the street.

After Jiang Ran finished sending the message to Wang Zhenguo, he had cast a hex.

This time, he was divining the location of equipment similar to the Bagua Copper Coin.

The hexagram indicated that the target was within a hundred-meter radius.

Before Jiang Ran could even step out to investigate, he was ambushed by Exotic Beasts.

They were much like the one he had seen in the basement earlier.

They stood upright, their bodies covered in dark green scales, with hideous monkey-like faces.

They were easy enough to deal with.

The only issue was their underhandedness; they seemed well aware that a human's groin was a weak point.

Fortunately, only one remained.

Jiang Ran walked forward slowly.

The last monster had just been kicked by Jiang Ran, sending it flying into the ruins behind it.

At this moment, it was slowly pulling itself upright.

Its form was slightly different from its kin.

Its body was covered in deep red scales, and its face bore a closer resemblance to a human male, with sharp, well-defined features.

In its eye sockets, two balls of slowly rotating black fire were locked onto Jiang Ran.

Suddenly, it spat out a string of words Jiang Ran could not understand...

"%$#!^@!!"

Jiang Ran was stunned as he listened...

It was already surprising enough that the Ancestral People could speak modern language.

He never expected that Exotic Beasts could talk too!?

The creature seemed to notice the bewilderment in Jiang Ran's eyes.

With great difficulty, it spat out a single word again.

"Die...!!"