Eight-Step Cicada Chase, Golden Bell Shield

"The Second World?" Jiang Ran set down his teacup, his voice calm. "From a scientific perspective, the multiverse theory remains a hypothesis to this day. However..."

"This world is vast, and humanity's understanding of it is likely less than one ten-thousandth."

"So, student Zhou Ming, why do you ask this so suddenly?"

Zhou Ming's fingers tightened, his head bowed. "I had a dream last night. In the dream, I was still in my room, but there was no sound outside the window. The streets were empty, and then..."

"Then what?" Jiang Ran guided him naturally.

"Then... I saw monsters outside the window." Zhou Ming's voice began to tremble. "They had many legs, like spiders but much larger, and they had human faces... They were eating people, and when there was no one left, they would swallow cars in a single bite..."

He could not go on.

Jiang Ran waited quietly for over ten seconds before asking softly, "Zhou Ming, do you trust what your teacher says?"

The boy nodded.

"Good." Jiang Ran leaned forward slightly, crossing his hands over his knees—a posture that signaled he was listening intently. "First, I want to tell you that no matter what you experienced, it is not your fault."

"The human brain is complex. Sometimes, when under extreme stress or exposed to certain information, it can produce very vivid hallucinations."

"This is quite normal."

Zhou Ming's lips moved as if to say something, but Jiang Ran continued.

"Secondly, if these dreams continue to affect your life, or if you feel you are in danger..." Jiang Ran paused, looking at him with sincere eyes, "I suggest you tell your parents, or... seek help from the Federation."

"The Federation?" Zhou Ming was stunned.

"Yes." Jiang Ran nodded. "There are many things in this world we don't understand. Rather than bearing it alone, it is better to leave it to the professionals. What do you think?"

Zhou Ming remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Ran did not urge him, simply sitting quietly to give him enough time to think.

After a long while, Zhou Ming finally let out a slow breath, his shoulders visibly relaxing.

"Teacher..." he whispered, "you're right. I... I will tell my parents."

"Very good."

Jiang Ran smiled and stood up, walking to his desk to take a sticky note from the drawer and write down a number.

"This is my number." He handed the note to Zhou Ming. "If you need anything later, you can call this."

Zhou Ming took the note, folded it carefully, and tucked it into his school uniform pocket.

"Thank you, Teacher Jiang."

"You're welcome." Jiang Ran patted his shoulder. "Go home and get some good rest today."

Zhou Ming nodded, stood up, and walked toward the door.

When he reached the door, he suddenly turned back, hesitated, and asked in a low voice, "Teacher... do you really think those were just hallucinations?"

Jiang Ran looked at him, his gaze calm and gentle.

"I don't know," he said candidly. "But I believe that no matter what the truth is, there will always be someone who can find a way to deal with it. You, too."

Zhou Ming froze for a moment, then gave a slight nod before opening the door and leaving.

The door clicked shut.

[Psychology Experience +76]

[Basic Professional Skill: Psychology Lv.9 (Max) has reached the level cap]

[Congratulations, you have gained 5 Professional Points]

The prompts slowly emerged on the panel.

Jiang Ran stood where he was, the gentle smile on his face slowly fading.

He looked thoughtful.

He walked back behind his desk and sat down, his fingers tapping lightly on the surface.

The monsters Zhou Ming described... compared to the ones he had encountered.

They were not even in the same league of strength.

If he remembered correctly, Zhou Ming lived in the High-Tech District in the west of the city, less than twenty kilometers from the old eastern district where Jiang Ran was located.

Was there such a massive difference in the strength and type of monsters between the two areas?

Jiang Ran frowned slightly.

There were still too few cases to work with.

It was impossible to determine the distribution patterns of the monsters.

Jiang Ran shook his head, temporarily pushing the question aside, and picked up the Classic of Mountains and Seas from the table again.

He flipped to the pages he had previously marked, comparing them to the characteristics of the monsters in his memory.

There were no records that matched perfectly.

There are a few that are similar, such as "Its form is like a pig with a human face, a yellow body, and a red tail; its name is Heyu," or "Its form is like an ox with a white head, one eye, and a snake tail; its name is Fei."

But none of them match perfectly.

Either they are variants, or... the Classic of Mountains and Seas does not contain a complete record of the creatures in the Abyssal Void.

Jiang Ran continued flipping through the pages until he found the chapter on dragons.

He tapped his phone, pulled up the video screenshot he had saved last night, zoomed in, and carefully observed the details of the dragon.

Cyan scales flickered in and out of the clouds, but when sunlight hit them, certain angles reflected a faint golden luster.

It had two horns on its head, long whiskers under its jaw, and four claws...

Jiang Ran's finger slid across the page and finally stopped at a line of text.

"Mirage Dragon, of the jiao species, naturally adept at illusion, can exhale breath to form towers and city walls; also known as a mirage."

The illustration below showed a cyan Dragon Form creature with small annotations in the margins.

Scales shimmering with gold and green, dwelling in the Mirage City, its true form is rarely seen.

"Mirage Dragon..."

Jiang Ran whispered the name.

It seems that at least some of the creatures in the Abyssal Void can indeed be found in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Four-fifty in the afternoon.

The school bell rang throughout the campus.

Jiang Ran packed his things and locked the door to the psychological counseling office.

When he reached the school gate, his footsteps faltered slightly.

Two police cars were parked outside, and several officers were speaking with the principal, their expressions grave.

A group of students who hadn't left yet gathered around, whispering to each other.

"I heard Wang Lei from Class 7, Grade 12 didn't show up today..."

"Not just him, several students from Grade 11 are missing too, all with the same excuse."

"When I came in this morning, I saw Li Wen's mother from the next class crying as she went to find the homeroom teacher..."

Listening to these fragmented discussions, Jiang Ran sighed softly to himself.

If students of this age were dragged into the Abyssal Void...

Unless they had weapons in their hands or were extremely lucky, encountering a monster was almost certain death.

The aggression of those things was far stronger than that of wild animals.

But there was nothing Jiang Ran could do about it.

He withdrew his gaze, walked out of the school gate, and raised a hand to hail a taxi.

"Driver, take me to Zhongshan Road in the old district."

The car merged into the traffic.

Jiang Ran took out his phone, opened WeChat, and found the contact labeled Old Chen in his list.

Jiang Ran typed: "Meet at the usual place tonight, seven o'clock."

The other party replied quickly: "Sure, I actually have something to tell you."

Following that, Jiang Ran scrolled down and found a contact labeled Coach Meng.

The profile picture was a selfie of a woman.

Jiang Ran opened the chat box, hesitated for two seconds, and typed: "Do you have time tonight?"

Below the other party's name, it quickly displayed "typing..."

A few minutes later.

Jiang Ran turned off his phone and looked out the window.

The time ahead was tight.

Since his experience in psychology was already maxed out, there was naturally no need to continue in the position of a school counselor.

He needed to ask Old Chen to help him change jobs.

As for Coach Meng, she was the owner of a Shooting Club.

Jiang Ran had spent some time at her club before, transitioning from a trainee to an instructor.

His growth rate was so fast that this boss, Meng, insisted on dragging him to participate in various major competitions...

Though Jiang Ran had politely declined them all.

Soon, the taxi stopped in front of the museum.

Jiang Ran paid and got out. Just as he reached the side entrance for staff, he was called out by Old Zhang, the security guard.

"Hey, Teacher Jiang!" Old Zhang poked his head out of the window, "Didn't you receive the notice that the museum is closed?"

Jiang Ran was stunned: "A closure notice?"

"Yeah, we received it at noon today. Emergency closure, reopening date TBD," Old Zhang said. "Director Wang left in such a hurry, she probably didn't have time to notify you."

"Where did Director Wang go?" Jiang Ran asked.

Old Zhang shook his head: "Not sure. It seems the notice came directly from above; Director Wang packed her things and left right after taking the call."

Jiang Ran nodded: "Alright, thank you."

He turned and left, hailing another taxi.

Sitting in the backseat, Jiang Ran watched the streetscape receding rapidly outside the window and couldn't help but sigh...

The reaction speed from above was truly fast.

The Federation would certainly know about entering the Abyssal Void the moment it happened.

After all, the official agencies had a large base of personnel, and since people who survived the Abyssal Void would proactively contact the authorities, it was only a matter of time before they discovered that artifacts were the key to entry.

It was just that Jiang Ran hadn't expected it to be this fast.

Less than twenty-four hours had passed, and the museum was already under lockdown.

Since that was the case, the profession of Artifact Appraiser would have to be shelved for the time being.

Jiang Ran checked the time.

It was still early for his meeting with Old Chen and the others.

So, he changed his destination.

Back home.

Jiang Ran sat on the sofa and looked at the panel.

Currently, the Martial Monk still had two basic skills and one core skill left to unlock.

The primary goal was naturally to unlock all the skills first.

Only then could the Martial Monk profession begin to gain experience.

Jiang Ran looked at the two gray icons below and did not hesitate.

"Unlock."

[Consumed 1 Profession Point]

[Golden Bell Shield Lv.1 unlocked]

In an instant, a stream of information flooded his mind.

How to mobilize the qi and blood within the body to construct a layer of invisible qi energy between the skin, muscles, and bones.

When ordinary attacks landed on the body, the qi energy would automatically vibrate and disperse, neutralizing the impact force.

Jiang Ran opened his eyes and attempted to guide his qi and blood according to the technique.

A few seconds later, he suddenly felt a faint sense of resistance on the surface of his skin, like a thin film of air.

It worked.

Although it was still very fragile, it definitely existed.

Jiang Ran drew his tactical knife from his waist and tapped his left forearm lightly with the back of the blade.

"Clang..."

A faint sound rang out.

A nearly invisible ripple spread across the surface of his skin, and most of the force of the strike was dispersed.

"Interesting." A bright light flashed in Jiang Ran's eyes.

However, Jiang Ran didn't continue testing the Golden Bell Shield, instead moving on to unlock the second skill.

[Consumed 1 Profession Point]

[Eight-Step Cicada Chase Lv.1 unlocked]

Another stream of information followed.

How to use qi and blood to burst forth with speed far exceeding the ordinary over short distances...

How to maneuver and dodge within a small area, and how to leverage force to step on the air and briefly alter one's trajectory.

The core lay in the coordination between the burst of qi and blood and muscle synchronization.

Jiang Ran stood up and tried it out in the open space of the living room.

He took the first step, exerting force from his feet, and his qi and blood erupted instantly.

His body lunged forward violently, moving so fast he left an afterimage, crossing from one end of the living room to the other in the blink of an eye...

A full seven meters!

And he had only taken a single step.

Jiang Ran steadied himself, his eyes filled with even greater surprise.

And this was only at Level 1.

If the level were higher, to what terrifying extent would the burst speed over short distances reach?

Furthermore, this footwork was not limited to straight-line lunges.

Combined with Combat Intuition, it would also grant an overwhelming maneuverability advantage during close-quarters grappling.

Jiang Ran took a slight, deep breath, suppressing the pleasant surprise in his heart.

He cast his gaze toward the icon at the very bottom of the panel.

[Consume 3 Career Points]

[Buddha's Wrathful Vajra Lv.1 has been unlocked]