Approaching Completion, Invasion by the Spirit Race?

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

The winter in Jiang City grew increasingly frigid, yet Chen Yan's "cultivation" life remained red-hot.

Ever since the agreement for "shared childcare" was reached with Liu Xin's family, Chen Yan and Yu Qingmeng had been practically inseparable.

In the eyes of Du Qionghua and Liu Xin, their children had found a playmate they truly clicked with, and both had become much more cheerful, giggling happily all day long.

But to Chen Yan, this month of "playtime" was the most efficient period of cultivation he had experienced since transmigrating.

Watching his proficiency climb bit by bit brought him an ever-growing sense of satisfaction!

On the living room carpet, a large cardboard box sat upside down in the center, swaying slightly.

"Brother, I found you!"

With a milky, high-pitched shout, the box was yanked open, revealing Yu Qingmeng's small face, which was beaming with a radiant smile.

Chen Yan sat cross-legged inside, wearing a helpless expression that said, "You caught me," though his heart remained completely calm.

While playing hide-and-seek with Yu Qingmeng, he split his focus into two streams: one silently operating the Meditation Method, while the other urged the Qi Nurturing Foundation Art to circulate slowly through his body.

He had long since mastered the art of multitasking.

With a thought, he pulled up his system panel.

[Host: Chen Yan]
[Age: 10 months, 10 days]
[Cultivation: Amateur Rank 1]
[Vitality: 1355/2000 (Vitality of an infant at the same stage: 4)]
[Spirit: 523/2000 (Spirit of an infant at the same stage: 4)]
[Charm: 93/100 (Endowed with Spiritual Essence)]
[Luck: 20 (Fortune Always Accompanies)]
[Constitution: Innate Dao Body (Born close to the Dao, proficient in all laws)]
[Skills:]
[Qi Nurturing Foundation Art (Entry) (3500/10000)]
[Meditation Method (Entry) (1000/10000)]
[Efficient Absorption (Entry) (1000/10000)]
[Deep Sleep (Entry) (1000/10000)]
[Godly Movement (Entry) (1000/10000)]
[Painting (999/1000)]
[Hide-and-Seek (999/1000)]
[Dual-Mindedness (999/1000)]
[Achievements: Self-Disciplined Baby Boy (Green), Vigorous as a Dragon and Tiger (Green)]

Over these ten days, his vitality and spirit had surged once more, standing just a step away from breaking the four-digit threshold.

Thanks to his daily interactions with that little girl, Yu Qingmeng, his proficiency in Painting, Hide-and-Seek, and Dual-Mindedness had advanced by leaps and bounds.

As of today, these three skills were on the verge of perfection!

One more time!

Just one more game of hide-and-seek, one more stroke of a brush, and he would achieve a breakthrough in all of them simultaneously!

Once Dual-Mindedness evolved into Divine Sense Differentiation, his cultivation efficiency would undoubtedly undergo another qualitative leap!

By then, he could even attempt to cultivate four, five, or perhaps even more skills at once!

The era of truly efficient cultivation was about to arrive!

Chen Yan's heart burned with anticipation.

Just then, the sound of a key turning in the lock echoed from the front door.

Click.

The door opened.

Chen Kefa's tall figure appeared in the doorway, his face showing a trace of unconcealable exhaustion.

"Daddy!"

That adorable little creature, Yu Qingmeng, immediately abandoned Chen Yan.

She trotted over on her short legs, tap-tap-tap, and threw her arms around Chen Kefa's pant leg.

Chen Yan: "???"

Who are you calling Daddy?

Because the two families were so close, Chen Kefa practically treated Yu Qingmeng like his own daughter.

He often bought her toys and snacks, so the little girl was very close to him.

"Oh, Qingmeng is here too."

Chen Kefa squeezed a smile onto his face, bending down to pat Yu Qingmeng on the head.

But that smile was somewhat forced, a heavy shadow lingering between his brows.

He greeted the two little ones, changed his shoes, and walked straight toward the kitchen.

"Qionghua, come out for a moment, I have something to tell you."

His voice was kept very low, yet it carried an unusual sense of gravity.

Du Qionghua, who was busy preparing dinner, wiped her hands, untied her apron, and walked out. Seeing her husband's expression, her heart skipped a beat.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Let's talk in the bedroom." Chen Kefa glanced at the two children in the living room, who were staring wide-eyed at each other, then pulled his wife into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.

Something's up!

Chen Yan's gossip radar activated instantly.

His old man was with the Special Investigation Team; coming home at this hour with such a grave expression definitely meant it wasn't a small matter.

He pretended to be interested in the building blocks on the floor, crawling over slowly until his small body stopped by the bedroom door, his ears pricked high.

"...Something happened again, and the situation is more serious than we thought."

"Do not leave the house under any circumstances for the near future. I will bring back all daily necessities myself..."

This was Chen Kefa's voice, filled with exhaustion and worry.

"Is it the same kind of thing as last time?" Du Qionghua's voice was laced with tension.

"Yes, but there are more victims this time."

Chen Kefa rolled up his sleeves, revealing several fresh, shallow wounds.

"Kefa, you're hurt!"

"It's not serious. Your husband is a Professional Fifth-Dan, after all."

He sighed and continued.

"In the last half-month, seven or eight cases of elderly people living alone starving to death in their homes have been discovered in several old residential areas in the west and southern suburbs."

"Starved to death?"

"The autopsy reports are out. The stomachs of all the deceased were stuffed with things that couldn't be eaten at all..."

"Sofa foam, wall plaster, dried plant roots, and some even ate dirt."

The room fell into a brief silence, the atmosphere oppressively heavy.

Chen Yan sat on the floor, his body stiffening slightly.

This is... a hallucination!

"Based on the scene investigations and our past experience,"

"These elderly people were all trapped in extremely realistic hallucinations, mistaking those things for delicacies,"

"And they ate themselves to death, poisoned themselves, or starved themselves to death..."

Chen Kefa's voice grew increasingly heavy.

"This is no longer an isolated case."

"After analysis, the scholars and experts in the team have reached an unsettling conclusion."

"What conclusion?"

"That humanoid supernatural life form we caught last time... it wasn't a coincidence at all."

"It is very likely... that it belongs to an intelligent species completely unknown to us!"

"A... species?" Du Qionghua's voice trembled slightly.

The rampage of fierce beasts was terrifying enough, and now there was some unknown species?

"Yes. They create small-scale fatalities by inducing hallucinations. We don't know the reason yet, or perhaps they simply do it for fun."

"What's even more terrifying is that as time goes on, the frequency and number of these things appearing are increasing."

"Then... then what do we do? Does the Alliance have no way to deal with this?"

"They do, but it's difficult." Chen Kefa gave a bitter smile.

"So far, across the globe, traces of these creatures have only appeared in our Xiang Province."

"And all the cases are radiating outward from Jiang City as the epicenter!"

Is Jiang City the source?

Chen Yan's heart constricted violently.

He had originally assumed that he had merely been born into an ordinary high-martial world where spiritual energy had just begun to recover.

As long as he remained cautious and focused on his own development, he would eventually be able to ascend to godhood in peace.

But looking at it now, the city beneath his feet was not some beginner's village at all.

It was the eye of the storm, the entrance to the abyss!

Just as he was contemplating how this matter would impact his grand plan of "keeping a low profile" for the future...

A cold, systematic chime rang out in his mind without warning.

[Ding! Crisis detected: Spirit Race invasion!]

Chen Yan: "..."