Hidden Crisis

Gu Jianlin stared at the starter pack that had been delivered and muttered to himself, "Investigator Code of Conduct, General Knowledge for Ascenders, Self-Cultivation for Divine Priests, redemption code for beginner spiritual secret medicine, redemption code for general alchemical armament?"

Taixu replied with a smile, "Considering that most Ascenders have no understanding of the extraordinary world—aside from those cultivated by Deep Sky Technology or those from major Ascender families—we have specifically included relevant materials in the starter pack for your reference. This includes the redemption codes for alchemical armaments and spiritual secret medicine; once redeemed through the Deep Sky official resource library, someone will naturally deliver them to your door."

"Very convenient."

Gu Jianlin nodded slightly. "What is this trial mission about?"

Taixu explained considerately, "Even though Professor Gu Ci'an fell, no one can deny his contributions to the human world. You don't need to feel guilty about these few killing incidents. Although certain factions within the Ether Association are extremely dissatisfied with your father's actions—after all, he was the one who single-handedly sabotaged the Kirin Immortal Palace's mining operations and survey plans, causing large-scale casualties."

She explained calmly, "The casualties in these accidents were all Fallen who had gone insane due to the Immortal Palace incident. Unfortunately, not all the Fallen were killed during the Blood Moon Massacre, and there are still those who slipped through the net and are currently at large."

Gu Jianlin was thoughtful. "Li Changzhi is one who slipped through the net."

Taixu smiled and said, "Joker is also a quite dangerous individual among this group of Fallen, and he may pose a certain threat to you and your family. The Ether Association has arranged for a special security team to protect the safety of you and your family, but you must still be careful. Good luck."

As the phantom of the black-laced maid gradually dissipated, only the starry sky background remained on the screen.

Gu Jianlin sat in front of the computer, his hands clasped against his forehead, lost in thought.

After a brief contact, he had already been able to analyze the Ether Association's style of operation.

Authority.

Everything was about authority.

Without authority, he could do nothing.

Even the file on the Gu family that Taixu had given him was merely a very brief summary.

He likely still lacked the clearance to view anything of real substance.

He rummaged through his suitcase and found a yellowed genealogy book.

This genealogy was truly old; the paper felt so brittle it seemed it would shatter at a touch.

It was something his father had left him. It was hard to imagine that all the names recorded in this genealogy were Ascenders.

Without exception, they had all died from the curse.

Gu Jianlin could not analyze the logic behind this curse.

He only knew for now that the effects of the curse were potent.

It had managed to reduce a vast Ascender family to the point where he was the only one left.

It didn't even pass through bloodlines, which was too bizarre.

In other words, Gu Jianlin himself could not escape it.

"If this curse is realized in only one way, then it is very likely the strange monster I saw at the car accident scene that day. Every member of the Gu family is killed by this monster between the ages of forty and fifty?"

Gu Jianlin said in a low voice, "This monster has been killing for hundreds of years? And in the future, it will come to kill me too?"

It was truly hair-raising and utterly absurd.

Honestly, he wasn't very afraid himself, because his life was already like this.

If you have the ability, come and get me; let's see who kills whom.

However, if this curse were to implicate his new family, he would never forgive himself.

Gu Jianlin's goal for himself was simple.

Without implicating his family, he would investigate the truth of everything as much as possible.

Then, he would settle scores and grievances.

If that terrifying monster truly existed, Gu Jianlin would kill it at all costs.

Or, be killed by it.

Either way, it was better than dying without knowing why.

"Let me send a message to Lu Zicheng first."

Gu Jianlin picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message.

Then he rubbed his eyes, went to the living room to pour himself a cup of coffee, and returned to the computer desk.

There was still too much to learn about the extraordinary world.

·

·

At three in the morning, the top floor of the Haizhou Hotel was lit up.

"What is spirituality? Spirituality is the source of an Ascender's power; it is a power that can only be perceived by those who have ascended from the inherent world. Spirituality flows within our bodies just as blood flows in our veins; spirituality flows within the soul."

"The path of inheritance is the process of cultivating spirituality, sublimating the spirit and soul, and mastering immense power."

"With the changing of the times, the mainstream Eastern paths of inheritance are basically the most ancient ones."

"Ancient Martial Arts, Overlord, Sword Sect, Ghost Slayer, Celestial Master, Divine Priest, Diviner, Alchemist."

"Among all the paths of inheritance, the Alchemist is the most precious. Because Alchemists can manufacture spiritual secret medicine to help us accumulate spirituality within our bodies. Without Alchemists, Ascenders would return to the chaotic period of antiquity; the way of promotion would be exceptionally slow, and civilization would not progress, but regress."

"At that time, you would only be able to do as the ascetic monks of ancient times did: practice breathing, meditation, and contemplation every day, spending vast amounts of time perceiving the residual spirituality from another dimension and making it your own."

"According to records, even the Ancient Gods would not adopt such a clumsy method."

"So remember, whenever you encounter an Alchemist, you better suck up to them; never offend them."

"As for alchemical armaments and mythical armaments, that's a whole other conversation..."

Lu Zicheng's eloquent voice rang out.

The laptop screen reflected the faces of fifty students of various skin tones and ethnicities.

He was teaching the newcomers who were hungry for knowledge.

As an A-rank investigator for the Ether Association and a Tier 4 Ancient Martial Arts Ascender, he was qualified to teach.

Lu Zicheng had just turned twenty-three this year and his seniority was still relatively shallow, but he came from a major family and his own strength was among the best of his peers, so he was going to form his own squad this year.

He would execute secret missions within his jurisdiction while training newcomers.

He wanted to pick a few from the hundreds of newcomers this year to join his squad.

As for the candidates, he already had an idea in mind.

Lu Zicheng glanced at the time; it was almost four o'clock, so it should be about time.

Sure enough, about five minutes later, he received a message on WeChat.

"I have officially become an Ascender. My path of inheritance is Divine Priest."

The tone was very calm; he did not seem to have lost control of his emotions due to the extraordinary experience.

His overall quality was indeed good.

Lu Zicheng narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Interesting."

Chen Qing walked in with an iced latte and bent down to place it on his desk.

"Divine Priest?"

Her eyes were stunned; she was clearly very surprised. "He actually chose one of the hardest paths to master. Based on genetics, I thought he would follow his father and take the Celestial Master path."

"Based on genetics, if this kid didn't look so much like his father, I would have suggested he get a paternity test. How are they alike? Their personalities are worlds apart."

Lu Zicheng complained, "It's not like you didn't see the scene where he swung a chair to beat Li Changzhi to death."

Chen Qing recalled the gentle Professor Gu, then thought of the violent boy swinging a chair earlier.

The image of that boy pointing a gun at her was still fresh in her mind.

"Fine."

She nodded. "Given his personality, Ancient Martial Arts and Overlord would have been more compatible."

Lu Zicheng shrugged. "Who knows? This stuff only depends on affinity and luck; he probably didn't have a choice."

The Divine Priest path was indeed the most ancient, but no one could judge its merits.

If you say it's weak, it is indeed weak.

Because there are too few known Divine Priests, and most of them are scrubs.

But if you say it's strong, no one will question you.

Because the strongest Ascender of the last hundred years came from the Divine Priest path.

And that strongest one is still alive today.

The Divine Priest path masters the mysteries of life, obtaining unimaginable power by communicating with the natural world.

Fairly speaking, this is the most comprehensive path of inheritance in terms of overall strength.

It is almost impossible to find a weakness.

The only problem is, it's hard!

Harder than ascending to heaven.

"Chen Qing, how much do you know about the Divine Priest path?"

Lu Zicheng asked casually.

Chen Qing shook her head and said gloomily, "Among the students I've taught, there were only three Tier 1 Life Controllers and one Tier 2 Junior Life Controller; I haven't even seen a Grand Life Controller. I remember your father had a close friend who was a Tier 4 Lord of the Clouds."

"Is that so?"

Lu Zicheng hesitated for a second and pulled out his phone. "I'll make a call and ask."

Chen Qing said calmly, "It's probably too late."

Lu Zicheng glanced at the time. "It does seem a bit late. Is he in the country?"

Chen Qing shook her head again. "No, he passed away yesterday. He should be at the funeral home now."

On the windowsill, the green-feathered parrot locked in a cage squawked:

"Bah, what rotten luck!"

Lu Zicheng wiped his face hard and sighed, "What a pity. I wanted to show off in front of that kid, but it seems I can't help him for now. None of my current students are Divine Priests."

He thought for a moment, fiddled with his phone, and sent a message.

"How is it? Did Taixu dig out the study materials from your computer?"

Ding-dong.

Gu Jianlin: "There are no study materials on my computer, but she did send me a lot of information."

Lu Zicheng toyed with his phone and replied, "Then you know about the Gu family curse and the Blood Moon Massacre, right?"

His phone vibrated, and he received a new message.

Gu Jianlin: "Yes, I have joined the Kirin Immortal Palace project, and Taixu has issued me an assessment mission."

Lu Zicheng was filled with emotion. "As expected, he would join."

Chen Qing said softly, "This child is very strong-willed."

Lu Zicheng logged into the Deep Sky network and pulled up the child's assessment mission.

"High-risk mission: Participate in hunting a Tier 1 Fallen, codenamed Joker."

Lu Zicheng pondered for a moment. "It really is Joker."

Chen Qing said gloomily, "Although Joker is only a Tier 1 Fallen, he possesses an extremely dangerous mythical armament. Ever since he stole from the ancient relic vault and defected, Deep Sky has not been able to accurately locate his trail..."

The trickiest part of this mission was the mythical armament!

It was already dangerous for a newcomer to participate in this mission.

Especially for little Gu.

Because Joker was a survivor of the Blood Moon Massacre and was highly likely to come looking for revenge.

"Are we over-nurturing him?"

Chen Qing looked worried. "What if something goes wrong?"

"No, this is something that must be done. As long as these Fallen exist for one day, little Gu and his family will always be in danger."

Lu Zicheng swirled the coffee in his cup, his eyes hardening. "No one can protect the Gu family forever, so my intention is to take the initiative. I knew it—if my guess is correct, this mission must have been planted by the Tribunal."

Chen Qing sat on the sofa, crossing her black-silk-clad legs. "The Tribunal? Could they be trying to use little Gu?"

"Yes, the Tribunal has always wanted to wipe out these Fallen, but they refuse to show their heads."

Lu Zicheng said in a low voice, "What Professor Gu did back then caused the Tribunal and several major families in Feng City to suffer heavy losses; I knew these people wouldn't let it go. Once little Gu became an Ascender, they would use this child as bait."

A flash of realization crossed Chen Qing's beautiful eyes. "This plays right into your hands, because you intend to cheat."

"Yes, special circumstances, special measures."

Lu Zicheng scoffed. "I will protect little Gu from the shadows, and while I'm at it, I'll have a word with the Tribunal."