Black Mist Over Stone Village

In front of his shocked mother and relatives, Lu Chengchuan transferred five hundred thousand to his aunt.

"Sis, your son has really made something of himself..."

Earning five hundred thousand in just a few days was already incredible to Huang Yuqing. Among their younger generation, few were more capable than Lu Chengchuan.

Huang Yuyun was stunned as well, not knowing what to say.

Using the excuse of going back to his room to rest, Lu Chengchuan left the three women chatting in the living room. Back in his room, he opened the Life-Sacrificing System and prepared to upgrade the Giant Elephant Skill.

Dragon Elephant Skill upgraded to Level 1. Lifespan consumed: 2 years.

The first level of a Mystic-Rank Martial Art required two years of lifespan, far exceeding his expectations. Lu Chengchuan froze for a moment, then chose to upgrade it after some hesitation.

He had no choice. He needed to improve his strength quickly.

In an instant, two years of his lifespan were deducted. The Dragon Elephant Skill rose to Level 1, and Lu Chengchuan felt his physical strength improve slightly. He continued upgrading the Dragon Elephant Skill.

The second level of the Dragon Elephant Skill required five years of lifespan. Lu Chengchuan gritted his teeth and chose to continue.

Soon, familiar warmth coursed through his body. When it faded, he felt his strength rise again, far more than it had at the first level.

The third level of the Dragon Elephant Skill required ten years of lifespan, exactly double the previous amount.

Ten years. Seeing the cost, Lu Chengchuan hesitated. He had a little over twenty-four years of lifespan left, and he could still afford ten years. After thinking it over, he upgraded it anyway.

As the Dragon Elephant Skill reached Level 3, the Inner Energy in his lower dantian surged rapidly. It circulated through his body, strengthening his flesh, bones, and internal organs.

His Inner Energy continued to grow stronger, finally stabilizing after a while.

Lu Chengchuan let out a long breath. His body had grown even stronger, and his Inner Energy had more than doubled.

Life-Sacrificing System

Host: Lu Chengchuan

Realm: Qi Refining

Martial Arts: Giant Elephant Skill Mystic-Rank/Level 3, Everspring Skill Yellow Grade/Level 3, Eagle Claw Iron Body Skill Yellow Grade/Level 3.

Current Lifespan: 14 years, 346 days.

Host's bodily functions restored. Unknown illness has not been cured.

...

After this round of upgrades, he had roughly fifteen years of lifespan left. As he had guessed, the fourth level of the Dragon Elephant Skill required twenty years of lifespan. He could not gather that much right now.

The fourth level of the Dragon Elephant Skill would be a qualitative transformation, but he had no way of reaching it for the moment.

Still, the third level of the Dragon Elephant Skill had made both his Inner Energy and body stronger. At least he had not wasted his lifespan without gaining even a shred of power.

Looking at his remaining lifespan, he needed to figure out where to find monsters to kill.

That evening, his aunt and cousin left. Lu Chengchuan came out of his room and walked over to his mother.

"Mom, send me your bank card number. I'll transfer some money to you."

"I still have some money. Keep it for yourself first." Huang Yuyun shook her head, refusing. She still had some money on hand.

He had just transferred five hundred thousand away, so he probably did not have much left. He should keep it for himself.

"I still have over three million in my account. I can't spend that much. I'll transfer two million to you so you can pay off the debts." Lu Chengchuan told his mother how much money he still had.

Their family owed over two million three hundred thousand in total. Now, they could pay it all off at once.

"Where did you earn all this money? Tell Mom, you—"

Hearing her son say that he still had over three million, she cried out in shock. What had he been doing during those days away from home? Where had this money come from?

"Mom, don't worry. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this money. I actually awakened an ability that day, and it cured my illness. I helped the authorities handle a few matters over the past few days, and this money was my reward."

Lu Chengchuan had long expected his mother to ask, and he had already prepared an answer.

Abilities—quite a few people had awakened abilities now. He pinned everything on his ability awakening. Anything that could not be explained was because of his ability, and he had earned millions because of it too.

"An ability... so that was it. No wonder your illness suddenly got better..."

Huang Yuyun had been following the news. Television reports said that some people had awakened abilities and possessed all sorts of miraculous powers. So her son's sudden recovery and all this money were because of an ability.

Huang Yuyun was half-convinced by her son's words, but after thinking it over, she chose to believe him.

Seeing that his mother believed him, Lu Chengchuan quietly sighed in relief. He then transferred the money to her and told her to use it to repay the debts.

A few mornings later, Lu Chengchuan was on the street waiting for monsters to appear when Zhou Yaning suddenly called him. The moment he saw her name on the screen, he perked up and immediately answered.

If Zhou Yaning was calling him, something had probably happened.

"Captain Zhou, is something wrong?" Lu Chengchuan asked as soon as he answered.

"Yes, something big happened. Where are you? I'll send someone to pick you up."

Zhou Yaning did not deny it. She would not have called Lu Chengchuan if there had been no difficult situation. She was in a hurry to leave and needed to find him quickly.

Lu Chengchuan gave her an address. Zhou Yaning said, "Okay," and immediately arranged for someone to come get him.

He waited where he was. Less than half an hour later, a military vehicle came speeding over and stopped in front of him. The window rolled down, revealing Qian Xiaoling's adorable face.

"Mr. Lu, get in quickly."

Qian Xiaoling opened the door and waved him inside.

As soon as he got in, before he could even sit properly, the driver in front stepped on the accelerator and the military vehicle shot forward.

The vehicle sped all the way to the Armed Forces Department building in the city. Zhou Yaning was waiting in the courtyard, and the moment she saw the vehicle return, she immediately called her subordinates aboard.

After Lu Chengchuan and Qian Xiaoling got out of the military vehicle, Zhou Yaning walked over. "There's no time to explain much right now. We need to leave. Get in the car, and I'll explain on the way."

Not knowing what was going on, Lu Chengchuan could only get in with them first.

The black vehicle had seven seats, exactly enough for the seven of them. After getting in, Lu Chengchuan sat in the middle row beside Zhou Yaning.

Other than Lu Chengchuan, everyone else in the car was a member of the Investigation Bureau.

Once everyone was seated, the vehicle drove out of the Armed Forces Department compound and sped north. Two black vehicles followed behind them, carrying soldiers sent by the military to assist them.

"What happened?"

In the car, Lu Chengchuan asked the person beside him.

"Yesterday morning, we received a report that a strange black mist had appeared in Little Stone Village, seventy kilometers outside the city. We sent people to deal with it that same day, but there has been no word from them since, and we can't contact the village either.

"We sent thirty fully armed personnel, including four Espers. Something must have happened."

There was a trace of urgency in Zhou Yaning's cool voice. No wonder she had been in such a rush to leave. Thirty fully armed people had been lost in there; this was likely no simple matter.

"This time, we're going into the village. A whole day has passed, so the village may already be full of monsters." Zhou Yaning prepared for the worst.

"I've prepared weapons for you. They're in the back of the car. I'll give them to you when we get there."

"Other than that, do you have any more information?"

There was far too little concrete intelligence. Zhou Yaning's information was vague, and the rest was all speculation. Without knowing the exact situation, Lu Chengchuan had no idea what to expect.