Probe

Shangjing Military Compound was one of the most sacred places in the Huaxia Nation, where several top leaders all resided. 520 Official Website

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Ye Yuan rode in Xu Hang's car, passing through several checkpoints before arriving at a villa. The villas here were spaced far apart. This was a two-story villa, with a small vegetable garden in the yard and a lawn on the other side, where a Wooden Dummy stood.

Upon entering the villa, Ye Yuan found the decor quite retro, with much of the furniture handcrafted from wood. There was not much of it, but every piece was exquisite. In the living room, Old Master Xu was drinking tea with a middle-aged man seated opposite him.

When Xu Hang saw the middle-aged man, he froze for a moment, then immediately snapped a military salute and called out loudly, "Hello, Instructor!"

The middle-aged man waved a hand but said nothing.

Ye Yuan studied the middle-aged man for a few moments. Sitting there, the man gave off an air of steadiness. He wore a Zhongshan suit and looked to be around forty. His palms were thick, his face square, and his brows sharp as swords. His eyes were not large, but they were spirited. He liked to squint slightly when looking at people, giving him an extremely mysterious impression.

When Old Master Xu saw Ye Yuan and the other man enter, he beckoned Ye Yuan over, signaling for him to sit.

Ye Yuan walked over to the Tea Tray and pulled over a chair. The moment he sat down, he felt that the atmosphere in the room was extremely strange. The two tea drinkers said nothing, merely drinking on their own, while Xu Hang stood motionless by the door.

After a minute of this, Ye Yuan was truly starting to feel uncomfortable, so he spoke first. "Grandpa Xu, thank you for helping with my friend's father this time."

Old Master Xu glanced at Ye Yuan and said meaningfully, "And how are you going to thank me? Don't think a few words will do. I called in quite a few favors this time."

Ye Yuan was somewhat dumbfounded. He had not expected Old Master Xu to be so direct, demanding benefits right from the start. That did not seem like something an old man should do. Didn't people say old folks were always subtle when they spoke?

"Ahem... ahem... How about I get you some special ornamental fish when I get back?"

"Kid, do you really think those ornamental fish of yours carry that much weight?" Old Master Xu looked at Ye Yuan teasingly.

The old man's gaze made Ye Yuan's scalp tingle.

"Then tell me. What do you want me to do? As long as it's something I can do, there won't be a problem," Ye Yuan said readily.

"Hehe, that's exactly what I was waiting to hear. Xu Hang said you're exceptionally good at diving. How about showing us what you can do?"

"Diving? Show you what I can do? Here?" Ye Yuan felt as though he could not keep up with the old man's train of thought. Wasn't he supposed to offer something in return? How had the subject suddenly turned to diving?

"You don't need to worry about that. I'm asking you this: if I gave you diving equipment, could you find something at a depth of one hundred meters?"

Ye Yuan hesitated. That depth was already beyond the range of ordinary people, and he did not know how he should answer. Just as he was hesitating, Old Master Xu continued.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't assume you're the only one in this world with secrets. This world isn't as simple as you think." After saying those incomprehensible words, he gave the middle-aged man opposite him a slight nod.

The middle-aged man raised his hand slightly and struck a palm through the air at an orchid pot sitting on the windowsill two meters away.

The instant he struck, Ye Yuan sensed an extremely familiar current of air shooting from the man's palm and hitting the flowerpot directly.

When Ye Yuan looked again, cracks began appearing in the center of the pot, slowly spreading outward. In the end, the flowerpot shattered onto the floor with a clatter.

"I say, couldn't you have hit something else? That orchid was something I just got from Old Xu. Sigh..."

The middle-aged man's expression did not change. He merely smiled as he looked at Ye Yuan.

By then, Ye Yuan was speechless, his mouth hanging wide open.

"Hehe, do you believe what I said now? No one wants to know your secret. I have a mission that requires someone with extraordinarily strong diving abilities. Don't worry about what might happen if we learn your secret. You're far from the only person in this world with secrets."

After saying that, the two resumed drinking tea.

Ye Yuan had recovered from his shock by then. At first, he really had been frightened by the middle-aged man's palm strike.

But immediately afterward, he thought about the Water Control Art he cultivated every day. Could he also send the current of air moving through his body flying out like that man had?

He had never tried it before, so when he saw that palm strike, he was more focused on whether he could do the same.

Now that Old Master Xu had said so much, it seemed they had guessed some of his secrets. Still, they probably would not imagine that he possessed something as heaven-defying as a system space.

Ye Yuan awkwardly rubbed the tip of his nose and said apologetically, "One hundred meters won't be a problem. It mainly depends on what you want to find. You know that at the bottom of the sea, strong diving skills alone aren't enough. There are also many external factors, like lighting and currents."

Old Master Xu said nothing, merely looking at the middle-aged man opposite him.

The middle-aged man took out an irregular stone about ten centimeters across from his pocket. Its surface was not smooth, and its color was nearly black, though it faintly revealed a trace of red within.

The middle-aged man placed the stone before Ye Yuan. Ye Yuan reached out and took it. The instant his hand touched the stone, a system prompt that had not sounded in a long time rang out in his mind.

"Energy Source discovered. Can be exchanged for 30,000 points."

"Exchange?"

"No."

This was the second type of item that the system could exchange directly without placing it into the space. The last had been raw jadeite; this time, it was this unknown stone.

Looking at the "stone" in his hand, Ye Yuan's mind became active. He had to find out what this thing was. Such a large piece was worth thirty thousand points, while that piece of Glass-type Imperial Green last time had only been worth ten thousand.

Ye Yuan reluctantly set down the "stone" and asked Old Master Xu, "You want me to find this?"

"We'll discuss the details later. First, you need to undergo various physical tests. If you don't qualify, you won't be eligible to know anything."

After saying that, he patted Ye Yuan on the shoulder. "Show your abilities without worry. It won't do you any harm. I can guarantee that no one will make things difficult for you because of your secret."

Without waiting for Ye Yuan to respond, he nodded at Xu Hang.

Xu Hang walked directly to Ye Yuan's side and made an inviting gesture.

Ye Yuan understood that he was being taken for physical testing. He stood up and followed Xu Hang out of the villa.

Sitting in the car, Ye Yuan was actually quite nervous. He did not know what the physical tests would involve or whether they might discover the system. He also wanted to know what his own test results would be.

Inside the villa, Old Xu looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "Well?"

"No. There was no reaction at all."

"Does this thing affect all people like you?"

"As long as he cultivates qi, it will work. Unless he's an external martial artist. From the way he looks, he doesn't seem to belong to the external martial arts side. Is he really as remarkable as you said?" The middle-aged man looked uncertainly at Old Master Xu.

"Yes. He discovered a submarine five hundred meters deep. Could you do that?"

"No."

P.S. Thanks to Brother 08a for the reward, and thanks to all the brothers and sisters who have continued supporting this book.