Probing

Shangjing Military Compound. This was one of the most sacred places in Huaxia Nation, where several high-ranking officials all resided.

Ye Yuan sat 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 patch in the yard on one side and a patch of grass on the other, where a wooden dummy stood.

Entering the villa, the decor was very retro, much of it handmade wooden furniture. Though sparse, it was exquisite. In the living room, Old Master Xu was drinking tea with a middle-aged man across from him.

Xu Hang was startled when he saw the middle-aged man, then immediately snapped a military salute and shouted, "Greetings, Instructor!"

The middle-aged man waved his hand without speaking.

Ye Yuan sized up the middle-aged man. Sitting there, he gave off a steady, composed aura. He wore a Zhongshan suit, looked to be around forty years old, with thick palms, a square face, sword-like brows, and eyes that weren't large but held great spirit. When looking at people, he liked to squint slightly, giving off a very mysterious feeling.

Old Master Xu saw the two of them enter and beckoned to Ye Yuan, signaling him to come sit.

Ye Yuan walked over to the tea tray, found a chair, and sat down. After sitting, he felt the atmosphere in the entire room was very strange. The two men drinking tea didn't speak, just sipped their tea in their own worlds, while Xu Hang stood motionless by the door.

This went on for a full minute. Ye Yuan couldn't take the awkwardness anymore and spoke first: "Grandpa Xu, thank you for handling my friend's father's matter this time."

Old Master Xu glanced at Ye Yuan and said meaningfully, "How will you thank me? Don't think just moving your lips is enough. I called in some favors this time."

Ye Yuan was a bit stunned. He hadn't expected Old Master Xu to be so direct, demanding compensation right off the bat. This didn't seem like something an old man should do—weren't elderly people supposed to be subtle in their speech?

"Cough... cough... Well, how about I go back and get you some special ornamental fish?"

"Kid, you really think your ornamental fish carry that much weight?" The old man said with a teasing look at Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan felt a chill run down his spine under the old man's gaze.

"Then tell me, what do you want me to do? As long as I can do it, no problem," Ye Yuan said bluntly.

"Heh, I was waiting for you to say that. Xu Hang tells me you're an excellent diver. How about it? Show us a little skill?"

"Diving? Show skill? Here?" Ye Yuan felt like he couldn't keep up with the old man's train of thought. Wasn't he supposed to be offering compensation? How did they end up talking about diving?

"Don't worry about the details. I'm asking you, if I gave you diving equipment, could you find something at a depth of 100 meters?"

Ye Yuan hesitated. This depth was beyond the range of an ordinary person. He didn't know how to answer. As Ye Yuan hesitated, the old man continued.

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

The middle-aged man slightly raised his hand and struck the air with a palm toward an orchid on the windowsill two meters away.

The moment the middle-aged man struck, Ye Yuan felt a very familiar current of air shoot from the man's palm, hitting the flowerpot directly.

Looking at the flowerpot, cracks began to appear in the middle, slowly spreading outward until the pot shattered into pieces with a clatter.

"I told you, why pick that? That orchid was just taken from Old Xu's place. Tsk—"

The middle-aged man's expression didn't change; he just smiled at Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan was speechless, his mouth hanging wide open.

"Heh, believe me now? No one wants to know your secret. I have a mission that requires someone with exceptional diving ability. Don't worry about what happens if we find out your secret. People with secrets in this world aren't limited to just you."

After saying this, the two men went back to drinking their tea.

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

But immediately after, he wondered if the "Water Control Art" he practiced every day could also let him shoot out the energy flowing through his body like the middle-aged man had.

He had never tried it, so when he saw that palm strike, his main thought was whether he could do it too.

Now that Old Master Xu had said as much, it seemed they had guessed some of his secrets. They probably wouldn't imagine he had a system space as overpowered as his.

Ye Yuan awkwardly pinched the bridge of his nose and said sheepishly, "A hundred meters is no problem. It mainly depends on what you're looking for. You know, in the deep sea, it's not just about being a good diver—there are external factors like light and ocean currents."

Old Master Xu didn't speak, just looked at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man took an irregularly shaped stone about 10 cm in size from his pocket. The stone's surface wasn't smooth, its color was almost black, but it faintly showed a hint of red inside.

The middle-aged man placed the stone in front of Ye Yuan. Ye Yuan reached out to take it. The moment his hand touched the stone, the system prompt he hadn't heard in a long time rang in his mind.

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

"Exchange?"

"No."

This was the second type of item the system could exchange directly without putting it into the space. The first was a rough jadeite stone; this time, it was this unknown stone.

Looking at the "stone" in his hand, Ye Yuan's mind started racing. He had to find out what this thing was. A piece this big was worth 30,000 points. Last time, a piece of Glass-type Imperial Green was only 10,000 points.

Ye Yuan reluctantly put down the "stone" and said to Old Master Xu, "Looking for this?"

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

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

Without waiting for Ye Yuan's reply, he nodded at Xu Hang.

Xu Hang immediately came to Ye Yuan's side and made a "please" gesture.

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

Sitting in the car, Ye Yuan felt very uneasy. He didn't know what the physical tests would specifically involve. Would they discover the system? Right now, Ye Yuan also wanted to know what his own physical test results would look like.

Inside the villa, Old Master Xu looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "How is it?"

"Nothing, not a single reaction."

"Is this thing effective against all of your kind?"

"As long as he's a Qi cultivator, it works. Unless he's an external martial artist—he doesn't look like one from the external fist schools. Is he really as incredible as you say?" The middle-aged man looked uncertainly at Old Master Xu.

"Mm. A submarine 500 meters deep was detected by him. Could you do that?"

"No."

ps: Thanks to Brother 08a for the tip, and gratitude to all brothers and sisters who have been supporting this book.