Spoils of War

After Deputy Director Gao left, Yang Wenqing sat cross-legged and immediately sank his consciousness into the Golden Core World.

Within the projection, the bones, tendons, and muscles that had originally required his deliberate guidance of spiritual energy to temper were now being soaked and refined on their own by dense spiritual energy.

This was precisely the sign that the First Refinement of the Ninefold Refinement Method, "Bones and Muscles Resonance," had reached mastery. At this stage, even without actively circulating the method to guide the spiritual energy in his Qi Sea, his body would instinctively draw in spiritual energy for tempering.

Yang Wenqing could clearly feel that the density and resilience of every bone in his body had undergone a qualitative leap, while the power contained in his muscles had surged severalfold. If he had a stalk of Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass to complement it now, then with the Golden Core's ability to digest the herb's medicinal power, he might truly be able to press forward in one burst and break through the bottleneck of the First Refinement!

All of a sudden, he sensed a gentle aura descending from the sky. His heart jolted, and he immediately woke from meditation and looked up.

A middle-aged man in a white security uniform was somehow hovering in midair. Unlike Deputy Director Gao's uniform, this man's collar was embroidered with exquisite golden cloud patterns, while his epaulets bore a gleaming golden flower. This was the rank of Police Commandant, signifying that he was at least an Entry Realm combat cultivator.

The middle-aged man stood tall and straight. His gaze swept over the devastated battlefield below, his expression as still as an ancient well. Then he slowly raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers toward the ground.

In an instant, boundless life force poured from his palm, transforming into a skyful of gentle jade-green rain that fell precisely upon every injured City Defense Bureau colleague.

Wherever the light rain touched, the wounded men's pained groans immediately eased. Their bleeding stopped, broken bones rejoined, and the shock to their internal organs was swiftly soothed. Even the faint ache in Yang Wenqing's Spirit Veins from forcing himself to hold on earlier completely vanished beneath the nourishment of the light rain.

This was clearly a large-scale wood-element healing spell with an astonishing range and effect!

Once the spell was complete, the Police Commandant withdrew his hand and swept his gaze over those below, lingering for a moment on Yang Wenqing in particular. Then his figure flickered, turning into a streak of green light and vanishing silently over the horizon, just as he had come.

After a brief silence, members of the surrounding combat squads gradually rose to their feet. Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin, who had been quietly gathering resources ahead, also retreated without drawing attention, exchanged a silent glance with Deputy Director Gao, and came to stand beside Yang Wenqing.

"There's an underground cave dwelling. There really is Spirit Liquid beside the Spirit-Gathering Formation!" After quietly speaking with Yang Wenqing, Wang Jianchao discreetly stuffed a Storage Bag into his arms.

Yang Wenqing understood. After taking the Storage Bag, he quickly hid it away. Spirit Liquid was a spiritual resource for the second stage of Marrow Cleansing cultivation, though he did not know exactly how to use it. He had only read related information about it at the academy.

"Stay on guard where you are."

After Deputy Director Gao gave the order, he and commanders of Police Commissioner rank from the other directions walked toward the central area. They stood there discussing matters for over ten seconds, after which Yang Wenqing heard Deputy Director Gao's command. "Combat squads, search forward and investigate the cave dwelling below."

As Deputy Director Gao and the other commanders issued their orders, every combat squad immediately sprang into action. Yang Wenqing, Wang Jianchao, and Liu Xin exchanged looks before heading toward the central entrance in tacit understanding.

Below lay a fairly spacious underground hall. Its walls were carved with complex runes, most of them traces of formations meant to stabilize the rock strata and gather spiritual energy. Yet they were now dim and lifeless, with cracks even appearing in some places. Clearly, they had been damaged in the earlier bombardment and battle, while the hole in the ceiling was their entrance.

The air here still retained pure spiritual energy, but it was no longer violent.

At the center of the hall stood a stone platform that had clearly been artificially shaped. The foundation of the Spirit-Gathering Formation laid upon it had shattered. Around the hall, in certain corners near the walls and within cracks in the rocks, droplets of condensed milky-white Spirit Liquid could be seen, each giving off a gentle glow and refreshing spiritual energy.

"According to the records we studied at the academy, this kind of environment should have nurtured a natural spiritual treasure," Yang Wenqing said quietly.

"That's most likely the case, but the Fire Cultivator already took it," Wang Jianchao replied. "The Spirit-Gathering Formation he built accelerated its time of formation. Then, during its final stage of maturation, the overflowing spiritual energy demonized the wild beasts in the nearby forest, causing several murder cases in the surrounding villages and towns. I followed the clues from those cases here."

"But judging from things now, he deliberately lured you here, and he also wasted dozens of fire rounds from the Prefectural Soldiers. Those things are pretty expensive, so you'd better prepare a case-closing report that can hold water." There was a teasing note in Liu Xin's words. As she spoke, she handed Yang Wenqing a glazed glass bottle.

The three of them then began collecting the Spirit Liquid nearby. Members of the other combat groups had also entered by then. Some who had failed to seize any Spirit Liquid recorded the formations on the walls before beginning to scrape off the golden powder left behind by the formations.

Half an hour later, after the three had collected all the Spirit Liquid in one area, they withdrew from the underground cave dwelling.

The situation had changed completely by the time they returned to the surface. Large numbers of reinforcements had arrived in the outer area, holding specially made purification talismans as they carefully cleared away the lingering spiritual energy pollution. Others used earth-element spell talismans to turn over the heavily contaminated topsoil wholesale, ensuring that no hidden danger remained.

Deputy Director Gao was standing with the other commanders. When he saw Yang Wenqing and the other two emerge, he discreetly gave them a look.

Yang Wenqing understood at once. He knew it was a signal for him to leave first. At the moment, he carried the most important spoils from this operation: the Spirit Liquid, along with the Storage Bag Wang Jianchao had stuffed into his arms earlier.

After quietly greeting Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin, he slipped out of the core area and found Wu Yan, who was helping maintain order on the perimeter.

"Captain, are you all right?" Wu Yan hurried over.

"I'm fine. Things here have been settled. Let's return to the precinct branch first," Yang Wenqing said succinctly.

Seeing that his expression was calm and that, though somewhat bedraggled, his aura remained steady, Wu Yan did not ask further. He merely nodded. "All right."

The two were members of the Major Crimes Unit, so no one stopped them. They quickly withdrew to the camp, boarded that old Windrunner-III Flying Shuttle, and quietly left the still-bustling scene.

The Flying Shuttle rose into the air. As the ravaged forest was gradually left behind, Yang Wenqing leaned back in his seat, feeling the weight of the Storage Bag in his arms, and let out a long breath.

He had only known before that a Spiritual Energy Riot was troublesome. He had never realized there could be such benefits hidden within it.

Half an hour later.

The Flying Shuttle landed smoothly in the precinct branch garage. When Yang Wenqing and Wu Yan returned to the Third Squad office of the Major Crimes Unit, they found that only Liu Qin was on duty at the Communication Formation.

"Captain, you're back!" Liu Qin visibly relaxed when she saw them, then reported, "A Rong went to support West City District. There's a criminal case over there that requires Major Crimes Unit personnel to be present for coordination."

Yang Wenqing nodded and went to sit at his desk. He first carefully locked the Storage Bag containing the Spirit Liquid and unknown items into a drawer, then picked up the case file he had not finished reading earlier. He forced himself to calm down and continue reviewing it, trying to temporarily suppress the shock of everything he had experienced today.

As time passed, the sky gradually darkened, and lights came on one after another throughout the precinct branch building. Yang Wenqing first told Liu Qin and Wu Yan to get off work.

When the world beyond the window was completely swallowed by night, the badge on his chest finally transmitted a familiar ripple, and Deputy Director Gao's voice sounded directly beside his ear:

"Wen Qing, come to my office."