Spoils (Please Keep Reading)

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

Within the projection, the bones, muscles, and tendons that had originally required him to deliberately guide spiritual energy to temper were now being naturally suffused by dense spiritual energy.

This was precisely the sign that the first refinement of the Ninefold Refinement Method, "Bones and Muscles Resonance," had reached major mastery. At this stage, even without actively circulating the technique to guide the spiritual energy in his Qi Sea, his body would instinctively draw in spiritual energy to temper itself.

Yang Wenqing could clearly feel that the density and toughness of every bone in his body had undergone a qualitative leap, while the power contained within his muscles had surged severalfold. If he had a stalk of Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass to assist him now, then with the Golden Core digesting the herb's medicinal power, he might truly be able to break through the bottleneck of the first refinement in one go!

Suddenly, he sensed a gentle presence descending from the sky. Startled, 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 a gleaming golden flower adorned his epaulet. This was the rank of Police Commander, meaning he was at least an Entry Realm combat cultivator.

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

In an instant, boundless vitality poured from his palm, transforming into a sky full of gentle emerald light-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 trauma to their internal organs swiftly subsided. Even the faint ache in Yang Wenqing's spiritual meridians from forcing himself to hold on earlier completely vanished beneath the light-rain's nourishment.

It was clearly a large-scale wood-element healing spell with an enormous range and astonishing effects!

Once the spell was complete, the Police Commander withdrew his hand and swept his gaze over those below. His eyes lingered on Yang Wenqing for a brief moment before his body flashed, turning into a streak of green light and vanishing silently over the horizon, just as he had arrived.

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

"There's an underground residence. There really was Spirit Liquid beside the Spirit-Gathering Formation!" After quietly speaking with Yang Wenqing, Wang Jianchao discreetly slipped a storage pouch into his arms.

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

"Stand guard where you are."

After Deputy Director Gao gave the order, he and commanders of police commissioner rank from the other directions headed toward the central area. They stood there and discussed matters for more than ten seconds, after which Yang Wenqing heard Deputy Director Gao's command: "Combat squads will advance while searching. Investigate the underground residence 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 glances, then headed for the central entrance with unspoken understanding.

Below was a fairly spacious underground hall. Its walls were covered in intricate runes, most of them traces of formations meant to reinforce the rock strata and gather spiritual energy. But they had now gone dim, and cracks had even appeared in some places, clearly damaged by the earlier bombardment and battle. Their entrance was the hole in the ceiling.

The air here still held remnants of pure spiritual energy, but it was no longer violent.

At the center of the hall stood a stone platform that had clearly been artificially carved. The base of the Spirit-Gathering Formation on it had shattered. Around the hall, in certain corners near the walls and within cracks in the rocks, they could see drops of milky-white Spirit Liquid that remained condensed without dispersing, radiating 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.

"Most likely. But that fire cultivator already took it," Wang Jianchao replied. "The Spirit-Gathering Formation he set up accelerated its maturation. During its final stage of formation, the leaking spiritual energy demonized the wild animals in the nearby forest and caused several murder cases in the surrounding villages and towns. I followed the clues from those cases here."

"But looking at it now, he deliberately lured you here and also wasted dozens of fire shells from the government troops. Those things are pretty expensive. You'd better prepare a case-closing report that can pass muster." There was a teasing note in Liu Xin's words. As she spoke, she handed Yang Wenqing a glass vial.

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

Half an hour later, the three finished collecting the Spirit Liquid in one area and withdrew from the underground residence.

The situation on the surface had already changed. A large number of reinforced security personnel had arrived in the outer area. Holding specially made purification talismans, they carefully cleared away the lingering spiritual energy pollution. Specialists were also using earth-element spell talismans to overturn the heavily contaminated topsoil, 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 immediately understood. It was a signal for him to leave first. He was carrying the most important spoils from this operation: the Spirit Liquid, as well as the storage pouch Wang Jianchao had slipped to him earlier.

He quietly greeted Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin, then slipped out of the core area and found Wu Yan, who was helping maintain order at the perimeter.

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

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

Wu Yan saw that his expression was calm. Though he looked somewhat bedraggled, his aura was steady. Hearing that, he asked no further questions and merely nodded. "All right."

As members of the Major Crimes Unit, they were not stopped by anyone. They quickly retreated to the camp, boarded the old Windrunner-III flying shuttle, and quietly left the still-bustling scene.

The flying shuttle rose into the air. As the ravaged forest gradually fell behind them, Yang Wenqing leaned back in his seat, felt the weight of the storage pouch in his arms, and let out a long breath.

He had only known before that Spiritual Energy Riots were troublesome. He had never realized there could be such benefits hidden within them.

Half an hour later.

The flying shuttle landed smoothly in the branch office 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, watching over the communications 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 there that requires Major Crimes Unit personnel to coordinate on site."

Yang Wenqing nodded and sat down at his desk. He first carefully locked the storage pouch containing the Spirit Liquid and the unknown items in his drawer, then picked up the case file he had not finished reading earlier. Forcing himself to settle down, he continued flipping through it, trying to temporarily suppress the shock of what he had experienced today.

As time passed, the sky gradually darkened, and lights came on one after another throughout the branch office building. Yang Wenqing first sent Liu Qin and Wu Yan home from work.

When the night had completely enveloped the world outside the window, the badge on his chest finally gave off a familiar pulse, and Deputy Director Gao's voice sounded directly beside his ear:

"Wenqing, come to my office."