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After hanging up, Shi Wen barely managed to focus long enough to finish working overtime. After reporting to his boss, he took the opportunity to ask for tomorrow off, earning himself a long lecture from his boss.

The next morning.

Shi Wen brought his ID card and arrived early at the service center to wait.

After taking a number, it was soon his turn.

The woman behind the service window examined his ID card, then looked at her computer and said, "Your grandfather did indeed have a ranch under his name. If you wish to inherit it, you'll need another medical examination. Only after confirming that you meet the inheritance requirements can we process the inheritance."

Shi Wen asked, "Did my grandfather leave a will? Shouldn't this ranch be inherited by my aunt and my father?"

The clerk gave him a sweet smile. "Your father, aunt, and all other relatives failed to meet the inheritance requirements. Only you qualified this year. According to the order of inheritance, it should rightfully go to you."

Shi Wen hesitated. "I don't think I understand. You said I only qualified this year?"

"According to the report sent over by the hospital, that is indeed the case," the clerk said. "From what I can see here, you briefly met the requirements in 2016 and 2017. Last week's physical examination results also showed that you qualified."

Shi Wen asked, "Qualified for what?"

"For Divinity and Abilities." Seeing the confusion in Shi Wen's eyes, the clerk took a small booklet from the upper right corner and handed it to him. "This is an informational booklet from the Anomaly Management Bureau. You can read it first."

What Anomaly Management Bureau?

What Divinity and Abilities?

Shi Wen took a step back and looked up at the slogans in the hall.

This really was the relevant government office.

And he did not seem to be dreaming.

The clerk asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

Shi Wen shook his head.

The clerk gave him a standard eight-toothed smile. "If you have any questions, you can go to B City Military Region General Hospital for a physical examination. Tell them it's an examination for the Anomaly Management Bureau, and they'll arrange it for you."

Shi Wen did not want to disturb her any further, so he could only take the booklet aside and read it.

The booklet, published by the "Bureau of Anomalous Affairs Management," gave detailed introductions to the types of anomalous phenomena and anomalous creatures, as well as management standards, benefits, and more.

Among humans, a tiny minority had awakened other bloodlines and become anomalous creatures. They fell under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs Management, enjoying rights while also being required to fulfill obligations.

Shi Wen guessed that he belonged to this category.

It was just that he had no memory of awakening a bloodline, and none of his physical examinations from childhood to adulthood had ever mentioned anything related to it.

Could the relevant authorities have concealed the results?

After spending the entire morning at the service center, Shi Wen scheduled an afternoon examination at B City Military Region General Hospital.

The examination went very smoothly. Perhaps because it was such a niche examination, he did not have to queue at all. The results were out in a little over an hour.

The report was a thick stack.

Shi Wen sat on a metal chair beside the printing station and flipped through the report from beginning to end, discovering two additional hidden items.

One was Divinity, and the other was Abilities. His Divinity was 201, and his Abilities were 137. Both met the standards for awakening a bloodline. The analysis below stated that he had awakened the Qilin Bloodline, the bloodline of the king of all beasts.

However, both his Divinity and Abilities were faint. The standard for awakening a bloodline was Divinity of 200 and Abilities of 100. He had only barely qualified.

No wonder no one had contacted him, and he himself had known nothing about it.

Shi Wen read through the results again and again. Since it was still early, he returned to the Anomaly Management Bureau's service center.

The clerk assigned to him was still the same woman.

After seeing the results he submitted, the clerk said, "Mr. Shi, your examination results meet the requirements. You may inherit Mr. Shi's mountain ranch in J Province, with a total area of three thousand mu. Would you like to inherit it? It is tax-exempt and comes with a certain subsidy. After you inherit it, if your bloodline remains qualified, the usage term will be reset to forty years. Once it expires, it can be continually renewed as long as your bloodline qualifies."

Shi Wen asked, "I read in the handbook that this ranch was allocated to my grandfather by the state?"

"Yes. The ranch was allocated by the state, and some of the facilities on it were also state-funded construction. After Mr. Shi passed away, none of his descendants met the bloodline requirements, so you were not notified. It was only when this year's examination showed that your bloodline once again met the requirements that we notified you."

Shi Wen stared blankly.

Seeing him like this, the clerk handed him a printed slip of paper. "This is information about the ranch. If you're interested, you can go take a look first."

Shi Wen accepted it. "Thank you."

"Mr. Shi." The clerk smiled at him. "If you don't use your abilities, your bloodline will degenerate. You are currently the only person in China who has awakened the Qilin Bloodline. Although it is somewhat faint, I still recommend that you give it a try. Also, please read the confidentiality regulations and related instructions."

As she spoke, the clerk handed him another booklet.

Shi Wen nodded and thanked her again. "All right."

It was Friday, and his job gave him weekends off, so he did not have to work tomorrow or the day after.

After returning home, he paced around the house for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and booked a plane ticket to J Province.

The ranch address the clerk had given him was outside a small town under N City in J Province, more than 130 kilometers from N City and far from any tourist area.

Before today, Shi Wen had never heard of this city, much less this ranch.

After getting off the plane, Shi Wen first went to the small town, then took a taxi to the ranch. To his surprise, he easily found his grandfather's ranch.

A wooden sign stood outside the ranch. The poorly written words "Shi Family Ranch" were obviously the old man's own handwriting.

Shi Wen stood in front of the sign for a while. When he looked up again, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of closeness toward the ranch before him.

He raised his head and looked at the ranch.

The ranch was surrounded by wire fencing, with a wooden gate at the entrance.

It was still not yet May. The grass on the ranch grew thinly and sparsely. From afar, there seemed to be a layer of green, but up close, it was still mostly dry stubble.

He watched from outside for a while before opening the wooden gate and entering the ranch.

The three-thousand-mu ranch was enormous. Because it was so flat, he could see the cluster of buildings inside at a glance.