"People my age are all grandfathers already. If I'd had children, my grandson would probably be about your age, though he might not have turned out as well as you. Hahahahaha!"
Elder Deng sighed.
The two of them also arrived at a logistics building shaped like an open book.
They went inside.
The shelves were a dazzling array of books: cultivation methods, miscellaneous writings, reference materials, and more.
The sight was so overwhelming that it was hard to know what to choose.
Lu Ding stepped forward and approached the cultivation method section for trainee investigators.
He picked up a book at random to look through.
Ape Striking Method.
Best suited to those whose arms differed from ordinary people's.
It emphasized long reaches and distant strikes, broad, sweeping movements, and stirring the mind-monkey into action. By seeking to hold fast and return to oneness, one could achieve perfection.
Lu Ding looked at his arms. It didn't seem particularly suitable. Forget it.
He looked at another: the Yin Scorching Treasured Manuscript.
Temper the body with yin fire, plant a seed of yin fire, and imbue qi with yin fire, reaching the utmost yin and softness.
It sounded pretty good, but there were still so many he hadn't looked at. He might as well check the others first.
Seeing that Lu Ding still hadn't picked out what he wanted,
Deng Guofu handed him an ancient-looking scroll. "Take a look at this."
Lu Ding took it and unrolled it. The traces left by the passing years washed over him, and a heavens-shaking roar seemed to sound in his ears.
A wind reeking of blood assailed his nose.
A savage giant bear with a pair of wings on its back pounced toward him to kill.
Lu Ding instinctively raised his hands to block, only to realize it was an illusion.
Whatever the cultivation method was like, at least its badass factor was maxed out.
Looking at the painting on the scroll again, he saw a lifelike giant bear with wings on its back, roaring up at the sky. Beneath it, the bones of all manner of rare and exotic beasts piled into mountains, their blood flowing in rivers. It was truly savage.
Lu Ding looked up at Elder Deng.
Smiling, he explained, "This is the Flying Bear Visualization Diagram. What's painted here is the Flying Bear itself. Beneath its feet is Two Realms Mountain, dividing north from south. Legend has it that the Flying Bear was an ancient exotic beast. When it crossed north, it was a scourge, violent in nature, pouncing and killing for pleasure as it ravaged the north. When it dwelled in the south, it was an auspicious beast, guarding the towering mountains and maintaining order over the region."
"A visualization diagram is different from a cultivation method. Everyone can comprehend something different from it, with a distinction between north and south. It has extraordinary uses. Interested in giving it a try?"
With him having said this much,
Lu Ding could certainly tell that this was something good, beyond comparison with the cultivation methods sitting on these shelves.
He rolled up the scroll. "Then I'll take your advice and choose this."
"Hahahahaha, you're a clever one. This it is, then. Take it and study it carefully. There's no rush to return it; it's only gathering dust here anyway. Go cultivate. An inch of time is an inch of gold, so don't waste any. Remember to take an Aperture Opening Pill when you visualize this Flying Bear Diagram. That's how you'll absorb its medicinal effects perfectly."
"Thank you, Director. Shall I head off, then?"
"Go on, go on."
Deng Guofu waved him out, motioning for him to get going.
Lu Ding bowed and left. He was also rather eager to try visualizing the Flying Bear Diagram.
People always spoke of giving a tiger wings. Could a bear with wings be any weaker than a tiger?
Lu Ding wanted to see just what it was all about.
Seeing how polite and quick-witted he was, Deng Guofu nodded in satisfaction.
At the same time, a doubt arose in his mind.
"Was the information wrong? What violence? He's sensible, clever, and polite. Investigators these days really aren't rigorous about their work at all!"
He turned toward the shelves farther inside and tore off the label from an empty space.
It read: Flying Bear Visualization Diagram, five hundred contribution points.
Back in his assigned two-hundred-square-meter single-occupancy dorm,
he spread the Flying Bear Visualization Diagram flat on the coffee table.
He pinched open an Aperture Breaking Pill and tossed it into his mouth. The skill That Which Is Called Forgetting Form activated. Unity of Heaven and Humanity, activate!!!
Streams of warmth burst from his heart and circulated throughout his body with his blood. The Flying Bear Visualization Diagram before his eyes also began undergoing wondrous changes.
Atop the towering mountains, the Flying Bear with wings on its back roared up at the sky. Its furious cries pierced the clouds, resounded through heaven and earth, and shook five hundred li of mountain forests.
From the south came the cries of beasts in unison, shaking the mountain forests; in the north, dust billowed as countless beasts charged.
The Flying Bear stood on the summit, looking back toward the south, then beat its wings and flew away, tearing through the northern sky and stirring up a bloody rain and a reeking wind.
Seated cross-legged on the sofa, Lu Ding abruptly opened his eyes.
Two days had passed since he had entered meditation while visualizing the Flying Bear Diagram.
Every aperture in his body opened wide, taking him straight into Illuminating the Jade Pivot.
A violent aura spread, like a colossal wave sweeping through the human world, crushing every existence that dared challenge him.
This was what Lu Ding had comprehended.
The Flying Bear Pouncing and Killing Method.
An ultimate means of crushing slaughter, born solely to torture, kill, and destroy everything. The true qi revolving within his qi vortex carried a violent aura, brimming with aggression.
"The Director really picked out a good cultivation method for me."
This was a kindness. Lu Ding had to remember what he had done for him.
He stood and stretched his muscles and bones, producing an unbroken series of crisp cracks and pops.
He took out his phone to check the time. Two days had already passed.
Now that his combat strength had soared, it was time to take his first mission since joining Bureau 749!
He took out his phone and opened the Bureau 749 App. His identity information had finished updating. He refreshed the missions section, and missions accompanied by detailed intelligence appeared one after another.
He scrolled casually, found a title that interested him, and tapped it.
8/16 family massacre investigation mission.
[On August 16, a family of six was massacred at Apricot Blossom Residential Complex, Long'an Subdistrict. According to the report submitted by the local authorities, all victims died of excessive blood loss from lacerations, and all were missing their facial skin. The local department's preliminary assessment attributed the injuries to mauling by a wild beast.
The case was subsequently submitted to Bureau 749. An examination by a specialist found traces of "Old Lady Black" at the scene. Please establish the truth and kill or contain "Old Lady Black."]
According to the ancient text Folk Customs, this Old Lady Black was also called Great Immortal Black.
The name originated with a guardian of a certain northern religious sect.
Later, it became a general designation for black foxes, black bears, or black snakes that, after becoming spirits, left their physical bodies and transformed into spirits through corpse liberation.
Among them, an Old Lady Black formed from a black bear had a habit of gnawing off people's faces.
And it gnawed and tore them off while they were alive, with extreme cruelty.
As it happened, Lu Ding cultivated the Flying Bear Pouncing and Killing Method, and this troublemaking creature was also an Old Lady Black that had undergone corpse liberation after becoming a black bear spirit.
Both were bears!
What did it mean to be fated? This was what it meant.
[Mission rewards: the team leader will receive twenty contribution points and a cash reward of one hundred thousand; the assistant investigator will receive five contribution points and a cash reward of fifty thousand. Capturing Old Lady Black alive and bringing her back to Bureau 749 will earn each person an additional ten thousand and one contribution point.]
[Mission tip: recommended for a team leader at the Illuminating the Jade Pivot Realm or above.]
Lu Ding had previously glanced at the shop in the Bureau 749 App. There were things like wooden swords made from ten-year lightning-struck wood, capable of warding off evil and harder than ordinary steel.
They sold for just five contribution points each.
Moreover, the Bureau 749 App allowed contribution points to be exchanged for money at a rate of one hundred thousand per point. Twenty contribution points came to two million.
Tempting as it sounded, only an idiot would exchange contribution points for money.
So by that reckoning, twenty contribution points really was quite a lot.
The only problem was that Bureau 749 investigators, whether trainees or full investigators, had to head out on missions in groups of at least two, just like the police.
The purpose was mutual supervision, as well as ensuring that if something unusual happened, someone would be there to lend a hand and get word out.
But Lu Ding was alone right now, and he hadn't added any other investigators' contact information.
He simply tossed the mission listing onto the forum.
And attached a call for recruits.
[Trainee investigator Lu Ding: looking for an assistant investigator. Quick thinkers preferred. You don't need much combat strength, just be able to protect yourself and handle odd jobs.]
Such an arrogant recruitment post instantly drew a crowd of melon-eating spectators.
[Who the hell are you, acting so badass? How come you haven't gotten yourself killed yet? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were a full investigator.]
[Bro above, how about you take a look at what his ID says?]