night.
Linhai City Supervision Bureau.
A faint, shimmering white light emanated from a room.
Shen Heng lifted his fingers off the ground and then stood up.
"Is that all?" Han Ling asked curiously, craning her neck forward.
A formation emitting a shimmering white light was quietly placed on the ground.
What's particularly eye-catching are the three Origin Crystal on the outside that emit a faint glow, and the light source inside that rotates and flows like water.
Everyone looked at the Spirit-Gathering Array on the ground with different expressions.
"Okay, it's ready!" Shen Heng nodded in confirmation.
Upon hearing this, Han Ling closed her eyes and began to sense her surroundings. After a moment, she frowned, opened her eyes, and asked:
"You don't feel anything?! Shen Heng, is it because you haven't mastered the skills properly?"
"..." Shen Heng replied, " The Spirit-Gathering Array gathers, it doesn't generate!"
"What do you mean?" Han Ling continued to ask.
Shen Heng explained:
"This means that the Spirit-Gathering Array essentially only gathers the surrounding Origin Power; it doesn't directly generate Origin Power."
"The external Origin Power is limited, and it takes time to gather it, so it won't be noticeable so quickly."
"When will that be?" Han Ling continued to ask.
Shen Heng replied:
"If you stay here, it might take a day or two before you realize that there is more Origin Power in the air here."
If you go out now, and come back tomorrow morning, you'll be able to sense the difference in the Origin Power in the air compared to now!
"I see!" Han Ling nodded with some disappointment.
Wang Hai glanced at the Spirit-Gathering Array on the ground, then at the Realm-Suppressing Stake in his hand, and said:
"These are the only two things you brought back this time?"
"Yes, just these two." Shen Heng nodded.
"Tsk, after all these years, the R&D department has finally come up with something useful!" Wu Cheng complained from the side.
"You can't say that, can you? Aren't most of the items in the Martial World Easy Exchange platform developed by them?" Shen Heng said with a smile.
"Many of those aren't very good," Wu Cheng shook his head, giving examples:
"Items such as underwater oxygen extraction suits, heat-resistant clothing, and gas masks are only used in specific situations."
"The most outrageous thing is that they even have things like 'comical stunts'!"
"A comical bomb? What is that?"
Shen Heng looked at Wu Cheng with a puzzled expression; he hadn't really browsed the props section much before.
"They say it's made from naan bread from the Smiling Vine. If you throw it at other creatures, it will make them keep an exaggerated smiling expression for 30 minutes," Wu Cheng explained, nodding.
"Exaggerated smiling face? Laughter-inducing? Similar to tear gas?" Shen Heng asked.
"No, it just makes people's expressions turn into exaggerated smiles, it doesn't actually make them laugh," Wu Cheng retorted. "The only harm is that if you keep smiling for too long, the muscles in your face might cramp."
This... it really doesn't seem to be of any use... Shen Heng silently complained to himself.
"There are many more, like itchy dandelions, voice-changing chewing gum, anti-gravity wigs, and all sorts of other weird stuff," Wu Cheng said with a grin.
"Why are you looking at this for no reason?" Han Ling asked, frowning.
"I'm just looking for something useful to use for self-defense!" Wu Cheng said.
"..."
Wang Hai turned his head and looked around at everyone in the room, then said:
"Alright, now that the Spirit-Gathering Array is set up, does anyone want to sign up for the training camp that Shen Heng just mentioned?"
"I'm not going to this training camp!" Shen Heng said first.
Wang Hai nodded and looked at Han Ling standing next to him.
Seeing Wang Hai looking at her, Han Ling thought for a moment, then turned to Shen Heng to confirm:
"The training camp is early next year, right?"
"Yes!" Shen Heng nodded in confirmation.
"Did they say a specific time?" Han Ling continued to ask.
"We haven't notified them yet, but it should be shortly after the New Year," Shen Heng replied.
"So only those at Tier 0, Tier 1, and Tier 2 can go, right?"
"Yes, as a city's main fighting force, headquarters won't allow Tier 3 Third Tier inspectors to be away for so long."
"I see!" Han Ling nodded thoughtfully, muttering to herself, "September, October, November..."
Everyone looked at her with some surprise.
Le Gu Nan blinked and asked in a low voice:
" Sister Ling, are you about to break through to the Third Tier?"
Upon hearing this, everyone was slightly taken aback, and their gazes instinctively locked onto Han Ling.
Shen Heng felt the same way; he hadn't really thought about it that way, assuming Han Ling was just asking a normal question.
Now, hearing Le Gu Nan's words and recalling the question Han Ling had just asked...
It does seem to point to the possibility that she is about to break through to the Third Tier.
Han Ling's lips curled up, and she turned around to pinch Le Gu Nan's cheek.
"Hehe... As expected, our Gu Nan is the smartest!"
"Um... Sister Ling, let go!" Le Gu Nan raised his hand and gently patted Han Ling's hand, speaking somewhat indistinctly.
However, this was not a strong form of resistance; instead, it made Han Ling squeeze even more vigorously.
After a moment, Wang Hai spoke up to stop him.
"Alright, Han Ling."
Upon hearing this, Han Ling had no choice but to lower her hand, feeling rather disheartened.
"Are you really going to break through to the Third Tier?" Wang Hai asked.
Han Ling smiled and turned to look at Wang Hai.
"Hehe... yes, Captain, I'll be the second Third Tier in our Linhai Supervision Bureau!"
Wang Hai nodded in agreement, then continued, "When do you expect to break through?"
Han Ling crossed one arm over her stomach and rested the other on her chin, appearing to be deep in thought.
"Well, I originally expected to break through to the Third Tier around March or April next year, but now with this Spirit-Gathering Array, it should be faster. The only question is how useful this Spirit-Gathering Array is, and how much faster it will be!"
As the only person present who had experienced the effects of the Spirit-Gathering Array, Shen Heng pondered for a moment and said:
"There are still seven or eight months until March or April next year. Judging from your previous cultivation progress, you should be able to finish before the new year."
Wang Hai nodded. "So, if Han Ling cultivates diligently, she should be able to break through by the end of December, right?"
"Hey, Captain, you can't exploit me like this!" Han Ling shouted anxiously.
Shen Heng and the others couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this.
Among those present.
Shen Heng is the most diligent cultivator, spending almost all his free time cultivating. Now, because of Liu, when you occasionally see him sitting there doing nothing, he is actually cultivating as well.
Next are Wang Hai, Wei Leyang, and Le Gu Nan. They spend most of their time cultivating while at work, but they still manage to take some breaks.
The laziest ones were Han Ling and Wu Cheng; they spent about a third of their class time resting and having fun.
However, according to them, this is because the night shift is longer, around thirteen hours.
Even if it's only two-thirds, they've still practiced for more than eight hours, which complies with the national labor law.
"Speaking of which," Wang Hai turned to Shen Heng, " Shen Heng, when will you break through to the Second Tier?"
Upon hearing this, the group tensed up and instinctively looked at Shen Heng.
I was so surprised that Han Ling was about to break through to the Tier 3 that I remembered there was someone here who was cultivating even faster.
Shen Heng thought for a moment and said, "Probably by the end of next month!"
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
"This is truly shameless! Going from Tier 0 to Second Tier in just six months?" Wu Cheng counted on his fingers.
Han Ling and Wei Leyang nodded in agreement.
Le Gu Nan looked at Shen Heng curiously. She had already amazed others by advancing from Tier 0 to Tier 2 in just one year, but she hadn't expected someone to improve by almost double so quickly.