Fool

Lu Yuan sat up straight to show that he was listening. Ji Yin seemed satisfied with his attitude. He rose from his seat and paced as he spoke:

"First, this is a classified mission. Once you've heard the briefing, you won't have the option of backing out. You either complete the mission or spend a full year in confinement until the confidentiality period expires."

Lu Yuan nodded. That was easy enough to understand.

"Next, you won't receive any support from the Internal Affairs Bureau during the mission. You'll have to face every possible danger alone. Don't expect me to suddenly rush out and save you like last time.

"In fact, the most likely outcome is that you'll die without us ever knowing."

"Finally, you'll only receive official military merit if you successfully complete the mission. If it fails, you'll get nothing, whether you survive or not."

With that, Ji Yin leaned lazily back in his office chair.

"So, student, do you accept?"

Lu Yuan hesitated considerably. From the way Ji Yin described it, this was an extremely dangerous mission. Most importantly, he wouldn't be able to rely on the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Although he had the system, he hadn't found any abilities he could use in combat yet. If he ran into a cultivator like Zhang Baocheng, he would surely die.

"I'd like to ask," Lu Yuan said after considering his words, "if I die, will the Internal Affairs Bureau compensate my family?"

"Of course. As you know, this is a military operation," Ji Yin explained. "If you're missing for more than six months, we'll confirm your death and posthumously recognize you as a martyr.

"Your family will receive all the benefits afforded to a martyr's relatives.

"Your parents can receive a monthly pension of 8,000 yuan. In addition, all medical expenses will be reimbursed. The Cultivators' Federation will also pay for your mother's remaining Xikangnuo injections.

"Oh, right, you have a younger sister. When she takes the college entrance exam, she can receive an extra 50 points on the written test, under the second bonus-point policy."

As soon as Lu Yuan heard that, he stood up. "What are we waiting for? Let's get started!"

Ji Yin was a little surprised this time. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You don't need to think it over?"

"It's a guaranteed profit with no chance of loss. What's there to think about?!"

Cultivator Ji Yin said nothing. After a long pause, he suddenly began typing on his keyboard, speaking as he typed.

"Lu Yuan, I admit I misjudged you."

"I've met a lot of smart people at the Mystic Law College. They're all geniuses-even at Cultivation University, they're geniuses."

"I always thought you were smart, like them. Now I see you're not."

"You're definitely Combat School stock."

Ji Yin clicked print. The printer on the desk whirred to life and produced a page of text, only a little over two hundred characters long.

"Let me give a little gift to a future combat cultivator."

Lu Yuan took the paper and glanced at it. It described a method for controlling one's breathing rhythm.

"What's this?"

"Body-Protecting Shield, a low-level martial technique that uses the True Essence in your body to resist damage."

"Ah! This doesn't count as a spirit technique!" Ji Yin said, making his attempt to cover it up all the more obvious. "Teaching it to you doesn't violate the rules."

"Memorize it now. Remember, you must never pass it on. I'm going to destroy this paper."

Hearing that, Lu Yuan hurriedly memorized every word. He didn't feel entirely reassured and planned to take a photo with his phone, but Ji Yin shot him a glare, so he gave up. Although Ji Yin had said it didn't violate the rules, he was being so cautious that it probably did break them somewhat.

After memorizing it, Lu Yuan tried controlling his breathing rhythm according to the method. He found that his breathing was slightly obstructed, a sensation he had never felt before. He took a moment to glance at the system and saw that his True Essence had changed.

His True Essence was currently at 114/120 spirit, but as his breathing rhythm changed, the number 114 began to fluctuate regularly, rising and falling between 110 and 114.

How amazing. Is this a martial technique? Though I still don't know what effect it has.

"There's a question I've been meaning to ask."

Lu Yuan was thinking about the Cultivator Confidentiality Principle. He had never understood why cultivators kept knowledge of cultivation under wraps.

Now, even when Ji Yin secretly taught him just a little, he still had to take the paper back. That showed how cautious cultivators were about this matter.

"Why doesn't the Cultivators' Federation allow ordinary people to learn spirit techniques? Is it for social stability?"

That was what Lu Yuan had thought before. After all, spirit techniques were powerful weapons, like guns. If anyone could master them, society would know no peace.

"No, it's not what you think," Ji Yin replied. "The Cultivators' Federation wishes every last member of the Hua People, men and women, young and old, could be a great cultivator. But it can't be done. It simply can't."

"This question is extremely profound. What I can tell you now is that the essence of a cultivator is secrecy. Without secrets, there are no cultivators."

"It's not just the Divine Land. Tianyu's Dao cultivators are the same. They say the law must not reach six ears, but in the end, it still comes down to the principle of confidentiality."

"If you really want to understand the question, Cultivation University has a course called The Counterforce Logic of Advanced Mystic Law that explains it in detail... provided you can understand it."

Cultivator Ji Yin's expression soured when he mentioned it. Apparently, he hadn't understood it.

Lu Yuan nodded and asked no more. He could tell Ji Yin wasn't brushing him off.

Seeing that Lu Yuan had finished memorizing Body-Protecting Shield, Ji Yin took the paper back and crushed it in his hand.

"Body-Protecting Shield can use your breathing rhythm to mobilize the True Essence in your body and strengthen your physical body.

"That should be what you need most right now."

"If you run into danger, don't try to fight it head-on. Run if you can."

"If the mission fails, there's still a chance to set things right. If you're gone, you're really gone."

"Thank you!" Lu Yuan thanked the big shot for his concern.

The two left the office, and Ji Yin led the way down by elevator to the underground level of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Security was noticeably tighter here, with several access-controlled doors along the way. Finally, they arrived at a plain conference room. Lu Yuan saw that the sign on the door read "War Room."

Several people inside were busy in uniform, and lines of data flashed across computer screens. It felt a little like a spy thriller.

After Ji Yin explained Lu Yuan's situation, an operations staff officer named Shang Qiyuan gave Lu Yuan his mission briefing. He was a large, dark-faced man with a scruffy beard. Lu Yuan noticed two green leaf decorations on Shang Qiyuan's uniform.

Mission briefing:

The arrest operation the day before yesterday had completely destroyed the cult's presence in Ning City.

Through urgent interrogation of the prisoners taken alive, the Internal Affairs Bureau had learned that Zhang Baocheng took orders from a cult protector in Jiangzhou City.

In other words, the cult stronghold in Ning City was only one branch of the cult organization in the greater Jiangzhou region.

The statements indicated that the cult organization in Jiangzhou City was planning a major operation soon.

Kidnapping Lu Yuan's younger sister, Lu Youbing, was only one part of it.

Only Zhang Baocheng knew the details, but he was already dead.

The Internal Affairs Bureau needed someone to infiltrate the cult organization in Jiangzhou City and find out what the cultists were planning. If possible, they were to locate the cult's headquarters and determine the true identity of its leader.

Lu Yuan understood now. Wasn't this an undercover operation?

Although he didn't object to the mission, why weren't the people from the Internal Affairs Bureau going themselves instead of sending a high school student like him?

Shang Qiyuan answered that question as well:

The investigation showed that Zhang Baocheng had recently recruited a new cultist, a third-year high school student.

The Internal Affairs Bureau had secretly arrested him yesterday morning.

According to the student's statement, Zhang Baocheng had been planning to send him to Jiangzhou City in the next few days to join the local cult organization and take part in a specific operation.

Naturally, he had also revealed how he was supposed to make contact.

"Zhang Baocheng didn't have time to report on the student, and the cult guard in Jiangzhou doesn't know his identity yet, so we can take his place." Ji Yin smiled at that. "At first, we planned to send Old Shang."

Old Shang was the staff officer giving the briefing, Shang Qiyuan. Looking at his scruffy, stubbled face, Lu Yuan smiled too.

This uncle wouldn't need any makeup to pass for a gang enforcer, but he'd better forget about impersonating a high school student. He'd be exposed on the spot.

"The mission requires a genuine high school student, so for now there's no better candidate than you."

Shang Qiyuan handed Lu Yuan an envelope.

"This contains the method for making contact. You must leave for Jiangzhou City by tomorrow at the latest."

"Also, a special warning: the cult in Jiangzhou should already know that the Ning City stronghold has been wiped out. They'll certainly be suspicious of you."

"As for how to earn their trust, you'll have to play it by ear."

It really was a mission with nine chances of death and one of survival. Those 200 points were truly not going to be easy to earn.