The Nation Today

Lin Xu smiled, casually stroking the warm surface of the lamp. "Perhaps it's because I happen to be able to control it; the cultivation technique I practice is particularly effective against these evil spirits."

Jiang Yelei gazed at the flickering lamp and smiled, a smile tinged with relief and satisfaction, "You child, this isn't just special effects. In all these years, I've never seen such a powerful magic user. There's probably a mid-level ghost downstairs too, isn't there? I can't believe you're just a 16-year-old boy."

Lin Xu shook his head and chuckled, "Grandpa Jiang, you flatter me."

He changed the subject, turning his gaze to the dark night outside the window. "Tonight's Spirit Realm invasion is very strange... When I arrived, I encountered people lying in ambush around the courtyard, and others tried to intercept me; they were clearly targeting the Jiang Clan."

"A-Xu, are you saying someone wants to harm us?" Jiang Wanqing's expression changed drastically, and her voice trembled slightly.

Jiang Yelei frowned, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy eyes. "I underestimated Chen Lingfeng's ruthlessness and decisiveness."

He looked at Lin Xu with emotion. "A-Xu, thanks to you tonight, otherwise my Jiang Clan would probably not have escaped this calamity."

Lin Xu shook his head, his expression calm. "Grandpa Jiang, you flatter me. In truth, it's probably me who has dragged the Jiang Clan down."

"There's no need to say that. You saved us, so how can you say you're implicated?" Jiang Yelei waved his hand.

But then, the spirit lamp in Lin Xu's hand flickered, and several fragments of Shitou flew in through the window and landed in front of everyone.

The dark red Shitou fragments gleamed faintly with a bloody light under the candlelight. The unknown runes engraved on their surface were blurred, yet a chilling aura still lingered within them.

"This is the source of tonight's Spirit Realm invasion. When I arrived, I saw it supporting the rift in the Spirit Realm," Lin Xu said, looking at the Shitou fragments.

Jiang Yelei's expression shifted slightly. "It's Spirit Realm Beacon."

Seemingly sensing Lin Xu's confusion, he explained, "The Spirit Realm can be seen as the other side of the world. When the barrier of the real world is weakened to a certain extent, it connects the two worlds. Based on this principle, some cultists use special rituals to create Spirit Realm Beacon, tearing apart the barrier through these beacons and introducing the power of the Spirit Realm into reality."

"I don't quite understand. Shouldn't this kind of thing be strictly prohibited by the state?" Lin Xu frowned. "Why is Chen Lingfeng so brazen? Isn't anyone going to do anything about it?"

"Of course the state prohibits it, and the regulations in this regard are very strict, but..." Jiang Yelei shook his head, his tone tinged with regret, "Technology has stagnated, and supernatural beings have descended. The peace and stability of a hundred years ago can only be found in history textbooks. In this era, the government's control has long been severely weakened by local power factions."

Take the nation's most powerful heavy mechanized force as an example. A force equipped with hundreds of tanks and heavy armored vehicles can only threaten high-level professionals. Are we supposed to send an armored division into a complex city to besiege a cult leader hiding in a residential building?

Due to interference from the rules of the Spirit Realm, the precision-guided missiles in history books have long been rendered useless. The best weapon to deal with professionals above level 15 is a tactical nuclear bomb.

Nationwide, there are over a hundred known professionals at level 15 and above, most of whom are based in local areas. They control resources, intelligence, and territory, and have even trained private armies, forming de facto separatist regimes.

Lin Xu's expression shifted. Information about this topic had been mentioned on the Spirit Realm Forum, but such information was strictly controlled and far less explicit than what he heard today.

"Doesn't the country have the Yulin Guard? I heard they're all mid-level or higher professionals," he asked, unwilling to give up. "With the mechanized legions and the Yulin Guard combined, they should be able to suppress local forces."

"That's right, it's because of the Yulin Guard that the government isn't just for show, and our country maintains a semblance of unity." Jiang Yelei nodded. "But did you know that some of those level 15 powerhouses entrenched in the regions were retired instructors or high-ranking members of the Yulin Guard?"

Lin Xu listened in stunned silence. Jiang Yelei's tone carried a hint of complexity. "A hundred years ago, when the Spirit Realm first descended, the nation reacted swiftly, immediately establishing the Yulin Guard. Oathing to 'protect the nation and uphold justice,' they recruited the most elite extraordinary individuals from the government and military, uniting with passionate young people rising from the grassroots. At the cost of nearly 70% casualties, they blocked the calamity of the Spirit Realm at the most critical moment and forcibly maintained the nation's constitution, which was on the verge of collapse."

"Look at that once-powerful superpower across the sea; now it's just a bunch of city-states fighting each other. You should understand how difficult it was for us to maintain our unity."

Lin Xu fell silent. Time is the fairest sculptor in the world; it flattens mountains and dulls swords. It has witnessed the bloodstains on the armor of the Yulin Guard and recorded the newly cast incense burners in the ancestral halls of local tyrants.

When the power of an individual surpasses the constraints of the state apparatus, loyalty becomes the most expensive and fragile luxury.

Even heroes grow old, and who wouldn't want to build a legacy for their descendants?

Lin Xu suddenly remembered an old post on the Spirit Realm Forum that had been deleted to only half its original length. "The Yulin Guard Third Detachment, after 47 years of stationing in the southwest, was transferred in its entirety to Night Watchers."

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, but he remained silent—some answers had already been written in the wind.

"This is not a betrayal. After the war, the country discovered that due to the arrival of the supernatural, local forces began to expand rapidly. Coupled with internal divisions, after considering various factors, a portion of the Yulin Guard were proactively dismantled, reassigned, and embedded in local areas to maintain balance."

We are able to maintain unity only because of this seemingly compromised balance of power, and these local forces are also the strongest line of defense against the invasion of the Spirit Realm.

Jiang Yelei concluded, "In this era, the relationship between local governments and the government is no longer a simple superior-subordinate one."

Lin Xu understood. It seemed that Meng City was just an unbalanced link in this large system. It was the Jiang Clan's loss of power that created the arrogant and domineering Chen Lineage.

Jiang Yelei looked at Jiang Wanqing, then at Lin Xu, "A-Xu, what are your plans for the future? Do you want to go out and try your luck, or stay in Meng City?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanqing looked at Lin Xu with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

Lin Xu's heart stirred, and he looked at him calmly. "My foundation is in the Spirit Realm, and I don't have much time or energy to focus on reality. I will build a base in Meng City as a transit point between the Spirit Realm and reality."

Jiang Yelei shook his head. "You've just gone through the Spirit Realm Trial, and you don't fully understand the relationship between the two realms yet. No matter how much power you build in the Spirit Realm, if you don't have a foundation in the real world, it will ultimately be difficult to last."

Lin Xu nodded thoughtfully. He believed Jiang Yelei wouldn't lie about these things, and humbly asked, "Elder Jiang..."