An elderly person clad in a loose-fitting nightgown stood at the door, frowning at Wang Jixuan.
Wang Jixuan could directly feel the hostility from the other party... Rather than hostility, it was more like a disdain.
"Is your surname Zhou?" the elderly Kong Lianmei asked with a frown.
"Yes, please come in and have a seat."
Wang Jixuan stood up and made room.
"Hmm," Kong Lianmei nodded, closed the door behind her as she entered, "keep your voice down, don't wake the children. My instincts tell me you are a headache, neither big nor small; I've seen too many young people like you."
Wang Jixuan pondered for a moment, unsure of how to respond.
Mrs. Kong sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at Wang Jixuan's disguised face with her calm and profound old eyes.
"Have you heard of Zhou Meiyin?" she asked.
"No," he replied.
"She's a high official; the people in the Fortress with the surname Zhou would surely know of her."
Wang Jixuan chuckled to himself.
This old woman was testing him.
Sixty-nine years old was ultimately too young compared to someone over a hundred and twenty.
"I'm not aware of these matters," Master Wang said with an appropriately uneasy and reserved look in his eyes, "If I have a chance to see my uncle again, I can ask for you."
"Why would I ask about that? I despise that fellow."
Mrs. Kong huffed, frowning in thought, seemingly figuring out how to get rid of this young man.
Suddenly, she said, "Are you a lolicon?"
"Hmm?"
"Will you develop some perverted fantasies about the girls here?"
Mrs. Kong's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at Wang Jixuan's face.
A handgun appeared in her right hand, its silver barrel polished to a gleam.
Wang Jixuan raised his hand to rub his forehead.
The landlady muttered curses: "Don't think I don't know where that Xiao Hua fellow has her shop! Joyful City's pervert zone! It's full of perverts! The most twisted, darkest desires of human civilization lie there! You've been inside, haven't you? You've been corrupted! You little rascal!"
"No no no, I actually... don't like the women here."
The landlady exploded, "Oh, my goodness! I also have some boys here! That's even worse! Are you one of those disgusting religious leaders from the Golden Age?"
"I really don't have such fetishes! Absolutely not! What I like are those... first, the aura must be ethereal, wearing long skirts, having long hair, speaking politely, and having a gentle and reserved personality. Yes, being reserved is very important."
Wang Jixuan solemnly said:
"I can swear on the honor of my former teacher, I absolutely will not seek any companionship or partnership here!"
The elderly landlady stared intently into Wang Jixuan's eyes, then slowly nodded and put the handgun back into the pocket of her nightgown, continuing to mutter:
"Good, young man, your eyes tell me you are not lying.
"You have temporarily passed my test of character, I will keep observing you; don't think about just getting rid of me and all will be well, I have many children belonging to the major gangs in Lower City!
"However, I must remind you, the trait of being reserved is rare in the Fortress these days.
"You may stay here then. Tomorrow, I will arrange some menial work for you, something that will let you sustain yourself."
Wang Jixuan said, "Can I go to work a few days later? I still carry some Joy Coins given to me by my uncle, which I can pay you as rent. I would like to rest for a while, the hardships I've faced recently have left me quite exhausted."
"That won't do, everyone must work, you can't..."
Mrs. Kong frowned as she saw twelve Joy Coins appear before her.
"It's not impossible."
She quickly snatched those round metals, muttering, "This will only let you stay here for three months! After three months, you must go out to work! And listen, if you are going to work for those gangs and harm people, move out from here after three months!"
"Alright, thank you, it won't be that long, I'm very interested in cultivation."
Wang Jixuan felt very pleased.
Communicating with this old woman turned out to be unexpectedly interesting.
However, two minutes later.
"Here! Use it sparingly! I'll only give you one roll a week!"
A roll of soft, yellowed recycled paper was thrown into Wang Jixuan's arms while the old woman outside muttered under her breath 'you'd better behave,' as she walked away slowly.
Wang Jixuan looked at the roll of paper, still stunned and not understanding what it meant, when Xiao Yezi's suppressed laughter could already be heard from the hallway.
He had several new lines of worry on his forehead.
Forget it, time for cultivation, to experience the quality of the Spiritual Energy here.
Wang Jixuan got up, locked the door, and also covered the crack with a poster that had 'T.E.R' written on it.
These three letters, Wang Jixuan had often seen them in Mu Liang's memories too.
Five Hearts Facing Heaven, Inner Heaven Cycle, strands of Spiritual Energy gathered.
'Wuliang that Heavenly Venerable, the Spiritual Energy here seems to be just a bit more and a bit purer, but the Cultivation speed is almost forty percent faster than on the Thirteenth Floor!'
'Why didn't I discover this place before? I've even been to the edge of the Wanli Gold Gang area.'
'I shall settle here!'
'Provided Xiao Yezi doesn't always rope me into doing household work.'
Wang Jixuan thought, not without worry.
...
Two relatively peaceful weeks swiftly passed.
At the border between Black Fire Gang and Wanli Gold Gang, inside a small abandoned hut modified from a metal container.
Wang Jixuan sat in the dark, skillfully pressing the buttons on a small square box in front of him—the Text Exchange Machine.
This was his third communication with Zhou Zhengde since he had arrived in the territory of the Wanli Gold Gang.
[02: Found the entrance to the tunnels, hidden behind the bookcase in the study, sprinkled with irregular dust, didn't dare to go in directly.]
He waited a while, probably more than twenty seconds.
[01: Have you installed the surveillance?]
[02: Installed. I've put cameras at both the previously discovered hidden room and tunnel entrance. The day before yesterday, I inspected above the tunnel's direction, and it's confirmed that it goes straight to the heart of the Black Fire Gang, connecting several of their crucial areas.]
[01: Incredible discovery! This must be an escape route for the higher-ups of the Black Fire Gang! Where exactly did that monster uncle take you?]
[02: His foster mother's place, and she has ties to the Black Fire Gang, likely her son is a high-ranking member. This turned out to be an accidental find.]
[01: Awesome! I'll send people to ambush them! We must capture all of them, especially that criminal Wen Heisen!]
[02: Don't come here, it will disturb me, I quite like it here.]
Wang Jixuan glanced at the astonishingly amplified qi inside his body.
He had originally anticipated that it would take him at least three months to reach the realm of abundant qi, but now...
He only needed another month!
With enough Blade Beast blood to refine and extract the spiritual energy within, perhaps even half a month would suffice!
With his cultivation efficiency improved, he could now perfectly balance fighting the Black Fire Gang and cultivating.
[01: Have you been reading books lately?]
[02: In the past few days, I finished "Fortress Engineering Applications" and "Fortress Pipeline Installation", and am now reading "Modern Physics Applications" and "Weapons that Make Blade Beasts Afraid".]
[01: I didn't get the chance to ask you last time, where did you find these books?]
[02: The landlord's study, on the bookshelf beside the tunnel entrance, she lets me read whatever I want. She always says that reading is the ladder of human progress.]
[01: Your landlord is quite suspicious, books, hidden rooms, passageways all prove it. Do you need anything else? I recently got some individual soldier equipment from my uncle, but I couldn't get my hands on any single-use rockets, they would threaten the stability of the fortress's internal supports, we can't use those to bombard Level Spirit Ability Users anymore. What a pity.]
Wang Jixuan hesitated for a moment but then stated his needs.
[02: Blade Beast bones, blood, and anything else you can get related to Blade Beasts.]
[01: ...]
[01: Are you using these to increase your power? Ah, don't tell me, your power also comes from Blade Beasts.]
[02: Also? Spiritual Ability Users?]
[01: Yes, it's said that Spiritual Ability Users are cultivated using the power of Blade Beasts, but the technique is controlled by the Thirteenth Institute and has a high fatality rate. I should be able to get a trace amount of Blade Beast blood, those miraculous papers of yours are made using Blade Beast blood, right? Oh, I've also established a connection with the power of Blade Beasts.]
Wang Jixuan raised his eyebrows slightly.
[02: For me, the power of the Blade Beasts is just a shortcut, I need to remove the impurities from it, I can become stronger even without it.]
[01: ᓫ(°⌑°)ǃ]
[02: Let's talk next time, still send the next batch of materials to the old spot on the 49th floor. I have some business to attend to tonight.]
[01: Business? What kind?]
[02: Exorcising demons, safeguarding the Dao, perpetuating righteousness, settling my karmic destiny. (￣︶￣)]
Wang Jixuan casually shut off the device to save battery life.
He put the text exchange machine in an iron box in front, swiftly took off his shirt and trousers, folded them neatly, and placed them inside.
He had been well taken care of by Xiao Yezi these past two weeks.
Though he had to do some housework every day, it didn't take long and he could still occasionally eat some nutritious vegetables.
With nutritional support and nourished by spiritual energy, Wang Jixuan's new Dao Body was beginning to show sleek muscular contours.
Master Wang opened the nearby wardrobe.
A simple black blast-resistant tactical helmet, a set of pitch-black protective combat gear, a dozen handguns and submachine guns, and thirty-six grenade-sized concussive high-explosive grenades neatly arranged in the dim light of the wardrobe.
His mouth curled into a slight smirk as he quickly swapped gear.
First, he moved several stacks of talismans from the pockets of his original shirt into the back pocket of his custom-made combat suit, the six Bone Penetration Nails made of Blade Beast Outer Bone alloyed with some metals, were stuffed by Wang Jixuan into the cuffs of the combat suit.
Now, if he encountered Wen Heisen, Wang Jixuan was ninety percent sure he could pierce his skull with a nail.
Unfortunately;
his target for tonight's hunt was not Wen Heisen.
Selecting guns, arranging magazines, taking out twelve high-explosive grenades to put in his belt pouch.
With two clicks, the bullets smoothly chambered. He then placed the firearms in holsters tied to his belt.
Wang Jixuan took a deep breath of the stale air and turned to leave the metal-clad underground room, not forgetting to glance at the overly stylish black motorcycle Mr. Zhou had brought last time.
He still wasn't proficient in handling that kind of mount.
Simultaneously.
In the office of the captain of the Thirteenth Floor Security Division.
Zhou Zhengde furrowed his brows into a character for "river," his expression solemn as he pulled open a drawer, put on glasses, turned on a holographic screen, and accessed the search bar to enter 'Exorcising demons, safeguarding the Dao, perpetuating righteousness, settling my karmic destiny,' then clicked the translate button.
"Cool! So that's what karma means."
"Does this mean, after enduring for more than half a month, he's starting to attack the Black Fire Gang again?"
Zhou Zhengde shrugged indifferently.
The Clearing Forces and the gangs' coalition were both amassing strength; eliminating the Black Fire Gang merely required following the schedule steadily, and action could be taken directly in another month.
Now that Mu Liang had found an underground passage, and with that suspicious old lady guarding it, perhaps there would be some unexpected gains when the net was cast.
This was actually quite good.
For Mu Liang to insist on personally killing a few gang members did seem a little...
Trifling, inconsiderate, needlessly risky.
"But his way of handling it is really cool; I quite like it."
Captain Zhou laughed in appreciation.
The young official Zhou Yan had no idea just how many extra hours he would have to work because of this.