A technologically powerful nation: The national treasure is actually myself.

Before long, Lin Yang and his group saw the soldiers who had submitted their resignations leave Baichi City on the teleportation array with happy faces.

"Their resignations were not stopped; instead, they were allowed to leave."

The group exchanged glances, and a sense of relief crept in on them.

This proves that what Liu Ling said earlier was indeed a rumor.

Cheng Fu laughed: "I knew it. How could such a thing happen? If it really did, why would they have allowed so many people to evacuate Baichi City in the first place?"

Li Rui nodded: "Alright, everyone can rest assured now. Don't overthink it. This is a rare opportunity. You don't have to go on missions and you still get paid. The most important thing is to take this opportunity to cultivate and improve yourselves."

The team members returned to their rooms to continue their training.

Lin Yang glanced at Liu Ling, whose expression seemed a little unnatural, as if she was embarrassed by what had just happened, and then went back to his room.

To be honest, the current situation in Baichi City is very favorable to him.

He is lacking a stable opportunity for seclusion.

As long as the ancient ruins are safe for the time being, he would love for this kind of life to continue for another twenty or thirty thousand years.

At that time, he will be able to break through to the late stage of the Dao Fire Realm and initially possess power comparable to that of an ordinary Nirvana Realm cultivator.

At that time, one's own safety will be greatly improved.

The city of Blazing began to quiet down.

But as time went by, the city of Blazing gradually returned to some of its former bustle.

After thousands of years, seeing that the power of the ancient ruins had indeed not been leaked, some people who originally lived in Baichi City returned.

Furthermore, many more people have come to visit the ancient ruins.

Yes, that's right.

Some "tourists" have appeared in Baichi City.

These people came all the way from other cities and even neighboring prefectures to see the ancient ruins.

There are many ancient ruins on the ancient continent of Proterozoic, but Proterozoic was too large.

Some ancient ruins are not even in human territory.

Even those ancient ruins in the human region are incredibly far from the Far East Prefecture.

Therefore, many people have never actually seen ancient ruins with their own eyes.

Although the ancient ruins that have appeared in Baichi City are extremely ominous, they are still ancient ruins after all.

And as long as you don't go inside, you're safe.

Even if they can only see it from the entrance, many people are willing to make a special trip for it.

Therefore, something dramatic happened.

Baichi City has become a tourist destination.

To be precise, the ancient site has become a tourist attraction.

Although it's not as crazy as the treasure hunt craze of yesteryear, it has slowly regained a lot of vitality.

Some families that had originally moved away as a whole moved back because they were not doing well in other places.

Baichi City is returning to and developing along its original normal life trajectory.

If it weren't for the constant stream of tourists from other places visiting the city, people would almost forget the existence of that ancient site.

When Lin Yang learned of these changes during his seclusion, he also found them quite amazing.

What was once a beautiful city, Baichi City, now feels like a tourist attraction on Earth.

At the same time, I couldn't help but sigh.

There are still too many rich people!

Just to catch a glimpse of that ancient ruin, even if it's just the entrance, countless people are willing to travel thousands of miles to see it.

However, he could understand these people.

Although treasure hunting is not possible at this ancient site, such sites are rare. As a cultivator, while cultivation is certainly the top priority, broadening one's knowledge is also very important.

And so, thousands of years passed.

At this point, more than ten thousand years had passed since Lin Yang and his group returned to Baichi City from the ancient ruins.

The city of Baichi has already transformed into a bustling metropolis.

That day, Lin Yang was cultivating.

Li Rui's voice echoed throughout the stronghold: "Everyone, assemble. A new mission has been assigned. The population of Baichi City is now complex, and we need to resume patrols."

Upon hearing this, the team members all came out of their rooms and gathered together.

"Captain, is this mission still a patrol? Just patrolling in Baichi City? Does this mean we're being kept in Baichi City indefinitely?" Cheng Fu said, smacking his lips.

Li Rui glanced at him: "Isn't this good? Doing missions in the city makes it convenient for you to eat and drink anytime, right?"

Cheng Fu chuckled.

Li Rui added, "Our team has limited capabilities, so this kind of mission is actually the most suitable for us—easy and safe."

Everyone nodded.

Actually, it doesn't matter where you do the mission, it's just that this situation has never occurred before, where a small team has to perform missions continuously in the same place.

That's why everyone was a little surprised.

Soon, the group left the base and began their mission.

Lin Yang noticed that two other teams also acted at the same time.

Clearly, they weren't transferred either.

Looking at the bustling scene in Baichi City, Li Rui reminded him as before: "Those who come here specifically to see the ancient ruins are basically people with some strength. We still need to be vigilant during the mission."

"Understood, Captain." Everyone nodded.

Actually, even without Li Rui reminding them, everyone already knew the answer.

To travel thousands of miles just to see an ancient site, one must either be rich, powerful, or have connections.

They certainly won't be ordinary cultivators.

……

Performing patrol duties is rather boring.

But on this day, when Lin Yang was on his routine patrol, he suddenly frowned slightly and looked at a middle-aged male cultivator not far away.

This person was nothing special, yet Lin Yang felt inexplicably uneasy about him.

This made him take a second look.

The other person seemed to have noticed as well, and looked over at him.

Their eyes met, and Lin Yang had no time to look away, so he could only meet the other person's gaze.

Upon seeing the military uniform he was wearing, the middle-aged male cultivator gave a faint smile, nodded slightly as if in response, and then turned and left.

Lin Yang withdrew his gaze. There was nothing wrong with this person's behavior; in fact, it could be said to be quite normal, which made him unsure whether he was overthinking things.

Li Rui witnessed this and asked Lin Yang, "What's wrong? Do you know that person?"

Lin Yang shook his head: "I don't know him, but I feel that he is a bit strange, but I can't put my finger on why."

"Is that strange?" Li Rui frowned and looked over, but the other person had already walked away.

"Maybe it's just my imagination," Lin Yang said.

From the moment he noticed the other person, the middle-aged male cultivator didn't show any unusual behavior, including his normal reaction after making eye contact with him. As cultivators, their senses are very sharp.

He glanced at the person a few more times, so it's normal for the other person to notice.

It's normal for the other person to turn around and look at him when they realize he's watching them.

It would be normal for him to smile and nod when he saw that he was a member of the government army.

After all, the city's military patrols, to a certain extent, also protect the cultivators within the city.

It's normal for some practitioners to have a favorable impression of the government army.

Anyway, everything is normal.

The only abnormal thing was his own feeling.

"That's really strange, why do I suddenly find them odd?"

Lin Yang thought to himself, he couldn't understand the reason either.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out.

First came two arrogant voices:
"Hmph, a small place is a small place. It's your honor that I, the young master, have taken a liking to your things. How dare you not sell them? You really don't know what's good for you."

"That's right. If it weren't for my young master coming to see the ancient ruins, you wouldn't even come to a small place like this, even if you begged him! If you know what's good for you, hurry up and bring your things over, otherwise... hmph."

Then came a polite voice:

"Honorable guest, it's not that our shop doesn't sell, but this item was ordered by someone else and the money has already been paid. Would you like to look at other things? If you see anything else you like, we can give it to you for free. How does that sound?"

"Hehe, I've got my eye on it today. If you know what's good for you, hand it over. Otherwise, your shop is doomed." The arrogant voice rang out again.

The noise attracted the attention of those around them.

Lin Yang also looked over.

The source of the noise was a shop, and it seemed to be a shop owned by the Yun family.

It sounds like a young master from a wealthy family from out of town has taken a liking to something that someone else has reserved in the store and wants to forcibly buy it.

This kind of thing originally did not fall under the jurisdiction of the prefectural military.

But Lin Yang still quickly took a few steps forward.

He had a fairly good relationship with the Yun family and still owed them a favor. Now that the Yun family's shop was in trouble right in front of him, he naturally had to take a look.

Seeing Lin Yang's actions, Li Rui paused for a moment and followed him. The rest of the team also walked quickly and arrived at the shop entrance.

Upon seeing their team approaching, the onlookers made way for them to enter the shop.

Inside the shop, there were five or six young monks, four men and two women.

One of the young men, dressed in a brocade robe, was looking arrogantly at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper, on the other hand, explained and apologized in a very polite manner.

No matter what he said, the arrogant young man refused to give up, insisting on having a hairpin in the shop that appeared to be made of some kind of high-grade chalcedony, and kept saying unpleasant things.

"Shopkeeper, what's going on?"

Upon entering the shop, Lin Yang was about to speak, but Li Rui asked the question first.

The shopkeeper seemed to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and said repeatedly:
"I apologize for the trouble caused to you officers and soldiers. This distinguished guest took a fancy to that jade hairpin, but it had already been reserved. However, the guest insisted on buying it, which caused a misunderstanding. I did not expect to disturb you officers and soldiers."

Li Rui turned to look at the arrogant man in the brocade robe: "Young master, since the item has already been reserved, why make things difficult for the shopkeeper? I see that you all have extraordinary bearing and must be from noble families. Why get angry and lose face over such a trivial matter?"

Such matters are indeed not under the jurisdiction of the government military.

However, since Lin Yang had already come in, Li Rui still planned to try to persuade him first.

Lin Yang glanced at Li Rui, surprised that this captain was quite righteous.

However, the young man in the brocade robe sneered: "You are the military officers of the Far East Prefecture. This matter has nothing to do with you. If you know what's good for you, leave now."

After he finished speaking, he stared at the shopkeeper and said coldly, "I'll say this one last time: bring the goods over, or you'll bear the consequences."

The shopkeeper looked troubled and said, "Honorable guest, this is really difficult to handle. Why don't you wait for the buyer to arrive and buy it from him? He should be here soon according to the agreed pick-up time."

"Heh, I don't have the habit of waiting for others," the young man in the brocade robe sneered.

The shopkeeper was extremely embarrassed: "This... I really can't make the decision. How about this, esteemed guest, please wait a moment while I notify the elders of my family to come and handle it, okay?"

This shop belongs to the Yun family; he is merely the shopkeeper.

According to the rules, he indeed did not have the authority to sell items that others had already paid for and reserved to other people, as this concerned the reputation of the Yun family's shop.

Therefore, he planned to have the Yun family's top executives come and handle the matter.

The young man in the brocade robe was immediately displeased: "Since you can't make the decision, what are you doing talking nonsense here? Hurry up and send the person who can make the decision over here. Do you want to die?"

The man behind him, who appeared to be his attendant, spoke again: "As expected of a run-down place. You can't make decisions but dare to waste my young master's time with your nonsense. I think you really want to die!"

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. Please wait a moment, esteemed guest." The shopkeeper didn't dare to refute anything and just kept apologizing.

Clearly, these people, dressed in fine clothes, were not ordinary scions of noble families.

They came from another prefecture.

The shopkeeper dared not break the shop's rules, but he also dared not offend these scions of prominent families, lest he bring unnecessary trouble to the Yun family.

So he quickly relayed the message.

Seeing this, the man in the brocade robe snorted coldly again, then turned to the other female cultivator beside him, whose face was cold and indifferent, and said in a somewhat ingratiating tone:

"Sister Rou, since you like this hairpin, I will buy it for you today no matter what!"

The female cultivator, called Rou Meimei, simply smiled faintly: "It seems that Young Master Qian, your influence is still not great enough. You can't even handle such a small matter and have to make me wait."

Upon hearing this, the man in the brocade robe glared fiercely at the shopkeeper again before speaking softly, "Sister Rou, don't be angry. Just wait a little longer. If the people who come later don't know what's good for them, I'll tear this shop down."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Li Rui frowned.

This guy said those words in front of the garrison soldiers; he really didn't take them seriously at all.

Taking action is strictly prohibited within the city.

Disputes within the shops are not under the jurisdiction of the government military, but if a fight breaks out in the city, their squad, being present, certainly cannot stand idly by.

Lin Yang also frowned.

These guys, I don't know where they came from, are being way too arrogant.

Moreover, I originally thought it was just a spoiled brat causing trouble, but I didn't expect that even that female cultivator was no good either.

It is true that birds of a feather flock together.

But he didn't say much.

Now that the shopkeeper has reported the matter to the Yun family, I believe that someone truly capable of handling it will come to deal with it soon.

Just, I don’t know why.

Liu Ling suddenly said, "Are you guys being reasonable? Since their stuff has already been sold, why are you still making such a fuss? What? Trying to steal it?"

Upon hearing this, the others were fine, but the entire team was stunned for a moment.

Then, in a flash, everyone stared intently at Liu Ling.

Li Rui was startled.

Lin Yang was also extremely surprised.

What's going on with Liu Ling?

Why did he suddenly say that? (End of Chapter)