Helping each other with countless me.

Chapter 575 Accumulating Strength for Future Success
The cold air in the interrogation room seemed to freeze.

Looking at Qin Keqing, who was limp and soulless, Liu Ruyan almost crumpled the list of statements in her hand.

"The method of offering is..."

"It's a coincidence, you could say."

"coincide?"

"Ah."

The starlight man nodded.

"First of all, the core of the Northern Darkness Devouring Heaven Cult lies in that evil technique that devours the cultivation of others. To cultivate this technique, one needs to use people as filters to filter out the toxic karma and then harvest the clean fruit. So, if there is such a person whose soul is special and is not afraid of these toxins, could he be used as a human-shaped, reusable purifier? Such an individual is a perfect container and would have an irresistible attraction for this kind of cult."

"There's no such person."

Liu Ruyan frowned.

"That's highly poisonous karma, capable of corroding the soul and destroying the bones."

"There really is one."

The Starlight Man's voice carried a strange hint of laughter, as if he were marveling at the wonder of fate.

"I happen to know someone. About half a month ago, I was meditating in the dry stream north of the city when I sensed a pure sense of despair and death. It was so pure that it almost blended into the desolate landscape. I followed the trail and found a young man about to commit suicide."

I stopped him and asked him why.

The Starlight Man spoke calmly, as if he were telling a story that had nothing to do with him.

"He calls himself Li Zhongren. He was originally a high school student in Youzhou City. His talent for cultivation is extremely poor. For more than ten years, he has been stuck at the threshold of Qi induction and cannot make any progress. Not only can he not condense even a bit of true essence in orthodox profound arts, but he also cannot even induct Qi into certain unorthodox martial arts that harm others for his own benefit because of his special physique."

Liu Ruyan keenly noticed something.

"You wouldn't be referring to the Northern Darkness Devouring Heaven Technique, would you?"

"Hehe, that's it."

The Starlight Man smiled and continued.

"He was bewitched by heretics and tried to cultivate this quick-fix evil technique, only to discover that he was truly a 'perpetually useless body,' not even qualified to become a filter for evil cultivators. Utterly desperate, he wanted to commit suicide. However..."

He changed the subject.

“My lineage is different from the common practices of the world. We focus on cultivating the spirit and soul, and we have a different way of perceiving the universe. Yet, in the deepest part of his seemingly lifeless soul, I discovered an extremely rare quality.”

"A genius? Where is that?"

Liu Ruyan's curiosity was completely piqued. She knew that the strength of the soul worshipper in front of her and the subtlety of his control over spiritual energy were rare among his peers, and that the fact that he called it a "special quality" was by no means ordinary.

"Inertia, an almost absolute inertia of the soul."

"Starlight Man explained, his tone carrying the excitement of a researcher discovering a rare sample."

"The so-called inert constitution does not mean that he is stupid, but that his soul's 'reaction threshold' to external energy is extremely high, so high that it is outrageous. He can hardly absorb spiritual energy. Similarly, those insidious and filthy karma and curses cannot truly erode his core. In terms of normal cultivation methods, drawing energy into his body may really be the limit of his life. There is almost no way to go."

"But the Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Dao is forty-nine, and man escapes to one. In extreme places, there is often hidden vitality."

The voice of the Starlight Man seemed to possess a mysterious rhythm that was captivating.

“Our school does not pursue forcibly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into oneself. That is ultimately an external path. What is obtained by force is easily tainted by dust. We focus more on ‘reflection’ and ‘guidance’.”

"Reflection?"

Liu Ruyan repeated the word unconsciously, feeling a sense of unfamiliar Daoist realm within it.

"good."

Starlight nodded.

"He regards his own soul as a unique 'spiritual mirror,' not trying to capture it by force, but reflecting the spiritual energy of the universe. His soul has a strong inertia, which means that this 'mirror' is extremely stable and difficult to be distorted by external objects. Those violent and toxic energies that impact it may not be absorbed, but they are also difficult to damage. Instead, they will be bounced off and deflected by its unique 'mirror' structure, and even 'sorted out' under certain conditions."

“And ‘guidance’ is the key.”

He went on to explain, his words a mix of truth and falsehood, yet they constructed a convincing logic.

“By utilizing the characteristics of the soul itself, one can subtly guide the flow and form of external spiritual energy. For Li Zhongren, he cannot possess a large amount of spiritual energy, but the core of his inert soul can become an extremely stable ‘base’ and ‘channel’. He cannot become a reservoir, but he can become an extremely precise and durable ‘valve’ or ‘reactor’.”

"Such a peculiar path to spiritual cultivation exists in this world."

Liu Ruyan listened intently. This was completely different from all the cultivation methods she knew, emphasizing inner qualities rather than external exploitation. It sounded more like the legacy of ancient Qi cultivators, mysterious and profound.

She seemed to see a brand new door opening before her, leading to a different realm, shrouded in mist and where the sounds of the Tao were barely audible.

Unfortunately, the path behind this door was completely different from the one she had taken. She could only catch a glimpse of it and could not step into it, which made her feel a little regretful and amazed.

"In short..."

The starlight people brought the topic back to reality.

"If he cultivates the Northern Darkness Qi Absorption Technique, no matter how intense the karmic toxins it contains, it will be difficult to truly erode his soul's origin, because his soul core is isolated from everything. On the contrary, because of its 'spiritual mirror'-like characteristics, the pure spiritual energy that is filtered out may gather around him. If he wants, he can even simulate the fluctuations of the 'perfect filter material' to a certain extent, and that is the best bait for us to fish."

Liu Ruyan's eyes lit up as she fully understood the Starlight People's entire plan.

Such a unique constitution is a coveted treasure for the Northern Underworld Devouring Heaven Sect, which is extremely dependent on "filter materials" and suffers from backlash; it is an irresistible temptation.

"However, this requires meticulous planning."

Liu Ruyan pondered for a moment before speaking.

“If we just push him out, that cunning cult leader will definitely think it’s a trap.”

"So, we can add him to my team and publicly declare him as a special talent discovered by your new consecration, a gifted individual who is making rapid progress. Apart from that, we won't mention a single detail about his physique. We can also have him participate in some appropriate missions to build up his reputation. Cults always have spies within their ranks, and they will investigate this suddenly appearing genius themselves. And that's how people are; they always believe what they 'find' themselves, far more than what they hear from others."

“At that time, they will definitely try every means to set a trap to capture Li Zhongren, and what we need to do is…” A sharp light flashed in Liu Ruyan’s eyes.

"Sit back and wait."

"Starlight Man" replied, his gaze beneath the Starlight Mask as deep as the night.
-
Dividing line

The news of Li Zhongren joining the Seventh Squad was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples of curiosity within the Youzhou Special Operations Bureau.

Those who can join Liu Ruyan's direct team are all elites among elites, either possessing unique skills or having amazing potential.

The team members all had their own information channels in private, and the results of their inquiries were even more perplexing.

According to the information, just half a month ago, this boy was just an ordinary high school student, and a typical "good-for-nothing" who repeatedly failed his cultivation class and was judged by his teacher to have "limited talent and was advised to focus on humanities."

How did he suddenly become a special talent personally recruited by Director Liu?

Even his joining the Secret Service was temporary, part of the process of building his resume; he still had to take the psionic college entrance exam afterwards.
The speculation about "getting in through connections" was quickly dismissed by everyone themselves.

Who doesn't know that Liu Ruyan is famously incorruptible and intolerant of any wrongdoing?
She promotes people based solely on their abilities and achievements, never showing favoritism.

Even though she is now the acting director, she still insists on being at the forefront. She even formed a "cabinet" composed of clerical and analytical staff to handle the tedious administrative and coordination work, while she herself remained firmly in her post.

This behavior became a popular topic of conversation within the circle, and some people privately jokingly called her the "combat director," but without exception, everyone admired her leading by example.

A leader like that would never put a useless person into his core team.

Therefore, when Li Zhongren demonstrated his abilities in the training field, following the instructions of Liu Ruyan, who was currently in the observation room and communicating with him through a microphone, all the veteran team members gathered around with scrutiny and great curiosity.

Li Zhongren took a deep breath and walked to the center of the field.

He could feel the gazes from all around him—curious, questioning, scrutinizing. A hint of nervousness appeared on his face as he muttered to himself. Anyone skilled in lip reading could immediately tell that he was recalling his 'master's' instructions.

A moment later, without making any fancy starting gestures, he simply raised his right hand, extending his index finger and thumb to make a gesture resembling a pistol.

"Ok?"

One of the team members let out a soft "Huh?", thinking that this was far too frivolous.

However, the next moment, something unexpected happened!

At Li Zhongren's fingertips, spiritual energy rapidly gathered, compressed, and instantly condensed into an energy warhead the size of a quail egg, entirely crimson, radiating a scorching aura!
call out--!
With almost no charging process, the crimson spirit bullet shot out, so fast that it left only a red line, accurately hitting the chest of a human-shaped target fifty meters away.

boom!
It wasn't a violent explosion, but rather an instantaneous high-temperature burn!
A fist-sized hole was melted into the target's chest, with dark red molten material dripping from the edges and making a sizzling sound.

"Fire-attribute psionic energy blast?"

A knowledgeable team member exclaimed in surprise, "This method of compressing and releasing elemental energy so stably and instantly is no simple feat."

Before anyone could react, Li Zhongren's hand gesture changed slightly, and his fingertips lit up again, this time with a ghostly blue light, instantly spreading a chilling aura.

call out--!
The second spirit bullet was fired and hit another moving target.

Crack! A piercing freezing sound rang out. Starting from the point where the moving target was hit, extreme frost spread rapidly, freezing it into a stiff ice sculpture in the blink of an eye, before shattering and falling to the ground due to inertia.

"Ice attribute?!"

Immediately afterwards, Li Zhongren tapped his fingers repeatedly, his movements as fluid as if they had been honed through countless trials.

The third, pale yellow spirit bullet, struck an alloy puppet and exploded with a bang. Although the power was not enough to destroy the puppet, the strong impact forced it to retreat repeatedly, leaving obvious dents and cracks on its surface.

The fourth one, a chaotic and constantly twisting spirit bullet, silently struck a crystal used to test mental resistance in the distance. The crystal's light instantly became disordered and flickering, as if it had been subjected to some kind of mental interference.

The fifth, emerald-green psionic bullet, struck the ground, instantly spreading into a viscous area of ​​psionic energy that emitted a faint acidic aura, continuously depleting the protective energy of the test dummy that had stepped into it.
In an instant, the light of elemental energy rose and fell in the training ground, and the sounds of booming, freezing, and explosions were deafening.

Li Zhongren stood still, his body as steady as a rock. Only his arms and wrists made tiny, precise movements. His fingertips were like a psionic gun with unlimited ammunition, spraying out "bullets" of different attributes and effects, shattering various targets and puppets into pieces.

His attack methods are extremely unique: long-range, precise, with varied attributes and rapid switching, completely different from the traditional cultivators' mode of relying on magic weapons, flying swords, or spells to bombard.

Although the absolute power of a single spirit bullet does not seem to exceed the range of the third level of Qi Refining, his exquisite control over spiritual energy, instantaneous attribute conversion, and continuous firing frequency make his actual combat power far exceed that of others of the same level!
After the demonstration, the veteran players on the sidelines, who had initially looked on with curiosity and scrutiny, all became serious.

This kid's got something! This unconventional yet effective fighting style can play an unexpected role in teamwork.

Even Liu Ruyan couldn't hide the surprise that flashed across her beautiful eyes.

She knew Li Zhongren had something special about him, but she never expected that he could transform that special "physical condition" into such a concrete and powerful fighting force in such a short period of time.

This performance is hardly at the third level of Qi Refining.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is infinitely close to the fourth level of Qi Refining, and even surpasses it in some aspects!
"Don't be surprised. This child has a special talent. He has not made any progress in the past ten years, but that is not a waste of time. Although his soul's inertia has hindered his cultivation, it has also made his foundation exceptionally solid. His soul's tolerance and capacity to bear spiritual energy far exceed that of ordinary people. Now that he has entered the gate of the method, it is like the dam has been opened. The 'potential energy' accumulated in the past has naturally been transformed into 'kinetic energy', hence his performance today. It can be regarded as a kind of deep accumulation that has finally been released."

Inside the observation room, the 'Starlight Man,' who was actually a clone of Li Zhongren remotely controlling the convergence of spiritual energy, 'spoke'.

"However, such progress is unsustainable. After the initial rapid burst, subsequent improvement will return to normal, and may even be more difficult than for ordinary people due to the limitations of his physique. In particular, the insurmountable barrier of the mid-stage of Qi Refining is probably far more difficult for him to overcome than you can imagine."

"That's pretty awesome too."

Liu Ruyan couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"After all, 99% of people in this world cannot cultivate to this level."

"Everyone has their own destiny."

"lets change a topic."

Liu Ruyan took a deep breath, a sharp glint in her eyes.

“I’m temporarily lending you this apprentice. He might get injured, but don’t mind. After all, whether I can get rid of this substitute role depends on your apprentice.”

"It's alright. A sharp sword is forged through tempering, and every step in soul cultivation requires experience in the mortal world."

"Soul cultivation."

Liu Ruyan silently memorized this concept once again.
(End of this chapter)