Eating bizarre things in public upgrades my status; the Special Affairs Bureau wants me to join them

"Is this Shi Fang's hiding place?"

"Tsk tsk~ This place really is a hidden gem!"

Standing in the forest filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, He Li looked around and sighed with some curiosity.

Just now, they carefully searched the approximate area determined by the investigators from Lengchuan, and as a result, they found a spatial anomaly in the artificial lake in the park that was suspected to be Shifang's hiding place.

This place is similar to where Kureiko hid.

The difference is that this place is more secluded; from the outside, you can't tell that anything is unusual about it.

He Li's perception was so strong that he vaguely sensed the abnormal flow of spiritual energy and thus discovered this anomaly.

As they entered the spatial anomaly...

What appeared before us was the forest.

"Look, there's a building ahead!!!"

While He Li was observing, not far away, investigator Lingchuan suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing this, He Li ascended into the air to look out.

In the distance, in the heart of the forest, there was a huge stone platform piled with irregular glass stones, and scattered around it were many dilapidated buildings covered with vines.

Moreover, to the right of the stone platform stands a two-story wooden house that is clearly in a modern style.

"Let's go take a look!"

With a thought, He Li led everyone to the strange stone platform in an instant.

Looking at the mountain of glass...

Some people couldn't resist their curiosity and reached out to touch it.

To everyone's surprise, the strange glass pieces turned to dust and vanished the moment they were touched. Everyone was somewhat astonished, but what terrified them even more was that as the glass disappeared...

In the corner of the stone platform, a white "ostrich egg" is obscured by the not-so-clear glass stones...

Exposed to the public eye.

"This is...could it be a dragon egg?!"

Yu Ji stared at the object that resembled an ostrich egg, and asked in a somewhat uncertain and surprised voice.

Others clearly thought of this as well.

"It's...possible!"

"After all, this is the hiding place of the Ten Directions. Judging from the size of this stone platform, it should be the resting place of the Ten-Horned Dragon. Perhaps... perhaps it laid its eggs here?"

"That's certainly possible, after all, Shifang has also brought Shijiao's descendants to other cities."

"But something's not right!"

"If there's nothing wrong with this dragon egg..."

"Why didn't Shi Fang take it with him?"

"This doesn't make sense!"

"Could it be that there's something strange about this dragon egg? Did Shi Fang leave some kind of backup plan, just waiting for us to crawl in, grab the egg, and then drag us along to keep him company???"

It's no wonder that everyone had wild thoughts; after all, Shi Fang was too powerful, and they had to be wary of him.

However, He Li didn't care about any traps.

"If you don't dare take it, I will!"

He waved with a smile.

Buzz! Instantly, the dragon egg, controlled by spiritual thought, floated swiftly into He Li's hand.

The others were envious, but they didn't say much. After all, even if they were given this thing, they wouldn't have the ability to control it, not to mention that if the news got out, others might come and snatch it away.

It actually hatched...

They also lack the power to control it.

The moment He Li got his hands on the dragon egg, he could vaguely hear a faint heartbeat thanks to his keen hearing. Even with his superhuman hearing, he would have to listen very carefully to hear that sound.

Now He Li understood why Shi Fang hadn't taken the dragon egg out with him.

"He probably thought it was a dead egg, right?"

"After all, he doesn't have super hearing."

"But hey, I actually got a bargain."

He Li beamed with joy upon receiving the dragon egg.

The ten-horned dragon is a true dragon, and judging from the whispered name given to it, it must be a variant of the dragon race, although the nine sons of the dragon are all different...

But in the end, it was still a dragon.

He Lidu had already started fantasizing about the cool scene of riding a real dragon for a spin in the future.

Until Yu Ji's voice pulled him back to reality...

"Here are Shi Fang's notes!!!"

"And...and so many more spiritual plants!!!"

Huh? Hearing her voice, He Li turned his head and found that Yu Ji had run to the wooden house next to him, which seemed to be built by Shi Fang, and Yu Ji was coming out carrying a bunch of spiritual plants.

Although none of those items contained the Vermilion Fruit, they could still significantly enhance a martial artist's strength.

The most important thing is Shifang's notes.

The notebook not only recorded many things about Shi Fang himself, but also the things Shi Fang researched, such as... the Qi Refining Method from the Qi Refiners of the Middle Realm.

Of course, that method of refining Qi was not complete.

According to the Ten Directions Notes...

He pieced it together by collecting things from the Middle World at other spatial anomalies.

However, He Li didn't care about that. What he cared about more was the last part of the Ten Directions Notes, which seemed to contain words left behind as if he foresaw that he would die at He Li's hands...

As expected, you won in the end!

【Even Kuruko can't stop you, and neither can I!】

[But that's good. Your strength means that there's probably no one in the Great Xia Dynasty who can defeat you, and it also means... that no one can stop you from doing whatever you want.]

And then, I want to tell you...

[Once upon a time, a Qi Refiner from the Middle Realm heard about me from somewhere and came to me wanting to cooperate, asking me to be their lackey and help them control the Great Xia!]

As you expected, I refused.

[Hehe~ Ten Corners killed him!]

Guess where he's from? Shanghai!

[How about that? Didn't expect that, did you? But by now you should be able to guess that the Qi cultivator might be related to the overseas immortal mountains, or even possibly came from those mountains.]

The fact that they can use a real dragon to ascend to the immortal mountain might also be part of something they're secretly plotting...

[However, I can't say for sure about the specifics, but what's certain is that the Qi cultivator must have contacted others, for example... those high-ranking idiots in Shanghai!]

Those glamorous, high-and-mighty fools who are secretly filthy and delusional about immortality...

Do you think they'd be willing to be lackeys?

I bet they'd be eager to fall for it!

Hey~ I'm really looking forward to you investigating these things in Shanghai and then dominating the scene!

Finally... I left you something. It's an artifact unearthed from the Jiuxing Ruins, called the "Golden Four Eyes." I tried to wear it, but it just won't fit!

But I think you can do it!

Don't ask why, it's just a feeling!

I've entrusted him to the Bacheng Bank!

[...A tribute to ideals!]

Shi Fang didn't leave many words.

But there is a lot of hidden information in it.

"A Qi Refiner is hiding in Shanghai? There's something wrong with the overseas immortal mountains? Maybe those overseas immortal mountains are even a stronghold for Qi Refiners? And... this Shi Fang actually stole the Golden Four Eyes???"

Yu Ji, who was standing next to her, also saw the contents of the notes, and she stared at them with a strange expression.

He Li looked at Yu Ji upon hearing this.

"What is 'Golden Four Eyes'?"

"The four-eyed mask!" Yu Ji thought for a moment and replied, "It was unearthed at the same time as the bronze divine tree and other things, but it is not as famous as the vertical-eyed mask and the bronze divine tree."

"So not many people have heard of it."

"But... that's strange, I haven't heard that the four-eyed mask from the Nine Star Relics Museum was stolen?"

"How did he manage to do this so quietly?"

"The museum probably still doesn't realize it!"

Yu Ji's eyes were full of suspicion.

Finally, she seemed to remember something else.

So she added, "By the way, according to those archaeological experts, that golden four-eyed mask may have been worn by the ancient Shu Kingdom thousands of years ago when they imitated the Fangxiangshi (a legendary figure associated with the gods).

"I suspect... Shi Fang probably heard about the cultivation technique you practiced from some unknown source."

"That's why I felt you could handle that thing."

"You can try it later."

"If that thing truly possesses special power, and you can control it, then you can apply to Kyoto for possession of it. I think given your achievements, Kyoto certainly won't refuse."

He Li cultivates the "Great Nuo Fu".

The golden four-eyed mask is also related to Fang Xiangshi...

It's not surprising that Shifanghui thinks this way.

He Li's mind also became active.

"It's something from thousands of years ago, and now that it's come into existence with spiritual energy, it has gained special power. Who knows... it might really bring me some unknown ability."

Thinking about this, he felt a sense of anticipation.

After a quick search here to confirm there's nothing else of interest...

He Li and Yu Ji then handed the place over to the investigator from Lengchuan, while they themselves rushed to Bacheng, partly to return to Li Qing after the matter was completely resolved.

On the other hand, He Li was also eager to take out the Golden Four-Eyed Mask to see its effect.

And at the same time he took action.

Meanwhile, Kyoto dispatched Jiang Qingtong and Huo Zijin again, carrying special orders from Kyoto and a reward for ending the Dragon Worshiping Gathering incident, to quickly teleport to Ba City...