Start with the hidden role of the Great Emperor of Fengdu, and immediately unleash 100,000 Yin Soldi

Its daybreak.

The grayish-white morning light peeked through the gaps in the clouds and shone on the basin covered with bone meal.

Chu Jiang stood at the edge of the wasteland, watching as the last rotting corpse was hooked out of its soul by the ghostly soldiers' soul-snatching spears, its skeleton scattered on the black soil.

The panel jumped.

Current number of ghost soldiers: 1073/2000

It's not a lot, but it's enough.

He took out a sealed bag from his backpack to prevent spiritual energy leakage and stuffed in the several high-level bone fragments he had picked up from the bottom of the basin.

These bones bear traces of death energy at the gold grade level, making them the best evidence for passing the level.

"receive."

The ghostly soldiers disappeared into the shadows, the Gates of Hell sank, and the ground closed up.

Chu Jiang patted the ashes off his cloak, pulled up his hood, and walked back the way he came.

The faint sound of an early morning train whistle could be heard from the direction of Qingzhou.

……

noon.

The Hunter's Guild hall in Qingzhou City was just as noisy as yesterday.

The smell of iron and blood mingled with the air blown out by the cheap air conditioner. Assassins counted money in a corner, while soldiers grumbled and argued with staff about mission scores at the handover table.

Chu Jiang pushed open the door and came in.

He walked through the hall to Li Wen's counter and slammed the glowing red C-level extreme bounty poster and a sealed bag of high-level remains onto the table.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone within a ten-meter radius turned their heads.

Li Wen's hand was suspended in mid-air, with a registration form still between her fingertips.

Her gaze shifted from the bounty poster to Chu Jiang's face, and then back to the bounty poster.

Repeat three times.

"You...you're back?"

The subtext of this sentence is—you're still alive?

Scarface, who was wiping his knife, suddenly stood up, his chair sliding back half a meter and bumping into the leg of a mage behind him.

He didn't even bother to apologize; he rushed to the counter and stared intently at the bag of broken bones on the table.

The bones inside the sealed bag gleamed with a dark golden luster. Even through the sealed layer, the lingering death aura belonging to the gold grade still caused the spiritual energy detector on the counter to beep incessantly.

"This is... a fragment of a gold-tier bone?" Scarface Captain's voice cracked.

The noise level in the lobby dropped three notches.

Li Wen took a deep breath and, with trembling hands, placed the remaining bone fragments into the detector.

The green light flashed wildly.

The system is simultaneously scanning the target area—the Bone Wasteland—for monster life signals: zero.

Reset to zero.

The numbers on the screen were like a slap in the face to everyone.

The scarred captain's face turned a deep purplish-red, and the veins on his neck bulged: "Impossible! That bounty was posted for seventeen days. I led a team to scout it out once, and they easily pulled out hundreds of undead from the outer perimeter. You, a mere F-rank..."

"I was lucky," Chu Jiang interrupted him.

His tone was flat, as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

"As soon as I entered, I encountered two high-level magical beasts fighting over territory. They fought to the death, and I managed to pick up the pieces while hiding on the side."

Scarface Captain opened his mouth.

The reason was so absurd that he didn't know where to begin refuting it.

However, the system determines that there will be no error.

A crisp notification sound rang out.

[C-Rank Extreme Bounty: Clearing the Skeleton Wasteland - Completed!]

[Bounty amount: 1,000,000 Federal Coins, already transferred to Hunter Crystal Card.]

One million.

The hunters queuing behind the counter simultaneously stretched their necks by three inches.

While processing the settlement in the back office, Li Wen's fingers suddenly stopped.

The system's underlying log included a red-highlighted anomaly record: "A high-frequency death energy burst and an unknown gold-tier energy conflict have been detected. It is recommended to report this."

She hesitated for two seconds before picking up the encrypted communication stone from under the counter.

……

Chu Jiang walked out of the guild gate with the crystal card in his pocket.

The sunlight hit his face, and the midday heat made him squint slightly.

Two black SUVs sped out from the street corner, their tires leaving two charred skid marks on the road, and stopped precisely in front of him.

The car door opened.

Four Awakened Ones in military uniforms got off the vehicle, their movements so synchronized as if they had rehearsed, and they formed a semi-encircling formation within three seconds.

The leading lieutenant had a stern face and spoke politely but without room for negotiation: "Mr. Chu Jiang, General Pei Hu requests that you come to the military base to cooperate in the investigation of the unusual death aura incident in the Bone Wasteland."

Chu Jiang glanced at him.

He checked the crystal card in his pocket and confirmed that one million had been deposited into his account.

Open the car door and get in.

……

Military base, top-floor office.

The moment Chu Jiang pushed open the door, the air changed.

It's not a change in temperature, it's a change in density.

Each breath felt like inhaling semi-solidified glue, heavy, sticky, and pressing down on my chest.

The pressure of spiritual energy.

Pei Hu remained seated behind his desk, without standing up.

There was a cup of tea on the table, an iron cup, with the four fingerprints he had made on the cup still visible.

He didn't exchange pleasantries.

"It's not some monster fight in the wasteland."

Pei Hu's voice wasn't loud, but each word was like an iron nail, hammering into the air.

"There are traces of an altar belonging to the Yellow Springs Cult there."

He stared into Chu Jiang's eyes.

"Chu Jiang, what exactly did you see?"

The oppressive aura intensified.

This level of spiritual energy suppression is enough to make an A-rank Awakener's knees go weak.

Chu Jiang stood still, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his breathing steady.

Heart rate: 72 beats per minute.

Same as before entering.

Pei Hu's pupils contracted slightly.

"I saw the altar," Chu Jiang said.

Pei Hu leaned forward slightly.

"When the two monsters started fighting near the altar, the shockwave shattered the altar."

Chu Jiang spoke at a moderate pace, "The soul guide is more sensitive to death energy. The death energy flowed back the moment the altar shattered, and I sensed the aura of the Yellow Springs Cult."

He paused for half a second.

"It was taught in the basics of Abyss Studies that the White Bone Spider Lily totem is the exclusive symbol of the Yellow Springs Cult."

Every sentence has a source, and every detail can withstand scrutiny.

Pei Hu leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously.

"The test in the Misty Swamp." He changed direction. "Three minutes, clear the area, without moving an inch. What did you use?"

Chu Jiang's expression remained unchanged.

"The Soul Guide has some uncommon perception methods, which, combined with consumable items bought from the black market, can barely be used in the thick fog."

"What prop?"

"It broke after use; it was from the black market, so there was no record of it."

Pei Hu's gaze was fixed on Chu Jiang's face for ten seconds.

During those ten seconds, the office was so quiet that you could hear the faint ripples in the teacup caused by the pressure.

Pei Hu saw no flaw in those eyes.

It's not blank, it's not a disguise.

It is a composure far beyond what an eighteen-year-old should possess, an impeccable calmness.

The pressure has subsided.

The air quality has returned to normal.

"You can leave now." Pei Hu picked up the iron cup and took a sip of tea.

Chu Jiang turned around and opened the door.

"Chu Jiang."

He stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

Pei Hu's voice came from behind, a little softer than before.

"The wilderness is unsafe, please be careful."

Chu Jiang paused for a moment, then stepped out the door.

……

Underground businesses in Qingzhou City.

Chu Jiang stood in front of counter number three and handed over the crystal card.

"One Grade B Blood Jade Lingzhi."

The shopkeeper behind the counter took out a specially made jade box from the safe. The moment the lid was opened, a warm red light shone on Chu Jiang's face.

The Ganoderma lucidum is blood red all over, with fine spiritual patterns flowing on its surface, and it emits a faint medicinal fragrance.

Eight hundred thousand.

Swipe card, confirm, pack into box.

Chu Jiang stuffed the jade box into the innermost layer of his backpack and zipped it up.

My shoulders, which had been tense for three days, slumped down a little.

My mother's life was saved.

……

Military base, top-floor office.

Pei Hu stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching Chu Jiang's figure disappear around the street corner.

He stood there for a long time.

Then he turned around, walked to his desk, and pulled open the bottom drawer with a combination lock.

An old, yellowed photograph.

The photo shows two young men in military armor standing on a watchtower on the front lines of the Abyss, with a burning skyline behind them.

The one on the left, laughing smugly, with his right arm draped over his companion's shoulder—that's Chu Yuanzheng.

The one on the right has a stern face, but there's an irrepressible smile playing at the corners of his mouth—Pei Hu from twenty years ago.

On the back of the photograph, faded ink bore the following words:

"The seventh breakout battle of the Abyss, it's good to be alive. —Expedition."

Pei Hu's thumb traced the line of text, pausing for a few seconds.

He put down the photo and pressed the red button on the secure communicator on the table.

"Dispatch a Shadow Team and deploy them to the western suburbs of Jiangcheng. Their target is Chu Jiang, and they will provide him with 24-hour covert protection."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communicator.

"General, what's the protection level?"

Pei Hu glanced at the photos in the drawer.

Level 1.

The person on the other end of the communicator gasped, but didn't ask any further questions.

"receive."

Pei Hu turned off the communicator and walked back to the window.

The setting sun turned the skyline of Qingzhou City into an orange-red hue, much like the sky over the Abyss Front twenty years ago.

He was talking to himself, his voice very soft.

"Old Chu, your son is better at hiding than you are."