The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

While Wu You was carefully reading the contents of the animal skin, in Donghua City, the capital of Dongling Kingdom, at the Dongling Research Institute...

Night had fallen, but many of the research institute’s buildings remained brightly lit.

Inside an office in a building of the research institute.

Having just finished his workday, Chi Yuan returned to his office, leaned back in his chair, and stretched.

He glanced at Tang Ao, who always sported dark circles under his eyes, and asked, "Old Tang, how are you?"

"Have you obtained the contact information for the maker of that small sword? Have you managed to contact him?"

Tang Ao nodded, but before he could speak, he did not say anything.

But seeing him nod, Chi Yuan was already excited, instantly switching from leaning back in his chair to leaning forward: "Really? When will he be free to come over? Or should we go over when we have time?"

"When can we talk face-to-face?"

Upon hearing this series of questions, Tang Ao immediately shook his head.

He stretched out his hand and made a "wait a minute" gesture in the air: "Old Chi, let me finish speaking first."

His voice carried a hint of helplessness.

"We now know their ID and have sent them a message, but they haven't replied yet!"

Upon hearing this, Chi Yuan's excited expression immediately vanished.

He leaned back in his chair: "So, we still haven't made contact...?"

His voice lowered.

"I was originally thinking that if we could get in touch, we could communicate online first."

"There are some questions I really want to ask him."

"It seems that for now, we'll have to figure it out ourselves."

Speaking of this, recalling the densely packed energy nodes and the incredibly precise circulation within the small sword, Chi Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

Then he added, "I'm really curious, what kind of person could create such an exquisite weapon?"

"It would be great if he could join the research institute."

"The development and research progress of the standard weapons for the torchbearers will definitely see a qualitative leap."

Upon hearing this, Tang Ao habitually touched his thinning hair, nodded, and his eyes, which were somewhat puffy from long hours of staying up late, held the same longing and curiosity as Chi Yuan's: "Indeed."

"It would be great if such a genius could join us."

As he said this, Tang Ao suddenly thought of something, and his eyes lit up: "Since we're all so curious, why don't we check the hospital's system to see who this person is?"

"Assuming there are no issues with the other party's background."

"We can also send the other party's information to the dean."

"Then we'll write an explanation and have the dean personally invite them to join us?"

"I think the dean would be very happy to have such talent join us."

Upon hearing this, Chi Yuan's eyes lit up: "That's great!"

"It is the responsibility of every researcher to discover talent for the institute."

Then, Tang Ao immediately turned on the work terminal at his workstation.

The monitor screen lit up, casting a small halo of cold white light on his face.

He entered his employee ID and password, accessed the research institute's intranet, and then entered the number "LH-36" in the search box on the screen in front of him and clicked search.

Chi Yuan was also standing next to Tang Ao, staring intently at the screen.

But the next moment, both of them were stunned.

The information page they expected did not pop up on the screen; there was no photo, no name, no job title, and nothing they wanted to know.

A red box popped up on the screen, containing a line of bold black text:

[Your permissions are insufficient!]

Their gazes shifted from the red frame on the screen to each other's faces.

Chi Yuan spoke first, his voice filled with confusion: "No, his number isn't from headquarters either?"

"How could the research institute lack sufficient permissions?"

Tang Ao frowned slightly: "My friend told me that they met during the last Cleansing Furnace mission."

"This means the other party isn't a torchbearer of rank nine or higher either—"

"After all, once your strength reaches the ninth level or above, you'll have to guard the deep dark domains in various places, and you won't be able to participate in missions in the real world anymore."

"But how could our authority be insufficient for torchbearers of the eighth rank and below?"

"That's really strange."

Then, Tang Ao rubbed his chin twice with his fingers, pondered for a moment, and then uttered something that Chi Yuan had never expected:

"In that case, the only option is to log in to the dean's account."

Upon hearing this, Chi Yuan's eyes widened immediately: "Huh? Dude, how do you have the dean's number?"

His voice was filled with utter shock.

Tang Ao also showed a slightly puzzled expression: "Didn't I tell you before that the dean is my uncle?"

Chi Yuan's eyes widened even more: "No!"

Tang Ao didn't take it seriously. While restarting his work terminal, he casually replied, "Oh, I thought everyone knew about this."

Chi Yuan's lips twitched, but he still said, "It's not too late to know now."

"And with the dean's authority, this is definitely a sure thing."

Tang Ao nodded, skillfully entered another string of numbers on the screen, then entered the "LH-36" number again, and clicked to search.

But the next moment, both of them widened their eyes again.

[Your permissions are insufficient!]

The two slowly turned their heads and stared at each other in disbelief.

Chi Yuan's throat became dry at this moment. He slowly swallowed and his voice was a little weak: "In the entire bureau, there shouldn't be many people with higher authority than our director."

Tang Ao shook his head, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly: "To be precise, apart from a few supreme Lord Li, no one has higher authority than my uncle."

"Even the Director-General's authority is only at the same level as my uncle's."

Chi Yuan's expression froze again: "You mean—"

"Was the creator of that small sword a Lord Li?"

Tang Ao shook his head, his expression grave: "Of course not."

"Didn't I just say that the maker of that small sword is someone my friend met during a mission a while ago?"

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts for the next sentence.

"But that's precisely what makes it somewhat terrifying."

Chi Yuan immediately realized what he meant and nodded, saying, "Indeed!"

"So it seems so."

"It seems we've discovered something incredible!"

Then he moved very quickly.

He immediately entered the number "LH-36" into his mobile device and clicked the "Add Friend" button.

What's there to hesitate about?

There's a powerful connections out there! I need to latch onto them!