I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

When the black van arrived at the abandoned freight warehouse, the surrounding roads were completely cleared, and several monitoring vehicles were parked outside the warehouse.

The spirit field detector on the roof of the car kept rotating, scanning the rusty buildings in front of it.

As soon as Cheng Fang got out of the car, the person in charge at the scene came to greet him.

"The anomaly has spread from Warehouse 3 to Warehouse 2."

"Of the two missing persons, one has lost vital signs, while the other is still alive."

The news of the entire team's sacrifice had just spread when no one on site dared to treat it as an ordinary, low-risk mission anymore.

Not long after entering the warehouse, the old-fashioned loudspeaker overhead started playing.

"Truck No. 7 enters unloading port No. 3."

"The loading and unloading personnel are heading to the west cargo area."

"Cold chain vehicles are being moved into the underground passage."

The sound was intermittent, interspersed with a piercing electric current.

However, this warehouse does not have a No. 7 unloading port, nor does it have an underground passage.

Once inside, those who follow instructions will repeatedly wander between several warehouse areas, eventually becoming completely disoriented.

Tang Zhi used a pulling thread to secure the retreat route.

Xu Mian checked the actual structure.

Qin Zhao handles forklifts and conveyors that start abnormally.

Lin Ye ignored the broadcasts and instead picked up a very soft knocking sound from the mechanical roar and erroneous commands.

"Behind the cold storage on the east side."

"Someone is banging on the pipes."

The surviving inspector was trapped in the maintenance compartment between the cold storage and the outer wall.

When the person was rescued, he was already hypothermic and unconscious, and his fingers were still in the position of striking the iron pipe.

Another inspector collapsed under the upper shelves of Warehouse No. 3.

He had a broken neck and had been dead for more than four hours.

The source of the anomaly was an old freight bell hanging in the dispatch room.

The bell casing had turned black, yet the bell hammer would swing on its own when no one touched it. Each time it rang, the erroneous instructions broadcast over the loudspeaker would be rearranged.

After Lin Ye confirmed that the ringing was the source of all the erroneous broadcasts, Tang Zhi fixed the bell hammer, the field team cut off the abnormal spread area, and Cheng Fang completed the temporary sealing.

The whole process took more than forty minutes.

There was no spatial collapse, nor any sudden upgrade.

No one in Group Two was injured.

But when the paramedics carried away the body covered with a white sheet, no one felt the task was easy.

The car remained quiet throughout the return journey.

Tang Zhi leaned against the car window.

Xu Mian lowered her head to organize her notes.

Qin Zhao's fingertips still bore the red marks left by the use of the Emberfire.

Lin Ye closed his eyes, but the last words Shen Zheng had sent back kept echoing in his mind.

At 11:00 AM, Group Two returned to Site Seven.

The park was much quieter than usual.

Almost everyone's device displayed the same red notice.

The task number for Group 1 has been turned black.

Two words were neatly written after the names of the five members.

sacrifice.

Their remains are still on their way back to the capital, but the combat data has already been sent to the third basement level.

After completing disinfection and physical examinations, the second group was immediately called into the emergency meeting room.

Han Xu was already waiting inside.

Sitting next to him was a man in his fifties, wearing a white lab coat, with slightly disheveled hair and dark circles under his eyes.

"Zhou Heng, head of the psionic research group."

Han Xu gave a brief introduction.

After everyone was seated, Zhou Heng turned on the projector.

Two curves appeared on the screen.

The left side fluctuated wildly, rising rapidly several times before quickly falling back down.

The right side, on the other hand, maintains a slow and steady undulation.

"On the left is the change in the spiritual energy within a group of members."

"On the right is the attacker data reconstructed based on the on-site spirit field recorder, combat footage, and residual fluctuations."

Zhou Heng clicked on the curve on the left.

"When a group of members activate their supernatural abilities, their spiritual energy will erupt rapidly."

"The ability ends, and the fluctuation immediately subsides."

He then zoomed in on the right side.

"The attackers were different."

"Even without using superpowers, the spiritual energy fluctuations around them remained stable."

After the tall man suffered a heavy blow to the chest, his curves were visibly disordered, but they quickly returned to the injured area.

Similar changes occurred when the short-haired woman was subjected to a soul-summoning attack.

Zhou Heng said in a deep voice:

"The spiritual energy seems to have remained within their bodies."

"And it cycles along a certain fixed route."

No one spoke in the meeting room.

They had just seen a set of battle logs sent back to them.

The two attackers relied almost entirely on superpowers, yet they still managed to kill seven of the strongest squads head-on.

Cheng Fang asked, "Has the Seventh Division not studied this method before?"

"I've studied it."

Zhou Heng switched to the next page.

A title appeared in the center of the screen.

Basic Spirit Guiding Method (Trial Version)

"The research team began experimenting with actively inducing spirits several years ago."

"We have compiled this plan by referring to ancient texts on guiding and breathing techniques, combining the spiritual energy routes of people with superpowers when using their abilities, and monitoring data from the nine underground spiritual wells."

Qin Zhao asked, "Why haven't you been putting in any training?"

"Because it is incomplete."

Zhou Heng answered directly.

"We can only allow a small number of test subjects to briefly perceive spiritual energy."

"It cannot be retained stably, let alone form a cycle."

"Some people had no reaction at all, some had high fever, abnormal heart rhythm and auditory hallucinations, and some even fell into a coma during the spirit-calling process."

Tang Zhi flipped through the documents on the table.

"So this wasn't even considered a training exercise before?"

"It can only be considered an experiment."

Zhou Heng said, "We don't know the long-term effects, nor can we determine whether it will enhance superpowers or cause existing abilities to go out of control."

Xu Mian asked softly:

"Then why activate it now?"

Zhou Heng re-selected the attacker's aura curve.

"Because the other side has already succeeded."

After those words were spoken, the meeting room fell silent once more.

Han Xu sat up straight.

"The seven past training systems are centered on superpower development, physical fitness, weapons, magical artifacts, and teamwork."

"There's nothing wrong with this system."

"That's what got you so good at rescuing that patrolman today."

He paused for a moment.

"But the downfall of one group proves that these alone are not enough."

Lin Ye asked, "Is the original training going to be canceled?"

"The original training program has been discontinued and is being readjusted."

Han Xu said, "Physical fitness, firearms, superpower development, and teamwork will all be retained."

"But it's no longer the only main theme."

"From now on, we will try to truly infuse spiritual energy into people's bodies in seven places."

Tang Zhi looked down at the draft.

"Use a flawed cultivation technique whose effectiveness is questionable?"

"right."

Han Xu did not evade the question.

"We don't have the complete cultivation method, and we don't know how many years it took the Zhuyin Society to get to where we are today."

"But if you stay in the same place, the outcome won't change if you encounter those two people again."

There was a list on the table.

The first batch of trial trainees consisted of twenty people.

All five people in Group Two were present.

Zhou Heng pushed five risk statements in front of them.

"The first phase will not directly attempt to establish a loop."

"Only spiritual energy sensing and initial guidance are performed."

"The research team, medical team, and mental health intervention personnel will monitor the process throughout."

"Any abnormality, stop immediately."

"There are unknown risks involved in the trial training. You can refuse without affecting your original field work qualification."

Cheng Fang picked up the pen and signed his name first.

Qin Zhao followed closely behind.

Tang Zhi looked at the few lines of text on the risk statement.

Chest pain.

syncope.

hallucinations.

Supernatural abilities disorder.

Short-term memory loss.

"Every single one of them is like a plea for people not to sign."

She said that, but her pen never stopped.

Xu Mian carefully read all the terms and conditions and signed her name.

Lin Ye was the last one.

He looked again at the continuously looping curve on the screen.

One team traded five lives for this data.

If the answer cannot be found in the seven locations, then the five people will truly only have one black file left.

Lin Ye lowered his head and wrote his name on the last page.

Zhou Heng put away the documents and pushed five small gray booklets in front of them.

The cover has only one line of black text.

Basic Spirit Guiding Method (Trial Version)

"No other training sessions tonight."

"Keep sleeping and do not eat after midnight."

"Meet at 6:00 AM tomorrow on the ninth basement level."

Tang Zhi asked, "Does it have to be on an empty stomach?"

"Avoid vomiting caused by spiritual energy stimulation."

After Zhou Heng finished speaking, he got up and put away the documents.

"The specific requirements are all on the first page."

Lin Ye opened the booklet.

There are no obscure formulas or legendary meridian diagrams inside.

There are only breathing rhythm, body posture, perception methods, and warnings marked with red lines.

The last page contained a new training notice.

Tomorrow morning at six o'clock.

Nine underground floors.

Lingjing Trial Training.

Lin Ye stared at the two characters "Lingjing" for a while.

The last time he passed through the ninth basement level, he only heard something inside, as if it had woken up, through the heavy security door.

Tomorrow, they will go in themselves.