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

When the group emerged from the underground stone chamber, it was already quite dark.

The training ground still smelled of burnt feathers.

Beside the collapsed stone frame, several pieces of unbroken bone fragments swayed back and forth in the wind, occasionally hitting the stones and making two soft sounds.

Cheng Fang first had the entrance resealed and then sent all the data back.

The Candlelight Society is also organizing the rubbings they just made.

The two sides were not far apart, but no one mentioned how to divide the meridians again.

The truly valuable things right now are still in the mountains.

Lin Ye examined the protective spirit stone pieces.

The patterns on the stone have darkened considerably; if it tries to withstand another one, it will probably have to retire on the spot.

Cheng Fang walked over.

If he contacts you again, relay his words verbatim, and do not agree to any of his requests.

Lin Ye nodded.

Tang Zhi, who was tidying up the silk threads beside her, casually remarked:

"You're really good at all things now. Intelligence gathering, translation, customer service—shouldn't you get a raise when you get back?"

Lin Ye looked at her.

"You'll apply for it for me?"

"never mind."

Tang Zhi immediately lowered her head.

"I'm afraid Captain Cheng will deduct my salary too."

Cheng Fang had already taken a few steps without turning his head back.

"I'm still here."

Tang Zhi casually tugged at the connecting thread.

"I know, that's just praising the Seventh Division's strict management."

Xu Mian came down from the high place and pointed to the northwest corner of the training field.

"There's an animal trail over there."

"By bypassing the underground stone chamber, we reached the back of the mountain."

The animal trail was stained with the blood of a giant bear.

The bloodstains had darkened, but several fresh drops of blood appeared along the way, indicating that the wound had not completely stopped bleeding.

Cheng Fang glanced at the line.

"Place reconnaissance equipment in front and behind, with sufficient spacing between them."

"Walk."

The two teams followed the animal trails into the mountains.

The woods were much denser than the training ground.

The branches were bent low, and in some places you had to bend over to get past them.

Lin Ye had only walked a little over a hundred meters when he heard that voice.

"To the right."

He stopped in his tracks.

Cheng Fang turned around.

"You're here?"

He told us to go to the right.

Why?

Lin Ye reactivated his spiritual hearing.

The spirit said impatiently:

"There's a snake nest on the left."

"I wanted to go and get some extra food, and no one stopped me."

Lin Ye relayed what he had said.

Instead of changing the route immediately, Cheng Fang first sent a reconnaissance device into the bushes on the left.

As soon as the camera lowered, a long, grayish-white snake sprang up from under the tree roots and bit the equipment casing.

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen snake heads rose up from beneath the fallen leaves.

Tang Zhi took half a step back.

"Okay, at least he had a conscience this time."

Qin Zhao said, "Perhaps they don't want us to die too quickly."

"What you said makes more sense."

The group changed course to the right.

The spirit seemed to know they had avoided the snake pit and snorted in Lin Ye's ear.

"He's young, but his suspicions are huge."

Lin Ye ignored him.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

The spirit spoke again.

"Take the left side, it's closer."

Cheng Fang should investigate first.

Xu Mian's shadow darted out along the left path, but quickly retreated.

"There's a cliff ahead."

Tang Zhi peeked out.

Below the cliff are jumbled rocks, at least tens of meters deep.

She turned to the woods.

"What did he say?"

"They say the left side is closer."

"It's quite close."

Tang Zhi clicked her tongue.

"Go down the mountain in one step, focusing on efficiency."

Lin Ye activated his spiritual hearing.

"You did this on purpose?"

The spirit answered quickly.

"I only said it was nearby, not that it was accessible by foot."

"You didn't ask all the questions, and now you're blaming others?"

He spoke with absolute certainty.

Lin Ye turned off his spiritual hearing.

This old man doesn't even hide his lies.

He doesn't care whether they believe it or not, as long as they can't completely disbelieve it.

The group circled around the cliff.

This time, the spirit remained silent for a long time.

It wasn't until a patch of bushes that had been trampled down by a giant bear appeared ahead that Lin Ye took the initiative to approach him.

"What exactly do you want to discuss by bringing us in here?"

"Finally, you've gotten to the point."

The spirit cleared its throat, its tone becoming more energetic.

"First, take my manuscript out intact."

"It cannot be dismantled, smashed, or thrown into a shell that has no spiritual energy whatsoever."

Lin Ye listened and relayed what he had said to Cheng Fang.

The spirit continued:

"Secondly, replenish my spiritual energy regularly."

"The space doesn't need to be big, but don't bury it underground."

"I've had enough of being cooped up in the mountains."

Lin Ye asked, "You're quite picky."

"Would you have survived this long if you weren't picky?"

The spirit asked in return.

He paused, then said:

"Find another young person with better qualifications."

"The legacy of our society cannot be allowed to rot away along with the scriptures."

"You want to take on apprentices?"

"Otherwise what?"

The spirit of the artifact was somewhat disdainful.

"Are you trying to teach a bunch of people who can't even breathe properly?"

Lin Ye didn't rush to ask any more questions.

The spirit then added another line.

"The people who usually take care of the scriptures shouldn't all be rough men like you."

"Find two young girls."

"Outstanding appearance and pleasant voice."

Lin Ye was silent for a moment.

Cheng Fang looked at him.

"What did he say this time?"

"He needs a young female disciple to talk to him."

Tang Zhi looked disgusted after hearing this.

"He doesn't even have eyes, yet he's picky about looks?"

Lin Ye asked that question.

The spirit of the artifact hummed softly.

"Even though you've lost your eyes, you haven't lost your sense of aesthetics."

"Besides, can't I tell whether a voice is pleasant or not?"

Tang Zhi rolled her eyes after hearing the retelling.

Qin Zhao reminded him:

"Don't chat with him aimlessly."

Cheng Fang asked a more direct question.

"What will he offer in exchange?"

Lin Yezhao asked.

This time, the spirit didn't keep us in suspense.

"Basic Spirit Guiding Method"

"Complete".

"I have human cultivation, beast cultivation, and beast taming techniques."

"It's not some garbage you guys got from who-knows-where."

After listening, Cheng Fang only asked one question:

"What should we give you first?"

The spirit smiled.

"You want to take things without even agreeing to the conditions?"

"If you want us to take you out, you'd better prove you're worth the price first."

After Lin Ye finished speaking, the artifact spirit remained silent for a few seconds.

"Your Seventh Division has so many rules."

Cheng Fang asked Lin Ye to tell him:

"The spiritual energy and the placement method are negotiable."

"The cultivation method must be verified first; we can discuss other things only after we see the true form."

The spirit's voice turned cold after hearing this.

"Quite the boast."

"He's not very brave."

Lin Ye said, "Then go find the Candle Shadow Society."

"Do you think I won't look for it?"

The spirit immediately caught it.

"They are at least braver than you."

Lin Ye looked at Lai Changqing.

He wants to talk to you.

Lai Changqing's expression remained unchanged.

"explain."

Lin Ye relayed the conditions.

Jiang Zhaoye frowned when he heard about the young female disciple.

"He's got a lot on his plate."

Lai Changqing offered no comment, only asking:

What can he offer?

After hearing Lin Ye's account, the spirit laughed noticeably more heartily than before.

"The explosive energy you possess is lacking in restraint."

"I can make up for it."

Lai Changqing said, "Let's look at the things first."

"You're so straightforward."

The spirit's tone held a hint of satisfaction.

Cheng Fang looked at Lai Changqing.

"You said yes?"

"no."

Lai Changqing said calmly, "Let's see if he continues to lie."

The spirit of the artifact could not hear those words.

Lin Ye couldn't help but glance at both sides.

One wanted to whet people's appetites by offering only half of the technique.

The other one wanted to get the goods out of the store first.

No one is more honest than anyone else.

After walking a few hundred meters more, the spirit suddenly made Lin Ye stop.

"The dead tree on the right."

There's something under the tree roots.

The reconnaissance equipment bypassed the area to conduct an inspection.

No animals or traps were found.

Lizard Shadow used his dagger to push aside the decaying leaves and dug out a palm-sized piece of black bone from under the tree roots.

The bone was covered with dry mud, and only three short lines were carved on its surface.

Lai Changqing had no direct contact with him.

The members of the Candlelight Society first scanned the bone fragments with equipment, and then took out the previously sealed bone fragments from the outbreak for comparison.

The marks on the two bones can be connected.

Jiang Zhaoye whispered:

"It really is the second half."

The spirit whispered in Lin Ye's ear:

"When you exhale that breath, your shoulders and back will feel empty."

"Follow these three steps, and the Qi will return to the lower abdomen."

"Use less the first time, so you don't vomit blood again."

Lin Ye relayed the words verbatim.

Cheng Fang immediately said:

"Don't try it yet."

Lai Changqing did not immediately order someone to run the operation.

He first had a member with a stable blood circulation put on a portable monitoring device, and then prepared a medicine to protect the internal organs and acupuncture to calm the pulse.

The first time, only a small portion of the spiritual energy is used.

The man stood in front of the force measuring device and threw a punch following the old meridian path.

boom!

The numbers quickly appeared.

It is about 20% more powerful than the same amount of force exerted.

After throwing the punch, he finished his stance by following the three lines on the new meridian bone.

On the monitoring screen, the spiritual energy reaction in the shoulder and arm area slowly subsided and eventually stabilized again.

There is no congestion.

There was no internal organ injury.

Lai Changqing stared at the data for a while.

"Try again."

The second time, the number of calls was slightly increased.

The increase in power was more obvious, and the closing move was still flawless.

The tester moved his arm.

"It doesn't hurt, and it doesn't feel stuffy."

Lai Changqing sealed the two pieces of bone together.

The three-stage finishing technique only proves that the artifact spirit knows how to complete this burst of power.

We cannot conclude from this that all the traditions he speaks of are true.

But at least, this wasn't something he made up out of thin air to deceive people.

He certainly knows the complete process of exerting force and releasing it.

The spirit was clearly very satisfied with the effect.

"How is it?"

"Is my meager skill even worth discussing?"

Lin Ye said, "You gave me a section, not the whole thing."

"You think the gift isn't enough?"

The spirit sneered.

"As for what comes next, it's up to who gives more."

"Highest bidder wins, understand?"

Cheng Fang listened but did not respond.

"keep going."

Lai Changqing did not relax after obtaining the closing technique; instead, he had his meridians and bones sealed even more tightly.

The team set off again.

Less than ten minutes after we started walking, the spiritual energy monitoring device ahead suddenly sounded an alarm.

The team member in charge of the equipment looked down at the screen.

"The value is decreasing."

Cheng Fang stopped.

"Is it dropping all around here?"

"no."

The team members zoomed in on the curve.

"It's like a high-concentration source moving around."

Lin Ye immediately activated his spiritual hearing.

"What did you do?"

The spirit did not answer immediately.

A series of heavy footsteps came from afar.

One after another.

The ground trembled slightly.

The spirit then slowly spoke.

"You've been talking for too long."

"I'll wait somewhere else."

"You've been stalling for time."

Forest road.

The spirit chuckled.

"You only realized it now?"

Ahead, Xu Mian's voice came through the communicator.

"A giant bear has been spotted."

"Heading north."

Immediately afterwards, a small drone flew around the tree canopy and transmitted the footage back.

Deep in the dense forest, the giant bear was slowly moving forward.

Its left shoulder and belly fur were stuck together with blood, and its hind legs were noticeably stiff when it landed.

But now he had a black stone box on his back.

The stone box was wedged between his shoulders and back, wrapped with coarse vines and several layers of animal hides.

Several macaques were still following them in the nearby tree canopy.

Clearly, the stone box wasn't something the giant bear tied on himself on the spot.

The spiritual energy value on the monitoring device continued to decrease as it moved away.

The Book of All Souls is inside.

The spirit's conditions, the technique, and even the trivial chatter were all just to stall them.

This buys the giant bear time to retrieve the scriptures.

Cheng Fang put away the screen.

"Chase."

Lai Changqing had already rushed into the forest.

Jiang Zhaoye and the members of the Candle Shadow Society followed closely behind.

Lin Ye ran forward with the group.

The spirit's voice still carried a hint of laughter in my ears.

Take your time.

"If we can catch up, then we can continue our discussion."