Chapter 23: Wang Pingyuan Finally Enters the Sect (Part 2)

Chen Yi used the Dust Removal Art to sweep away the scattered bacteria and continued all the way to the Wang family’s house.

There, separated by a door, he saw one old man and one young man chatting.

Captain Ye was a man whose heart had not aged with him. He was actually quite good at shooting the breeze, and he possessed an openness and ease that others envied.

He would not cower and hesitate to act just because aberrations were powerful. Nor would he become overly repressed because the environment was tense. This also allowed him to judge timing accurately, and he never forgot to seize chances to improve himself.

If one had to describe him, he looked on life and death lightly, and if he refused to accept something, he would fight.

Nothing was a big deal except death.

However, that man who had dared to risk his life fighting aberrations inside an aberrant domain was now sitting on the ground without the slightest proper bearing, his back against the gate, his head turned as he talked to Wang Pingyuan in the courtyard.

No one knew what they had reached in the conversation, but a strange smile appeared on Captain Ye’s face. He chuckled and used both hands to trace the outline of a gourd shape.

“Cough, cough, cough!” Wang Pingyuan was coughing badly, but he still did not forget to laugh.

Chen Yi: “...”

Hearing movement, Captain Ye turned back alertly. When he saw Chen Yi had returned, he immediately stood up.

“How is it?” He went up to Chen Yi and asked quietly. The unseriousness in his eyes was gone.

Chen Yi asked in return, “What did Minister Tang say?”

There had been no cell signal in the forest. Only after coming out of North Mountain did he receive notifications for two missed calls from Tang Qirui. Presumably, the report to the higher-ups had produced a result.

Unfortunately, when he called back, Tang Qirui had probably returned to the sect space, where there was even less signal. Chen Yi could only hurry over here.

Captain Ye nodded. “A while ago, he called me and said the entry application had been approved. But you have to bring the person in.”

Chen Yi nodded and let out a sigh of relief.

Third Brother Wang was even more delighted.

“Pingyuan, come here,” Chen Yi called.

Wang Pingyuan had been listening with his ears pricked up. The moment he was called, he jumped up and scampered over, no longer showing any sign of being on the verge of death from bacterial infection.

As he came over, Chen Yi used the Dust Removal Art on him twice. Then he told him to stay outside while he went inside the house. Without drawing attention, he swept through the inside and outside of the house, as well as Uncle and Auntie Wang.

After this whole round, his spiritual power hit bottom. His eyes hurt as if they were being stabbed by needles, and his head hurt as if it were splitting open.

He had not expected that overusing his divine ability would harm his body.

When Auntie Wang saw Chen Yi, she did not know what the meaning of his circuit through the house was. She stopped him and asked, “Chen Yi, what’s happening in our village? What’s wrong with our Little Fourth? The food is ready. Stay and eat with us.”

Chen Yi exchanged a few perfunctory greetings and took his leave.

When he left the courtyard gate, he nearly tripped and fell. Only then did he realize that his physical condition was very poor, even more exhausted than after a battle with an aberration.

Chen Yi’s abnormal state was seen by Captain Ye and Third Brother Wang. The two exchanged a look and said at the same time, “Get on my back.”

Chen Yi looked at the two backs offered to him at the same time, laughed softly, and lay on Third Brother Wang’s back.

Because of this, Captain Ye was a little unhappy. “Last night we were depending on each other through life and death, and now you’re already treating me like an outsider?”

Chen Yi smiled and said, “With your current physical state, I’m afraid I’ll wear you out.”

“Bah!” Captain Ye said. “When I was on missions, rushing a thousand li behind enemy lines to decapitate targets and traveling three hundred li through the night, Wang Ping’an was still playing with mud in a little ditch. Don’t bully an old man for being weak. Sooner or later, I’ll let you see what I’m really capable of.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Don’t bully the young for being poor, and don’t bully the old for being weak. I’ll remember.”

Chen Yi smiled and pressed his head against the arm resting on Third Brother Wang’s shoulder, suppressing the throbbing pain in his temple.

At the same time, he closed his eyes and silently endured the pain.

He knew it was embarrassing to be carried back like this, but there were too many matters at hand. One thing came after another, without even a moment to catch his breath. He could only use this time to recover.

After night fell, he still had to make a trip to North Mountain with the first group of team members sent there. At the very least, he had to confirm that no aberrations would cause trouble there after dark.

Who else but him could resolve these incidents right now?

They walked quickly on the way back. Wang Pingyuan began coughing again, but his eyes were very bright. The way he looked at the distant orange grove was like looking at a blind date he had taken a fancy to.

Captain Ye did not hide anything from Wang Pingyuan either. He directly asked Third Brother Wang about the situation on North Mountain, and from his mouth learned of the future Chen Yi had revealed.

Chen Yi rested with his eyes closed, occasionally adding a sentence.

Later, he heard Captain Ye say, “No wonder I said those team members who lost their reason looked so much like zombies. That state of losing reason after being infected by aberrations, becoming cruel and bloodthirsty, isn’t that just zombies?”

“Not exactly,” Chen Yi explained. “The essence of a zombie is a corpse. After dying, it becomes another kind of life and revives. They are already no longer human. They are corpses.

“People infected by aberrations, on the other hand, have fallen into mental hallucinations and cannot control themselves, that is all. There is still hope for recovery.

“And with these bacterial infections, their purpose is not to kill people either. The ultimate goal of bacteria is to parasitize humans and coexist with them.

“It is just that before they find the humans they can parasitize, many, many people will die.”

As their discussion deepened, the excitement in Wang Pingyuan’s eyes gradually disappeared. After calming down, he asked for the first time, “Third Brother, do you really think that place is suitable for me? Can I be cured without going in?”

This was a normal person’s reaction.

Not everyone had the awareness needed to face the truth of the world and confront death.

Sometimes, rather than exploring a deadly mystery, for most people, it was better to know nothing and live in peace. In any case, if the sky collapsed, there would be tall people to hold it up.

Chen Yi opened his eyes and glanced at Wang Pingyuan.

Originally, they had been the same, even possessing a detached feeling toward this world, as if they were playing around in life.

But how had things turned out this way now?

Perhaps it was because of Captain Ye’s sliding tackle.

Or perhaps it was the children’s little faces as they hugged him and said, Daddy loves you.

There were also his parents, giving everything they had without asking for anything in return.

He had already gone deep into this world and could no longer break free. He wanted everyone to be well.

So he had to step forward.

He closed his eyes again and seized every second to rest.

Beside his ears came Third Brother Wang’s scolding voice. “Do you know what kind of situation you’re in right now? You easily attract aberrations and have no ability to protect yourself. If you don’t want to die, then cultivate properly!”

Chen Yi asked, “Wang Pingyuan, have you thought it over? Do you want to join the sect like your brother?”

Wang Pingyuan hesitated and wavered. In the end, he gritted his teeth and nodded. “All right.”

[Ding!]

[Number of disciples +1]

[Disciple Aptitude]

Name: Wang Pingyuan

Age: 25

Aptitude: Peerless

When Chen Yi saw this aptitude, he thought to himself that it was just as expected.

Those who could awaken on their own during the Spiritual Energy Revival were all talented people.

Entering the sect through the orange grove, Chen Yi had no time to care about Wang Pingyuan’s astonishment. He urged Third Brother Wang to send them directly into the Scripture Pavilion.

His tastes had grown picky now. It was not as though just anyone could make him secretly feel pleased.

The inside of the Scripture Pavilion did not seem to have changed much. It was a space like a small octagonal temple, with bookshelves filling the areas against the walls.

Most of the bookshelves were sealed, but as Chen Yi’s cultivation improved, the bookshelves were slowly unsealing.

After Chen Yi reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, two more bookshelves had opened, but they were not cultivation techniques. Instead, they were miscellaneous knowledge-type books, such as The Complete Basics of Talismans, The Complete Basics of Pills, Record of Spirit Herbs, Methods and Techniques for Spirit Field Planting, Insights on the Use of Sword Riding, and so on.

In a certain sense, these types of books contained knowledge even more important than cultivation techniques. Tang Qirui was currently applying to send people in to read and study them.

Only, compared to the special fast-recruitment channel for combat-type talents, knowledge-type talents had been placed further back.

In urgent times, special measures had to be taken. At present, suppressing the aberration incidents frequently breaking out everywhere was the proper business.

Including Third Brother Wang, the team members who had only joined the sect yesterday had all chosen suitable techniques after entering Qi Refining.

In truth, there was not much to choose from. The books opened in the Scripture Pavilion were limited: one mental cultivation art, six cultivation techniques, and seven spells. Even Chen Yi had no choice.

Chen Yi knew that a sect this large definitely did not lack cultivation techniques. The reason only these had been opened was clearly to let them build a good foundation. A journey of a thousand li began beneath one’s feet.

If the roots were unstable, how could one grow into a towering tree?

Chen Yi’s gaze withdrew from the bookshelves and looked at other parts of the room.

After the number of prayer mats reached ten, there had been no further increase, and the space had not grown larger either. Did this mean that the number of people the system allowed him to use Technique Transmission on was also ten?

Technique Transmission was the Goldfinger he intended to hand over. If not for this business trip, and if not for the deep impression left on him by the Magic Capital Special Action Team, he truly would not have wanted to hand it over.

He had only wanted to secure a government post. Who wanted to secure work for himself?

He was the only one who could use this function. In the future, was he not going to have to come in every day like clocking in at work and sit on duty?

Thinking of the days ahead, Chen Yi sighed inwardly. Then he turned his head and looked at Third Brother Wang, who was gazing at him eagerly. Chen Yi said, “Cultivate.”

“All right.”

Wang Pingyuan tapped the Spirit Nurturing Art and sat down on the spot to cultivate. Chen Yi did not leave either. He had to watch the changes in Wang Pingyuan’s body. If anything went wrong, he could act at once.

During this process, Tang Qirui hurried over and mainly discussed three matters with Chen Yi.

First, Chen Yi had to go along with the people being sent to North Mountain.

Second, Chen Yi needed to take a look at all the people of Lishui Village who were under quarantine.

Third, the Technique Transmission that Chen Yi wanted to talk about absolutely could not happen without him.

Fine then!

Might as well split him into eight pieces. There was too much work to handle!

Tang Qirui had a headache. There were so many matters that when this function, Technique Transmission, appeared, he did not show much surprise. He only confirmed, “Technique Transmission can only be done with ten people at a time. How effective is it? Can it immediately form combat power?”

This was exactly the part Chen Yi wanted to complain about.

He shook his head.

“Not very good. For three-year-old children who don’t actively cultivate, I transmitted techniques to them, but even now they haven’t entered the threshold.”

“...”

Tang Qirui’s expression turned strange, his face saying: That’s it?

Chen Yi shrugged. “Better than nothing. My parents, my son and daughter, and Da Huang, if they cultivate when I remember to drag them along, at least they won’t be abandoned by the times too quickly.”

Tang Qirui thought about it and agreed. One could not pray that three-year-old children would have the will to study cultivation, just as one could not expect a dog...

“Hiss!”

Tang Qirui’s eyes widened. “Da Huang? The one I saw?”

Captain Ye had been listening from the side for ages, just waiting for this line. He immediately lectured, “What Da Huang? You should call him Fifth Senior Brother. Show some respect.”

Tang Qirui: “...”

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