As they spoke, the two arrived at a secluded courtyard.
This place was the actual office location of the Special Affairs Department. Bai Yue glanced at the plaque by the door and could not help feeling a trace of amusement. Compared to the mysterious and imposing "special departments" often depicted in novels, this place was far too ordinary—almost plain.
If Yu Baojiang knew what Bai Yue was thinking, he would certainly complain bitterly. It wasn't that he didn't want a more impressive façade, but with only a handful of True Qi cultivators nationwide, even being granted an independent courtyard like this already counted as special treatment.
From another angle, it also reflected the current state of the cultivation world: marginalized, scarce, and far from receiving real attention at the national level.
Inside the courtyard, a large open training ground occupied the center. About a dozen people were scattered throughout, making the space feel unexpectedly empty.
The auras Bai Yue had sensed earlier belonged precisely to these people.
They were dressed in all kinds of outfits. There was an elderly man in a Taoist robe slowly practicing Tai Chi, his movements steady and natural. A middle-aged man in a suit and glasses stood quietly to one side, eyes closed in meditation. A bare-chested man repeatedly slammed his fists into a wall, each strike dull and heavy. In a corner pavilion, a small girl sat watching a drama on her phone, legs swinging happily.
The moment Bai Yue and Yu Baojiang entered, everyone's attention shifted toward them.
The Taoist elder stopped mid-movement. The girl lifted her head from her screen. Several others subtly straightened their posture.
Bai Yue observed them calmly—and they, in turn, observed him.
Dressed in white, Bai Yue's appearance was no longer that of an ordinary man. More than a year of cultivation had refined his physique to near perfection, his skin clear, his bearing composed. Combined with his restrained yet transcendent aura, he possessed a presence that was difficult to ignore.
To these people, he felt… similar.
Most of them assumed he was a newly discovered cultivator brought in by the department. After all, apart from a few who had been trained internally, most here had entered the Special Affairs Department after fortuitous encounters.
In the current Heaven-and-Earth environment, even those with extraordinary talent who could naturally sense Innate Original Qi still faced immense difficulty when nurturing it into True Qi.
Vital energy was closely tied to lifespan. Consuming too much of it in a short time inevitably caused severe bodily harm. As such, cultivating True Qi by relying solely on oneself was an extremely slow and arduous process—extracting only a small portion of vitality each time, resting, recovering, then repeating the cycle endlessly.
The Taoist elder was a rare success story.
Born into a Tai Chi lineage, he had practiced martial arts since childhood. In his thirties, he sensed Qi, then began nurturing True Qi according to his family's inner cultivation methods. It took nearly twenty years before he finally succeeded.
Inspiring—but also exceptional.
Most people here did not have such a foundation.
"Brother Baojiang!"
The little girl had already hopped off her seat and run over, clinging to Yu Baojiang's arm.
"Is this the new big brother?"
Yu Baojiang chuckled and lifted her up.
"No. Mr. Bai is just staying with us for a few days. Yun'er, behave yourself."
She nodded vigorously, then looked straight at Bai Yue with bright eyes.
"Hello, Big Brother Bai! My name is Wang Yun'er."
"Hello," Bai Yue replied with a smile.
After setting her down, Yu Baojiang clapped his hands.
"Everyone, listen up. This is Mr. Bai, an extremely powerful cultivator. He'll be staying here temporarily to consult some classics. Please welcome him."
Applause rang out. Bai Yue nodded politely in response.
"Alright, back to your training. I'll take Mr. Bai to settle in."
The room Yu Baojiang arranged was simple but clean.
"Mr. Bai, if you need anything, just tell me."
"Everything is fine," Bai Yue said. "Director Yu, when can I access the classics?"
Yu Baojiang smiled wryly. "I was planning to let you rest today, but since you're eager, I'll take you there now."
They passed through a side courtyard and entered a pavilion filled with books. Without stopping, Yu Baojiang led him into an elevator.
"These are only common Taoist and Buddhist texts. The real cultivation classics are underground."
The elevator descended more than a hundred meters before stopping.
After multiple layers of biometric verification, a massive metal door slowly opened.
Inside lay a vast underground archive.
Shelves stretched endlessly, packed with ancient texts.
Yu Baojiang helped Bai Yue register his permissions, then gestured toward the depths.
"At the end, there's also a storage area for special artifacts. Take a look if you like."
Once alone, Bai Yue immersed himself in reading.
Days passed.
He rarely left the archive, frustrating many who had hoped to approach him.
One day, remembering Yu Baojiang's words, Bai Yue headed deeper into the underground.
Beyond another reinforced door lay shelves filled not with books, but with strange objects.
Bronze fragments. Ancient seals. Beads. Rings. Coins.
At first, curiosity drove him. Soon, boredom followed. Most items carried faint residual auras, but little practical value.
Stopping in place, Bai Yue released his mental force.
It swept across the entire storage area like a silent tide.
Almost everything was revealed instantly—except for two spots.
He walked directly to the first.
Inside a plain metal box lay a silver-white sphere, marble-sized. The moment his True Qi touched it, the sphere floated into the air, emitting a sharp, restrained aura.
A damaged artifact fragment—yet still responsive.
Interesting.
The second anomaly lay hidden among a pile of mundane objects.
A bronze ring.
Completely unremarkable.
Yet when his mental force touched it, it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.
That alone marked it as extraordinary.
Back in his room, Bai Yue sealed the door and placed the two items on the table.
He extended his mental force.
The silver sphere responded immediately.
Taiyan Sword Pill.
A flying sword condensed into pill form. When activated, it could kill across a thousand miles. Along with it came a complete sword-control technique—the Taiyan Sword Scripture.
Even among Innate-level cultivators, such an item was rare.
Then came the ring.
The recognition was far more difficult.
When it finally succeeded, Bai Yue felt an immense space unfold before his consciousness—nearly one kilometer in diameter.
A spatial storage treasure.
Azure Profound Ring.
A sect master's token from the Yuheng Star Domain.
How it ended up on Earth… no one knew.
But now, it belonged to him.
_____________________
https://[email protected]/mrSOMEONE01234? [replace @ with a]
>>>>>I'm a student, and I'll try my best to keep uploading chapters regularly <<<<<
thanks for your support
[[READER TIER 1: translates stories {15$} ]] { RECOMENDED }
[[READER TIER 2: translated & original stories {20$} ]]
[[[[Please at least visit my patreon so I can have some traffic]]]]]