Chapter 156: A Visit from the Celestial Being

Thousands of kilometers north of the Miracle City, in a major metropolis of the Benmi Continent known as the City of Hope, a towering giant tower over two hundred meters high suddenly lit up. This was the transceiver of the super-pulse communication system.

After a few seconds, the brilliant flash faded away. However, the senior executives of the Saint Martial Hall Research Department quickly gathered in the Grand Saint Martial Hall, because the research data they cared about most—experimental records concerning Zhuo Yuqing—had been fed back from the Miracle City.

Professor Jenny, a member of the Saint Martial Hall's medical department who had been dispatched to the Miracle City, conducted a comprehensive physical examination of Zhuo Yuqing every week. She then sent the detailed examination logs back to the Saint Martial Hall via the super-pulse system, keeping the high-ranking officials of the research department informed of Zhuo Yuqing's latest condition.

The most impatient among the executives, the bald Celestial Being Leizhe, could not wait to ask the moment he arrived at the Grand Saint Martial Hall, "Well? Is there any sign of Yuqing's Holy Spirit Technique acting up or going out of control?"

The Holy Spirit Technique was a project that the Saint Martial Hall Research Department had spent decades developing. This mental cultivation method was fundamentally different from ordinary martial arts techniques; not only could it grant practitioners immense power, but it could even alter their genes, gradually evolving them into perfect new humans! The Holy Spirit Technique could truly be called a revolutionary, epoch-making innovative mental technique. If its development succeeded, human martial arts history would enter a brand-new era. Furthermore, the evolved genes of these new humans would be heritable; with just one or two generations of cultivation, the capabilities of the entire human race would be vastly enhanced! This was a grand plan of utmost significance. Ever since its inception, it had been classified as a top-tier research project by the Saint Martial Hall, to be pursued relentlessly regardless of the cost in manpower, resources, or time.

However, genetics was immensely complex, and the heaven-defying act of altering genes was fraught with danger. During the development of the Holy Spirit Technique, the Saint Martial Hall Research Department had meticulously selected batches of brilliant orphans with exceptional physical constitutions to practice it. Yet, as they grew, these individuals either died suddenly or were crippled. Although the Holy Spirit Technique was continuously improved over decades by learning from past failures, not a single orphan had managed to survive past the age of fifteen unscathed—until a few years ago, when a girl finally broke the curse: Zhuo Yuqing.

Ever since she began practicing the Holy Spirit Technique, Zhuo Yuqing's progress had been remarkably smooth. She had passed the age of fifteen in good health, and her evolutionary process was flawless. Her genes were gradually changing without any adverse side effects, making her the most crucial experimental subject in the Saint Martial Hall. One can easily imagine just how much importance the Saint Martial Hall attached to her.

The Saint Martial Hall had to observe her continuously to discover the reason why this girl could practice the Holy Spirit Technique so smoothly. Even if they failed to find the underlying cause, they had to protect Zhuo Yuqing at all costs, using her as a foundational matriarch to propagate a stronger and superior race of new humans.

However, before Zhuo Yuqing evolved into a perfect individual, she could not have any intimate relations with the opposite sex; otherwise, it would have an unpredictable and disastrous impact on her evolution, or even halt it entirely. This was the exact reason why Sean had repeatedly warned Zhuo Yuqing on behalf of the senior leadership.

Douglas, the current head of the Perfect Human Project and Minister of the Saint Martial Research Department, spoke up, "Old Lei, there's no need to panic. Yuqing is doing fine. Jenny has already examined her; her condition is very stable, and everything is moving in a positive direction!"

"Oh, that's good then!" Baiwen, one of the executives attuned to the water element, let out a sigh of relief. Among all the high-ranking officials, Baiwen was known for his benevolent nature; he cared not only about the experimental results but also about Zhuo Yuqing herself.

To be honest, conducting such experiments was extremely cruel and inhumane. Many children had already lost their lives for this cause. Yet, many innovative martial arts experiments required sacrifice; even during the development of the Suona Qi-Condensing Technique and the Qi-Guiding Technique, quite a few people had paid with their lives. However, for the sake of the entire human race, those sacrifices were deemed worthwhile.

"As long as things are going smoothly..." Another executive, Luther, seemed to recall something and asked, "Douglas, is there any other news?"

"Yes," Douglas replied. "Remember the young man named Luo Chen who studies with Yuqing at Blue Emperor Academy, the one I mentioned to you before?"

"Of course I remember. My memory hasn't deteriorated to the point of senility yet," Leizhe immediately chimed in. "Douglas, could it be that Yuqing is getting too close to him? If he ruins our research, I'll be the first to go kill him!"

"Old Lei, like I said, stop being so impatient about everything. Calm down. You're a senior executive of the Saint Martial Hall—it's embarrassing to act like this," Douglas said slowly. "She and Yuqing are doing fine; they're just friends. However, because Yuqing refused our financial support, she has to make her own living. Now she frequently teams up with Luo Chen to hunt and gather crystal cores—they're basically hunting partners. Aside from that, there's nothing else."

Leizhe snorted, "As long as he has no entanglements with Yuqing, that's fine. Why even bring that kid up?"

Douglas continued, "As we mentioned before, Luo Chen is somewhat special. He possesses a level of consciousness similar to ours, so we casually asked Sean and the others to keep an eye on this young man. In the message we just received, Sean specifically mentioned Luo Chen."

"Oh?" Luther asked, "Did Luo Chen show any strange behaviors?"

"That's right," Douglas nodded. "Today, Yuqing and Luo Chen both qualified to join the Elite Class."

Leizhe scoffed dismissively, "What's so strange about that? Anyone whose spiritual power reaches level three can join the Elite Class. It just means his spiritual power is decent. Don't forget who we are; we don't have the spare energy to care about what some nobody is up to."

"There you go again, Old Lei. I told you to exercise a little patience," Douglas said helplessly. "That 'nobody' you just mentioned scored higher on the spiritual power test than Yuqing."

As soon as Douglas said this, all the senior executives were stunned. "How is that possible? Is there someone among her peers whose spiritual power surpasses Yuqing's?"

Baiwen pressed further, "By how much?"

"Nearly two thousand points higher!"

The Grand Saint Martial Hall fell into a dead silence. Zhuo Yuqing was cultivated jointly by them as the most exceptional talent in the entire world, and the effects of the Holy Spirit Technique allowed her spiritual power to grow much faster than an ordinary person's. Yet now, there was a young man of the exact same age whose spiritual power exceeded hers—not just by a little, but by a massive margin!

Leizhe said incredulously, "How can this be? Did Sean make a mistake, or did the testing instructor bungle it?"

"Impossible. Can we really doubt Sean's competence? The instructors at Blue Emperor Academy are also reliable," Douglas said. "Over the past half month, Sean secretly observed the kid several times. Even at night, when the dark attribute is most conducive to stealth, Sean was almost detected by Luo Chen when he got slightly close. Furthermore, Luo Chen recently used spiritual perception in combat—a capability Yuqing hasn't even acquired yet. Old Lei, do you still doubt his spiritual power?"

Leizhe was left speechless and unable to refute. Luther then suggested, "Douglas, as you described, this young man certainly possesses a certain degree of research value."

Leizhe immediately chimed in, "Well then, why don't we just have him dragged back here directly?"

Douglas was losing his patience. "Old Lei, use your brain for a moment, will you? Didn't Yuqing say before that she wanted to protect him? Is Yuqing more important, or is Luo Chen? Besides, Principal Ulysses of Blue Emperor Academy also favors Luo Chen and often gives him personal guidance. With these two obstacles in your way, do you think you can just snatch Luo Chen out of Blue Emperor Academy? Besides, even if we want to study him, we first need to see if there is anything actually worth researching."

Seeing that Douglas was getting irritated, Leizhe did not dare to speak further. After all, Douglas was the head of the research department.

Luther added, "Still, we shouldn't simply ignore an anomalous case like Luo Chen."

At this point, Baiwen spoke up, "Let me make the trip myself. I'm somewhat interested in him. I might as well go to the Canglan Continent to meet Luo Chen and see if I can discover anything."

Douglas understood Baiwen's true intention; a mere Luo Chen wasn't worth Baiwen's personal visit, but Baiwen had always cared deeply about Yuqing and was likely taking this opportunity to go check on her.

That worked out well. Among all the Celestial Beings, Baiwen had the best relationship with Yuqing. With him stepping forward, it might help mend their strained relationship with Yuqing while allowing him to observe Luo Chen along the way. As a high-ranking member of the research department, Baiwen's judgment was naturally much sharper than Sean's.

Thinking of this, Douglas nodded and said, "Very well. The research department has no urgent matters these days anyway. Baiwen, I'll have to trouble you with this!"

A few days later, on a Sunday morning, Luo Chen headed out early after finishing his morning breathing exercises. Because he had already agreed with Zhuo Yuqing, starting this week, the hunting hiatus that had lasted nearly a month was coming to an end. After purchasing new weapons, Luo Chen didn't have much money left, and it was about time to earn some more; otherwise, he would run out of provisions before long.

Just as Luo Chen stepped out of his dormitory building, someone approached him from the front and stopped right in his path, asking, "Student Luo Chen?"

It was an elderly man in blue, looking utterly ordinary—the kind of person where if you randomly threw a brick on the street, you'd hit seven or eight of them. At first glance, there was nothing special about him whatsoever. Moreover, Luo Chen did not recognize him. Frowning, he asked, "You are..."

"You know Yuqing, right?" The elderly man in blue smiled and said, "I am her family member."

"You're Student Zhuo Yuqing's family member?" Luo Chen had heard Zhuo Yuqing fabricate stories before, and had assumed she was a poor girl driven out of her home by ruthless relatives. Hearing the old man's words, he immediately felt a wave of displeasure. "Even though you're an elder, I still have to speak the truth. How could you treat Yuqing like that and drive her away? Even if she isn't your daughter, she's still of the same bloodline! Blood is thicker than water!"

This old man in blue was naturally Baiwen, a high-ranking executive from the Saint Martial Hall Research Department. Seeing Luo Chen's righteous and indignant expression, Baiwen couldn't help but find it both absurd and amusing. As a high-ranking official of the Saint Martial Hall Research Department with supreme status, when had he ever been lectured by anyone else, let alone by a wet-behind-the-ears kid?