Chapter 709: End of Volume: The Foundation of a Legacy (Part 1)

But fine, if he was just quiet. The problem was that whenever Li Hanshan had a spare moment, he’d stare at his phone with a solemn expression. No one knew what kind of messages he was looking at, but his face was so grim water could have dripped from it. The atmosphere got so heavy that Guan Wanjing’s own mood couldn’t help but sink, and he started contemplating the meaning of his life and his future path.

As for their support attacker, Shao Qiming, he was smiling as always—cheerful, sunny, gentle, and incredibly approachable. He was also the best person to handle communications with locals and other teams during urban missions… but this guy was the most dangerous one of all!

As far as Guan Wanjing knew, Shao Qiming carried all sorts of high-risk Creations on his person. Whether it was the “Netherworld Poison” that could corrode even Ghosts or a highly corrosive Extraordinary fungus Enhanced by the Plague Division to target high-defense Extraordinary Creatures, he had them all. The guy even carried a certain amount of heavy radioactive materials!

“Brother Shao, I’m serious, is this stuff really okay? I mean, is this legal?”

When Guan Wanjing had cautiously asked if it was really okay to carry these things around, Shao Qiming had just smiled gently and said, “I believe these things are permitted by law.”

‘But my dear Comrade, that thing is glowing!’

Couldn’t they all just have a normal meal and drinks before a mission, bring normal weapons, and have a normal atmosphere? Did they have to set up so many death flags, setting off with the grim air of a team on their one last job before retirement?

As the hulking man, who was already over two meters tall, thought of this, his tiger-like eyes flew wide open, and bitter tears flowed in his heart. He just wanted to have a nice meal, shoot the breeze, drink, and eat barbecue. He wanted a harmonious team, just like any other, not one with an atmosphere so cold and silent!

With that thought, Guan Wanjing’s stern face, which looked as if cast from bronze and iron, softened slightly. He sighed, then grabbed a handful of spicy peanuts from the table and began to eat them in silence.

And so, Lii Yeyu, who was wondering when she could finally surpass her old man and beat him into retirement so he could go home and spend time with her mom; Li Hanshan, who was worrying about his novel’s readership and monthly tickets, wondering when his next recommendation spot would be and if his stockpile of chapters was enough; and Shao Qiming, who was pondering whether his Light Attribute Spiritual Power could control radiation and if his Divine Wood Power could also grow with the help of radiation, all noticed Guan Wanjing’s incredibly heavy sigh, and their minds began to churn with thoughts.

‘To focus on Martial Arts and temper his body to such a state… Brother Guan is so driven. He must have an enemy back home he’s sworn to defeat, right?’ Thinking this, Lii Yeyu’s expression grew a little more solemn.

‘He’s shouldering a blood feud for 108 people from his hometown. He joined the Academy to temper himself while searching for his enemy, only to discover that the enemy is a high-ranking member of the Academy…’ Li Hanshan unconsciously cooked up a series of academy-genre plot points. His face remained expressionless, but he was already thinking about the final battle hundreds of chapters down the line… As for who the final boss would be, well, ‘Our own team’s professor seems like a good fit.’

‘Does he think the food is taking too long to arrive? But Jin Qiong and Azhou aren’t here yet, so they can’t serve the food.’ Shao Qiming was also secretly mulling things over. ‘Speaking of food, why isn’t Azhou here yet?’

But soon, a rather cheerful voice cut through everyone’s thoughts.

“I’m here, I’m here, I’m here~”

The happy voice rang out as a bright, beautiful figure opened the private room’s door. Jin Qiong walked in, humming a light tune—only to be met by eight solemn, cold eyes.

“I’m… here… Professor Su is right behind me…”

Jin Qiong’s voice immediately dropped. Lii Yeyu got up to greet her, and Jin Qiong sat down in the seat next to her. The two immediately started communicating via Soul transmission.

“You came with Professor Su?”

“Yeah, a Divine Bird in the Beast God Realm wanted to challenge me, so Professor Su went to supervise the fight and then brought me along.”

Jin Qiong was still worried that her teammates were unhappy with her for leaving midway through the mission, so her tone was a bit cautious. “He was just on a call. He’ll be here in a moment.”

Soon, Su Zhou, having finished his call with the Artifice Sage, entered the private room. This time, he was greeted by ten incredibly serious eyes.

“…You guys are way too serious. Lighten up, will you? This one’s on me!”

Even Su Zhou couldn’t figure out why the atmosphere was so tense and could only attribute it to, ‘This must just be the team atmosphere of an Elite squad, I guess.’ “Let’s get the food served. Where’s the waiter? I told them not to wait for me.”

The meal itself needs no further elaboration. In short, the banquet celebrating the Elite squad’s first independent completion of a high-difficulty Secret Realm exploration mission concluded smoothly.

And after the celebration, Su Zhou extended an invitation to everyone present.

“In just over a year, you’ll all be graduating.”

The young man spoke casually, “When the time comes, how about you consider interning at the New World Exploration Department? It’s not mandatory, just asking.”

Although Su Zhou was full of Majesty, he wasn’t the type to use his authority to force anyone to do anything. Everyone present seriously considered his invitation.

“I’ll have to ask my parents, but there probably won’t be any objections,” Lii Yeyu said. She didn’t have any detailed plans to begin with. Staying at Qinxing Academy as a Tutor or working for the Daoist Discipline Bureau both seemed a bit boring. And while the New World Exploration Department was currently understaffed, it should be mostly established after more than a year.

[My elders have told me several times, ‘Wherever Professor Su goes, I go.’] Li Hanshan sent a message in the squad’s group chat. This wasn’t surprising. Right now, the public figureheads of the Mimic Dao were the Life Saint and Su Zhou. As a member of a Dao Mimic Clan, Li Hanshan naturally had to choose a side. It seemed they had chosen Su Zhou.

“I don’t mind either way!” Guan Wanjing replied without a second thought. He truly didn’t care. He was a practitioner of Spiritual Martial Arts, so whether it was the Security Bureau or the New World Exploration Department, it made no difference to him as long as he wasn’t assigned a desk job.

“Of course,” Shao Qiming gave a polite reply, because even the others in the squad were well aware that he was, in fact, already working in the Exploration Department. He just didn’t have an official position. His future path didn’t even need to be considered.

‘Can I say no?’ Jin Qiong wanted to answer this way, but she just couldn’t muster the courage. Besides, just like Shao Qiming, she had long since been unofficially assigned to Su Zhou’s core team, even if her name wasn’t on any official roster… She could only sigh helplessly.

Moreover, even Jin Qiong knew full well that for someone like her with no backing in Zhengguo, siding with Su Zhou was actually her best choice.

“Excellent. Thank you all for your support.”

Although he hadn’t received any explicitly firm answers, Su Zhou was already very satisfied. With this, the foundational core team and the first batch of model explorers were more or less set. It wasn’t that students from other Extraordinary Academies were no good, but setting aside familiarity, how could their strength and caliber compare to the Elites he had cultivated with his own hands?

After the banquet, it was time to disperse. Lii Yeyu and Jin Qiong said they were going to wander around the pedestrian street, while Li Hanshan had something to do and had already returned to his school dormitory.

Guan Wanjing had also planned to return to his dorm for a few sets of exercises to continue his Cultivation.

But he didn’t expect that just as he was about to leave, Su Zhou, who was chatting with Shao Qiming, would turn, pat him on the shoulder, and signal that he had something to discuss with him.

“I have some time recently. Didn’t you say before that your sect wanted to meet me?”

As he spoke, Su Zhou met Guan Wanjing’s gaze with a smile. “The Rui’an Martial Arts Hall, the Only Martial System—it’s considered Zhengguo’s strongest Spiritual Martial Cultivation Sect. I’m actually quite curious about you all.”

“Huh, you’re agreeing?”

Guan Wanjing was stunned. Every time he brought it up, Su Zhou would just say, ‘Next time, for sure, next time.’ He had thought it was just a perfunctory answer, but he hadn’t expected Su Zhou to actually remember. “Then I need to inform my master and the others…”

“No need.”

Su Zhou shook his head slightly. He raised his left hand, gesturing to the proxy terminal on it, his expression turning a bit serious. “The Artifice Sage has already spoken to me. Time is tight… The day after tomorrow, we leave.”