Section 052: God-like Stealth? Sowing Fear! Finally Eight Years Old! [Subscriptions Requested!!]

More covert actions...
Could that be possible?
During the hundred days since the capture of the 365 bizarre talismans last time, Ye Ping had purged the black market once every month. After yielding remarkable results, provinces across the country began to follow suit and copy the method.
Under such circumstances, Huaxia did not witness any further occurrences of the "big eater" phenomenon, meaning that the bizarre talismans had temporarily ceased to appear. The talisman resentment deity had burrowed into hiding, though its exact whereabouts remained unknown.
Perhaps the incident where Xu Ran helped Ye Ping confiscate the 365 talismans had truly disgusted the talisman resentment deity, stripping it of much of its power and making it reluctant to act rashly.
Of course, it was also possible that the talisman resentment deity had learned a painful lesson and devised an even more bizarre method to promote the talismans more covertly.
As to the exact situation, Xu Ran had not investigated it and was in no position to jump to conclusions.
"Should I go out and investigate for a while?"
A thought surfaced in Xu Ran's mind: "It is time to go out and look around."
"As for the second batch of bizarre talismans, I am the only one who can sense the danger. If the talisman resentment deity manages to develop a third batch of bizarre talismans, it is quite likely that I will still be the only one who can perceive it..."
"If I do not go investigate, Uncle Ye and the others might not discover it."
In fact, this possibility was extremely high!
Because the talisman resentment deity would undoubtedly plot for more flesh and blood offerings! It was merely a matter of tactics!
"I might as well go out for some practical training... and incidentally complete the golden achievement [Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames]."
Practicing self-discipline within the compound was no longer enough to satisfy Xu Ran; he wanted to step up his intensity.
Thus, on the 2,488th day of his early childhood, the self-discipline king Xu Ran decided to leave the compound for practical training.
There was more than one objective for leaving the compound.
First and foremost, the primary objective was naturally to exact revenge on the talisman resentment deity.
Secondly, the secondary objective was to complete the golden achievement task [Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames]: You have attained a certain level of combat power; go forth and slaughter alien races. Kill 10,000 alien races whose qi and blood values exceed yours by threefold to obtain the golden achievement [Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames].
[Task Time Limit]: 4 years.
[Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames (Golden Achievement)]: You will acquire a murderous heart. All negative effects brought about by slaughter will be contained within the murderous heart and will not affect you in the slightest. Once the murderous heart contains these negative emotions, it can condense the Myriad Tribulation Flames. The Myriad Tribulation Flames are divine items for the physical body to undergo nirvana and move toward perfection.
Unlike the golden achievement [Supreme Youth], which required suppressing all geniuses and winning the championship in the once-every-three-years national god-slaying team selection tournament,
[Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames] simply required killing and more killing.
Although there were not 10,000 crystal beasts with qi and blood values exceeding 60,000 points near Jing City for him to slaughter at will, he could simply ask Uncle Ye to take him to the interstellar battlefield.
By asking Uncle Ye to make a special exception, he might even be able to complete the task two years ahead of schedule! Isn't that wonderful?
For this reason.
After finishing his lecture to a group of people, Xu Ran immediately sought out the kindergarten director. The director showed not the slightest intention of stopping him, only asking his routine question: "Going out for training again? I will have your Uncle Ye protect you."
Xu Ran: "I plan to operate alongside Uncle Ye. We will see if any new versions of bizarre talismans have emerged."
Director: "Very well, I will call Ye Ping over."
Xu Ran: "Alright."
Half an hour later, Ye Ping arrived at the office: "You believe the talisman resentment deity will innovate in manufacturing bizarre talismans, is that correct?"
Xu Ran: "It is possible. We are just going to take a look. Should we discover anything amiss, we can nip its conspiracy in the bud before the situation escalates."
Ye Ping agreed: "Good. Accompany me to go look for some trouble for it."
Consequently.
The two struck it off immediately and set out from the Demigod Kindergarten for training.
Their training route was to weave through the interior of Jing Province.
Actually, this approach was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. After all, hiding in the dark, acting stealthily, and plotting behind the scenes constituted the most disgusting behavior that was hardest to detect.
Time flew by, and twenty-two days passed in a flash.
There was not even a shadow of a flesh and blood altar to be seen, and secondary bizarre talismans no longer appeared either. The new version of the bizarre talismans had presumably "died in the womb."
Ye Ping smiled faintly: "It seems the recent strict crackdowns have yielded certain results. Ninety-nine flesh and blood altars have been completely destroyed, and the 365 bizarre talismans have been confiscated. The talisman resentment deity must have suffered a severe blow to its vitality."
Xu Ran's gaze narrowed: "Suffered a severe blow to its vitality? That is far from enough. I am a person who holds grudges; completely annihilating it and eliminating future troubles once and for all is the motto of my life."
On one hand, Xu Ran wanted to exact revenge for the "minor matter" of being contaminated back then; on the other hand, Xu Ran had also set his sights on the talisman resentment deity's divine origin.
And what about the divine origin?
It was a treasure needed for strengthening his scarlet-gold root bone in the future!
How could he let it slip through his fingers if he encountered it?
It was just a pity that the tortoise-grandson of a talisman resentment deity was far too cautious.
Seeing Xu Ran hold such a deep grudge, Ye Ping patted Xu Ran's shoulder with a smile: "Fear not, it cannot hide for long and will eventually show its cloven hoof. When that time comes, we will finish it off together."
Xu Ran nodded: "We can only wait for it to appear; we cannot go looking for it every single day."
Ye Ping: "Has the training ended? Do you have any other matters, or shall we head straight back to the kindergarten?"
Xu Ran: "Not returning yet. Uncle Ye, I have a request. Can you grant it to me?"
Ye Ping looked at Xu Ran alertly: "Don't try any tricks with your uncle. Tell me what the request is first, and then I will consider it."
With his petty scheme exposed, Xu Ran smiled faintly: "A minor matter. Just a minor matter."
Ye Ping slanted his eyes at him: "Even a minor matter requires you to state it first; don't think about muddling through."
Xu Ran: "It's just... can you take me to see the alien star battlefield?"

    Ye Ping furrowed his brow deeply and rejected him on the spot: "No. Absolutely not."
    "The alien star battlefield is extremely severely polluted! You are only seven years old, your physical body is fragile, and qi and blood cannot circulate within your meridians; nor can you use arts to protect your physical body. Furthermore, you do not possess the Qi and Blood Illumination Art to isolate the pollution and protect your spirit.
    Taking you into the alien star battlefield is no different from throwing an ordinary person into a black hole. How is that any different from harming you?"
    Uncle Ye's tone was grave to the extreme, leaving no room for negotiation.
    "You know about the Qi and Blood Illumination Art, don't you? Human practitioners must master the Qi and Blood Illumination Art to withstand the pollution."
    Xu Ran: "...I know, it is written in the books. But have human practitioners truly never attempted a special exception?"
    Ye Ping waved his hand: "Never attempted it. Nor is there any need to try. Why would children under eight years old try such a thing?"
    "You can rest assured a million times over. Before you turn eight, I will never take you there. I could never bear the grave consequences should you become polluted.
    Not only would your mother kill me, but the director would twist off my skull, and the other mentors, Aunt Lu and the rest, would not let me off either!"
    "Besides, even if I were willing to sneak you in, the entrance inspectors of the alien star battlefield would not let you enter. Dismiss that thought from your mind!"
    Hearing this.
    Xu Ran understood that his plan to slaughter 10,000 crystal beasts, resentment beasts, and wraiths on the alien star battlefield had completely gone down the drain.
    Yet, he was unwilling to give up: "Are there any special treasures that can be worn on my body to ward off the pollution?"
    Ye Ping wore a stern expression and refused to the end: "That won't work either. A treasure is ultimately just a treasure and cannot replace one's own strength. To go to the alien star battlefield, you must wait until after you turn eight. By then, you can even lead the god-slaying team to train on the alien star battlefield."
    Xu Ran: "Fine then..."
    He finally understood that the tasks assigned by the system were always so cunning, with the timing calculated to perfection.
    Xu Ran pondered, suddenly wanting to take a shortcut: "Then... is there any place where I can kill crystal beasts, resentment beasts, and wraiths... preferably those with qi and blood values above 70,000 points? I need to kill 10,000 of them!"
    Ye Ping: "Hmm? Why do you want to kill so many?"
    Xu Ran replied without missing a beat: "I want to practice the killing techniques of flying darts and paper dolls."
    Ye Ping mused: "Only slaughterhouses and breeding farms have tens of thousands of crystal beasts, but... the crystal beasts bred in slaughterhouses merely have high-origin qualities, not high qi and blood values. To slaughter 10,000 late Hill-realm crystal beasts, resentment beasts, and wraiths, one still has to go to the alien star battlefield, where they are densely packed everywhere."
    Xu Ran circled back: "Then can you take me to the alien star battlefield?"
    He had triggered the golden achievements [Supreme Youth] and [Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames] on the 1,735th day of his early childhood... Now it was the 2,510th day of his early childhood, leaving two years remaining.
    Although it wasn't particularly urgent, completing it ahead of time could never go wrong.
    Ye Ping looked at Xu Ran speechlessly: "..."
    "Definitely not. You are seven years old now; wait another year until you learn the Qi and Blood Illumination Art!"
    Xu Ran: "Alright!"
    Sigh... My golden achievement [Murderous Heart Transformed into Flames], my Myriad Tribulation Flames, my divine items for the physical body to undergo nirvana and move toward perfection... It seems I can only become invincible after waiting another year.
     amidst the sigh.
    Xu Ran completely forgot that he was actually just a seven-year-old child.
    At his age, possessing such strength was already enough to be invincible, but having practiced strict self-discipline since the very first day of his birth, he was unsatisfied with such minor achievements.
    Both his soul and his physical body sought to pursue a higher level of invincibility!
    "Oh, right, Uncle Ye, let's not return to the kindergarten yet; let's go to the General Affairs Department to check on Li Songlin."
     Hearing the name Li Songlin, Ye Ping raised an eyebrow: "Li Songlin... This young man is good, with fine character. Last time, when dealing with a sudden wraith contamination, he did not hesitate to use his arm to block the attack of a wraith creature in order to protect an ordinary little boy, nearly having his arm hacked off."
    "Fortunately, his root bone has strong healing capabilities; after lying in bed for two months, his bones healed completely."
    "Of course, this was also related to the fact that you spoke up for him, prompting He Sifang to tilt a considerable amount of resources toward him. He has now broken through to the Hill realm, reaching 12,000 points of qi and blood."
    Xu Ran's gaze narrowed.
    Indeed, his character was identical to the one in his dream.
    However, the Li Songlin in his dream had his chest pierced right through.
    "I remember the resentment beast that pierced Li Songlin's chest was a Smoke Yaksha, right?"
    "I wonder if that thing will appear again. If it appears once more, I will pierce its chest with the most ferocious posture."
    Xu Ran muttered inwardly.
    Before long, the two arrived at the General Affairs Department.
    He Sifang stood at attention and saluted: "Chief Inspector Ye! Commander Xu!"
    Addressing him by his official title upon meeting made Xu Ran feel a bit awkward. He was only seven years old; what kind of commander was he?
    He Sifang: "Chief Inspector Ye, do you have any new directives?"
    Ye Ping: "Xu Ran wants to see Li Songlin. Where is he right now?"
    He Sifang: "I will go fetch him immediately."
    Xu Ran waved his hand: "There is no need to make a special trip; we will just go see him."
    He Sifang looked surprised: "At this time of day, he should be in the High-Pressure Training Hall, practicing combat techniques."
    Xu Ran: "Lead the way, Commander."
    He Sifang: "Understood. Please follow me."
    The High-Pressure Training Hall was a special venue for honing combat techniques. Each combat zone featured variable and complex pressures; for instance, the most basic setting upon entering was 2x gravity. One first had to adapt to the gravity within, and the higher the gravity multiplier one could adapt to, the better the training effect.
    Once adapted to sufficient gravity, one could advance to the combat mode. During combat, flame shocks, spiritual shocks, thunder attacks, and ice-snow attacks would appear randomly.
    If one lacked sufficient resilience and agility, a single training session could land them in bed for a week.
    Naturally.
    Hill-realm practitioners had not yet reached the point of advancing to combat mode; they could only frantically temper their physical bodies and enhance their qi and blood under 2x to 5x gravity.
    Through the glass window.
    Xu Ran could see Li Songlin sweating profusely as he performed a complete set of qi-and-blood condensing forms.
    Ye Ping covered Xu Ran's eyes: "You cannot learn this. You are not yet eight years old. I know your comprehension is high, and I'm afraid you might master it just by watching a few times."
    "Rest assured, Uncle Ye, I certainly won't make a joke of my own future."
    Xu Ran could perceive that his meridians were incapable of circulating qi and blood yet; the time had not arrived, and he certainly wouldn't lose his mind and do something foolish.
    "Hmm? Isn't that the super genius of the Demigod Kindergarten?"
    "It's Li Songlin's benefactor!"
    "I'm so envious. He came to see Li Songlin again... If only I had such a benefactor. I've been persistently doing good deeds over the past year... why hasn't anyone come to pay attention to me? I want to progress too."
    "Hh, Li Songlin does good deeds from the bottom of his heart, and you? You want to exchange them for resources; the realms are different. Not long ago, when he saved an ordinary little boy, he got hacked all over with injuries. Can you do that?"
    "......I... I can't."
    "There you have it. Your realm isn't high enough, so all you can do is envy others."
    Members of the cleanup regiment whispered among themselves.
    Although they were already public officials with respectable status and standing, who wouldn't envy Li Songlin?
    Having a super genius from the Demigod Kindergarten as one's backing... wasn't that like stepping straight into the heavens in a single bound?
    Those envious gazes occasionally glanced over toward Xu Ran's direction.
    Ye Ping: "Little Ran, are you here to stealthily learn techniques? Why do you keep watching?"
    Xu Ran smiled faintly: "I don't need to learn. My coming here is actually to confirm whether the talisman resentment deity has infiltrated the General Affairs Department. Since I haven't detected any bizarre aura here, I can rest easy."
    Ye Ping looked at him with renewed respect: "So that's how it is."
    Xu Ran: "Indeed. I also intend to plant fear in them so that they will not touch the bizarre talismans."
    Hearing these words.
    Ye Ping leaned back tactically: "It has to be Little Ran, thinking so far ahead. I remember those five practitioners from that day; I later had people secretly test them with bizarre talismans, and none of them dared to use them again. Your intimidation carries quite some weight."
    Xu Ran smiled faintly. Naturally, could Mastery-level Devil's Whisper ever fail?
    "Call all the active personnel of the General Affairs Department over. I will instill a sense of vigilance in them, keeping them far away from the bizarre talismans. Perhaps, upon seeing a brand new version of the bizarre talisman, they will instinctively sense the danger."
    Ye Ping's eyes lit up: "As expected of comprehension and root bone; your train of thought is truly unique! I'll go get a bizarre talisman for you to use as a physical prop to enhance the effect."
    Xu Ran: "Good."
    Consequently.
    Holding the second batch of bizarre talismans, Xu Ran administered a dose of fear to all active personnel of the General Affairs Department.
    Devil's Whisper progress +1...
    Devil's Whisper progress +1...
    Devil's Whisper progress +1...
    Soon, today's progress of 100 was successfully secured.
    Xu Ran took a sip of hot tea: "Alright, the active personnel of the General Affairs Department will certainly not use bizarre talismans. As for whether they will notice the talisman resentment deity's petty actions during missions, that can only be verified over time."
    Ye Ping held up the bizarre talisman, tempting the crowd.
    Everyone furrowed their brows, wearing expressions of vigilance and anger.
    Ye Ping was extremely satisfied: "As expected, the effect is extraordinary..."
    "Everyone, you must remember this: if you ever encounter talisman-type items that make you feel angry or vigilant in the future, you must immediately report it to your investigation regiment!"
    Everyone: "Understood!"
    "Dismissed!"
    The crowd dispersed one after another.
    Feeling the miraculous effect, Ye Ping couldn't help but marvel in amazement: "Should we bring practitioners from society over so you can plant fear in them too?"
    Xu Ran: "No real need. Let's return to the kindergarten. Staying in the kindergarten for a year, and I will be eight!"
    Eight years old.
    A milestone time node truly worth looking forward to.
    Back at the Demigod Kindergarten.
    For the period that followed, Xu Ran buried his head in self-discipline day after day.
    The miraculous skills of the third sequence advanced toward Minor Accomplishment and Major Accomplishment...
    The landscaping trees in front of the library turned green, then yellow, fell, and sprouted new green leaves once more.
    The figures of young children practicing on the lawn were left behind by the passage of time, growing increasingly faint, replaced by a youth whose height had grown by a notch.
    Fleeting light and shifting shadows!
    A full 410 sunrises and sunsets passed in a flash—the 2,920th day of his adolescence!
    The eight years of age that Xu Ran had eagerly anticipated had finally arrived!