Chapter 292: Strange Mountain Village

At midnight, Chen Yiming returned to his bedroom and lay down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling as he fell into deep thought.

“According to the information in the library of the Myriad Phenomena Sect, there are a total of six large provincial sects in Jiangnan province. The location of the six large sects are distributed in a hexagon shape. In the middle is a strange place, also known as the training ground. Before the abnormalities occurred, it was a small mountain village. Those who can enter this strange place and leave alive will definitely make rapid progress in their martial arts cultivation.”

“There are no records in the Myriad Phenomena Sect of whether the two martial masters from the south and north of the Daxia Kingdom have entered it to investigate the situation.”

“From this, it can be seen that the reason why the six large provincial sects have been standing strong all this time is because Jiangnan province has secretly supported them to guard that strange place.”

“Previously, when I was at the peak of the warrior realm, although I could fight against someone at the master realm, I did not have the ability to kill him. Now, the situation is completely different. After breaking through to the master realm and being able to transform into a giant, I have the confidence to beat someone at the master realm into a pulp. It’s time to clean up these strange places.”

After making up his mind, Chen Yiming fell into a deep sleep.

Nothing could compare to this feeling of home. He slept very well that night.

…

When he woke up the next day, Chen Yiming felt better than ever. He felt energetic and was filled with motivation.

He sat cross-legged on the bed. After adding the Giant Talent, he had obtained the daily cultivation method used by giants.

Streams of air surrounded his body and resonated with the clouds in the sky, forming a special force field that acted on every cell in his body. It was as if he was restrained down by shackles weighing 10,000 kg.

The mysterious thing was that the special force field was completely created within his body and did not affect his surroundings at all.

This cultivation method was unique to the giants. Unless one could completely analyze a powerful creature like the giant, one could not learn this body tempering technique.

After his cultivation ended, he took a hot shower in the bathroom at home and started to pack his luggage.

Actually, there was not much to pack. Other than some personal identification and his bank card, he mainly needed some spare underwear after his transformation to a giant.

On the blue planet, one only needed to spend money or swipe their card to get whatever they needed. The records of his contribution points from the otherworld were useless, so Chen Yiming threw them all into a drawer.

…

“Mom, I have something urgent to deal with. I’ll pick Chen Yingying up in a few days.”

Before he left, Chen Yiming explained to Mother Chen.

“Alright. Be careful,” Mother Chen said.

“Don’t worry, I’m invincible on the blue planet,” Chen Yiming promised as he patted his chest.

The information recorded by the Myriad Phenomena Sect was definitely not as detailed as that in the internal affairs department of the Jiangnan provincial government. Chen Yiming planned to make a trip to Jiangnan City first.

…

Ever since the opening of the stronghold in the otherworld, Jiangnan City’s status had been challenged to a certain extent. It had become a little deserted, and the crowd had temporarily moved to Jiangdu City.

After entering the city, Chen Yiming saw many shops with signs saying they wanted to transfer their leases to someone else.

Cultivating martial arts was a huge expense. A large number of martial arts practitioners had gathered in Jiangdu City, taking away their large spending that originally belonged to Jiangnan City.

On the other hand, the rent would not decrease for the time being. The direction of the province’s strategy was not clear, and the shops in certain areas were forced to transfer their leases to prevent losses.

At the entrance of a shop selling martial arts supplies, three students from the martial arts academy walked out with disappointed expressions.

“What the hell! Jiangnan City is the provincial capital. Why is the blood essence suddenly out of stock? Those scalpers are really despicable.”

“We’ve already gone to five shops. If it really doesn’t work out, why don’t we go to Jiangdu City to take a look?”

“Didn’t you see the news? The average rent in Jiangdu City has increased by more than 10 times recently. How can the price of the blood essence there still be the same? I don’t want to give money to these scalpers.”

“Then what should we do? If we don’t progress in our martial arts cultivation, we’ll fall behind. I don’t want my cultivation to be affected.”

“Let’s wait a little longer. It’s impossible that only the few of us are facing this problem. Let’s ask the martial arts teacher if there are any alternatives.”

The huge rewards from the rocky plains had affected the entire Jiangnan province overnight. The small merchants who did not have the ability to enter the otherworld on their own spontaneously formed groups to work together.

The first to be affected were the supplies. Materials like cultivation consumables would be sent to wherever the prices were highest.

…

At the entrance of the security bureau, when Chen Yiming arrived, he realized that there were many more people than the first time.

Judging from their clothes, some of them were not members of the bureau. From their aura, many of them were quite strong.

He recalled Chief Xie’s 100 members plan. It seemed that the plan had continued after he left, and he had really recruited many civilian experts.

At the window of the service counter, Liu Sujuan was sitting at her desk, supporting her chin with one hand.

On the surface, she was still Consultant Chen’s exclusive contact person, but in reality, she had been forced to return to her original position for the time being. She had nothing to do all day and came to work just to pass the time.

She had looked for the bureau chief, Xie Jimin, but he always had a bitter expression on his face. He told her about the difficulties the bureau was facing and refused to let her quit her job as a contact person.

Liu Sujuan massaged her numb hands and sighed. “My body is about to die from just sitting here all day.”

Fang Rou, who was at the side, replied angrily, “You really don’t know how lucky you are. I work overtime every day to make the publicity materials. I’m going crazy from all the work.”

Liu Sujuan said, “I said I would help you with it, but you didn’t let me.”

Fang Rou rolled her eyes at her. “Don’t bother. When you helped me make the materials last time, I was scolded by the bureau chief. You should go and be a good mascot for the bureau.”

“Damn it, Consultant Chen made my situation like this…”

Liu Sujuan was halfway through her sentence when she saw Chen Yiming walking towards the service counter.

Her mouth fell open and her body stiffened. She was instantly stunned.

Chen Yiming saw someone he knew at the service counter. He walked over and asked, “Is Chief Xie around?”

“Yes, I’ll bring you to him.” Liu Sujuan nodded awkwardly.

Fang Rou almost laughed out loud when she saw Liu Sujuan’s embarrassed expression.

Soon, the two of them left the service counter.

…

In the archives room beside the bureau chief’s office, Xie Jimin took out a piece of information from the locked cabinet. “That strange place was originally a small mountain village. After a space-travel passage appeared in the village, something strange happened.

After that, it became very lively once every 10 years. Rumor has it that a demon lives inside. As long as one passes the demon’s test, they can make a deal with it and change their fate to obtain an even better martial arts talent.”

“There’s actually such a thing? It feels too fake. Didn’t the martial masters from the Daxia Kingdom investigate the situation?” Chen Yiming asked in surprise.

“The two martial masters have been staying at the border all this time. When they had some time to spare, they did a simple investigation. They concluded that a creature at the master realm was probably causing trouble on the other side of the space-travel passage.

If a battle between martial masters broke out, without the confidence to kill the other party, Jiangnan province cannot withstand it, so nothing has been done about it.

The other party might also have the same worries, so they didn’t go overboard,” Xie Jimin explained.

Hearing this, Chen Yiming’s eyelids twitched.

Such a time bomb had existed openly for many years. If it exploded one day, the consequences would be unimaginable.

It was unknown if the sect masters of the previous six large sects were aware of this news or if they had been fooled by the higher-ups of the government into thinking that the demon was a half-step away from the master realm.

Seeing this, Xie Jimin smiled bitterly. His meaning was obvious.

The six major sects of Jiangnan province had received support, so they naturally had to take the corresponding risk. There was no free lunch.

Chen Yiming didn’t say anything. Perhaps the sect masters had already realized it, but they pretended not to know about it.

After all, the risk was unknown, but the immediate benefits were already in their hands.

He flipped open the information and read through it briefly. It said that the mountain village in the strange place was covered in a layer of fog. Every 10 years or so, the range of the fog would expand greatly.

At this time, those who dared to risk their lives and enter the fog to participate in the demon’s trial would have their martial arts talent greatly increased.

The information mentioned a sect master who had used this opportunity to break through to the peak of the warrior realm. He was the sect master of the Kunshan Sect, Lu Zhenshan, who had been killed by Chen Yiming.

“Could the Kunshan Sect’s Five Labors and Seven Wounds Fist have something to do with the demon?

Or was Lu Zhenshan the spy that the demon had planted in the human world?

It’s very likely that he rose up too quickly. With its appearance once every decade, that demon still doesn’t know that his informant has been killed, so there’s no response yet.”

Chen Yiming suddenly thought of this possibility.

However, to the current him, it did not matter if there was a problem with the Kunshan Sect. The source of the problem was that demon, and he could just kill it to resolve the problem.

…

Xie Jimin personally sent Chen Yiming to the entrance of the security bureau.

Liu Sujuan was extremely conflicted. As they walked from the office building to the entrance of the security bureau, she had wanted to ask something. No matter the outcome, this would give her a reason to negotiate a transfer with the bureau chief.

However, she swallowed her words several times, worried that she would ruin the plan for the bureau.

After Chen Yiming disappeared down the street, Xie Jimin said, “Xiao Juan, you might not be so free from now on.”

Liu Sujuan asked excitedly, “Chief, have you agreed to transfer me?”

Xie Jimin coughed and continued, “That’s not it. There were some problems with the bureau’s work previously. We can take this opportunity to repair our relationship with Consultant Chen. From now on, you have to be on standby 24 hours a day.”

…

There was no hurry to deal with the strange place. After Chen Yiming left the security bureau, he felt that he had taken a huge step forward in his decision to push forward the development of the otherworld through the rocky plains.

Therefore, he planned to walk around and see the changes in Jiangnan City with his own eyes.

Not long after, he arrived at an area with dilapidated houses. The rent here was relatively cheap, and it reflected the living conditions of most people in the city.

A long-haired youth in a punk outfit suddenly tried to mug Chen Yiming as he passed by.

Chen Yiming’s expression turned cold. He snorted and grabbed his opponent’s wrist tightly, just like an iron handcuff.

“Brother, this is a mistake. This is a misunderstanding.” The long-haired youth’s face was filled with fear as he squatted down and begged for mercy.

Chen Yiming broke his opponent’s wrist before letting go.

“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”

The long-haired youth held his injured hand and rolled on the ground.

Chen Yiming was a little angry. He had hidden 10 pairs of underwear in his luggage, and he couldn’t let anyone see them. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing. Coincidentally, this youth had dared to touch his personal belongings.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he couldn’t be bothered to argue with the other party, it wouldn’t have been something that could be resolved with just a small punishment.

The long-haired youth wailed for a while. He wanted to say something harsh and get others to help him deal with Chen Yiming, but when their gazes met, his heart seemed to have stopped beating.

It was like an ordinary person turning around and seeing a large tiger staring at him from behind.

The long-haired youth often did things like stealing, so how could he not understand that he had encountered someone he could not afford to provoke? Suddenly, his wrist did not seem to hurt anymore. He got up in a hurry and quickly left.

Chen Yiming glanced at the long-haired youth and thought to himself, “It looks like even the provincial city has been affected. A large number of soldiers have been sent to the otherworld. After the defense power of the city drops, they will definitely have to compromise. The law and order in the ordinary people’s living areas is not as good as before.”

…

Chen Yiming wandered around and followed the crowd to a lively place.

A plaque with the words “Martial Arts Certification Center” written on it hung above the door of a three-story building.

There was a queue of 100 meters long at the door. A staff member was sitting at the wooden table and registering their personal information.

Beside it was a sign that read, “Martial arts level certification registration fee: 1,000 yuan for the disciple realm and 10,000 yuan for the warrior realm.”

Chen Yiming looked around and his gaze landed on the two young girls.

The two of them were about 15 or 16 years old, about the same age as Chen Yingying. They had sweet looks, and at this age, most of them liked handsome boys. He was very confident about this.

He walked over and greeted them shamelessly. “I didn’t expect there to be so many people. Have you registered?”

“Are you also here to register for the certification?”

The two girls looked at the person who had arrived and were instantly a little shy. One of them, who had a ponytail, responded boldly.

“That’s right! I just feel that there are too many people, so I haven’t decided yet,” Chen Yiming said without changing his expression.

“So are we,” the long-haired girl beside him replied with a red face as she avoided his gaze.

The girl with the ponytail took the initiative to ask, “We’re from First High. What about you?”

Chen Yiming suddenly said, “I’m from Second High.”

The girl with the ponytail continued, “Our First High School is preparing to hold a practical class to head to the stronghold in the otherworld. However, the martial arts teacher said that the train from Jiangdu City to the base city will soon require the passengers to have a martial arts certification before they can purchase tickets. What about Second High?”

Chen Yiming continued to spout nonsense. “Second High is the same.”

The girl with the ponytail sighed and said, “I observed the speed of the assessment inside. There’s only one staff member in charge of registration at the door. I don’t know how long we’ll have to queue for our turn. We still have class in the afternoon.”

Chen Yiming nodded. “There are indeed too many people. Unless we take leave from school, two hours in the afternoon won’t be enough.”

The girl with the ponytail complained, “It’s said that their working hours are still from 9 to 5. They only work on Saturdays on the weekends. It’s too much for us students to wait until Saturday. I wonder if it will reach our turn.”

The long-haired girl echoed, “That’s right. What if the practical class starts next week? If we can’t complete the certification this Saturday, we won’t be able to go to the stronghold in the otherworld.”

Chen Yiming gave them an idea. “Go back and ask your family for help. After you’ve registered, get your family to keep an eye on the numbers. When it’s almost your turn, get them to inform you. If you can’t get a leave of absence, just skip class.”

The long-haired girl hesitated and said, “Our form teacher is very strict. It’ll be troublesome if we get caught skipping class.”

Chen Yiming came up with another idea. “If it really doesn’t work out, you can pretend to be sick tomorrow morning and take a leave of absence. You can act first and deal with the consequences later.”

The girl with the ponytail said excitedly, “I think that’s a good idea. Let’s talk to our family first. So what if the form teacher knows that we’re pretending to be sick?”

Chen Yiming chatted with the two girls and quickly figured out the situation.

The martial arts level certification was only the beginning. Depending on the certified level, there were different restrictions for buying tickets to the stronghold in the otherworld.