Chapter 618

Chapter 618: Inner Conflict

Zhou Liao, Jingdu City

Zhou Bang and Li He were allowed to go out after almost a year of studying. They had gained the knowledge level of regular college students. Zhou Liao had no plans to push them to further their studies.

Now, Zhou Bang and Li He are official people on Zhou Liao’s side. Zhou Liao gave them positions and good treatment, as long as they work with him.

Zhou Bang and Li He agreed, giving up their cultivation. They lost their biggest support, so they cleverly hid, knowing they still had much to learn about this world.

"Brother, people nowadays are very open-minded."

Li He watched the pedestrians on the street. Many women were dressed boldly, while those from the cultivation era dressed conservatively.

"Just a group of ordinary people."

"Brother, it’s the era of ordinary people ruling now, not the era of cultivation ants."

"Yes, I know. Let’s go, I know you love shopping."

"Hehe, you really understand me, brother."

Li He smiled, and then the two of them entered a shopping mall, starting to shop extravagantly.

Cultivators have unbalanced mental states; some submit deeply at a young age, while others, even after living for centuries, remain very immature because time passes too quickly for them. Some people dedicate years or decades to rigorous practice, but it doesn’t necessarily help them grow mentally.

Zhou Bang and Li He were both former prodigies of the Wangxian Sect but never held high positions. Li He, in comparison, was more naive.

Like ordinary people, they went shopping, ate out, and blended in with the crowd without drawing attention. However, Zhou Bang quickly grew bored; before long, he started exploring museums of all kinds.

"So mortals have already gained such formidable power."

In a military museum, Zhou Bang looked at the exhibits in front of him and felt amazed. His previous education had been limited, and he had a vague understanding of the power that ordinary people possess. Now, he had a clearer understanding.

"Brother, what’s wrong with you?"

Li He noticed that Zhou Bang’s expression wasn’t quite right and asked.

"Sister, if spiritual energy recovery and the era of cultivating immortals returned, who would be stronger, cultivators or ordinary people?"

"Of course, we cultivators would be stronger."

"But these weapons, one is enough to destroy a city."

"From the Soul Changing stage onwards, even Nascent Soul stage, is enough to destroy a city with one strike."

Li He said, in the cultivation era, Nascent Soul stage could not destroy a city with one strike, because cities had defense formations, and lots of protective arrays inside, but this era doesn’t have them.

"I still think the power of mortals is too unbelievable."

"Senior brother, don’t think too much. We don’t know if the spiritual energy can be restored, and even if it can, can we live to see that day?"

Li He shook his head, before they went into slumber, their preparation time was too short, and at that time, their cultivation realms were already suppressed, they couldn’t find good materials.

So their slumber and Lin Jiang’s arrangement were different, not achieving the effect of one year being worth a hundred years. There was no unified value, which is why only three of the five people in their group remained. She and Zhou Bang, at this point, only had over a hundred years of lifespan left, whether they can recover spiritual energy in over a hundred years, they couldn’t be sure.

"Junior sister, in the cultivation era, we might not even be able to become immortals, and now, it’s even less likely. I am very clear about this, but I don’t want us to be at the mercy of mortals, and I certainly don’t want our future descendants to not even have the chance to cultivate."

"Senior brother, what do you intend to do?"

"Hehe, it’s okay."

Zhou Bang shook his head. He knew he was being watched, so he couldn’t speak freely.

In the era of cultivation, cultivators were highly respected. Zhou Bang had lived for many years in that era, so it was impossible for him to submit to ordinary people.

Ordinary people were seen as insignificant by them.

······

In a small tavern, a tall and beautiful woman walked in from the doorway, instantly capturing the attention of all the customers, even some pretty female customers couldn’t look away, feeling impressed by the woman’s powerful presence.

The woman walked up to the bar, Lin Jiang looked up and the beautiful woman softly said, "Sir."

"Come in."

Lin Jiang put down what he was doing, and in the admiring eyes of everyone, he led the woman into a nearby office, a very small and messy office.

"Teacher, you’ve been away for more than half a year, it’s time to go back."

"But is there nothing important to do back there?"

"Even if there is nothing important, you can’t keep running away all the time. There are some things that we can’t control."

The woman said, even though she was one of Lin Jiang’s secretaries, being a secretary doesn’t mean she’s a maid. It means having a lot of power, but there are still some decisions she can’t make on her own.

"If there’s something you need me to handle, please tell me quickly. I still need to greet the guests."

"Sir, there has been a huge breakthrough in biotechnology over at Qingyun. They have developed a gene potion that can greatly enhance human potential and quality. During the experiment, one subject escaped and is now in our hands."

"Oh, what’s the situation? How effective can this gene potion be?"

"It can transform a weak person into an ordinary person at best, similar to a shadow martial artist."

The woman explained that after many years of martial arts development, there have been more detailed classifications based on Lin Jiang’s previous categorizations. The most important is the division among postnatal martial artists: the bright force, dark force, and transformation force, before reaching the level of an Innate Martial Artist.

Nowadays, martial arts have declined. Most martial arts masters nowadays rely more on inner strength and energy manipulation rather than innate talent. The most powerful faction of Martial Arts Master is the assassin organization under Lin Jiang’s command.

"That’s nothing special."

"That’s not something a gentleman should say."

"Haha, just kidding. Have my men investigate how the Qingyun side is progressing, and assess the potential of the genetic potion. As for the test subject, keep them safe. If Qingyun dares to come, get rid of them."

Lin Jiang joked, saying that it takes years of training for inner strength martial artists as opposed to the potential of a single injection of the potion enabling mass production, which is a scary boost to their overall strength.

Furthermore, if the potential is unknown, and there’s a chance for further enhancement, it could lead to the creation of bio-warriors, posing a major threat to martial artists.

"Yes, sir."

"Remember, it’s crucial to consider the side effects."

"Understood, sir."

"Are there any other things?"

"On the side of Zhou Liao, they are already working with two prehistoric characters, who are very strict about keeping it secret. Several undercover agents from Huaxia Official were discovered, as well as some of ours. Do you have any other ways to get information, sir?"

"I understand, I will make arrangements."

Lin Jiang nodded, he has a huge influence in both Qingyun and Zhou Liao, with many spies planted. Some have risen to high positions. This matter may not be resolved through undercover work, so he may have to use some connections instead.

However, this matter will not be handled by the secretariat. Lin Jiang has many hidden cards that no one knows about. The secretariat is not aware of all his assets, to prevent them from being compromised in case of betrayal.

The woman mentioned a few more things, and Lin Jiang dealt with them one by one. When the woman suggested that Lin Jiang should go back, he declined.

He wasn’t done playing yet, at least he wanted to wait until the novelty of this identity wore off. The woman was also helpless about this, finding Lin Jiang’s strange love for role-playing where he gets too involved in it.

It’s one thing to play around casually, but Lin Jiang is immersed in it, he couldn’t have any other ordinary hobbies? Even if it’s just enjoying the nightlife.

Annoyed, Lin Jiang sent the woman away and returned to the bar to clean his glass, listening to the customers’ melodramatic stories, enjoying it.

In reality, Lin Jiang lives a very simple life. Even the average executive in his companies can spend ten times more than him for fun, which is an unimaginable joy for most people. Lin Jiang’s hobby is nothing special to him, he thinks it’s very normal.