One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Everyone fell silent again.

"I went in on a company mission. I came out to report back." Nie Lingfeng pointed to the Blood Bodhi in Lao Zhou's hand, his tone as calm as if he were remarking on the nice weather. "I just told Lao Zhou about the situation inside. About a hundred Flame Beasts. A few Blood Bodhi Vine vines. The environment is harsh, making harvesting difficult. That's all."

He paused, a barely perceptible, chilling smile playing on his lips: "As for the 'treasure,' 'map,' and 'secret' you want..."

His gaze swept over the crowd again, this time without indifference, but with a hint of disdainful indifference, and a... undisguised warning.

"...I went in and almost lost my life, all I got was this one fruit, and I lost three brothers. What kind of 'great opportunity' do you think there is waiting for you inside?"

"Or perhaps..." Nie Lingfeng took a step forward. With just one step, an indescribable aura, a mixture of the majesty of a prehistoric beast, the sharpness of a divine weapon, and the cold killing intent tempered by blood and fire, erupted from his body like a dormant volcano suddenly awakening, instantly engulfing the entire area!

"Do you think that I, Nie Lingfeng, went in there for a picnic, stole some things, and then hid all the good stuff for you to divide up?"

This aura wasn't particularly violent or outwardly powerful, yet it was as heavy as a mountain, as sharp as a knife, and as cold as ice! Those closest to it, including Tong Huang, the Tang Clan elder, and Director Qu, were the first to be affected. Their faces instantly turned deathly pale, their breath caught in their throats, as if an invisible hand had gripped their throats, and their hearts skipped a beat! The followers and the clamoring ruffians behind them fared even worse. Blown by this aura, they were like wheat battered by a cold wind, staggering back several steps, their faces filled with horror!

What... what kind of aura is this?! Is this really the power a young man in his early twenties could possess?! Even the leaders and elders of those major sects are probably no more than this! What exactly did he experience in Lingyun Cave?!

"I, Nie Lingfeng, always see things through to the end. A Blood Bodhi is enough to settle my debts." Nie Lingfeng's voice rang out again, exceptionally clear in the silent arena, each word like an ice bead hitting the ground. "As for the rest... what's mine is mine, and no one can take it away. What's not mine, I have no interest in keeping for you."

He withdrew his gaze, and the terrifying aura vanished as well, as if it had never existed. He took Chen Duo's hand again, looked at Old Zhou, whose face was still somewhat pale, and said calmly, "Old Zhou, I'm leaving this to you. Chen Duo and I are going back to rest. I'll send you the mission report later."

After saying that, he stopped looking at the crowd outside whose expressions were changing, filled with surprise and doubt, but who dared not utter a word to stop him. He pulled Chen Duo along and walked straight through the passage cleared by the employees of Na Du Tong towards the black SUV parked in the distance.

The afterglow of the setting sun cast long, slanted shadows of the two people.

Behind him was utter silence and countless complex and unfathomable gazes.

The silence was broken only when the off-road vehicle started up, sped away, and disappeared at the end of the winding mountain road.

"Hmph! Arrogant brat! He's just relying on the company to back him up!" Tong Huang's face turned ashen, and he spat out a hateful spittle, but deep in his eyes, a trace of lingering fear remained.

"This boy... is no ordinary person." The old man from the Tang Clan squinted at the direction the car had disappeared, muttering to himself, seemingly lost in thought.

Director Qu of the Yaoxing Society pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses flickering. He took out a miniature recorder and quickly wrote something down, a hint of interest on his lips: "Interesting... very interesting... this energy reaction, this sense of leap in life level... Lingyun Cave, Nie Lingfeng... worth further 'research'."

Those independent individuals and small factions mostly looked at each other in bewilderment, and in the end, they could only disperse helplessly. The aura that Nie Lingfeng unleashed at the end, as well as the signboard of the "company" behind him, was enough to dispel most of their unrealistic ideas.

It seems that Nie Lingfeng forcefully suppressed the storm in an almost tyrannical manner.

But everyone knows that the truth about Lingyun Cave, about Nie Lingfeng, and about the Blood Bodhi... is far from over.

The black SUV sped along the winding mountain road, leaving the menacing entrance of Lingyun Cave, the noisy crowd, and the gazes mixed with greed and fear far behind. Outside the car window, the silhouettes of snow-capped mountains shrouded in twilight rushed past, and the deep blue sky was dotted with a few early stars twinkling on the horizon.

The car was quiet, save for the low rumble of the engine and the soft patter of tires on the pavement. Chen Duo, clutching the peerless sword wrapped in cloth, leaned against the back of the passenger seat, her head bobbing slightly, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyelids. Having experienced the series of events inside and outside the cave, the emotional rollercoaster, and the long, bumpy ride, she seemed tired and was dozing off, still tightly clutching her ever-present panda plush toy.

Nie Lingfeng held the steering wheel steadily, his gaze calmly fixed on the winding mountain road ahead. The last rays of the setting sun shone through the side window, casting a soft golden edge on his sharply defined profile, and making his eyes, which had returned to their normal color but seemed even deeper than before, appear exceptionally serene.

Just now outside the cave, facing the incessant clamor of those "flies," he seemed to have forcefully suppressed the situation with an almost tyrannical attitude. But only he knew that at that moment, the immense power within him, which had just merged and was not yet fully tamed, stirred restlessly for a fleeting instant. It was that aura of dominance, a mixture of the majesty of the Qilin, the domineering aura of the Dragon Essence, and the lingering sword intent of Bu Jingyun, that spontaneously flowed forth, creating that intimidating effect.

"The power has surged too rapidly; my control is still not smooth enough..." Nie Lingfeng thought to himself. The enhancement brought by fusing with the three divine artifacts was earth-shattering, but this power was like a wild horse that had just been harnessed; its wildness was untamed, and the slightest carelessness could backfire, or... cause unnecessary damage. Just now, only a slight leak of his aura had shocked those so-called experts to the point of turning pale. If he had used his full power, the situation would probably have been difficult to control.

He needed time to calm down and properly process and digest all the gains from his trip to Lingyun Cave—not just the surge in power, but also the insights into the techniques left by Bu Jingyun (although only glimpsed briefly), a deeper understanding of "Wind God Movement," and... the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

His gaze unconsciously drifted to Chen Duo, who was sleeping soundly beside him. This girl seemed completely oblivious to the aura he had released earlier, or perhaps her phoenix bloodline instinctively neutralized the oppressive force, allowing her to sleep peacefully beside him. Looking at her slightly pouting lips and unguarded sleeping face, Nie Lingfeng's irritation caused by his unstable control of his power strangely subsided considerably.

In any case, wasn't his initial motivation for becoming stronger to better protect the people he cared about and safeguard this hard-won peace?

Just then, a subtle, familiar vibration came from his waist.

It was that black phone called "Dawn".

Nie Lingfeng's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. A message at this hour? Had Chairman Zhao received Old Zhou's initial report? Or... was there another new mission?

He steadied the steering wheel with one hand and took out his phone with the other, unlocking it with his fingerprint. The screen lit up, revealing an encrypted message from "Eagle," marked as "Priority A."

"Mr. Nie, please check. It's an urgent document from Chairman Zhao."

Nie Lingfeng opened the attachment, which was a document that wasn't very long, but contained a lot of information.

The document is titled: "Investigation Report and Handling Recommendations on the Recent Abnormal Activity of 'Ancient God Beliefs' and Suspected 'Descent Ritual' Incidents in Multiple Locations."

The content summary is as follows:

Recently, across the country, especially in remote or ethnic minority areas such as the Northwest, Southwest, and Northeast, a number of unusual events related to beliefs in "ancient gods," "natural spirits," and "ancestral spirits" have occurred. These events are not traditional folk activities or religious practices, but are accompanied by obvious and unusual fluctuations in "qi" (vital energy), and have even resulted in small-scale celestial anomalies, abnormal behavior of plants and animals, and some believers receiving strange "blessings" or experiencing collective hallucinations and loss of control.

Preliminary investigations suggest that these unusual events are being secretly orchestrated and guided by one or more forces. Their motives are unclear, but their methods are covert, often distorting and grafting existing local belief systems, making them highly inflammatory and harmful. Similar incidents have been reported in southeastern Guizhou, western Yunnan, southern Gansu, and the Greater Khingan Mountains, and are showing a trend of spreading.

Due to the involvement of multiple sensitive factors such as religion, ethnicity, and region, the company is reluctant to intervene openly to avoid escalating the conflict and triggering larger-scale social unrest. Furthermore, the other party's methods are unusual, making it extremely difficult for regular field staff to handle the situation, with several people even injured or going missing.

According to the analysis of the "Dawn" command, this matter may be related to "that person" or their associated forces' "backup plan," which aims to create chaos in various places to attract attention or to carry out some unknown ritualistic activity. The mission level is tentatively set at A+, with the possibility of being upgraded to S.

Nie Lingfeng, the leader of the "Dawn" Zero Team, has been designated as the highest-ranking person in charge of this series of incidents due to his recent performance (referring to his abilities, adaptability, and methods of restraining "non-human" forces demonstrated in handling the "vampire" incident in S City, the Changbai Mountain Black Dragon incident, and the Lingyun Cave incident). He has full authority to mobilize the resources of the branch offices in the incident locations and can form temporary action teams within the "Dawn" framework as needed.

The first target location requiring action: Luodongzhai, an ancient Miao village in the Yue Liang Shan region of southeastern Guizhou. For the past month, the village has been frequently holding bizarre "cave worship" rituals, and the villagers' behavior has become increasingly abnormal. Three company field staff members have gone missing in the area. Detailed investigation report and satellite map coordinates are attached.

Mission Requirements: Investigate the truth behind the "Cave Sacrifice" ritual, assess the risks, resolve the source of the anomaly, ensure the safety of ordinary villagers as much as possible, and attempt to trace the forces behind it. Time Limit: Fifteen days.

At the end of the document was Chairman Zhao's handwritten instruction (scanned copy): "Xiao Feng, this matter is thorny, concerning stability in many places, and may also touch upon deeper issues. I believe you can handle it well. When necessary, the 'Dawn' sword must be drawn. Take care. Zhao Fangxu."