After the college entrance examination, my identity as a Mahayana Immortal Venerable could no longer

Western suburbs of Beijing. Headquarters of the Astronomical Bureau.

This gray building, which outwardly bears the sign "Geological Hazard Research Center," actually has five underground floors. It features nuclear-blast-proof concrete, an internal life support system independent of the national power grid, and a pulse jamming device that operates around the clock.

This is the highest nerve center in China for handling supernatural events.

Three underground floors. Three confidential rooms.

Zhou Ming sat in a leather office chair, holding a freshly brewed cup of goji berry tea. The water was at the perfect temperature, and steam rose from it under the operating lights.

On the large screen in front of his desk, the entire spiritual energy monitoring network of China was displayed. Only the location of Jiangzhou City in Jiangnan Province was covered by a glaring black block. The signal within a ten-mile radius of Panlong Mountain was firmly locked by him using a physical gate with the highest authority.

"Gao Tiancheng's useless nephew, dying in Jiangnan is a fitting end."

Zhou Ming blew on the floating tea leaves on the surface of the tea, calculating the profit of this deal in his mind.

The billion-dollar overseas bearer bonds promised by the Ye family have arrived in his account. More importantly, Patriarch Ye personally promised that once the so-called interdimensional formation is operational, he will be given a spot for marrow cleansing and bone tempering.

Having worked at the Celestial Surveillance Bureau for half his life, Zhou Ming understood the underlying logic of this world all too well. Technology and firepower were nothing but paper in front of those ancient monsters who had lived for over a hundred years.

As long as he can get on the Ye family's ship, once Ye Qingcang enters the Divine Realm, Zhou Ming will be the next director of the Celestial Surveillance Bureau.

As for that young man named Lu Yuan...

Zhou Ming twitched the corner of his mouth.

So what if it can withstand a nuclear explosion? The defense system at the National Astronomical Bureau headquarters is built to the standards of defending against World War III. Even if that kid really has three heads and six arms, does he really dare to single-handedly storm the nation's top secret agency?

Even if he did come, by the time he arrived in the capital from Jiangnan, the Ye family would have already captured that girl named Lu Qingxue from Panlong Mountain and drained her blood.

drop--

The internal communicator on the table suddenly lit up with a red light.

Zhou Ming pressed the answer button.

"Chief. All three sets of cameras on the outermost defense line have been taken offline. Someone has broken through the checkpoint."

The duty officer's voice sounded a little tense.

"If someone tries to break through the checkpoint, we'll deal with it according to the rules."

Zhou Ming frowned and slammed the teacup heavily on the table.

"Sound the level two alarm! Send the special operations team up with heavy weaponry. This is the Skywatch Bureau, not a market. Even someone trying to break through the checkpoint has to come and ask me—what are you bunch of useless idiots doing?!"

"No... Director... it's too late..."

The duty officer's voice had a noticeable tremor, and the background noise was filled with a piercing sound of metal tearing apart.

"That person didn't use a car. He walked over... He just ripped through the three-meter-high power grid outside..."

boom!

Before the duty officer could finish speaking, a deafening explosion came through the communicator. It was as if a heavy truck loaded with gunpowder had crashed into the load-bearing wall of the headquarters building at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

The ceiling of the confidential room shook violently. Dust fell in a flurry.

Zhou Ming suddenly stood up. Goji berry tea spilled all over his hand, scalding him so much that he kept shaking it off.

He pushed the keyboard aside and switched to the external surveillance footage of the headquarters' main entrance.

The moment the image popped up, Zhou Ming's breath caught in his throat.

The bulletproof glass curtain wall on the ground floor of the Tianjian Bureau was completely shattered.

The blast-proof door, which originally weighed eight tons and was made of tungsten steel and ceramic composite armor, was now caved inward in a way that defied the laws of physics.

The surveillance camera captured very clear images.

A young man in a black windbreaker, hands in his pockets, casually kicked down the armor-piercing door with his right foot.

boom!

Four hydraulic shafts, each as thick as an adult's thigh, broke simultaneously.

The eight-ton door flew off the frame, smashing a trench more than ten meters long in the spacious hall before crashing into the marble wall of the reception desk, collapsing half of the load-bearing column.

The special operations team's dozens of automatic rifles and two vehicle-mounted Gatling guns were destroyed amidst flying bricks and dust, without even having time to disengage their safety mechanisms.

Lu Yuan stepped across the threshold and walked in.

Zhou Ming stared intently at the face on the screen, feeling a chill run down his spine and straight to his head.

Lu Yuan!

How could he be in the capital! Shouldn't he be in Jiangnan taking care of his half-dead sister? The Ye and Wang families made such a big fuss at the Western Suburbs Martial Arts Arena, couldn't they even hold him off for a few hours?

"Special Operations Team! Open fire! All personnel, open fire!"

Zhou Ming shouted frantically into the communicator.

"Use the electromagnetic cannon on the wall! Shoot him dead on the spot!"

in the hall.

The palms of dozens of special operations team members were drenched in sweat, their fingers gripping the triggers tightly. The infrared aiming points were densely packed onto Lu Yuan's down jacket.

Just one tenth of a second before someone was about to pull the trigger.

A hysterical roar suddenly erupted from the broadcast system of the entire Astronomical Bureau headquarters.

"Who the hell dares to fire a shot! I'll wipe out their entire family!"

The sound on the radio was so distorted that it sounded like someone scratching a blackboard with their fingernails.

That was the voice of Long Yuan, the former director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals.

In the medical room on the fifth basement level.

Long Yuan sat in a wheelchair. His two knees, which had been crushed to a comminuted fracture by Lu Yuan, were still in thick casts.

He stared at the image on the main screen on the wall, and his whole body trembled as if he had Parkinson's disease.

He instinctively tried to stand up, forgetting that his knees were already ruined, and he and his wheelchair tumbled to the ground. Ignoring the excruciating pain in his legs, he scrambled over and grabbed the microphone.

"Put down your guns! Everyone, put down your guns! Stand back! Stand against the wall!"

Long Yuan roared into the microphone, his face covered in tears, snot, and cold sweat.

"Let him go wherever he wants! If he wants to demolish the building, we'll give him the hammer! Anyone who dares to lift a finger, I'll order your self-destruct collars to explode right now!"

The special operations team members in the hall were all dumbfounded.

But their long-standing obedience training made them instinctively release the triggers. Everyone stood close to the wall as if avoiding a plague, with dozens of gun barrels pointing downwards.

Lu Yuan stepped on the broken glass and bullet casings scattered on the ground.

He didn't even glance at the special agents. He walked straight to the elevator shaft deep in the lobby.

The explosion-proof elevator door is tightly closed.

Lu Yuan stretched out his hands and inserted them into the gap of the elevator door.

crunch.

The special steel emitted a groaning sound under the pure force of the pull. The door panel was forcibly ripped open, revealing the bottomless elevator shaft.

Lu Yuan took a step forward and jumped down.

The human body weighs several hundred kilograms, plus the acceleration due to gravity.

Second basement level. Third basement level.

boom!

Lu Yuan's feet slammed onto the cushioning pad in the elevator shaft three floors underground. The high-strength hydraulic spring snapped instantly, and the concrete floor was blasted into a large crater three meters in diameter.

He opened the elevator door on the third basement level and stepped out.

Five underground floors.

Long Yuan lay on the ground, watching Lu Yuan exit the elevator on the third basement level and head towards the three confidential rooms with a clear objective.

He immediately pulled up the operation log of the confidential room.

Long Yuan's heart skipped a beat after just one glance.

That bastard Zhou Ming! He actually used his highest authority to physically cut off all radar signals within a ten-mile radius of Panlong Mountain!

"This is suicidal... They're dragging the entire nation of China down with them..."

Long Yuan slapped himself across the face, biting his lip until it bled. The taste of blood filled his mouth.

He finally understood why this Mahayana-stage ancestor hadn't killed the Ye family, but instead went straight to the Astronomical Bureau to demolish the building.

"Get to the confidential room! Get that bastard Zhou Ming immediately!"

Long Yuan roared at the technician next to him.

Three underground floors. Corridor.

Lu Yuan walked very slowly. His bone density at the Mahayana stage made his footsteps echo in the enclosed space, each sound like a hammer slamming into a safe.

At the end of the corridor. Three secret rooms.

The half-meter-thick physical explosion-proof gate has been lowered.

Zhou Ming hid behind the gate. He watched the black figure getting closer and closer on the monitor, clutching a specially made large-caliber pistol tightly in his hand.

The communicator on the table rang again.

This time, it was Longyuan who cut in.

"Zhou Ming! You immediately restore the signal network at Panlong Mountain! Then get out there, kneel on the ground, and beg for mercy!"

Long Yuan's voice came through the loudspeaker, revealing an undisguised despair.

"Do you even know who you've messed with?! He could wipe out the entire capital with a single slap! If you want to die, don't drag the entire Imperial Observatory down with you!"

Zhou Ming gritted his teeth and stared at the screen.

"Director Long, what you're saying is too alarmist."

Zhou Ming tapped a few keys on the keyboard, completely locking down the highest-level physical lock program. Unless he inputs his iris scan and fingerprint, even if the mainframe is destroyed, the signal to Panlong Mountain will never be restored.

"I was acting in accordance with the regulations of the Celestial Surveillance Bureau. The clues provided by the Ye family indicate that an extremely dangerous mutant is hiding in Panlong Mountain. I cut off the signal to cooperate with the capture."

Zhou Ming sneered at the communicator.

Zhou Ming didn't finish his sentence.

Suddenly, the entire load-bearing wall of the secret room emitted a squeaking sound as if it could no longer bear the weight.

It's not a door. It's a wall.

Although explosion-proof gates are sturdy, the foundation walls that hold them in place are ultimately made of concrete.

Lu Yuan didn't even bother to push the door open.

He stood outside the wall, his hands plunging directly into the concrete.

During the Mahayana stage, the muscle fibers contract layer by layer, and the power bursts forth from the wrist.

Boom!

A whole section of wall, including the blast-proof gate and weighing over thirty tons, was forcibly pulled out of the building structure by Lu Yuan. The steel bars bounced around like snapped rubber bands, lashing against the wall and sending sparks flying.

Lu Yuan casually tossed the thirty-ton wall section onto the corridor.

Dust filled the air.

He stepped over the mess and entered the secret room.

Zhou Ming remained frozen in his chair, still holding the gun.

His prized tortoise shell couldn't even last ten seconds against pure physical violence.

"You...you stay away!"

Zhou Ming's voice was completely hoarse. He frantically pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The specially made armor-piercing round struck Lu Yuan's down jacket. Without even a spark, the bullet was deflected by the skin of the Great Ascension stage cultivator and bounced into the nearby server rack, creating a shower of sparks.

Lu Yuan walked to his desk.

He looked at the black map of Jiangnan on the screen.

"Zhou Ming, Third Division of the Observatory."

Lu Yuan read the name aloud.

"When your uncle Gao Tiancheng died, he wasn't even left with a complete body. It seems that this hasn't taught you a lesson."

A warm flow seeped from Zhou Ming's crotch. The stench of urine filled the confidential room.

He finally realized what Long Yuan had meant by shouting into the communicator. The Ye family patriarch? A cross-dimensional formation? In front of this monster who could demolish buildings with his bare hands, it was all utter nonsense!

"Mr. Lu! Immortal Lu!"

Zhou Ming dropped the gun in his hand and knelt down in the broken glass with a thud.

"I was wrong! I was blinded by greed! Ye Qingcang forced me to do this! If you spare my life, I'll restore the signal immediately! This main unit can only be unlocked by my iris and fingerprint. If you kill me, the signal at Panlong Mountain will definitely not be restored within seven days!"

Zhou Ming grasped at the last straw and desperately waved it in front of Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan looked at Zhou Ming kneeling on the ground.

"I hate it when people unplug my internet cable."

Lu Yuan reached out his right hand, grabbed Zhou Ming's hair, and lifted him off the ground.

"Furthermore, you know nothing about physical plugging and unplugging."

Lu Yuan pressed his left hand against the back of Zhou Ming's head.

Soul Search.

Without any preparation, the divine consciousness of the Mahayana stage directly and violently pierced into Zhou Ming's sea of ​​consciousness, like a red-hot iron rod.

"ah--!"

Zhou Ming let out the most piercing scream of his life. His eyes bulged bloodshot instantly, and his limbs convulsed wildly as if they were being electrocuted.

Lu Yuan had no intention of preserving the integrity of this brain.

He swiftly locked onto the highest-level password and iris verification logic in Zhou Ming's memory. The moment the information was read, his immense divine sense stirred within Zhou Ming's cerebral cortex.

puff.

Black blood plasma gushed from Zhou Ming's nostrils and ears at the same time.

The screams abruptly stopped.

Lu Yuan released his grip.

Zhou Ming lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud. His eyes were wide open, but there was no longer any human emotion in them. Even his breathing had become a purely instinctive autonomic reflex.

His cerebral cortex was completely smoothed out. This director, who held immense power over three departments of the Astronomical Bureau, was reduced to a mere breathing plant.

Lu Yuan turned around and walked to the control panel.

He grabbed the metal casing of an auxiliary server with one hand and ripped off a circuit board.

Then, based on the permission logic extracted from Zhou Ming's mind, they directly tore off the two main control cables and forcibly short-circuited them.

Amidst the crackling of electric sparks.

Lu Yuan bypassed the so-called iris verification system by using purely physical wiring modification.

drop.

The red warning box on the big screen flashed twice and then disappeared.

The black blind spot covering a ten-mile radius around Panlong Mountain in Jiangzhou instantly lit up again with green lights, indicating that the signal was working.

The network cable is connected.

Lu Yuan hadn't even had a chance to take a look at the situation at Panlong Mountain.

The backup communication frequency band in the confidential room suddenly switched automatically.

Lin Zhen's unshaven, sweaty face popped up on the screen.

"Mr. Lu! Thank goodness the signal is finally working!"

Lin Zhen's voice was filled with extreme anxiety.

"Half an hour ago! An extremely cold, extraterrestrial death aura suddenly emanated from the basement! Something attempted to lock onto Miss Lu from afar! But it was forcefully pushed back by the wisp of remnant soul left behind by Ye Qingcheng!"

Lin Zhen swallowed hard.

"But just now... the tides near Jiangzhou have become abnormal. All the sonar detectors of the Alien Immortal Bureau have overloaded and burned out. The sea level has dropped by two meters!"

Lu Yuan's gaze fell on the bottom right corner of the screen.

It's located to the east of the Jiangnan map. It's in the high seas area of ​​the East China Sea.

On the previously calm nautical chart, a huge scarlet warning box suddenly popped up without warning.

A vortex radiating intense high-dimensional energy is rapidly taking shape on the nautical chart.

The scene he saw when searching the soul of that demonic cultivator in the Ye family's ancestral land flashed through Lu Yuan's mind.

East Sea. The Mysterious Realm of Return to Nothingness. The skeleton of a Nascent Soul stage dragon. A blood-red altar.

The true cross-border anchor point of the Sirius star system.

Moreover, since the formation on the Ye family's side was destroyed by him, the other side obviously accelerated its progress.

"You stay at the villa. Don't go anywhere else."

Lu Yuan said something to the screen, then crushed the communicator with one hand.

He turned and walked out of the confidential room.

Outside the corridor.

Long Yuan was brought over on a stretcher at some point.

The former director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals lay on the stretcher, his head pressed tightly against the cold cement floor, not daring to look up at Lu Yuan even once.

"Mr. Lu... Mr. Lu..."

Long Yuan's voice trembled.

"Zhou Ming acted on his own initiative... The Celestial Surveillance Bureau had absolutely no intention of interfering with you... You can demolish this building however you wish... Regarding the matter in the East China Sea, the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals is willing to provide all sea and air vehicles and intelligence support... I only ask that you..."

"Leave someone alive to clean the ground."

Lu Yuan interrupted Long Yuan's nonsense.

He strode over Longyuan's stretcher and headed toward the elevator shaft.

"And tell those wrecked ships the S.H.I.E.L.D. has at sea."

Lu Yuan paused for a moment at the edge of the elevator shaft.

"Have them prepare the boundary stones they retrieved. I'll go collect the payment right away."

The physical body of the Mahayana stage surges upwards.

boom!

The ceiling of the third basement level was smashed open, leaving a large hole.

Lu Yuan, like a black cannonball, pierced through the layers of explosion-proof structure of the Tianjian Bureau headquarters and disappeared into the gloomy night sky of the capital.

Longyuan lay prone on the stretcher.

He listened to the sound of buildings collapsing overhead, and all his strength seemed to drain away.

"quick......"

Long Yuan gripped the trouser leg of the special operations team member next to him tightly.

"Notify the East China Sea Fleet...withdraw 500 nautical miles across the entire fleet! Clear the high seas!"

Longyuan's eyes were bloodshot.

"Those alien trash really angered this monster."