After the Moss Gang members were stopped by the city patrol, Chen Chuan encountered no further obstacles on his way.

Once he drove out of Hongsheng District and confirmed with Wubei that no one was tracking his Realm Token anymore, he contacted Old Qi. "Old Qi, I couldn’t save your colleague. By the time I got there, no one was left alive."

Old Qi sighed. "Her husband died a few years ago, and she has a ten-year-old kid at home. She took this job on the side without telling the company. None of us knew. Otherwise, we could’ve called you sooner, Brother Chen. Maybe this could have been avoided."

Chen Chuan said, "Old Qi, send me all the information you’ve gathered on recent anomalies."

Old Qi’s spirits lifted. "Right away." He added, "My colleagues at the company pooled together a commission fee for this. It’s not much, and you might not care about such a small amount, Brother Chen, but please, you must accept it."

Chen Chuan agreed.

A short while later, Old Qi sent over the information on paranormal phenomena he had gathered, along with the commission fee.

Just then, another call came in. The tag indicated it was from the city patrol. He answered it, and a moment later, a gentle female voice spoke:

"Reserve Officer Mr. Chen, we received the message you sent at 2:10 PM. According to your report, the anomaly in the district has been resolved. We’d like to confirm if this is accurate."

Chen Chuan said, "That’s right. I can confirm the anomaly there has been dealt with."

"Information logged. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Chen." After that, the voice ended the call.

Chen Chuan looked ahead. He knew that even with the paranormal phenomenon dealt with, the people there would likely face other problems. The Moss Gang couldn’t handle him, but they could still exploit the residents. He had already done what he could—some things were simply beyond his control.

After returning to the Profound Palace Building without any further trouble, he first took a shower. Once he was out, he took out the Lost Object to examine it. The strange tree had been one of the most powerful paranormal phenomena he had encountered so far, and this Lost Object was exceptionally unique. He had never seen anything like it in the records. ’Perhaps it’ll be useful someday.’

After some thought, he stored it away safely.

Back on the sofa, he placed his hand on the Realm Token and browsed the anomaly reports from Old Qi. Old Qi was very meticulous. He had sorted several months’ worth of incidents by priority and severity. The ones with the greatest impact and longest duration were in the first column, followed by others sorted by how long they had existed.

This way, he only needed to look at the ones with the largest scope of influence. After all, it was impossible for him to handle every single anomaly.

After looking for a while, he set a target and decided to check it out when he had time.

He took out the Incense Burner and the main medicinal ingredient. After lighting the incense, he entered a meditative state through silent recitation and woke from his meditation the next day.

He then began a cycle: he would go out to resolve potential paranormal phenomena, return to take his medicine, and then continue his cultivation. After two days of this, he purchased the sparring service again for a session with Hong Fu, repeating this process over and over.

However, he didn’t encounter paranormal phenomena every time. For instance, on one occasion, he found a large group of residents gathered for an Esoteric Ritual. Since it wasn’t a paranormal event, it wasn’t his business, so he simply left.

Time flew by, and soon it was June 29th. After finishing his seated meditation, Chen Chuan had a feeling something was supposed to happen today. A thought crossed his mind, and he remembered. He looked over at the incubator in the corner of the room.

According to Zou Handan, the egg inside was supposed to hatch in about thirty days. By his calculation, the time was about right, but it still showed no signs of movement.

He didn’t linger on it. Grabbing the Snow Monarch Blade, he headed for the private training room. "Hong Fu," he said as he walked, "I’m purchasing today’s sparring service."

But just after he left, the egg in the incubator wobbled slightly.

「Three hours later.」

Chen Chuan walked out of the training room. He placed the Snow Monarch Blade on its rack and glanced at the calendar on his Realm Token.

The semester would end in one more day. Afterward, the students would have a two-month break, though they were permitted to stay in the school dorms if they wished.

In previous years, many underclassmen still in their growth period would choose to stay, because Central City was the only place to get the most resources.

Two months was a long time. If they fell behind during this period, it would be difficult to catch up later. They had to seize this opportunity.

This year was especially crucial. The academy’s management had issued several new regulations. Students who ranked at the bottom could be demoted to non-registered status, which made everyone even more reluctant to leave.

Based on Cao Guiqi’s estimate, Chen Chuan figured it would take him one to two months to reach the point of breaking through the Third Limit. Nearly a month had already passed.

He could feel his senses growing sharper and his control over his own body increasing with each passing day. It was safe to say he was making positive progress every day.

This next period would undoubtedly be the most critical. He was about to enter the final sprint to break through the Third Limit.

This process would require massive amounts of medicine and sparring with powerful opponents. He couldn’t afford to stop. So even if he wanted to go back to Yangzhi, it would have to wait until after he broke through the Third Limit. He had already given his family a heads-up that he might be late coming home for the break.

He sat on the sofa, planning to browse the fringe channels to relax a bit. After about half an hour, Tan Zhi’s profile picture started flashing. He accepted the call.

"Chen, the break starts the day after tomorrow. Any plans? Going home?"

Chen Chuan said, "I’ll probably be staying at the academy for a while longer."

Tan Zhi sighed. "Ah, same here. Did you hear? Two students with the lowest evaluation scores were just demoted to non-registered status."

Chen Chuan asked, "Oh? That fast?"

"Tell me about it. I thought they wouldn’t start enforcing that rule until next semester, but they rolled it out so quickly. Those two have it rough. They’ll probably participate in the upcoming tournament."

"But this tournament is supposed to be amazing. Since you’re not in a hurry to leave, Chen, why don’t we go watch it together? We should invite Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin too. Those two have been cooped up for ages."

Chen Chuan said, "Tan, Wei Wusheng is still out there. Aren’t you worried about running into him if you go out?"

But Tan Zhi sounded relaxed. "Wei Wusheng hasn’t shown his face in days. He probably doesn’t dare come out now. Someone put a bounty on him on an underground platform. The person who posted it was probably one of the cruise ship passengers. They even opened up the option for anyone to add to the bounty. I chipped in a little myself..."

As Tan Zhi explained, because of Wei Wusheng’s killing spree and the Processing Bureau’s failed attempt to capture him, the remaining Fighters weren’t just going to sit around and wait. The people on that cruise ship either had connections or money. So, someone posted a contract on a certain platform, putting a bounty on Wei Wusheng.

Because the bounty was quite high this time, a lot of skilled Fighters in the underworld have been mobilized and are now searching everywhere for Wei Wusheng.

’No wonder there’s been so little news about Wei Wusheng lately,’ Chen Chuan thought. ’He’s practically vanished. I figured even if he was injured last time, it wouldn’t take him this long to recover. So this is why.’

Tan Zhi continued, "I heard that many famous Bounty Hunters have officially accepted the contract, like the Pei Brothers, Zuo Shidao, and Han the Cat. How could Wei Wusheng have the time to come after us?"

"Besides, Central City has beefed up security for this tournament. A lot of the teachers from Wuyi will be there too. No matter how bold Wei Wusheng is, he wouldn’t dare cause trouble there. You can relax."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "I’m afraid I won’t have time in the next few days. I feel like I’m on the verge of a breakthrough, so I need to train harder."

"Oh? Have you entered a rapid growth phase for your Mutated Organization?"

Tan Zhi’s voice rose unconsciously. Progress for a Fighter was incredibly difficult, usually relying on slow, gradual improvement. But there was one exception: the rapid growth phase of a Mutated Organization. Once a Fighter entered this stage, as long as they invested enough resources, they could achieve a period of accelerated advancement.

Talented individuals not only experienced more rapid growth phases than others, but their growth periods also lasted longer. This was one of the main reasons for the gap in power between Fighters.

But considering Chen Chuan was almost two years younger than him, and he himself had gone through a rapid growth phase at that age, it seemed pretty normal.

Chen Chuan replied, "I think so."

Tan Zhi said seriously, "If that’s the case, Chen, you can’t miss this opportunity. This directly affects our future. Well, anyway, the break is long, and the tournament runs until September. Just let me know when you have free time."

Chen Chuan agreed.

After the call ended, he browsed the channels for a while longer, specifically looking up topics about Wei Wusheng. He found that the general consensus was that Wei Wusheng was unlikely to cause any more trouble. Even the bets on him had stopped seeing new additions. Yet, for some reason, he had a nagging feeling that things might not be so simple.

「Cross District. On a rooftop diagonally across from the former hotel where the anomaly occurred.」

A young boy was doing a handstand, his palms flat on the ground. Sweat poured from his body, forming a puddle beneath him, but he gritted his teeth and held on.

The man stood to the side, watching. He had said he would leave after a few days, but for some unknown reason, he was still here.

After a long while, he said, "That’s enough."

The boy lowered his feet and collapsed limply onto the ground. But he struggled back up and, following the man’s instructions, worked to regulate his breathing while moving and striking his own limbs.

The man watched him with his arms crossed. "I didn’t expect you to have talent. You remind me of one of my junior brothers. Kid, what do you plan to do in the future?"

The boy’s face was full of hope. "Can I follow you, sir?"

The man said, "You... are not qualified."

The boy’s face fell with disappointment.

The man said, "I’m leaving soon. If you want to keep training, you can go to the Celestial Forgiveness Gang. Find Yu Hongming. He can teach you. Just say I sent you."

The boy’s eyes lit up. "I still don’t know your name, sir."

"Me...?"

Just then, a noise came from the rooftop of the opposite building, followed by a powerful, resonant voice: "Wei Wusheng, we’ve found you. Come out. You can’t escape."

Wei Wusheng paused, then said slowly, "The Pei Brothers? I’ve been waiting for you. It took you this long to find me? You’re too slow."

He rolled his neck, producing a series of CRACKING sounds. Taking the hammer hanging from his waist, he started walking toward the voice. "Kid," he said as he went, "if you want to live, get lost."

...

...