After Vice Director Gao left, Yang Wenqing sat down cross-legged and immediately sank his consciousness into his Golden Core World.

Within the projection, his sinews, bones, and muscles—which normally required him to deliberately guide Spiritual Qi to refine—were now being spontaneously saturated by a dense concentration of it.

This was the sign of having mastered the First Refinement of the Nine Refining Secret Skill, ’Symphony of Sinew and Bone’. At this stage, even without actively circulating his Cultivation Technique to guide Spiritual Qi from his Qi Sea, his body would instinctively absorb Spiritual Qi to refine itself.

Yang Wenqing could clearly feel a qualitative leap in the density and resilience of his bones. The power contained within his muscles had surged several times over. If he had a ’Dragon-Tendon Tiger-Bone Grass’ right now, he might truly be able to break through the bottleneck of the First Refinement in one go, leveraging his Golden Core’s ability to process the medicinal power of a Spirit Grass.

Suddenly, he felt a gentle aura descend from the sky, startling him. He immediately awoke from his meditation and looked up.

A middle-aged man in a white guard uniform was hovering in mid-air; he hadn’t been there a moment ago. Unlike Vice Director Gao’s uniform, this man’s had exquisite golden cloud patterns embroidered on the collar, and a gleaming gold flower adorned his epaulets. This was the rank of Police Marshal, meaning he was a combat Cultivator with an Entry realm Cultivation at the very least.

The middle-aged man had a ramrod-straight posture. His gaze swept over the ravaged battlefield below, his expression as placid as an old well. He then slowly raised his right hand, palm open, and aimed it downward.

In an instant, a torrential life force surged from his palm, transforming into a gentle, sky-filling rain of jade-green light that sprinkled precisely onto every injured member of the City Defense Bureau.

Wherever the rain of light touched, the wounded’s pained groans subsided. Bleeding stopped, broken bones began to knit, and internal shock was rapidly soothed. Even the faint, lingering pain in Yang Wenqing’s Spiritual Veins from his earlier exertion completely dissipated under the nourishment of this light.

This was clearly a large-scale wood-element healing Magic with an incredibly wide range and astonishing effects!

Once the Magic was complete, the Police Marshal retracted his hand. His gaze swept over the people below, lingering on Yang Wenqing for a fraction of a second. Then, with a flicker of his body, he transformed into a streak of green light and vanished into the sky as silently as he had arrived.

After a brief silence, the members of the surrounding combat teams began to get to their feet. Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin, who had been quietly collecting resources up ahead, discreetly withdrew. They exchanged a silent glance with Vice Director Gao before walking over to stand by Yang Wenqing.

"There’s an underground cavern. We really found Spiritual Liquid next to the Spirit Gathering Array inside!" Wang Jianchao whispered to Yang Wenqing, discreetly shoving a Storage Bag into his jacket.

Yang Wenqing understood. He took the Storage Bag and quickly hid it. Spiritual Liquid was a Spiritual Object used for the second stage of Bone Marrow Cleansing, but he didn’t know the specifics of how to use it. He had only read about it at the academy.

"Set up a perimeter and stay alert."

After giving the order, Vice Director Gao walked toward the central area with the other commanders who held the rank of Police Commissioner. They stood in the center and conferred for about ten seconds before Yang Wenqing heard Vice Director Gao’s next command: "Combat teams will advance and search. Explore the cavern below."

As the commanders, including Vice Director Gao, issued their orders, the combat teams sprang into action. Yang Wenqing, Wang Jianchao, and Liu Xin exchanged a look and, with a shared understanding, walked toward the central entrance.

Down below was a rather spacious underground hall. The walls were covered in complex runes, mostly traces of Arrays meant to stabilize the rock strata and gather Spiritual Qi. Now, however, they were dim and lightless. There were even cracks in some places, clearly damaged during the earlier bombardment and battle. Their entrance was the very hole blasted in the ceiling.

The air here still held a residue of pure Spiritual Qi, but it was no longer violent.

In the center of the hall was a stone platform that had clearly been artificially carved. The base for the Spirit Gathering Array on it was shattered. Around the hall’s periphery, in certain corners near the walls or in crevices in the rock, one could see droplets of milky-white Spiritual Liquid that refused to dissipate, emitting a soft glow and a soul-refreshing aura of Spiritual Qi.

"According to the academy’s records, an environment like this should have given birth to a natural Spiritual Object," Yang Wenqing said softly.

"Most likely, but the Fire Cultivator already took it," Wang Jianchao replied. "The Spirit Gathering Array he built sped up its formation. During the final stage of its development, the overflowing Spiritual Qi caused the beasts in the nearby forest to turn demonic, leading to several deaths in the surrounding villages. I followed the clues from those cases here."

"But from the looks of it now, he deliberately lured you here. And you wasted dozens of the Government Soldiers’ flame rounds. That stuff is expensive, you know. You’d better prepare a plausible case report," Liu Xin said, her tone teasing. As she spoke, she handed Yang Wenqing a small glass vial.

The three of them then began to collect the surrounding Spiritual Liquid. Members of the other combat teams had also entered by this point. Some who hadn’t managed to get any Spiritual Liquid started scraping the gold dust from the remnant Arrays on the walls after documenting them.

Half an hour later, the trio finished collecting the Spiritual Liquid in one area and exited the underground cavern.

Back on the surface, the situation had changed. Large numbers of reinforcement guards had arrived and secured the outer perimeter. They were holding special purification Rune Paper, cautiously cleansing the area of residual Spiritual Qi contamination. There were even specialists using Earth Element Spell Rune Paper to completely turn over the topsoil in the most heavily contaminated areas, ensuring no hidden dangers remained.

Vice Director Gao was standing with the other commanders. When he saw Yang Wenqing’s group emerge, he gave them a subtle look.

Yang Wenqing understood the unspoken message immediately. It was the signal for him to leave first. He was currently carrying the most important spoils of this operation: the Spiritual Liquid and the Storage Bag Wang Jianchao had given him earlier.

He said a few quiet words to Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin, then discreetly withdrew from the core area to find Wu Yan, who was helping maintain order on the perimeter.

"Captain, are you all right?" Wu Yan asked, hurrying over to meet him.

"I’m fine. The situation here is resolved. Let’s head back to the precinct first," Yang Wenqing said succinctly.

Seeing his captain’s calm expression and steady aura, despite his disheveled appearance, Wu Yan didn’t ask any more questions. He just nodded. "Alright."

With their status as members of the Major Case Team, no one stopped them. They quickly returned to the encampment, boarded the old "Wind-Soarer B" Flying Shuttle, and quietly departed from the still-bustling scene.

As the Flying Shuttle ascended, and the ravaged forest was gradually left behind, Yang Wenqing leaned back in his seat. He felt the weight of the Storage Bag in his jacket and let out a long breath.

’I’d only known before that Spiritual Qi outbursts were trouble; I never realized they could bring such a windfall.’

「Half an hour later.」

The Flying Shuttle landed smoothly in the precinct’s garage. When Yang Wenqing and Wu Yan returned to the Major Case Team’s Squad Three office, they found only Liu Qin on duty, monitoring the Communication Array.

"Captain, you’re back!" Liu Qin was visibly relieved to see them. She immediately reported, "Ah Rong went to support the West City District. There’s a criminal case over there that requires someone from the Major Case Team to be on-site to coordinate."

Yang Wenqing nodded and walked over to his desk. He first carefully locked the Storage Bag, which contained the Spiritual Liquid and other unknown items, into a drawer. Then he picked up the case file he hadn’t finished reading earlier, forcing himself to calm down and focus, trying to temporarily suppress the shock of the day’s events.

As time passed, the sky gradually darkened, and lights began to turn on throughout the precinct building. Yang Wenqing had Liu Qin and Wu Yan go home for the day.

When the world outside his window was completely shrouded in darkness, the badge on his chest finally pulsed with a familiar vibration. Vice Director Gao’s voice rang directly in his ear:

"Wenqing, come to my office."