Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 691: Chapter 691: First Mission (Part 1)

Having learned of Yue Buyi’s ultimate fate, Wang Chen was shocked by Yu Fei’s methods and couldn’t help but develop a great wariness towards the Hehuan Sect.

In his consistent impression, the Hehuan Sect had been a third-rate Immortal Cultivation sect.

This impression initially came from the Hehuan faction in the Mountain and Sea Realm. The female cultivators of this faction served others with their beauty, gathering Spirit Stones and practicing Yang-essence cultivation, which was despised by many orthodox cultivators.

When people spoke of the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect, it was either with contempt or with ambiguity.

Although Wang Chen had never tested the abilities of the Hehuan female cultivators, his frequent hearsays naturally led to bias in his mind.

Upon arriving in the Haotian Realm, the Hehuan faction had become the Hehuan Sect, with only a change in name, not in essence.

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Therefore, when he first met Yu Fei, Wang Chen had little good feeling towards her; only after getting to know her, and realizing she was quite different from the ordinary Hehuan female cultivators did his impression of her improve significantly.

But he still subconsciously looked down on the Hehuan Sect.

However, Wang Chen now suddenly realized that he might have severely underestimated this despised sect!

While the overt influence of the Hehuan Sect had disappeared from Yongle Immortal City, the covert power they harbored should not be underestimated. Wang Chen suspected that the other party had already infiltrated all levels of society, both high and low.

Otherwise, how could Yu Fei so easily grasp his movements and dare to act so unscrupulously in the city, even causing a great commotion!

Yet, as vigilant as he was, Wang Chen, a mere Purple Mansion cultivator, was truly incapable of doing anything about the Hehuan Sect.

He quickly put the matter out of his mind.

Then, Wang Chen received a Talisman Message from the Evil-Suppressing Department.

He had a task!

After receiving this “mission notification,” Wang Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that work at the Evil-Suppressing Department wasn’t busy, and it didn’t require regular check-ins.

However, having stayed at home for half a month, collecting a salary and benefits without a single assignment, he naturally had some thoughts about it.

Now, he finally didn’t need to panic anymore.

Dressing in the blue uniform of the Patrol and Arrest Bureau, hanging the Identity Plaque at his waist, Wang Chen left his house, and mounted his Flying Sword, heading straight for the direction outside the city.

Being a Patrol and Arrest Officer was quite an improvement over being a prison guard, enjoying certain privileges, such as being allowed to use Flying Artifacts or Flying Swords for travel inside Yongle Immortal City, making things much more convenient.

He sped along, following the map until he arrived at a mine located more than three hundred miles southwest of the Immortal City.

With millions of inhabitants, the majority of whom were cultivators, Yongle Immortal City was a true city of Immortal Cultivation.@@novelbin@@

The vast number of cultivators required an enormous amount of resources for their daily lives and cultivation.

As the Immortal City itself was situated upon a giant Dragon Turtle and naturally barren, it produced little of its own.

The materials necessary for the running of the Immortal City were mostly supplied by the surrounding farms and the numerous mines hidden within the rolling mountain ranges.

The mine Wang Chen was visiting was one of these.

He had already seen the reason for the task on the Talisman Message, so when the Director of the mine hurried to greet him, an “official” from above, he went straight to the point and said, “Let’s skip the pleasantries and just show me the site!”

The Director of the mine was momentarily taken aback.

As per usual practice, whenever his jurisdiction faced an issue beyond his control, he would call upon higher-ups to send someone to resolve it.

No offense, but even if they sent a dog from above, it would still outrank a Director like him.

So the Director had planned to entertain Wang Chen properly, with Spiritual Wine and beautiful attendants all ready.

But he did not expect Wang Chen to not play by the rules.

Seeing the Director of the mine zone out, Wang Chen raised an eyebrow, “Is there a problem?”

The Director came back to his senses and quickly waved his hands, replying, “No, there’s no problem. Please, follow me.”

At that moment, the Director’s mind was rife with internal murmurs.

Wang Chen, though young, was inexplicably sent by the Patrol and Arrest Bureau to investigate the mine haunted by demonic fiends on his own.

Reliable?

Of course, on the surface, the mine Director was always respectful, personally escorting Wang Chen into the depths of the mine.

The site of the incident was an old mine tunnel long abandoned, with most of the Luminous Stone lamps hanging from the walls rendered useless due to lack of maintenance or absence of the required energy supply.

Upon entering, the atmosphere felt ominous!

Wang Chen immediately “smelled” a hint of the evil wraith’s presence.

Having slain countless evil wraiths, he had developed the ability to discern and detect such presences and was very sensitive to their existence.

At the same time, he also saw three corpses lying in the mine tunnel.

Three miners.

Each lay prone or supine, their faces as pale as paper, their eyes wide with the colors of despair and fear that remained from their final moments, their faces unnaturally twisted, most with graying hair.

Yet in reality, these were three very young miners who had been working in the mines for less than a year!

Now all dead simultaneously, the situation was an immense headache for the mine Director.

Wang Chen crouched down to meticulously inspect the three corpses and asked, “When were they discovered?”

The mine Director replied, “This morning.”

The sources of the mine workers were complex, including Loose Cultivators with no other recourse, those from the lower echelons of Immortal City needing to earn a living, as well as the unlucky ones sold into the mines because of their debts.

As it was common for miners, unable to endure the hard labor, to sneak away,

the mine’s management kept a tight watch on them.

There were performance assessments in the mines, and if the amount of mined ore fell short, the supervisors would be the first to suffer the consequences.

Losing their position was quite common.

The disappearance of these three miners occurred right under the supervisor’s watch, and by the time they were found again, it was the scene Wang Chen was looking at now.

Understanding the severity of the situation, the mine Director didn’t dare move the bodies and immediately reported upward.

Hiding the incident wasn’t an option, and covering it up required strength they didn’t have. If they concealed it and the higher-ups found out, not only would the Director lose his post, but he would also be “assigned elsewhere.”

This “elsewhere” was essentially the most arduous and tiring of mines!

The Patrol and Arrest Bureau always took incidents involving evil wraiths seriously and quickly made arrangements upon receiving the news.

They dispatched Wang Chen to investigate.

There was a misunderstanding involved; the mine Director was puzzled by Wang Chen’s solo endeavor, and Wang Chen was equally surprised.

He had thought that upon his arrival at the mine, he’d find other constables, and together they would collaborate to find clues, ultimately rooting out the prime culprit to administer justice.

But it turned out to be just Wang Chen alone!

To say that the higher-ups didn’t consider the matter urgent was contradicted by the hastiness of dispatching someone to deal with it.

To say they did deem it crucial, yet they only sent one person!

The mine Director had mentioned the incident occurred this morning, but Wang Chen observed that the three corpses looked like they had been dead for several days without rotting.

He extended his right index finger and gently wiped it across the face of one of the corpses.

A trace of fine, barely detectable light flashed from his fingertip.

Remnants of evil power lingered!

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