Upon receiving Wang Qianfeng’s urgent order, Xu Shiyun hurriedly led his n to Xinyi Garden in a desperate rush.
Just as they burst through the entrance of the community, they felt a clear surge of Star Energy Fluctuation.
Xu Shiyun squeezed through the crowd. mbers of the Tianjian Bureau had ford a circle, staring blankly at Wang Lan, who stood ramrod straight, gazing slightly upward at the sky with an air of lonely invincibility.
Spiritual Power transford into a swirling vortex of wind, slowly rotating around Wang Lan.
Beneath his feet lay the corpse of a half-Demon—the kind missing its head.
"Xu Shiyun, what’s the situation? Did it get away?" Zeng Xiaomo’s figure flashed, instantly appearing beside Xu Shiyun.
"Don’t ask , I don’t know... I just got here and saw this monster breaking through... Breaking through mid-combat? Damn it... Is this so kind of novel?"
Xu Shiyun was doubting his very existence.
He knew Wang Lan was an absolute monster, having once made a breakthrough publicly after a Star Martial Art competition. But what was the explanation back then? Oh right, he got thrilled, excited, and just broke through.
But now...
You’re telling you just went through a battle, right?
Isn’t the precondition for a Star Power breakthrough that your Star Power must surge past its limits, shattering the original shackles? Doesn’t combat consu Star Power? And you still managed to make it surge?
Everyone present had experienced breakthroughs, so that in itself wasn’t particularly impressive. What truly left them all gaping in astonishnt was that Wang Lan had *just* finished a battle—and an incredibly exhausting one at that.
And you’re telling your Star Power surged, breaking through the shackles to achieve this?
Even a monster doesn’t operate like this!
But Wang Lan had indeed broken through, even if the progress wasn’t overtly obvious—just a slight improvent.
Completing a mission and advancing directly from Star Shine Stage Four to Star Shine Stage Five—now *that’s* the proper way to complete a mission!
The surge of upgraded Star Power completely flushed away the lingering after-effects of the Phoenix Form he had just used. After more than a minute of using the Phoenix Form, Wang Lan’s body imdiately returned to its peak condition.
So... the after-effects of the Phoenix Form can be negated this way? I’ve learned sothing new.
"Refreshing—" Wang Lan exclaid, gazing up at the sky.
"Refreshing my ass!" Xu Shiyun couldn’t hold back any longer and lashed out with a kick. "What the hell happened here? What’s going on?"
"This is the true form of the Demon Clan spy group leader. He managed to deceive Director Wang and Director Li earlier using the ’Cicada Sloughing Its Shell’ tactic. Unfortunately for him, he was a bit foolish and exposed a major flaw, which allowed to see through his ruse. Then I executed him on the spot, right here."
"Hmm... If he’s considered ’a bit foolish,’ does that make exceptionally stupid for falling for his trick?" Wang Qianfeng’s voice suddenly cut in as he appeared before Wang Lan amidst the swirling winds.
"Not at all, Director Wang. It was due to the urgency of the situation that so details were overlooked. If you’d had a chance to calm down, this Demon’s tricks wouldn’t have escaped your notice."
"Go back and write a report," Wang Qianfeng, in no mood for banter with Wang Lan, turned to Xu Shiyun. "How are the arrests of the other spies going?"
"None got away, but..."
"No survivors? Are they all that resolute?" Wang Qianfeng’s expression grew grim. If the Demon Clan mbers were all this resolute, they would be incredibly tough to fight. Warriors so tough and brave, undaunted by death, that they would kill themselves upon exposure... Dealing with such enemies, the pressure is imnse.
"Not exactly. There seems to be so sort of restriction implanted in their minds. It triggers and detonates their heads if they even think of surrendering or divulging information."
"How vicious!" Wang Qianfeng’s eyes darkened.
"Notify the police departnt to handle the cleanup. We’re heading back."
"Yes, sir!"
Wang Lan obediently returned to the Tianjian Bureau headquarters and began writing his report in Wang Qianfeng’s office, while Wang Qianfeng himself left to attend a eting.
"Although this operation was hampered because the decoding team inadvertently tipped off the enemy, preventing us from expanding our success further, overall, it t expectations. I notified the Jin City headquarters imdiately after receiving your call about the successful operation. Director Zhang was overjoyed, exclaiming ’Good!’ three tis, and decided to drive to the Imperial Capital tonight to report to the main headquarters personally. You’ve all done well."
Hearing the positive keynote set by Lu Zhao, smiles imdiately blood on the faces of the various departnt heads. As long as it’s considered a ritorious achievent, that’s what matters. If headquarters decided to make an issue of us tipping off the enemy, it would have been troubleso.
"Director, although this roundup was a great success, an internal review is still necessary," He MingXue stated calmly. "The decoding team’s carelessness alerted the Demon Clan spies and prevented us from expanding our success. Even if there’s no punishnt, they should be required to write a self-critique report."
Wang Qianfeng glanced discreetly at He MingXue. He’s from the Law Enforcent Departnt, in charge of internal discipline, so his comnt isn’t out of place. But... it’s not really the decoding team’s fault.
It’s just that the Demon Clan spies were too crafty, even setting a decoy password on top of the real one. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
"Furthermore," He MingXue continued, his face flushing slightly with excitent, "although the Demon Clan spy group was entirely annihilated, our subsequent leads haven’t been completely cut off. I truly didn’t expect that Wang Lan from the Intelligence Departnt would not only capture an elite group but also decipher the correct password. We can confirm that Suzhou City likely harbors many such groups, not just this one. They are executing an ’Ant-Hill Plan,’ and the key to this Ant-Hill Plan is the Magical Martial Artist. A type of elixir is what causes Star Martial Warriors to undergo Demonization. Although the clues are scarce, they are worth investigating."
"The task of investigating this will remain with the Intelligence Departnt. Feng," Lu Zhao addressed Wang Qianfeng, "although your departnt secured the primary credit and won a significant victory this ti, do not beco arrogant or complacent. The battle continues, and I await further achievents from you all. Wei Xin, report this operation’s casualties."
"Reporting to the Director, one hundred and fifty of our operatives participated in the arrests. Among them, seven were injured, and one was killed in action. Additionally, five innocent civilians were maliciously attacked and killed by Demons."
"The compensation for the operative killed in action must be delivered to his family within three days, and ongoing support must be provided. The injured operatives are to take a seven-day leave to recover fully. As for what comndations will co from higher up, we’ll only know after Director Zhang returns from the Imperial Capital. You all discuss how to distribute the credit for this operation."
"This..." Upon hearing this, everyone hesitated.
The allocation of credit seed clear; who had contributed more and who less was obvious. There should have been no cause for hesitation.
"Director, distributing the credit for the others is straightforward enough! But there’s one person whose contribution is... problematic to assess," Wang Qianfeng said with a wry smile.
"Oh? Who might that be?"
"Wang Lan!"
"If his contributions are so obvious, what’s the difficulty?" Lu Zhao’s brows furrowed in puzzlent.
"If we were to allocate credit based on normal procedure, he would undoubtedly receive the lion’s share; it wouldn’t be an issue even if he alone accounted for seventy percent of the credit. However, he’s only sixteen years old—he’ll only turn seventeen after the New Year. Furthermore, he was promoted to lieutenant only a few days ago. If we report him for the highest credit, a promotion from above is almost certain. He’s still young; his character isn’t yet fully ford and needs tempering."
Wang Qianfeng’s concerns were valid. Wang Lan’s path shouldn’t be too smooth. He had high hopes for Wang Lan, envisioning him not just as an outstanding warrior, but as a future great leader—perhaps even a spiritual one. The growth of an outstanding warrior is inseparable from trials and setbacks. Yet, has Wang Lan encountered any real setbacks since his awakening as a Star Martial Warrior?
Forget setbacks—his Cultivation Level has soared at an alarming rate, and his talent is so high it’s infuriatingly enviable. On top of that, his luck and intelligence are enough to make anyone jealous. He casually visits a trial area and discovers a Demon Clan base that the stationed Star Martial Army had been searching for for half a year. He takes on a random mission and uncovers a hidden Demon Clan base. This ti, he rely chats with soone and, damn it all, uncovers critical clues that lead to the neutralization of an entire Demon Clan spy group! Can you attribute it all to luck? Not entirely. The clues were right there; others missed them, but he saw them.
Having Wang Lan on their side was a stroke of imnse fortune for Wang Qianfeng. But at the sa ti, he was deeply worried about the boy. Wang Lan is just a teenager. If he, Wang Qianfeng, had achieved so many significant accomplishnts at Wang Lan’s age, in just a couple of months, he shudders to think how it might have affected him—he’d likely be insufferably arrogant. As soone with experience, Wang Qianfeng understood one thing profoundly: one must never get carried away by success. Once pride takes root, danger inevitably follows. Wang Qianfeng genuinely liked Wang Lan, but he felt it was necessary to rein him in a bit, to keep him grounded.
But Lu Zhao did not see it that way.
After contemplating for a long mont, Lu Zhao lifted his head. "How does Wang Lan compare to Wang Ling?"
The mont he spoke, both Wang Qianfeng and He MingXue were startled. It had been a long ti since they had heard the na Wang Ling, and its ntion left them montarily dazed.
"Compare him to the Fla Emperor? Is such a comparison even possible?" He MingXue laughed. In their hearts, the Fla Emperor was held in such high esteem, almost mythical in status. There was no comparison, absolutely none.
"Is that so? Wang Ling’s true ascent didn’t begin in middle school, did it? Back then, she was rely among the top students in her grade, not conspicuously above everyone else."
"How can that be the sa?" He MingXue countered. "The Fla Emperor ca from an ordinary family. She didn’t have Soul Beads to enhance her Star Power, yet managing to keep pace with those geniuses through sheer effort alone was already an incredible feat. It was only after being discovered by Eld Di that the Fla Emperor truly began her teoric rise, ascending to the pinnacle of Star Martial Warriors at a speed almost unimaginable to ordinary people."
"Ah, you," Lu Zhao said, "perhaps because you see Wang Lan regularly, you overlook just how extraordinary he is. Can Wang Lan truly not be compared with Wang Ling? Wang Lan hasn’t benefited from any special consideration due to Wang Ling’s influence. He earned all his Soul Beads himself in the trial areas, and the Star Martial Skills you provided, he mastered on his own. This year, Wang Lan turned sixteen. Today, less than half a year since awakening his talents as a Star Martial Warrior, he has already mastered the rudintary application of the Phoenix Form, the advanced use of the Star Cloud Sword Dance and the Fla Sword, and he can switch between Star Martial Skills perfectly, with no discernible delay. He is already a mid-stage expert of the Star Shine Stage. He achieved all this progress in just half a year. Even when Wang Ling was rapidly advancing under Eld Di’s tutelage, her pace might not have been faster than Wang Lan’s is now."
"Back then, many also questioned Wang Ling’s rapid growth, suggesting it might not be beneficial and that she needed to experience so setbacks. But what did those setbacks ultimately beco? re stepping stones in Wang Ling’s legendary ascent."
"Indeed, young people should experience hardships; only those who can withstand setbacks can truly succeed. But that applies to re mortals! For soone like Wang Lan, such deliberate trials are unnecessary. If he has the capacity, why worry about praising him too highly? Are you afraid he’ll fall to his death if we elevate him too much? I believe those destined to fall will fall regardless, while those who are not ant to fall will survive, no matter how high they are lifted. Report his contributions fairly. How he is rewarded is a matter for headquarters to decide. If we withhold the recognition he deserves, it will only lead to his disillusionnt."
While Wang Qianfeng agreed with so of Lu Zhao’s points, he also had his reservations. However, since Lu Zhao had spoken, Wang Qianfeng naturally proceeded to make the arrangents as discussed.
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