The next day.
Sunlight like melting gold leaf spread over the rooftops.
At the moment the oil pan crackled in the alley, sparrows under the eaves took away the last traces of lingering night.
Fang Qingyu sat at a small street-side table, enjoying his meal.
The breakthrough ended late last night.
So after discussing with Lin Kang, he went home early to rest.
Starting today.
He no longer needed to attend the special training class, and Lin Kang even said he didn't have to substitute teach the elite class anymore.
But Fang Qingyu politely declined.
The martial arts coach profession had just been activated, and the elite class was currently the best place to grind experience.
Lin Kang was a bit startled but agreed readily without saying much.
Looking at the morning bustle of the human world.
Fang Qingyu quickly finished his breakfast and drove to the Divine Management Bureau.
It's now 7:30 in the morning.
There's still plenty of time.
Fang Qingyu first went down to the training hall.
The place was almost filled with people now, and when Wu Yan and Qin Qi saw him,
they immediately came over to congratulate him.
In fact, those familiar with him already knew the news from WeChat last night.
But Fang Qingyu thought it would be better to say goodbye face-to-face.
"I'll wait for you upstairs."
After chatting and teasing Wu Yan and others a bit,
Fang Qingyu finally got into the elevator.
Pushed the button for the 28th floor.
Ding—
As the elevator doors opened,
employees carrying documents briskly walked back and forth, and overlapping conversations surged like a tense wave in the corridor.
"Uh..."
Fang Qingyu looked around, wondering if stepping out would disrupt their work.
"Hello, who are you looking for?"
However, someone in the elevator caught people's attention.
An employee passing by quickly stopped and looked at him.
"I'm looking for Team Leader Lin."
Fang Qingyu showed his credentials.
"End of the hallway, turn right."
The employee swiftly gave a direction.
"Thanks."
Fang Qingyu nodded in thanks.
Quickly walked along the edge of the corridor.
He stopped just after turning the corner.
The dark gray marble floor reflected the crystal chandelier hanging from the dome, with morning light flowing over the whole wall of greenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Real leather sofas formed several independent booths.
Each coffee table had a gilded incense burner, with the scent of sandalwood mingling with the richness of freshly brewed coffee.
The most extravagant was the southeast corner, with a large screen covering almost half the wall, a PS5 console with a dozen unopened game cartridges stacked beside it emitting a blue glow.
Two youths in tactical vests were lounging on bean bag sofas.
The sounds of button mashing and the roars from the "War God" game on screen reverberated.
Entered the wrong place!?
Fang Qingyu looked back at the busy office area just a few steps away.
Then glanced at this... luxurious, comfortable rest area.
Is this the Divine Management Bureau's combat team?
"Fang Qingyu!?"
Luckily, someone poked their head out from behind the marble bar.
A young woman in a custom-tailored suit, holding a siphon coffee maker, looked over.
"Hello."
Fang Qingyu walked in to greet her.
Recognizing him, she was undoubtedly from the combat personnel.
"I'm Duan Ling, are you here to report in?"
The girl, while making coffee, said with a smile.
"Wait a second, I'll be done soon."
"No worries, no rush."
Hearing this, Fang Qingyu could only stand by the bar and wait.
There were only about seven or eight people in the whole lounge area, apart from the two playing games and one making coffee, the others sat in the booths playing on their phones.
"Oh no, a monster is here!!!"
At this moment, they also noticed the activity at the bar, turning their heads to look.
Quickly, someone shouted aloud in surprise.
This actually left Fang Qingyu a bit at a loss.
Just arrived, and already being called a monster—is that right?
"Qu Zhe, if you can't speak properly, then just shut up."
Duan Ling turned around from the bar and casually threw a napkin over.
Qu Zhe caught the napkin, sheepishly grinning, stood up from the booth, and walked over to extend his hand to Fang Qingyu: "Sorry, I watched your live stream in Shangjing before, and instinctively called out your nickname. I'm Qu Zhe."
"Fang Qingyu."
Fang Qingyu could tell there was no malice, so he extended his hand to shake it.
"You broke through as a Martial Artist?"
Qu Zhe released his hand, suddenly curious and asked.
Fang Qingyu nodded: "Yes, broke through last night. Team Leader Lin asked me to report today."
"I see..."
"Then congratulations on officially stepping into a brutal world!"
After listening, Qu Zhe, with a hint of amusement in his eyes, extended his hand towards Fang Qingyu again.
Fang Qingyu listened, furrowing his brows slightly, not quite understanding what he meant.
"Don't listen to his nonsense."
"Welcome to our third squad."
Fortunately, others came around at this time, smiling as they greeted Fang Qingyu.
Not overly enthusiastic, nor too cold.
This left a pretty good first impression on Fang Qingyu.
"Hehehe, I think you're just itching for trouble."
And by this time, Duan Ling had already finished making coffee, walked out from behind the bar, and directly grabbed Qu Zhe's hand, twisting it backward.
Qu Zhe immediately let out a miserable cry.
"Ignore him, come with me."
Duan Ling rolled her eyes at him and spoke to Fang Qingyu, leading the way to the few offices available.
"Click~"
Upon entering the office.
Duan Ling closed the door, gesturing: "Have a seat."
Then continued fiddling with the computer.
While saying, "Captain Lin is quite busy, so I'm here to help you with your onboarding."
"From now on, you are an official combat member of the Divine Management Bureau, do you confirm joining the Dragon Spine Camp's third action squad!?"
"Confirm."
Fang Qingyu nodded as he listened.
Qin Hui and Zheng Lin are also in this squad.
"As an official combat member, you can select 5 reserve members, and during missions, you have the authority to mobilize them."
"I heard from Captain Lin that you want to transfer Qin Hui and Qi Hao from Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall, is that right?"
"Yes."
This was also mentioned by Lin Kang last night.
As for Zheng Lin, after being promoted to head of the hall, there is no need to participate in Life Ghost combat as a reserve member.
There are still 3 slots left.
Fang Qingyu intends to leave them empty for now.
According to Lin Kang, these slots are best left for those who still have hope and the fighting spirit to strive to breakthrough as Martial Artists.
They can temporarily transition here.
This was already discussed with the other party last night.
There are still 3 slots left, planning to leave them empty for now.
When Duan Ling finished operating the computer, she wore a smile again and stood up.
"On behalf of all combat members of the Dragon Spine Camp's third squad, welcome to the team!"
"Thank you."
Fang Qingyu extended his hand to shake with hers.
After a few months...
He finally stepped into the extraordinary realm and officially joined the Divine Management Bureau.
"You've just joined, you have a one-month learning period, so there's no rush to get into missions."
Upon sitting back down, Duan Ling spoke as she turned and took out several books from behind, placing them on the table.
"These are study materials for the Martial Artist stage and matters concerning becoming an official combat member; you can take your time to go through them during this period."
"..."
Looking at the book stack reaching nearly half a meter high, Fang Qingyu twitched the corner of his mouth.
This is quite a bit too much, isn't it?
"Don't think it's too much; the contents are completely different from what you've read before."
Duan Ling seemed to have anticipated Fang Qingyu's reaction and said with a light laugh.
"For example, do you guess why Qu Zhe just said that to you!?"
"Actually, what he said is not entirely alarmist."
"How so?"
Fang Qingyu made a gesture of attentive listening.
"There's an insurmountable gap between Martial Artists and Martial Arts Apprentices, and it's the same between Life Ghosts."
"Have you ever wondered why, with such advanced firearms, it's still necessary for novice Martial Arts Apprentices to hunt them?"
As Duan Ling spoke, she turned the computer screen.
The video started in a desolate desert.
The camera trembled violently as it zoomed in.
A towering Life Ghost, black mist swirling around it, its dark purple skin glistened with a metallic sheen under the harsh sun.
Six cruise missiles trailed white smoke, piercing the sky from different angles, suddenly diving in!
The explosion bloomed like a red lotus engulfing the entire scene, shockwaves lifting massive waves of sand and gravel...
As the dust settled slightly, the Life Ghost slowly stepped out of the crater.
The burned skin on its shoulder was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, while shrapnel embedded in its muscle texture fell away.
"Starting from the Sinful Embryo Level, Life Ghosts cannot be killed by heat weapons, and even technological weapons might cause them to mutate."
"So, Cocoon Level Life Ghosts...are just a trial ground?"
Fang Qingyu understood suddenly after watching...
"Exactly, just like between Martial Arts Apprentices and Martial Artists, the strength is not on the same level."
"Cocoon Level is only for early training."
Duan Ling nodded.
"And Sinful Embryo Level..."
"If you can single-handedly kill one, that's something you can brag about."
These few sentences immediately drew a stark contrast between them.
You know before this...
Fang Qingyu killed Life Ghosts by catching a group at once...
This highlighted why training with Cocoon Level Life Ghosts is necessary.
Otherwise,
The first time facing a Life Ghost,
You would have to choose such a terrifying existence.
That really is...a bit cruel.
"The rest you can go through on your own, it's all in the materials."
"Consider this your first task upon officially joining the Divine Management Bureau; there'll be spot checks once your rest period is over."
After finishing, Duan Ling stood up.
Taking Fang Qingyu out of the office to familiarize himself with the surrounding area.
"Combat squad missions have two forms; the first form, unless in special times, you just need to wait here usually, you can chill, have some tea, play some games."
"Once there's a mission, logistics will contact you immediately."
"By then, you can take this elevator straight to the underground parking or the rooftop helipad."
Stepping into another office at the corner, Duan Ling pointed at the elevator.
"Pay attention, this elevator is only for missions."
"Understood."
"There are six-hour shifts with four rotations; the rest of the time, you're free to do as you wish."
"The second form is the active task-taking."
After saying so, the two walked out again, arriving at the bar.
Duan Ling handed over a mobile phone.
"You'll use this phone in the future; it has an app called Divine Management Bureau, where you can take on tasks, most of which are located in remote places, tricky but temporarily harmless, akin to Earth-bound Spirit type Life Ghosts."
"Are there Life Ghosts that can't move?"
Fang Qingyu was slightly puzzled as he listened.
"Yes, for instance, some Life Ghosts that just appeared in reality and rooted themselves like tree-type ones."
Duan Ling responded as if it were nothing unusual.
"However, generally, few people bother, because these immobile Life Ghosts often have strength far surpassing similarly ranked Martial Artists."
"Anyway, when the time is near, experts above will find time to handle them."
Fang Qingyu listened thoughtfully...
He has the Life Ghost Atlas, and the first time he kills a new type of Life Ghost, he can gain Skill Points.
If duty time is relatively peaceful in the future.
He could consider visiting these places.
"Let's go, youngster, the last thing is to take you to select a Martial Technique."
Compared to him, Duan Ling is already around thirty years old.
Jokingly calling Fang Qingyu a youngster wasn't inappropriate.
And the others...
Including the seven or eight people he saw during break just now.
They are all Red-Name Martial Artists!
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.