Chapter 163 The Infiltration Plan 1

The act of summoning flames to mend one's soul, upon closer examination, seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul, but in reality, my regeneration is more of a transformation than a true regeneration. The action of slamming a fireball into my chest is merely an aid to my imagination.

The result was encouraging; my regeneration seemed to actually work.

Lu Youxun summoned the stationed agents to retest my soul's damage status. Perhaps because they had already tested me once, and some of the tools they had taken out hadn't been put away yet, the efficiency was much higher this time, and the medical report came out quickly.

After reviewing it, Lu Youxun nodded and said, "...It has truly been fully recovered."

Even though he was the one who made the suggestion, he sounded like he was in a dream, and looked at me with the eyes of someone who had just encountered a giant panda on the street. Even Zhu Shi looked me up and down several times.

"If Chenlong saw his opponent, whom he had been scraping for so long, instantly regain his full health, he'd probably vomit three liters of blood first," Zhu Shi sighed.

If only I could use this skill to heal Asa's soul wounds. Unfortunately, the only one who can heal with fire is someone like me, who is a being of fire itself. If I were to stuff a bunch of fire into someone else's soul, I could at most control myself to prevent them from getting hurt; healing would be out of the question.

Seeing that I was alright, Ma quickly turned his attention back to Chenlong's severed arm and continued the retrospective investigation.

I tried to ask her about the current progress of the investigation.

“The information that can be traced back is too chaotic,” she said. “The owner of this arm not only reversed the divination process, but he was also a master cultivator. The mere existence of a cultivator of this level is a powerful countermeasure against supernatural powers. As long as they do not willingly accept it, many spells that directly affect the opponent’s body will automatically become ineffective when they fall on them, and tracking methods based on mana will also be greatly hindered.”

Perhaps because he heard her refer to "demon hunters" as "monks," Lu Youxun couldn't help but turn his head and glance at her.

"Even you can't track it down?" I asked.

"...No, I should still be able to track it down, but it will take time." After thinking for a while, Asahi said, "It's just that this time is different from the two times I tracked the Shadow Monster and the Monster Creator. There is no time limit of 'if I miss today's opportunity, I may never be able to track down the opponent again,' so I cannot guarantee that I can track it down within a few days."

Lu Youxun, unaware of the "jinx" constitution, asked in confusion, "Time limit?"

Zhu Shi changed the subject: "That would be a headache. Who knows what kind of transformation my brother's body will undergo by the mad scientists of the Humanitarian Department in a few days?"

"The reason Chenlong kidnapped Zhu Chang'an might be because Ying Lingyun, whose fate is unknown, gave the order." Lu Youxun didn't seem to care and continued, "If that's the case, he must have had a special purpose in kidnapping his own son. He wouldn't have simply handed him over to those mad scientists to handle at will."

When it comes to Ying Lingyun's purpose, the only thing that comes to mind is "resurrecting Yin Yue." However, Old Master Zhu himself denied this possibility. The practice of using immediate family members as living sacrifices to resurrect the dead only applies to mortals. Just as two AA batteries can power a toy four-wheel drive car, they can never power a Formula One race car. Chang'an is far from qualified as a living sacrifice to resurrect Yin Yue.

"Although I also know divination, I can only say that I have a rudimentary grasp of it and cannot reach the advanced level." Lu Youxun looked regretfully at Chenlong's severed arm.

"I remember you only started learning divination after you escaped the Humanitarian Division's secret outpost, right?" Zhu Shi asked curiously. "Was it to continue investigating the Humanitarian Division and seek revenge against them?"

"Yes," Lu Youxun admitted.

“But there are so many divination masters in Luoshan, and even they can’t find the secret stronghold of the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau. You, who started learning divination halfway through your life, think you can find it? It can’t be that simple, can it?” Zhu Shi said tactfully.

“I am well aware of how difficult this challenge is, but it is the only thing I can do after losing my fighting power. To let my enemy go unpunished and waste my time is worse than death,” Lu Youxun said calmly. “Besides… I am not without confidence. I have a natural advantage in using divination to investigate the Humanitarian Bureau.”

"Advantages?" I asked, curious. "What are they?"

“It’s ‘cause and effect’,” Lu Youxun replied solemnly. “During those eight months, the Humanitarian Department collected a large amount of flesh and bodily fluids from my entire body, inside and out, and even a considerable amount of soul components. Through these clues, I can use divination to trace back, that’s one reason. I have a deep-seated hatred for the Humanitarian Department, and this negative yet immense karmic connection also helps with divination and tracing, that’s another reason.”

"Thirdly, although I only recently learned this, the Humanitarian Division's monster modification technology clearly contains results obtained through research on me. Since they have benefited from me, they are destined to have an intricate causal relationship with me. Although other diviners are not unable to trace back the Humanitarian Division through me, it is certainly not as effective as my own proficiency in divination in tracing them."

“If I could still summon ‘possibility clones,’ it would be much easier. I could directly summon ‘myself as a diviner.’ But now I can only learn step by step from scratch.”

"I see." Zhu Shi said knowingly. "So, after you mastered divination, have you divined any clues?"

“Yes, there are…” Lu Youxun revealed an embarrassed expression, “but they are just some fragmented images.”

"The visuals?" Zhu Shi asked.

“Perhaps my skills are lacking, but only under extremely lucky circumstances can I intermittently glimpse the interior of the Humanitarian Division’s secret outpost through my divination.” Lu Youxun’s face gradually darkened. “The layout there is very similar to the old Humanitarian Division outpost where I used to live; it’s practically a slaughterhouse. Some cultivators whose faces I couldn’t see were captured there and subjected to inhumane experiments and modifications.”

"The researchers there use cultivators like guinea pigs, completely disregarding the high mortality rate. They seem to have a stable, unknown channel for obtaining cultivators; every time a few dozen cultivators die, a new batch is sent over."

Zhu Shi stared in disbelief: "Witch hunters aren't guinea pigs, how could they be caught so easily? A few dozen witch hunters... even if you include all the witch hunters in Luoshan and the general population in some cities, there are only a few dozen!"

"I saw all of this with my own eyes," Lu Youxun said in a deep voice. "I know it's hard for you to believe me if I say it directly. In fact, many people in Luoshan, after hearing my words, thought that my divination had caused false hallucinations, or even that I was just trying to attract the attention of the higher-ups in Luoshan... But I really didn't lie. And my hallucinations weren't false, although they were just my feelings..."

Towards the end, his voice weakened, as if he realized his persuasiveness was insufficient.

But then I suddenly realized another possibility. My past experiences connected with what he was saying now, creating a chemical reaction that made me sit up straight abruptly.

I think I've found a way to directly infiltrate the Humanitarian Affairs Department's secret base!

Wait, is this method really feasible? Are there any loopholes?

By the way, this method relies heavily on luck... no, no, no, it seems that luck can also be taken into account!

However, there is still one problem that needs to be addressed by Lu Youxun, to see if he can overcome it.

"Zhuang Cheng, what's wrong?"

Because I didn't hide my expression, Lu Youxun and Zhu Shi both noticed my unusual behavior, and Ma Zao also looked up at me again. Zhu Shi asked with concern, "Did you think of something?"

"I have an idea to directly target the enemy's heartland, and I need your help to see if it's feasible," I said.

Lu Youxun immediately perked up and hurriedly asked, "What's the idea?"

“First of all, as you all know, I can summon my own flames wherever I can sense them, and I can also teleport myself to the location of the flames by decomposing and recombining myself,” I said. “And Lu Youxun claims that he can use divination to see what's inside the secret stronghold of the Humanitarian Department…”

"You mean if you could see that scene too, you could teleport yourself there directly?" Zhu Shi understood what I meant. "But Lu Youxun's hallucinations are based on his special causal relationship with the Humanity Department. Those hallucinations should only be visible to him. Unless there's a way to establish a connection between him and you, allowing you to synchronize with the scenes appearing in his consciousness... Ah!"

She had already realized what was happening.

Lu Youxun possessed the magic to transmit information he knew into the minds of others.

He used it on Zhu Shi and me when we were tracking the immortal monster.

“…Yes, I can indeed do it.” Lu Youxun was the first to calm down. “But in my perception, your spirit is no different from the sun. If a cultivator of my level uses mental magic on you, it would be like touching the sun naked; you would burn me to ashes in an instant…”

“But you weren’t really hurt last time, were you?” I said.

“That’s because you weren’t hostile to me in the past,” he said. “But now, you know that Zhu Shi and I belong to two irreconcilable camps. You’re more inclined towards the social order that Zhu Shi belongs to than towards the transcendentalism I’m in. I can tell that you often avoid talking to Zhu Shi and the others about me. Because to you, I’m not one of your own, but a potential enemy.”

"Zhuang Cheng, ask yourself honestly, do you really have no hostility towards me?"

(End of this chapter)