Jiang Si looked at the devastation before her, and felt like crying but had no tears.

The Earth-Swallowing Basin was already broken, and her Thunderclap Wood had turned into charcoal; Jiang Si was afraid it would break with the slightest force.

“I…” Jiang Si didn’t know what to say, “I just want to go to heaven and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun.”

All you want is to ascend to immortality, why is it so difficult?

Seeing Jiang Si's tearful expression, Qin Zhi couldn't bear to discourage her. "To achieve the Great Dao, one must overcome eighty-one tribulations. The road ahead is long, but there will always be opportunities."

“No,” Jiang Si refused to believe it. “The Nine Heavens Thunder usually strikes things that want to rise, which means that the Five-Colored Soil could actually be used to plant Thunder Trees, but something went wrong.”

Qin Zhi: "..."

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Jiang Si carefully picked up the Thunderclap Wood, but at that moment, a strange thing happened: the Thunderclap Wood actually swelled up a little bit.

Jiang Si: "???"

She carefully recalled what she had just done. She put the Thunderclap Wood into the Five-Colored Soil. In fact, there was no unusual phenomenon when she first put it in.

The strange phenomena were caused by her putting her accumulated merits into the Thunderclap Wood.

Therefore, the five-colored soil allows the Thunderclap Tree to be reborn, and the nourishment of merit is the only element for the Thunderclap Tree to be generated.

Jiang Si decided to give it another try.

The location is naturally a villa.

Since it's already blown up like this, it doesn't matter anymore.

She threw the Thunderwood far away, and at the same time gave all the little merit she had left to the Thunderwood.

As if on cue, thunder rumbled again from the sky.

However, this time the scale wasn't as grand.

It used to be as thick as my wrist, but now it's only as thick as my little finger.

But after all, it is the Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder, and its power is also extraordinary.

Jiang Si didn't know whether to be happy or frustrated.

She was happy that the path to ascension was finally a little closer, but she was also frustrated that all the merit she had accumulated over the years was only enough for the Thunderclap Tree to grow a tiny bit.

She looked up at the sky, which seemed impossibly far away.

When will this end?

"Master, are you alright?" Li Jianshan saw Jiang Si sigh and thought she was regretting the villa. "The villa is destroyed, so be it. I'll rebuild it for you."

Jiang Si nodded solemnly, "Yes, you guys handle it."

She has more important things to do now.

Jiang Si went to find Guan Qian and got straight to the point: "I believe that in this society, the capable should be in charge. I have a lot of martial arts skills that should not be wasted. I wonder if I would be fortunate enough to join your Special Affairs Department?"

The sign outside the Special Affairs Office reads "Historical Research Center," while inside are elites sent from various departments and factions.

As for Jiang Si's current Qingqiu Sect, she didn't participate at all because of Qin Zhi's arrogance.

"Welcome to the team. On behalf of the Special Affairs Department, I welcome you." Guan Qian smiled sincerely, a rare occurrence for him.

"Okay, are there any missions coming up?" Jiang Si asked.

Jiang Si felt that she couldn't just rely on handling business whenever she encountered it. If she had to say where the business was most extensive, it would definitely be the Special Affairs Department.

Anything that cannot be handled will be transferred to the Special Affairs Department.

Jiang Si's assistance to the police station on several occasions has been documented at the special affairs office.

The more work you do, the more merit you accumulate.

Guan Qian was having a headache when he said, "But there just happens to be one."

He tossed a document to Jiang Si.

According to the following report, strange disappearances have occurred in the Southwest Province.

It was a small village where the people had lived their whole lives. The most they ever did was fight with each other, and there were no other major conflicts.

But recently, for some reason, people have started going missing in their village.

There's only one road leading out of their village. After a short stretch of mountain road, you reach the main road, where there are two 24-hour security cameras.

But after searching everywhere, they couldn't find a single trace.

The village has a small population.

At first, no one took it seriously. The village was small, and it was normal for the young people to be restless; perhaps they had gone to work outside without saying goodbye.

Even if they can't get in touch, they'll just think it's because they don't want to have any more contact with poor places and want to sever all ties completely.

But what happened next sent chills down their spines.

It's one thing for young people to go out and explore the world, but why are octogenarians and 90-year-olds going out too?

The person who recently went missing was a villager receiving the five guarantees (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and

I have no children and will live my whole life alone. I am grateful to the government; although I am lazy, at least I won't starve.

When the village secretary went to check on him, he was surprised to find that there was only half a bowl of leftover rice left in his room, and the man was gone.

At such an advanced age, and with mobility issues, where can she go?

To put it bluntly, even if someone is trafficked, they have no value. They can't work, and it's a miracle if their heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys can barely keep them alive.

They searched the entire village but couldn't find a single trace.

They even searched the mountains, but couldn't find it.

The villagers began to feel afraid.

After discussing it, they called the police.

The local police station didn't take it seriously at first, but after organizing a search party for more than half a month, they still couldn't find a single clue.

In their search for him, they even searched the bottom of the cliff.

The local police station also did not believe that it was done by people from their village, otherwise they would not have called the police.

A small village can't hide anything from everyone.

To put it bluntly, it's not worth causing chaos in the whole village because of a terminally ill person receiving government assistance.

After searching for half a month without finding any clues, the local police station withdrew.

Strange things happened again after the police station withdrew.

Er Mazi from the village has also disappeared.

Er Mazi was the kind of local thug who was lazy and idle, never did anything productive, spent his days drinking and smoking, never got married, and when he ran out of money, he would go out to work as a bricklayer for a couple of days before continuing to eat, drink, and have fun.

Even if someone is not a good person, they are not so bad that everyone dislikes them.

After all, he only harmed himself.

The local police station was terrified, sensing that what was happening inside might be beyond their control.

So the matter was reported, and eventually it came to Guan Qian's attention.

It was also discovered that the young man who was initially identified was also missing.

In today's online society, there is absolutely no trace of its social origin.

He's not a fugitive, there's no need for this.

They located the last cell tower that transmitted their mobile phones, confirming it was in their village.

The police station did not tell the villagers about this, for fear of causing greater panic.

“A village with a total population of only two hundred, fifteen people missing, that’s very serious,” Jiang Si said. “I’ve taken the order, I’ll go check it out.”

"When you come back, we'll throw you a welcome ceremony," Guan Qian said.

"Is there a salary?" Jiang Si asked.

Although she came with the intention of accumulating merit, she still had to make a living, and she had not yet reached the state of fasting.

"Yes, there are also five social insurances and two housing funds. In the event of death, there are also pensions and funeral expenses."

Jiang Si thought about her older brother, Qin Zhi, and figured he probably wouldn't be interested in such a paltry sum.

As she walked out the door, Jiang Si turned back and asked, "They'll reimburse your round-trip travel expenses, right?"

“Okay,” Guan Qian paused for a moment and then said, “You are a junior employee now, so you can only travel in second class on the high-speed rail, not by plane.”

Jiang Si: "..."

Okay, it's not impossible.