162: Chapter 162 The Storm Is Brewing

The Wang family, inner residence.

Second Elder Wang Chong sat in his study, a map of the North spread out before him.

The map marked Beimang Mountain, the Rift, the Wuji Army encampment, Zhenhuang Pass, and several other key locations.

He held a pen in his hand and drew a circle on the map. The location circled was the Wuji Army.

His lieutenant stood nearby, reporting in a low voice, "There are thirteen beams of light in total. The first one to light up was the Wuji Army encampment. The second was Zhenhuang Pass."

Second Elder Wang Chong's pen paused.

Hmm?

These two places.

Qin Ce!!!

The first two beams of light were actually both related to this Qin Ce?

Zhenhuang Pass, that was something he had personally handed over to Qin Ce.

The Wuji Army, that was something he had personally stuffed Qin Ce into.

Second Elder Wang Chong put down his pen and leaned back into his chair. His expression betrayed no emotion, but the knuckles of the hand resting on the armrest were slightly white.

"Qin Ce…" He whispered the name, as if chewing on a bitter pill.

The lieutenant dared not respond.

He knew how sensitive the family head was to this name.

That young man had stolen Wang Zhuo's glory, snatched away Wang Zhuo's opportunity, forced the Wang family to give up a massive amount of privileges, and even occupied the mountain pass that the Wang family had controlled for so long.

"This is a very bad omen," Second Elder Wang Chong said. His voice was calm, but the lieutenant could hear the chill beneath that calmness.

The lieutenant kept his head down, waiting for what followed.

"The progress of suppressing Qin Ce must be accelerated." Second Elder Wang Chong picked up his pen and drew a few more circles on the map. "Stall the handover of Zhenhuang Pass. Delay his businesses whenever possible, block them whenever you can. As for the Wuji Army—"

He paused, tapping the tip of his pen on the map. "Isn't he leading troops? Let him lead. Give him the difficult tasks in the North."

The lieutenant acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Second Elder Wang Chong sat in the study, looking at the positions of the thirteen beams of light on the map.

This was an opportunity!

This time, he absolutely could not…

He picked up his pen, drew a circle around Qin Ce's name, and then heavily crossed it out.

The North, Wuji Army encampment.

Qin Ce stood before the window. The crystal in his palm was no longer burning hot, but the silvery halo inside it was much more active than before, like a beating heart.

Tianlu crouched at his feet, its golden eyes watching the direction where the beam of light had dissipated. On its little face was an expression Qin Ce had never seen before—not excitement, not curiosity, but a quiet, certain "as expected."

Qin Ce looked down at it.

He suddenly thought of something.

Tianlu's treasure draw this time had happened to pull out this crystal.

Was it a coincidence, or had its talent, "Heavenly Fortune Transforming Wealth," sensed something in the dark?

And to draw something related to the ruins on the very first try after arriving.

Could it be that these ruins were extremely important to him!

Qin Ce took a deep breath, put away the crystal, and turned to walk toward the door.

In the hallway, Lei Gang was standing there, at a loss.

He had heard the commotion upstairs—the beam of light, the thunderous boom, and that aura that had made his legs go weak.

He didn't know what had happened, but he knew that everything was related to the captain upstairs.

"Come in." Qin Ce opened the door and beckoned Lei Gang inside.

Lei Gang entered the room and followed Qin Ce to the bedside, where Tianlu was lying lazily at his feet.

The sky outside the window had returned to normal, gray and overcast, just like every other day in the North.

But Lei Gang knew that he would never forget that beam of light for the rest of his life.

"Captain, that just now was…"

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't." Qin Ce's voice was not heavy, but Lei Gang immediately shut his mouth.

He stood there like a prisoner waiting for sentencing.

Qin Ce looked at him, sizing him up from head to toe.

Lei Gang's body was better than it had been yesterday; his belly had shrunk a size, his limbs were thicker, and his complexion was no longer that sallow yellow, showing a hint of healthy color.

The energy of being Reborn had circulated through his body for the whole night, and the results were even better than he had anticipated.

"Sit." Qin Ce pointed to the chair opposite him.

Lei Gang sat down, his back straight.

"I've already spoken about your constitution. Your spleen and stomach are too strong, suppressing your other organs. I am treating you now, but treatment only addresses the symptoms. To address the root cause, you need to train yourself." Qin Ce picked up a piece of paper from the side, which was filled with tiny, fly-like characters. "This is the cultivation method for the Seven Kills Chaos Shun-Character Technique. Practicing this will mobilize the stagnant primordial energy in your body and distribute it to your limbs and torso. Once you master it, your constitution will be three to five times stronger than an ordinary person's."

Lei Gang took the paper, his hand trembling slightly.

He remembered yesterday, when choosing the beast egg, Qin Ce had told him to put down the one in his hand and switch to the third one.

He had switched.

When forming the contract, the Black Iron War Ape had leaped from Silver to Gold.

At that moment, he knew that following this person, just obeying, was enough.

"Thank you, Captain." Lei Gang's voice was a bit hoarse.

Qin Ce waved his hand, signaling that he could go.

Lei Gang stood up, walked to the door, paused, turned around, and moved his lips as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he just bowed deeply and then turned and left.

Qin Ce watched his back disappear into the hallway without saying a word.

Tianlu rolled over at his feet, exposing its belly, and let out a "meow" sound.

Qin Ce looked down at it, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly, but then his expression sank again.

He walked to the window and looked at the sky in the North.

The beam of light had dissipated, but he had memorized the location where the door had appeared.

Directly above Beimang Mountain, to the southeast of the Rift.

On the map, that location was an uninhabited zone.

No mineral veins, no water sources, no ferocious beasts, nothing at all.

But now, there was a door there.

A door that had not yet been opened.

A door that required thirteen keys to open.

This news would likely spread throughout Fengling City very soon.

When that time comes…

Qin Ce took the crystal out from his bosom and held it up before his eyes.

The jade-white crystal emitted a warm, gentle luster under the gray daylight, and the silvery halo inside flowed slowly, like a sleeping life.

Thirteen beams of light, thirteen keys.

He had one in his hand.

The other twelve would inevitably appear one by one in the days to come.

By then, the North would surely become lively.

Although the Wang family occupied the advantage of territory.

However, the incident occurred within their own sphere of influence, and if things were destroyed, it wouldn't be their foundation.

So, for the Wang family, whether this was good or bad was truly hard to say.

As for himself, his power was the weakest, so naturally, the more chaotic it was, the better.

Qin Ce put the crystal into Tianlu's storage space and set the matter aside.

He called for the next person to come upstairs.

His own team also needed to accelerate forming combat capability.