“Uncle Zhao!” Xiang Ning’s voice was slightly raised, but Uncle Zhao continued promoting his granddaughter. He was a completely different person from the cool hero who had killed a tier seven Beast King in one fell swoop of his knife. 

Everyone else was speechless, their impression of one of the Eight Pillars, one of the most powerful men alive, crumbling. 

“Don’t you think it makes sense? I was the one who raised you, so I know you well. I think you’ll match well with my granddaughter. Don’t worry, our family came from nothing, too, we definitely don’t care about family background,” Uncle Zhao nagged. 

Xiang Ning looked at him with a smile. There was a saying that ginger was the spiciest when it was oldest. When Uncle Zhao saw that the kid had been stunned speechless by his words, he was sure that the kid must be somewhat convinced. But in the next moment… 

“Hey, hey, hey, Xiang Ning, don’t go! We can talk this through, it’s fine if you refuse. Come, come, come. We need to talk about your task.” When Uncle Zhao saw Xiang Ning suddenly turn to leave, he broke character and relented, saying that he would stop matchmaking him. 

Xiang Ning stopped walking. 

When Dong Qianyi saw that, he put down his phone and coughed, turning to the main control panel. He pushed a button and a ray of light appeared, projecting the map of Hang City’s surrounding regions. 

A purplish red dot blinked in a more obscure corner. 

“Do you see that?” 

“Mm, what’s that?” asked Xiang Ning, he had a bad feeling. 

Dong Qianyi didn’t answer. He tapped again and the image zoomed in. This time, Xiang Ning was shocked by the hundreds and thousands of data strings appearing to the left of the screen. He started frowning, the numbers reflecting off his pupils. 

“What’s all this? Why’re these datasets all related to dimensional technology?” he asked, puzzled. 

Dong Qianyi nodded, then his fingers flew across the keyboard so quickly they blurred. But no one noticed; their attention was on the data on the screen along with a blurred image. 

“A dimensional rift? Wormhole? Interdimensional bridge?” Xiang Ning guessed several phenomena that could explain the numbers, shock written all over his face. “Unbelievable. Unbelievable indeed.” 

The following pictures were all of a peculiar beast. 

“This is a.…” Xiang Ning wasn’t sure because he hadn’t seen one like this even after reading so much about beasts—this one really was different. 

“We don’t know either. All we know is that it’s probably related to this interdimensional wormhole, so we must investigate it,” Uncle Zhao said. 

A beast that even a master of Uncle Zhao’s level couldn’t recognize? Xiang Ning was weirded out, especially when he could feel a slight change in his Devourer when he looked at the beast. 

That beast was blue and gray all over, but shrouded in a black mist in the few pictures. Xiang Ning was reminded of the Octoviolet Silversnake, Balamu, it was also a beast who could produce a mist like that.

After looking at all the images, he didn’t speak, but waited for the others to speak instead. There was some silence, then, finally, Uncle Zhao said, “Xiang Ning, this mission will be very dangerous, as well as a test for you. As long as you succeed, the benefits to your future will exceed your imagination. And even if you fail, if you return alive, the Federation will still treat you well. Your sister, too.” 

“With you here, do you still need me?” Xiang Ning asked, puzzled. There was a master who could kill a tier seven Beast King in one move there, why did they need him? 

“I can’t stay here for long, or in two days’ time, a beast of the same tier as me will emerge from the depths of the wilderness,” said Uncle Zhao. 

Xiang Ning had some understanding of the concept. High-tier beasts were more intelligent than others, especially when they were tier nine and above. They were as intelligent as human beings. The most powerful elites of beast and man were banned from appearing on the battlefield, because it would be too destructive. If they were to truly fight, it would be apocalyptic and the collateral damage would be immense. They would all be on the path to extinction. 

Thus, both sides had determined that masters of tier eight and above weren’t allowed to appear on the battlefield for no good reason. That explained why no matter how intense the battles got, the powerful tier eight and nine masters on both sides still wouldn’t appear.

“Because you’re the most suitable. You’re strong on paper, and most importantly, you have that breathing technique that instantly elevates your cultivation. Anyone of tier seven or above will be stopped by tier seven beasts before they even enter the wilderness. So, you’re the only one suitable for this.”

“And I’ll be going alone?” 

“No, we’ll pick suitable people to form a team. All you have to do is rest and heal well. During this time, we’ll send you various resources to help with your recovery,” said Dong Qianyi. 

Xiang Ning agreed to take the mission. He really wanted to go investigate the mysterious beast. Just why had this beast, specifically, evoked a reaction from his Devourer? As for recovery, he said, “You don’t have to. Just give me two days and I’ll recover.” 

“Are you sure?” Dong Qianyi, Chen Tianhua, and Uncle Zhao didn’t believe him. Only one person believed him, and that was Alia. While no one else was paying attention, she smirked. 

Xiang Ning nodded. He didn’t want to scare them, so he couldn’t immediately recover. Why did he choose two days? They needed time to pick people, and he wanted to take a look at their choices. 

They finished the discussion fairly quickly. He was about to leave when Chen Tianhua stopped him with a smile. “Now that you’re here, you might as well stay and help out with the research, what do you think?” 

“No, no, no, I don’t think I should rush it. My friends are still waiting for me, there’s so much I want to talk to them about,” he said. 

“No, no, no. I think you have a lot of time. You can always talk to them later, but our research project is going to be completed soon. Isn’t it better if we finish sooner?” Dong Qianyi arrived, and the two prodigies sandwiched Xiang Ning in the middle, grinning. 

Xiang Ning was speechless. 

“Actually, I can come again later.” 

“Hehe, we think you can leave later.” 

“I think you guys are forcing me to stay.” 

“Since you know that, then don’t you think of leaving. You won’t be able to.” 

They were bullying him!

Accept your fate, there is no running from the two of them