The subterranean cavern fell into a fragile, unnatural stillness, broken only by the hum of the auxiliary boiler systems and the hiss of fading sapphire steam.
The three black-ops engineering operatives from the Central Regulatory Bureau didn't lower their weapons. The heavy Kevlar ballistic masks hiding their faces made them look like faceless obsidian statues under the blinding crossfire of the halogen floodlights. The red laser targeting indicators from their tactical rifles painting Lin Fengās chest remained perfectly fixed, glowing brightly against the torn fabric of his shirt.
"Stand down, civilian!" the lead operative repeated, his voice modulated into a flat, synthetic bark through his throat microphone. "This installation is now classified under Subsection 9 of national infrastructure crisis protocols. Any unregistered extraction of geological resources will be treated as subversion."
Lin Feng adjusted the strap of his backpack over his right shoulder, his fingers casually brushing the fabric. His pulse didn't experience a single spike, remaining flat and rhythmic. To his newly expanded
Qi Circulation
awareness, the three men weren't an elite government strike team; they were simply minor obstacles in a shifting landscape.
"National infrastructure," Lin Feng murmured, his voice laced with a subtle, spatial vibration that caused the pools of liquid Qi on the granite floorboards to ripple outward. "You gentlemen are running an errand for a bureau that won't exist six months from now. The codes you're reciting are written on dry paper. The power that's awakening beneath this mountain is written in tectonic fire."
"Alpha 3, suppress the target!" the lead operative commanded, realizing the youth had no intention of dropping his gear.
The operative on the left shifted his stance, his gloved index finger tightening against the trigger group of his specialized weapon. It wasn't a standard ballistic rifle; it was a pneumatically driven containment launcher designed to deploy high-tensile carbon-fiber netting laced with localized paralytic neurotoxins. The weapon fired with a loud, metallic
thunk
.
A wide, overlapping web of black mesh tore through the misty air, expanding rapidly to seal Lin Feng within a three-meter suppression pocket.
Lin Feng didn't retreat. He didn't execute a fluid movement to slide beneath the trajectory.
As the chemical-laced mesh came within twelve inches of his face, Lin Feng simply extended his bare right arm, making a short, outward slicing motion with his hand. He didn't activate an external Qi shield or manifest a flashy martial art. He merely allowed the newly forged, liquid current of Qi circulating through his
Ren Channel
to overflow into his fingertips, generating a razor-sharp wave of compressed air pressure.
Screeechārip!
The high-tensile carbon-fiber netting, designed to immobilize mutated wildlife and rogue martial practitioners, was cleanly sliced down the center as if it were nothing more than wet paper. The two severed halves of the mesh flew harmlessly past Lin Fengās flanks, splashing into the muddy drainage trench behind him.
The three operatives froze, their internal helmet readouts instantly flashing with error variances. The optical tracking systems built into their visors failed to calculate how a bare human hand could generate enough mechanical torque to shear corporate composite alloys without a single trace of gunpowder or heat residue.
"Target possesses anomalous combat attributes!" the lead operative yelled into his squad loop. "Switch to live kinetic rounds! Fire at the lower extremities!"
Pop-pop-pop-pop!
The cavern erupted into a rapid, rhythmic sequence of suppressed gunfire. High-velocity armor-piercing rounds tore through the white fog, tracking toward Lin Fengās knees and shins with lethal precision.
But to Lin Feng's upgraded senses as a true
Qi Circulation
cultivator, the ballistic sequence unfolded with absolute clarity. The bullets weren't invisible streaks of lead; they were sluggish projectiles dragging long, turbulent wakes through the humid air.
Lin Feng took his first step forward.
The movement was so compact, so fluid, that his silhouette appeared to split into three separate reflections within the crossfire of the halogen lamps. He didn't use a flashy speed art; his physical velocity simply outpaced the mechanical tracking rate of the bureauās automated firearms.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
A series of sharp, metallic sparks detonated against the concrete floor blocks. The armor-piercing rounds struck nothing but empty mist and broken stones, their copper jackets flattening against the granite as Lin Feng closed the ten-meter distance in a fraction of a second.
He appeared directly in front of the lead operative, his porcelain-smooth hand shooting out from beneath his sleeve to grip the barrel of the tactical rifle.
"Your targeting parameters are too linear," Lin Feng said softly, his face inches from the operative's black ballistic mask.
With a simple, casual twist of his wrist, Lin Feng flexed his forearm. The reinforced steel alloy barrel of the tactical rifle was violently bent into a perfect ninety-degree angle, the internal mechanics of the firing chamber warping and cracking under the immense pressure of his grip like soft modeling clay.
The lead operativeās eyes widened behind his visor in absolute, primal terror. Before he could reach for the sidearm secured to his utility belt, Lin Feng delivered a compact, open-palm strike to the center of his chest.
Thump.
The strike carried no flash, but the pay-off was devastating. A controlled burst of liquid Qi traveled through the operative's tactical body armor, completely disrupting his internal neural network without breaking a single rib. The man let out a short, choked gasp, his knees instantly buckling as his nervous system went into total shock. He dropped straight down onto the stone floor, unconscious.
The remaining two black-ops enforcers didn't attempt to fire their weapons. Their training was elite, but their psychology was built on the laws of modern physics. Seeing a human youth catch armor-piercing rounds with his movement and twist military-grade steel with his bare fingers shattered their operational protocols.
They backed away simultaneously, their rifles lowering as they adopted a defensive stance near the basement exit stairs.
"Who... who are you?" the second operative stammered, his synthetic throat mic cracking with a sudden, uncontrollable tremor. "The regional database doesn't log an independent Grandmaster within three hundred kilometers of Jiangnan Province. Are you an internal asset from the Capital's Central Sanctuary?"
Lin Feng didn't pursue them. He stood at the center of the misty room, his breathing calm, his posture straight and blade-like under the red strobe lights. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, unbranded electronic data drive he had prepared earlier. He tossed it casually across the floorboards, the plastic casing sliding to a stop near the operative's tactical boots.
"Take that drive back to your bureau directors," Lin Feng commanded, his voice carrying a deep, spatial resonance that caused the iron ventilation grates above them to hum in sympathy. "Inside, you will find the complete structural mapping of the next three fault line ruptures that will occur in the western sector of Huaxia. Tell them to stop wasting their tactical units trying to containerize the dragon heads. Tell them to begin evacuating the low-lying populations before the winter solstice."
The second operative looked down at the data drive, then back up at Lin Feng's vacant, bottomless eyes. He didn't ask questions. He knew that the individual standing before them operated on a plane of authority that made their regulatory charters look like children's toys.
He bent down, scooped the drive into his tactical pouch, and grabbed the arms of his unconscious squad leader, dragging him toward the concrete stairwell. Within seconds, the rapid, retreating footfalls of the two remaining enforcers faded into the upper levels of the estate, leaving the basement cavern in perfect silence once more.
Lin Feng turned back to the open spiritual well. The column of crystalline sapphire vapor had completely settled, its energy anchored and circulating smoothly within his own
Dantian
.
A mishap had brought the Central Bureau to his doorstep ahead of the historical schedule, but the outcome had left him with a clean stage and a direct line into the highest regulatory networks of the country.
He picked up his backpack from the floor, slung it over his shoulder, and walked toward the dark drainage culvert. The first phase of his foundation was absolute, and the undefeated path toward the apex of New Huaxia was calling him further into the broken horizon.