Inside Miles Ning's apartment, in the living room.
Tick, tick.
The clock turned, its hands pointing to ten o'clock in the morning.
Miles Ning leisurely picked up a book, flipped through it twice, glanced at the door, and a faint indifference traced his wrinkled old face.
"A disciple must experience life-and-death trials."
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, but in reality, you seriously lack self-confidence. A Peerless Prodigy without confidence—what future can you talk about? If you falter halfway, your talent will inevitably fall away."
He fell silent for a moment.
He sighed, closed his eyes, and shut the book in his hands.
The book's cover was simple, and the title stood out: 'Friends or Foes—The Joy and Pain of Children's Social Lives.'
......
Andrew Han stood outside the door in the stairwell, lost in thought, holding a worn backpack that wasn't heavy but made his heart feel weighted.
Naturally, it was because of the mission he was about to undertake.
A clearing-type mission meant that every demon and specter lurking in the township had to be eliminated—none could be spared.
Swish.
He took out a device shaped like a smartphone—the Martial Communicator.
This communicator had a smooth, sturdy screen, about six inches long, weighed ten times more than an ordinary smartphone, and came with fingerprint unlocking.
Only the Martial Artist owner's fingerprint could unlock it.
Click.
Andrew Han unlocked the communicator. The screen displayed a clean, elegant layout with only two round icons, left and right: Mission and Contact.
Ding-dong.
When he tapped on the Mission icon, he saw that he had already accepted a clearing-type task. Next to it was his realm information: First Rank Limit.
What baffled Andrew Han most was that he could edit his realm information himself—each year, he could raise it by one stage: First Rank to Martial Artist, Martial Artist to Martial Lord, and so on. But he felt something was off; in this information-age Martial Arts World, things weren't as fantastical as he'd imagined.
"But still—"
"What if someone advances two stages in a year?" Andrew Han tried tapping around but couldn't find any customer service option. Clearly, when they designed the system, they hadn't considered this possibility.
No matter how extraordinary one's talent, it's almost impossible to break through two realms in a single year.
Oh well.
Better check the mission details first.
After getting a basic sense of how to use the communicator, Andrew Han focused on the mission details, and his brows immediately furrowed.
Mission type: clearing and extermination.
Muquan Township's Guardian has died. Several specters are suspected to be hiding in the township. At least two Martial Artists are invited to assist in the investigation and swiftly eliminate the specters. The mission reward is one million Sinovera yuan.
......
Silence.
Andrew Han checked the mission issuer and let out a sigh.
The stairwell was utterly quiet. Sunlight streamed through the glass window, falling on his expressionless face, tinged with a faint sadness.
Muquan Township is a rural area under the jurisdiction of Riverdale.
As for the mission issuer, it was, of course, his master—Miles Ning.
Clack.
Andrew Han walked down the stairs directly to the entrance, pushed the door open, and stepped outside.
Since this was Miles Ning's arrangement, it couldn't possibly be a death trap. Besides, his true combat power should far exceed Miles Ning's expectations.
If necessary, he could always unleash his Berserker State.
Suddenly—
The communicator vibrated twice. Andrew Han took it out and, seeing the screen, immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Another Martial Artist had accepted the mission—a Middle Martial Artist named Tanya Li, who had once fought alongside him in Sunfield Township.
"Thank goodness I'm not alone."
"I'll ask Tanya Li later if she has any good ideas. The Guardian of Muquan is dead; it's best if we clear the township together."
With this in mind—
Andrew Han put away the communicator, preparing to head home.
......
Late morning.
The sun hung just above the horizon, not yet hot.
From time to time, birds flew past, and kittens and puppies wandered about. The residential estate was filled with a tranquil, leisurely charm.
"Hey, May Lin, how have you been lately?"
Linda Chen held her phone, calling her old friend May Lin in distant Greenfield City. She chatted about her son Andrew Han's recent changes, and in the middle, asked about Miles Ning's background.
She didn't know, and couldn't find anything online either.
But May Lin was a chairwoman controlling hundreds of billions in financial flows—second only to Vincent Wen. And her husband, Mark Jiang, was a top official in Greenfield City, surely aware of Miles Ning's rank before retirement.
"What?"
"You don't know either?"
Linda Chen was stunned by the puzzled answer.
She had thought Miles Ning was a retired senior official from Jiangnan Province—could he be even higher? She kept chatting with May Lin, her curiosity gradually fading as she lost interest in investigating further.
Clearly—