Inside the Principal's office at Qingfeng Camp, the Principal sat with Vice Principals Han Chongshan and Fang Qingyu, meeting the members of the Green Kill Squad who had just returned from their expedition.
Representing the team were Captain Cao Xingshi and two of his most capable subordinates.
As the captain of the Green Kill Squad, Cao Xingshi was naturally qualified to sit on the sofa opposite the three leaders. Beneath his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was cold and stern. Despite the successful completion of their mission and the wealth of spoils they had brought back, there was not the slightest trace of pride or arrogance on his face.
Standing behind him were two handsome young men in their twenties.
The first had short, soft hair and a gentle smile. He was the vice-captain of the Green Kill Squad, Bai Lian.
The other had the bearing of a noble young master. He had fair skin and a tear mole beneath his right eye. His name was Xiahou Ling, a direct descendant of the prestigious Xiahou Family of Lujiang City.
The Principal leaned on his cane and looked at Cao Xingshi.
"You've brought back a considerable amount of spoils from the No. 92 Battlefield Ruins. You have made an invaluable contribution to the Empire."
Cao Xingshi replied calmly, "Those were merely the legacies left behind by our predecessors who died defending the country. As their successors, recovering those resources and collecting their remains for proper burial is simply our duty."
The Principal nodded with satisfaction.
He was quite pleased with Cao Xingshi's attitude.
"For the next few months, stay at Qingfeng Camp and get some proper rest. Convert the spoils you've obtained into combat strength. The sharpest blade of my Qingfeng Camp cannot be used endlessly. If it gets damaged, I'll be heartbroken."
Cao Xingshi nodded.
"Level 5 missions can be put on hold for now, but we can still spare some manpower for smaller Level 4 missions. Consider it training. If we don't fight for too long, our skills will inevitably become rusty."
After saying that, Cao Xingshi suddenly rested his chin on his clasped hands and looked seriously at the Principal.
"By the way, Your Excellency, I heard that some exceptional talents have arrived at Qingfeng Camp this year. Apparently, there are even two A-rank talents?"
Bai Lian and Xiahou Ling, who were standing behind him, also revealed curious expressions.
Recruiting two A-rank talents in a single year was an astonishing achievement for the current Qingfeng Camp.
Ten years ago, during the Demon Sealing War, Lujiang City had been one of the main battlefields. The city had suffered enormous destruction, and Qingfeng Camp had lost more than seventy percent of its forces.
The camp was no longer what it had once been.
Because of its decline, attracting truly outstanding talents had become increasingly difficult.
Even when talented recruits appeared, many of them were eventually taken away by the much stronger Sharp Metal Camp in Qingzhou.
A smug smile appeared on the Principal's face.
Seeing that expression, the three members of the Green Kill Squad became even more certain that this year's recruitment had been extremely successful.
After all, the old man rarely showed such an expression.
"It is indeed true that we recruited two A-rank talents," the Principal said. "However, their circumstances are somewhat special."
"But the person who surprised me the most is actually a trainee with E-rank talent."
Cao Xingshi and the others were stunned.
"E-rank?"
Although they didn't believe that talent was the only factor determining a person's future achievements, the reality was that among the Empire's advanced Spirit Power Users, those with higher-ranked talents occupied the overwhelming majority.
E-rank was the lowest level of spiritual talent.
For someone with E-rank talent to even enter Qingfeng Camp could already be considered a miracle.
"Is there something special about this person?" Cao Xingshi asked curiously.
The Principal exchanged glances with Han Chongshan and Fang Qingyu.
All three revealed faint smiles.
Zhao Mu had almost been taken away by the Beitang Royal Clan.
However, for some unknown reason, Zhao Mu had ultimately chosen to remain at Qingfeng Camp.
"His name is Zhao Mu," the Principal said. "He's a First-Level Jinhai Master."
"You must keep this information confidential. The time isn't right to make it public yet."
The three members of the Green Kill Squad were stunned.
Even people as experienced as them couldn't help but show shock.
"A First-Level... Jinhai Master?"
"You're talking about a new recruit?"
They almost wondered whether they had misheard.
Jinhai Master was one of the most obscure yet noble professions in the entire world.
The reason was simple.
The only things capable of properly containing Spiritual Ability were Spirit Power Users themselves.
Therefore, in order to create ember remains, one first needed to hunt living exotic beasts or members of the Dark Races and obtain their materials.
Obtaining those materials was already extremely difficult.
But that wasn't even the hardest part.
The production process was far more demanding.
Within a space no larger than a fingernail, a Jinhai Master had to engrave a complicated Spirit Rune Diagram consisting of tens of thousands of intricate pathways.
There could be absolutely no mistakes.
Even the slightest error would cause the entire material to be ruined.
People had naturally considered using high-precision machinery to solve this problem.
However, no matter how advanced the machines became, they could never guarantee absolute precision throughout the entire process.
Eventually, humanity reached an unavoidable conclusion.
Only the most precise "machine" created by the Creator himself—the human body—could truly master this technique.
Therefore, an excellent Jinhai Master often needed years of practice.
Many Jinhai Masters spent their entire lives trapped at the First Level, yet they were still highly respected.
Even a legendary genius in this field would usually require one or two years of training before successfully becoming a First-Level Jinhai Master.
Yet Zhao Mu had joined Qingfeng Camp only four months ago.
And he had already become one.
Cao Xingshi couldn't help pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"How is that possible?"
The Principal chuckled.
"His ability seems to allow him to adapt to skills that require basic operations several times faster than ordinary people."
"Although his talent for controlling Spiritual Ability may be mediocre, when it comes to work that requires experience and repeated practice, he's an absolute genius."
The Principal had carefully studied the Demon Clown's abilities.
At first, he had even suspected that something had gone wrong when Zhao Mu's talent was classified as E-rank.
But later, after learning that Zhao Mu had only managed to break through to the Private Rank by consuming four or five times more spirit source than ordinary people, the Principal finally felt relieved.
E-rank talent did not mean that there was no path forward.
It simply meant that the path was much more difficult.
People with E-rank talent needed far greater resources and much more time to achieve the same results as those with higher-ranked talents.
Marquis Changfeng, one of the Empire's Four Pillars, was the clearest example of this.
Cao Xingshi's expression became serious.
"This is excellent news. With another First-Level Jinhai Master at Qingfeng Camp, the restoration of our ember remains will become much faster."
"Relying solely on Teacher Liang and Gu Ningli has indeed been a little slow."
The Principal nodded.
"Exactly."
He then smiled.
"Afterward, go find Teacher Liang. The equipment you're carrying also needs to be repaired."
Cao Xingshi nodded.
"Understood."
...
The following day.
After agreeing to set out tomorrow, Zhao Mu went to the Engineering Department.
He wanted to say goodbye to Liang Gongchi and ask him a few questions before leaving.
When Zhao Mu arrived at the Engineering Department, he immediately heard the familiar sound of metal being struck.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Looking over, he saw Xia Lingling hammering away at a pile of materials.
Her progress had been extremely rapid.
By now, she had already mastered most of the fundamentals of Spirit Pattern Engraving.
If she continued at her current pace, she would likely be able to successfully become a First-Level Jinhai Master by the end of the year.
Looking at the entire Jinhai Master profession, such an achievement could already be described as astonishing.
She was undoubtedly a genius.
Of course...
Compared with a certain monster who could quantify proficiency and continuously improve without limit, Xia Lingling's progress seemed somewhat ordinary.
Zhao Mu couldn't help smiling.
The difference between people really was enormous.
While Xia Lingling continued hammering away at her materials, Gu Ningli was also in the studio.
She was pushing a cart loaded with ember-remain materials toward her personal workshop.
Seeing Zhao Mu, she stopped.
"Junior Brother, you're here?"
Zhao Mu looked at the mountain of materials on the cart.
"Senior Sister, what are you so busy with? Why do you have so many materials?"
Gu Ningli glanced at the pile before answering.
"The Green Kill Squad has returned."
"That means we'll soon receive a large batch of new materials."
"On top of that, I'm responsible for helping repair their ember remains, so I'll be extremely busy from now on."
As she spoke, a mischievous glint suddenly appeared in her eyes.
Then she smiled at Zhao Mu.
"But now..."
"Don't I have you, Junior Brother?"
"My workload is going to become much easier!"
Zhao Mu looked at her helplessly.
He suddenly had a bad feeling.
It seemed that coming to the Engineering Department to say goodbye had been the wrong decision.
He had originally planned to leave peacefully.
Instead, he had apparently walked straight into the workshop of a senior sister who had just discovered a free laborer.
Gu Ningli smiled brightly.
"Junior Brother, since you're already here, don't just stand around."
"Come and help your Senior Sister."
Zhao Mu sighed.
It seemed that before leaving Qingfeng Camp, there was still plenty of work waiting for him.
And judging from the mountain of materials piled up in front of him...
His "Engineering Department mission" had probably just begun.
________________________________________
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