Zheng Dong did not refuse Li Jun's offer. If things didn't work out at the Special Operations Bureau, he could always try the Security Bureau.
After exchanging contact information with Li Jun, he returned to the training center.
On the first floor of the training center, there was mud everywhere from the receding floodwaters. Most of the students were on the second and third floors, awaiting rescue.
These students, like Zheng Dong, had returned to the training center before the flood.
However, the current problem was how to get back.
Not only were the buses gone, but some of the roads had also been washed away by the flood.
The Beast Taming Corps and the Security Bureau were busy rescuing the injured and searching for those swept away by the flood, so no one was paying attention to them for the moment.
Zheng Dong also missed his bed at home.
Although the training was supposed to end tomorrow morning, after this incident, everyone wanted to go home as soon as possible.
Moreover, it was getting dark.
Not long after, Zheng Dong saw Ning Wei, Bei Wen, and others. He walked over and quickly learned from Ning Wei that their class was fortunate enough to have almost everyone return safely.
However, neither Ning Wei nor Bei Wen had a way to get back.
Ning Wei couldn't get through to his father's phone, and while Bei Wen had contacted his father, his father was on a private jet flying to the capital for business.
As for Yu Qian, it was even more impossible.
"Brother Dong, do you have a way to get back?" Ning Wei asked, looking exhausted.
He was exhausted and just wanted to go home.
Bei Wen and Yu Qian also looked at Zheng Dong.
Soon, they all realized that Zheng Dong's parents were missing, so what possible way could he have?
Zheng Dong was silent for a moment and said,
"I'll try!"
Ning Wei and the others thought they had misheard.
But the next second, Zheng Dong directly called Li Jun.
At this moment, Li Jun was very happy.
Because of the information provided by Zheng Dong, they had identified the true identity of the fake cook and quickly found his residence, obtaining some important clues.
Seeing Zheng Dong's call, Li Jun answered without hesitation.
This was his lucky star!
"Brother Zheng Dong, what's up? I just got some clues. Are you interested in taking a look together?"
Zheng Dong didn't want to get involved in these matters for the time being, as it was too dangerous. He needed to improve his strength.
So, Zheng Dong said,
"Brother Li, I have other matters to attend to, so I won't be participating for now. Can you find someone to send me back to the city?"
This was a trivial matter for Li Jun, and he agreed without thinking.
Not long after, the person arranged by Li Jun contacted Zheng Dong.
Zheng Dong then led Ning Wei and the others to meet them.
"Follow me, we should be able to get back!"
Ning Wei was stunned and hesitated before quickly asking,
"Brother Dong, are you kidding me?"
Bei Wen and Yu Qian also looked at Zheng Dong with suspicion.
"Of course not. If you don't want to go back, then forget it. I'm leaving!" Zheng Dong chuckled.
"Holy crap, as expected of Brother Dong! Let's go, let's go now." Ning Wei said excitedly.
The few of them followed Zheng Dong to the agreed meeting point, and soon, a Security Bureau helicopter flew over.
This time, Ning Wei and the others were even more astonished.
Holy crap, a Security Bureau helicopter, am I dreaming?
Bei Wen was also stunned.
What was going on? How could Zheng Dong mobilize a Security Bureau helicopter?
Yu Qian rubbed her head and suddenly felt that the world had changed. Zheng Dong's situation should have been worse than hers.
Zheng Dong didn't explain. He directly took the few of them onto the helicopter and returned to the city in Anhe District.
Then, everyone went their separate ways.
Back home, Zheng Dong didn't cultivate. He relaxed completely for the night, sleeping soundly until the next morning.
Only then did he see the message from the school.
"Due to special circumstances, the school will be temporarily closed for seven days. All students are to cultivate at home!"
This was not a bad thing for Zheng Dong.
He planned to have Xiao Zi improve its "Guiding Mine" skill to the proficient level, then learn "Super Vision," and if there was enough time, cultivate "Shadow Clone."
To accelerate his cultivation, Zheng Dong ordered more resources online and supplements to replenish his physical strength.
After two days of continuous cultivation, the "Guiding Mine" skill reached the proficient level.
With the proficient level "Guiding Mine" skill, the speed of condensing the "Guiding Bomb" was faster, and the consumption was lower, but the power was still similar to that of a regular grenade.
Perhaps the power of the "Guiding Bomb" would only increase after Xiao Zi's growth level increased.
Then, it took another day and a half for Xiao Zi to learn "Super Vision" and improve it to the skilled level.
This left less than three days.
It was impossible to cultivate the "Shadow Clone" skill to the divine-arrival level.
However, Zheng Dong was not idle. He continued to cultivate "Shattering Gold Claws," improving it from the skilled level to the proficient level.
The proficient level "Shattering Gold Claws" could unleash a full-power strike, bursting out five times the user's strength, further enhancing Xiao Zi's attack power.
For the remaining time, Zheng Dong chose to continue cultivating "Shadow Clone."
To cultivate "Shadow Clone" from the perfect level to the divine-arrival level, even with the skill domain talent activated, would take eight days.
If he used corresponding resources to cultivate, it would be faster. Zheng Dong planned to cultivate "Shadow Clone" while attending school for the next period until it reached the divine-arrival level.
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
Zheng Dong arrived at school.
In the morning, Principal Liu held a school-wide assembly for the wilderness training and commended Zheng Dong, rewarding him with a ten-year-old Enlightenment Flower.
In the afternoon, Wang Guixiang formulated training plans for each student.
However, Zheng Dong still intended to train in his own way.
After all, Teacher Wang Guixiang did not know about his skill domain talent, which could accelerate the cultivation of pet skills.
Finally, Teacher Wang Guixiang kept Zheng Dong, Bei Wen, and Luo Hao behind.
"Tomorrow, the school will organize you to go to the Hexi Ruins. After you return, it will likely be time for the internal ranking matches. Go home and prepare, you can buy more resources and take them in for cultivation!"
Zheng Dong and the others were a bit surprised.
In previous years, the internal ranking matches would start first, followed by the Hexi Ruins. This year, it was the other way around.
However, Teacher Wang Guixiang did not explain, and they did not ask.
Back home, Zheng Dong prepared to have Xiao Zi continue cultivating the "Shadow Clone" skill.
But before he finished dinner, there was a knock on the door.
Immediately, Tuo Qiong Lan's familiar voice came, "Zheng Dong, it's me!"
Zheng Dong was a little surprised. He didn't expect Tuo Qiong Lan to come to find him at this time.
"Sister Lan, are your injuries healed?" Zheng Dong asked as he opened the door.
Tuo Qiong Lan nodded slightly and walked into the house with Zheng Dong, sitting casually on the sofa.
"You surprised me this time by killing Gao Jian. You've avenged me and Yun Tao!"
Yun Tao's death made Tuo Qiong Lan feel very guilty.
Fortunately, Zheng Dong had dealt with Gao Jian, which made Tuo Qiong Lan feel much better.
She felt even more that she had not misjudged him, and Zheng Dong was worth her investment.
"Heh heh, if he hadn't been injured, I wouldn't have been able to kill him by luck!" Zheng Dong chuckled.
"Regardless, your contribution this time is great. I've applied for a reward for you. Your Treasure Hunting Rat doesn't have high energy value, does it? If it learns the Super Tier skill 'Earth Vein Resonance,' it can obtain a continuous supply of natural power on the ground!"
Saying that, Tuo Qiong Lan took out a skill inheritance pearl.
"Earth Vein Resonance" is a Super Tier skill of Earth, Metal, and Spirit elements. It can resonate with the earth veins to obtain a continuous supply of natural power.
Zheng Dong had heard of this Super Tier skill. Its value was at least thirty million, and it wasn't something that could be bought with money.
He didn't stand on ceremony and quickly accepted the skill inheritance pearl.
"Sister Lan, this is too unexpected. I truly want this skill!"
"Then let your Treasure Hunting Rat learn it as soon as possible. Don't waste my good intentions. Also, you have Gao Jian's talent pearl, right?" Tuo Qiong Lan continued.
As for the talent pearl, Zheng Dong had no intention of hiding it. It was impossible to hide it from Tuo Qiong Lan.
"Yes, it's with me!"
"Are you planning to hand it in to exchange for resources suitable for you, or keep it for yourself? If you keep it for yourself, you might face even more desperate retaliation from the Spirit God Cult!"
Zheng Dong hadn't expected that he could hand it in to exchange for other resources.
However, he had no intention of giving up the powerful talent of the Undead Battlefield.
As for the retaliation from the Spirit God Cult, they wouldn't let him go whether he had the talent pearl or not, so he didn't care.
So, Zheng Dong thought for a moment and said,
"Sister Lan, I plan to keep the talent pearl. I'll contract an undead-type pet in the future."
The Special Operations Bureau didn't have restrictions on contracting pets, so Tuo Qiong Lan didn't mind.
"Undead-type pet? I'll help you look for one when I have time. I have other things to do. If you need any resources, contact me by phone!"
After that, Tuo Qiong Lan left again, not staying for more than ten minutes.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to transfer ten million to Zheng Dong's account.
Heh heh, time to spend money again.
In addition to the money transferred by Tuo Qiong Lan, Zheng Dong also entrusted Ning Wei to sell some unused resources from the wilderness power protection, earning more than two million.
Unfortunately, orders placed online would only be delivered the next day.
He had to go to the Hexi Ruins tomorrow, so there wasn't enough time.
Thinking about it, Zheng Dong contacted Ning Wei and asked him to help purchase resources for Xiao Zi's cultivation and supplements for replenishing physical strength.
Ning Wei was stunned when he saw the shopping list Zheng Dong sent.
"Holy crap, Brother Dong actually takes supplements to cultivate. No wonder his progress is so rapid! No, I have to buy some too."
Then, Ning Wei gossipily told Bei Wen.
Bei Wen thought this was a good idea, and she wasn't short of money, so she also bought a bunch of Life Essence and Earth Marrow resources.
Not long after, Yu Qian also found out about this. She gritted her teeth, took out her pocket money, and also bought some.
The next morning, Zheng Dong arrived at school, and Ning Wei handed him the resources he had purchased.
"Brother Dong, you're really not being fair. You secretly take supplements to cultivate, and you don't tell me such a good method!" Ning Wei complained.
Zheng Dong suddenly felt a bit inexplicable. Do you think I want to take supplements? I'm forced to do it!
"This... my body is weak, I can't help it! You're so strong, you shouldn't need it!" Zheng Dong said. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Where am I strong? I'm weak too!" Ning Wei said impatiently.
This caused the surrounding students to look at them in surprise.
Bei Wen and Yu Qian, who were nearby, quickly moved away from the two of them.
Afterward, Zheng Dong, Bei Wen, and Luo Hao went to the assembly point, preparing to head to the Hexi Ruins.
As for Ning Wei and the others, they could only stay at school and cultivate with envy.
This trip to the Hexi Ruins was led by Principal Liu, with a total of thirty people, including the top three from each class.
The group took a bus and traveled for over an hour before arriving at the Hexi Ruins.
The Hexi Ruins was a fixed ruin that could not be moved.
The internal space was very large, and the concentration of natural power was dozens of times higher than in the outside world, so the cultivation speed was naturally much faster.
However, to cultivate inside, one still needed to undergo trials, and the level of the beast-taming space could not exceed level five. There was also a limit to the number of cultivators to avoid affecting the stability of the ruin space.
It was said that this ruin was originally a place chosen by the ancient totem kingdom to train beast tamers.
There were a total of ten trials. Passing one trial allowed one to cultivate in the ruin space for three days. If all ten trials were passed, one could cultivate for forty-nine days.
However, to date, no one had passed all ten trials consecutively.
In addition, besides cultivation, one could also search for resources.
It's just that most of the resources inside had already been taken when the ruins were deciphered. What was left depended on each person's ability.
After getting off the bus, Zheng Dong realized that it wasn't just their school that had come to the Hexi Ruins. All the advanced beast-taming middle schools in Anhe District had come, a total of three to four hundred people, making it very lively.
Principal Liu had already informed Zheng Dong and the others about the regulations and requirements of the Hexi Ruins on the bus.
It was very simple. They would queue up and enter the ruins in order. Each person would be teleported to a different location, and different extraordinary creatures would appear before them. Defeating them would count as completing the trial.
The queuing area was at the entrance of the Hexi Ruins. A three-story building had been constructed, and the Beast Taming Corps was stationed there to prevent anyone from causing trouble or damaging the ruins.
Not long after, it was Zheng Dong's turn. After verifying his basic information, Zheng Dong entered the ruins.
As if passing through a white light curtain, the environment changed, and he found himself on a sand dune.
Immediately, he heard sharp cries. Zheng Dong immediately scanned his surroundings vigilantly and summoned Xiao Zi.
He saw three Sand Shifters, resembling weasels, burrowing out from under the sand dune.
[Name] Sand Shifter
[Attribute] Earth
[Species Level] Medium Extraordinary
[Growth Level] Extraordinary
[Energy Value] 24
Zheng Dong's pet illustration book also displayed information about the Sand Shifter.
This made Zheng Dong a little surprised. Was the first trial so simple?
Zheng Dong didn't need to do anything. Xiao Zi could easily deal with these three Sand Shifters.
But not everyone found it simple.
The trials in the Hexi Ruins would assign different opponents based on the awakening time of beast-taming talent, the level of the beast-taming space, and the age of the beast tamer.
The longer the beast-taming talent awakened, the higher the level of the beast-taming space, and the older the beast tamer, the higher the difficulty of the trial.
For example, Zheng Dong, who was just eighteen years old, had a level one beast-taming space and had awakened his beast-taming talent for less than two months. He encountered three Extraordinary level Sand Shifters. For others, the number of Sand Shifters they encountered would likely be more.
As Xiao Zi quickly dealt with the three Sand Shifters, Zheng Dong received his reward: three Ethereal Stones. He was then teleported to another location, near a swamp, to begin the second trial.