......
But as the Crooked-Mouth Old Man raised his hand.
Dead memories viciously attacked him once more.
He clenched his fist.
His eyes rolled sideways, and his crooked mouth made a "tsk" sound.
"It can't be calculated, shouldn't be calculated!"
Twice was enough, there wouldn't be a third time.
He had already suffered twice from calculating matters related to Lu Ding.
The first time left his mouth crooked and eyes slanted, and it still hadn't recovered.
The second time practically fried him until he was smoking.If he calculated this time... things would probably get serious.
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man reached into his bag and pulled out the phone Lu Ding had bought him when he was younger.
Technology truly was wonderful!
He pressed the voice message button.
"Kid, where are you, where are you?"
The old man waited expectantly for Lu Ding's reply.
One minute later, he felt like each day was as long as a year.
Unacceptable.
The kid hadn't replied to my message for a whole minute!
He turned and sent a voice message to Chu Gexiao, director of Yunhai 749 Bureau.
"Where did you take my Lu Ding! He hasn't replied to my message for a full minute."
He glanced at the time again.
"Two minutes!!!"
Quite precise.
Lu Ding didn't reply instantly, but Chu Gexiao did.
[Lu Ding returned to 749 Headquarters to submit his mission report]
This put the old man at ease; he must be busy.
No matter, he could go find Lu Ding.
According to the old man's previous temperament, he would have probably flown over directly.
But now he couldn't; Lu Ding was currently a 749 investigator, and he couldn't make things difficult for him.
"Write me a pass, handle the procedures, get me a clearance document to go to 749 Headquarters. As payment, I'll give you a magical artifact."
So domineering!
The old man who had regained his strength was truly domineering.
Two minutes later, Chu Gexiao called him.
"Old brother, what kind of talk is this? What magical artifact? That would be a token of friendship between you and me."
"I just processed your procedures, you can go directly later. By the way, when will you give me that magical artifact?"
The Crooked-Mouth Old man smiled with his crooked mouth.
One hand forming a sword seal, the other performing calculations, when the calculations stabilized, he smiled crookedly: "Not far."
He raised his hand, pointing his sword fingers toward the sky, causing clouds to reverse flow and golden light to shoot upward.
He watched the departing golden light.
Director Chu, hearing the Crooked-Mouth Old Man's silence, called out: "Old brother?"
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man shook his Taoist robe, instantly changing into his most dashing, most beautiful clothes, appearing so transcendent that he'd be edible if you removed the head.
He spoke with cloud-like lightness and wind-like ease, neither hurried nor slow: "Three."
"Three? Three days?"
Crooked-Mouth Old Man: "Two."
Director Chu: "It's coming!?"
"One."
On the other end of the phone, Deputy Director Chu waited a moment: "Still nothing though."
The old man picked up his phone and said one last sentence before hanging up.
"Let the magical artifact fly a while longer."
As his words fell, a tremendous noise came from the other end of the phone.
BOOM!!!!!
The old man hung up.
He raised his hand, plucked a cloud to stand on, and rode the cloud toward 749 Headquarters direction.
Truly an elegant old immortal.
But still, as they say, you'd need to remove the head.
......
Not much time passed in reality, but within the secretly aligned inner landscape.
No one knew how high Lu Ding had pushed the celestial dome.
Nor did he know how long he had been supporting it.
Until, with a click sound.
As if some living buckle had fastened.
All heaven and earth's spiritual energy poured into his body!!!
The sky-propping giant erupted with golden light.
At this moment, Lu Ding walked a path never before traveled in history.
Tenth level of Earth Observation!
Nine was the limit, leaving one thread—this empty thread between was the separation between Heavenly Perception and Earth Observation, also the clear boundary between heaven and earth.
As Lu Ding broke through this boundary.
Heaven and earth became one.
Now, he was both tenth level Earth Observation and first level Heavenly Perception.
Forming the inner landscape, merging with heaven and earth, round heaven and square earth, completely integrated.
Lu Ding followed an inexplicable feeling, releasing his body's power.
His exhaled breath became the four seasons' winds and the sky's clouds.
His left eye transformed into a great sun crossing the sky, his right eye became a hanging moon high above.
His four limbs became the four poles, his skin turned into fertile soil covering the earth.
His meridians became river channels, his blood became river water.
At this point, the imprint of tenth level Earth Observation was self-evident—it was precisely Lu Ding's Si Ming true form [Great Black Heaven Calamity]
Feeling the power belonging to Heavenly Perception.
Lu Ding returned to his original form, standing alone in the vast sky, sweeping his gaze across the expansive inner landscape territory.
This was both an iteration of basic modeling and an update of version breakthrough.
In other words, though he was only first level Heavenly Perception now, facing any Heavenly Perception practitioner, Lu Ding could effortlessly crush them!
Experiencing this domineering power.
Lu Ding thought of his three-month agreement with Tai Island's veteran Heavenly Perception operative, Kaminoue Kazuo.
"The one who calls your death at the third watch is the King of Hell, but I—I'm coming right now."
He said he couldn't be late, but never said he couldn't be early.
Lu Ding knew perfectly well—this old man had been looking for him constantly.
Was it never going to end?
The inner landscape dissolved.
Lu Ding's consciousness returned to the cultivation room.
In that instant.
He sensed the spiritual energy storm above in the sky.
Heavenly Perception practitioners were naturally exceptionally sensitive to heaven and earth's energy fluctuations.
Especially someone like Lu Ding, a flawless Heavenly Perception.
"Getting snacks right after finishing cultivation, quite nice."
He stepped out of the cultivation room.
Lu Ding soared upward from the ground.
Opening his mouth to swallow.
A sky-obscuring, sun-blocking giant mouth condensed from energy.
With just one bite.
He completely devoured the spiritual energy storm clouds that had been about to envelop the entire city.
This terrifying scene.
Left many 749 investigators who wanted to greet him frozen in place.
Each one so shocked they could barely move.
Even Deputy Director Lü stared dumbfounded at the figure in the sky, his shock making him unconsciously open his mouth slightly.
This was cognitive refreshment from worldview updating.
Initially, he thought he understood—Lu Ding was going to break through to ninth level Earth Observation this time.
So he came here to wait, to congratulate Lu Ding after he emerged, and incidentally, in his capacity as surface-level leadership, actually dig into his personal funds to reward Lu Ding.
Hoping he would continue striving and achieve new heights!!
After all, with such a terrifying genius, if you didn't think of ways to support, fund, reward, and nurture him, what were you waiting for?
Suppressing geniuses was something that only happened in film and television works to create future conflicts.
"Outstanding trees attract wind's destruction" was something only enemies would do.
Among your own people, as long as your composition wasn't problematic, they weren't afraid of you being a genius—they were afraid of you being useless.
A sufficiently talented person, once nurtured, would become the tall one who could hold up the collapsing sky.
The Great Han's achievements today came from predecessors supporting juniors, flesh and blood building steps, letting generation after generation of talented youths step on their shoulders to continuously reach new heights!!
Just thinking these words made Deputy Director Lü's blood boil with excitement.
But after coming here.
As soon as Lu Ding emerged, that unconcealed Heavenly Perception aura made him pause.
Then the terrifying display of power that followed made him pause again.
Holding the prepared gift, he now found it impossible to present it.
He prepared clothes for a four-year-old, but got an eight-year-old child.
And without boasting, that move Lu Ding just performed.
Deputy Director Lü truly couldn't replicate it.
As for actual combat capability... though Deputy Director Lü didn't want to feel like all these years had been wasted, if he really had to face Lu Ding one-on-one.
His heart would be hanging with no bottom, completely lacking in confidence.