「Some time later, inside the police station.」
Fan Dongsheng slowly regained consciousness. His gaze sharpened from a hazy blur to crystal clarity. He felt comfortable all over, his tense mind finally relaxing. It was as if he had just woken up from anesthesia, feeling refreshed and clear-headed.
"You're awake. How do you feel?"
At the same time, Zhou Baiwei's voice sounded in his ear. The memories of what happened before he passed out came rushing back, and he shot up in bed with a WHOOSH.
"Where's the suspect?"
Fan Dongsheng scanned his surroundings and asked in a low voice.
Zhou Baiwei then recounted everything that had happened after he lost consciousness.
Dodging gunfire, catching a ricocheting bullet with his bare hand...
Hearing Zhou Baiwei's account, Fan Dongsheng felt as if he were still dreaming.
"I've already reported this. The individual now falls under the jurisdiction of our Special Security Bureau. All files related to him will be transferred to us. Your criminal investigation department is forbidden from conducting any further private investigations on this matter. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Zhou Baiwei said, staring into Fan Dongsheng's eyes.
She knew he loathed evil and had an incredibly strong sense of responsibility. Furthermore, he had a history with that organization, and she worried he might do something on his own and create unnecessary complications. That was why she had made a point of waiting here for him to wake up.
"Catching a ricocheting bullet... Can a human really be that strong? Indestructible? Impervious to blades and bullets?"
After a moment of silence, Fan Dongsheng couldn't help but ask.
He had always thought such things were just legends, exaggerated descriptions. After all, a body of flesh and blood had its limits.
"Charcoal and diamonds are made of the same element, but their strength is worlds apart. Some animals build powerful muscles and physiques far surpassing carnivores just by eating grass. The profound mysteries of life are far more complex than you or I can imagine."
"The human and chimpanzee genomes are nearly ninety-nine percent similar, yet that one percent difference results in a vast gap in intelligence."
"If I have to put it in terms you can understand, you can think of it as their powerful Cultivation and realm causing their bodies' genes to mutate and evolve, allowing them to break through the limits of a human body of flesh and blood."
"A Transformed Body, Body Ascension—these are the miracles of life."
Zhou Baiwei said, her voice filled with reverence and longing.
'As a martial artist, who wouldn't yearn for such a realm?'
"Don't tell me someone like that could take on an entire army?"
Fan Dongsheng said, unwilling to accept it.
"Of course not. Even with Body Ascension, they are still made of flesh and blood. They might be able to block small-caliber bullets, but they would be turned to ash by an artillery shell. That is the fruit of collective human ingenuity."
"But have you ever considered this? A person like that can come and go as they please. If they were determined to run amok in a modern city, how difficult do you think it would be to capture them? How much loss of life and property would they cause?"
"Therefore, as long as the other party hasn't done anything too outrageous, we cannot act rashly."
Zhou Baiwei said.
"I understand."
Hearing this, Fan Dongsheng finally nodded, completely letting go of his ulterior motives.
「On the other side of the city.」
Yi Beidou left the police station and strolled through the city.
He had been detained at the station all night. It was now the morning rush hour. The streets were a torrent of traffic, and the sidewalks were a tapestry of pedestrians.
Cars were stuck in traffic, and someone about to be late for work rolled down their window to yell curses. A hurried commuter, munching on bread while replying to messages on their phone, accidentally bumped right into an oncoming pedestrian. Another person walked like the living dead, their eyes vacant and swollen.
For the first time in twenty years, he could finally look at the world head-on, free to experience its myriad emotions and desires without reservation. To Yi Beidou, everything in the world seemed so new and fascinating.
To others, Body Ascension was already the stuff of legends. But for him, this was the true starting point of his life, the beginning of his real education about the world.
'How could what he sought be so simple?'
He sat down at a streetside breakfast shop and casually ordered a few items. The experience had a unique charm.
For years, he had been extremely restrained with his diet, consuming only the most basic nutrients his body required. He never paid attention to the texture of food. Even the most delicious meals were gobbled down quickly, their flavors barely savored.
Any sense of taste or appetite beyond satisfying basic physiological needs was a carnal desire. Any of it could have become a trigger for the Demon Tribulation and his Demon Nature, so he had naturally kept such things at a respectful distance.
Sight could lead to joy, sound to anger, smell to love, taste to longing, thought to desire, and the body itself to sorrow.
He had severed all six sensory attachments.
Now that he had achieved his freedom, he could finally take the time to savor all kinds of delicious food. But this wasn't about indulgence or addiction; it was simply another way for him to understand the world.
While eating meat buns, fried dough sticks, and soy milk, he took out his phone and opened the contact info for "Xu Zifeng."
Xu Zifeng. The daughter of his younger aunt, Xu Yao. She was two years his junior and had taken her mother's surname after her parents divorced.
After Yi Beidou's parents passed away, his aunt Xu Yao became his legal guardian. She had taken great care of him over the years and was one of the closest people to him.
During that time, he lived at Xu Yao's house and spent a long time with Xu Zifeng day in and day out.
"Yi Beidou! Where have you been the last few days, pulling another disappearing act? You didn't answer your phone, and it was turned off! If you hadn't sent that text beforehand, I would've called the police, you know that?!"
The call had just connected when a young woman's displeased voice came from the other end.
"Is something urgent?"
Yi Beidou asked.
"The first and second branches of the family called a family meeting. They said it's to discuss the integration of the Xu Group's subsidiary businesses. The shares your parents left you are in your name, after all. You need to be here."
As she spoke of this, Xu Zifeng's voice grew lower, sounding somewhat weary.
"I understand. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Yi Beidou replied in a calm tone.
"Not as soon as you can, right now! The family meeting has already started. Are you in Wencheng or out of town?"
"In Wencheng."
"Send me your location. I'll come get you immediately."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Yi Beidou opened his messaging app, sent his location to Xu Zifeng, and then continued eating his breakfast.
Before achieving his freedom, he hadn't looked into the Xu Family's affairs in any great detail. He only knew the basics.
His mother, Xu Xin, belonged to the fourth branch of the Xu Family. Their branch had few descendants; by Xu Xin's generation, there were only the two sisters. Furthermore, their father had passed away early, their mother was not particularly capable, and Yi Beidou's father, Yi Wen, came from an ordinary family with no significant background. Because of all this, the fourth branch had never held much influence in the family.
Later, when the Xu Family's old patriarch passed away, there was an internal struggle over the inheritance. The fourth branch only received a poorly managed processing plant.
However, under the dedicated management of Yi Beidou's parents and Xu Yao, the factory was brought back from the brink of death. It continued to grow and expand, eventually establishing its own food brand and becoming increasingly successful.
After the accidental death of Yi Beidou's parents, the company continued to flourish under Xu Yao's leadership. It has since gone public through financing and is now a well-known enterprise in the country.
The once most insignificant fourth branch had, against all odds, become powerful enough to contend with the first branch.
In recent years, the first branch had been coveting this business. They also wanted to reclaim the industries and management rights of the other branches, making many moves behind the scenes.
This so-called family meeting was likely related to that. And judging from Xu Zifeng's demeanor on the phone, the current situation was probably not looking good for their branch.
But none of that mattered. This was a good opportunity to handle his worldly affairs. After living under Xu Yao's protection for so many years, it was time for him to do something now that his Freedom Technique was complete.
After finishing the food in front of him, Yi Beidou ordered one of everything else on the menu and continued to eat at an unhurried pace. His appetite was so large that even the shop owner was staring at him.
「A short while later.」
SCREECH!!
An SUV pulled over to the side of the road. Its aggressive, stylish design and expensive brand immediately drew the eyes of passing pedestrians.
CLICK!
The door opened, and to everyone's surprise, the person who stepped out of the driver's seat of the aggressive SUV was a woman.
She was tall, dressed in a simple, loose-fitting white T-shirt and capri pants that revealed her fair arms and straight calves. She wore a baseball cap, and a high ponytail threaded through the opening in the back, cascading down her back.
The woman had delicate features, fair skin, and light makeup. Her expression was icy. After getting out of the car, her eyes swept the area and locked onto Yi Beidou inside the streetside breakfast shop.
"Do you know what time it is? And you still have the nerve to be sitting here eating breakfast?"
The woman strode over to Yi Beidou and said in a cold voice.
She glanced at the table piled high with steamer baskets and empty bowls, and her pretty face couldn't help but twitch. "Are you a pig? Why are you eating so much? Have you not eaten in days?"