"Sir, would you like a drawing?"
A delicate-looking boy wearing roller skates asked him.
"You… didn't you ask me that before?" Shimizu soon remembered. A few months ago, he had also run into this boy in a corner of Qinghai Commercial Plaza. At the time, Shimizu had not been interested in such things and had clearly refused him.
"That was before. Maybe you've changed your mind now, sir?"
"No need. Go find someone else."
"Then if you ever want a drawing, sir, you can come find me. I'm pretty good!"
"We'll see."
Shimizu walked straight past the boy and headed toward the black Maybach that had already been waiting not far away for some time.
After he got into the back seat, Du Chengming, the "Third Brother" of the Five Mountains Alliance sitting beside him, said with slight surprise, "You know that brat from just now?"
"No." Shimizu shook his head. "He wanted to draw a sketch of me. I wasn't interested."
"I see…"
In Du Chengming's impression, Senior Uzuki was the perfect example of an aloof person. He would never go out of his way to acknowledge some unrelated outsider.
Seeing the thoughtful look on the man's face, Shimizu began to wonder whether he had always acted a little too coldly in front of them, causing them to form that impression.
He had stopped to give that child another glance only because he had subconsciously felt that the boy seemed somewhat special.
"Speaking of which, Du Chengming, your company is getting bigger and bigger." Shimizu patted the car's interior. "You've even switched to a Maybach."
"It's just a car. And it's all thanks to you, Senior Uzuki."
Objectively speaking, Du Chengming's original company could only be described as fairly sizable.
However, more than a year had already passed since the era of spiritual energy revival began. With the "Qi Cultivation Technique" Shimizu had granted them, the Five Mountains Alliance had placed itself at the forefront of all cultivators in one stroke. Not only had it gained a tremendous amount of reputation, it had also received strong official support.
And Eastsea Technology Co., Ltd., the company founded by Du Chengming under the banner of the Five Mountains Alliance, had once been just an ordinary private enterprise. Now, however, it had become a highly sought-after rising star in the business world.
The state attached great importance to the phenomenon of spiritual energy revival and believed it would have a lasting and far-reaching impact on society and the world. As a result, it urgently hoped to understand and master the essence of spiritual energy revival, while also vigorously carrying out research in this field so that, in the end, it could stand at the very forefront of the world.
Thus, the Five Mountains Alliance became a target for official partnership and support. Naturally, Eastsea Technology Co., Ltd., which was connected to it, also became highly prized. In just a few short months, a large amount of high-quality resources had continuously poured into this star company, causing Du Chengming's net worth to skyrocket as well.
"How is the progress?" Shimizu asked in an indirect way. There was still a driver in the car who did not know the truth.
Although, as time went on, the degree of spiritual energy revival was steadily increasing, it still had not reached the point where it could be popularized throughout society.
Of course, that issue was not only related to the concentration of "innate true qi." It was also a complex sociological problem.
In short, Huaguo, along with many mainstream nations, believed that humanity was not yet prepared to welcome the arrival of this era. Therefore, all current research concerning spiritual energy revival was being carried out in secret. Although videos of supernatural phenomena would occasionally spread online, the authorities had never openly acknowledged anything.
Du Chengming replied quietly, "According to your explanation, Senior, I should be close to entering the Level 2 stage, right?"
This terminology was something Shimizu had thrown together on the spot. It would not be appropriate for him to directly apply the power system of the world of Naruto to the people of this era. On top of that, he could not accurately distinguish the exact relationship between martial arts realms and shinobi ranks, so he had simply divided cultivation levels in the most direct way possible.
When the amount of "innate true qi" in a cultivator's body reached the level of a genin, they were Level 1. Level 1 was also the lowest supernatural standard, as well as the martial arts standard for stepping into the Innate Realm.
Level 1 was genin.
Level 2 was chūnin.
Level 3 was special jōnin.
Level 4 was jōnin.
Level 5 was elite jōnin.
Level 6 was Kage.
And this "level" only measured the amount of "innate true qi." Actual strength, speed, and various techniques could not be displayed through simple numerical values.
After all, combat was not just a simple contest of physical ability and skills.
"Not bad. Keep pushing. You might become the third person in the world… uh, or maybe the fourth."
"Other than Master and my senior brother Chengde, who else is there?"
"That kid named Xu Qing."
"Oh~"
Du Chengming suddenly understood. That was a lucky young man whose relationship with Shimizu was not shallow.
Of course, Senior Uzuki had never admitted anything, nor had he ever instructed them to take care of that young man.
But as an old hand who had spent years struggling through society, how could Du Chengming fail to see that there was something hidden between the two of them?
So when Xu Qing came to their company for a job interview, Du Chengming immediately opened the back door and hired this bright future employee.
"So his talent is that good too?"
"He's not suited for it at all."
By the standards of this world, Wang Yunshan, Du Chengde, and Du Chengming all possessed talent close to that of favored children of heaven. As for his own… previous self, Xu Qing, he was still just common stock.
In order to let him keep up with those people's progress, Shimizu had privately given him special treatment several times.
But the bottleneck of his talent's limit was almost within reach.
Xu Qing was likewise someone who, barring an accident, would be unable to break through to Level 4, the jōnin level.
Du Chengming looked completely confused.
Someone who was not suited for it was about to overtake him?
Was he, Du Chengming, not supposed to be a genius seen only once in several decades?
Could that Xu Qing be a prodigy seen only once in a century?
No wonder… he had caught Senior Uzuki's eye.
"In any case, his situation is a little complicated."
Shimizu had always secretly given "himself," that is, Xu Qing, special treatment. Even Xu Qing himself had never realized how much help Shimizu had given him.
"What exactly did you come to me for this time?"
"Senior, you don't carry a phone… Originally, this was something that could have been handled with a call or a text."
"Force of habit."
"All right… It's like this. A few days from now, on January 29, at the Night God Palace in Nanhai, there will be an extremely important banquet…"
The Night God Palace in Nanhai was a top-tier resort famous throughout Nanhai Province and even the entire country. Choosing to hold the banquet in the pleasant climate of the south during winter showed a certain amount of thought.
"I'm not interested in that sort of thing."
"…Of course I'm not asking you to go there to make connections with political or business big shots. After all this time, I more or less know what you like. The problem is that the host of this banquet is the Shen family from Tianjing, and during one of their operations, they accidentally unearthed two sacred relics from an unknown era."
"The main purpose of this banquet is to display those two sacred relics."
"Modern technology can't determine their exact age?" Shimizu was slightly surprised. "Are these sacred relics the same kind of things you mentioned before?"
Previously, the people of the Five Mountains Alliance had dug up an old scroll of records, which mentioned defensive artifacts, divine weapons, and items capable of resonating with "Innate experts."
"Yes. I don't understand the specific reason, but in short, the feedback from Yanhuang Awakening says they're objects from an unknown era. What has been confirmed is that they react to 'spiritual energy.'"
Du Chengming continued explaining with some excitement. "In addition, world-class supernatural organizations like the Sacred Temple, Takamagahara, the Scales of Order, the Free Masons, and various secret societies will all appear. Of course, that also includes our Huaguo's Yanhuang Awakening."
This was the largest gathering of supernatural individuals in the world since the revival of spiritual energy.
Just thinking about it was enough to make one excited.
However, Shimizu only cared about one thing.
"What are those two sacred relics?"
"One of them is a sword. Apparently, its shape is rather unusual."
"Can you take me to see it?"
"I'm afraid not… Right now, all information about that sacred relic is classified. And forget me—even Master hasn't seen that relic."
"What about the other one?"
"A golden apple."
"…Are you telling me a Western myth?"
"But they said it really is a fruit. It's just that there's an extremely dense amount of innate true qi inside it."
There was no way that kind of crude mythological story could be real, right?
"Something that important, and instead of studying it first, they want to reveal its existence at this banquet?" Shimizu could not understand the intentions of Huaguo's higher-ups.
"Yes."
"What are they after?"
"The considerations of important people, I suppose."
At this point, Du Chengming lowered his voice even further.
"Behind the Shen family's operation, there are traces of the military and Yanhuang Awakening. Combined with the information we've already obtained, they're using this to fish."
"The military and Yanhuang Awakening want to use those things to attract the world's supernatural forces, then swallow them all in one move?"
"No. The fish they're after are non-humans."
Non-humans?
Shimizu paused. How did he know nothing about this information?
Those little brats actually dared to hide things from him?
Du Chengming immediately protested his innocence.
"Senior Uzuki, it's always extremely difficult for us to contact you. We ask you to carry a phone, but you refuse, and you often disappear without warning. Who could possibly keep up with your speed…"
"…"
With Du Chengming's explanation, Shimizu finally understood the full sequence of events.
According to classical records, several thousand years ago, humans were not the only intelligent beings. In this world, monsters known as non-humans had truly existed, and prolonged conflicts had erupted between the two sides.
It was only after the "decline of spiritual energy" that they gradually vanished from the human world.
However, these non-humans had not truly died. They had merely fallen into slumber, waiting for the next revival of spiritual energy.
Therefore, as the level of spiritual energy revival continued to deepen, the resurrection of non-humans would inevitably become a reality.
Because lower-level non-humans had already begun waking one after another, and they had once again started baring their claws toward the human world.
"Are they strong?"
That was the only question Shimizu cared about. Although he was also cultivating now, the chakra in this world was far too thin. One year of cultivation had not brought much improvement to the total amount of chakra he possessed.
So he had placed his focus on refining his chakra control techniques and developing new jutsu.
Although his actual combat strength had improved again, according to the level system of this world, he was still only Level 6, Kage-level.
"The ones that have revived so far are actually only Level 1, at most Level 2."
In other words, they were on the same level as the strong humans of the present day.
"But during this operation to excavate the sacred relics, someone discovered that those non-humans can use a certain kind of specific ritual to revive their stronger members ahead of time."
"And according to reliable information, they've already succeeded!" Du Chengming's expression was serious.
"A monster you people can't deal with has revived?"
"Yes. A Level 3 vampire."
That was the reason Du Chengming had come to find him. He wanted Shimizu to take action and deal with that vampire.
It was not exactly troublesome.
"But if I make a move, Huaguo's officials will know of my existence."
"Ahem… That's why this is a private request from Master and a few of us. After all, Huaguo's military, Yanhuang Awakening, and the other supernatural organizations around the world aren't pushovers either. Level 3, according to your explanation, isn't some insurmountable chasm."
But if that thing suddenly burst through its limits and evolved into Level 4, or even Level 5, then you would all be finished.
"If we really can't beat it, then Senior Uzuki, you can step in?"
"Fine. I'll go."
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