“Any other questions?”
Huo Yu rested her chin on her hand and watched Bai Xuan, who seemed lost in thought.
They hadn’t known each other long, but whenever Bai Xuan got that particular look on his face, she knew another question was coming.
“Has the government already confirmed mutations in species other than humans?” Bai Xuan asked.
“Of course. I mean, look at the sheer numbers involved.”
Huo Yu shrugged casually.
“You’re lumping every non-human species into a single category, aren’t you?”
Bai Xuan replied, a bit exasperated.
“Well, yeah? Isn’t it better to prepare for the worst-case scenario?”
“We can’t assume they’ll be friendly toward humans, and it’s even harder to guess whether peaceful coexistence is possible.”
“If we plan for the absolute worst, then nothing the future throws at us will come as a surprise.”
Huo Yu didn’t seem too bothered by the grim outlook. She wasn’t a politician; her job was to follow orders. Besides, she had already explained that the Spiritual Energy Bureau was established specifically to deal with mutated creatures that posed a threat to humanity.
When those creatures endangered ordinary lives, their only outcome was death. No exceptions.
She was no advocate for interspecies equality. She barely spared a thought for the lives of people outside of Huaxia, let alone mutated beasts that actively harmed humans.
“Understood.”
Bai Xuan nodded, then moved on to his next question.
“How many members does the Spiritual Energy Bureau currently have?”
“Counting you and me, five.”
Huo Yu began listing them off. “One is an Ice Element awakener. She accidentally froze her entire house solid the moment her power manifested. Luckily, her parents weren’t home, or else…”
She trailed off, leaving the grim implication hanging in the air, but Bai Xuan understood perfectly.
“There’s also a Beast-type esper. Based on what I’ve seen, it’s some kind of tiger variant. No weaknesses in strength, speed, or agility, and a natural instinct for combat. Pretty decent, all things considered.”
“The last one awakened a healing-type ability, though for now, it’s limited to physical injuries. A standard knife wound heals in about five seconds. The catch is it drains energy fast, so she can’t do it many times in a row.”
“Still, that should improve as she grows stronger.”
“Ice Element: Su Yue. Beast-type: Chen Qiang. Healing: Ye Shuirou. Don’t mix them up.”
Huo Yu’s introductions were brief—just names and abilities—but it was enough to get a general picture.
An ice mage, an offensive fighter, and a healing support. Together, they formed a well-rounded, classic small-team composition.
But even with that, Bai Xuan wasn’t exactly thrilled.
A villa? If he wanted one, he could get one himself. A private training ground? Slightly more appealing, but he could build his own if necessary.
In the end, it all came back to the same point: he didn’t lack money.
As for the team itself, with his level of strength, he didn’t need backup. And when it came to resources, given how fast he was improving, ordinary treasures wouldn’t make much difference. The truly valuable resources probably wouldn’t be allocated to him anyway.
Besides, if he really needed something, he could just go find it himself.
With the unique nature of his 【Authority of Nature】, as long as something existed on Earth, finding it was never an issue.
Just as Bai Xuan was about to politely decline, Huo Yu suddenly added:
“Oh, right. I almost forgot to mention. If you join the Spiritual Energy Bureau, you won’t have to go to school for the time being. You can focus all your energy on getting stronger. We still don’t know if the enemies we’ll face are going to be pushovers or absolute nightmares, so it’s better to be cautious.”
“Later on, if you still feel like attending classes, we can pull some strings to get you into any university you want—just for fun, of course.”
“Hmm?”
Now you’re speaking my language.
Bai Xuan’s eyes lit up slightly. While his grades were good enough that school didn’t stress him out—and he could always chat with the group during breaks—this was the age of spiritual energy revival. Compared to dry textbooks, exploring supernatural powers was infinitely more interesting.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was dropping out. He could always go back if he felt like it.
“Seriously…”
Huo Yu felt a strong urge to curse when she saw his sudden interest. So, after all that talk about benefits and resources, the only thing that actually grabbed his attention was getting out of school?
Unbelievable!
If she’d known that earlier, she could’ve saved herself a whole lot of breath.
“Fine. I’ll join the Spiritual Energy Bureau,” Bai Xuan said. “But let’s get a few things straight. I’m willing to accept missions involving rescue operations or eliminating dangerous mutated beasts. But I want nothing to do with anything political.”
“Also, if a mission doesn’t sit right with me, I reserve the right to refuse it.”
No matter the world, the nation, or the era, humans were never truly unified.
Whenever a certain balance of power was reached, dissenting voices always emerged within human groups. Bai Xuan had zero interest in getting tangled up in that kind of mess.
Even though the contract in front of him had no supernatural binding force—it was only as good as his word—he still preferred to lay everything out on the table from the start.
“…”
“You’ve got some serious guts.”
Huo Yu rolled her eyes. When she had approached Chen Qiang, Su Yue, or Ye Shuirou, they had all agreed immediately. Negotiating terms? They wouldn’t have dared to even think about it.
This guy, though? If it weren’t for the chance to skip school, she was absolutely certain he would have turned her down flat.
Where did he get this kind of confidence?
Even if your talent was off the charts, how could training alone ever surpass the backing of an entire nation?
Sure, the government was cultivating more than just one person, but when it came to access to resources, no other faction on Earth could possibly compete.
“Alright, alright! Since Lord Bai has spoken, who am I to refuse?”
“But all of this depends entirely on the level of your talent.”
“If your awakened ability isn’t impressive enough to catch the nation’s attention, then don’t even dream of negotiating terms. But if your power is so monstrous that even I feel inferior in comparison… then this contract is nothing more than scrap paper.”
“As long as you don’t do anything that endangers the country or its people, you can do whatever you want.”
She had laid it all out. Now she was genuinely curious to see what kind of ability Bai Xuan had awakened to make him so self-assured.
“Metal Element? Lightning Element? Or maybe you’ve got Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, and Lightning all at once?”
“If you’ve got mastery over all the elements, and each one packs the same punch as that Lightning you showed earlier… then maybe, just maybe, you’d have a leg to stand on.”
Huo Yu leaned back on the sofa, crossed her legs, spread her hands, and raised an eyebrow.
“Alright then. Show me what you’ve got.”
Bai Xuan wasn’t surprised by the challenge. If you wanted others to value you, you had to demonstrate the strength that justified that value.
“In that case, perhaps this will give you a clearer picture of my abilities.”
Snap!
He snapped his fingers.
At first, nothing seemed to happen.
Huo Yu frowned, about to say something.
Then, in an instant, realization dawned on her face, and her eyes widened in pure terror.
She couldn’t breathe!
She couldn’t breathe at all!
