Chapter 64: Give Me an Extra Reward
Si Jin’s tone held a clear note of provocation and temptation.
Alarm bells began to ring faintly in Yun Sheng’s mind.
’This guy is completely reckless. Could his "more suitable practice partner" be someone so audacious they would easily attract the attention of the Tower, or even Bai Ye?’
But... the offer was just too tempting.
She needed real combat to test and hone her abilities!
"...Where?" Yun Sheng asked after a few seconds of silence.
Her desire to grow stronger ultimately outweighed her concerns about the risk.
Si Jin didn’t seem surprised by her answer, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Just follow me." He didn’t answer directly, turning to leave.
"Wait," Yun Sheng called out, stopping him.
Si Jin paused, glancing back at her. His eyes, behind his glasses, held a questioning look.
"You go first and tell me the location. We’ll leave separately and meet there. A lot of people here either know me or might notice me, so it’s better to be cautious."
Si Jin’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he quickly stated the location in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Yun Sheng watched him leave. Only then did she turn around, pick up the tube of Basic Spiritual Perception Enhancement Agent shimmering with a faint blue light, and place it on the counter for the clerk.
"Could you ring this up for me, please?"
After paying, Yun Sheng wasted no time and quickly headed out.
She exited through the mall’s back door and soon arrived at the cargo loading alley Si Jin had told her about.
The tall buildings blocked the afternoon sun, leaving the alley cool and shaded.
An inconspicuous dark gray hovercar was already parked quietly in the shadows deep in the alley.
Si Jin stood beside the car, leaning against the door. He appeared relaxed, but a dark, cold aura subtly radiated from him.
When he saw Yun Sheng emerge, he said nothing, simply pulling open the rear passenger door.
Yun Sheng hesitated for a moment before ducking into the car.
The car’s interior was spacious, its decor so minimalist it felt cold. A faint smell, like a mixture of metal and energy liquid, hung in the air.
The hovercar started up without a sound, gliding smoothly out of the alley and merging with the traffic in the main city district.
The car didn’t head toward any area Yun Sheng recognized. Instead, it moved toward the edge of the main district, in the direction of the border between the industrial and warehouse zones.
The farther they drove, the taller and more uniform the surrounding buildings became, but the streets grew increasingly deserted.
The streets were wide and empty, with only the occasional transport vehicle passing by.
Around twenty minutes later, the hovercar entered a massive complex of buildings marked with a sign that read: "Precision Instrument Storage Center."
An automated scanner at the entrance swept over the car’s license plate, and the gate opened silently. No one came forward to question them.
"Get out."
The car came to a smooth stop. Si Jin glanced at Yun Sheng before pushing open his door and getting out first.
Yun Sheng followed him out, finding herself in what looked like the interior of a large warehouse. Neatly stacked shipping crates were piled around the dimly lit space.
Not far off, a single elevator was built into the wall. It had no markings, only a small verification panel that pulsed with a faint blue light.
Si Jin walked over, pressed his palm against the panel, and channeled his spiritual power.
"Authorization verified. Welcome, S-Class visitor," a cold, electronic voice rang out.
The heavy elevator doors slid open silently.
The two of them stepped inside. The elevator descended for a full three minutes before gliding to a halt.
When the doors opened again, they revealed a brightly lit, sterile, and futuristic metal corridor.
The air in the corridor was cool. It felt as if multiple energy fields were interweaving to create a kind of "background noise," making Yun Sheng’s spiritual landscape feel faintly sluggish.
She stopped in her tracks, suddenly on high alert.
’This place... it’s too strange.’
’Secretive, high-tech, and heavily guarded. The whole place exuded an indescribable aura of danger.’
’What on earth did Si Jin bring me to a place like this for?!’
Dark thoughts flashed through her mind, unbidden.
’Secret research labs, human experimentation, spiritual power analysis...’
A chill ran down her spine.
Yun Sheng’s fingers curled reflexively. Deep within her spiritual landscape, the small, silver-white ball of light trembled, shifting into a state of high alert.
Si Jin seemed to notice her sudden tension and suspicious gaze. He turned his head, his eyes behind his glasses perfectly calm and unreadable.
"Don’t be so tense. The owner of this place... has some peculiar interests, but his reputation is solid. He has basic principles when it comes to his ’guests.’
I brought you here simply because its equipment and environment are the most suitable I could find for your combat practice."
"Combat practice?" Yun Sheng latched onto the phrase, her voice tight.
"Mm," Si Jin confirmed, saying nothing more as he walked straight down the corridor.
The corridor was lined with closed alloy doors, each marked only with a number.
They stopped in front of a door numbered "C-07."
Si Jin went through the verification process again, and the door slid open.
Beyond the door wasn’t the training ground Yun Sheng had expected, but a room that looked like a lounge or an observation room.
One wall was a massive pane of one-way glass. Through it, she could see an adjacent training ground floored with energy-absorbing materials.
The training ground was empty.
"Sit."
Si Jin gestured toward a sofa in the room before walking over to a control console and pulling up an interface.
"Since this is combat practice, a virtual duel would be pointless. This facility... occasionally houses Sentinels who require special handling or observation."
His finger slid across the light-screen, pulling up a list with several serial numbers and brief profiles.
Yun Sheng glimpsed notations like: "C-level Sentinel, mild loss-of-control tendencies, moderate aggression, requires observation and basic adversarial training."
"This one," Si Jin said, tapping one of the entries. "A C-level Sentinel. His spiritual landscape has a tendency toward instability due to an old injury. His aggression is decent, but he has clear defensive weaknesses. He’s a perfect target for you to practice on at your current level.
Most importantly, he’s here voluntarily for observation and training. He signed a contract, so even if he gets injured, it’s within acceptable and controlled parameters."
’Voluntary? A contract? In a place like this?’
Yun Sheng’s doubts hadn’t vanished, but she understood that this was probably the closest she could get to a real fight with relatively manageable risks.
Si Jin looked at her. "Dare to try? Your objective is to neutralize his offensive intent and temporarily incapacitate him, just like you did to that waste of space in the mall. But this time, you’ll be facing a C-level Sentinel who is prepared and on guard."
Yun Sheng stared at the empty training ground on the other side of the glass, her heart pounding.
She was nervous and wary, but an even stronger impulse surged within her—the desire to test her own abilities.
"I’ll try," she heard herself say, her voice steadier than she’d expected.
But after she spoke, Yun Sheng didn’t immediately move toward the small door that led to the training ground.
She remained where she was, tilting her head slightly to look at the man by the control console.
"Si Jin."
She said his name. Her voice was soft, but it echoed clearly in the quiet observation room.
Si Jin turned to look at her, waiting for her to continue.
Yun Sheng took two steps forward, closing the distance between them.
She tilted her face up to look at him, his reflection captured in her clear, bright eyes.
"If I do it," she began, her voice low and soft, almost a whisper, yet every word was distinct, "if I can defeat this C-level Sentinel, can you give me a little extra... reward?"