Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Granny Jia remained calm, and after taking the Storage Talisman, she did not rush to announce her closed retreat.

Since the object was in hand, there was no hurry—she had lived like this for so many years, why rush now?

She carefully adjusted her mood for a few days, and on the sixth day, she announced she would retreat for a while.

The others did not sense anything unusual. For people as shrewd as them, this reaction was indeed a bit strange.

However, Qu Jianlei had already mentioned long ago that someone in the team would go into a closed retreat, and it just happened to be validated now.

The truth was, he was just too competent as the leader, so no one felt they should be on guard.

Mu Yu and Paranoid were discussing, "Little Jia’s retreat this time, I have a feeling it follows the leader’s plan."

Paranoid had no doubt, "You’ve seen the leader’s ability to modify Cultivation Techniques; this is quite normal, right?"

On the third day of Granny Jia’s retreat, a vehicle drove into the Ping’an headquarters.

Two people got out of the car: one was a burly man with a Fire Attribute at A-level.

The other was a short, stout elder, whose Cultivation Level was indiscernible, yet he naturally exuded the aura of a superior.

The two stood there without moving. Not long after, Jilt, the leader of the trading group, hurried over with several people.

"Greetings, Lord Salins, please, come inside, come inside..."

Salins Supreme was one of the thirteen heads of the Sweeper organization, usually active in the core area.

For him to appear in the Celestial River Star Realm, clearly something significant was occurring.

After entering Jilt’s meeting room, he spoke without hesitation, "We need to know about that power."

"This... I’m very sorry," Jilt responded earnestly, "We can’t afford to provoke the Sweepers, but we can’t afford to provoke them either."

"And from an emotional standpoint, it was your people who trespassed into my estate... I can’t make a decision favoring your organization."

Salins said no more; he had already made his point clear.

The Fire Attribute A-level said solemnly, "Jilt, you should understand better than I what a B-level Wind Attribute implies."

"The loss of this formal member is one thing, but do you know the identity of that Water Attribute who was killed?"

Jilt shook his head slowly, "I don’t know his identity, nor do I want to know..."

"All I know is they entered my private territory uninvited; even a Supreme must accept punishment for trespassing."

The Fire Attribute A-level chuckled coldly at this, "You don’t have the strength to punish a Supreme!"

"Indeed, I don’t have that power," Jilt nodded calmly, showing no anger, "but someone does."

The Fire Attribute A-level sighed lightly at this, "What kind of ability do they possess that led you to such an unwise decision?"

Jilt responded slowly, "Ping’an’s decision is reasonable, legal, and justified... I don’t consider it unwise."

"Enough," Salins stopped the Fire Attribute A-level from speaking further and looked at Jilt indifferently.

"Relay to them that this matter is not over... The Sweepers will not let them off easily!"

Jilt nodded, "I’d be happy to serve Lord Salins, but the message might take some time to deliver."

Salins got up directly and walked towards the door without another word.

Meanwhile, the Fire Attribute A-level glanced at Jilt again, "We sincerely hope the Ping’an Trading Group will refrain from intervening in this vendetta."

Jilt smiled without giving a clear response.

After their vehicle had left, he gave an instruction, "Get in touch with Duoduo, inform her."

After getting into the car, Salins remained calm, showing no emotion.

However, the Fire Attribute A-level hesitated for a moment, then said, "Lord, the other side is quite ruthless, are we sure about saying that?"

He truly did not want to make this trip; although the Sweepers had many rules, there was no strict provision for avenging members.

The reason was simple: many things done by the Sweepers were indeed unwelcomed, and dying unexpectedly was not surprising.

If a member had been the target of retaliatory action, the organization might intervene to arrange related counter-retaliation matters.

But this incident happened simply because the Sweepers had accepted a commission and failed in the process.

The actions within the private territory were protected under Imperial law, so why should the Sweepers retaliate?

To say it bluntly, this is due to lack of skill, not something to blame the heavens for.

Most members of the Sweepers had such awareness when joining this organization.

——In this world, there is no rule that only allows you to kill others, but not others to kill you!

However, this time, it wasn’t just any loss of a Wind Attribute; the key was that the extraneous Water Attribute really had a background!

Just like someone told Xiao Moshan, his true identity was indeed as a member of the Military Intelligence Department.

Such a softie from the Military Intelligence Department was rarely seen, but this person entered the military intelligence system merely for gilding!

Salins was well aware of these circumstances and merely snorted lightly when he heard.

"The Sweepers can’t withstand the pressure from the military... I’m quite curious about how the other side will react."

He should have some emotion in his heart, but he firmly did not show it.

A high-ranking superior truly has the poise to remain composed, with a demeanor that adapts unperturbed to changes.

Later, Duoduo also received the news and went to find Flower Scorpion with a sigh, "Lord Huangtian, things are not looking good..."

After listening, Flower Scorpion did not show any surprise, only asked a question.

"Does this statement from the Cleaners mean that Ping’an is being sidelined?"

"Ping’an will definitely stand with the adults;" Duoduo replied without hesitation, in this matter, Ping’an still bears responsibility.

"If the adults need any support, just ask."

"No need," Flower Scorpion waved a hand, indicating very straightforwardly.

"If you can stay out of it, that would be best. We can’t provide effective protection and it’s easy to get distracted."

Duoduo silently gave a thumbs up, "I admire the demeanor of the adults..."

She didn’t find the other party’s words unpleasant; on the contrary, she felt they were truly considering the interests of her side, so her attitude was very correct.

"Though in terms of support like information and such... Ping’an can provide what it can."

"Alright, I understand," Flower Scorpion turned and went to find her own boss.

After listening, Qu Jianlei raised an eyebrow, feeling something was amiss, "Who gave them the guts?"

The scariest part of the Cleaners is their tight organization, long reach, deep concealment, and many professionals.

Unbelievably, they also have a wide array of slaughter methods, leaving people defenseless, but that’s about it.

If it came to actual combat, they really... don’t have much to make people wary.

Even a security company like Ducas, in a head-on clash, may not necessarily lose to the Cleaners.

And the Cleaners don’t have many top-tier experts; Qu Jianlei thinks, in the Celestial River Star Realm, at most two or three Supremes.

Even Ducas, with its three Supremes, admits defeat—who gave the Cleaners such nerve?

However, since the other side dares to speak so boldly, if they aren’t taught a lesson, they might really think we’re easy to bully.

"Who has more information about this Salins?"

"I know this person," Qinghu spoke up; if she didn’t take on this topic, the two Supremes would really be unsure.

Granny Jia might know, but isn’t she in seclusion?

Moreover, Qinghu knows this person more than ordinarily well, "They say he is a Gold Attribute, but actually what awakened was the Electromagnetic Attribute!"

She once seriously pondered over this person; otherwise, given the Cleaners’ information-blocking ability, finding out anything about a Supreme would be very difficult.

Let alone an existence like Salins, one of the thirteen giants.

Back when Qinghu was raising her cultivation level, she too encountered a threshold and faced the problem of choosing her path for future advancement beyond Supreme.

No one could give accurate advice at the time, so she referenced the cultivation approaches of many Supremes.

In this process, she unexpectedly learned that Salins might not have originally been Gold Attribute.

She researched this news for a long time and finally discovered that before a certain Supreme disappeared from public view, he resembled Salins a lot.

Later, she spent a long time determining their relationship, finally concluding that the two are the same person.

After Salins entered the highest echelon of the Cleaners, concealing his identity was normal, given the organization’s somewhat tarnished reputation.

However, Qinghu wasn’t too concerned with his identity; she was interested in his motivation for cultivating a second attribute.

Then she discovered a theory that the more attributes one cultivates, the greater the possibility of advancing beyond Supremes.

This theory, no one had the authority to judge right or wrong, and not many dared to attempt it.

In the end, it’s still a matter of time; breakthrough from Supreme to Supreme Peak requires a long period.

Supremes are already a small elite among the Awakened, yet most Supremes will still spend a large amount of time on this.

Furthermore, after achieving Supreme status, there are bound to be corresponding obligations, and encountering accidents is quite normal.

Therefore, sufficient maneuverability needs to be left just in case.

So not many people try this theory, and Salins was one of them.

Qinghu is a person of modest desires; she doesn’t engage much in events, and her cultivation speed is fast enough, allowing her to seriously consider the feasibility of this operation.

Later, she found some theoretical basis; generally speaking, cultivating a second attribute wouldn’t cause adverse effects.

For example, most Supremes, after a successful breakthrough, intentionally enhance their spiritual power, and no one has encountered trouble because of it.

Those who recklessly force enhancement of their Supremes can’t be counted.

But enhancing spiritual power itself isn’t equivalent to treating spirit as a second attribute for enhancement?

Her conclusion was: as long as there is enough time, cultivating a second or even a third attribute won’t affect subsequent breakthroughs.

The real problem everyone faces is: almost no one has enough time for cultivation!

Anyway, when she shifted to cultivate an Earth Attribute, everything went smoothly; it only meant less time for social interaction.

At this point, she looked at Qu Jianlei and curiously asked, "Do you think this theory is feasible?"

He always wanted to know how this leader, who specializes in modifying Cultivation Techniques, evaluates this theory.

But since this question was a bit sensitive, she didn’t want to receive a negative answer, hence she delayed asking until now.