I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 666: The Secret of the Jade Token

"The Death Squads from two years ago? Are you talking about that mission? The red mist from that time was a very special kind of Star Martial Toxin. It wouldn’t cause a poisoning reaction but would erode one’s soul.

Everyone who inhaled the red mist was demonized by a deathly energy, losing their sanity and attacking any living creature around them. We had no choice but to kill our comrades who fell into madness. By the time we reached the space node, fewer than thirty of us were alive..."

"Fewer than thirty, huh?" Wang Lan sighed softly. "It should have been a total annihilation, right? When Li Minyu went in, he was Li Minyu, but when he came out, he was no longer Li Minyu. Am I right?"

Li Minyu’s face behind him changed drastically. In a flash, he turned into a streak of light rushing towards the window, only to be flung back hard as if he had hit an invisible wall.

Staring at Wang Lan, who wore a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, Li Minyu’s body suddenly seemed to rupture, revealing his true form—an elite Demon Clan member over two meters tall, exuding strength that surpassed the Star Sea Realm.

"Wang Lan, it seems I’ve fallen into your hands as well."

"In my presence, you’d best abandon any false hopes. Tell me, where is your base?"

"ROAR—" With a fierce roar, the Demon Clan spy lunged, instantly reaching Wang Lan.

"If I can’t escape, then I’ll fight you to the death!"

"CRACK!" With a light snap, Li Minyu froze mid-action before Wang Lan, motionless. Wang Lan casually stepped forward, approaching the spy.

"Is there any point in resisting before me?" He reached out and gently placed his hand on Li Minyu’s head. But in an instant, Wang Lan’s expression changed dramatically.

"BOOM—"

Li Minyu’s head exploded with a bang, green blood and disgusting mucus scattering all over the room.

"I can’t believe you’ve gone to such lengths. Since when did you start imprinting Skill Forms in the heads of the Demon Clan...?"

The Paradise Bird traitors had Skill Forms embedded in their heads to prevent information leaks. However, as far as Wang Lan knew, Demon Clan spies didn’t have them. Perhaps the Demon Clan spies also realized their own clan’s resolve was no longer reliable. With humans now having Wang Lan, who could instantly subdue demons, leaving them no chance for self-destruction, they might have started imprinting Skill Forms to prevent information leaks.

After dealing with Li Minyu, the atmosphere at Tianjian Bureau headquarters suddenly grew tense and uneasy. One after another, Tianjian Bureau operatives were secretly arrested. The problem was, Liu Yuxin was completely unaware of this.

"What happened? I heard Director Shen was taken away?"

"I don’t know. The Action Department made the arrest. Are they really determined to drop all pretense now?"

"Impossible. Without Director Wen’s backing, how would the Action Department dare act so rashly? And to arrest someone right in front of Chief Liu?"

"They must have received orders from above."

"Whose orders could they be? If even Chief Liu doesn’t know?"

"Then it can only be an order from the Greedy Wolf Crown."

No matter how those arrested argued or pleaded, the agents from the Action Department ruthlessly apprehended everyone and secured them. Because the arrests occurred in different locations and the detainees were imprisoned separately, these arrested individuals didn’t even know that others had also been captured.

So, no one directly confessed, instead trying to play the sympathy card by proclaiming their innocence. They were all comrades who had faced life and death together, and their sudden, inexplicable arrests instilled a chilling sense of unease among many operatives, who feared they could be next.

"Zhang Lin, what in the world is going on? Under whose orders did you arrest these people?" Liu Yuxin couldn’t sit still any longer; arresting sixteen people at once was no small matter.

"Chief, General Wang ordered us to arrest the people on the list."

"A list? What list?"

Liu Yuxin took the list, his brow furrowing as he read it. "What’s wrong with them?"

"They are all Demon Clan spies who infiltrated the Tianjian Bureau," Wang Lan’s voice sounded as he appeared before Liu Yuxin from a spatial distortion.

"Demon Clan spies? So many?" Liu Yuxin’s face instantly turned pale.

It wasn’t just one or two, but a full sixteen. Including the four killed previously, that made twenty in total. Having twenty Demon Clan spies hidden within the Tianjian Bureau could erase all of Liu Yuxin’s career achievements.

"You realize it’s a lot too, don’t you? The Demon Clan almost took control of the Tianjian Bureau. Do you know who engineered Wen Xianghua’s death?"

"Who?"

"Li Minyu."

"What?"

Li Minyu was a trusted subordinate whom Liu Yuxin had personally promoted, and also the most formidable fighter under his command. If one were to ask who the best fighter in the Tianjian Bureau was, it might not be Li Minyu. But if one were to ask who fought most recklessly, it would undoubtedly be Li Minyu.

Why else would Liu Yuxin have placed Li Minyu in the Tianjian Bureau’s most powerful intelligence position if not for his complete trust?

"If Li Minyu engineered Wen Xianghua’s removal, then you must know what his next step would be, right?"

A moment’s thought was all it took for Liu Yuxin to understand. A cold sweat broke out on his brow as he realized, So that’s it! He’d naturally aim for Wen Xianghua’s position next, and after that, my own position as Bureau Chief!

For a Demon Clan spy to nearly become the head of a provincial Tianjian Bureau was an utter farce.

The mystery of Wen Xianghua’s death was finally solved, but Wang Lan couldn’t return to report it just yet. In Huzhou Province, a blood pool left by the Demon God’s Blood had appeared, and the Demon Clan was still planning to use it to recreate another Demon God. Wang Lan knew he couldn’t possibly leave.

But Zhang Xiannca truly didn’t know the blood pool’s location, nor where the Demon Clan spies were hiding. The only information Zhang Xiannca could provide was that there were over one hundred Demon Clan spies.

Furthermore, although this group of Demon Clan spies was a branch of Paradise Bird, they had almost no contact with Paradise Bird headquarters; even Paradise Bird’s main leadership was unaware of this branch’s existence.

"General Wang, this was found in Li Minyu’s house," the head of the evidence department said respectfully, placing a wooden box before Wang Lan.

"What is it?"

"A Kirin Jade Plaque."

"Oh?" Wang Lan hastily set down his teacup, a few goji berries bobbing within it.

Opening the wooden box, he found three Kirin Jade Plaques lying inside.

"Bring Wen Tao to the Tianjian Bureau. I want to see what exactly Zhang Lingxian left behind."

「Less than an hour later」

Wen Tao was brought to headquarters by Tianjian Bureau agents. After having four vials of blood drawn at the medical office, he was taken to a secure room.

"Wen Tao, according to DNA matching, you and your father are descendants of the Zhang Family from a thousand years ago. Therefore, only your blood can unlock these four Kirin Jade Plaques. Although the Kirin Jade Plaques are ancestral items, the Zhang Family has been extinct for over a thousand years, so the plaques now belong to the state.

You should be able to understand what I’m saying, right?"

"I understand. It’s like antiques. Unless they’re heirlooms passed down through generations, they’re considered state property," Wen Tao said. He had matured considerably after his ordeal and no longer seemed like a child.

"But since these are indeed ancestral relics, you have the right to know what they are. However, no matter what you see, it is all classified as a national secret. Without permission, you must not reveal any of it to anyone."

"Yes!"

After everything was agreed upon, Wang Lan laid the four jade plaques on the table. Wang Lan, Liu Yuxin, Jiang Xinyu, and others present each took a vial of blood and dripped it onto the plaques. The plaques absorbed the blood as if they were paper. In the blink of an eye, the crystal-clear jade plaques were stained the color of blood jade.

Suddenly, a red light burst forth from the blood jade, shooting up into the air and exploding. Then, a holographic projection appeared before everyone’s eyes.

"Incredible! This is technology from two thousand years ago? People from two thousand years ago had already mastered holographic projection technology?" Liu Yuxin exclaimed in amazement.

"Quick, record the projection with a camera!"

"It’s already being recorded."

The holographic display lasted for about ten minutes before vanishing as if its power source had been cut. The blood-red plaques then reverted to their former crystal-clear appearance.

They took the camera and replayed the recorded footage.

"This looks like... Zhangjiajie!"

"Zhangjiajie doesn’t look like that, does it?" Jiang Xinyu asked.

The scene before them depicted a plain, yet Zhangjiajie was characterized by towering, pillar-like mountain peaks—completely different.

"Zhangjiajie didn’t always look like this. Legend says that Zhangjiajie’s topography was formed by a single sword strike from Zhang Lingxian."

"There’s no mistake. Look, that’s Wuyi Mountain, that’s Mount Wandeng, and that is Vernicia Peak. Using these three mountains as landmarks, that plain is undoubtedly within Zhangjiajie’s borders."

"Let’s have geological experts investigate what secrets Zhangjiajie holds."

「Seven days later」

The Zhangjiajie tourist area was completely sealed off. All access routes into Zhangjiajie were blockaded by armed police units.

Hundreds of geologists installed a dense array of detection equipment on the plain indicated on the map—the entirety of the Zhangjiajie tourist area—and began feverishly calibrating it.

The perimeter was secured by armed police, while Tianjian Bureau special operatives provided protection within. The Demon Clan probably won’t dare to make a move, Wang Lan thought, but it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry.

"Reporting, sir, equipment calibration is complete. Shall we begin the research now?"

"Begin. How deep can this equipment detect?"

"Three thousand meters. This is currently the world’s deepest detection equipment."

"Good. We await your findings."

Scientific research is a very tedious task, and geological detection is particularly so. With time on their hands, Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu strolled leisurely through Zhangjiajie. Having the famous tourist destination all to themselves made the experience ten times more delightful.

Both capable of flight, they danced between the peaks, strolled on glass walkways, had barbecues on mountaintops, and brewed tea on the summits of sword-like peaks, appearing as ethereal as a pair of immortal lovers.

"BRRRING—" Wang Lan’s cellphone rang. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Hello?"

"General Wang, we’ve found it! We’ve found it! It’s... it’s simply beyond our wildest imagination!"

"What is it?"

"You must come quickly! The findings are... simply astounding!"

After hanging up, Wang Lan looked at Jiang Xinyu. "It seems they’ve discovered something incredible over there. Let’s go take a look together."

"Okay!"

The two leaped into the air and landed at the detection site. An elderly professor was excitedly creating a 3D model on a computer.

"General Wang, you’re here! Look! It’s unbelievable! This has to be a prehistoric super-civilization!"

"This is..." Wang Lan looked at the computer screen, which displayed a circular, disk-like model covered in countless columns, packed as densely as the quills of a hedgehog.

"What is this?"

"This is a Tianji Lock," the professor said. "An ancient type of Tianji Lock. A typical Tianji Lock has anywhere from dozens to ninety-nine bolts. This one, however, has over seven hundred. The lock can only be opened if all these bolts are inserted into their corresponding keyholes, disengaging the mechanism."

"But what does this have to do with Zhangjiajie..." Suddenly, Wang Lan’s voice faltered. He looked around in horror. "You mean... these mountains..."