26th of May.

　　Fang Ping had driven his own compact car and was waiting in front of the logistics department entrance.

　　Very soon, Old Man Li strolled out with his hands behind his back.

　　Fang Ping got out of the car to open the door courteously. His face was brightly lit as he asked, “Instructor, where are we going?”

　　“Go to the Southern Contribution District. There’s a Southern Distribution Research Institute there. Do you know the place?”

　　“Research institute…”

　　Fang Ping thought for a while before saying, “I’ll ask someone when I’m there. Do you know, instructor?”

　　“Yes. It’s not far. Try looking for it yourself.”

　　“Alright.”

　　“…”

　　After they had discussed the location, Fang Ping revved his car and headed out.

　　…

　　In the car, Old Man Li was resting with his eyes closed. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, “Xie Lei has achieved Peak Rank-3 while Qin Fengqing is almost at Rank-4. What you did yesterday has surely offended these people very much.

　　“You are currently a Middle-stage Rank-3. Aren’t you worried at all?”

　　“Instructor, you really can’t blame me for this…”

　　“It’s useless to explain it to me. Right now, there’s still no issue regarding the thing with your replenishing Vitality. It’s best if you don’t use it these few days. Do you understand what I’m saying?

　　“Recently, someone mentioned this over at the Military Department. I think that rumors spread so far that even in the Military…”

　　Fang Ping’s heart started thumping and he felt that he was wronged. “Instructor, what I have is inherent. I can’t do anything about it anyway. Isn’t NMAU’s Wang Jinyang the same too?”

　　“He is only slightly quicker in honing his bones, and slightly richer in Vitality compared to others. His replenishing speed is not out of the ordinary.

　　“Contrary to what you have, what he has is normal… You are different, your Vitality can actually achieve continuous outbursts of more than ten thousand cal…”

　　“Instructor, this may have something to do with my powerful Mentality…”

　　Old Man Li yawned and said, “It’s useless telling me about it. You need to get it checked sooner or later. It’s not like anything will happen to you, but you need to give the Military Department an explanation, at least. Do you understand this?

　　“Exposing some details to the public will be better for you as well. It will save you a lot of trouble.

　　“Concealing it will only make matters worse.

　　“The more you do it, the more eyes you’ll attract. In the end, you need to be careful of Grandmasters too.

　　“Lu Fengrou mentioned that you are recently preparing to enter the Catacombs. No one is allowed to disturb you for now. However, once you have returned from the Catacombs, you’re going to have to resolve this issue.”

　　As he spoke, Old Man Li smiled. “Of course, you can hide in the Catacombs and never come out. I believe that if you are extremely lucky, you can live a good life. Wanna try?”

　　Fang Ping replied drily, “That’s not true. I have nothing to hide. I’ll get it checked.”

　　“Bone marrow like mercury. Can you really do that?”

　　“Really!”

　　“Using Mentality to capture energy particles. You can do that too?”

　　“Really!”

　　Fang Ping did not even hesitate. Who cared whether it was true or not; it was very much true right now.

　　Old Man Li did not mind as well. He smiled and said, “Like what I have said since the beginning. It’s useless to explain it to me. You need to explain it to other people. You need to go for accreditation.

　　“The Southern Distribution Research Institute here is actually an accreditation body as well.

　　“Of course, my purpose of bringing you here this time is not to get you accredited. Don’t worry. We’ll talk about it after you return from the Catacombs.”

　　Fang Ping shuddered slightly and asked warily, “Then why are we going to this place?”

　　“The main purpose of the place is to research other things. For instance, things in the Catacombs like certain plants and animals. You have not experienced any of them yet, so go and widen your knowledge. It’ll be helpful.

　　“There’s still a difference between the real thing and the illustration, but what do you think?”

　　Fang Ping nodded and said, “That’s true. Do they have energy ores there?”

　　“Of course they do. They have all kinds of purity levels. I’ll bring you there to see it for yourself. Try distinguishing them from actual observation so that you won’t miss out on the good stuff when you enter the Catacombs.”

　　“Understood!”

　　Fang Ping was extremely grateful. On the Earth’s surface, the opportunity to come in contact with Catacombs items was truly rare.

　　Humans perceive these things as very important.

　　In MCMAU, when Fang Ping and the rest were in class, there were no actual objects. The university would only allow you to look at them.

　　Earlier, the old professor did bring an energy ore for everyone to see. However, he did not allow anyone to touch it. Everyone could only look at it, so they were all left unsatisfied. Needless to say, there were almost no actual objects for other animals and plants.

　　…

　　After an hour, Fang Ping arrived at the Southern Distribution Research Institute.

　　It was little over a ten-minute drive from MCMAU.

　　As for the long delay, Fang Ping felt that Old Man Li was responsible for it. Old Man Li was already old, so he had a bad memory, always pointing out the wrong direction.

　　Old Man Li stared at Fang Ping with an odd look on his face. He spoke while he was walking, “Your body has a defect.”

　　Astonished, Fang Ping asked, “Defect?”

　　“What you have is a disease that needs to be treated, or you can enhance and strengthen it. Your memory is not weak, but you lack the kind of visual angle switching ability to structure things into three-dimensional space.

　　“Of course, this is also commonly known as having a poor sense of direction.

　　“You need to pay attention to this condition yourself. Perhaps you need to carry a navigator next time when you go out?”

　　Fang Ping was discouraged as he explained, “Instructor, this is not considered a disease. It’s just that Magic City has too many roads. I don’t have any problems like that in Sun City.”

　　“Hehe, do you mean the one road that you can drive all the way to the end? Unless that person’s an idiot, no one will have problems there.”

　　Sun City was only so big. The main road could connect to practically anywhere. If a person could get lost, then that was no longer a poor sense of direction, but blindness.

　　Fang Ping felt embarrassed. At this time, both of them had arrived at the entrance to the research institute.

　　Before going in, Fang Ping could feel a rich Vitality force.

　　“Halt in your steps! This is a military control zone!”

　　The guard standing in front of the entrance neither wore a military uniform nor carried any weapon. Despite that, a strong outburst of Vitality force was radiating. Fang Ping sensed it for a bit. Probably a Peak Rank-1 martial artist.

　　He had gotten a rough idea seeing that two Peak Rank-1 martial artists were stationed as guards.

　　Wasting no time, Old Man Li fished out his martial arts license and tossed it at them. He spoke lazily, “I’ve made an application.”

　　The guard checked the license, scanned it on the machine beside him, then announced with a respectful expression, “Master Li, please come in.”

　　Old Man Li strolled in. Fang Ping was just about to enter when the other party said again, “Mister, please show your license.”

　　Upon hearing that, Fang Ping took out his martial arts license and the man scanned it on the machine. He looked at Fang Ping, slightly surprised.

　　Rank-3 martial artist!

　　It was undeniable that MCMAU was a gathering ground for prodigies. At such a young age, based on the martial arts license age register, Fang Ping was only 19 years old. This was insanely young.

　　Old Man Li applied for dual-entry. Fang Ping’s identity was an MCMAU student. Very soon, he was allowed to enter.

　　Entering the research institute entrance was like stepping into another world. The big entrance was a vast, empty area. A space with nothing at all. Only martial artists were seen patrolling.

　　Under the watch of many martial artists, Fang Ping and Old Man Li walked through the empty area before finally entering into the actual building.

　　After passing through the door, there was only an extended and stretched out passageway.

　　At this moment, someone was already standing at the passageway opening, waiting. Upon seeing Fang Ping and Old Man Li, the middle-aged man who was wearing a white coat grinned, “Old Li, it’s been a while.”

　　“I’ve been busy. No time.”

　　Old Man Li brushed him off. Fang Ping, on the other hand, glared at him scornfully. ‘Did you think anyone would believe your words?’

　　Last time, Old Man Li even mentioned that he wanted to look for things to keep him occupied. However, lately, he was laying down and dozing off at the logistics department every day. How could he be busy?

　　The man with the white coat did not seem to take any offense. He turned his attention to Fang Ping and smiled. “Is this your student, Old Li?”

　　“Yes. Let’s go. We’ll talk inside.”

　　Old Man Li did not say much. The white-coat guy did not argue and keyed in the password at the passageway, matched his retina, and scanned his ID before bringing both of them inside.

　　Seeing the tedious operation, Fang Ping was slightly surprised. Old Man Li explained casually, “This is a research institute constructed in a joint investment between the government and the martial arts universities. This is one of the few high-end research institutes in Sino Nation and even in the whole world.

　　“Of course, that’s not all. Ah, forget about it. It’s useless to tell you.

　　“This passageway is 200 meters long. The walls are forged from alloy. It is the same for the underground. If you want to enter the research institute, this is the only way. The one and only passageway. There’s no emergency exit at all.

　　“Breaking in without authentication here at the passageway… nearly anyone below Grandmaster level would be dead.”

　　Fang Ping was left speechless. “So strict?”

　　“Of course.”

　　As Old Man Li was talking, the white-coat guy beside them chuckled as well. “The things that we are researching here are of utmost importance. Hence, the degree of confidentiality is very high.”

　　“Oh.”

　　Fang Ping did not continue asking. He followed both of them inside.

　　Fang Ping and the two men passed through three doors consecutively before arriving at a huge hall.

　　The moment they entered the hall, Old Man Li instructed, “Bring us to the human research lab.”

　　“Sure.”

　　The white-coat guy did not waste any time and led both of them straight in front.

　　Fang Ping looked left and right, yet no one else was seen. The huge hall was not used for research purposes. It was more like a place for the researchers to exercise and take a fresh breath of air.

　　The huge hall, on the other hand, was a few streaks of merging passageways. They were all connected to different research labs.

　　At this moment, the white-coat guy brought them into one of the passageways.

　　…

　　After a minute and a few examinations, the three of them arrived at a different, brighter hall.

　　Old Man Li turned his head and asked, “Is there any research done on live specimens right now?

　　“Yes. Professor Wang is currently doing one. Let me bring you there.”

　　“Alright.”

　　The white-coat guy continued to lead the way. Very soon, he stopped in front of the door to one of the laboratories on both sides of the huge hall. “Old Li, this is it. Are we going in?”

　　“There’s no need. We can just observe from the door.”

　　As he spoke, Old Man Li motioned at Fang Ping and said, “Come and see.”

　　Fang Ping was very curious and hurried there immediately. He peeked inside through the transparent glass opening.

　　Right now, in the laboratory, a few researchers dressed in big white coats were talking in low voices.

　　Whereas in front of them, there was… a person. A living person!

　　Fang Ping could instantly tell that the person was alive because the person’s limbs were still struggling violently…

　　Fang Ping gulped and asked in a whisper, “Instructor, this is…”

　　Old Man Li replied indifferently, “The system of the human body is the most complicated and hardest to understand. It is also the most mysterious.

　　“Why do fragile human beings become martial artists, become Grandmasters with indestructible bodies, turning their flesh and blood into impenetrable armor. There are countless mysteries.

　　“Therefore, in the past few years, humans have never stopped researching.

　　“This place is one of the largest research organizations. In fact, they mainly research unique humans.

　　“For example, people with bone marrow variation, Mentality variation, as well as every other kind of human anomaly.

　　“Oh, since we’re on the subject, you’re actually considered a human variation too…”

　　Fang Ping gulped again and whispered, “Conducting research on living humans?”

　　“Yes. The samples are too few, there’s no other way.”

　　“Then… then do they volunteer to do it?”

　　“Of course not… cough, cough. Perhaps they do. I’m not sure about the details.”

　　Old Man Li teased and questioned excitedly, “Oh? It’s brain dissection this time? Can we go in and observe up close?”

　　The white-coat guy who was standing beside them chuckled. “I’ll ask for you. It should be fine. This is actually the fourth brain dissection this month.

　　“Recently, Professor Wang has been researching a new subject that has constantly been overlooked. Does Mentality have anything to do with the brain at all?

　　“Does the brain interior have any carriers of Mentality…

　　“The previous research attempts have been unsuccessful. It’s mainly due to the lack of high-ranked powerhouses as research subjects. Even though this experimental subject here may not be a high-ranked one, his Mentality is much stronger than a typical person. He can perceive…”

　　Fang Ping’s complexion changed. His face turned a bit green.

　　Old Man Li glanced at him and said flatly, “That’s true. It is extremely rare to find martial artists below Rank-7 who can perceive their Mentality. Subjects like this are hard to come by. Forget it. We won’t be going in. If we disturb Professor Wang and cause the death of the experimental body, that’ll be a misdeed on our part.”

　　As he spoke, Old Man Li looked at Fang Ping and asked in a carrying whisper, “You can perceive your Mentality, right?”

　　“No!”

　　Fang Ping immediately denied it at first, then he changed tack and said, “That… is perhaps… Instructor, this is too inhumane. Dissecting brains for research? Can… can you even survive that?”

　　“Sigh, there’s no choice. Mentality is associated with Grandmasters. We can’t be dissecting Grandmasters for research, can we?

　　“These martial artists who can perceive their Mentality at an early stage do not have particularly strong abilities. It just so happened that they can perceive their Mentality. Using them to conduct research is most practical.

　　“Even if they die, it’s for the good cause of scientific research!

　　“Once the secret has been revealed and humans can start perceiving their Mentality earlier, perhaps more Grandmaster powerhouses will start to emerge amongst humans. With that, all sacrifices will be worth it.

　　“For mankind!”

　　Old Man Li’s expression was solemn. The white-coat guy was equally serious when he said, “Everything is done for mankind. Besides, to us, they are not really…”

　　“Cough, cough. Xiao Chen, that’s too cold-blooded. They are also making sacrifices for the sake of science and mankind. They are still valuable.”

　　“You’re right.”

　　Standing beside them, Fang Ping’s face had been drained of color. ‘For mankind’, this phrase was too glorified!

　　Grandmasters could not be dissected. So, were Rank-3 martial artists disposable items?

　　They could be dissected!

　　Old Man Li sighed and said, “For the future of mankind, researchers like you guys have to stain your hands with blood. We are responsible for that too.”

　　The white-coat guy blushed. “Please don’t say that. So what if the public sees us as executioners? As long as we can help master martial artists like you achieve breakthrough even a little bit easier, even if it is at the cost of our lives, it will still be worth it!”

　　“Xiao Chen, don’t be so emotional. If all of you died, it would be a huge loss for mankind…”

　　Both of them were engrossed in the conversation, while Fang Ping fixed his eyes inside the laboratory and observed.

　　A precision scalpel was currently slicing the subject’s brain… without any anesthetics!

　　Fang Ping saw the person struggling!

　　“So inhumane…”

　　Old Man Li was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Hearing him mumbling to himself, he chuckled. “Anesthetics can’t be given. He needs to be conscious for his Mentality to be active. If he is unconscious, there’s no point in the experiment.”

　　Fang Ping: “…”

　　“Fang Ping, after you return from the Catacombs, you can come here for inspection. The inspection conditions are really good here…”

　　“Instructor…”

　　“Don’t worry. We’ll be here. At that time, we’ll also ask the dean and the rest. Do you think the Military Department will still be brave enough to slice you up and conduct research on the spot?”

　　Fang Ping’s face twitched a little as he replied drily, “But, but…”

　　“Of course, it’ll be great if you are a Grandmaster. Then none of this will be your problem.”

　　“I’m only Rank-3…”

　　“Exactly. You must perform well. There are plenty of Middle-stage Rank-3 martial artists. Only Upper-stage and Peak are valuable, and only they are considered elites amongst humans…”

　　Old Man Li chuckled again. “Being an elite means that even if you have peculiar characteristics, you will still be accepted by people.

　　“However, if you’re not an elite… you will still need to maximize the benefits.

　　“Humans need powerhouses.”

　　“Powerhouses, elites…”

　　Fang Ping mumbled. At this time, there were movements in the laboratory suddenly. There was a flurry of activity from a few of the guys in lab coats. They were in a nervous hurry doing something.

　　Then, the experimental body that was still struggling stopped moving all of a sudden.

　　After a while, the lab bench that was occupied by the subject was empty in the blink of an eye!

　　The few white-coat guys in the laboratory stomped their feet and pounded their chests, looking very much discouraged.

　　Fang Ping’s eyes were wide open. What was that!

　　Where was the guy?

　　Old Man Li looked at him out of the corner of his eye, frowned slightly, then he dragged Fang Ping and walked outside. He laughed and said, “Let’s go. We’re going to the next place.”

　　“Instructor, what was that earlier?”

　　As Fang Ping spoke, he exclaimed suddenly, “A Catacombs human being!”

　　Old Man Li replied lightly, “Is it? I guess so. Over here, the Catacombs human beings and human beings are being researched together. Everyone is similar in some ways. So, that is possible.”

　　Fang Ping threw him a glance and gritted his teeth. “Instructor, are you trying to tell me that if I do not become a powerhouse, then I will be sliced up?”

　　“Am I?” Old Man Li laughed and explained, “Nothing will happen. How can they possibly slice you up? At most, they will cut off some bones, blood, and flesh to study them. Do you agree?”

　　Fang Ping was speechless. He must have done this on purpose to frighten me!

　　Old Man Li could really do it!

　　If he had not witnessed the guy die all of a sudden and vanish, Fang Ping would be legitimately in shock.

　　It was too inhumane. Slicing someone up when they were still alive!

　　However, very soon, Fang Ping diverted his attention and asked quickly, “Instructor, that person earlier came back alive from the Catacombs?”

　　This did not make any sense!

　　Old Man Li nodded and spoke in a low voice, “It’s true. That was not all. Did you see? Everything has disappeared completely! This includes the blood drawn from his body and the organs that have been sliced off earlier. Everything will disappear.

　　“However, this is different from the Catacombs humans who are murdered in the Catacombs. The corpses that have been brought back will remain here.

　　“How this happens is still a question the current science cannot explain. We can only explore slowly.

　　“Hey, kid. Are you interested in fighting with the Catacombs humans that we have captured?

　　“Of course, they are not afraid of dying. Truly bold and unafraid of death. You, on the other hand, have much to lose if you die.”

　　The white-coat guy beside them heard what he said and said awkwardly, “Old Li, there are not many live specimens here in the research institute anymore…”

　　Old Man Li rolled his eyes and snapped, “Catch more then. Can you let this kid try it at least?”

　　“Old Li, there’s really not many left. I’m sure you know that it’s really difficult to catch live specimens. In addition, the live specimens that have been detained currently are at least Peak Rank-3…”

　　Fang Ping thought it was weird at first, then he said all of a sudden, “The Catacombs humans who are lower than Rank-3 are not allowed to enter using the Catacombs entrance?”

　　This had been mentioned in the class earlier.

　　The Catacombs entrance was perhaps a one-way passageway. Currently, only Catacombs beings that were Rank-3 and above could pass through, while those with lower abilities could not.

　　Based on the old professor’s explanation, 700 years ago, this barrier was impassable even for Rank-9 Catacombs beings.

　　This was also why West Mountain Province’s first entrance had not been attacked by any Catacombs beings after so many years.

　　Of course, it was all a prediction since it was something that had happened hundreds of years ago.

　　Old Man Li nodded but did not comment. He looked at Fang Ping and said, “Hey, kid. Improve yourself quicker. Or else, don’t blame me for not protecting you next time when you are being dissected here. It is better to depend on yourself than rely on others.

　　“I’m not trying to freak you out. When there are people who falsify the truth, you always have to do your research. There’s no use in fighting back if you don’t have the ability to. Do you understand?”

　　Fang Ping nodded gravely. Of course he understood.

　　“Let’s go. We’ll go and see other good stuff. Looks like it’s impossible to fight today. That’s too much consumption.”

　　Old Man Li thought it was a pity. Things took a wrong turn this time. Otherwise, he would have waited until they were at least out of the research institute before telling Fang Ping the truth. He hoped to frighten the kid.

　　What a pity!

　　Even so, it was not so bad. Seeing that the kid’s expression was still slightly pale, he must have been surprised enough.