Re-encounter with the Institute of Eternal Life

First, regarding those who discover ruins: most of them possess low cultivation realms and are desperate for treasures to elevate their standing.

Therefore, after finding a ruin, aside from reporting it to the Sanitation Office, they often sell the intelligence to others.

For instance, to sects or powerful families.

This is difficult to prevent. If the higher-ups ask, those sects and families simply claim they knew about the ruin long ago and just hadn't made it public.

However, the Sanitation Office usually turns a blind eye to these matters.

As long as they don't go overboard and spread the news to the masses, the authorities generally won't pursue it.

Aside from that, there is another issue: the interiors of these ruins are often territories inhabited by alien races.

If that is the case, there will be life-threatening dangers.

"I was thinking you could come with me. We split any treasures fifty-fifty, and if there's danger, we can watch each other's backs."

After speaking, Jiang Huihui blew a bubble with her gum.

"Why don't you ask your grandfather to go with you? With an expert like him, there would be almost no danger, right?"

Xu Mu asked curiously.

"Neither my grandpa nor my dad will go. They said a long time ago that the most precious thing inside a ruin isn't the natural treasures, but the life-and-death experience."

Jiang Huihui explained, "If I let them go, I might as well stay home and wait for them to deliver the treasures to my face."

"That makes sense."

Xu Mu sighed inwardly. Normal families would try every method to protect their women.

He hadn't expected the Jiang family to be so hands-off.

"Why don't you go back and get ready now? With things like ruins, the later you arrive, the lower the chance of finding treasure," Jiang Huihui said from the side.

"Just the two of us going?" Xu Mu asked.

"You can find a few more people, like Chen Xuan, or those beautiful friends of yours."

At this point, Jiang Huihui added a reminder, "But I have one requirement. If we find treasure together, we split it evenly. I take half first, and you guys can divide the remaining half however you want."

Xu Mu nodded. "Deal. That's not unreasonable, considering you provided the ruin's location."

The first person who came to his mind was Chen Xuan. After all, his Destiny Power was so high that he surely had a knack for finding treasures.

Xu Mu had felt a bit guilty ever since snatching the cultivation technique that originally belonged to him last time, so he wanted to see if Chen Xuan could gain something this time.

As for Dai Xingluo and Meng Wanyue, Xu Mu planned to bring them along as well.

Bringing them wasn't for the sake of the treasures, but for the experience.

Blindly cultivating in isolation, no matter how high one's realm got, was merely armchair strategy.

The most important thing was to get out there and engage in actual combat.

As for Xu Ningbing, Xu Mu had no plans to bring her for the time being. He would likely wait until she entered the Divine Power realm before taking her along.

...

Xu Mu called Chen Xuan in advance, telling him to ride his electric scooter over immediately and wait at his door.

After that, he called Meng Wanyue, but she didn't pick up.

He called Dai Xingluo, and it was the same.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the two of them were likely sparring.

So, he called Bai Yi.

This time, the call connected.

"Master," Bai Yi called out softly from the other end.

"Brother-in-law! Why are you calling?"

The next moment, Ye Yu's voice came through.

"What the hell? Little Yu, why are you with Bai Yi?" Xu Mu asked, puzzled.

"I heard from Bai Yi yesterday that those two keep fighting. My realm is pretty strong now, but I don't know the first thing about fighting, so I thought I'd come over and learn a bit," Ye Yu's voice explained.

Hearing this, Xu Mu realized what was happening. "Tell the two of them to stop fighting and wait for me at home."

"Okay."

Ye Yu agreed.

...

When Xu Mu drove home, there were five people sitting in the living room.

Chen Xuan had already parked his pedal-assist electric scooter in the yard.

"Brother Mu!"

Seeing Xu Mu arrive, Chen Xuan immediately greeted him.

"Brother-in-law, is there some kind of activity?"

Ye Yu ran over and grabbed Xu Mu's arm.

"There is an activity, but I definitely can't take you. It's too dangerous."

Xu Mu pulled Ye Yu to sit on the sofa and relayed what Jiang Huihui had told him to everyone.

Hearing this, excitement appeared on the faces of everyone present.

This was a trip to a ruin to find treasures; they might find cultivation techniques or the like that could take them to the next level.

"Little Yu, you stay home with Yiyi," Xu Mu reminded her.

"Fine," Ye Yu muttered, pouting. "I want to go too."

"You should understand that we know nothing about this ruin. If there's some powerful existence inside, we'll barely be able to protect ourselves, let alone you."

Xu Mu patted Ye Yu's head. "I promise you, when the time is right, I'll take you into a ruin to have a look."

"Okay!"

Ye Yu nodded with a smile.

[Favorability +10]

Xu Mu asked everyone to sit tight while he went to the supermarket outside to buy some supplies, which he loaded into his storage space.

Going to a place like this, it was better to be safe than sorry, so preparations were essential.

Aside from what went into his storage space, he also put some supplies in the trunk of the car so that everyone could carry some individually once they arrived.

The location of this ruin was near Yuhang in Jiangnan, a mountain village about four or five hours away.

...

"Brother Mu, take a break at the service area ahead. Shall I drive?"

Meng Wanyue, sitting in the passenger seat, looked at Xu Mu and asked.

"No need."

Xu Mu shook his head. "I can handle this distance."

He was thinking that he should probably buy a helicopter. Since he possessed the "Veteran Driver" title, he knew how to fly one.

That way, he could save a lot of time wherever he went in the future.

...

They arrived at the destination smoothly.

Everyone got out of the car. Jiang Huihui picked up her phone, which displayed the coordinates sent to her by the Sanitation Office.

She then led the group toward the deep mountains in the distance.

After walking for about ten minutes, Xu Mu suddenly reached out and stopped everyone.

His perception had detected traces of other people ahead.

It seemed they weren't the only ones who knew about this location.

When he examined the people over there, his expression changed abruptly.

He recognized one of them: it was Liang Yi from the Eternal Life Research Institute, the Captain of the Third Punishment Squad.

Beside Liang Yi was a woman around thirty years old, dressed in leather clothes and pants.

The zipper on her leather jacket wasn't pulled all the way up, seemingly obstructed by two terrifying assets.

Another woman bearing signs of a "Great Omen."

However, based on Xu Mu's professional assessment:

She was slightly inferior to Dai Xingluo in that department, but aside from that, the peach-like curves behind her were extremely full, only slightly inferior to Feng Yue.

Although she was slightly inferior in both individual aspects, when these two features appeared on the same woman, her figure became top-tier.

This woman had long black hair, lips as red as blood, and purple eyes. She wore an extremely friendly smile on her face.

She walked with the grace of a spirit cat.

Watching that gait, Xu Mu felt an urge to buy stocks in her, wanting to invest immediately.

"Brother Mu, what's wrong?"

Chen Xuan asked from the side, carrying a woven bag.

"We've got trouble," Xu Mu said in a low voice.