Chen Shouyi slowly stretched out his hand and applied a little force. Countless fibers of muscle, as fine as steel wires, bulged on his arm, filled with immense strength.

"Finally, my strength has reached 17 points."

"It looks much better than 16.9!" he thought to himself.

With this level of strength, the War Bow, which used to feel heavy at 2000 pounds, now felt manageable and effortless.

At this moment, his mind stirred slightly. He closed his eyes to sense it, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

A grand sacrificial ceremony was being held on a distant island. Now the number of Barbarians on the island was not just two or three hundred, but over a thousand, and the converted believers were close to six hundred.

Although the number of believers has not broken through four digits and is still pitifully small, the Power of Faith generated during the fervent sacrificial ceremony was already quite considerable. As this "massive" Power of Faith continuously surged into his body, Chen Shouyi felt a pleasant light intoxication.

The Power of Faith can slowly strengthen the power of Divine Creatures, change its essence, and gradually make it closer to a deity.

However, this speed was really too slow, and for Chen Shouyi, its main function was still to protect the soul.

...

By evening.

Chen Shouyi returned home to find that there were guests at home. Besides Chen Xingyue and Bai Xiaoling, there were Luo Jingwen and an unfamiliar woman.

She looked about twenty years old, with fair skin and a beautiful appearance, exuding a competent demeanor. Seeing Chen Shouyi, a glimmer of excitement flashed in her eyes, and she couldn't help but glance a few more times.

Chen Shouyi couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

A Martial Artist from the Capital City, what are they doing looking for me?

Chen Xingyue was bored, accompanying them by the side. Seeing her brother return, she couldn't wait to say, "Brother, you're back. They're all here for you."

Looking at Chen Xingyue's bored expression, Chen Shouyi knew that Luo Jingwen hadn't revealed his identity as a Martial Artist. Otherwise, his sister wouldn't have had this expression. He felt slightly relieved and said to his sister, "We have some things to discuss. You go and cook."

Bai Xiaoling was just about to speak when Luo Jingwen stood up, extended his hand with a smile, and said,

"Brother Chen, long time no see. You won't blame us for coming uninvited, will you?"

Chen Shouyi shook hands with him out of courtesy: "You're welcome. What brings you here?"

He only knew these Martial Artists from the Capital City from the previous mission to retrieve the nuclear bomb. There was no real relationship, and he had barely spoken a few words to this one.

Luo Jingwen, in that group of five Martial Artists who came to execute the mission, was at the peak of the second tier in power, only second to Ye Zong.

And back then, Chen Shouyi had just recently become a Martial Artist. Xiao Changming and Lei Ruiyang were merely quasi-Martial Artists. The people from Hedong City were in stark contrast in status to them. Apart from Lu Shouhu and Ye Zong being relatively approachable, others rarely interacted.

Bai Xiaoling was afraid that the inexperienced General Manager Chen would be deceived and spoke out hastily. "General Manager Chen, they are here to request your support. The government has given a preliminary agreement, but whether you agree is entirely up to you. If you find it inconvenient, you can completely refuse."

Luo Jingwen's expression didn't change in the slightest, still full of smiles, but that young woman looked a bit displeased.

"Miss Bai is right. That's indeed the case. This task is to go to East Sea Province, and there might be some danger, but in general, safety can still be assured." Luo Jingwen said confidently.

As a peak Martial Artist, he was confident in this aspect. As long as they didn't encounter extraordinarily powerful forces, he could basically guarantee the safety of the team members.

Chen Shouyi frowned slightly.

Going to East Sea Province!

Did something happen in East Sea Province?

"Since there's no danger, the two of you should be enough," Chen Shouyi said sternly, with a hint of refusal in his words.

Tasks within his province were fine. As the province's chief security consultant, he enjoyed a huge allowance and superior status, so he couldn't shirk those responsibilities. But for tasks outside the province, he'd rather abstain.

Plus, this place was far away. It wasn't something you could come back from in a day or two; it might even take ten days or half a month.

At that time, he wouldn't be able to take care of things at home.

If something happened in Hedong City, he wouldn't be able to get back in time.

Luo Jingwen sighed and said, "I'll be honest with you; the situation in East Sea Province is very complicated. The entire area might have already fallen. We must investigate clearly the specific situation there and how much of our forces remain. The strength of just the two of us seems inadequate; if you can assist, we can complete the task much more quickly."

"It's not that I don't want to help, but if you had come a few days ago, I definitely wouldn't decline. However, it's really unfortunate that last night I just fought a terrifying creature. Although I barely won, my spirit was severely injured. I might seem fine now, but I'm actually still recuperating. Sorry, there's nothing I can do." Chen Shouyi rubbed his temples, trying to put on a pained expression as he fabricated the story.

Luo Jingwen was a hundred times skeptical. How could there be such a coincidence? Furthermore, the other party seemed full of energy, and the expression was too fake. It didn't seem like someone with problems, but he didn't say much and instead responded, "I know this is not a task from your province. I'm not trying to lecture you, and ** will not ask local Martial Artists to help for nothing. This mission's reward is the Divine Marrow."

Martial Artists from the Capital City had many, but there were also many considerations. It was already stretched thin, and every time they carried out missions outside the Capital, they were tasks the local authorities couldn't handle, which were extremely dangerous. Therefore, they had certain authority to recruit team members, albeit no more than two, whose identity needed to be recognized by local Martial Artists.

Hearing this, Chen Shouyi asked in confusion, "Divine Marrow?"

"Primordial Divine Marrow, derived from a weak-level deity killed in Jiqing Province. You should know that Divine Marrow's main effect is enhancing intelligence. It's more precious than Divine Blood, and Primordial Divine Marrow is even more so," Luo Jingwen explained.

Chen Shouyi was surprised at heart.

He knew the other party wasn't lying.

Primordial Divine Marrow came from the spinal cord and brain of a deity.

Before the mutation, the Martial Artists' internal network also provided Divine Marrow, priced the same as Divine Blood, but those had regressed through countless generations during cultivation and could be extracted in large quantities.

Genuine Divine Marrow was much rarer than Divine Blood.

Although Divine Blood could also improve intelligence to some extent, its primary role was enhancing strength, agility, and physique, with intelligence being secondary.

The reason Chen Shouyi's intelligence improved significantly last time was that intelligence was the lowest of all his attributes, and he used raw Divine Blood that hadn't been separated.

On the other hand, Divine Marrow primarily enhances intelligence, making it even more valuable.

Such items were hard for Martial Artists to obtain and were basically reserved for important scientific researchers. A genius like Einstein meant more to human civilization than any Martial Artist. Like when the God of Courage fell, he never even saw a trace of Divine Marrow.

Unexpectedly, the reward for a national mission is so generous!

Much more generous than the monetary rewards in the province.

Chen Shouyi initially wanted to refuse again but found no resistance in his heart. Torn for a while, he finally asked, "When do we leave?"

The young woman sitting beside secretly sneered.

Weren't you spiritually wounded and had no way?

How come you're not mentioning that now!

ps: Tomorrow there will definitely be two updates, otherwise I'll eat shit!

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