Chapter 483 - 4: The Chaos of the Spiritual Energy Era (Part 2)

She immediately logged onto her alternate account, ’Objectively Speaking,’ and began mass-posting dirt about Su Zhou under Selos’s comments.

Things like how Su Zhou ate enough for twenty people in a single meal, embezzling public property from the cafeteria every day. How his real personality was absolutely horrid and he refused to listen to reason. Not to mention, he was always dragging people off for combat training, and on top of that, he constantly wore a menacing glare while intimidating innocent young women...

Just as a certain Miss Garuda was having the time of her life with her exposé, her WeChat started chiming.

[Su Zhou: Jin Qiong, u there? We have team training today. It’s been three months, so it’s time to test your squad’s coordination.]

"Waaah, I’m going to get thrashed the second he’s back..."

To be honest, Jin Qiong really wanted to reply, ’I’m not here,’ but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. ’Training with Su Zhou always helps me quickly find the flaws in my combat style and improve my strength,’ she thought, ’but if the price is getting completely steamrolled, it’s just too painful...’

So, before training began, she tearfully went back on Weibo to post one last, blood-and-tears accusation against Su Zhou.

"This guy is a complete psycho when he fights! He even hits pretty girls!"

「7:00 PM, May 23, 2016.」

Su Zhou trained in the Western Capital in the morning and was back home in Hongcheng for dinner that afternoon—the life of a Transcendent was just that indulgent.

’Garuda’s strength is truly top-notch among the Extraordinary High-tier. After undergoing systematic, scientific training, she’s no longer so helpless against my attacks. When she transforms into her True Body, she’s probably at about four-fifths of the strength I had before I went to the Reincarnation World.’

’And Guan Wanjing has broken through to the Extraordinary Tier. He invited me to visit the Only Martial Martial Arts Hall in the Celestial Capital again. I’d actually like to go, but I’ve just been too busy lately. Next time, for sure. Definitely next time.’

’As for Qiming and Lii Yeyu, they’re both stuck at the threshold of the Extraordinary Tier, but there’s no rush. After all, not everyone is like me, able to advance so quickly... And Li Hanshan went back to his hometown. His family’s Chongming Bird bloodline was significantly perfected a while back. Does that mean the next time I see him, he won’t be so withdrawn and will actually talk? A little hard to imagine.’

During this trip to the Western Capital Academy, besides sparring briefly with his squad to test their respective strengths, Su Zhou had also formally announced his return to the Academy. He reported his gains from the Reincarnation World, including the Blade of Annihilation, to the authorities. Now he could carry his weapon with him in public.

Back at home, it was time to enjoy a warm meal with his family.

Although he had been away for three months, nothing particularly noteworthy had happened at home. The work of his mother, Ning Shiyu, was gradually getting on track. According to her, the Zhengguo Government had begun attempting to clone Extraordinary Magical Beasts and, by mimicking the Kunlun Secret Realm, artificially cultivate and domesticate Spirit Beasts.

Su Zhou had nothing to contribute on that front. If he were asked to tame a Spirit Beast, his method would simply be to beat it. If it refused to submit, he would keep beating it until it either submitted or died. In terms of efficiency, he might as well just transform into his True Body and try to make friends with it.

As for his father, Su Beiluo, he had been promoted from the criminal investigation division to a new unit called the "Spiritual Qi Incident Response Team." It was supposedly a sister unit to the Security Bureau’s special reaction team.

Normally, the Response Team’s affairs were classified and not to be spoken of openly. But Su Beiluo knew his son’s official government rank was higher than his own, so he held nothing back as they talked.

Though "chatting" was one word for it; "complaining" was more accurate.

"You young people spend all your time in seclusion, cultivating. Then you come out to film TV shows, be competition judges, or cooperate with researchers for their experiments. But down on the ground, because of this Spiritual Energy Revival, all sorts of bizarre crimes are popping up everywhere. What’s more, they can’t be prosecuted under the existing legal framework. The Criminal Justice Department has no idea what to do, so they just dump all the cases on the Response Team or the special reaction team."

Taking a swig of his drink, Father Su looked like he was about to slam his hand on the table. "What a damned mess!" he said through gritted teeth.

As Su Beiluo complained, Su Zhou reflected that he was right. The world today—with its "Great Transmigration Era" and the continued Awakening of abilities in the general populace—was vastly different from the world of the past. That was especially true when it came to crime.

The Spiritual Energy Revival hadn’t brought ordinary crime, not in the typical sense. Both the motives and the methods involved were often baffling.

How to put it? It was a category of crime that was difficult for the average person to comprehend.

For example, in the early days of the Spiritual Energy Revival, when your average lowlife criminal gained an ability, their thoughts usually turned to pure destruction. Take the criminal Su Beiluo had mentioned as an example: he Awakened the ’Flame Teleportation’ ability, allowing him to transform into a Fire Element and travel between open flames. And what did he use it for? Arson, theft, robberies, and even murder, using his power to escape the scene and create an alibi.

This was typical for most criminals from the pre-Spiritual Energy Era who gained powers.

However, in the wake of the Spiritual Energy Revival, the profile of the average criminal had become far more complex.

Take, for instance, a strange case his mother had shared: in the European Union, there was a descendant of an Ancient Druid who had Awakened a Dragon Vein. He possessed the power to communicate with animals and rapidly gain their trust.