Chapter 444: 444
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Courtyard, Liuhai Lane, Capital .
Shi Xuejin sat in idleness in the shade of the walnut tree, whose luxurious canopy stretched in all directions, providing coolness and comfort for those under its shelter .
Rested in his hands was a purple sand teapot and a book, which had stayed on the same page for a long while . Shi Xuejin sat with his eyes shut, as though ruminating on what he had just read .
Suddenly, Hao Zhichao trotted over in a hurry and handed a file to Shi Xuejin . "Taken by satellite one month ago . "
From the documents Shi Xuejin took out a stack of photos that showed withered trees on a Pacific island, around which countless bodies of fish and shrimp were floating on the sea surface, lifeless .
The once beautiful island was now teeming with the stench of death!
Shi Xuejin frowned . "Any other clues?"
"No . No records of incoming boats in the past six months," Hao Zhichao replied honestly . All of the details had been verified before the report .
Shi Xuejin mused . "Hope that person is not on Koh Chang island, right now . "
The dead island was actually a signal of ascension to Class A!
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Back then, during Li Xianyi's promotion to Class A, strong beams of sword energy covered a swathe of land with diameter of ten kilometers and Luo Cheng at its epicenter . Had Li Xianyi lost control, Luo Cheng would have been a dead land by now .
The status of all things as swords only existed in legends and for a very long time, no one was able to achieve that even in Li Xianyi's faction . In any case, it was completely impossible to shatter the shackles of Nature in the energy-scarce era .
In fact, Li Xianyi's training in swordplay actually turned him into a special case, as more focus on self-accumulation had been placed on his internal sea of chi and his snow mountain .
Meanwhile, as for Chen Baili, no single magical tree in a radius of five kilometers in the remains survived his ascension . At that time, he could have easily wiped out all the animals in the area too .
Ascension to Class A was complete at the expense of Spirit Qi in Nature . In order to alter one's fate, other lives had to suffer, in exchange for the betterment of oneself .
Now, although the truth remained unclear, the right attitude of a big organization was to expect the worst and strive for the best .
Besides, there was no reason for a newly promoted expert to miss his chance at the remains . However, there was no relevant information available as of now, testifying to the person's equanimity, should the deduction be real .
A rare look of worry surfaced on Shi Xuejin's face . "Why does he hide himself so well? What is he up to? I hope Li Yixiao does not inconvenience him accidentally…"
Hao Zhichao's eyelid twitched in embarrassment . So you too are aware of Heavenly King Li's unpleasant personality .
"Have you sent this file to Heavenly King Nie?" Shi Xuejin suddenly asked .
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"Yes, I have . But he has not replied to me and his phone is beyond reach as well," replied Hao Zhichao .
"I see," Shi Xuejin nodded and said, "I'm afraid he has already reached . "
Hao Zhichao froze . "Where is he?"
Shi Xuejin picked up his thread-bound book from the stone table and sank deeper into his chair, which squeaked gently under his weight . "He's probably out to kill . "
His voice was soft and calm, as though it was perfectly normal to associate Nie Ting with words along the line of "killing" .
As a matter of fact, Shi Xuejin and Nie Ting were brought up together, though the former was much older . Nie Ting's master was Shi Xuejin's father .
By right, exclusive techniques of the Shi's should not be leaked to an outsider, but Shi Xuejin was not born with the aptitude for cultivation . This extinguished his right of inheritance . Thus, his father adopted the orphan Nie Ting, which was rarely known by the public .
Precisely due to his lack of inborn talent, since a young age Shi Xuejin had been striving to be an erudite in the three teachings so as to open up new possibilities for those like himself .
This old courtyard in Liuhai Lane was bequeathed by Shi Xuejin's father too . Back then, he was still a young man and Nie Ting was still a child . Both of them were beside him when Shi Xuejin's father planted the walnut tree himself .
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Over the years, Nie Ting had changed . Shi Xuejin almost witnessed personally how the innocent, naive child had stained his hands with blood in the relentless pursuit of his dream . Indeed, he had too much blood on his hands .
Meanwhile, Shi Xuejin would call him in to the courtyard for a moment of peace after every killing Nie Ting committed . This helped to quell his bloodlust and keep him from going astray .
Over the course of time, Nie Ting would stay in the courtyard himself for a few days after every kill .
Honestly speaking, Shi Xuejin had never had any qualms with Nie Ting's murderous deeds . He only harvested lives from those who deserved to die .
. . .
6000m campsite, southern slope of Mt Everest, Nepal .
It was a great time then for conquering Mt Everest . In the upcoming month of October, weather conditions on the mountain were relatively more stable in late autumn .
At the moment, the campsite was overcrowded . Colorful tents were erected across the land, and a gust of frosty wind often brought along the rustling of tents .
Commercialization was a serious issue here as well . Regular exercise and some money was all one needed .
Shortage of oxygen was the most severe problem for climbing world-class tall mountains . Prolonged deficiency of oxygen could lead to failures in the heart and lungs . Many climbers could not even make it to the 4000m mark .
At 6000m, everyone had to acclimate to the high altitude conditions for one to two weeks, before they were allowed to venture even further .
Conquering Mt Everest was totally different from climbing up a hill for a good view of the sunrise . It was a long and tough battle .
At 7200m, humans were tantamount to walking corpses without enough oxygen, as almost all of their thinking abilities were lost . Thus, oxygen tanks were a must for modern climbers .
Of course, the native Sherpa were willing to carry a bunch of oxygen tanks with you if you had the money…
Oxygen deficiency was non-existent in the face of money…
Many climbers at the 6000m campsite were still in the process of adjustment . Thus, most of them would return to their tents after a short session of adaptability training outside .
But one team stood out from the rest . They were totally unaffected by the high altitudes .
Judging from their dark, yellow skin and thick beards on a few faces, they looked like Middle-Easterners .
Sitting on a stone, one of them laughed . "Look, they look like they are dying when lying in their tents . I don't understand why they still come for the climb . "
Another person shot him a glimpse . "Don't be mean . Stay focused on your satellite phone . We need to be ready all the time . "
"We are just here to check the Heavenly Network . I don't believe they will really send Class A's into the remains as there are so many pairs of eyes watching them along their national boundary just like us . A single bit of negligence on their side may land them in a siege . But, hilariously, we ourselves have no courage to enter either, don't we? We are only here as tourists . "