A savage aura filled the air.

Lu Ding's fingers curled into claws as he pressed down, tearing through the Living Shed Corpse’s flesh, ripping its muscles and bones apart piece by piece.

Blood poured out like a river.

No matter how hard the undead struggled, the phantom of the Flying Bear looming behind Lu Ding kept it pinned down, rendering it completely immobile.

It could do nothing but endure the brutal dismemberment—its skin flayed, its bones shattered.

Watching this, Yan Feifan felt that at this moment, Lu Ding was even more ruthless than the Living Shed Corpse itself.

If given a choice, Lu Ding wouldn’t have used this method—it was too crude, too violent.

But his Path of Jinche slashes couldn’t instantly kill the Living Shed Corpse, and he wasn’t about to give it any chance to complete its transformation.

So, he had no choice but to use the Flying Bear Slaughtering Art—overpowering it and ripping it apart alive.

When he stood up, half his clothes were soaked in blood.

Then, the most beautiful sound rang in his mind.

[Contained Monster: Living Shed Corpse]

[Reward Acquired: Living Shed Rebirth]

[Living Shed Rebirth: Allows the user to regenerate and restore peak condition by shedding their skin.]

Shed his skin like a living person? Now that was one creepy ability.

But creepy or not, it was practical.

Just imagine—an enemy finally manages to seriously injure Lu Ding, only for him to shed his skin and instantly return to full strength.

His opponent would probably fall into complete despair.

Even though he had obtained yet another high-level technique, Lu Ding still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

He came here looking for treasure.

Yet after scanning the tomb chamber, all he saw were the torn-up remains of the undead—there wasn’t a single artifact to be found.

What kind of lunatic gets buried in their main tomb without a single valuable item?

It felt like a complete waste of time.

Was it really so hard to find a weapon or magical artifact of his own?

“Brother Lu, don’t be discouraged. We may not have found any treasure, but we did eliminate a Living Shed Corpse. The Bureau will definitely reward us for it,” Yan Feifan consoled.

“They won’t give us much. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Lu Ding was realistic about the situation.

After all, the Living Shed Corpse hadn’t actually escaped or harmed anyone—they were the ones who went looking for trouble.

At most, the Bureau would classify it as a preventative mission and give them some contribution points for eliminating a potential threat.

If they had captured it alive, they probably would’ve received a hefty reward.

But handing over a fully mastered technique just for contribution points? Only an idiot would make that trade.

And Lu Ding was no idiot.

“I’ll take whatever we get. I’m not greedy,” Yan Feifan grinned.

Then, his eyes gleamed with an idea.

“Brother Lu, I just thought of a way to keep you from getting punished by the Bureau… and we might even get more contribution points.”

“Oh?” Lu Ding raised an eyebrow. “What’s the plan?”

Yan Feifan smirked.

“Here’s what we do…”

749 Bureau — Interrogation Room

For the second time, Lu Ding sat in the Bureau’s interrogation room.

The same two staff members sat across from him, holding case files.

“So, according to your report, you were initially investigating the Collapsed Zone to ensure it was fully cleared of monsters. As soon as you entered, you detected the scent of a Living Shed Corpse.”

“At that moment, Ye Xuan appeared and tried to stop you. He provoked you, and after engaging in combat, he lost and then threatened you.”

“Because of that, you executed him under the charges of obstructing an official investigation and threatening the life of a 749 Bureau investigator?”

“Then, Huang Zuo jumped in to avenge Ye Xuan and attacked you, leading you to kill him as well, under the charge of attempted murder of a Bureau officer.”

“Finally, with the assistance of Intern Investigator Yan Feifan, you entered the tomb, eliminated the Living Shed Corpse, and tore it into pieces—successfully resolving a looming crisis for Bao Fan District?”

Lu Ding nodded.

“One correction. I didn’t detect the scent of a Living Shed Corpse—I smelled a monster, but I wasn’t sure what kind.”

“The Flying Bear Slaughtering Art I practice originates from the Flying Bear Visualization Diagram. It grants me the ability to track and identify supernatural creatures.”

“That’s why I went to investigate. Since I couldn’t confirm the threat in advance, I didn’t report it to the Bureau beforehand.”

His expression was calm and serious.

This was the plan Yan Feifan had come up with—essentially the same story, but rearranged to shift the sequence of events and the time frame.

To anyone unfamiliar with the real situation, there were no flaws in the narrative.

And there was a key difference between stumbling upon a monster while treasure hunting and proactively preventing a disaster before it occurred—the latter would be rewarded far more generously.

The Bureau staff exchanged skeptical glances.

They knew for a fact that Lu Ding practiced the Flying Bear Visualization Diagram—their investigations had confirmed it.

So it was plausible that his tracking ability led him to the scene.

But there was one detail that stood out.

“Lu Ding, did you inform Ye Xuan that you were investigating a monster when he tried to stop you?”

Lu Ding shook his head.

“No. Bureau regulations prohibit disclosing mission details to unauthorized individuals. My jurisdiction is Bao Fan District—it’s my assigned patrol zone. I had no obligation to tell him anything.”

“Besides, why should I? Does every random outsider have the right to know the Bureau’s operational plans and movements?”

His argument was airtight.

It was true.

But still… did he really have to be this by-the-book?

Not even bending the rules a little?

At that moment, the two staff members saw Lu Ding in a new light—he wasn’t just ruthless, he was a terrifying combination of ironclad discipline and merciless execution.

A strict enforcer of regulations, yet utterly relentless in eliminating monsters and enemies.

It made things… complicated.

In the end, after repeated confirmation and deliberation, the Bureau finalized their decision.

Lu Ding walked out of the interrogation room completely unscathed.

And on top of that—

He received 50 contribution points and 500,000 yuan in compensation.

A completely unexpected windfall.

Bao Fan District

Yan Feifan had been waiting outside in the car for a while.

When Lu Ding got in, they drove back to Bao Fan District and took it easy for the next two days.

For once, nothing happened.

No sudden dinner invitations.

No surprise revenge attempts.

It was as if time itself had hit the pause button.

Lu Ding couldn’t help but feel like this was just the calm before the storm.

After all, he had quite a few unresolved matters.

He had killed Ye Xuan, who came from Daheshan’s bandit gang.

He had also taken the Wind-Fixing Pearl, a prized relic of the Tianli Cult.

One was a den of outlaws.

The other was a dangerous cult.

Neither of them were pushovers.

Yet two whole days passed, and neither group made a single move.

Something was off.

Then, his phone buzzed.

It was a message from Wen Yuquan.

Someone had just placed a high bid for the Wind-Fixing Pearl.

A century-old ginseng doll, a spirit-infused ancient lingzhi, a wrathful Qing chicken, and, on top of that, thirty million in cash.

If it weren’t for that last thirty million, Lu Ding would have thought this buyer was asking him to cook up a medicinal stew.

Ginseng, lingzhi, and a Qing chicken—it was like a mountain goods market haul.

But despite how rustic these items sounded, they were all top-tier cultivation resources.

Massive tonics!

In fact, setting aside the thirty million, each of the first three items was just as valuable as the Wind-Fixing Pearl, if not more.

Lu Ding couldn’t help but wonder—who had this kind of wealth and was willing to spend it so extravagantly?

Wen Yuquan only gave him three words: “Treasure Hunters.”

Well, that explained it.

Those guys were notoriously loaded.

They spent their lives scouring remote mountains, sniffing out hidden treasures. Wherever there was something valuable, there’d be a Treasure Hunter nearby.

Even before joining the 749 Bureau, Lu Ding had heard of them.

Rumors spoke of golden chickens and mystical spirit dolls hidden within stones, only to be fished out by these Treasure Hunters.

They were so famous that even ordinary people knew about them.

Among the underground elite, aside from the major powerhouses, these guys were the richest. No one would dare claim second place over them.

If you really broke it down, there wasn’t much difference between Treasure Hunters and grave robbers.

The only distinction was that Treasure Hunters had far greater skills.

Grave robbers stuck to tombs, but Treasure Hunters went after everything—artifacts, spirit beasts, even supernatural phenomena. They were fearless, ruthless, and willing to risk it all.

Lu Ding vaguely recalled something the Thousand Gold Elder had once mentioned.

Tianli Cult raised Flying Centipedes to produce Wind-Fixing Pearls, and they were working with Treasure Hunters to capture the Zhima Beasts of Dingfeng Mountain.

And now, those same Treasure Hunters were coming to him to buy the Wind-Fixing Pearl?

Could this be connected to Tianli Cult?

With these questions in mind, Lu Ding set off for the meeting location.