CHAPTER 317: CHAPTER 197: POOR FLIGHT SKILLS

This person furrowed his brows upon hearing this and retorted loudly, "Haven’t you noticed what the gorge has been like over the years?"

"Vague accounts, it was bound to collapse sooner or later, and now someone’s taken the fall for it... Aren’t they just delighted?"

The words were satisfying, but someone was not happy about it.

"We’re searching for the suspect, the accounts are someone else’s responsibility, is it our job to worry about it?"

This person felt even more aggrieved and shouted with a raised voice, "I don’t want to worry about it either; the ones who want to worry are fools!"

"But so many things were snatched away all at once, do you believe it?"

"Believe it, why not? The thieves were well-prepared; isn’t it normal for them to snatch so many things?"

"How could they rob us?" This person’s eyes were red, "So many things, could they really take them all?"

The other person looked at him as if he were an idiot, "At your level, it’s normal not to understand... Ever heard of a Storage Talisman?"

The information barrier objectively exists, such a heaven-defying item like the Storage Talisman, how could it be known by ordinary people?

The gorge indeed suspected that Jian Lei might have space equipment, but the good thing was they only guessed about the Storage Talisman.

Equipment like a Space Ring, people have heard of it, but this item is too precious and limited to legends.

It’s just like the Attributeless Warriors, whether they even exist is debatable.

So the Storage Talisman is the best explanation.

The entire gorge, the possession of Storage Talismans does not exceed five, and truly understanding the magic of the Storage Talisman doesn’t exceed four people.

Everyone else is just following the crowd.

No matter how you look at it, the Storage Talisman is a miraculous item; if it appears on someone else, its legitimacy is questionable.

Appearing on Jian Lei, it is unreasonable, but... also somewhat reasonable.

With this magical guy, who can say how many miraculous things can still happen?

The news spread, and Jian Lei’s visibility increased further, with his worth rising again. Who wouldn’t want a Storage Talisman?

Then another piece of news came... Nan Guannan has awakened!

It’s a good thing that he’s awake, but a new problem has emerged. He’s now in a daze; strictly speaking, there’s something wrong with his brain.

Various signs indicate that on the day of the incident, he suddenly lost consciousness, leading to fainting, and the cause is unknown.

The guards who were attacked with him are easy to judge; they were knocked out and given anesthetics; now they have recovered.

So, what caused Nan Guannan to faint?

The gorge investigated for a long time but never announced the cause of Nan Guannan’s brain damage, roughly attributing it to old age.

This reason is somewhat absurd; not even a hundred and ten years old, how can a C-level Warrior be considered old?

However, there really is no other reason, so it can only be blamed on this.

There is a rumor that Jian Lei might have mastered Spiritual Attribute techniques.

But those who say this are typically taken for a talking-to and soon declare, they overthought.

There’s no way around it; a B-level Spiritual Attribute Warrior is someone everyone has to be wary of, even A-level Warriors are reluctant to provoke.

Ultimately, damages in the spirit area are notoriously difficult to treat.

The gorge’s search for Jian Lei lasted a full six months.

The first three months were a complete sweep every day, and in the later three months, they would occasionally launch a full-gorge search.

The Central City also mobilized all warriors to search for Jian Lei and the other two.

Unfortunately, it was of no use, as these three seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

After six months, the people of the gorge also couldn’t hold on... We still have to live our normal lives, right?

But the bounty for Jian Lei remained at the top of the wanted list, valid for fifty years.

Qu Jianlei and the others hid in an underground safe house, hiding for a whole eight months.

In the process, the three not only cultivated but also expanded the safe house several times over, otherwise, it would indeed be inconvenient.

On a daily basis, however, they were very attentive to external movements.

Whether it was Xiao Moshan’s Wind Attribute, Youyou’s Wood Attribute, or Qu Jianlei’s Spiritual Attribute, their perception abilities were strong.

Hearing the gorge’s report loss, Youyou almost jumped in anger, "Have some decency, we took less than half!"

Although she was the last to join the team, she played a major role in the robbery that day, and Xiao Moshan trusted her very much.

So with the loot, Qu Jianlei did not hide anything from her—he was never a stingy person.

Youyou even got some desirable spoils; she really couldn’t stand such slander.

However, Xiao Moshan took it lightly, "Some people in the gorge have been profiting from the chaos for a long time."

Qu Jianlei was even more indifferent, "Reporting losses is the best time to write off debts."

Youyou was still dissatisfied, "When Jian Lei advances to A-level, let’s rob them again and make up the difference!"

Speaking of Qu Jianlei’s advancement, Xiao Moshan also paid close attention, "It’s been eight months. How much longer do you think it will take?"

"Don’t rush," Qu Jianlei remained calm, "One’s mindset must remain steady, waiting for the right opportunity."

These three could really stay indoors, and if it weren’t for the food running out, they could continue hiding.

Fortunately, they’ve been hermits for so long; otherwise, going out to buy food might have exposed them.

At least Youyou was quite touched, saying that if it were left to her, she definitely couldn’t have saved up so much food.

Next, she and Xiao Moshan took turns going out, buying back a considerable amount of food.

The two of them wouldn’t let Qu Jianlei go out: your task is to break through.

Under such pressure, after another month, Qu Jianlei finally succeeded in breaking through.

"Let’s raid the warehouse!" Youyou couldn’t hold back any longer, "Payback time."

Xiao Moshan was much more composed, "Shall we return to Central City first?"

He knew that Jian Lei had always been holding a grudge against the Douglas Family, and now that he’s A-level, there’s no way he could swallow his anger anymore.

Qu Jianlei thought for a moment before answering, "Wait a bit, let’s visit the Attribute Cultivation Research Institute first."

Xiao Moshan understood instantly, "Are you worried that if we take action over in Central City, the Gorge here will become more vigilant?"

"Exactly," Qu Jianlei nodded, "I’m not afraid of just Bai Yansheng, but I’m worried they’ll strengthen their defenses."

Youyou’s attention was on another matter, "From what you’re saying, are you planning to go alone?"

"Of course," Qu Jianlei replied as if it were only natural, "if you come along, it’ll be hard to get away."

Xiao Moshan and Youyou exchanged glances but couldn’t say anything.

When Qu Jianlei was still B-level, he was responsible for drawing away their pursuers, and now that he’s A-level, they’d just be a burden.

However, Youyou took it in stride, "That’s just as well, I don’t really like the feeling of running away."

After his advancement, Qu Jianlei spent another half month stabilizing his realm—an unstable aura makes it easier to be noticed.

Once his aura circulated freely, he tried flying, something he had long anticipated.

However, flight was not easy to master, and it took him over half a month just to barely get started.

The downside was that during flight, his Inner Breath was greatly depleted, insufficient to sustain long-distance travel.

Thinking about how at ease other A-level Warriors are during flight, Qu Jianlei felt that he might have gone down a wrong path.

There must have been some calculation errors.

That’s why people say you can’t build a car behind closed doors. He prided himself on his extraordinary talent, but how could he match the collective wisdom?

So he began to adjust his mindset, "Now, even if I don’t go to the institute, it won’t do..."

What Qu Jianlei didn’t notice was the glance Xiao Moshan and Youyou exchanged as he left.

Returning to the Gorge, he first scouted around the city for a few days.

The security at the Gorge was much tighter than when he last visited, even though the large manhunt had ended half a year ago.

On the streets, security officers would occasionally stop people randomly to check their identity.

However, now that Qu Jianlei had advanced to A-level, his abilities had significantly increased in all aspects.

As long as he didn’t intentionally draw attention, his presence was almost negligible to others.

To test his progress, he even deliberately went fishing for two days and found that people rarely noticed him.

On the sixth day of returning to the Gorge, as evening approached, it started to rain.

Tonight it is then! Qu Jianlei made his decision.

In the rain, not only was it easier to hide his movements, but Bai Yansheng’s Fire Attribute would also be affected.

Just past midnight, a shadowy figure ghosted beside the institute.

The institute had lots of external surveillance, and there were alarm devices everywhere.

But the shadow effortlessly slipped over the wall without triggering any response.

Being A-level was indeed different; it was basically the same as when Xiao Moshan first approached Qu Jianlei.

Qu Jianlei sensed slightly, and he located Bai Yansheng.

Yet the old man was somewhat unseemly; even at his advanced age, he was with a young woman... doing who knows what!

Initially, Qu Jianlei had intended to capture him first before raiding the institute, but now... forget it.

If the old man suddenly had a stroke or something, why bother?

He cautiously perceived the institute for about an hour and found eight data collection points overall.

One research room for each of the Five Major Attributes, and another for Mutated Attributes.

Additionally, there were storage points for cultivation data and a room for other rare documents and unique copies.

The place was vast, making thievery challenging.

Qu Jianlei thought for a moment and quietly entered the Mutated Attribute research room first.

This research room occupied a small two-story building, but the storage room was in the basement, with many warning mechanisms.

Qu Jianlei carefully bypassed all the traps, reached the storage room, and seized all the books and rare materials.

Actually, there weren’t many materials; mostly, it was the data that was abundant.

Then he moved into the consolidated storage point, where there were even more books, and the restrictions were exceedingly daunting.

Yet, he still didn’t trigger any alarms, taking a large haul of books.

There were no materials here—purely for collection, with no intentions for experiments.