The central region was where the country's wealth and power converged. Languages, ethnicities, commerce. Everything flowed into this capital city. And more than anywhere else, it was home to many of the nation's most important sites.

  "Today we've got some of the most important people in the country coming through. Security is the top priority."

  In the lobby of a large building in the capital, nearly a hundred security officers were scrambling to get into position. The emergency meeting had been called on short notice, and the preparations showed it.

  "Chief, guests are starting to arrive."

  The communication device in the middle-aged man's hand crackled. He adjusted his dark glasses and gave the order.

  "Welcome them properly. Assign guides to escort each guest all the way to the meeting room."

  "Understood."

  It was just past nine in the morning. The meeting was set for ten and had not been announced to the public. Everyone involved had been told to keep quiet. They couldn't afford the chaos that would follow if word got out. Fortunately, the venue was the military's Central Command. No one without clearance could get in.

  "The ministers have arrived. What's left are..."

  The chief looked down at the list in his hand. The remaining names on the list were heavyweights from every corner of society. He scanned through and sighed inwardly. These were all people who were very difficult to please.

  Especially one guest for whom he'd received direct orders to treat with the utmost respect.

  "Grandmaster Bai Fanxian has arrived."

  The report came in and he jolted upright. He scrolled quickly to the name marked with several asterisks. The Marshal himself had flagged this one.

  He swallowed. The image on the screen showed a black car pulling up outside. A young woman stepped out first, leading the way.

  "Get out there and welcome her properly!... Actually, I'll go myself."

  .

  .

  .

  Meanwhile, Bai Fanxian looked around as she took in the military's Central Command. The place was nothing like the image she'd had in her head. She had expected wide-open training grounds and marching lines. Instead, the area was packed with tall buildings bristling with security systems.

  Not a single patch of grass in sight.

  "The Marshal is on his way, my lady."

  Huang Zihuan came to her side. He had just gotten off the line with Zhang Xianyuan's assistant moments earlier.

  "Mm... then let's head in first."

  Bai Fanxian replied simply. The building ahead was the one listed on the invitation, dozens of floors tall. But her Heaven Sense had already found something more: beyond the visible floors, the building extended deep underground into levels that weren't shown on any floor plan.

  "Hello, Grandmaster Bai!"

  The moment she stepped through the entrance, the middle-aged man in dark glasses came rushing over. He bowed deeply, drawing wide-eyed looks from several of his subordinates. None of them had ever seen the chief make such a display.

  "The Marshal contacted me personally. I'll take you to the main meeting room myself." He led Bai Fanxian and her group into an elevator heading down.

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  All three children were captivated. When the elevator opened, they found themselves looking out over an enormous space, busy with personnel moving through their duties in every direction.

  This was why there was no training ground above. The command center had built it underground instead. Officers trained here with cutting-edge technology, building their strength far more efficiently than any open field could.

  The dark-glasses man led them a little further before they arrived at a large meeting room. At the front stood a raised stage and an enormous screen. Seating was arranged in tiered rows all around, like a theater.

  The room was not yet full. Those who had arrived were scattered comfortably in various spots. Even if Bai Fanxian had brought twice as many people, there would have been room for all of them. Several attendees glanced over at her with curiosity. Her face wasn't one they recognized.

  Though some did. These were people who had been at the house auction not long ago. Many would have liked to come over and greet her, but thinking better of it while still on official duty, they decided to wait until after the meeting.

  "Who let children in here?"

  Before they could take their seats, a sharp voice cut through the room. Tang Yeye, who was holding the Dragon Queen, heard it clearly and turned toward the speaker with a look that was anything but pleased.

  Children weren't allowed?

  Standing with hands on her hips was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She wore a police officer's uniform, and her brows were drawn together tightly.

  "Miss Li..."

  The security chief went rigid. Of all the people in this room, she was the last one he had wanted trouble with.

  She had just graduated and joined the force as a special government officer. From the outside, she looked like a rising talent. In reality, the position and the deference she received from others came from her father's name.

  Li Xinmei's father was Li Fuzhu — the current National Police Commissioner, the highest authority in the country's police forces.

  Nobody in this line of work wanted to get tangled up with her, so they had learned to let her do as she pleased. The police needed representation at the meeting too, and Li Xinmei had ended up being that representative.

  The chief swallowed hard. On one side was the Police Commissioner's daughter. On the other was a guest the Marshal had flagged with multiple asterisks, with strict orders to treat her with the utmost respect. Either choice would likely end his career.

  "Miss Li, this guest was personally invited by Marshal Zhang Xianyuan."

  He mentioned the guest's connection to the Marshal, hoping that would be enough. Li Xinmei frowned and said nothing for a moment.

  "What use are children at a meeting like this?"

  This time Hui'er's expression shifted. Her eyes narrowed slowly, the look behind them ready to sharpen at any moment. Around the room, heads were turning with interest. No one had expected anyone to start something here today.

  "Xinmei. I told you not to cause trouble."

  Before it could escalate further, a man stepped in. He wore a close-cut black coat and had the bearing of someone who did not broadcast what he knew. His eyes were cold. When he spoke to Li Xinmei, there was no trace of concern for whoever stood behind her.

  "Chief..."

  The girl who had been posturing a moment ago deflated into something resembling a sulky kitten. She bit her lip and stomped back to her seat.

  "I apologize for my subordinate."

  The man turned and gave the children a brief apologetic nod. When his eyes met Bai Fanxian's, he bowed slightly, with evident respect.

  He knew exactly where the real authority in this group lay.

  With that, he excused himself and left. The security chief let out a long breath.

  "Who was that?"

  "Not sure. Probably the chief of some special government unit." Cultivators rarely crossed paths with people outside their own world. Even Liu Yianfei, a General, didn't know everyone at this level.

  "Doesn't matter. The meeting's starting."

  Bai Fanxian cut the conversation off. She settled into a seat and waited. At exactly ten o'clock, once it was clear everyone had arrived, the doors were closed and a man stepped up to the stage.

  "Thank you all for attending this emergency meeting."

  He opened with brief formalities. Behind him, the screen changed to show sweeping images of a destroyed forest and a village at the foot of a mountain that had been reduced to rubble.

  "As you can see, incidents like these have taken place at multiple locations across the country. Dozens to hundreds of witnesses have reported strange creatures — far more dangerous than any known wildlife — appearing without warning and causing destruction before they could be contained."

  He kept talking as the images continued, including the red-throated bears Zhang Xianyuan had shown Bai Fanxian the previous evening.

  "This is the first species to appear — spotted in the central forest. A bear over five meters tall with the ability to project fire from its body as a weapon."

  The screen cut to footage taken during the effort to bring the three bears down. They'd needed to flood the area with troops first before Generals and a handful of skilled fighters could engage directly.

  The scale of the chaos came through even in the recording. The sight of forest turning to a sea of fire drew sharp intakes of breath from more than a few people in the room.

  Then the footage shifted to the second incident. A village razed to nothing. At the center of the wreckage, the massive unmoving bodies of two ice mammoths.

  "While both species bear some resemblance to creatures found on Earth, their strength is on an entirely different level. More critically, we have received reports that yesterday alone, multiple new species appeared across several continents. The source remains unknown."

  "You're saying we have no idea where they're coming from?" A man in the front row raised his hand.

  "Correct. No one knows their origin. What we do know is that they're a genuine threat to human life." He switched to footage from another country, showing rows of bodies that couldn't be reached in time.

  "We don't know when or where they'll appear next. This meeting was called to begin planning our response." He concluded, and sighed.

  "Can't our current weapons do anything against them?" Li Xinmei raised her hand. She couldn't believe that in this day and age, humans were losing to animals. Military technology had come too far for that.

  "As the footage showed, containing those three bears required three Generals operating at Grandmaster level."

  The presenter answered evenly. Li Xinmei's frown returned. She felt he was talking around her question.

  "...Cultivators still die when you shoot them." She muttered. Through her work she had dealt with plenty of cultivators. She had even arrested some. Every time a gun came out, they panicked and gave up immediately.

  The presenter looked pained. The people gathered today came from many different sectors. Not all of them had a clear understanding of what cultivation levels actually meant, or just how dangerous these creatures were.

  "Xinmei..." Her chief's expression tightened. This girl had been indulged until she had no real sense of how the world worked. He had brought her along, and her father's standing meant he couldn't put her in harm's way — but she had no idea that the low-level cultivators she'd encountered were nowhere near the standard for the upper tiers. He was about to say something when a calm, unhurried voice came from the back of the room.

  "...Then why not try shooting one?"

  Bai Fanxian spoke without particular urgency. Truthfully, she had no desire to get any more involved than this. But she remembered that Zhang Xianyuan, who had since vanished somewhere, had told her she was here to represent cultivators. So she supposed she needed to give these people something concrete to work with.

  "Yianfei... go and let them shoot you."

  The General, who had been sitting back in relaxed comfort, sat up sharply. He turned to her, completely baffled.

  ...Why do I have to be the one getting shot by a complete stranger?!