First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 162: If Someone Causes Trouble, Just Tell Me. If They’re Beyond Divine Palace Realm, I’ll Run First

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“Whoa whoa whoa, no need for that, no need.”

Ren Tong quickly said.

If Lu Ding came all this way and ended up quitting—

that would be a massive problem for him.

Even if it was just talk, he couldn’t let it slide. He had to smooth things over fast.

So he quickly changed the subject: “Lord Lu Taishui, how about I help pass some word along to Yunmeng? Just say you’re heading there today?”

“No need to make a big fuss out of it, too high-profile. Xiao Bai and I will just head over quietly. If anything else comes up here, just message me.”

“If anyone comes asking you for answers, tell them to come to me. And if they’re stronger than Divine Palace Realm, make sure you tell me ahead of time—so I can run early.”

Lu Ding wasn’t stupid. Above Divine Palace Realm was Earth Observer.

No matter how cocky he got, he wouldn’t dare take on an Earth Observer.

What was Earth Observer?

The name of that realm came partly from the concept that heaven has celestial gods, and earth has terrestrial deities.

These corresponded to Earth Observer and Heaven Observer realms—those who patrol heaven and earth.

Basically brushing up against the divine. That’s not something a “human” could stand against.

Lu Ding wasn’t dealing with that—better to run early.

Ren Tong heard that and cracked a smile.

Lu Ding was terrifyingly powerful—he’d seen that firsthand. And yet now, he was speaking so candidly.

Not a trace of distance or superiority.

Can’t beat them? Run.

Makes sense. Totally makes sense. Honestly didn’t even sound like something he’d say, and yet here it was.

With things wrapped up here, Lu Ding and Bai Hemen immediately set off.

On the way, Lu Ding glanced through the messages and intel Ren Tong had sent.

He also pulled up Yu Chen’s profile.

Lu Ding’s summary was as follows:

First, the Zhai and Ruan families.

Both were cultivator clans—nothing new to say there.

Focus on the younger generation of top-ranked prodigies.

The Zhai family had one in fifth place on the ranking, named Zhai Lin, nicknamed “River-Tossing Dragon.”

Seventh layer of Divine Palace Realm, wielded a triple-jointed staff, trained in the Zhai clan’s secret True Interpretation—Jade Ripple Cold Bind, able to condense the Linghai into a frozen pool.

That’s family heritage for you—definitely not the same as average cultivators.

The Ruan family had someone ranked fourth.

Ruan Xiaoqi, seventh layer Divine Palace Realm, nicknamed “River-Blocking Flood Dragon,” and apparently quite close to Zhai Lin.

Used a black short blade, trained in the Ruan clan’s secret True Interpretation—Stacked Waves Push the Mountain, with spiritual force layering stronger and stronger.

Looking at that name, Lu Ding paused for a second.

“Good thing he doesn’t have older brothers named Ruan No.2 or Ruan No.5.”

Otherwise Lu Ding would’ve thought he was in Water Margin.

After reviewing their info, Lu Ding found nothing impressive about them besides Ruan Xiaoqi’s amusing name.

That’s it.

No real power to speak of.

Then came Yu Chen of the Yu family.

As he read the profile—oh boy—Lu Ding could practically smell the scent of an old-school novel protagonist.

The youngest of four direct-line descendants.

Yu Chen had two older sisters and one older brother above him.

As a child, Yu Chen was the star prodigy of the Yu family.

Started cultivating at eight, unlocked his apertures in one day, reached Zhaoxuan Realm within a year—even while intentionally slowing his pace.

He was only nine at the time—hadn’t even finished growing—and already reached Zhaoxuan?

Meanwhile, his older brother, Yu Huai, just a year older, was still fiddling around in Aperture Realm.

Also a genius, but next to Yu Chen, he didn’t shine quite as bright.

Then at age eleven, Yu Chen and Yu Huai went out to play, catching fish in the river.

The sky suddenly darkened.

Torrential rain poured.

No one knew how, but the two of them got separated. Yu Huai returned home alone, said his little brother had gone missing.

The Yu family went on a frantic search. Eventually, they found Yu Chen downstream, tangled in weeds.

The official story? Yu Chen had nearly drowned.

Reading that, Lu Ding didn’t know what to say.

At eleven—even if the body’s not fully developed—you’ve still reached Zhaoxuan Realm.

And you grew up near water. How could you get swept away like that?

What, they think people are idiots?

After rescue efforts, Yu Chen survived, but it was said his foundation was damaged.

From then on, he never advanced past Zhaoxuan.

Couldn’t even reach Linghai.

Meanwhile, Yu Huai trained harder than ever, rocketing forward. Last year, he reached second place on the Prodigy Ranking.

Gained a formidable reputation, nicknamed “Jade-Faced White Dragon.”

But from that incident on, the relationship between the brothers began to crack.

As for the two older sisters, they doted on Yu Chen even more.

Always cleaning up his messes.

Like—Yu Chen pissed off someone from the Lan family, or the Ruan family, or got into some jealous drama, or challenged someone to an online duel.

His sisters always stepped in to resolve it.

Lu Ding read all this and couldn’t help but wonder: how did someone so brilliant in his early years,

even after all that trauma,

end up like this?

Overhead, Bai Hemen was flying using Shadow Step, looking up to see Lu Ding frowning in the sky.

He called out: “What are you thinking about?”

“I feel like there’s something off about Yu Chen.”

They were almost at Yunmeng now—the city was coming into view. The sky was clear, with few clouds.

Flying any farther would risk being spotted.

Lu Ding found a place to land and chose to walk into the city to hail a cab. Bai Hemen followed, jogging on the landing, then slowing down to walk.

“What’s off about him?”

“The contrast in his profile is too extreme. Yu Chen before eleven was one person. After eleven, a different one. And even within that change, there were more shifts.”

Hearing this, Bai Hemen silently pulled out his phone and started searching for Yu Chen in the 749 database.

Lu Ding gave a helpless smile.

He really wasn’t even pretending to read, huh.

He kept going.

“Let’s break it down. A few key points—cultivator clan, genius, eleven years old.”

“Keep in mind, this is the modern era. Don’t even talk about genius kids from cultivator families—just regular kids at eleven years old already know a lot.”

“It’s the internet age. Information overload. You don’t even have to leave home to encounter all kinds of stuff.”

“For kids, it’s both good and bad. The good is a broader horizon. The bad is they accept everything.”

“Yu Chen was a genius. His family definitely controlled what he was exposed to. Otherwise, he could’ve picked up the wrong things.”

“So, at eleven, his mind might not be mature—but it wouldn’t be so fragile that one incident would completely change him.”

“His early education and worldview would’ve prevented that. The report even says the Yu family spent tons of resources trying to restore him.”

“But nothing worked.”

“That part’s suspicious.”

Just then, Bai Hemen’s phone suddenly played Yan Feifan’s voice.

【Lu-ge, I get what you’re saying. You mean—it looks like Yu Chen just got swept away by water and didn’t die.】

【But for a cultivator clan, that kind of thing is nothing. If they wanted to fix it, they could do it in minutes.】

Lu Ding was a bit surprised to hear Yan Feifan’s voice.

Turned out, just now—

Bai Hemen felt like he didn’t quite understand, but didn’t interrupt Lu Ding.

He quietly called Yan Feifan.

He might not get it. But Yan Feifan would.

Yan Feifan would handle the mental link—he just had to listen.