Chapter 444: Chapter 444

It took an entire night for Ding Fan to complete the refinement of the storage ring.

Regarding this speed, Ding Fan was satisfied. Without the assistance of Zhu Zhu, combined with the help of the Nine Luminaries Fire and the Ancient Cauldron, merely upgrading the ring would have taken at least ten days to half a month.

"Master, a whole new world has been created inside the ring!" Zhu Zhu exclaimed in surprise.

At this moment, inside the storage ring, there were heavens and earth, and even a sun and moon, much like another world altogether.

As for this, Ding Fan was not particularly surprised. When he obtained the Luminous stone from the ancestor of the Lu Family in Dejiang, he had already planned on turning the ring into a world of its own.

Ding Fan immediately entered the small world and planted the Soul Resurrection Grass. The Soul Resurrection Grass, capable of saving lives, was a High Level Spirit Herb that could not be lost.

The Luminous stone was indistinguishable from the sun; it could provide nourishment.

After planting the Soul Resurrection Grass, Ding Fan began to survey the world he had refined.

This world was not immensely large; its size was comparable to a small village. But this size was already sufficient.

At the moment, the ground was bare, and the sky was a blanket of blue, appearing somewhat monotonous.

At this time, Ding Fan was silently contemplating a trip to Hong Kong at some point, because beneath the Heavenly Pool of Hong Kong's Forbidden Area, there lay a garden of Wild Ginseng. He planned to transplant these Wild Ginseng into this world.

If he could find a Spiritual Spring later, it would be even better; then he could construct a place for rest and cultivation here.

By now, Ding Fan had already begun silently planning the development of this world inside the ring.

After spending some time inside the small world, Ding Fan then exited. Currently, Duorou, having devoured a large amount of Soul Bodies yesterday, had already found a place to quietly refine and absorb them.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhu was sitting cross-legged inside the Ancient Cauldron, engrossed in an enlightenment of some sort.

Ding Fan let the two Spiritual Pets continue their cultivation and enlightenment; after storing the Ancient Cauldron and the two pets inside the storage ring, he then started his journey back to Xingcheng.

Upon Ding Fan's return to Xingcheng, the first thing he naturally wanted to do was to find Mu Zi.

Worried about Mu Zi's safety the day before, Ding Fan had not brought Mu Zi with him. He had simply knocked Mu Zi unconscious and delivered her to a nearby military force managing a pandemic.

Mu Zi, being a member of the 3567 group and also being Elder Mu's daughter, was immediately protected by the military personnel without any neglect.

Ding Fan now needed to find Mu Zi first so that she wouldn't worry about him.

Early in the morning, Mu Zi had just woken up, and upon awakening, she immediately demanded to find Ding Fan. Just as the soldiers protecting Mu Zi were unsure of how to proceed, Ding Fan returned.

Upon seeing Ding Fan return, the fairy-like Mu Zi threw herself into his arms with tears and snot, and Ding Fan had to spend quite some time comforting the little fairy.

"Brother Fan, if there is another such event, you must take me with you! Don't leave me behind again," Mu Zi pleaded pitifully in Ding Fan's arms.

Ding Fan gently stroked Mu Zi's small head.

Mu Zi was loyal and true-hearted. Since getting to know this little fairy, the two had experienced many crises together, but Mu Zi had always silently stood by his side.

"Alright, I won't leave you behind again."

"Excuse me, are you Young Master Ding?" Just then, a soldier hurriedly ran over.

Ding Fan nodded. "Is there something you need?"

"Please follow me. There's a satellite call for you," the soldier said respectfully to Ding Fan.

Satellite phone? Although the soldier hadn't specified who was looking for him, Ding Fan had a rough idea. It probably had to be Elder Mu or Elder Shen, considering who would use satellite calls.

Escorted by the soldier, Ding Fan took Mu Zi to a communication vehicle.

On the large screen inside the communication vehicle, as expected, the figure of Elder Mu appeared, unusually dressed in a military uniform.

"... Ding Fan, I have heard everything about what happened in Xingcheng from Li Jianfeng, and I want to thank you for your efforts in Xingcheng..." Elder Mu finished speaking and then bowed to Ding Fan.

"Elder Mu, you are too kind," Ding Fan said with a calm smile.

Elder Mu held a revered position, and there were not many who could receive such deep respect from him. The main reason he showed such great deference was that without Ding Fan, not only would Xingcheng have suffered, but the entire Southwest and eventually all of Huaxia would have been destabilized.

Therefore, the contributions Ding Fan made were indeed worthy of Elder Mu's deep respect.

"Grandfather, are you looking for Brother Fan because there's something you need?" Mu Zi, seeing Elder Mu's solemn expression on the screen, seemed to have something to say.

Seeing Mu Zi's question, Elder Mu slowly nodded. "Young Master Ding, you are not a member of our 3567 group, but there is a matter that only you can handle. May I ask you as a friend to help us..."

Although Ding Fan currently had the credentials of the 3567 group, he was not really a member of the organization, so Elder Mu could only appeal to Ding Fan as a friend.

Ding Fan pondered for a moment. "What's the matter, let's hear it."

Elder Mu nodded and continued, "Blueprints for a new weapon developed by the Science and Technology Department were stolen. This new weapon is the result of decades of research by our Huaxia, and it would be a great loss to our nation if it were to be taken by foreign organizations."

Ding Fan was listening quietly.

Elder Mu continued, "The person who stole those blueprints is a staffer from the research department. Under normal circumstances, our 3457 Unit could have simply captured him directly.

But now the situation has become extremely complicated. As soon as that staffer left the country, he was protected by people from the Sixth Guard Squad of The Stars and Stripes Country."

"The Sixth Guard Squad? What is that?" Ding Fan asked.

"The Sixth Guard Squad is a special forces organization in The Stars and Stripes Country, similar to our 3457 Unit. However, while the 3457 Unit mainly consists of Ancient Martial Warriors, the Sixth Guard Squad is composed of Ability Users. Some of these users can perform Clairvoyance, others can strike with flames...

"Protecting that staffer, the Sixth Guard Squad has already become quite troublesome, but now, Ninja from Japan have also joined in the fray. Although all members of our 3457 Unit are not afraid of death, I am genuinely scared that all our efforts would not suffice to retrieve those blueprints..."

"Are you asking me to help you get those blueprints back?" Ding Fan asked.

Elder Mu nodded. "All members of the 3457 Unit have already been mobilized, and we have even sought some other skilled individuals. If you are willing to join us, I believe our chances of success would be significantly higher."

"Alright, I will go," Ding Fan nodded and said.

Initially when Ye Qingyun came into the world to confront him, Elder Mu had disregarded his own safety to protect Ding Fan completely. Just for that reason, if Elder Mu asked for help, Ding Fan could not ignore it.

Moreover, considering the relationship with Mu Zi, Ding Fan found it even harder to refuse outright.

"Young Master Ding... I owe you a huge favor... Now I will send you some information via satellite," said Elder Mu.

Ding Fan nodded. "Alright."

Ding Fan received the blueprints that Elder Mu had sent over. He carefully reviewed them once.

The person they were after was named Hao Qingwei, a mere staffer in the research department.

After fleeing the country, he had directly escaped to Myanmar. There, the Sixth Guard Squad of The Stars and Stripes Country, along with the Ninja Squad from Japan, had joined forces to protect him.

In the meantime, the 3457 Unit made several attempts to forcefully reclaim it, but to little effect, and they had lost quite a few people too.

This time, the entire 3457 Unit had assembled, hinting at a decisive battle. Besides the 3457 Unit's members, Elder Mu had called in some experts to assist.

A big showdown was now inevitable.

After reviewing these materials, the local military had arranged a helicopter to fly Ding Fan and Mu Zi directly to a designated rendezvous point.

The meeting point, as mentioned in the documents, was near a small town on the border of Myanmar.

The journey from Xingcheng to this small town didn't take much time. Two hours later, Ding Fan and his party had arrived as planned.

The small town was not large, appearing to house just over a thousand residents, and its buildings were very dilapidated. The streets were also dusty.

As soon as Ding Fan and his party disembarked the plane, an off-road vehicle came to pick them up.

This off-road vehicle took them to a guest house in the town.

The guest house was also very rundown, looking a bit like buildings from the 1950s and 60s. Even on the walls, one could faintly make out the words, "Long Live XX."

"Did Elder Mu also invite you guys to lend a hand?"

As Ding Fan and his party just stepped into the guest house, an elderly man in a gray robe approached and said.

This elder spoke with quite an arrogant tone, his chin slightly lifted, emanating a sense of superiority. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥

Under Ding Fan's Divine Sense, this elder's cultivation was merely at the peak of the Human Level.

Not highly skilled, but quite arrogant; for such people, Ding Fan couldn't be bothered to speak more and just walked into the guest house as if he hadn't seen him.

"Kid, you're quite audacious," said the elder.

Just as Ding Fan got to the front desk of the guest house. Following his words, a punch swung directly towards the back of Ding Fan's head.

The attacker was naturally the elder.

Ding Fan did not turn around, nor did he dodge. Should the elder foolishly continue with his punch, Ding Fan would certainly use his True Qi to send the elder flying.

"Stop it!" At that moment, a voice rang out sharply.

Immediately, a graceful figure appeared directly behind Ding Fan.

"Miss Ning Qing, what is the meaning of this?" The elder withdrew his fist, turning to look at the fine-looking woman blocking him.

"He is a distinguished guest..." said the fine-looking woman, pointing towards Ding Fan, then she spoke.