First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!

Lu Ding stood still.

With a tone like a spectator settling in for a good show, he said, “Now, let’s begin the warm-up.”

Spiritual energy flowed over Cao Yutang’s palm as he advanced, his strikes sharp and compact, combining agility and brute force.

Lu Ding casually tilted his head to dodge, his movements graceful and fluid, his posture constantly shifting.

He could feel it.

Both his own internal Qi and the surrounding energy were being rapidly disturbed.

He gave a small nod of approval. “Spirit-Severing Palm—so that ‘severing’ part actually has some depth to it.”

Cao Yutang, however, was in complete disbelief.

“Why isn’t it working on you?!”

The Cao family’s secret technique, the Spirit-Severing Palm—Once struck, the victim’s spiritual energy would be cut off, their meridians clogged, rendering them unable to circulate Qi. Eventually, the trapped Qi would explode, causing them to literally burst apart.

Even if the opponent didn’t get directly hit, just engaging in combat would expose them to the technique’s unique energy flow, disrupting both the Qi of heaven and earth as well as their own Qi circulation.

The effect was like a traffic jam:

Normally, Qi inside the body flowed in a single direction, smooth and orderly.

But when affected by the Spirit-Severing Palm, Qi would reverse, block roads, swerve unpredictably, or even crash into itself.

In such a scenario, a disaster was inevitable.

So—why was Lu Ding completely unaffected?!

Lu Ding explained casually, “Your Spirit-Severing Palm is just a technique based on Qi manipulation. It disturbs the natural flow of spiritual energy, forcing opponents into a state where they can’t properly channel their Qi.”

“But even though my realm is lower than yours… my understanding of Qi surpasses yours by at least ten thousand times.”

Arrogant.

Unbelievably arrogant!

A kid not even twenty talking about Qi comprehension?

Claiming that a Linghai Realm Eighth Layer expert had inferior understanding compared to a mere Second Layer cultivator?!

Cao Yutang was just about to scoff when—

Something felt off.

Because of his mastery over Spirit-Severing Palm and Hunter’s Stance, he was particularly sensitive to the movement of spiritual energy.

And now, as he carefully felt the Qi flow around Lu Ding, a horrifying realization struck him—

The way the surrounding Qi moved around Lu Ding…

It was exactly like the Qi flow during Oneness with Heaven!

Normally, a cultivator had to draw in spiritual energy from the world, actively guiding it into their body.

But Oneness with Heaven was different.

Instead of actively absorbing Qi, the cultivator simply had to open their meridians—then Qi would enter naturally, as if drawn in by an invisible force.

The amount of Qi a person could take in depended entirely on how much their meridians could endure.

“Oneness with Heaven?! Impossible! That’s… How could you…?”

Watching Lu Ding standing there effortlessly, still chatting with him so casually, Cao Yutang felt like he was dreaming.

Everything—everything—was shattering his worldview.

To this, Lu Ding simply replied—

“Oh, my bad. I forgot to turn it off after activating it.”

Cao Yutang: “…Huh?”

He didn’t understand.

Lu Ding clapped his hands together. “Alright, Master Cao. Your performance was decent. Now, let’s get to the real fight.”

Raising one hand high above his head—

Snap.

A single finger snap.

In an instant—

The sky changed color.

Dark clouds gathered, the world dimmed, and an indescribable sensation filled the air.

All around, the landscape transformed into a desolate, eerie realm.

Cao Yutang’s pupils shrank in terror.

”Yin Domain Overlap!!!??”

His voice cracked.

This time, he wasn’t just shocked—his mind was falling apart.

This… this wasn’t a technique a human should be able to use!

How could a person invoke Yin Domain Overlap?!

Oneness with Heaven and Yin Domain Overlap?

No, this was no human feat.

He shouted in despair—

“Lu Ding, you’re a monster! You’re a monster, aren’t you?! You’re not human!!!”

At that moment, he actually hoped Lu Ding would confirm it.

That he’d let out some eerie laughter and say, ”Congratulations, you figured it out!”

If he did that—at least it would make sense.

But the only reply was—

The sound of falling rain.

Lu Ding didn’t bother answering.

This guy was clearly insane.

Couldn’t he see Lu Ding was standing right there, alive and well?

But Lu Ding had to admit—

Even he thought that the ”Gale of Blood and Gore” technique really did look way too similar to Yin Domain Overlap.

Especially since he had just recently experienced a real Yin Domain Overlap firsthand.

But there was one key difference:

Lu Ding knew for sure that he was human.

And he knew for sure that Fang Du was a ghost.

So this definitely wasn’t Yin Domain Overlap!

A single drop of crimson rain fell from the sky—

Landing right on Cao Yutang’s forehead.

Before he could even reach up to touch it—

A searing pain tore through him.

His flesh melted away.

White bone became exposed.

Then—

Countless more blood-red raindrops began to pour down from above, a relentless downpour with nowhere to run.

Cao Yutang was instantly drenched.

“AHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHH!!! COME OUT!!! COME OUT, LU DING!!!”

“YOU MONSTER!!! HIDING IN THE SHADOWS, ATTACKING FROM AFAR—IS THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT?! FACE ME!!!”

His flesh kept dissolving under the rain’s corrosion.

He had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

In agonizing desperation, he channeled every last bit of his spiritual energy, wildly blasting his surroundings.

Through the hazy downpour of blood rain, Cao Yutang thought he saw something.

A silhouette—

Moving closer.

Step by step.

The unnatural presence filled his heart with a deep, chilling dread.

Cultivators weren’t afraid of ghosts.

But this?

This was far more terrifying than any ghost.

Maybe it was sheer desperation—

Maybe it was just his mind breaking under pressure—

Cao Yutang ignored his own melting body, wiped his half-dissolved face, and charged toward the figure in the rain.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA, LU DING! AND YOU STILL SAY YOU’RE NOT A MONSTER?! YOU’RE A MONSTER! A GHOST!”

“IF I KILL YOU, EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE! DIE! DIE!!!”

But as he ran—

His steps slowed.

Then staggered.

He lifted his legs—stepped forward—

Each step, he sank lower.

Finally, he glanced down—

His legs had dissolved into the pool of blood rain beneath him.

By the time he reached Lu Ding—

Only his upper body remained, barely propped up.

He lifted his fleshless, skeletal face, teeth falling out one by one.

With his last breath, he rasped—

“…Caught… you…”

Lu Ding paused his phone’s stopwatch timer.

The storm stopped.

The rain ceased.

All anomalies vanished.

Shaking his head, he muttered—

“Five seconds, thirty-three.”

“…Cao Yutang, I had such high expectations for you.”

“…But you only lasted five seconds, thirty-three.”

“…I didn’t even use the ‘Gale’ part.”