Chapter 99: Catastrophic Disaster

"Senior, I brought the students here to experience the aura formed by the spatial rift. It's easier for them to understand when taught on-site."

Compared to seasoned veterans like Jing Shizhen, Lei Songwei was still too naive, but he was also very curious about their intentions. He asked, "Senior, why are you here? As far as I know, places with spatial rifts are not accessible to people outside the relevant departments."

"So they call the area covered by the spatial rift an 'aura.' That's quite vivid."

Jing Shizhen and Su Xiaofan exchanged glances, their faces showing a sly fox-like grin. Compared to them, Lei Songwei and his people undoubtedly knew more.

"Xiao Lei, don't call me Senior. Just call me Uncle Jing, like everyone else does."

Jing Shizhen's smile remained unchanged as he said, "It's like this. Dong Jie asked me to come and see if I can eliminate this spatial rift. So here I am."

With Tong Dongjie around, there was no way to hide their intentions, so Jing Shizhen spoke the truth.

"Eliminate the spatial rift? That's impossible, right?"

Lei Songwei was shocked by Jing Shizhen's words. "We've been researching for many years and haven't found a way to eliminate the spatial rift. Uncle Jing, are you serious? This has great research value."

"Uncle Jing, the spatial rift is always monitored by the relevant departments. Even if you can eliminate it, you should report to the relevant departments, right?"

Unlike Lei Songwei, who was focused on research, Mo Zixuan considered more. This small spatial rift was perfect for teaching, and she didn't want it to disappear.

"About this... Dong Jie, you explain it."

Jing Shizhen glanced at Tong Dongjie, who had to handle this. He just did the job for the money.

"Teacher Mo, I've reported to the relevant departments. I will handle the preliminary work here. If I can't handle it, I'll hand it over to the relevant departments."

Tong Dongjie bought this mountain forest and funded the construction of many roads, but he was essentially cheated by the local government. He spent hundreds of millions, and no one even noticed, and several people died.

To deal with this, Tong Dongjie negotiated with the relevant departments for a long time. He originally wanted the departments to handle the spatial rift.

However, they replied that they couldn't eliminate it either. Given Tong Dongjie's significant investment, they finally agreed on a plan.

Tong Dongjie would try to solve the spatial rift problem. If he succeeded, they would continue developing the tourism project. If he failed, the relevant departments would completely seal off the mountain forest in Shuangmen Village, and Tong Dongjie's investment would be a loss, as business always has risks.

So, Tong Dongjie spent a lot of money to find Jing Shizhen, as the relevant departments couldn't help, and Jing Shizhen was his best choice.

"How do you plan to handle it?"

Lei Songwei looked at Jing Shizhen curiously and said, "Uncle Jing, according to my research, spatial rifts only expand over time and don't disappear. The state has tried many methods but couldn't eliminate them. If you have a way, can you share it with us?"

"I can't eliminate it completely, but I can seal it."

Jing Shizhen shook his head and said, "I can only try to seal it, reducing the aura it emits and minimizing its impact on the surrounding environment. Whether it works or not needs to be tested."

Jing Shizhen hadn't done this before, but he was confident he could succeed. Even if he failed, he would still gain from the extraordinary creature's inner core.

"Seal it? That's a good idea. Someone suggested it before, but the spatial rift is too large to be sealed with an array."

Hearing Jing Shizhen's words, Lei Songwei's eyes lit up as he looked at Shuangmen Village. "This is a micro spatial rift, so it's worth a try."

"Yes, I'm not very confident either." Jing Shizhen nodded.

"Uncle Jing, can we observe you?"

Lei Songwei asked, as a researcher, he wouldn't miss the chance to study a method that could handle the spatial rift, which had stumped everyone.

"Sure."

Jing Shizhen nodded and said, "But I hope Teacher Lei can share what you know about spatial rifts with me. That will help me be more confident."

Spatial rifts began appearing around a hundred years ago, possibly earlier, but there were no news reports at the time.

After spatial rifts appeared in the country, most were sealed by the relevant departments. Jing Shizhen and his people had entered a few but couldn't conduct research due to limited conditions.

"Alright, let's talk as we walk."

Lei Songwei was happy to get permission to observe. The organization didn't require secrecy about spatial rift research, except for cultivation techniques.

Under Mo Zixuan's organization, the students lined up and entered the mountain path from the fork.

"Brother, here, take this. I'm going back." Su Xiaoxiao took off the jade Buddha from her neck and handed it to Su Xiaofan.

"I don't need it. You keep it."

Su Xiaofan patted his sister's head and put the jade Buddha back on her. "Xiaoxiao, remember, I'm your brother. Don't think that learning a bit can make you take care of me."

Su Xiaofan had entered the misty area several times. On one occasion, he deliberately didn't carry any magical tools and used his true qi to resist the aura.

He found that as long as he closed his pores to prevent the mist from entering his body, it couldn't harm him.

Even if some mist entered his body, Su Xiaofan could expel it with true qi, though it was quite energy-consuming and could only last for three to five days.

In other words, as long as his dantian true qi didn't run out, Su Xiaofan could stay in such an environment even with normal breathing.

If he was in a defensive state, closing his pores, he could stay longer, perhaps ten to fifteen days.

"Brother, the teacher said we must use this to protect ourselves, or it will be troublesome." Su Xiaoxiao whispered.

"I have it. Stop nagging and go find your classmates. Zhao Qingyao has already gone back."

Su Xiaofan waved his hand and pushed his sister away. He was now a Dazhoutian realm expert, not a rookie.

The special class was accompanied by two military personnel with lieutenant ranks, clearly there to protect the group.

The school's mountain entry team had a specific formation. Mo Zixuan and the two military personnel walked at the front, while Lei Songwei walked at the back, with the students in the middle.

This arrangement made it easier for Lei Songwei to talk with Jing Shizhen, and Su Xiaofan and Tong Dongjie followed behind.

"Teacher Lei, what have you discovered about the gases in the spatial rift's aura?"

Jing Shizhen's sealing array was a closely guarded secret. He wouldn't show it to Lei Songwei and the others for free. He needed to offer something in return.

"It's actually a type of air!"

Indeed, Lei Songwei knew something. "Uncle Jing, you should know that humans can't stay in this aura for long, right?"

Seeing Uncle Jing nod, Lei Songwei continued, "This air is over 99% similar to the air outside, meaning humans should be able to survive in it."

"However, we extracted a type of energy from this air. This energy exceeds all known energy levels on the planet, making it a completely new type of energy."

"Is this energy the cause of organ failure in those who enter?"

"Exactly, the human body can't directly absorb this energy."

Lei Songwei nodded and said, "However, our research shows that this energy can treat many diseases, so it should be beneficial to the human body..."

"Hmm? So, the existence of this aura is actually good for humans?" Su Xiaofan interjected.

"It's hard to say. If the existing spatial rifts don't expand, it might not be a bad thing."

Lei Songwei's expression became serious. "But if the spatial rifts expand, it could be a disaster for humans."

Lei Songwei shook his head with a bitter smile. "Moreover, extracting this energy from the aura is extremely difficult. Over the years, the amount extracted isn't even enough for research, let alone for widespread use in society to treat diseases."

"Is it possible that human bodies can't withstand the intensity of this energy?"

"Very possible, and highly likely."

Lei Songwei said, "In the spatial rift's aura, there are often powerful mutated creatures, likely due to this energy. However, we can't directly apply it to humans yet."

"If we could analyze this energy and apply it to humans, it might be an unprecedented evolution for humanity, a leap in human genes..."

Lei Songwei's face became excited. He had seen the power of mutated creatures. If humans could absorb and digest this energy like mutated creatures, he would tremble with excitement.

"Researchers always dream."

Su Xiaofan and Uncle Jing exchanged glances, both shaking their heads. Lei Songwei's idea was almost impossible.

After the spatial rifts appeared, countless species were affected, but the number of species that evolved was extremely small, with a one-in-ten-thousand chance being high.

So, even if humans could absorb and digest this energy, it would only happen in a few individuals, not the entire population.

Of course, the research by the relevant departments was not without value. This research was a form of self-rescue.

They could develop a method to breathe this energy without evolving, at least to prevent it from harming ordinary people.

This way, even if the spatial rifts expand, humans could survive in such an environment.

Otherwise, if the entire planet were filled with this gas, it would be a global catastrophic disaster for humanity.