Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Hooked
Upon leaving the Valiant Defenders’ barracks, the Fifth King first checked the surroundings before asking, “What happened here?”
“Yuan Zhuang investigated a case that implicated many influential people. The inner city’s Enforcement Envoy Liu should be one of them,” Fang Chen replied.
“Is it a huge case?” The Fifth King was slightly disconcerted. “Don’t cause any more trouble. My old bones can’t take it.”
“Don’t worry, it’s a matter beyond your reach. You just have to occasionally cooperate with me. You need not worry about the rest,” Fang Chen replied with a smile.
The Fifth King eyed Fang Chen. “You should already know that the emperor sees you as an eyesore. Think twice before you do anything.”
With that, the Fifth King took his leave.
Fang Chen headed to the Shadow Courtyard with Xu Ge.
It didn’t take long for Tie Ma and the others to appear. All of the Shadow Guards, except for those who couldn’t come out in the day, were gathered here. All in all, there were thirty people.
“This is the Bone Tempering Pill. I’ll be giving one to each of you.”
Fang Chen gave each of the Shadow Guards a Bone Tempering Pill. The Shadow Guards stared at their Bone Tempering Pill in curiosity.
“Young master, what does this Bone Tempering Pill do?” Xu Ge asked.
“I’m not sure either, but it should be beneficial to your martial cultivation,” Fang Chen replied.
Beneficial to our martial cultivation? The Shadow Guards were revved up.
Even the stoic Tie Ma carefully examined the Bone Tempering Pill, as he thought about the trip they made to Dragonback Lane not too long ago.
This Bone Tempering Pill is likely something our young master acquired from Dragonback Lane. It’d be anything but ordinary.
“Xu Ge, I’ll leave it to you to pass the Bone Tempering Pills to those who aren’t here,” Fang Chen instructed.
Xu Ge nodded.
Without any hesitation, Xu Ge popped his Bone Tempering Pill into his mouth and swallowed it. The crowd was taken aback. They hadn’t expected Xu Ge to swallow it on the spot.
“Why are you so surprised? If I don’t eat it now, what if I lose the pill?” Xu Ge scoffed.
He’s right. What if we lose the pill?
The others, including Tie Ma, popped the Bone Tempering Pill into their mouths too. Soon, the effects of the Bone Tempering Pill started showing.
Out of curiosity, Fang Chen drew out his soul to take a closer look.
The vitality of those who swallowed the Bone Tempering Pill surged within a short period of time, and their inner ki swiftly expanded.
Xu Ge was at pinnacle Ki Explosion, but shortly after consuming the Bone Tempering Pill, his inner ki began approaching the level of Ki Control. All of a sudden, his face tightened up, and a white aura burst forth and shrouded his body.
“I’ve reached third stage Ki Control?!”
Xu Ge was elated. To verify that he had truly reached Ki Control, he drew out a sliver of his inner ki, and it obediently coiled around his finger.
Tie Ma was surprised by Xu Ge’s breakthrough, but the same situation was happening to him too. His inner ki swiftly bulked up, pushing his martial cultivation up to mid Ki Control.
It should have taken him three to five years of training to build up sufficient momentum for a breakthrough, but a single Bone Tempering Pill had offset that for him!
The others enjoyed a breakthrough of some degree too. Some advanced from mid Ki Condensation all the way to pinnacle Ki Condensation. Some overcame their bottleneck and rose from pinnacle Ki Condensation to early Ki Explosion
In less than two hours, Fang Chen’s Shadow Guards had grown two to three times stronger than before.
Fang Chen returned his soul to his body and smiled at the crowd. “How are you feeling?”
“Young master, I feel terrific! I thought I would never reach Ki Explosion due to my lacking talent, but I was able to overcome my bottleneck thanks to your Bone Tempering Pill!”
“Young master, we are grateful for your divine medicine!”
The crowd was exhilarated.
Xu Ge was so excited that he began dancing around the room. The only one who remained poise was Tie Ma, but even so, he had a smile that indicated that he was in a good mood.
“You’re not mute, Xu Ge. What are you posing around for? I can’t see it,” Fang Chen said.
Xu Ge scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. “Young master, I’m just too excited. I feel like I’m in a dream. I never thought I, Xu Ge, would ever rise to the ranks of Ki Control.”
“It’s only Ki Control. You haven’t reached Ki Manifestation, and even so, you’d still be at Human Profound realm. What’s there to be excited about?” Fang Chen smiled. “Learn from Tie Ma. He’s much calmer than you.”
“I can’t learn that.” Xu Ge secretly rolled his eyes. That zombie face of his is the result of him being undercover as a Hidden Dragon for many years. I can’t learn it even if I want to.
“Has there been any movements on Vice Minister of Rites Qin Dong’s side over the last few days?” Fang Chen asked.
A Shadow Guard dressed as a vendor reported, “Young master, Qin Dong has been regularly attending imperial morning assemblies. He would occasionally work in the Bureau of Rites, and he would spend the rest of his time in his manor. There’s nothing amiss about his movements.”
“What about Ye Qinghe?” Fang Chen asked again.
“He has been spending his time socializing with young masters at the Great Xia River. The most common place he goes to is Jade Fairy Boat. Sometimes he’d bring someone there; sometimes he’d go alone; sometimes he’d go with the crown prince.
“Speaking of which, young master, Ye Qinghe’s martial cultivation is surprisingly high. He nearly discovered me the last time I followed him. I suspect he might be at Ki Explosion.”
“I see.” Fang Chen nodded. “Investigate how his martial cultivation advanced so quickly. I don’t remember him being that talented as a martial artist.”
“Yes, young master.”
“What about Li Huafeng? Has he made any movements?” Fang Chen asked again.
“Li Huafeng paid a visit to the Valiant Defenders’ barracks.”
“Li Huafeng, Enforcement Envoy Liu, Vice Minister Qin, and Xiao Shence… They are our key suspects. We should be able to figure out who the other five Blood Spirit Cultists are through them.” Fang Chen narrowed his eyes.
Two hours later, the Shadow Guards finished their report and scattered with satisfied hearts.
Xu Ge had been dispatched to deliver the Bone Tempering Pills to the other Shadow Guards, leaving Fang Chen alone in the Shadow Courtyard.
Fang Chen took out the scarecrow and infused spirit ki into it. The scarecrow transformed into a humanlike, middle-aged man.
“Head to Vice Minister Qin’s manor and relay some words for me,” Fang Chen instructed.
The middle-aged man immediately made his way over.
Fang Chen drew out his soul and waited at Vice Minister Qin’s manor.
Qin Dong had gotten off the imperial morning assembly and was practicing calligraphy in his study room. It could be that he had something vexing on his mind, but he wasn’t satisfied with the words he wrote. He crumpled the paper up and tossed them to the side.
Creak. A person pushed the door open and entered.
Without raising his head, Qin Dong bellowed, “I said that no one is to disrupt me while I’m practicing my calligraphy!”
The person ignored those words and walked up to Qin Dong.
Qin Dong raised his head, and his anger dissipated as soon as he saw the middle-aged man. His face turned anxious as he asked, “Have you heard? Fang Chen killed more than a hundred cavalrymen of Longdu Viscount Zhou Xiu at Great Xia’s borders! He also rescued Yuan Zhuang from the barracks. If he continues following the trail, he’ll eventually find out that it’s me. I’d be doomed then!”
The middle-aged man was none other than the scarecrow. Judging from Qin Dong’s behavior, he must know about its association with the old woman.
“Something happened in the Blood Spirit Cult. We’ll have to back out of Great Xia in the future. All the best to you,” the middle-aged man said before taking his leave.
Qin Dong was stunned. It took a moment before he snapped out of it and chased after the middle-aged man, but the latter was already nowhere to be seen.
“How could this be…” Qin Dong’s face turned pale. If others find out what I’ve done, without the backing of the Blood Spirit Cult, my entire clan will be executed!
Seconds later, Qin Dong thought of something and ordered his subordinates to prepare a carriage.
Seeing that, Fang Chen knew that the fish had been hooked. All he had to do now was to slowly reel it in.
