Chapter 231: 230: Tiny Insect‑Carving Trick, Swinging an Axe at the Master

"This…"

"I'll go check first, and then I'll understand the situation," Wang Wu stood up from the chair, left that sentence, and vanished into Tianxiang Pavilion, leaving only Li Xiang, who was sitting in his seat, staring blankly.

"This, this, this…"

It wasn't until the second minute after Wang Wu left that Li Xiang snapped back to his senses, abruptly looking across the table, only to find Wang Wu's figure already gone.

At this very moment, in a narrow alley of the West Port District.

Though he didn't know why such matters always involved alleys, Wang Wu indeed sensed that thing's aura in this spot.

It wasn't underground but on the ground; apparently those demonic heretics are quite bold, or rather they consider the most dangerous places to be the safest.

He didn't rush in immediately; instead he activated the signature skill "Blur" of the Yinji Sect, and walked straight through the building's entrance. Although many people saw him along the way, none took him seriously.

Speaking honestly, this skill is truly handy; it's not just for infiltration. Its real strength lies in that, when you're in this state—provided the skill rank and cultivation realm are high enough and the opponent's realm isn't higher than yours—

While in this state, no matter what you do to a person, they may realize what they're doing, but they won't treat it as significant.

As long as the action isn't a direct damaging attack, they won't notice anyone targeting them.

Even if they do notice, they won't know it's you pulling the strings.

Of course, if you try to smash a stone at them in plain sight, they'll dodge, or an overly obvious trap will fail.

Though for those stronger than you the skill is essentially ineffective, and even against equals its effect is reduced, only some aspects still work.

Still, that's pretty awesome.

Just now, Wang Wu swaggered straight into the building, unimpeded and unnoticed by anyone.

Naturally, this skill might suit protagonists of certain movies—though not those time‑freeze series, but proper films.

Still, you can indeed use the skill for that, and it's even better because of its interactivity; the target will subconsciously treat you as their closest person, even if they're actually single.

Therefore, within Yun Guang City, casually activating "Blur"—also called "Great Concealment in the World"—is illegal; if caught, it's a criminal offense leading to prison.

Think about it: a top‑rank master coveting a second‑rank master for ages but never attaining them; with this skill, he could, unnoticed by gods and ghosts, take his goddess, his beloved…

*Ahem. *

In short, the Jitian Sect's skill isn't open to its own disciples, as it's a super‑stealth technique reserved for official members of the assassin organization Shura Blood Curse.

The Yinji Sect, after all, is a formally registered sect in Yun Guang City—well, a "formal sect"; whether it's orthodox is another matter, but it's certainly legitimate and official.

Yet publicly the skill isn't taught to Jitian Sect disciples, though many Jitian disciples have learned it.

So where did they acquire the skill? It's truly hard to guess.

Still, it doesn't matter; we're all martial cultivators, after all—just a skill. Even if you claim it could harm society greatly, it's not that severe.

After all, time‑stopping martial arts exist there, and this is merely a stealth skill whose effect is greatly reduced against equals and cut by ninety percent against higher ranks.

Yet the "Blur" effect itself remains highly effective; even ultimate assassins of the Yin Shenli level frequently use it for missions, killing unseen.

Though the target usually can't tell whether she's using it, either way the skill is still very powerful—extremely so.

After all, even the sect leader and the Shura Lord use it, attesting to its high value.

At this very moment, in this very place, no one could possibly notice Wang Wu.

He swaggered in, pushed the door open, and an incredibly eerie aura poured out from within.

This wasn't a normal entry, so when Wang Wu pushed the door, every strong person in the city sensed the aura.

It was an aura belonging to demonic heretics.

Not only them, but also the evil cultivators currently inside the building.

"What the hell!??"

In the basement of the house, within a room, a gaunt cultivator suddenly opened his eyes. As he opened his mouth to emit notes, an extremely thick evil aura burst from his mouth.

Clearly, this cultivator wasn't a normal person; the evil aura he exuded suggests he's an extremely terrifying being.

Honestly, terrifying as he is, he still can't see Wang Wu, because his strength is weaker than Wang Wu's—not just slightly weaker.

Even though this evil cultivator's power may already rank among the very strong here, perhaps he's one of the few at the very top of the human strong‑man pyramid—excluding Wang Wu.

Yet the gap between him and Wang Wu remains huge, not just ordinary.

After all, Wang Wu's might is indescribable; it far exceeds human imagination in this world—well, perhaps not that exaggerated.

Nevertheless, under the guidance of two masters plus First Day Wu's instruction, Wang Wu's diligent practice hasn't been in vain; now he's only one step away from the Third‑rank realm.

Though that step still requires some time, it's truly just one step away.

With such overwhelming power and the gap between them, the evil cultivator has no chance of noticing Wang Wu.

Yet failing to spot Wang Wu doesn't mean he can't spot others; when Wang Wu pushed the door, the altar in West Port District was already exposed.

As the most crime‑ridden area of Yingdu, West Port District loses a batch of people each year—not many, but certainly not few.

Regarding such death cases, the local authorities do intervene, but investigations are weak. The country's climate makes many cases hard to solve, and culprits hard to find.

This isn't Wang Wu's hometown; although his hometown's technology level is clearly lower than here—yes, indeed lower. Reluctant to admit it, the fact remains.

Even though his hometown's tech is markedly lower, in this society cameras aren't that common even in big cities.

The technology exists here, but due to cost it hasn't been widely used; you can't install them in every corner, and they're not that convenient to operate.

Actually they're quite convenient; it's merely cost and mindset that keep cameras from being common here.

However, contact with the March people brought abundant March technology; March civilization, similar to his hometown's tech, certainly has cameras—mass‑produced, high‑quality, cheap.

Yet due to mindset, they haven't been widely popularized yet.

Yingdu, for certain reasons, sees widespread public resistance to installing them; because of this, although Yingdu now has more cameras than before, they're still very rare in New Port District.

After all, you install one and the other side destroys it; even with low cost, it can't survive long.

As for assigning personnel or setting up formation guards, it circles back to the earlier issue: prohibitive cost.

Mainly, cameras here—aside from March‑made ones—are said to actually capture souls.

Like the old‑home Qing‑era folks, who believed cameras could steal a person's soul—not superstition, but a real possibility.

The "Soul‑Capturing Mirror"—that's what it was called before, and many heretical sects love to use it.

Holding this thing up to you and taking a look, your soul is immediately captured, and in some cases the whole person is drawn into the mirror.

This is the real reason why the locals generally oppose cameras.

And this is also why the Pure Land Sect placed this altar here: the official surveillance in West Port District is weak, because the foot traffic is heavy and many ships come and go daily, making it rather chaotic.

Logically, places with heavy foot traffic should have stronger surveillance, but in Ying City it's different; crowded areas are even more chaotic and easier to exploit.

Moreover, the local administration colludes with certain groups; although those groups aren't evil sects, they will still commit somewhat illegal acts and open somewhat illegal channels to reap greater profit.

Do the ruling classes of this Royal Capital know about this? In fact they do, most likely they do.

Only that many of these organizations are actually linked to them… ah no, they have countless connections with them, true or false, and the local administration certainly does not wish to offend the real rulers.

Those kingdom nobles, those top‑tier figures, those…

How to put it? The true administrators, the true rulers of this nation.

One can only say that this is how the world works; this is its operating logic.

Alright, that's a digression, but regardless, the Chu State, being a nation on the rise, has a healthy structure. After all it is a higher civilization; though it looks ancient, it is surprisingly 'advanced'.

As a nation, it has existed for tens of thousands of years, dating back to the distant Xia Dynasty, persisting to the present despite several rises and falls and multiple royal turnovers, yet it has endured.

It is still the same group of people; although the ruling families have rotated a few times, there remain several exceedingly ancient, long‑standing families within the nation.

They are not Wang Wu, yet they are the true rulers of this country.

Since they have ruled this nation for so long, they naturally know what can be done and what cannot. To ensure the country's continuity and their own family's survival, they of course act very 'cleanly'.

As long as your corruption does not hinder development, they can turn a blind eye, and even dealings with demonic or heretical forces may be tolerated.

Before crossing that absolute red line, everything is negotiable.

But once crossed, it becomes a thunderous force that sweeps all impurity away.

The Chu State's longevity has its reason, and it is simple: they know how to make a hero cut off his own wrist.

Even if they cannot, other families can help them achieve it.

As long as your self‑purification system remains effective and can promptly curb the spread of corruption, you can endure indefinitely.

It sounds simple, and indeed it is simple, but only a handful can actually accomplish it.

At least in Wang Wu's ancestral home, from ancient times to now… uh, I'll leave that unsaid.

In short, when the Pure Land Sect's aura leaks, less than ten seconds may pass before a strong cultivator tears through the void and arrives here.

'So this is it.'

A man wearing a feather crown floated expressionlessly in the sky, watching the cultivators and ordinary people in the houses and courtyards below.

There are ordinary people here as well, because it is just an ordinary dwelling.

But these ordinary people also have something unusual about them:

They are all followers of the Pure Land Sect.

The place is not easy to locate; it is shielded by a great formation, so even a powerful cultivator like the feather‑crowned man flying close to the surface would not sense anything amiss.

Scans by various artifacts are ineffective; even if one breaks in, under normal circumstances nothing abnormal would be detected.

This is a 'deception' akin to Wang Wu's blur, and it is a very advanced deception.

It succeeds in the Chu capital, pulling a hidden trick right under the eyes of a cluster of peerless strongmen.

Unfortunately, this flawless disguise, deemed an invincible deception, meets its match in Wang Wu, the divine practitioner of the Yinji Divine Sect technique.

If it were only the Yinji Sect, that would be fine, but the problem is he also knows the Shura Blood Curse technique, and essentially any basic skill that can be learned.

That makes things rather awkward for the Pure Land Sect cultivators in this house.

It's like playing with a massive pile of dung before a dung‑remover… ah no, it's a case of a novice brandishing an axe at the master's door.

(End of chapter)