Chapter 127: Spirit Marks, Spirit Charters

The interrogation results of the Canghe Society's survivors were on Chu Danqing's desk by early the next morning.

"Preparing for a beheading operation?" Chu Danqing understood—the outlaws had been driven to desperation by him, and Li Wanwu's connections were stoking the flames.

Thus they had gathered renowned bandits from across the land to converge on the capital.

Chief among them were the surviving outlaws from Mount Pingdou, once hailed as the sacred haven of all bandits.

They would arrive in roughly three days.

As for how glorious Mount Pingdou had once been, its destruction had been equally brutal.

The very existence of a "sacred haven" among bandits had always depended on political patronage; now that the court had replaced its old guard with new faces, they were treated as trophies to be claimed.

"The main force will take three days, but the vanguard must already have reached the capital."

"This Canghe Society survivor is one of the vanguard," Chu Danqing analyzed the situation and ordered his men to execute the survivor and display his head publicly.

They hung the head above Beimen and dispatched elite guards from the Imperial Feathered Forest Corps to surveil it.

These bandits prided themselves on loyalty and righteousness—let's see if they dare retrieve it.

If they come, capture them and root them out completely.

If they don't, it still serves as a warning.

As for whether this was too cruel?

"Confucius said: 'How should one repay virtue? Repay injury with uprightness; repay virtue with virtue.'"

To repay an enemy with kindness is sheer madness.

Confucius himself taught that injury should be met with uprightness, and virtue with virtue.

Orders were issued one by one; Chu Danqing then began his daily activities, and after completing them, he began cultivating the Two Secret Arts: Five Elements Spirit Mark and Five Elements Spirit Charter.

It took exactly ten hours to bring both secret arts to the Max level.

Having practiced them three times already, mastery had greatly accelerated his progress; moreover, his Five Elements Spirit Beasts Scripture had risen in rank, lowering the difficulty of these derived techniques further.

"Thank heaven these secret arts are derived from cultivation methods—relying on technique and familiarity, not resources; otherwise I'd be stuck."

【Five Elements Spirit Mark (Derived) LV. AX】

【Metal Spirit Mark: All summoned creatures gain +0. Strength】

【Wood Spirit Mark: All summoned creatures gain +0. Agility】

【Water Spirit Mark: All summoned creatures gain +0. Constitution】

【Fire Spirit Mark: All summoned creatures gain +0. Spirit】

【Earth Spirit Mark: All summoned creatures gain +0. Perception】

——

【Five Elements Spirit Charter (Derived) LV. AX: Requires 1 Mana to activate】

【Metal Spirit Charter: Imposes 5-second Armor Break on target; during this time, summoned creatures' attacks deal additional Metal damage equal to (Total Damage × 5%)】

【Wood Spirit Charter: Imposes 5-second Poison on target,】

【Water Spirit Charter: Imposes 5-second Suffocation on target,】

【Fire Spirit Charter: Imposes 5-second Burning on target,】

【Earth Spirit Charter: Imposes 5-second Slow on target,】

(Note: If the target bears all five negative statuses from the Five Elements Spirit Charters, duration and effects are doubled)

(Note: If the target bears all five negative statuses from the Five Elements Spirit Charters, summoned creatures' attacks deal doubled Elemental damage during the duration)

The Spirit Marks flowed through Chu Danqing's meridians, not lingering around him like the other four secret arts.

Thus they became passive skills.

Though only adding +0. to all attributes, this was already exceptional.

No range limit, permanent boost, and direct attribute increase—no other skill offered this.

Compared to the other four secret arts, it was indeed weaker; Chu Danqing suspected it was meant to serve as the core of the Minor Five Elements Spirit Array and Minor Five Elements Summoning Path.

After all, it was the only one that wasn't an external artifact but had merged into his body.

Aside from passively enhancing summoned creatures' attributes, it had no other effects.

As for the Five Elements Spirit Charter, he had expected an offensive skill—yet it turned out to be a support skill.

Still, it dealt damage, though primarily through summoned creatures.

Its advantages were clear: far faster than the Five Elements Spirit Balls, and far lower in mana cost.

Reconstructing a shattered Five Elements Spirit Ball required 5 Mana; the Spirit Charter required only 1.

The tactic was to use high attack speed and low cost to stack negative statuses on enemies, then leverage those statuses to control and amplify summoned creatures' damage.

Additionally, within the range aura of the Five Elements Spirit Seal, the Spirit Charters could be freely controlled—effectively granting lock-on.

But once outside the aura, they became thrown projectiles—unable to be controlled after launch, relying solely on ranged damage.

Chu Danqing tested it: even within the aura, control had a five-second limit; after that, the mana within the Spirit Charter began to decay.

If it struck the target after decay began, the duration, effect, and summoned creatures' Elemental damage all decreased proportionally.

After thirty seconds, the mana vanished entirely, causing the Spirit Charter to dissipate.

Clearly, flight consumed mana—this was normal.

With time still left, Chu Danqing continued testing the Spirit Charters and discovered that striking a target in the order of the Five Elements' generation enhanced summoned creatures' additional Elemental damage.

Conversely, striking in the order of the Five Elements' destruction extended the duration and intensified the negative statuses.

"What if I combine Spirit Balls with Spirit Charters?" Chu Danqing stroked his chin, staring at his only offensive skill.

The Spirit Balls circling him were gone—but he could still spend 5 Mana to condense them; he wasn't removing the skill, merely converting its constant form.

"Trying to control five Spirit Charters and five Spirit Balls at once? Impossible—it would ruin accuracy and judgment."

"It's just that my attributes aren't high enough. Can't fix that for now."

"Second, Spirit Balls are far slower than Spirit Charters—making coordination harder."

"What if the Spirit Charter carries the Spirit Ball?" Chu Danqing immediately tried.

It exploded instantly, without hesitation.

Luckily Chu Danqing had the Spirit Flag protecting him; otherwise he'd have been badly injured.

He then tried combining Wood Spirit Charter with Wood Spirit Ball—same result: failure.

It didn't explode, but dissolved into useless Wood mana.

"Well, this isn't something I can improve yet. Leave it for later," Chu Danqing sighed in regret—low attributes, low skill level, and insufficient knowledge made failure inevitable.

After completing cultivation, he swiftly reviewed and processed the accumulated official duties, and discovered an intriguing piece of intelligence.

"Today at noon, the bandit chief Blood Hand Nightfork Bai Yi secretly entered the palace and met the young emperor."

"An inside agent provided him with covert warnings and clearance, allowing him to meet the emperor undetected."

"It must have been the young emperor who summoned him—clearly, he's already in contact with the bandits trying to kill me."

Chu Danqing set down the report, adding one final note at the bottom.

That Blood Hand Nightfork had already been beheaded by the Imperial Feathered Forest Corps.

Once discovered, he could not be allowed to leave alive.

Would they really just record the intelligence and let him walk away? Would the Imperial Feathered Forest Corps and the Secret Investigative Bureau just sit around doing nothing?

"Blood Hand Nightfork is dead. The message probably didn't get out."

"Just today, I've uncovered seven named bandits."

"Tch. I must really be hated."

The capital was too vast—even with his authority, Chu Danqing couldn't root them all out.

His subordinates couldn't avoid every mistake; humans err.

"Off duty. Home to sleep." Chu Danqing returned with Da Bao.

Not just to rest—he also hoped to lure someone out.

They'd have to die eventually; better to kill them early and weaken them now.

The journey home was quiet—clearly, these vanguard bandits weren't fools.

"Little Chu, someone's inside the house," Da Bao said before they even entered.

Hearing this, Chu Danqing immediately ordered Da Bao to lead the way, while gripping a Spirit Charter in hand, ready to stack statuses.

He pushed open the door—the elderly man in scholar's robes froze.

Chu Danqing hid behind Da Bao and asked: "Who are you?"

The old man glanced at Chu Danqing's timid posture and immediately disliked him a third more.

A true man doesn't cower behind others.

"I am He Yun, former Censor of the Censorate," He Yun stroked his beard with a smile. "In the martial world, they call me Master Pen."

"I've come today on behalf of the Bandit King Rolling River, to negotiate peace with you, Commander Chu."

He Yun spoke with the condescending air of a senior elder.

Yet his strength was likely formidable—almost certainly on par with Yuan Chong, a top-tier expert.

Otherwise he couldn't have infiltrated so silently.

"What exactly does Rolling River propose for peace?" Chu Danqing asked from behind Da Bao.

The room was too small—if the old man suddenly attacked, Da Bao might not hold.

He had no reason to risk himself.

"Simply revoke your extermination edict, and apologize to the righteous outlaws."

"Surely you don't wish to live in constant fear, dreading that righteous bandits will come to execute you," He Yun said, mistaking Chu Danqing's caution for fear, and issued a threat.

In his view, since the opponent's martial skills were poor and the distance was so close, this was the only way to do it.

When Chu Danqing heard this, he understood the other party had no sincerity whatsoever.

Da Bao moved in an instant, lunging at He Yun.

The Five Elements Talismans moved even faster, striking He Yun first in the order of elemental suppression.

"Underhanded, attacking from ambush!" He Yun, caught off guard by the Five Elements Talismans, immediately suffered negative status effects.

As he cursed, he saw Da Bao already charging toward him, filling him with shock and rage.

He had come here to make peace, yet the other side struck first—showing not the slightest regard for martial world ethics.

Even in war, opposing sides do not kill envoys.

"With thieves and villains like you, what's wrong with an ambush?" Chu Danqing calmly gathered five more Five Elements Talismans and sent them toward He Yun again.

When Da Bao's attack landed, it added an extra 10% of total damage as Five Elements damage.

A single blow severely wounded him; Chu Danqing's second set of Talismans never even reached their target.

(End of Chapter)