Chapter 143: The Great Sacrifice and the Preaching of the Dao

Meanwhile.

Sha'e Concession port.

A steamship with its smokestacks belching thick black smoke docked at the harbor; on the shore, the Sha'e Consul Sergei and the entire Consulate staff stood solemnly, waiting respectfully.

On the deck, one could see a white-haired Sha'e elder wearing simple, ancient robes that looked completely out of place with the surrounding environment walking out first, and under the escort of several Sha'e soldiers, he disembarked and arrived at the shore.

Sergei immediately led the group of Consulate members forward, bowed respectfully with his hand on his chest, and said:

"Respected Lord Valianjing, you have had a long and arduous journey; the Consulate has already prepared a welcome banquet for you. May I ask if you would like to rest first, or..."

The elder called Valianjing merely swept a flat, indifferent glance at him:

"No need. I have come to this barbaric and primitive place under the orders of the Tsar, not to enjoy myself. Where is the corpse of the perpetrator? Take me there now!"

Cold sweat beaded on Sergei's forehead:

"It is still being kept in the morgue at Shengkele Hospital. I will take you there right away."

After the news of Aojinniezi dying at the hands of Takov reached the country, it immediately caused a massive uproar. The Sha'e Emperor was furious and immediately dispatched an important figure as a special envoy to lead an investigation team to the Jin-Jin Concession to conduct an inquiry.

And the Valianjing before them was not only the chief of the investigation team, but he himself was also a retired Golden Cross Star Admiral who had stepped into the seventh rank of the Sky Title Great Sacrifice!

Such a person sacrificed to ancestral spirits, specialized in the Dao of the soul, and possessed god-like methods to toy with the human heart; both in status and strength, he was higher than the late Aojinniezi, and even the Tsar had to treat him with respect.

Thus, he immediately opened the car door behind him respectfully, and only after Valianjing had entered the car did he sit in the passenger seat and give the order:

"To Shengkele Hospital!"

The car started and drove off smoothly. Valianjing sat in the back row and said faintly:

"Sergei, has your Consulate investigated anything these past few days?"

Sergei hurriedly said:

"Lord Valianjing, according to our investigation, before Takov attacked the Consulate, he had received secret orders from Lord Aojinniezi to execute a special assassination mission. The target of the assassination was a Jin Dynasty person who had once defeated Lord Aojinniezi head-on, Lu Yuan."

"But for some unknown reason, the assassination mission Takov was responsible for failed completely, and then, just the next day, he seemed to be bewitched by a devil, rushed into the Military Intelligence Department, shot and killed Lord Aojinniezi and many others, and then, fearing punishment, fled home and committed suicide by shooting himself."

"Shot and killed Aojinniezi..."

Valianjing sneered:

"A Title War God cannot be killed by one or two guns; such a shameful way to die is also a disgrace to the Tsar."

Sergei's face twitched, and he dared not respond.

In reality, there were indeed many suspicious points regarding the death of Aojinniezi; otherwise, Valianjing, this Title Great Sacrifice, would not have been ordered by the Tsar to lead an investigation team thousands of miles to this place.

Regardless of what Valianjing might eventually uncover, he now only hoped that it would not affect his own future.

A moment later.

The car stopped in front of Shengkele Hospital. Sergei stepped forward to find the person in charge of the hospital and then led Valianjing to an independent morgue.

The room was filled with cold air and was extremely chilly. The morgue attendant lifted a sturdy corpse from a cold storage unit and placed it on the table. Sergei took one look and said:

"Lord Valianjing, this is Takov. We sent his body here as soon as it was discovered. Please look..."

Takov's corpse was blue and stiff, and a faint stench of decay was emanating from it. Valianjing walked up expressionlessly, then extended his index finger and tapped it lightly on the other's forehead, while a strange, inexplicable fluctuation suddenly radiated from his body, as if he were probing something.

After a long while, he withdrew his hand, his brow furrowed on his aged face.

Sergei asked cautiously: "Did you discover anything?"

Although Great Sacrifices who practiced the Dao of the soul were rare in the country, Sergei had some understanding of this method of cultivation.

The cultivation of soul power had always been known for its strangeness and trickery; after reaching mastery in this path, one could possess incredible abilities such as soul pressure, creating illusions, and twisting minds.

Takov's attack had been without warning and extremely bizarre. In his preliminary investigation report, he had also suspected whether Takov had had his mind twisted by a top-tier expert practicing this path, which led to his mental breakdown and the reckless attack on the Consulate.

Such a suspicion was reasonable and logical, and it was precisely because of this that the Tsar, after reading the report, had dispatched such a heavyweight Title Great Sacrifice as Valianjing to support the investigation.

"If it were a corpse that had only been dead for a day or two, it might be easier to talk about, but now that the person has been dead for so long, how could anything be found?"

However, Valianjing merely glanced at him coldly and said:

"But there is no doubt that Takov must have had his will confused and twisted by a top-tier expert practicing the Dao of the soul, which led him to attack the Consulate like a madman."

Sergei gasped:

"But my Lord, what about the death of Lord Aojinniezi? With his strength, let alone just Takov with two guns, even if an elite squad came, they might not necessarily be able to do anything to him, but at that time..."

Valianjing did not say much more, only saying:

"Take me to the scene of Aojinniezi's death."

Sergei did not say a word and led the way. The group left Shengkele Hospital, returned to the Consulate by car, and headed straight for the third floor of the Military Intelligence Department in the side building.

The third floor still maintained the state it had been in after the attack that day; the entire floor was still covered in bullet holes and was in a state of total disarray.

They went straight to the office where Aojinniezi had died. The interior still maintained its original state to this day; except for the absence of Aojinniezi's corpse, even the overturned chairs and the bloodstains on the carpet had not been moved in the slightest. There was even a white chalk outline on the floor behind the desk showing the posture in which Aojinniezi had fallen.

All of this was naturally the work of Sergei. He said respectfully to Valianjing:

"My Lord, to facilitate the investigation, everything inside and out has been kept in its original state and never touched. This was the situation when we discovered Lord Aojinniezi had died that day."

Valianjing narrowed his eyes, surveyed the surroundings, then walked slowly to the area where the corpse had been outlined, and said gloomily:

"As expected..."

Sergei's gaze flickered:

"My Lord, have you made a discovery?"

"You couldn't figure out how Aojinniezi could have died under Takov's gun, could you?"

Valianjing raised a finger and pointed:

"The posture in which Aojinniezi fell, as well as the situation of the gunshot wound to his face, all indicate that he had almost no time to dodge or counterattack before his death. But an expert at the level of a Title War God has reflexes as fast as lightning; such a situation should absolutely not have occurred."

"Then there is only one possibility: that at the time, there was not only Takov on this third floor, but the person manipulating him from behind was also at the scene, and they had cast some kind of mental attack, which caused Aojinniezi's reaction to be a beat slow, allowing him to be shot and killed by Takov."

Sergei's eyes sharpened:

"That is indeed possible... but according to the guards, Takov went to the third floor that day with Lord Aojinniezi's personal guards. Apart from them, there was no third person present..."

"Foolish."

Valianjing looked at him coldly:

"Those who dare to come and assassinate Aojinniezi must be top-tier Seventh Realm experts. What could be difficult about merely sneaking into a building? Do you know if there are any experts specializing in soul power in this Jinjin City, or even in the other two Concessions?

His Majesty the Tsar has said that no matter which side did this, we must retaliate fiercely. Otherwise, if one of our Title War Gods can be killed without any cost, we Sha'e People will become a laughingstock on the world chessboard!"

Sergei hesitated:

"It seems not. According to intelligence, there are no Seventh Realm experts stationed long-term in the two Concessions. Only a Sword Dao master from Sunlight Country came some time ago, and they have long since left;

As for Jinjin City outside the Concessions... in the intelligence we have, there are a total of two and a half Seventh-tier experts. The 'half' is the Old Dragon Head of the Boatmen's Gang, one is the grandmaster of the Martial Arts Association, Wu Yixian, and the other is that Lu Yuan, whom we have recently included in our key observation list. However, these three are all martial artists who practice the path of Martial Arts."

Valianjing's eyes flickered: "Is that so? That is strange then."

He did not know about the arrival of the Sha'e investigation team.

After Lu Yuan returned, the news of the assassination attempt on Xici in the palace was strictly guarded and not leaked in the slightest; no one in the world knew of it.

After this incident, no imperial lackeys dared to come and trouble Guangwu Hall again, and the entire hall ushered in a rare period of peaceful development.

Lu Yuan also contentedly became a completely hands-off manager, living in seclusion and practicing daily. Even the various materials needed for pill refining were left to his disciples to handle, which was exceptionally worry-free.

Thanks to the advanced Guidance and Ingestion arts, plus a sufficient supply of Bait Stone Pill, his cultivation growth was steady and rapid, and he could basically condense a wisp of Dharma Power steadily every day.

Compared to when he first stepped onto the path of cultivation, this speed was already twenty or thirty times faster.

However, limited by the current environment where Spiritual Machine is fading, condensing a wisp of Dharma Power normally every day had reached the limit of efficiency. Unless there were great medicines like century-old mountain ginseng to ingest, it was basically impossible to break through the daily condensation limit.

Lu Yuan was quite satisfied with the current cultivation efficiency and did not mind it. The only thing was that he felt busy every day, and twelve hours did not seem to be enough.

After all, in addition to meditation every day, he also had to set aside some time to practice various Earthly Fiend Arts to improve his proficiency.

Invisibility, Earth Travel, Generating Light, Body Immobilization, Wind Control, and other Earthly Fiend Arts were his foundation for standing in this world. After leveling up, they would inevitably be more powerful, but they required constant, consuming practice, and the efficiency was relatively slow.

Although Lu Yuan had now accumulated nearly ten thousand points of Luck Power and could directly burn Luck to level up, this method was too extravagant. He still planned to save it and rely on his own practice first.

Besides this, he was not entirely indifferent to Guangwu Hall and his disciples. In addition to meditation and practicing Dharma Techniques, he also took time to compile the next two realms of the "Guangwu Body-Forging Fist": the Fourth Realm Thunder Sound Refining Organs and the Fifth Realm Blood Refining.

The reason he could create them so quickly was that when Li Junxian came to Jinjin for the second time, he not only copied and gifted all the martial arts secret manuals of the Shenquan Sect, but also included several martial arts from other sects that he had occasionally obtained over the years.

With these martial arts manuals as references, Lu Yuan, with the insight and vision of a cultivation practitioner, did not spend much effort to create and perfect the practice methods for the Fourth Realm Refining Organs and the Fifth Realm Blood Refining.

At this point, the "Guangwu Body-Forging Fist" could be renamed "Guangwu Body Forging Technique," and by gathering the strengths of many, it could be listed among the top-tier peerless arts. At the very least, the three disciples in charge of teaching—Chen Zhantang, Peng Yidao, and Lin Sheng—were pleasantly surprised and shocked after receiving the instruction.

On this day, in Lu Yuan's private courtyard.

The three stood solemnly, looking at the two booklets in their hands, their voices trembling with excitement:

"Hall Master, what is this?"

In the pavilion, Lu Yuan smiled faintly:

"The three of you already have the cultivation of the Thunder Sound Realm, so the first three levels of the 'Guangwu Body-Forging Fist' are of little significance to you. This is the subsequent practice method I have just organized; the Body-Forging Fist can also be officially renamed the Body Forging Technique.

In addition, what I am proficient in is sword techniques. The 'Wind Thunder Death-Defying Sword' was once the town-sect peerless art of the former Wind Thunder Sect. Today, I will pass it on to you as well, hoping that you will carry it forward in the future."

In addition to the "Guangwu Body Forging Technique," Lu Yuan also passed the other book, "Wind Thunder Death-Defying Sword," to the three disciples after it had been improved by 【Earthly Fiend-Sword Art】 and with the consent of Lin Xingchao.

Chen Zhantang and the others felt their chests heaving and their hearts surging. They immediately knelt on one knee and said excitedly:

"The three disciples thank the Hall Master for passing on the Dharma!"

"We will definitely study and practice diligently, carry on the inheritance, and not fail the Hall Master's high expectations!"

Lu Yuan was a legend of the current age, and his martial arts and even his sword techniques were no less than any peerless martial art of the present day.

However, in other martial arts halls, even if one performed the three kowtows and nine prostrations to formally become a disciple, one would have to undergo at least several or even over a decade of observation before the master would pass on such a level of peerless art.

Yet, the three of them had only joined the hall for a month or two at most, and they had already obtained such secret transmissions. This level of trust and regard undoubtedly left them flattered and deeply grateful.

Lu Yuan waved his hand casually:

"Alright, stop kneeling around. It's just two martial arts. You can re-copy them yourselves, and when you are proficient and deep in them later, you can choose excellent disciples to pass them on to."

As a modern soul, Lu Yuan naturally did not care much for the feudal era's way of guarding one's skills as a secret.

In his view, whether it was martial arts or scientific technology, it required constant inheritance and exchange to achieve great development and innovation. Hiding them like treasures and not showing them to others would only lead to stagnant development or even falling behind.

Although the "Guangwu Body Forging Technique" was created by him, he was not stingy about spreading this martial art; it would not matter even if it spread outside and ordinary people learned it.

After all, martial arts still emphasize natural talent, comprehension, and resource supply. Even if ordinary people obtain the method, they may not necessarily achieve anything.

This is just like on Earth before he transmigrated, where one could search for any physics textbook, but one could not find many people who could become physicists because of it.

Of course, it was also because he was a cultivation practitioner, and the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Arts completely crushed martial arts and Daoist Arts, so he did not care much about it.

Chen Zhantang and the others were still inexplicably excited. After standing up, they bowed and promised:

"Yes, we obey."

Lu Yuan seemed to have remembered something and asked again: "By the way, how has it been in the Sha'e Concession recently?"

Chen Zhantang, who had been ordered to pay attention to this matter, immediately said:

"Reporting to the Hall Master, the Sha'e Concession has completely lifted the blockade in the last two days. According to inquiries, it is said that the attack was not only an internal strife among the Sha'e People themselves, but also resulted in the death of a high-ranking big shot.

To investigate this matter, the Sha'e Country even sent an entire investigation team over, but it seems they have not investigated anything yet."

Lu Yuan smiled: "Good, I know. You may go."

(End of this chapter)