Chapter 41: Staff Entrustment Technique Complete!

At the same time.

Several days passed, and Qingyike did not appear again; neither the government nor the Jingwu Division's investigations yielded any results, and the bizarre deaths of East City Judge Tian Ming and Zhao Hailong seemed destined to become an unsolved case.

The turmoil throughout Fengyang Prefecture gradually subsided, yet Qingyike had become a topic of conversation for people after tea and meals, discussed with great relish by the common folk.

And at this moment, inside the Jingwu Division located in the center of the prefecture city.

In the council hall, Yu Xianting and several other Colonels, also dressed in embroidered wolf robes, stood with their heads bowed; before them, on a tiger-skin armchair, a middle-aged man over forty, dressed in a black-based silver-threaded white tiger robe, scanned them and said slowly:

"So, after these few days have passed, you have no leads at all?"

Yu Xianting and the other Colonels lowered their heads in shame: "We are incompetent, please forgive us, Lord Suo."

Suo Helie, a noble of the Jin Clan's Upper Three Banners, a Fengguo General of the imperial court, and a Fourth-Rank Cavalry Commandant, was also the Superintendent in charge of the Fengyang Prefecture Jingwu Division, holding a status equal to the Prefect of Fengyang.

Facing the pleas of his subordinates, Suo Helie's expression was indifferent:

"Trash! I don't want to hear this useless nonsense. This Qingyike killed the son of a General Feng'en and also killed a seventh-rank judge, completely disregarding the Jingwu Division. If these two cases are not investigated and handled as soon as possible, where will the dignity of this division be?"

As the heavy, dignified voice reached their ears, Yu Xianting hesitated for a moment:

"My Lord, this person is suspected to be a Daoist Arts expert of the Fifth or even Sixth Realm. If he deliberately hides, it is indeed impossible to find him. And even if we find him, relying on just us few, I fear that..."

"Hmph!"

Suo Helie let out a cold snort, the sound like a gong striking beside everyone's ears:

"What era is this? Martial Arts have already begun to decline, let alone the Daoist Arts that were already failing in the previous dynasty? These so-called Daoist masters have weak constitutions and are even more afraid of firearms and artillery. With a hundred guns firing at once, any Illusion Technique is just a joke. What are you all afraid of?

Since this person likes to act as a chivalrous hero and punish evil, then you should find a way to create opportunities for him to show off. Do I have to teach you this little trick too? As long as you can track this villain, I can take action personally when necessary!"

The Colonels were slightly startled.

The Suo Helie before them was able to become the Superintendent of the Jingwu Division not because of his noble status, but because of his genuine ability and Martial Arts.

Twenty years ago, he was the Martial Top Scholar who took first place in the Martial Examination and was personally appointed by the Emperor in the Palace Examination. Today, his Martial Arts are even more superb, and it is said that he has reached the peak of the Fifth Realm Blood Refining; there may not even be anyone in the entire Fengyang Prefecture with higher Martial Arts than him!

That such a person intended to take action personally showed how much he valued Qingyike. Yu Xianting and the other Colonels hurriedly bowed and agreed:

"Understood!"

"We subordinates will certainly do our utmost to find this villain!"

Naturally unaware that two consecutive cases had already alarmed the big figures in the Jingwu Division, Lu Yuan was still secretly refining the Sending Staff in the back garden at this time.

Besides the peach wood heart material, the technique for refining the Sending Staff was also of the utmost importance.

After the short staff was prepared, Lu Yuan needed to carve the Sending Character Talisman recorded in the Staff Entrustment Technique onto the staff body, and then draw over it with his own vital blood twice every morning and evening for seven consecutive days.

Vital blood refers to the essence of blood; tongue-tip blood and heart blood both belong to this category, and it can also be condensed with Dharma Power.

Lu Yuan had no Dharma Power and could only use tongue-tip blood. Every day he had to bite his tongue to draw blood for himself, then completely draw the character on the peach wood short staff.

As for infusing Dharma Power to nourish it, he naturally had not yet cultivated Dharma Power, so he could only use the Staff Entrustment Technique to consume his own essence and energy to nourish it, and the daily consumption was quite large.

Fortunately, with a powerful method like the Food Consumption Technique to replenish essence and energy, he consumed large amounts of medicinal herbs every day to replenish it in time, so these consumptions were completely sustainable and would not damage his foundation.

Just like that, after such a troublesome and complex refining process continued for several days.

Early this morning.

In his own room.

After Lu Yuan wrote the last Sending Character Talisman on the peach wood short staff in his hand with tongue-tip vital blood, and performed the Staff Entrustment Technique to infuse and nourish it with his own essence and energy.

With a buzzing sound, the short staff in his hand, which looked quite simple and crude, vibrated gently. An invisible ripple radiated out, and the Sending Character Talisman carved on the front of the staff body seemed to come alive, reflecting a luster like blood jade.

"It's finally done!"

Knowing this was the sign that the Sending Staff was successfully refined, Lu Yuan was overjoyed.

The seven-day refining process was not smooth sailing. In the first two days, he even ruined two peach wood short staffs due to consecutive mistakes in drawing the talisman with vital blood, and it wasn't until this third one that he succeeded in one go.

"This thing is really a bit of a hassle to make, but I wonder how effective it is?"

After the successful refining, he naturally had to test its effect. He immediately got up and tucked the Jishanzhang into his bosom, and at the same time drew the Short Blade that had committed two major cases at his waist.

He was expectant; after taking a deep breath and gesturing twice, he cut toward his palm with the blade.

Then, an astonishing thing happened.

Just as the gleaming blade was about to cut Lu Yuan's palm, a mysterious force suddenly surged from within his palm, making the blade slide directly across as if it had cut onto a slippery ice surface!

The blade cut heavily across his palm, but there was not even half a wound on his palm!

Lu Yuan was greatly delighted and immediately took out the peach wood Jishanzhang from his waist, only to see that the short staff, which should have been perfectly intact, had actually cracked open.

Clearly, this was the cut on his palm, and the damage had been transferred to the Jishanzhang.

It was conceivable that if blade and gun damage could be transferred, then the damage from firearm bullets could also be transferred!

"No matter how high your Martial Arts are, you fear a black gun—this saying no longer applies to me!"

The effect of the Staff Entrustment Technique was completely in line with his expectations; Lu Yuan was beaming with joy and extremely satisfied.

Judging from the current situation, the Jishanzhang seemed to be able to withstand more than one instance of damage. With this thing, he was equivalent to having an extra life anytime, anywhere.

Of course, there was an upper limit to the damage the Staff Entrustment Technique could withstand; too much damage or fatal damage would cause the Jishanzhang to shatter, so he could not be too reckless.

But this was still an unprecedented life-saving means, because he could refine more than one Jishanzhang and carry them on his person at the same time, doubling the damage he could bear!!

By then, let alone firearms, even cannons might not be impossible to withstand with his physical body.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan couldn't wait to cut himself on his vital points twice more to test the limit of the damage the Jishanzhang could withstand.

However, he restrained himself out of reason.

After all, this Jishanzhang had cost him half a month of time, and the refining process consumed a great deal of energy. If he didn't have the Ingestion Technique as a fallback, he wouldn't be able to afford such a large consumption, so he naturally couldn't waste it like that.

(End of chapter)