Chapter 111: He Had Only Spoken Two Sentences—How Did He Become a Spy?

Training Martial Artists within a martial arts family requires a massive expenditure of resources.

In the past, the way to obtain resources was to enter Otherworld Rifts.

But as the world's barriers began to merge and Fierce Beasts invaded, hunting Fierce Beasts and venturing into the wilds to search for resources became the main source of income for these Martial Artists. Now that the tribute ratio has suddenly been raised to forty percent, it is enough to shake them to the core.

Moreover, what do martial arts families rely on nowadays to attract talent?

Isn't it "privilege"! Read novels every day -> ⓣⓣⓚ. ⓣⓦ

You, a rogue cultivator Martial Artist, leave the city and painstakingly obtain resources, only to hand over forty percent of your gains in the end; but as long as you join our family, you only have to hand over ten percent!

This is the best GG.

Now, Cao Hai actually wants to break this situation—how could these martial arts families sit by and do nothing?

One after another, people spoke up to voice their objections.

"Right now we are at a critical stage of resisting the Fierce Beasts. Can Martial Artists of low ability, no matter how many there are, possibly outnumber the Fierce Beasts? Only by raising the quality of our mid-to-high-level Martial Artists do we have hope! A single Spirit Sea Realm Martial Artist is worth fifty Spirit Guidance Realm Martial Artists. Rather than pooling resources at the bottom, we should pour them all into the promising seedlings."

"Well said! This decision is far too risky, Bureau Chief Cao, please consider it carefully! What we lack most right now is time—we have no room for trial and error."

"Although doing this is somewhat unfair to those Martial Artists at the bottom, it is for the future of the entire nation. I believe they will understand."

"I am firmly opposed to this matter…"

The majority of people in the conference room voiced their opposition; in one way or another, they were all connected to those martial arts families.

Simply put, they represented the interests of the martial arts families.

Some kept a neutral stance, such as Law Enforcement Officer Lin and Law Enforcement Officer Zhou, as well as a few veteran captains of Divine Image Realm Realm investigation squads.

The two Law Enforcement Officers simply did not want to get involved.

Once they got involved, they would inevitably have to display force, and at that point the Earth Martial Realm experts hidden within the various families would also step forward. The situation would only grow more troublesome, spiraling into even greater infighting.

So they chose to look the other way.

And these investigation squad captains had very little say.

Although they could attend the meeting and voice their opinions, they had no decision-making power. If they rashly spoke up and picked a side, they would only draw the targeting of these high-level figures and find it impossible to take a single step within the Headquarters from then on.

"Silence!"

Seeing that these people showed no sign of stopping, Cao Hai slapped the conference table.

The bang echoed through the conference room.

Only then did everyone quiet down and return to their seats.

Immediately after, Cao Hai turned his gaze toward Jiang Qin, who sat beside him, his eyes seeming to say:

"I've already put the proposal forward. What comes next is up to you."

Jiang Qin raised his eyes and swept them across both sides, then spoke lightly:

"I think Bureau Chief Cao's proposal is excellent. Those rising Martial Artists are the future of Huaguo. They may still be weak, but once they grow, they will be a force that cannot be ignored."

Someone was about to object, but at that moment Jiang Qin shifted his tone.

"However, what everyone just said also has some merit. Distant water cannot quench present thirst; the time left to us is not much. There is no doubt that enabling more talent to grow within a limited time is the decision best suited to the present moment."

That single sentence left the crowd baffled.

First speaking up for Cao Hai, then standing on the martial arts families' side—what side are you actually on?

"However…"

Jiang Qin spoke again, and this time his gaze grew far sharper.

"How can any of you be certain that those ordinary Martial Artists are necessarily weaker than family Martial Artists? Are Martial Artists from martial arts families truly stronger than those from ordinary backgrounds? If that is not the case, then what is the point of our cultivating talent?"

"That isn't cultivating talent—that's raising a pack of parasites who reap where they have not sown!"

"What did you just say!"

A hot-tempered family Martial Artist stood up, his face full of rage.

Those born into martial arts families regard the family's honor as supremely important—how could they allow it to be tarnished?

"Commander Jiang, take back what you just said! Otherwise I can suspect that you are inciting opposition between the Headquarters and the family factions."

Jiang Qin met his gaze with cold eyes.

"And if I don't? What, are you planning to make a move on me?"

The corner of that man's mouth lifted, and he let out a cold laugh: "Depends on the situation… Commander Jiang, don't forget this is Dijing, not Tiannan Base City or Tianyun Shi. Every city has its own rules—even if you are the General Commander, you still have to abide by them!"

Jiang Qin's hand gripped the Cangling Sword, yet not the slightest killing intent emanated from his body.

His fingers merely twitched slightly.

The next second, the expressions of everyone in the conference room changed drastically; they sensed a fatal danger.

"Clang—!"

The sound of a hard object hitting the floor rang out.

A large amount of warm, scarlet liquid sprayed across the conference room, and a thick, fishy stench spread out.

They looked toward where the sound had come from, and their pupils contracted sharply, as if they had witnessed something unbelievable; a look of terror surfaced in their eyes.

They saw that hot-tempered man, now nothing but a headless torso standing in place.

His head rolled across the floor a few times until it reached a corner. His eyes were filled with disbelief and unwillingness, as if he still hadn't understood what had happened before his head had already been severed.

Even Zhou Cang and Lin Xue could not help but show expressions of surprise at this moment.

What kind of place was this?

The Spirit Suppression Bureau Headquarters!

Even if Jiang Qin was the General Commander, and even if this man's attitude had been a bit arrogant, to directly strike and kill him was still far too… ruthless!

The cold color in Jiang Qin's eyes gradually faded. Toward his colleagues, he was still quite merciful—at the very least, he had left an intact corpse.

"Insulting a superior, provoking a superior—every one of his actions was an attempt to hold back the development of our Dijing Shi. I have reason to suspect this fellow is a spy sent by the Holy Church, so for the safety of the city I cut him down on the spot."

"Everyone, I trust you have no objections?"

Hearing this, everyone wore looks of utter disbelief.

Listen to yourself — is that even human language?

If I remember right, you only met him today, and he spoke fewer than five sentences in total, yet you've already judged him a spy for the Holy Church. Do you take all of us for complete idiots?!

Jiang Qin's hand returned to the sword hilt, his gaze slanting sidelong at them.

"What, you have objections?"

"N-no, none…"

"Good that there aren't."

As they returned to their seats and sat down, Fang Hong outside the door was called in, and only after the spy's corpse and bloodstains on the floor had been cleaned up did he go back out.

The meeting continued.

The goal of establishing dominance had been achieved; Jiang Qin no longer wasted words and got straight to the point.

"In my view, talent must be cultivated, but the feelings of Martial Artists at the bottom must also be taken into consideration. After all, among ordinary Martial Artists there are also many geniuses. I can understand everyone's feelings, and I am willing to make concessions."

"Three Days from now, four people will be selected from among the civilian Martial Artists and the clan Martial Artists respectively to compete."

"If the civilian Martial Artists win, from then on all clan Martial Artists must hand over forty percent of their earnings from outside the city, and will no longer enjoy 'special privileges'; if the clan Martial Artists win, from then on they will no longer have to hand over their outside-city earnings; if it is a draw, the status quo will be maintained."

"Everyone, what do you think?"

……