Chapter 335: It's Him! (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

Impure heart..

Pei Jiu's heart stirred slightly, but Chu Hun Tian Zhu, who had been rebuked, merely lowered his head slightly, offering neither explanation nor rebuttal.

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan pushed open the window, looking down over this ancient city.

Mount Hengshan had a long history; after several expansions, it now had ten million households, one of the rare great cities under heaven. This single district alone was no smaller than the prefectural city of a major prefecture.

"Martial Uncle, catching thieves is the duty of the Dao government office. Only when we're certain the culprits are jianghu figures do the cases get handed to Dragon Tiger Temple. We've only just arrived....."

Chu Hun Tian Zhu was somewhat helpless.

In a great city of ten million people, even the Dao government office would find it hard to catch a thief deliberately hiding himself, let alone outsiders like them. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

"Go to Dragon Roar Hall."

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan ignored him, merely patted Liu San on the shoulder, then turned and walked out the door.

Chu Hun Tian Zhu felt helpless. He exchanged a glance with Pei Jiu, who hadn't dared speak the entire time and could only look on helplessly now, watching the group leave.

"Impure heart?"

Pei Jiu paused for a moment, set down the silver, and left.

Mount Hushan sat facing south, with the Dao government office to the east.

The vast Mount Hengshan city, taking these two locations as its eastern and northern limits, expanded westward and southward, forming districts of varying sizes.

In terms of duties, the Dao government office handled the people's livelihood, taxation, and the capture of bandits and criminals, while Dragon Tiger Temple suppressed sects within its territory, exterminated mountain bandits, horse thieves, and notorious outlaws outside the city, as well as various jianghu figures who violated prohibitions.

Each had its own duties, yet they overlapped.

As dusk deepened, Brother Zhongli Wang Luan arrived at 'Xingcheng District,' a branch of Dragon Tiger. This outpost belonged to Dragon Roar Hall, occupied a large area, and had a plaza in front of its courtyard.

The summer breeze blew gently against the flagpoles on the plaza; strings of human heads swayed like wind chimes, occasionally making 'clack-clack' sounds.

When the group arrived, several Dragon Tiger disciples were posting notices at the plaza and hanging up a few heads that had just been severed.

"Seems like a few familiar faces?"

Chu Hun Tian Zhu took a glance, but couldn't see too clearly.

"Cruel, but effective."

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan nodded. The major Dao sects, and even the imperial court, employed similar methods to intimidate jianghu figures.

Yanshan Dao did so as well. He himself had done something similar back in the day; during the last martial arts tournament, Sanmei Cave had slain over a thousand prohibited jianghu criminals in one go.

Upon arriving, Brother Zhongli Wang Luan did not announce himself, walking straight toward the outpost. The armored guards outside were about to block him when they were rebuked into silence.

Lin Jia, clad in a black robe over armor, strode out quickly and cupped his hands:

"Brother Brother Zhongli, you've come from afar—why not give word ahead of time? It would have allowed Lin Mou to prepare a welcoming feast. As it stands, I'm wholly unprepared....."

"No need to trouble Brother Lin."

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan raised a hand to interrupt:

"Zhong has come to borrow intelligence, and also to ask Brother Lin a few things."

Dragon Roar Hall was one of Dragon Tiger Temple's two information organs, in charge of intelligence gathering. It likely knew not only when he had arrived, but probably also his purpose in coming.

"No problem at all."

Lin Jia warmly invited him: "I've already sent people to prepare wine and food. Why not go inside and talk? Pulling the intelligence will take some time."

"Very well."

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan did not refuse, and walked into the outpost.

Night had fallen, and the outpost was brightly lit. Many Dragon Roar Hall disciples hurried to and fro, with people busy in every room—some reviewing Juan Sect files, others conducting interrogations, and so on.

"The various sects' martial tournament is honestly no good thing for our Dragon Roar Hall. These past days, Lin Mou has been terribly busy."

Lin Jia led the way, invited Brother Zhongli Wang Luan to sit in the main hall, ordered those around him to retrieve the intelligence, then went into the inner room to bring out top-grade spirit tea for hospitality.

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan frowned slightly:

"Brother Lin, Zhong's purpose in coming—you should know, yes?"

"To be frank, a lecherous thief has indeed appeared in the east of the city. Not only does he violate women, he rapes and then kills!"

"Ah, my sister!"

Before Lin Jia could finish speaking, Liu San, who had been silently following Brother Zhongli Wang Luan, let out a great cry, then was tapped unconscious by Chu Hun Tian Zhu and collapsed to the ground.

"East of the city?"

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan narrowed his eyes slightly. East of the city was where the Dao government office was located; he had just come from there, and their account had said it was the north of the city.

Who was lying?

"Correct, east of the city."

Lin Jia nodded: "By the rules, catching thieves within the city is the Dao government office's duty, but over this past year, too many jianghu figures have been coming and going through Mount Hengshan, so the rules have naturally fallen by the wayside."

"As they should."

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan could find no fault with it.

The imperial court and the Dao sects were no strangers to friction, but neither side would take the initiative to break certain open-and-shut rules—for instance, the imperial court never sent a Grandmaster to sit at the Dao government office.

But in extraordinary times, rules could change.

"These past few days, I've gone twice and dispatched dozens of men to search. We did catch a few flower-snatching thieves, but none of them was the rapist-murderer."

As Lin Jia spoke, a disciple had already brought the intelligence. He casually handed it to Brother Zhongli Wang Luan:

"A few days ago, I went to see Ouyang the Pacification Commissioner. According to him, that lecherous thief is brazen in the extreme—not only does he rape and murder women, he even stole the Dao government office's incense offerings,

and in a few days, experts from the Pacification Office will come to capture and kill this thief!"

"So bold?"

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan was somewhat astonished. The imperial court's regard for incense offerings was known to all; this was a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan.

"Do you know who that lecherous thief is?"

"Ouyang Zhenfu said this person is quite famous in the Jianghu; his name is Brother Sikong Xing!"

"The Brother Sikong Xing on the Divine Thief List?"

"That's him."

"Pfft!"

On the Upside-Down Mountain, true energy exploded like fireworks.

Watching the true energy form fall and burst, Li Yuan frowned slightly; this was already his twenty-third failure in three days.

"My train of thought has no problems..."

Leaning against the stone tablet, Li Yuan remained convinced his train of thought was sound; recalling the differences and similarities among his many failures, he gradually clarified where the problem lay.

It wasn't that the Dragon Zen Vajra wasn't in Great Perfection, but rather...

"Thunder Dragon!"

Li Yuan's thoughts scattered.

The first ten-plus failures were his various casual attempts at combinations; the latter ten were him eliminating problems.

Now, he could almost confirm where the problem lay.

The Thunder Dragon itself is a fusion of a hundred beasts and the thunder form; while formidable, it is not suitable as the spine of the Profound Whale.

"Using the Thunder Dragon as the spine would naturally pull and fill the various forms, disrupting the balance of the Profound Whale combination, so..."

Pondering this, Li Yuan already had some idea in his heart:

"If the Thunder Dragon isn't used as the spine, then perhaps it could be the skin? Using the Thunder Dragon as the skin to constrain the filled forms—would that be feasible?"

Murmuring to himself, Li Yuan stood up and paced back and forth, feeling it might not be unfeasible.

"However, another form is needed to balance the Thunder Dragon; otherwise, using the Thunder Dragon as the skin to accommodate the various forms might still result in the Thunder Dragon..."

After thinking for a long while, Li Yuan's heart relaxed; knowing where the problem lay, he suddenly felt his train of thought much clearer, and thereafter he could proceed step-by-step, simply adding the new form.

As for the new form...

"The Dragon Zen Vajra should work; if not, the Cloud Dragon will certainly work."

With a plan formed in his heart, Li Yuan exited the Profound Whale Mi Jing; having slept hardly at all for three days, he was truly exhausted, didn't even check if it was dark, and fell asleep immediately.

Whimper~

A gentle breeze blew into the room; the little tiger cub paced inside the house. These past few days she hadn't gone out much, instead observing Li Yuan covertly.

In these three days, Li Yuan had rushed back and forth between his residence and the Library Tower; apart from practicing Wu Gong, he only sat in meditation and visualization, sleeping less than three shichen in three days.

'Could this young man be creating a Wu Gong?'

A flicker of surprise and doubt flashed through the little tiger cub's heart.

She was naturally confident in her insight, but the problem was: a Dao Sect quasi-true disciple, a master's disciple, has countless supreme arts and divine Wu Gong to learn; where would the motivation come from to create a Wu Gong?

Could he be so certain he could definitely create a Wu Gong?

Even if he could, so what?

Even with a talent of the eternal age, could one create a supreme art at this age of accumulation?

'Could he truly be the Master of the Split-Sea Profound Whale Hammer?'

This thought flashed through the little tiger cub's heart; she had not cut off contact with the outside world and knew the rumors of the past half-year in great detail.

Only a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Master would create a Wu Gong before the Master realm; she herself had done so back then.

But she quickly dismissed the thought; even if she was mortally wounded and her Dao Shen Jing had shattered, she would not have failed to sense the aura of a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing.

"He is not."

The little tiger cub was very certain, and her curiosity grew even stronger.

When Li Yuan's snoring began, she leaped onto the bed, glanced at the fat field mouse in the corner, and did not rush to act.

Instead, after Li Yuan had slept for nearly a shichen, estimating his spirit should have recovered quite a bit, she blew out wisps of purple mist, wrapping him within it.

But to her astonishment, although the mist entered his body, it received no response.

The little tiger cub swiped a claw at Li Yuan's hand back; only a 'hum' sound was heard, and thunder light blazed throughout the room.

"True energy spontaneously protecting the body?"

The little tiger cub instantly retracted her claw, feeling quite surprised in her heart.

True energy is limited; unless one is a martial artist who has cultivated the organs and marrow for many years, true energy cannot surround the body day and night; and for true energy to spontaneously protect the body, not only must the true energy be deep enough and the meridians numerous enough,

but one must also have reached a very high realm in controlling one's own true energy.

"This young man is progressing too fast..."

The little tiger cub muttered, extended a claw, and lightly tapped, piercing Li Yuan's spontaneously protective true energy; wisps of mist then entered his nose and mouth:

"Pity, compared to this Tower Master, he is still too green."

'This Daoist's business is far too busy.'

This was the thought that arose in Li Yuan's mind in a daze after sensing the Dao Shen Jing fluctuation.

He was too tired to care at all, but he couldn't resist that call again and again.

Helpless, he forced his eyes open; after all, he had just accepted the 'Yang Jian Tian Yi Nine Refinements'.

Before him stood the familiar bronze tower; on the stone tablet before him, as per the old rule, one question per giant blade strike, one spirit pill per ten strikes—a very fair exchange.

"Who could be the master of this bronze tower?"

Looking at the bronze tower pierced by the giant blade, Li Yuan turned these thoughts over in his mind.

Those injured by Wan Wan Zhuliu were not few, and all were great experts; from the distant past, there were the Silkworm Daoist and the Bald Monk; from the recent times, there was the Star-Picking Tower Master.

"Perhaps it is the Master of the Star-Picking Tower? Rumors in the Jianghu say she is still on Mount Hengshan; naturally, Longhu Temple is the safest place."

Li Yuan muttered inwardly, but in truth, he was waiting for his spirit to recover.