Chapter 195: New Era, New Giants

October 29th.

The investigation team sent from the provincial capital arrived in Xingcheng and began their investigation.

By this time, the interrogation of the Meijia Kingdom spies and Yan Yichen by the Inspectorate had already come to an end.

The spy case involved too much, and it was not something the Xingcheng Inspectorate could finish investigating, so Li Lei could only hand the interrogation results over to the investigation team.

As for the case of Yan Yichen, there was already a result.

This Head Master did not admit to anything at first; instead, he kept threatening Li Lei, who was in charge of the interrogation, and ordered him to release the prisoner.

According to the rules, even as the Chief Inspector of the Inspectorate, Li Lei truly did not have the qualifications to interrogate the Head Master of the Zhige Academy.

However, as the Meijia Kingdom spies provided some key testimony, and Li Lei later led a team to find solid evidence, Yan Yichen was left completely speechless.

"This Head Master Yan was too eager for success in his cultivation over a decade ago, which caused problems with his martial foundation. If he couldn't resolve it in time, he would at best fall from the Dao Foundation realm, and at worst, his martial arts would be completely crippled!"

"To solve this problem, Yan Yichen ultimately decided to take a risk and cultivate a demonic technique. This was a technique obtained when the Zhige Academy once wiped out demonic martial artists. He didn't practice the whole thing, only the part used to repair damage to implanted bodies."

"The repair method of this demonic technique also involved plundering implanted bodies from others, refining them, and then using them to repair his own implanted body. But this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. After Yan Yichen repaired it once, his own implanted body would be damaged again after a period of time, requiring further repairs."

"Because of this, Yan Yichen could only secretly capture martial artists time and again to obtain implanted bodies from them to repair himself. His actions were eventually discovered by the Meijia Kingdom spies. These spies felt this was an opportunity, so they found a way to get Yu Hu in contact with Yan Yichen, proposing cooperation through a mix of threats and inducements: Yan Yichen would support the Tiger Blade Gang, and Yu Hu would use the Tiger Blade Gang to help Yan Yichen cultivate martial artists, then regularly provide him with mature implanted bodies to repair himself."

"This is the reason why Yan Yichen chose to support the Tiger Blade Gang in the beginning, and it was precisely because of the strong support from the Zhige Academy that the Tiger Blade Gang was able to develop so quickly."

In the living room, Li Lei explained the ins and outs of Yan Yichen's case to Li Fei in detail.

Originally, according to regulations, Li Fei was not supposed to know these things.

But for one, the letter containing the confession was delivered by Li Fei, so he was already involved.

Secondly, after capturing Yan Yichen, Shangguan Xiao came to the Inspectorate every day to strike force into his body again, reinforcing the 'confinement' on Yan Yichen.

Shangguan Xiao deserved much of the credit for successfully interrogating Yan Yichen, so the final result of the case should, in both reason and sentiment, be told to her. Thus, Li Lei wanted to tell Shangguan Xiao about the case through Li Fei, as Li Fei was, after all, Shangguan Xiao's martial nephew.

"Sending a Body-Breaking realm martial artist to Yan Yichen every so often—does the Tiger Blade Gang really cultivate martial artists that fast?"

Li Fei raised his doubt.

Just because he could go from the Embryo-Nurturing realm to the Body-Breaking realm in a month didn't mean others could.

"For Yan Yichen's sake, the Tiger Blade Gang specifically created a 'fast-track' version of martial artists. These martial artists can go from Embryo-Nurturing to Body-Breaking in just two or three months, but the price is that their potential is exhausted, their lifespan is damaged, and their combat power is very poor. However, the Tiger Blade Gang doesn't care about these costs; after all, these people are just 'supplements' prepared for Yan Yichen."

Li Lei said with a gloomy expression.

Li Fei was silent.

Who could have imagined that the dignified Head Master of the Zhige Academy would 'eat' several people every year?

"Yan Yichen has already confessed, and the result regarding him will be announced soon; it should be the death penalty."

Li Lei said, "Originally, for a Dao Foundation realm powerhouse like him, even if he committed a capital crime, he would have a chance to perform dangerous missions to atone for his crimes. After all, such powerhouses are rare, and the imperial court is unwilling to waste such combat power. But Yan Yichen cultivated demonic arts, and the imperial court has always had zero tolerance for demonic cultivators, so he can only be sentenced to death."

"What about Gu Zhenhui?"

Li Fei asked.

"Him? He's playing it safe; he will probably retire early, just like Huang Weiguang did back then."

Li Lei said.

"Retire early?"

Li Fei felt some admiration for this Regional Commander.

With such a huge mess in Xingcheng—bandits entering the city, heavy casualties among the City Guard, and people colluding with foreigners to betray the country—as the Regional Commander, Gu Zhenhui could hardly escape responsibility for these incidents. Someone else might have been thrown straight into prison, yet he managed to secure an early retirement for himself.

And looking at Gu Zhenhui's opponents, Yu Hu was already dead, and Yan Yichen was about to be executed.

One had to admit, this Regional Commander's methods were truly formidable.

"Uncle Li, after this incident, you should be able to get a promotion and become an official of the imperial court, right?"

Li Fei suddenly asked with a smile.

Previously, Li Lei had received promotions in position but not in rank. Now, with this great achievement, neither the Datong Prefecture nor the provincial capital had any reason to block his promotion review.

"Haha, I hope so."

Li Lei also laughed.

He had never imagined before that one day he could actually become an official of the imperial court!

"Then congratulations in advance, Uncle Li."

Li Fei smiled.

"Hahahaha."

Li Lei's hearty laughter rang out in the living room.

On November 9th, after more than ten days of investigation by the provincial capital's investigation team, many things were settled:

First was the Regional Commander Gu Zhenhui; he would retire at the end of this month, and a new Regional Commander would be sent to take office then.

And with Gu Zhenhui stepping down, many officials in his faction were also implicated, and quite a few of them 'retired early.'

However, these officials were considered lucky; the officials of the Tiger Blade Gang faction were truly wiped out, and the vast majority were imprisoned!

Then there was the disposal of Yan Yichen; the death penalty was confirmed, and it would be carried out at the end of this month.

A portion of the Zhige Academy's personnel were implicated and were all transferred elsewhere to perform dangerous missions to atone for their crimes.

As a result, the Zhige Academy was left with only one regular martial artist, a few martial artists, and a dozen or so martial practitioners, looking very desolate.

However, news had already come from Datong Prefecture that a new Head Master would soon be sent to the Xingcheng Zhige Academy, along with several regular martial artists and a batch of martial practitioners to replenish the academy's combat power.

As for who the new Head Master would be, it had not been announced yet, but Li Fei already knew that this person was his own martial aunt!

Shangguan Xiao was now set in stone to serve as the next Head Master of the Xingcheng Zhige Academy, jumping over two Dragon Gates directly from being a commoner to becoming an 11th-rank official!

Finally, there were the personnel changes in the Inspectorate:

Deputy Chief Inspector Li Lei led the Inspectorate to wipe out the bandits in time, saving the people of Xingcheng. Afterward, he arrested the demonic-art-practicing Yan Yichen and the Meijia Kingdom spies, repeatedly performing great deeds. Therefore, he was promoted exceptionally, rising two ranks from a 9th-rank subordinate official to an 11th-rank official!

Not only that, Li Lei's position also changed from Deputy Chief Inspector to 'Acting Chief Inspector.'

As long as nothing went wrong, within a year or two at most, the 'Acting' title could be removed, and he would become the new Chief Inspector of Xingcheng!

Besides this, because Lu Sheng discovered Wu Yihua's conspiracy in time and took action to stop his rebellion, and later participated in the bandit-suppression operation, he was restored to his original position and once again served as the captain of the First Battalion.

In just a few short months, Lu Sheng had gone in circles and returned to his position, but things were no longer the same.

"Originally, the provincial capital also had arrangements for the Martial Arts Hall."

In the courtyard, Shangguan Xiao said to Li Fei:

"They wanted Senior Brother to take over as the Master of the Martial Arts Hall, but he refused; he still only wants to be a teacher."

Li Fei was stunned upon hearing this: "Teacher still doesn't want to come out and do things?"

Shangguan Xiao sighed: "Senior Brother said his biggest wish right now is to teach you, his student, into a talent, which can also be considered a contribution to the country. As for other things, he doesn't want to consider them for now."

Li Fei was silent, feeling somewhat moved.

If Hao Yi were willing to take over as the Master of the Martial Arts Hall, Shangguan Xiao would likely have found a way to get him into the Zhige Academy within a few years, leaving the position of Head Master for him.

But Hao Yi refused the path Shangguan Xiao had paved for him, only wanting to focus on teaching Li Fei well.

"He Yun has organized the account books of the Tiger Blade Gang from the past ten years; have you looked at them?"

Shangguan Xiao suddenly asked.

"Not yet."

Li Fei shook his head.

He only controlled the general direction of the Qingyuan City Management Company, leaving other matters to Liu Saner while he focused on practicing martial arts every day.

"The Tiger Blade Gang was already the number one gang in Xingcheng ten years ago. From that time on, after deducting the gang's various expenses and the money given to various officials, there was still a net profit of about one million left each year."

Shangguan Xiao said to Li Fei:

"All of this money went into Yu Hu's own pocket. Even if he spent three or four hundred thousand a year on martial arts practice, there should still be hundreds of thousands in savings left. Accumulated over ten years, that's a huge sum of about seven million!"

"During this period, both the provincial capital's investigation team and the Datong Prefecture's investigation team spent a lot of energy looking for this deposit of Yu Hu's, but they couldn't find it."

Li Fei was thoughtful and said: "Does Martial Aunt think this money was taken by those spies from the Meijia Kingdom?"

Shangguan Xiao said coldly: "That's the only possibility. These spies come to our Great Lan Dynasty to cause trouble, exacerbate our internal friction, and in the end, they even want to siphon off our wealth to strengthen themselves. Just thinking about it makes me furious!"

Li Fei was silent.

Now, this siphoned wealth might one day turn into bullets fired at the Great Lan Dynasty. Thinking of it this way, Yu Hu died too cheaply!

"I'm telling you this to remind you that regarding the spy matter, the imperial court will not let it go so easily. Subsequent investigations may last for many years and involve many people. Don't you have the identity of a secret inspector yourself? I estimate that people from the Datong Prefecture Inspectorate General will come to talk to you soon."

Shangguan Xiao said.

"People from the Datong Prefecture Inspectorate General want to talk to me?"

Li Fei was startled.

"Your martial aunt here will be the Head Master of the Zhige Academy in the future, your foster father Li Lei will be the Chief Inspector of the Inspectorate, and you have a Dao Foundation realm teacher. With so much background, the Inspectorate won't miss out on you, the best candidate."

Shangguan Xiao laughed.

Li Fei understood.

The 'old era' of Xingcheng had passed, and the giants of the new era were rising. Since these giants were all more or less related to him, winning him over was the lowest-cost way to win over these new giants!

"Investigating the Western Kingdom spies is a good opportunity. Even if you go to Datong Prefecture or the Martial Arts University in the future, participating in this matter will be of great benefit to you. So, if people from the Datong Prefecture Inspectorate General find you later, you might as well agree."

Shangguan Xiao said to Li Fei.

Li Fei bowed to Shangguan Xiao: "This student understands, thank you for your guidance, Martial Aunt."

"You child, you are just too polite."

"Big Leader."

Just at this moment, Xiang Du suddenly walked in from outside.

"What is it?"

Shangguan Xiao looked at him.

"The Chen family has sent someone, saying they want to seek an audience with the Green-Faced Ghost King."

Xiang Du replied.

"The Chen family?"

Shangguan Xiao and Li Fei exchanged a glance, then instructed Xiang Du:

"Take the people from the Chen family to the reception room and have them wait."

"Yes."

Xiang Du turned and left.

"The Chen family coming to see you at this time must be wanting to talk to you about that exotic beast farm in the suburbs," Shangguan Xiao said to Li Fei.

Shangguan Xiao said to Li Fei.

During this period, the Qingyuan City Management Company had almost completely taken over the former businesses of the Tiger Blade Gang, while the Chen family had retreated step by step, not competing with the Qingyuan City Management Company at all, and even proactively spitting out some of the businesses and territories belonging to the Tiger Blade Gang that they had previously swallowed, returning them to the Qingyuan City Management Company.

This attitude could be described as very "docile."

However, on one issue, the Chen family had been very tough and had never given in, and that was the exotic beast farm.

Although the Tiger Blade Gang previously controlled the Martial Arts Hall and could continuously obtain martial arts cultivation resources, both Yu Hu and Zhang Mingze were the type to plan ahead, so they had been plotting to farm exotic beasts very early on. (See Chapter 31 for details)

Only by having the ability to farm exotic beasts themselves and produce implants could they avoid being controlled by others and cultivate their own martial artists at the lowest cost.

Looking at the entire Great Lan Dynasty, truly powerful forces all farmed exotic beasts and grew raw materials for elixirs themselves, being self-sufficient.

Therefore, several years ago, Yu Hu and Zhang Mingze spent a large sum of money to build an exotic beast farm in the suburbs of Xingcheng, wanting to possess the ability to farm exotic beasts themselves.

But exotic beast farming involves many things, and one very critical point is the feed for the exotic beasts. To raise an exotic beast well, one needs to prepare at least a dozen different types of feed, and the Tiger Blade Gang did not have channels to purchase exotic beast feed, so they could only purchase it through the Chen family.

Over the past few years, the most important item of cooperation between the Tiger Blade Gang and the Chen family was the buying and selling of exotic beast feed.

Now that the Tiger Blade Gang had fallen, the first thing the Chen family did was to annex that exotic beast farm that Yu Hu and Zhang Mingze had painstakingly built.

After Li Fei founded the Qingyuan City Management Company, Liu Saner had negotiated with the Chen family about the exotic beast farm in the suburbs, but the Chen family had never given in. Liu Saner had also declared that if the Chen family did not hand over that exotic beast farm within three days, the Qingyuan City Management Company would go and take it themselves!

So tonight, the Chen family sent someone to request an audience with the Green-Faced Ghost King.

"Then let's meet them."

Li Fei said calmly.

In this new era in Xingcheng, he himself was actually already a new titan!

Requesting monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)