Chapter 86: Awarding Merit

"Using a blade, emitting a cold chill?"

Huang Weiguang glanced at the inspector taking notes beside him and told the other party to leave first.

Then he looked at Hao Yi:

"Ah Yi, do you know if there are any Force-Refining martial artists like this within the Xingcheng area?"

Hao Yi glanced at Li Fei beside him and spoke in specific detail:

"The Qi-Transformation realm is a process of deep integration between an implant and the human body. After the first deep integration, a martial artist at the early stage of Qi-Transformation refines innate Qi. Next, they further integrate with the implant and use true martial arts techniques to condense the innate Qi, thereby refining force and reaching the mid-stage of Qi-Transformation; they can then be called a Force-Refining martial artist. Further on is the final deep integration, where the martial artist's control over force increases. Not only can they make the force take shape, but they can also control the force from a distance, thus possessing a certain degree of long-range striking capability.

That registered martial artist named Wang Ping whom Xiao Fei mentioned can strike with force from a distance; this is at least the strength of the late stage of Qi-Transformation. The red snake he struck out with should be the Red Scale Force. The opponent's blade emitted a cold chill and was able to disperse the Red Scale Force, so that must be force refined using a water-attribute implant. Looking across all of Xingcheng, there are only a few Force-Refining martial artists who use water-attribute implants and can rival someone at the late stage of Qi-Transformation."

Huang Weiguang nodded:

"The way you put it, I do recall one person: the leader of the Tiger Blade Gang, Yu Hu! His file records him at the mid-stage of Qi-Transformation, using a second-grade intermediate water-attribute implant 【Cold Civet】, and he is skilled at using a staff."

Hao Yi said expressionlessly: "Strength can change, and one's preferred weapon can also be replaced."

"But the Tiger Blade Gang only has Yu Hu as a Force-Refining martial artist. If he could still hide two more Force-Refining martial artists without anyone noticing, that would be somewhat incredible."

Huang Weiguang's gaze was cold and hard, "I will find out."

Hao Yi looked at him: "I'm afraid you won't have that chance."

With such a major incident occurring this time, both the Stop-Conflict Institute and the Inspectorate would have to take the blame.

The Stop-Conflict Institute had already lost four registered martial artists, and it was unknown if they could even be saved. Moreover, although they were both martial force organizations in Xingcheng, the status of the Stop-Conflict Institute was far higher than that of the Inspectorate.

When something goes wrong, even if this operation was led by the Stop-Conflict Institute, the majority of the punishment from above would still fall upon the Inspectorate.

Huang Weiguang was already close to retirement; after such a mess, even if the lost weapons and equipment were recovered, he would likely have to retire early as a way to provide an explanation.

That was why Hao Yi worried he would not have the chance to continue investigating the case.

Huang Weiguang glanced at Li Fei and smiled:

"We are all old now; the future belongs to these young people."

Hao Yi said expressionlessly: "It is you who are old; I will still live for a long time."

"Hahahahaha!"

Huang Weiguang's hearty laughter rang out in the room.

"On August 5th, the Xingcheng Stop-Conflict Institute and the Inspectorate conducted a joint operation, destroying the headquarters of the cult Peace-Mind Sect, arresting over a hundred cult members in total, and confiscating over a hundred various firearms and weapons.

In response to the 'Teaching Reform Plan for Local Martial Arts Halls' recently proposed by the Cabinet, students from the Xingcheng Martial Arts Hall also participated in this operation. One of the students performed excellently in this operation and provided important clues.

Xingcheng Chief Gu Zhenhui delivered an important speech regarding this operation, pointing out: Xingcheng will never provide any space for the survival of any cults or lawless elements."

In the living room, Li Lei, Zhang Yuqing, Li Fei, and Li Tianyu were sitting together listening to the radio.

Today was already the second day since Li Fei returned from Luoshan.

Hearing this, Li Tianyu couldn't help but complain:

"What is this? It was clearly all thanks to Xiao Fei tracking them the whole way that they were finally able to arrest so many cult members. He should be the one with the primary merit for this operation, so why does this report only mention it in one sentence and not even mention his name?"

Li Lei looked at her with a smile:

"Not mentioning his name is to protect Xiao Fei, and the credit that belongs to Xiao Fei will not be diminished in the slightest. Chief Inspector Huang approved a bonus of ten thousand yuan the moment he returned to the Inspectorate; Xiao Fei will be able to get his hands on it in two days. Additionally, I just received news today that Chief Gu Zhenhui might meet with Xiao Fei in the next few days to personally commend him!"

Speaking of this, a look of irrepressible pride appeared on his face.

He had been a squadron leader for so many years and had never been personally received by the Chief.

"Wow, that's awesome!"

Li Tianyu gave Li Fei a thumbs up.

Li Fei smiled. He remembered the conversation between Huang Weiguang and Hao Yi that day, so he asked Li Lei:

"Uncle Li, is Chief Inspector Huang going to retire?"

Li Lei sighed upon hearing this:

"Yes. Although the lost weapons and equipment were basically recovered in the end, such a major oversight occurred during this operation, and there were casualties; Chief Inspector Huang definitely has to take responsibility. In the end, considering he was already close to retirement, they did not give him any public punishment, but Chief Inspector Huang will retire one to two years earlier than expected. He has already been preparing for the handover recently."

Li Fei asked: "Then who will be the newly appointed Chief Inspector?"

Li Lei shook his head: "That is not clear."

Li Tianyu, who was to the side, looked at Li Fei strangely: "Why are you suddenly interested in these things? Are you planning to go to the Inspectorate in the future?"

Li Fei smiled: "Just curious."

He was only thinking about how Huang Weiguang had guessed that day that the Force-Refining martial artist who blocked Wang Ping might be the Tiger Blade Gang leader Yu Hu, but in the end, there was no chance to verify it.

Two days ago, Cao Mu and the others, who had continued to pursue the Peace-Mind Sect leader Zhao Yu with the help of the Justice Court mages, ultimately failed to catch him.

As a Spirit-Transformation stage mage, Zhao Yu possessed anti-tracking capabilities and was already very difficult to track via sorcery. Furthermore, he had taken people and left in advance; with fewer people, they left fewer traces, so finding them was just a matter of luck.

Cao Mu very much wanted to stay in the mountains and forests for ten days or half a month to keep looking, but the Justice Court mages would not follow him to continue wasting time in the mountains.

The Justice Court had imperial court missions to fulfill; once they failed, neither the Stop-Conflict Institute nor the Xingcheng Administration Office could bear the blame.

Without the help of the Justice Court mages, it was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack for Cao Mu to find the person. In the end, he could only helplessly take these mages and the Inspectorate personnel and escort the Peace-Mind Sect followers back to Xingcheng.

After some interrogation, the captured Peace-Mind Sect followers, including that senior follower, did not know where Sect Leader Zhao Yu had found those three Force-Refining martial artists, nor did they know the identities of those three.

As for the suspect Yu Hu, he had publicly drunk in a restaurant on the day of the incident, hosting a banquet for the senior management of the Tiger Blade Gang, which was seen by many people.

Without clear evidence, it was very difficult for Huang Weiguang to even invite Yu Hu to the Inspectorate for questioning. If he went to invite him, he would immediately receive a call from the Administration Office, and perhaps even the Deputy Chief would call him!

As a result, the case could only be temporarily shelved, and Huang Weiguang, who wanted to continue the investigation, was about to retire.

The next morning, Li Fei went for his usual run to the Martial Arts Hall and started boiling water in the medicinal bath room, preparing to take a medicinal bath.

Today, Hao Yi walked into the medicinal bath room early, holding a few things in his hand.

He first handed a very thick envelope to Li Fei:

"This is the bonus awarded to you by the Martial Arts Hall, totaling one thousand yuan."

Li Fei took the envelope with some surprise; he did not expect the Martial Arts Hall to give him an extra bonus.

Then Hao Yi handed him two bottles of elixirs:

"One bottle is Bitter-Origin Pill, and one bottle is Clear-Mind Pill. It is only natural that your performance this time received an A-plus rating; this is the reward you deserve for the monthly exam. Under normal circumstances, a bottle of elixirs only contains ten pills, but because your performance was excellent, these two bottles each contain thirty pills—three times the reward for the previous first place!"

Seeking monthly votes

(End of chapter)