Chapter 120 - 119: Purification of Zodiac Sign, Father and Daughter

Suddenly, a prompt sounded near his ear, Li Jing’s hand gestures paused, and he waved to disperse the nearly half-completed Nine Heavens God Thunder.

As the spell formula dispersed, Li Jing’s body couldn’t help but sway.

The limit of Jiang Guanwen had been reached.

But he didn’t care.

Maintaining the full release of his spiritual power, the consumption was just too intense.

The key was that he spared no cost to fill the Nine Heavens God Thunder magic spell formula with spiritual power, trying to maximize its power while dispersing excessive spiritual power in time to prevent the magic spell formula from collapsing.

In this process, he not only exhausted a large amount of spiritual power, but his entire spirit was also highly concentrated.

The loss of mental strength was particularly severe.

Six consecutive full-fledged Nine Heavens God Thunders nearly drained Li Jing’s spiritual power and left him languid after his tense spirit relaxed.

If he were to release another one, he would not be able to sustain it.

As for fatigue, he didn’t feel that.

All he felt was a little weak in the legs...

This had proved something.

A man needs to have stamina.

Taking a deep breath, Li Jing lifted his spirits and looked up.

The transparent Linglong Tower was empty.

There was not even a trace of Jiang Guanwen left.

To ensure success without fail, Li Jing raised his hand and made two gestures.

"Heavenly Eye, open!"

A faint golden light appeared in his eyes.

Looking again at the Linglong Tower and confirming that indeed nothing was left, Li Jing called back the Linglong Tower, and allocated the two skill points he just earned from leveling up to the Zhenshi Skill and the Nine Heavens God Thunder.

Host: Li Jing

Experience Points: 1461/7068

Level: 23

Skill Points: 0

Spiritual Power Intensity: 552

Equipment: Qingfeng (Precious Items Level 872%), Linglong (Spirit weapon Level 13%)

Passive Skills: Momentary Space, Clothing Protection Spirit (5/5), Vanishing Skill (5/5), Spirit Control Skill (5/5), Returning to Origin Skill (4/5)

Active Skills: Palm Thunder (5/5), Spiritual Strike (5/5), Heavenly Sword Technique (5/5), Nine Heavens God Thunder (5/5), Sky Eye Technique (2/5), Zhenshi Skill (5/5)

Pulling out the panel to check, Li Jing looked back at Xi Yongchang’s corpse, took out the Boundary Stone and dispersed the energy condensed within.

The space boundary was lifted.

The next second, he was back in the scholar’s apartment.

Upon returning to the scholar’s apartment, Li Jing looked up and saw Dai Hong standing alone in the corridor between the two opposite apartments, looking serious.

Seeing Li Jing arrive, Dai Hong’s eyes brightened, and he revealed an expression of obvious relief.

"You’re back?"

"Yeah."

Li Jing smiled.

Seeing his relaxed expression, Dai Hong gave him a look, walked over and slapped him hard.

"Next time, don’t act tough on your own."

Then Dai Hong asked.

"Jiang Guanwen?"

"He’s dead."

Li Jing replied, pointing to the corpse in the apartment opposite that had returned with him from the Spatial Boundary.

"There’s also a victimized scholar there."

Upon hearing this, Dai Hong turned his head and only then noticed that in addition to Li Jing, there was also another scholar’s corpse that had returned.

He stepped forward to examine the corpse, then turned his head.

"Who is this scholar...?"

"He wasn’t involved in the fight, Jiang Guanwen was possessing his body."

Li Jing said that and took out a small object to flip through the photos he had taken as evidence.

"During this period, Jiang Guanwen should have been acting inside this scholar’s body, deceiving everyone."

When Dai Hong saw the photo of Jiang Guanwen sealed in a transparent pagoda, he frowned.

"This tower..."

"Spirit weapon, a reward given by the director after the last Secret Realm investigation event."

Li Jing responded truthfully.

"..."

Dai Hong fell silent.

A reward, and it’s a spirit weapon?

This is simply outrageous!

Even with his broad knowledge and high position, Dai Hong felt a bit sour.

He’s not stupid.

Chen Jing wouldn’t directly give Li Jing a finished spirit weapon. That would be no different from harming him.

What Chen Jing must have given was a precious item whose quality is infinitely close to a spirit weapon, which could be transformed through nurturing in a short time.

This thing, its value is at least in the hundreds of millions.

And even if you have money, you can’t necessarily buy it...

Chen Jing’s perks were indeed enviable.

It’s worth mentioning that even Dai Hong himself only managed to nurture a spirit weapon after he reached the late stage of the Four Realm, and he didn’t even dare to use it normally.

Li Jing had just entered the Three Realm, yet he immediately had a Spirit Weapon.

This was just winning at the start line!

No wonder he could kill Jiang Guanwen who was expected to have reached the late stage of the Four Realm...

Giving Li Jing a weird look, Dai Hong pat him on the shoulder.

"Good job."

Without Li Jing saying, Dai Hong also knew this battle was not easy.

Spirit weapons can indeed have a suppressive effect.

However, relying on the strength of the Three Realm to kill a Four Realm is very difficult. Even with a Spirit Weapon for suppression, if you don’t have real skill, a Three Realm can at most compete with a Four Realm.

Pressing his hand on the communicator in his ear, Dai Hong spoke in a low voice.

"Stop the evacuation. Li Jing has returned safely. Everyone gather at the ninth scholar’s apartment."

After contacting the others, Dai Hong said to Li Jing,

"Take a rest on the side, and write a detailed action report. The rest will arrive soon. Since Jiang Guanwen was confirmed to have been hiding inside the Research Institute during this period, the place he was hiding must go through some on-site evidence collection. I also need to communicate with the Research Institute to let them check what the scholar who was killed by Jiang Guanwen had been doing during this period, to prevent unexpected losses."

"Understood."

Li Jing nodded, turned and sat down in the vacant apartment that belonged to Jiang Guanwen, and took out a tablet.

Having to write another report, he was actually quite distressed.

But compared with the previous two, this one should be much simpler.

After all, he could write this situation as it was, without needing to think about hiding anything or trying to make it consistent.

In this matter, the small obstacle played a crucial role.

But to avoid mentioning it, it was not difficult.

In the end, Jiang Guanwen jumped out himself, not found by him or the small obstacle.

...

Not long after Li Jing sat down, including Chen Yuran, the other members of the Major Case Squad Six gathered at the ninth scholar’s apartment.

Under Dai Hong’s instruction, everyone began to search and collect evidence in Xi Yongchang’s apartment.

Xi Yongchang’s identity was soon confirmed by the scholars who arrived at the scene.

He and Jiang Guanwen were both scholars in the field of Artificial Intelligence, but he was not quite accomplished and was only a mid-level scholar.

Worthy of mention was that.

Xi Yongchang and Jiang Guanwen, because their apartments were opposite each other, often interacted, and they were good friends.

This implication immediately led to many assumptions.

However, both were dead, so some things could not be verified, and assumptions were largely pointless.

The Research Institute attached great importance to this matter and sent dedicated personnel to assist in on-site evidence collection, while commanding people to fully investigate all of Xi Yongchang’s work records from the time he joined the Research Institute until now.

...

The night was getting darker.

In less than half an hour, Li Jing had completed his detailed action report and submitted it to the patrol system.

The crime scene was still being thoroughly investigated.

He walked out of Jiang Guanwen’s apartment and glanced at the one opposite. Li Jing hesitated, unsure if he should join in.

Considering his lack of practical experience in collecting evidence at a crime scene, he decided it would be better for him not to interfere and sat down in the room.

Just as he sat down, Chen Jing walked in.

Upon seeing Chen Jing, Li Jing was momentarily taken aback and hastily stood up.

"Uncle? Why are you here?"

"I came to see the situation on the site."

Chen Jing smiled and eyed Li Jing, seeming more and more satisfied.

The resolution of yet another problematic issue was swiftly achieved due to Li Jing’s intervention. How could Chen Jing not be satisfied?

Waving his hand to signal Li Jing to sit down, Chen Jing casually took out a piece of Yin Qi crystal and handed it over.

"Take this, your reward for this incident. I won’t be giving you any reward money. For your current situation, having too much money is not of great use. Feed it to the Linglong Tower."

Seeing that Chen Jing had claimed to be here to observe the situation, but actually came to give a reward, Li Jing didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted the Yin Qi crystal.

It was what he deserved, why should he be polite?

Compared to money, the Yin Qi crystal was indeed much more valuable.

Upon receiving the Yin Qi crystal, a cold sensation permeated through his palm.

Feeling this, Li Jing raised an eyebrow.

Just by the feel alone, he was sure that this piece was of much higher quality than the two he had obtained earlier.

In fact, as soon as Li Jing got his hands on the Yin Qi crystal, the Linglong Spirit Weapon conveyed a strong sense of desire.

This made Li Jing feel a bit aggravated.

Spirit weapons are bottomless pits.

There’s nothing to discuss about this.

After the Linglong Tower transformed into a spirit weapon, it was behaving like a never-satisfied child, always wanting to have more.

What left Li Jing speechless was...

It hasn’t even truly digested the Yin Qi crystal he initially gave to the Linglong Tower, it had barely managed to digest the White Moonstone and another Yin Qi crystal.

Being in his possession for less than two seconds, the Linglong Spirit Weapon was sending over an emotion of hunger, like a chick waiting to be fed.

Is it not afraid of bursting from overeating?

With a sigh, Li Jing summoned the Linglong Tower and fed it the Yin Qi crystal.

In front of Chen Jing, he didn’t feel the need to hide anything.

When Chen Jing saw him feeding the Linglong Tower immediately on the spot, he raised an eyebrow, taking a closer look at the Linglong Tower.

"Not bad, a newly born Linglong Spirit Weapon is much stronger than ordinary spirit weapons. You’re also quite lucky to have a nearly pure single attribute as soon as it awakened. You’re willing to invest in feeding it, and its gold attribute is nearing complete purification. After it consumes this Yin Qi crystal, it should become a pure single attribute spiritual weapon, and its power will increase drastically, revealing the true power of the gold attribute."

Li Jing was slightly taken aback at these words.

He could strongly feel the increasing strength of Linglong Tower’s attribute through constant feeding.

However, he was not aware that the Tower’s attribute was being purified.

The gold attribute was the Tower’s initial attribute and its only attribute.

But unavoidably, there were some "impurities" within.

These "impurities" stemmed from the influence of mutual promotion and restraint of the five elements within the weapon.

Even if it is a single attribute, the influence of other attributes is still present.

To truly purify, it requires a long period of feeding.

Chen Jing’s statement that the Linglong Tower’s gold attribute was nearing complete purification took Li Jing by surprise.

Mainly because he didn’t expect the Linglong Tower’s attribute would be purified so quickly.

Li Jing lifted his eyes from the Linglong Tower, which was slowly spinning in his hand after being "fed", and looked up.

"Uncle, it seems that I can’t perceive the degree of attribute purification personally. How were you able to determine it?"

"It’s not my judgement, but Qianyang’s."

Chen Jing spoke, saying.

"It’s normal for you not to feel the degree of attribute purification. We humans inherently have all five elements which can confuse our perception of the attributes. It’s not a problem to perceive their strength, but to determine if an attribute is pure, we have to rely on the spirit weapon. The Linglong Spirit Weapon isn’t fully developed yet, but once it matures and is able to communicate clearly with you, these won’t be issues anymore."

"I see."

Li Jing blinked and nodded, signalling that he understood.

The two of them were talking, when Chen Yuran walked in from outside.

Stepping into the room, she saw Li Jing holding a dazzling golden pagoda in his hand. She paused and smirked.

"This pagoda, suits you well."

"..."

Li Jing stayed silent, quietly putting away the Linglong Tower.

Seeing his daughter walk in, the expression on Chen Jing’s face softened, and he spoke gently.

"Yuran, you’ve worked hard tonight."

Meeting her father’s greeting, Chen Yuran sneered.

"It’s my duty, it’s not hard at all."

The way the father and daughter responded to each other somehow made Li Jing a little nervous.

Thinking about it carefully.

It seemed that this was the first time he was dealing with Chen Yuran and Chen Jing together.

Seeing their current conversation, there was a hint of tension in the air.

This made Li Jing unable to stay calm.

If they started to argue in front of him, whom should he support?

However, it’s strange.

Chen Jing genuinely did not show any temper when dealing with Chen Yuran. The aura of the Director Chen Jing disappeared immediately.

Confronted with his daughter’s cold response, Chen Jing coughed awkwardly.

"So, Li Jing, you chat with Yuran. I’ll go to see Dai Hong and check on the progress. You two can go home first if you have nothing to do later. The situation has been resolved, and the rest should be handled by the Major Crime Team."

As soon as he had finished speaking, Stinky Tofu ran in from outside and immediately rubbed itself against Chen Jing’s trouser leg.

Sadly, Chen Jing was not welcoming of its affection.

"Ugh! Keep away!"

Chen Jing swatted Stinky Tofu away with a flick of his hand and straightened the creased trouser leg. He then left for the door opposite.

Rejected by Chen Jing, Stinky Tofu stood there, looking miserable.

It wondered why Chen Jing was upset. It had not seen him for a very long time.

Seeing this, Li Jing chuckled quietly.

Poor Stinky Tofu, as a dog, still has much to understand!

It should gauge the situation before jumping on Chen Jing like that, right?

Chen Jing had to maintain his authority as the Director in front of his subordinates, like Dai Hong. So, how could Stinky Tofu jump on him and make a scene?

If it were his daughter, Chen Yuran, that would be okay.

But a dog...

Haha!

As Chen Jing left for the opposite door, Li Jing turned to look at Chen Yuran.

He was about to speak, but Chen Yuran spoke first.

"You heard what the Director said. We can go back if we have nothing to do. Let’s go home."

"Uh, well..."

Li Jing was stuck.

He remembered clearly that Chen Jing had said "you two can go home later if you have nothing to do".

It’s not even ’later’ yet, and how can she be sure there is nothing to do?

However, Chen Yuran did not care about this. She grabbed him by the arm, dragged him out of the room, and into the elevator without a second word.

Before even the elevator door had closed, Chen Yuran couldn’t wait to stretch her hand out.

"Let me play with Xiaai. You already agreed."

"..."

Li Jing was speechless. As he handed over Xiaai to Chen Yuran with a bewildered smile, he quietly held the elevator door open and looked at Stinky Tofu, who was waiting expectantly at the apartment door.

"Stinky Tofu, are you planning to spend the night here?"

"Woof?"

Stinky Tofu turned its head and suddenly realized that its master was ready to return. It immediately ran into the elevator.

...