Chapter 40: Joining Forces

"What do you plan to investigate next?" Yaoguang stepped to the side.

"I already have a direction." Xia Wuyuan followed beside him and spoke calmly. "The moment I stepped out of the Yue Family, I encountered an ambush. Their courage is outrageous. I have handled so many cases and have never seen such blatant behavior. They acted without fear. For them to dare so much, there must be a protector with astonishing status behind them."

"You suspect the Yue Family?" Yaoguang asked.

"If the Yue Family's patriarch had agreed to see me, I would suspect them more. Instead, he chose to avoid me entirely, which reduced my suspicion slightly." Xia Wuyuan shook his head. "But whether it's them or not, it no longer matters."

He remained composed as he continued, "I went to the Yue Family to investigate. Yet the moment I walked out, I was attacked by a grandmaster-tier assailant and nearly died. Once I report this, the entire Tiannan Province will be shaken. Someone capable of deploying a grandmaster to ambush me makes the Yue Family the number one suspect. If we do not dig through everything inside the Yue Family, it would mean that the Prosecutor's Office is failing in its duty!"

"You intend to use this incident to force the Yue Family into the game, then borrow their influence to investigate whoever is backing Yulong International?" Yaoguang quickly understood his plan.

Dispatching a grandmaster to assassinate a senior prosecutor was one thing if the target died. They could suppress it through connections or find someone to take the fall. But once the target survived and pursued the truth, every party involved would have to answer for their actions.

The act was too atrocious. At this point, it was likely that the royal family would personally order the Grand Prosecutor's Office to form a special investigation team.

A great aristocratic family like the Yue Family would certainly have countless skeletons in their closet. If they were thoroughly investigated, not only would many people across all departments be affected, but their reputation in Tiannan would be completely ruined.

Under such circumstances, even if unwilling, the Yue Family would have no choice but to pinch their noses and help find the culprit to prove their innocence.

Xia Wuyuan nodded. "If anyone knows the inner workings of every field across Tiannan, that's the Yue Family. Even Tiannan's highest-ranked official, Governor Wei Kongming, cannot compare."

Strong aristocratic families persisted, while governors came and went. Once the Yue Family acted, there would be no secret in Tiannan that they could not uncover.

In the end... if the Yue family managed to uncover something, all the better. If they couldn’t... then who was behind it would be obvious to all.

"It is risky. You may end up asking them to act against their interest," Yaoguang said.

"If you want to accomplish anything meaningful, how can you avoid all risks? This is already the best method I can devise in a short time," Xia Wuyuan said.

A prosecutor could report directly to the royal family, but they could not report purely based on suspicion, without evidence. Otherwise, what would be the use of prosecutors?

"I walked out of the Yue Family and was immediately ambushed. This clearly suggests someone is trying to frame the Yue Family. Because of that alone, they will investigate with full effort." Xia Wuyuan paused slightly, then looked at Yaoguang. "If I die..."

"The Yue Family." Yaoguang understood what he meant.

Xia Wuyuan nodded. The atmosphere grew heavier. But a moment later, he shook his head, temporarily setting aside that possibility. Even though he knew the move would put him in danger, he had no choice but to proceed.

"Now there is only one question left," Xia Wuyuan drew a deep breath and said in a low tone. "I want to know whether each of the... monsters that you killed earlier possessed strength comparable to a grandmaster."

Understanding his intent, Yaoguang nodded.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

That single gesture made Xia Wuyuan's scalp prickle.

To mobilize several, even more than ten grandmaster-tier combatants... What kind of colossal force is this? Such a terrifying force lurked in the hidden underground world of Tiannan?! And what unimaginable secret lies behind all this?

"Are you still investigating?" Yaoguang asked with a faint smile.

"Yes!" The fear in Xia Wuyuan's eyes lasted only a heartbeat before firm resolve replaced it. "I said it before. I will investigate this to the end, regardless of what secrets hide behind it."

"Then I will wait for your good news." Yaoguang smiled and prepared to leave. He still intended to eat at Deyue Tower.

"Su Yaoguang," Xia Wuyuan called out, his tone carrying a hint of earnest plea. "I need your help."

Yaoguang paused. He looked at the human martial artist before him, a man who had reached the grandmaster tier in his early thirties. Meeting his serious gaze, Yaoguang gave a slight nod. "Sure."

Seeing this, Xia Wuyuan let out a long breath of relief. Although he had never fought Yaoguang and did not know the full extent of his power, Yaoguang had slain seven or eight of those monsters who appeared to be martial masters but in truth possessed grandmaster-tier combat strength. His true strength was far more terrifying than Xia Wuyuan had imagined. He could not even measure him by ordinary grandmaster standards.

With the situation still unclear, a colossal force lurking in the shadows, and danger everywhere, having such a powerful grandmaster willing to cooperate in the investigation was undeniably a strong and reliable support.

***

Ordinary people, martial artists, daemons, divine blood, and the powerful.

Inside the car, Yaoguang contemplated these keywords.

Ordinary people stood at the lowest rung, used as fodder by daemons, eaten to open their intelligence. Martial artists ranked second, viewed by daemons as the best vessels.

It appeared that the stronger the vessel, the greater the strength a daemon could display. Furthermore, after merging into a human body, a daemon could continue tempering the flesh.

In theory, the earlier a daemon arrived in the human world, the stronger it would become. But considering that some daemons themselves were only at the fourth or fifth tier, even if they had been here for years, they would still be stuck at those realms.

Above martial artists came daemons, and the key that allowed daemons to exist within the human world was divine blood. They had mastered the refinement of divine blood. Consuming it prolonged life, and even granted perpetual youth. Using divine blood, they formed ties with the powerful and received protection. But...

That is not the truth.

Yaoguang thought to himself.

Using divine blood to win over the powerful was merely an expedient. Or perhaps there was some crucial point he had overlooked. Perhaps ten or twenty years ago, the ecosystem truly worked that way. Daemons needed divine blood to curry favor from the powerful so they could survive in the human world.

However, in recent years, the situation had changed. Daemons behaved with increasing recklessness.

"Rogue cultivators... Sects..." These two terms suggested the world he was in might have another side that he knew nothing about.

However, the truth was close. Whether it was the bead in his possession, which functioned like an artifact, or Xia Wuyuan drawing the Yue Family into the case, the truth was already beginning to surface.

Within Tiannan, the positions with the most authority were held by Governor Wei Kongming, the high chief prosecutor Lu Zhenhai, and the speaker of the local council, Yue Nanxing.

Below them were the deputy governor, the deputy high chief prosecutor, and the deputy speaker, along with the factions behind them. Those few individuals formed the highest echelon in Tiannan.

Many important departments, such as the Martial Dao Association, the police bureau, the education department, the civil service department, and the commerce department, were essentially managed by these people, either directly or through subordinates.

Yet the Yue Family had extended its influence into every one of those departments. Their positions might not be as high in rank, but each department had acquaintances loyal to them.

If the Yue Family truly exerted its strength, the daemon behind Yulong International, the one called "leader" by the daemon he had just killed, would not stay hidden for long.

***

"Young Master Yaoguang..." From the driver's seat, Lei Yun hesitated for a long moment before finally speaking. "You..."

"It is just as you guessed." Yaoguang lifted his head slightly.

Lei Yun was a direct subordinate who would follow him in the future, assigned to the logistics team responsible for battlefield cleanup; he had no reason to hide anything.

"As I guessed..." Lei Yun's eyes widened abruptly. "Y-You are really..."

"Of course," Yaoguang said plainly. "Otherwise, given I was away from the Su Family for over ten years, why would the Su Family head entrust me with such responsibility the moment I returned?"

"Uhh..." Lei Yun sucked in a sharp breath. "A n-nineteen-year-old martial master?! This is... unbelievable..."

Hearing the shock she failed to contain, Yaoguang paused, confused.

Did she say a nineteen-year-old martial master?

"Young Master, you are only nineteen and already a martial master. At this rate, before the age of thirty, you will very likely attempt the grandmaster tier and become our Su Family's next grandmaster!" Lei Yun said with excitement. "The Zhang Family, which has been striking at us the hardest recently, only rose because they allied with Zhang Tianji. That is how they managed to stand on equal footing with our Su Family."

"Zhang Tianji?" Yaoguang had heard the name before. "The Zhang Family's grandmaster?"

"Yes." Lei Yun nodded firmly. "Zhang Tianji was rebellious when he was young and caused many problems. He was expelled by the Zhang Family's patriarch. But after spending over ten years out in the world, he returned as a grandmaster. The moment the Zhang Family learned of it, they immediately welcomed him back. With that grandmaster's power, the Zhang Family has developed rapidly. In recent years, they have become one of the top families in Tiannan."

"Oh," Yaoguang answered lightly. No wonder Su Chiming had immediately thought of Zhang Tianji when mentioning a grandmaster-tier collaboration earlier.

"If you also become a grandmaster in the future, with our Su Family's influence and the immense strength of Buzhou Group, we will certainly be able to step beyond Tiannan and expand nationwide! Once the national plan succeeds, with our vast influence, after some decades of consolidation, the Su Family may even take another step forward and become a true aristocratic family!" Lei Yun's eyes shone with longing for a bright future.

"In truth, your guess could have been even bolder," Yaoguang said with a smile.

"Even bolder?" Lei Yun froze.

The next second, the guess she had once considered far too outrageous, which she had forcibly suppressed, surged back into her mind. She started stuttering as she asked in a disbelieving tone, "You are... a... a g-grandmaster?"

Yaoguang gave a slight nod. Such a simple gesture struck Lei Yun like lightning. A shiver swept across her entire body, and an unprecedented wave of pleasure spread through her nervous system, filling every corner of her being until every cell trembled with joy.

All her shock, happiness, and excitement condensed into a single sound leaving her lips. "Ah!?"[1]

1. Editor's thoughts: Am I the one with a dirty mind, or...? ☜