CHAPTER 236: CHAPTER 224: OLD CASE

The former girlfriend’s father died in battle, and she fell into despair.

The former girlfriend saw him advance to the Body Refining Stage, abandoned her Qi Blood Stage boyfriend, and like a drowning person grabbing the last straw, found him.

That night, the two rekindled their old dreams.

The next morning, his former girlfriend was found dead in the wilderness.

After that day, Tian Wenhua’s character changed dramatically; he became ruthless and killed without mercy.

Later, having mastered his skills and advanced to the Vitality Stage, he and four sworn brothers, with the help of Shuangjiao Exploration Company and the Lou Family, founded Pioneer Company.

After years of business, they made a name for the Five Tigers of Shuizhou in Rucheng.

Intelligence shows he seemed to have a brief romance with his senior sister, but it was broken up by his master.

His senior sister later advanced to the Innate level.

Zhou Leng carefully reviewed the experiences of Tian Wenhua and the Five Tigers of Shuizhou, as if seeing the epitome of countless martial artists of that era.

Some were like him, others were not.

Tian Wenhua was one of the monitoring targets of the Martial Guard Department.

His whereabouts were clearly recorded by the Martial Guard Department.

"The Lou Family..."

Zhou Leng didn’t expect that when Tian Wenhua started his independent business, he had the assistance of the Lou Family.

But then he figured it made sense, as the Lou Family once dominated Shuizhou, even being referred to as the Lou Continent at one point.

Tian Wenhua was also from Shuizhou, so being connected with the Lou Family’s middle ranks was quite normal.

When Shuizhou City was engulfed, the Lou Family quickly rose by relying on their profound foundation.

However, his uncle blocked the Lou Family’s path, leading to a series of dramatic changes.

Soon, Zhou Leng saw a familiar name, Xue Tongming.

After the deaths of Tian Wenbao and Tian Chengchang, Tian Wenhua was no longer focused on the company and made one mistake after another.

Xue Chengsong’s father, Xue Tongming, already had an old grudge with Tian Wenhua and used some tactics to seize part of the Bad Exploration Company’s territory and abandoned mines.

Tian Wenhua was furious and launched a counterattack.

Reading on, Zhou Leng found familiar information in Tian Wenhua’s intelligence, featuring Chang Luan.

During his enrollment, he was hit by someone during a test to compete for class monitor.

Rao Mingxian also mentioned that during the Celestial Tier Examination Hall, Chang Luan even slandered him from behind.

However, at that time, his strength was insufficient, so he had to endure and remain silent.

Yesterday, he learned from Instructor Deng Zhijue that he and his father actually planned to use methods in school to seize his martial arts resources.

Moreover, the Chang Family was very close to Tian Wenhua, yet had a deep old feud with the Xue Family, and were preparing to join forces with Tian Wenhua to deal with Xue Tongming.

After reading a large amount of information, Zhou Leng pretended to glance at other Demon Worship Sect cases he had experienced, hiding his true intentions.

He could act indifferent, but as a Martial Guard, he couldn’t be too sloppy.

Within moments, he frowned tightly.

The first Demon Worship Sect incident he encountered was in his own Dragon Bay Community, involving a family of Fifty-Ninth Middle School students.

But unexpectedly, there were many related cases.

In recent years, there have been five cases related to Fifty-Ninth Middle School students and their families.

Three cases were related to the Demon Worship Sect, while two showed no traces of the sect but all encountered family extermination tragedies.

Zhou Leng recalled Rao Mingxian previously saying that his grandfather had aged rapidly over the past two years, worrying about the school.

His grandfather was the principal of Fifty-Ninth Middle School, and such incidents probably drove him to distraction.

Zhou Leng quickly reviewed the related cases of the Fifty-Ninth Middle School; the earliest was the Demon Worship Sect case, which occurred the winter before last, when a family summoned a demon and met with misfortune.

The second case involved a family’s death during a demon attack on the city last year.

When Zhou Leng was poisoned and fell ill in his senior year, it happened during this demon attack on the city.

Zhou Leng glanced over the address of that family’s home, then hurriedly reviewed it again carefully.

It turned out the address of that family was exactly where he got injured at that time.

Zhou Leng carefully studied photos and videos, then meticulously searched through the written information, falling silent for a long time.

It turned out there were indeed records of himself in this case.

Surveillance had recorded the poisoning process.

The demon killed their family, jumped from the fourth floor, leaving poison gas and viruses on the ground.

Thus, when Zhou Leng passed by there at night, he was poisoned and fell ill, and Martial Guard traced it to him, recording him in this case.

Consequently, Zhou Leng was bedridden for many days, and even after being discharged, he was weak and often suffered headaches and fevers, causing his exam scores to decline.

After being dazed for a long time, Zhou Leng continued searching through the files, but Martial Guard couldn’t find any clues, as either the scene was destroyed or no evidence was left.

The evidence might have been affected by magical powers, preventing the victims from leaving evidence.

Except for the fact that all five families’ children attended Fifty-Ninth Middle School, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.

Rucheng sees hundreds of similar cases every year.

Zhou Leng called Deng Zhijue, saying it was inconvenient to talk over the phone, and they arranged to meet there.

Soon after, Deng Zhijue arrived.

Zhou Leng discussed these cases.

Deng Zhijue said, "I’ve also reviewed this series of cases; when I saw you at the time, I marveled at the unpredictability of life."

"Did you investigate Fifty-Ninth Middle School?" Zhou Leng asked.

Deng Zhijue looked around and whispered, "Yes, we did, and found nothing suspicious. Repeated blood tests resulted in Principal Rao Fuxing’s arm swelling, yet we found nothing."

"At first, Principal Rao cooperated fully; with all kinds of blood tests, he didn’t hesitate, being such an old person, I couldn’t bear to watch."

"But later, we visited so often that it disrupted teaching, causing him to slowly resist."

"In the end, he even used his nephew’s connections to pressure us, forcing us to abandon the investigation of Fifty-Ninth Middle School."

"His nephew, whom he raised single-handedly, later married a daughter from the Zhao Family branch and had them pass messages. Rucheng’s Martial Guard Bureau couldn’t withstand the pressure."

"The key was that it indeed affected the normal teaching at Fifty-Ninth Middle School."

Zhou Leng sighed and said, "Principal Rao has always had a good reputation. Except for some issues with the canteen and convenience store contracts, everything else is fine. Rao Mingxian is his grandson, loyal and bold, even saved me at the Celestial Ladder. Last time, during the attack on the Demon Worship Sect’s base, he also helped me out. You saw that."

Deng Zhijue nodded, "I remember, that kid is good in all aspects. It’s just that his temperament grew with his rapid growth at the Celestial Ladder, and he hurt someone. I don’t really know the specifics."

"They say it was caused by getting drunk at a New Year’s gathering," Zhou Leng said.

"I see."

Zhou Leng asked, "No other clues up till now?"

"None. Let’s put it this way: of the cases related to the Demon Worship Sect and demons, six out of ten can’t be solved. There’s really no way. The actions of the demons and the Demon Worship Sect are entirely different from those of normal people. Once they flee the city, they are impossible to find."

Zhou Leng said, "Other cases are indeed difficult, but demons entering homes to kill, there should be some explanation, right?"

"We infer that the Demon Worship Sect ordered the demons to take advantage of the chaos and hired them to kill. But once the demons leave, there’s no way to investigate." Deng Zhijue shook his head helplessly.

"Not investigating at all now?"

"Can’t investigate, and the recent cases have increased, it’s too busy, all delaying my teaching progress."

"It’s a troubled time," Zhou Leng said with a sigh.

"You must hurry and cultivate. After you advance to the Early Period of the Vitality Stage, run more with me and hone yourself."

"Hmm."

Deng Zhijue turned to leave but suddenly stopped and turned back, "When the murderer deals with demons, they are quick and prepared, don’t take random things. Especially outside the city or in the Demon City, it’s almost impossible to check. Many similar cases are just left there unattended."

Zhou Leng nodded slightly, a calm face, watching Deng Zhijue’s figure recede into the distance.

Zhou Leng looked at the information projected by the demonized wristwatch and sighed.

Who would have thought a series of seemingly ordinary cases formed two connections with himself?

Once when poisoned and fell ill, and once during the capture of Tian Wenhua’s brother Tian Wenbao.

Also changed the fate of many people.

After attending Wang Boxiong’s test in the afternoon, Zhou Leng went again to Wan’s Old Shop, where he had previously bought the Demon Beast Corpse Transformation Potion. Because the needed amount was large, he reserved more than a million’s worth in advance.

After finishing up his tasks, he headed straight for the Frost Giant Tree.

Huang was indeed not there; it went to play at Mammoth Lake again.

The equipment in front of the tree also showed signs of use, it seemed Huang had been putting in effort.

Zhou Leng greeted Elder Tree, then took out all the Star Conches, arranging them in a circle, sat inside it, holding a Golden Page, repeatedly reading and studying.

The cultivation method for the Undying Star Body is divided into two steps.

The first step is to cultivate under the light of the stars and Star Conches, similar to practicing a cultivation technique.

The second step is to take a medicinal bath.

Unfortunately, the official herbs required for the Undying Star Body are nowhere to be found. He could only settle for generic baths, adding some herbs that might have a similar efficacy.

Zhou Leng looked up at the sky; it was a vast white expanse, all obscured by the power of the Frost Giant Tree.

However, there must be star power.

Zhou Leng had already memorized the cultivation technique for the Undying Star Body thoroughly. He lightly reviewed it, set it down, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes, straightening his body.

The orthodox way to cultivate the Undying Star Body is to fly into the starry sky, ideally in the center of a galaxy.

Billions of stars swirling, countless starlights casting down.

But for beginners, they can only start with the weakest attraction of the stars.

Zhou Leng began by breathing slowly, recalling the stars of the sky in his mind, preparing to use his mind to connect with the stars of the heaven.

The first thing that appeared in his mind was the magnificent star rings of the Giant World, the most densely packed galaxy he’d ever seen.

After a long time, the connection failed.

Alternatively, his mind then conjured the countless stars of the Fierce Beast World seen at Mammoth Lake.

He tried to drag as many stars into his consciousness as possible, letting his mind adhere to them.

Failed.

As another alternative, his mind envisioned Blue Star’s sun and moon.

Failed.

He only focused on the moon.

Failed.

Zhou Leng opened his eyes, slightly confused.

The cultivation method of the Undying Star Body seemed simple enough.

"Attract the stars into your consciousness, connect your consciousness to the stars, then receive the starlight to absorb star power and temper the body."

Zhou Leng looked at the surrounding Star Conches, doubting if they were all counterfeit.

Although he knew the cultivation process of the Undying Star Body was very long, it couldn’t be that even the entry-level took so long, could it...

After thinking for a bit, Zhou Leng decided to lower his expectations and give up on the moon.

So, Zhou Leng closed his eyes, envisioning the appearance of the Solar System in his mind.

The sun, planets, satellites, the moon...

Ultimately, his consciousness depicted the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The term asteroid belt is a pleasant way of saying it; the unpleasant term is space’s rock debris field.

Zhou Leng envisioned the entire asteroid belt.

Failed.

Lowering his aim further, he visualized the largest asteroid in the belt, which strictly speaking is a dwarf planet, Ceres.

After envisioning for a long time, he opened his eyes.

He hadn’t seen it, nor felt anything.

He opened the database on his demonized wristwatch and browsed all available information about Ceres, including various videos and photos.

Gradually, he gained an understanding of Ceres.

Ceres is called an asteroid, but its surface is actually quite large, nearly three times the land area of Dragon Country.

Its diameter is about a quarter of the moon’s.