CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 141: COMBAT (4K)

Li Ang walked all the way back to Chang’an, first stopping by Song Shaoyuan’s home on the pretext of a visit to check the situation.

Song Shaoyuan was currently busy with this summer’s Academic Palace entrance examinations. He, You Douzhi, and the maids in his household showed no signs of being controlled, nor was there any trace of an alien presence nearby.

After exchanging a few words, Li Ang returned to his Golden City Mansion. Chai Cuiqiao, who had spent the day with Li Leqing in the Great Ming Palace’s inner garden, had just returned. After they had dinner, Li Ang sat alone in his study, lost in thought.

Ya Jiu... Zhao Ming...

It was certain that Ya Jiu’s words contained deception—or at least concealment.

On one hand, he claimed to harbor great love and wished to change the world. On the other, he took hostages and, to ensure silence, wouldn’t hesitate to kill a woman from Pingkang Square. Yet, he had also prepared in advance Mutated Object Paper capable of erasing memories.

Was he testing my character? Or the mutated objects I obtained from the underground palace? Or did he want me to participate in the slaughter, thereby sealing my allegiance? Or was it a combination of all these?

Li Ang’s brow furrowed slightly. The two controlled Judges of the Town Suppressing Office exhibited genuine skills of the Martial Arts Postnatal Realm, and Ya Jiu himself had clearly not revealed his full strength.

Could this so-called Zhao Ming truly possess several, or even a group of, Candle Cloud Realm cultivators...?

Unconsciously, Li Ang tapped his fingertips on the table. He focused his consciousness on his calf, where a metal token lay wrapped in Mo Si against the inner skin. Mo Si could isolate spiritual energy fluctuations, thereby concealing the token’s existence.

Ya Jiu gave me the token directly. Either he believes threatening Song Shaoyuan and Aunt Song’s lives is enough to control me completely, ensuring I won’t tell anyone about Zhao Ming, or he’s utterly confident that it wouldn’t matter even if I did leak the information.

Given their methods, the former seemed unlikely,

Li Ang mused. It was more probable they didn’t fear the information getting out.

There could be several reasons they don’t fear exposure.

One, Yu Country’s leadership already knows about Zhao Ming, and Zhao Ming knows they know, so exposure isn’t a concern.

Two, I’m just bait. Ya Jiu doesn’t mind me passing on the information; doing so might even help Zhao Ming achieve some goal.

Three, Zhao Ming’s infiltration of Yu Country is already severe. They could have people near Golden City Square, in the garrison, within the Yu Kingdom’s Court, and even inside the Academic Palace.

Four, Zhao Ming hasn’t been revealed yet, but they’re about to make a major move, announcing their existence to the world...

Li Ang’s mind raced. Whichever it was, it spelled trouble for him and for Yu Country.

A group of Candle Cloud Realm cultivators, unconstrained by national loyalty, webs of interest, or social ties, were essentially walking weapons of mass destruction. Not to mention they were suspected of possessing the Former Sui Sect’s legacy, along with numerous mutated objects of unknown function.

Destruction is always much easier than creation or protection.

Ultimately, who is absolutely trustworthy?

Li Ang slowly exhaled. The feeling of being exposed while his enemy remained hidden was deeply unsettling. Zhao Ming could have eyes and ears in the garrison, the Yu Kingdom’s Court, even within the Academic Palace. Li Ang couldn’t even be sure of the stance of the Academic Palace’s Doctors, its four Masters, or the Sacrificial Officer. After all, according to Ya Jiu, Jun Qianzi wanted the Academic Palace to rule Yu Country—an idea that could tempt certain cultivators.

The only ones absolutely trustworthy, the least likely to betray Yu Country, are Emperor Yu and the Mountain Master. Emperor Yu isn’t a cultivator in the strict sense, and he’s surrounded by too many hangers-on. That leaves the Mountain Master as the only reliable person I can inform about Zhao Ming. The question is, how do I get this information to the Mountain Master without anyone else finding out...?

In the study, the oil lamp, its fuel dwindling, flickered incessantly. Li Ang’s shadow danced unsteadily on the wall.

「 」

The next day, upon returning to the Academic Palace, Li Ang learned that the Mountain Master had already left Chang’an.

This wasn’t surprising. With the abilities of a Candle Cloud Realm cultivator, few places in the world were beyond reach. If willing to expend Spiritual Power, a round trip along the Silk Road wouldn’t take long at all. Two hundred years ago, Su Zi had enjoyed breakfast in Hangzhou watching the tide, then lunching on lychees in Lingnan, only to return to Chang’an by evening for passionate debates with various monks, Daoist priests, and foreign clergy, often accidentally spitting lychee pits at them in his fervor.

The current Mountain Master, Lian Xuanyao, had always enjoyed "traveling," both in his youth and in his older years. During the autumn semester of the third year of Zaiqian, the old master had been absent from the Academic Palace more often than he was present, frequently proving elusive.

But why disappear now, of all times...?

Disappointed, Li Ang left the supervision building. With the Mountain Master gone, he couldn’t share the intelligence with anyone else and could only wait.

The afternoon’s Physical Studies class was held in the Martial Arts Arena, its subject: combat. The objective: to knock down and defeat an opponent within a set time and designated area, by any means necessary—a battle between cultivators.

"...For today’s practical combat class, I hope everyone will uphold the principle of ’friendship first, competition second,’ and compete with style..."

The Doctor on the stage droned on about the class rules, while the students below had already started excitedly discussing among themselves.

In the previous Physical Studies and Military Studies classes, although there was armored combat, most of the freshmen were still in the Qi Sensing Realm, unable to unleash much talismanic magic.