Chapter 106: The Brahma Cultivators Appear!

Great Shun, the Capital.

At the Renown Oversight Terrace, the world-famous Armament Manual hung high. Below it, countless officials rushed about, managing the fallout of the title changes on the list.

"Lord Li, please don't make things difficult for me."

Below the terrace, an old man wore a bitter expression, looking helplessly at the official in court robes beside him. "The dynasty has strict rules. The Renown Oversight Terrace does not interfere in court politics."

"I haven't asked you to interfere with court politics."

The official said in a deep voice, "I am merely asking you to help me find a murderer. This is a father's hope, and it has nothing to do with state affairs."

"Unless... that murderer is connected to court politics?"

"This..."

Hearing this, the old man grew even more exasperated. "Your Lordship can already guess the answer. Since that is the case, why make things difficult for us clerks trying to do our jobs?"

The official was none other than the current Vice Minister of Rites, Li Wenzheng.

He had a son named Li Yiran—titled the River and Mountain Brush on the Armament Manual and a Hanlin scholar of the palace—who had unexpectedly died in Longxing County.

"It's that Wang Ping, isn't it?"

Li Wenzheng lowered his voice. "Dragon Fist Wang Ping, ranked first on the Human Ranking. The very day he appeared on the Armament Manual, my son and Xu Bingzheng died."

"Although his name vanished from the Armament Manual shortly after, he reappeared seven days later, leaping straight to sixth place. This perfectly coincided with the end of the Longxing County incident. From this, it is clear he was the key factor throughout the affair."

"He killed my son."

"The National Academy's scheme also failed because of him." Li Wenzheng's tone was dark. "For the sake of both public duty and private vengeance, tell me, shouldn't I question this man?"

The old man was left speechless.

"Since Your Lordship has already figured it all out, what else is there to ask? Our Renown Oversight Terrace doesn't know any more than you do, and you won't get anything out of us."

"Not quite."

Li Wenzheng shook his head. "There are still things to ask. For example, how did this Wang Ping come back to life? And exactly where is he at this moment?"

The old man shook his head. "The world is vast. With evil entities and extraordinary persons about, there are countless methods to return from the dead. Setting everything else aside, which of the top five Titled Martial Masters on the current Armament Manual hasn't resurrected before? The Renown Oversight Terrace has never probed deeply into this, much less deliberately investigated it."

These were by no means perfunctory words.

After all, resurrection involved a person's life, backing, and background. The waters were simply too deep. They couldn't investigate everything—what if they actually uncovered something they shouldn't?

"You must have a theory."

Li Wenzheng said flatly, "That Wang Ping died once. How he died is recorded on the Armament Manual. Using that as a reference, guessing shouldn't be hard, right?"

"This..."

Facing pressure from the current Vice Minister of Rites, the old man truly had no choice but to whisper, "I guess... and this is just a guess, that it might be related to a divine weapon."

"Resurrected by the power of a divine weapon?" Li Wenzheng pressed.

"Perhaps the spirit of a divine weapon."

The old man continued, "The saber strike that placed him on the Armament Manual the second time was recorded. It was terrifying, but it also exposed his state at that time."

"I am seventy percent certain that he was a divine weapon spirit possessing a Mortal at that moment. But strangely, I also watched the footage of his first appearance on the Armament Manual, and back then, he seemed like a regular Mortal, not a divine weapon spirit. Therefore, I can only categorize it as a guess."

Li Wenzheng listened thoughtfully.

"That is enough."

"Regardless, his resurrection is linked to a divine weapon. That much is absolutely certain. As long as I know that, the rest will be easy to handle."

With that, Li Wenzheng cupped his hands.

"Now, for this man's current location."

"This..."

The old man looked hesitant.

Seeing this, Li Wenzheng didn't waste words, stating bluntly, "Speaking of which, hasn't your grandson just entered the National Academy to prepare for the imperial examinations?"

"...I understand."

The old man sighed. He glanced at the Armament Manual on the terrace, formed a hand seal, and then took out paper and a brush, slowly writing down a location.

"Thank you."

Having obtained the location, Li Wenzheng immediately left the Renown Oversight Terrace. Returning straight to his estate, he entered the main hall, sat down in a grand armchair, and sank into thought.

A moment later, the sound of steady footsteps echoed outside the hall. Soon, a youth with a commanding stride and an honest, simple expression walked in. He carried a twelve-chi-long spear on his back. Its blade emerged from the maw of a carved dragon, and crimson patterns were inscribed along its shaft. It looked less like a spear and more like an enraged, chained dragon!

With such intense spirituality, it was already a divine weapon.

Any martial artist whose cultivation in Divine Intent was lacking would feel a stinging pain from its sharp aura just by glancing at this dragon spear, their eyes perhaps even weeping tears of blood.

Among all the Martial Masters in the world, only one person could wield this spear.

Ranked third on the Armament Manual, the Hegemon Spear, Ji Wuhen!

"You're here."

Li Wenzheng opened his eyes and looked at the honest-faced youth. "Your martial arts are excellent. Kill someone for me. As long as the job is clean, I will not be stingy with the reward."

The top five on the Armament Manual were known as the Five Greats of the World. They were the martial artists with the highest hopes of reaching the Grandmaster Rank, and their reputations were generally upright and honorable. The sole exception was this Hegemon Spear. His ambition was actually to be an assassin, and almost everything he did was shady and underhanded.

But it was precisely because of this that Li Wenzheng had sought him out.

After all, he needed an assassin right now.

"Of the top five on the Armament Manual, you are different from the other four. You lack the backing of a major sect, and your martial arts have flaws. You have only reached this point by relying on fortuitous encounters."

"I can be your backer."

Li Wenzheng said in a deep voice:

"With my support, whether it be peerless martial arts or miraculous pills and medicines—whatever the disciples of major sects have, you will have too, and in greater quantities!"

With the matter laid out so clearly, Ji Wuhen naturally understood.

"Who does Your Lordship want killed?"

Li Wenzheng took out the location intel he had just obtained from the Renown Oversight Terrace. "Ranked sixth on the Armament Manual, the Dragon Head Guillotine, Wang Ping. He is currently in Longxing County of Shuzhong."

"Who?"

Ji Wuhen's voice instantly jumped an octave. "Does Your Lordship not know that this man can resurrect? Furthermore, he holds a world-renowned semi-divine weapon."

Li Wenzheng remained unmoved. "Would someone like you care about such things?"

"Your Lordship misunderstands."

Ji Wuhen shook his head. "A martial artist who can resurrect is not only hard to kill, but definitely has a strong background. Not to mention, he is sixth on the Armament Manual; he might not be any weaker than me."

"What do you want, then?" Li Wenzheng frowned.

"I need more money!"

Ji Wuhen said without hesitation, "In addition to the rewards Your Lordship just mentioned, I also need the National Academy to forge a divine weapon exclusively for me."

"Deal."

Li Wenzheng agreed readily.

"Very well." Ji Wuhen nodded. "Going from here to Shuzhong and back will take about half a month at the fastest. Your Lordship can await my good news."

"I cannot wait half a month." Li Wenzheng cut Ji Wuhen off directly, then shifted his gaze. "Master Kongzhi, I must trouble you this time."

As his voice fell, a monk wearing a kasaya walked in through the back door of the hall. His face was bizarrely mysterious; he actually possessed two pairs of eyes and two mouths, each differently shaped. When he opened one pair of eyes and one mouth, the other eyes and mouth would narrow into fine slits.

In this state, he bore the appearance of a man.

But when he switched to the other pair of eyes and the other mouth, the structure of his facial features shifted, instantly transforming from a man's face into a woman's.

Two different faces shared a single head.

Such eerie strangeness instantly made Ji Wuhen turn serious. He frowned. "Your Lordship is truly bold. You secretly harbor an evil entity in your home?"

"Brother Ji misunderstands." Li Wenzheng shook his head. "Master Kongzhi is no evil entity. He merely practices an extraordinary art, which makes his appearance a bit unusual."

Ji Wuhen's frown deepened. After all, from a martial artist's perspective, there was no difference between an extraordinary person and an evil entity; the former was often even more troublesome.

"...A Loose Immortal?"

"Amitabha."

Hearing this, the monk chanted a Buddhist invocation and smiled. "Our sect calls ourselves 'Enlightened Ones.' We do not go by the title of 'Loose Immortal.' Though, of course, our level of cultivation and magic power is about the same."

"Brother Ji's trip to Shuzhong will be arranged by Master Kongzhi," Li Wenzheng continued. "The Master will chant the Ten-Thousand-Mile Divine Travel True Words Great Incantation for you. With the incantation's blessing, Brother Ji will reach Shuzhong within three days. Given the skills of the Hegemon Spear, I believe I will have good news very soon."

"...Now that's much better."

Ji Wuhen finally relaxed his brows and recovered his smile. "Not wasting time on the road will save my strength. I will have to trouble the Master, then."

"Excellent, excellent."

Master Kongzhi nodded, then began reciting scriptures in a hushed tone. The pace was incredibly fast; to Ji Wuhen's ears, it sounded like nothing but annoying, tedious noise.

But soon, as Master Kongzhi's voice ceased, Ji Wuhen saw a sudden golden light flare around his legs. The light coalesced into one strange talisman after another. Manifesting auspicious clouds, they lifted him up, while a golden glow paved the way. Wrapping around his body, they launched him into the sky, and he vanished into the distance.

"Amitabha."

After watching Ji Wuhen depart, Master Kongzhi chanted again, then said, "This Benefactor Ji possesses a Buddha's heart. He is well-suited to put down the butcher's knife."

"That's perfect, then."

Li Wenzheng said coldly, "Then let him test the waters. Master, you will follow behind him. If he kills that Wang Ping, he will be yours to handle as you please."

"If he fails, you will strike."

"Once the matter is resolved, I will personally arrange everything for your sect to establish a temple here in the Capital..."

Towards the end, Li Wenzheng grew visibly nervous, subconsciously swallowing hard, but the hateful resentment of his son's murder steeled his resolve.

"Amitabha."

Upon hearing this, Master Kongzhi retracted his male face and revealed his female visage. Even his voice turned seductive. "The Benefactor's merit is boundless."

With that, he walked out of the hall.

In the next second, with a burst of golden light, the monk cast off the mortal world and arrived above the sea of clouds. All four of his eyes opened simultaneously, gazing far off toward Shuzhong.

Almost at the exact same moment.

"Brahma Cultivators, how dare you... actually smuggle the Eight Trigrams Furnace!"

A thunderclap suddenly tore through the clear sky. The clouds scattered and the heavens opened. The Book Mountain Sect Master merged with a flash of sword light, piercing through the void to land directly in front of Master Kongzhi.