Chapter 180: Secret Plot

After entering the city and reaching a fork in the road, Li Yue’er’s group parted ways with the people from the Evil Extermination Bureau.

Li Yue’er said, "Young Master Lu, the Observatory Master, my uncles, and I are staying at my father’s residence. When you have time, please come and be our guest."

Li Qian, a True Master of the Martial Dao.

Although he held no official post, he had been ennobled as a Third-Grade Marquis in the Wu Country.

"I will be sure to visit another day."

Lu Bai nodded.

The groups parted, and Lu Bai’s contingent headed toward the Evil Extermination Bureau.

Along the way, many people in the city turned to look, clearly having already heard about Lu Bai eliminating the Water Ghost. Their gazes held a hint of respect.

The Water Ghost menace had persisted for so long, only to be settled by a newly arrived Evil Exterminator Guard.

Everyone from the Evil Extermination Bureau was in high spirits.

Originally, the Evil Extermination Bureau had been in the hot seat, with the Governor of Jingzhou himself coming to their door to hold them accountable.

If it had dragged on any longer, there was no telling what might have happened.

Now that the Water Ghost problem was resolved, the pressure on everyone vanished, and they felt a great sense of relief.

But as Lu Bai headed back, his expression was grim and his mind was heavy with worry.

’That Red and White Collision Evil... I originally thought it was just a coincidence.’

’But now, it seems that both the Red Evil, the Ghost Bride, and the White Evil, the Water Ghost, point toward the Fujiao Gang.’

’Bai Chuchu was tricked into going to Renyi Manor by Captain Liu of the Fujiao Gang.’

’And for Daoist Xue Chen, a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator, to have drowned in the Jingshui River with the Fujiao Gang claiming complete ignorance... that in itself is suspicious.’

’The Bai Family Village massacre, the annihilation of Renyi Manor, the Red and White Collision Evil, Xue Chen’s lingering obsession, the Corpse Refining Sect in Stone Forest Valley, the ambush by the Mo Country’s True Master of the Martial Dao after entering the city, the Water Ghost in the Jingshui River, Wangjiang Tower...’

’All these incidents seemed chaotic and unrelated, yet they felt connected by a thousand invisible threads.’

’But with so little information, I still can’t piece it all together.’

’Some key information is missing.’

’Or a key person.’

’The late Daoist Xue Chen must have known something.’

After returning to the Evil Extermination Bureau, Mo Tang summoned Lu Bai and He Liangzhi into a secret room.

Mo Tang asked, "Xiaolu, you seem to have something on your mind since we returned to the city?"

"Do you remember what I told you about Bai Family Village?"

Lu Bai said, "The person who tricked Bai Chuchu into going to Renyi Manor is a Squad Leader from the Fujiao Gang. I saw him by the river today."

He Liangzhi pondered for a moment. "But that was an Illusion Realm created by the Ghost Bride. It’s hard to say if it was real or not."

"What do you want to do?"

Mo Tang asked, staring at Lu Bai.

Lu Bai replied, "Real or not, we’ll find out once we question that Captain Liu."

"You want to get justice for Bai Chuchu?"

Mo Tang asked.

Lu Bai said, "Regardless, we managed to escape with our lives that night thanks to her. If we have the chance, we should give her some closure."

’If that Ghost Bride ever comes looking for me, at least I’ll have something to say and won’t have a guilty conscience.’

Lu Bai thought for a moment, then added, "Besides, Captain Liu is solely responsible for the Ghost Bride’s creation. This matter falls under the jurisdiction of our Evil Extermination Bureau."

"Alright."

Mo Tang nodded. "But we’ll need to be clever about how we question him. First, the Fujiao Gang is powerful. We can’t just go and arrest someone without a solid reason."

He Liangzhi nodded in agreement. "A reason based solely on the Ghost Bride’s Illusion Realm definitely won’t hold up."

Mo Tang continued, "Second, even if we do arrest him, getting him to talk is another problem."

After all, this matter has huge implications, involving Bai Family Village, the annihilation of Renyi Manor, and hundreds of lives.

If Captain Liu remains tight-lipped and flatly denies everything, it will be very difficult to force the truth out of him.

Lu Bai thought for a moment and said, "I have an idea we can try."

The three of them conspired for a while before Lu Bai and He Liangzhi left the secret room and returned to their respective quarters.

Lu Bai immediately inspected the Ancient Mirror and carefully counted his gains.

Thirteen strands of Level 2 Soul Light.

One strand of Level 3 Soul Light.

’What a massive haul this time.’

Without hesitation, Lu Bai fused a strand of Level 2 Soul Light into the "Red Ming Celestial Patrol," cultivating this Ultimate Skill to the Perfection realm.

’I’ve never been this flush before.’

Next, Lu Bai repaired "Nine Netherworld" to the Celestial Tier.

Even after reaching the Celestial Tier, there was still a "Repairable" indicator, proving that the upper limit of "Nine Netherworld" was the Ultimate Skill realm.

Unfortunately, Lu Bai couldn’t cultivate this Ultimate Skill himself.

’It’s fine as long as the Black Dog can cultivate it.’

To continue repairing it to the Ultimate Skill realm would require Level 3 Soul Light.

Lu Bai hesitated but couldn’t bring himself to use it.

’Letting the dog cultivate a Celestial Tier Technique is good enough for now. I’ll figure out the rest later...’

’I should see if I can find a High Grade Body Technique to comprehend later on.’

’Once that’s done, my Martial Dao will be more or less complete, with almost no weaknesses.’

His only current weakness was perhaps his Innate Technique.

After all, the "Fiery Sun Technique" was only at the Earth Tier; its cultivation speed and power were far inferior to an Ultimate Skill.

But this couldn’t be rushed. He could only wait for an opportunity.

Lu Bai calmed his breath and focused his mind, beginning to circulate the "Fiery Sun Technique" to refine the energy within the Fire Cloud Pill.

In Cultivation, one condensed Magical Power, and Qi sank to the Lower Dantian.

However, a Martial Artist cultivated Blood Qi, which condensed in the Middle Dantian, located near the chest.

Originally, this mass of energy had been accumulating in the Middle Dantian in his chest.

Under the guidance of the "Fiery Sun Technique," this warm mass of energy began to assault his second Meridian!

「Two hours later.」

The second Meridian was cleared!

A significant amount of energy still remained in his Dantian.

Lu Bai continued to cultivate, attempting to clear the third Meridian.

This time, the process was much slower.

A full four hours passed before Lu Bai barely managed to clear the third Meridian. His body’s Blood Qi was almost completely depleted, and he was drenched in sweat.

There were six Meridians in the arms: three Yin Meridians and three Yang Meridians.

Lu Bai had first cleared the three Yang Meridians, as this would allow him to maximize the power of his "Fiery Sun Technique" and "Red Ming Celestial Patrol"!

Furthermore, after clearing three Meridians, Lu Bai was already showing signs of "Blood Qi as fine as silk."

This was mainly because Lu Bai had a solid foundation. The Ultimate Skills he had cultivated during the Root Bone Stage and the Inner Strength Realm produced Blood Qi far more powerful than that of his peers.

Other Innate Martial Artists might not achieve "Blood Qi as fine as silk" even after clearing all six Meridians.

After cultivating for more than six hours, night had fallen.

Lu Bai rested for a while longer to recover some Blood Qi and stamina before slinging the Cyan Cloud Sword over his back, putting on the Mountain Demon Hat, and slipping silently out of the Evil Extermination Bureau, heading out of the city.

Once outside the city, Lu Bai made his way to the ferry crossing on the Jingshui River and began to observe.

He soon spotted several Fujiao Gang disciples.

Lu Bai secretly followed them for a while, listening in, then switched to another group of Fujiao Gang disciples and continued to eavesdrop.

After switching between several groups, he finally heard the name "Captain Liu" from one of the Fujiao Gang disciples.

He listened for a while longer and gathered a good deal of information about the Fujiao Gang, including the location of Captain Liu’s residence.

The members of the Fujiao Gang all lived at Fujiao Manor, located ten li outside of Jingzhou City.

The gang had ten Squad Leaders, all of whom were Innate Martial Artists.

Even with his Mountain Demon Hat, it wouldn’t be easy for Lu Bai to make a move inside Fujiao Manor.

However, Lu Bai overheard a piece of news from these Fujiao Gang disciples.

This Captain Liu kept a concubine in Jingzhou City.

Every seven days, he would come into the city to spend the night at his concubine’s house.

Captain Liu had just visited last night.

He would have to wait another six days.