I Can See Your Combat Power

“Oh, right, besides those in Middle Ying City, I took a part to Longxi to kill time. Tsk, tsk, tsk, the Tang Clan does have some tricks up their sleeve in cultivating the Wind Media. There were several times they almost found the thread—truly fascinating.”

Old Master Xu, holding the ring, could hardly believe his eyes as he looked up at Wang Chan’s undisturbed gaze, barely recognizing him, and could only tremble and say, “You’ve only been with the Dutian Heavenly King’s patrol for a few years, how have you become so terrifying?”

“Terrifying?” Wang Chan shrugged and said, “Powerful might be more accurate. Xu Sheng’s grand wish for everyone to be like dragons, in the end, is just an impractical dream. You should understand that even with the same birth and resources, the ultimate achievements of people can vary as much as heaven and earth. And you and I, are destined to be among the few to reach the end. Thus, it should be considered an honor for insignificant creatures like the Tang Clan to serve you.”

“Wang Chan.” Old Master Xu showed a complex expression, lifting the ring in his hand and said, “You say that group of people would die for this ring, but what would happen if the person holding this ring never appeared?”

“Hmm…” Wang Chan touched his chin, wondering, “Are you planning to let these people die of old age in the Ranyezhu Garden?”

Old Master Xu did not answer, but clenched his right fist, and the ring turned into sand, trickling down.

...

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, such a shame.” Wang Chan watched as the ring crumbled into sand, shaking his head in regret, “Those people were quite useful. What a pity.”

“Wang Chan, not everyone takes pleasure in manipulating people’s hearts like you do.”

Old Master Xu angrily said, “After deducing, you threaten; after elevating, you manipulate; you support the weakened to gain power, you only act when assured, and you mediate only after the trouble starts, creating confusion amidst chaos. That must be how you established that impressive power in just a few short years, right?”

“Ahahaha, ahahahahaha.” Wang Chan burst into hearty laughter, clapping while laughing uncontrollably, “My brothers always say you’re slow-witted, easily deceived, but I never saw it that way. Indeed, you simply didn’t want to think about it. With just a few offhand remarks you’ve outlined the essence of the art of cunning schemes. One would think you were a son of the Wang Clan from the southern regions.”

“Heh. Since you’ve already achieved your goal, what’s the point of staying here? Go back to the Dutian Heavenly King’s patrol and report back. Let them witness your brilliant tactics. Let the monastery that entrusted you become your new source of support. It would be best to also visit Buddha’s Country in Zhongzhou, let the Buddha Lord have a look, and if you manage to find Yankong, bring him this good news.”

Old Master Xu sneered, “This way, you’ll gain quite a few favors again, and when the right time comes, they will all be converted into your strength. Wang Chan, don’t you think living like this is too exhausting?”

“Exhausting?” Wang Chan smirked, “How could it be exhausting? It’s so interesting. This world is like a game of chess, and in the end, only a few can hold the pieces. It’s easy to be a chess piece, but what’s the difference between that and a walking corpse with unresolved grudges? Therefore, if you want to be a chess player, you need to start looking for your own pieces from now on. The Longxi Alliance, what a fine piece it is, don’t waste it.”

“Boring.” Old Master Xu shook off the remaining sand from his hand, turned his back on Wang Chan, and said indifferently, “If you come to see me next time to talk about love and poetry, then come. If it’s for official business, let’s not meet.”

…

Wind Media Department of Aran Mountain

Tang Luo flipped through the records of the attacked merchant ships, feeling more and more that something was amiss. All the attacked ships were near Lanshan City. The ships went silent, and even if a Fierce Realm powerhouse dived to the bottom of the river, they could only see the fragmented remains of the merchant ships and scattered corpses, as if the cargo ships were disintegrated in an instant, leaving all on board dead.

“To achieve such a level of destruction, one would need extremely ferocious Profound Grade Spirit Arts, and even a top-notch Transcendence Joint Attack wouldn’t suffice.

Such noises logically couldn’t be concealed from anyone, yet it happened right under the nose of Lanshan City.

The most baffling thing was the bodies scattered at the riverbed; the attackers weren’t after the cargo, not even for looting wealth. They killed people, sank ships and left, but why couldn’t the number of bodies ever match up?

Holding the case files from the Wind Media Department, Tang Luo directly approached an idle tracker from the Wind Media and asked, “Excuse me, sir, why is it that the number of bodies retrieved from Lingjiang always fails to match up? For example, the merchant ship Yongning was missing three sailors, the wreckage of Yangfan short by as many as ten, and the Polang…”

“Reporting back to Minister Luo, there are tumultuous undercurrents and many whirlpools formed by reefs at the bottom of Lingjiang, scattering the remains and bodies which are often swept away, resulting in the count always being off,” the middle-aged Wind Media member explained carefully. “We initially investigated this matter, suspecting that there might be an internal traitor colluding with the enemy, but after checking, we found that those sailors were martial artists from various clan branches, and since no valuables were missing from the wreckage, there’s no reason to believe in collusion with outsiders.”

“Is that so?” Tang Luo looked at the files in his hand and pondered for a moment before saying, “Although the riverbed whirlpools are rapid, they do have an end. If these sailors were innocent victims, their bodies should eventually be found downstream. Notify the Wind Media Department and Martial Hall in Qutang City, instructing them to search for floating bodies from downstream up Lingjiang. These people died for the sake of commerce and deserve to be honorably returned to their hometowns for a prestigious funeral.”

“Understood, Minister Luo, I will send the notification immediately.”

“I appreciate your effort, sir.”

After giving the orders, Tang Luo returned to the quiet room with the files to continue his review.

As the seconds and minutes ticked by, the alarm bell of the Wind Media Department suddenly blared. Upon leaving the quiet room, he saw a young Wind Media member holding a spirit tablet and shouting, “A merchant ship of the Cui Family, the Baisheng, thirty li to the west of Lanshan City has been attacked. Dispatch Wind Media immediately to investigate and report to the First Head of the Martial Hall!”

The response of the Wind Media Department couldn’t be said to be slow, but faster still was a silvery radiance flashing outside, the very same Tang Luo who received the firsthand report and took to the skies.

Hundreds of li of misty waves seemed like nothing in Tang Luo’s eyes. Focusing westward, he saw the gradually sinking Cui Family’s merchant ship and the digits of numbers submerged in the water.

The sailors who engaged in commerce were naturally all skilled in water, capable of swimming back even thirty li of waterway. However, in Tang Luo’s eyes, those fish-like swimmers, though spreading out in all directions as soon as they hit the water, were dying one after another.

For below the water, apart from them, there were three shadows with values exceeding 30,000. No wonder the merchant ship sank so swiftly, no wonder no sailor survived.

Yet he still did not understand how these Fierce Realm martial artists got the information about the merchant ship’s voyage and how they could attack the ship without making a sound.

A loud sonic boom exploded in the sky, and Tang Luo, like a sword cleaving the clouds, sped towards the west.”

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