Spirit Cliff Three Lists

"Here."

Since Ling Yuanbao was asking someone for help, she did not hold anything back. She directly brought Liang Yue back to the Ministry of Justice, took the ledger from a locked cabinet, and set the case file down before him as well.

Liang Yue had also discovered Captain Ling's good point: she listened.

Or rather, she trusted the people she used without doubting them.

After all, he had not yet completely shaken off his status as a suspect in this case, yet she had placed all the evidence and files right in front of him. Then she sat across from him with her chin propped in both hands, looking as if she had handed the whole matter over to him.

Liang Yue did not waste words. He sat down and began flipping through the ledger.

The account book was not thick. It recorded the Zhen household's daily expenditures, somewhat scattered and mostly trivial matters. Aside from his salary, Director Zhen had no other income, so the accounts appeared uncomplicated.

The Zhen household's daily expenses were truly frugal. Other than the food and clothing of the father and son and the old gatekeeper, along with Zhen Xiaohao's expenses at the academy, there was practically nothing else. There were indeed no social exchanges whatsoever. This thin booklet recorded all the accounts of the past several years.

Though thin, Liang Yue read it slowly, as though he intended to examine every single word with care.

After a while, Ling Yuanbao grew bored and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Pour me a cup of water," Liang Yue said naturally without raising his head.

"Huh?" Ling Yuanbao tilted her head, feeling that something was off. But seeing how utterly focused he was, she still got up and poured him a cup of tea.

Only after a long while did Liang Yue finish reading. He set down the ledger, let out a breath, and said, "The income and expenses all match. There's no need to verify these bits and pieces of physical goods. It really seems there's no problem at all."

"So even you can't spot anything wrong." Ling Yuanbao was slightly disappointed.

"It's fine. I'll look through the case file again." Liang Yue smiled. "This sort of matter cannot be rushed."

Though he could be considered a firsthand witness to the murder, there was still much about the Ministry of Justice's later investigation that he did not know. So he read through the case file once more.

There was little to say about the investigation of the crime scene. After his previous deduction, it had already been established that the murderer was a martial expert who had come and gone from on high to commit the crime.

It was impossible to identify the murderer from the scene.

What he focused on was the investigation into Zhen Changzhi's relationships.

Liao Zhongchun, the Ministry of Justice director who had visited Zhen Changzhi before his death, had also been questioned. He said he had merely gone to chat about recent events. The two had studied together since childhood and shared a deep friendship, meeting like this every few days for a simple chat.

As for the letter Liang Yue had mentioned, he knew absolutely nothing about it.

There were essentially no clues from him.

Nor did Zhen Changzhi have any enemies. As a Ministry of Works director, he was responsible for reviewing engineering blueprints and auditing construction costs, and he had always been conscientious over the years.

If there had been even the slightest impropriety, he could not have earned such a reputation for incorruptibility.

In his position, it was inevitable that he would offend some people. There had indeed been accusations that he accepted bribes and inflated costs. Yet after repeated investigations, it was found that he had never privately contacted anyone. Those accusations had all been slander.

He was too clean!

Anyone who read through the case file might begin to wonder... had Zhen Changzhi somehow found those tens of thousands of taels of silver while walking down the road one day?

Or had someone built them into the walls of his house while he slept, framing him?

After looking through everything, Liang Yue set down the file, rubbed his eyes, then looked up and said, "I really can't see any issue for now. Let me go back and think it over carefully."

"All right." Ling Yuanbao seemed not to hold much hope either. "You can't take the originals away, but you may make a copy."

"No need." Liang Yue smiled and pointed to his head. "It's all in here."

Ling Yuanbao blinked. "Huh?"

Liang Yue had not been exaggerating. After that careful review, Zhen Changzhi's ledger and case file were already all stored in his mind.

It was said that once one cultivated to an extremely high realm and possessed powerful Divine Sense, one could remember everything at a glance. Mystic Art Masters who cultivated the Divine Soul could gain such an ability at an earlier realm as well.

Liang Yue naturally had nothing to do with either of those. It was merely an insignificant little exam-preparation trick. Back when he had studied, he discovered that as long as he repeated every sentence once in his mind, he could achieve perfect recall after a single reading.

But when he shared this trick with others, they generally found it not very practical.

When he returned to their station, he found everyone gathered together, discussing something with great excitement.

"What's going on?" Liang Yue asked in puzzlement. "It isn't payday today, is it?"

"The Spirit Cliff Three Lists have changed again. Every major tavern in the divine capital has posted them up." Chen Ju turned around and handed him a small booklet, its pages covered in rough handwriting clearly copied down by someone.

"The Spirit Cliff Three Lists?" Liang Yue asked as he accepted it. "Why are you all paying attention to this?"

"Isn't the City Seizing Battle happening next year? So everyone's been keeping an eye on it. Any little movement on the lists at this time is enough to stir up discussion," Chen Ju explained.

"Oh, right." Only then did Liang Yue understand.

The Spirit Cliff Three Lists were a grand event in the martial world.

There was an island in the South Sea called Spirit Cliff Island. A towering mountain stood upon it, one side of which was an exceptionally flat cliff face made entirely of smooth, lustrous jade. Its scale was astonishing, its value impossible to estimate.

The island's master called himself All-Knowing. No one had ever seen his true face, but everyone who caused trouble on Spirit Cliff Island would be punished by him.

On the first day of every month, the jade cliff of Spirit Cliff shone brilliantly, and three lists calculated by All-Knowing's divinations appeared upon it.

The Reaching Heaven Ranking listed the strongest experts in the world by realm.

The Young Phoenix Ranking listed the strongest young Heaven's Chosen under twenty.

The Immortal Object Ranking listed the world's supreme treasures, including divine weapons, magical artifacts, spirit plants, and more.

Over the past few decades, more and more curious people had traveled to Spirit Cliff Island to observe the lists, regularly copying them down and sending them across the lands of the Nine Provinces. After comparing them in every way, they discovered that All-Knowing of the South Sea had never once been wrong.

There had, of course, been cases where people on the list defeated stronger opponents despite lower realms. But the rankings were based on cultivation realms and could not directly represent combat strength.

Divine weapons, pills, talismans, formations... all these external aids; the characteristics of one's cultivation, such as a Mystic Art Master with a frail body being approached by a martial artist; even one's physical condition that day could affect the balance of strength and determine victory or defeat.

But realms were solid and real. Higher meant higher.

Gradually, the Spirit Cliff Three Lists became the most authoritative rankings in the martial world.

Still, such matters were widely spread only among martial folk. Liang Yue had only begun martial cultivation not long ago, and he worked for the authorities. He had previously only heard people discussing them in teahouses and taverns. This was his first time seeing the actual contents of the lists.

He had never paid much attention to such things. No matter who made the list, it would never be him anyway.

But since Chen Ju had handed it over, he gave it a glance. The first section was the Reaching Heaven Ranking.

"Reaching Heaven Ranking, first place: Zhu Renwang."

"Hm?" he asked. "Shouldn't the top of the Reaching Heaven Ranking be the Immortal Realm?"

Of the world's three great Immortal Realm experts—the Jiu Yang Martial God Kuo Muye, the Yin Dynasty's Grand Divine Officer Beiluo Shimen, and Master Chen Yandao of the Xuan Palm—it was hard to say who was stronger. But none of them were opponents anyone below the Immortal Realm could possibly compare to.

That was beyond all doubt.

"Come on, you don't even know that?" Chen Ju said. "Immortal Realm experts aren't included on the list. Once one reaches the Immortal Realm, one is no longer within the Five Elements. The Reaching Heaven Ranking lists those walking the road to heaven, while Immortal Realm experts are already above heaven. All-Knowing of the South Sea surely cannot divine them."

"So that's how it is." Liang Yue nodded.

"So Zhu Renwang being at the top really means he's fourth in the world." Chen Ju held up four fingers.

"No wonder the Ba Mountain Bandits are so difficult to deal with," Liang Yue said.

No one was unfamiliar with Zhu Renwang's great name.

The Ba Mountain Bandits had entrenched themselves in Liang Province for over ten years, nearly forming a nation of their own. Their leaders were the three brothers Zhu Renwang, Gu Renxiong, and Lu Renxian. Each had an astronomical bounty placed upon him by the Imperial Court, and all of them were figures on the Reaching Heaven Ranking.

For them to leave so many great figures in the Ministry of War helpless, they certainly possessed extraordinary abilities.

Second on the Reaching Heaven Ranking was Han Longxiang, leader of the Northern Sect Martial Monks and abbot of Accumulated Thunder Temple.

He had once ridden alone into the divine capital and defeated all twelve divine generals of Wu'an Hall. He too was a peerless savage, and no one disputed his second-place ranking.

The highest-ranked person on the Imperial Court's side was the current Imperial Preceptor.

"Reaching Heaven Ranking, seventh place: Li Longchan."

The Yin Dynasty's Imperial Preceptor had countless followers, and just as many who hated him. Yet whether people praised or condemned him, there was one point they absolutely acknowledged: his cultivation was immensely powerful.

There were only seventy-two positions on the list, encompassing martial artists, Qi Refiners of the Three Sects, and Mystic Art Masters across the world. No ordinary person could possibly be included. Every one of them was a resounding great figure.

A few did not reveal their true names, using nicknames instead.

That meant they had concealed their identities and traveled the martial world without using their real names. All-Knowing of the South Sea would not expose them either.

That was rather considerate.

After all, not every strong person wanted others to know just how formidable they were.

After scanning the Reaching Heaven Ranking, Liang Yue turned to the Heaven's Chosen under twenty on the Young Phoenix Ranking. These were all people of his own generation.

"Young Phoenix Ranking, first place: Feng Nanjue."

Another familiar name.

It was said that he was the personal disciple of the Martial God Kuo Muye. He could tear apart tigers and leopards with his bare hands at six years old, and he had cultivated under the Martial God for twelve years. He would presumably become another great enemy of the Nine Provinces' powerful figures in the future.

One could tell from his name that his attitude toward the Yin Dynasty of the southern kingdom was not particularly friendly.

"Young Phoenix Ranking, second place: Qi Yingwu."

Liang Yue seemed to have heard this name before too. He appeared to be the Senior Brother of the Plum Division at Sword Dao Academy, as well as a descendant of the Qi Clan, one of the Four Great Clans.

"Young Phoenix Ranking, third place: Wu Qilong."

He had no idea who this was. Young Heaven's Chosen were not as steady as established experts, and it was perfectly normal for a new one to suddenly emerge.

Though they were all of the same generation, those named on the Young Phoenix Ranking were still like figures in the heavens to them. There would be no interaction between them, so Liang Yue only skimmed through the list.

The only name that made him pause longer was the fourth.

"Young Phoenix Ranking, fourth place: Wen Yifan."

"Miss Wen is that formidable?" he could not help saying.

"Hehe." Chen Ju grinned. "And the Sword Control Branch is the foremost in slaughter among the mystic schools. In terms of actual combat strength, the three above her might not necessarily be able to beat her."

Remembering the fierce sharpness of her sword arriving from the west, Liang Yue nodded in deep agreement.

"I don't even dare imagine it—if I could make the Young Phoenix Ranking, even at the very bottom," Chen Ju said enviously. "By then, there'd probably be too many beauties throwing themselves into my arms to count. Three in the daytime and four at night... no, four in the daytime and three at night..."

"What a pity," Liang Yue said with a smile. "If there were a Lustful Men Ranking in the world, you would definitely be first."

The Young Phoenix Ranking had only thirty-six people. Turning another page brought him to the Immortal Object Ranking.

The very first name made Liang Yue's pupils contract, a trace of surprise appearing on his face.

"Immortal Object Ranking, first place: Nine Secrets Heavenly Book."

Good morning.