Spirit Cliff Three Lists

"Understood."

Since Ling Yuanbao was asking for help, she didn't hide anything. She immediately brought Liang Yue back to the Ministry of Justice, took out the ledger from the locked cabinet, and placed the case file in front of him as well.

Liang Yue also discovered the advantage of this Captain Ling: she was obedient.

Or perhaps, she trusted the person she employed.

After all, he hadn't completely shed his identity as a suspect in this case, yet she had directly handed over all the evidence and case files. Then she sat opposite him, resting her chin in her hands, looking completely hands-off.

Liang Yue didn't waste any more words. He sat down and began to read the ledger.

The ledger wasn't thick. It recorded some of the Zhen family's daily expenses, which were a bit fragmented and mostly trivial matters. Master Zhen had no other income besides his salary, so it didn't seem complicated.

The Zhen family's daily expenses were indeed very frugal. Besides the food and clothing for the father and son and the old doorman, and Zhen Xiaohao's expenses at the academy, there was basically nothing else. There was truly no social interaction whatsoever. This thin booklet recorded all the accounts for the past few years.

Although thin, Liang Yue read it very slowly, as if he wanted to carefully and seriously read every single word.

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

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

"Huh?" Ling Yuanbao tilted her head, feeling that something wasn't quite right, but seeing his focused look, she still got up and poured Liang Yue a cup of tea.

After a long while, Liang Yue finally finished reading. He put down the ledger, let out a breath, and said, "The income and expenses match up. There's no need to verify these trivial physical items. It really seems like there are no problems."

"You can't find any problems either," Ling Yuanbao said with a slight disappointment.

"It's alright, I'll look through the case file again," Liang Yue said with a smile. "You can't rush this kind of thing."

Although he was a witness to the murder, there were many subsequent investigations by the Ministry of Justice that he was unaware of, so he read the case file again.

There was nothing much to say about the investigation of the crime scene. After his previous deduction, it had been confirmed that the perpetrator was a martial arts expert who had come and gone quickly to complete the murder.

It was impossible to identify the killer from the scene.

His focus was on the investigation of Zhen Changzhi's social relationships.

Liao Zhongchun, the Master of the Ministry of Justice who had sought him out before his death, had also been questioned. He said that he had gone to see him simply to chat about their recent lives. The two had been classmates since childhood and had a deep bond, meeting up like this every few days.

As for the letter Liang Yue had mentioned, he was completely unaware of it.

From his perspective, there were basically no clues.

But Zhen Changzhi also had no enemies. As a Master in the Ministry of Works, he was responsible for reviewing engineering blueprints and auditing costs, and he had been diligent for many years.

If there had been even a slight irregularity, he wouldn't have such a reputation for being incorruptible.

Sitting in his position, it was inevitable that he would offend some people. Indeed, someone had once accused him of accepting bribes and inflating costs. However, after multiple investigations, it was found that he had no private contact with anyone, and these were all false accusations.

He was too clean!

Anyone who had read the case file might suspect... did Zhen Changzhi pick up those tens of thousands of silver taels on the street one day?

Or did someone build them into his wall while he was sleeping to frame him?

After reviewing everything, Liang Yue put down the documents, rubbed his eyes, and then looked up, saying, "For now, I really can't see any problems. I'll go back and think about it carefully."

"Alright," Ling Yuanbao seemed to have given up hope as well, saying, "You can't take the original documents, but you are allowed to make a copy."

"No need," Liang Yue said with a smile, pointing to his head. "It's all in here."

Ling Yuanbao blinked. "Huh?"

Liang Yue wasn't exaggerating. After the careful examination just now, Zhen Changzhi's ledgers and files were all in his mind.

It was said that when one reached an extremely high realm of cultivation and their divine sense became powerful, they would gain the ability of photographic memory. Or perhaps secret technique masters who cultivated their divine souls would possess this ability at an earlier stage.

Liang Yue, of course, had nothing to do with these. It was just a trivial little trick for exam preparation. When he was studying back then, he discovered that as long as he repeated every sentence in his mind, he could achieve photographic memory.

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

When they returned to the station, they found everyone gathered together, discussing something animatedly.

"What's going on?" Liang Yue asked in confusion. "It's not payday today, is it?"

"There's a new change in the Spirit Cliff Three Lists. All the major restaurants in the Divine Capital have posted them," Chen Ju turned around and handed him a small booklet. The handwriting on it was clearly someone's hastily copied script.

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

"Isn't the City Capture Battle happening next year? So everyone's been paying more attention. Any slight change in the rankings at this time will cause discussion," Chen Ju explained.

"Oh, right." Liang Yue finally understood.

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

In the South Sea, there was an island called Spirit Cliff Island. On the island was a towering peak with a mountain wall that was extremely smooth and flat. Its surface was entirely made of smooth, warm jade, on an astonishing scale and of immeasurable value.

The owner of this island called himself "All-Knowing." No one had ever seen his true face, but anyone who caused trouble on Spirit Cliff Island would be punished by him.

On the first day of every month, the jade mountain wall of Spirit Cliff would emit a brilliant light, and three lists deduced by All-Knowing would appear on it.

The "Reaching Heaven Ranking" listed the strongest experts in the human realm with the highest cultivation.

The "Young Phoenix Ranking" listed the most talented young individuals under the age of twenty with the highest cultivation.

The "Immortal Object Ranking" listed the most precious treasures in the world, including divine weapons, magical artifacts, spiritual plants, and so on.

In recent decades, more and more enthusiasts had traveled to Spirit Cliff Island to observe and regularly copy the three lists to send back to the Nine Provinces. After various comparisons, it was found that the deductions of All-Knowing in the South Sea had never been wrong.

Although there had been instances of those on the list defeating those above them, this list was based on cultivation realm and did not directly reflect combat power.

Divine weapons, pills, talismans, formations... these various external objects; as well as the characteristics of cultivation, such as a physically weak secret technique master being approached by a martial artist; and even the physical condition of the day, could all affect the level of combat power and the outcome of a battle.

But cultivation realm was real; high was high.

Gradually, the Spirit Cliff Three Lists became the most credible ranking list in the human martial world.

However, this kind of thing was only widely spread among martial artists. Liang Yue had only recently embarked on martial cultivation and held a position in the government. He had only heard people chatting about it in teahouses and taverns before. This was the first time he had seen the content of the list.

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

But since Chen Ju had handed it to him, he took a look. The first thing he saw was the Reaching Heaven Ranking.

"Reaching Heaven Ranking First, Zhu Renwang."

"Huh?" he asked. "Isn't the top of the Reaching Heaven Ranking supposed to be the Immortal Realm?"

The three great Immortal Realm experts in the world are Nine Yang, the Martial God Kuo Muye, the Great Divine Official of the Yin Dynasty, Bei Luoshimen, and Master Chen Yandao of the Xuan Palm. It's hard to say who is stronger or weaker, but none of them are people that those below the Immortal Realm can provoke.

This is absolutely beyond doubt.

"Hey, you don't even know this," Chen Ju said. "Immortal Realm experts aren't on the list. Once they reach the Immortal Realm, they are no longer within the five elements. The Reaching Heaven Ranking lists those who are on the path to reaching heaven, while Immortal Realm experts are already above the heavens. All-Knowing of the South Sea definitely can't deduce them."

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

"So Zhu Renwang, who is at the top of the ranking, is actually the fourth strongest in the world," Chen Ju said, holding up four fingers.

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

Zhu Renwang's name is naturally known to everyone.

The Ba Mountain Bandits have occupied Liang Province for over ten years, almost forming their own country. Their leaders are the three brothers Zhu Renwang, Gu Renxiong, and Lu Renxian. The bounty on each of them from the imperial court is astronomical, and they are all figures on the Reaching Heaven Ranking.

To be able to render so many high-ranking officials in the Ministry of War helpless, they must possess extraordinary abilities.

The second-ranked person on the Reaching Heaven Ranking is Han Longxiang, the leader of the Northern School of Martial Monks and the abbot of Accumulated Thunder Temple.

This person once single-handedly charged into the Divine Capital and defeated twelve divine generals of Wu'an Hall. He is also a peerless fierce man, and his second-place ranking is undisputed.

The highest-ranked person from the imperial court is the current Imperial Advisor.

"Seventh on the Reaching Heaven Ranking, Li Longchan."

The Imperial Advisor of the Yin Dynasty has countless followers, and equally countless people who hate him. But one thing that is absolutely agreed upon, whether praising or criticizing him, is his powerful cultivation.

There are only seventy-two spots on the ranking in total, encompassing martial artists, Qi Refiners of the three religions, and secret technique masters from all over the world. There cannot be any ordinary people; every single one is a prominent figure.

Occasionally, a few do not display their real names but use nicknames instead.

This is because the person themselves has hidden their identity and did not venture into the martial world with their real name, and All-Knowing of the South Sea will not expose them.

This is also quite humane.

After all, not every strong person wants others to know how powerful they are.

After scanning the Reaching Heaven Ranking, Liang Yue looked at the Young Phoenix Ranking for prodigies under twenty years old. These were all people of their age.

"First on the Young Phoenix Ranking, Feng Nanjue."

Another familiar name.

He is said to be the direct disciple of the Martial God Kuo Muye. He could tear apart tigers and leopards at the age of six and has trained with the Martial God for twelve years. He will likely be a formidable opponent for the strong experts of the Nine Provinces in the future.

Just by looking at his name, you can tell that his attitude towards the Southern Kingdom of Yin Dynasty is not very friendly.

"Second on the Young Phoenix Ranking, Qi Yingwu."

Liang Yue seemed to have heard this name before as well. He seemed to be the senior disciple of the Plum Character Branch of the Sword Dao Academy and also a descendant of the Qi family, one of the Four Great Clans.

"Third on the Young Phoenix Ranking, Wu Qilong."

He didn't know who this person was. Young prodigies are not as stable as established strong experts, so it's quite normal for one to suddenly emerge.

Although they were all of the same age, for them, those on the Young Phoenix Ranking were like figures in the sky, and they wouldn't have any interaction, so he just quickly scanned through.

The only one he lingered on for a while was the fourth-ranked person.

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

"Miss Wen is that amazing?" he couldn't help but say.

"Heh heh." Chen Ju chuckled, "And the Sword Control Branch is the foremost in killing and conquest among the Mystic Sect. In terms of actual combat power, the top three might not necessarily be able to defeat her."

Recalling her sharp sword strike from the west, Liang Yue nodded in deep agreement.

"I can't even imagine, if I could get on the Young Phoenix Ranking, even if it was just at the very end." Chen Ju said enviously, "Then the beautiful women throwing themselves at me would probably be too many to count. Three during the day, four at night... no, four during the day, three at night..."

"That's truly a shame," Liang Yue said with a smile, "If there were a ranking for lecherous people in the mortal world, you'd definitely be at the top."

The Young Phoenix Ranking only had thirty-six people. Turning the page, it was the Immortal Object Ranking.

The first name made Liang Yue's pupils contract slightly, his expression showing a hint of surprise.

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

Good morning.