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Several months had passed since Wang Ming last saw Zhu Wushi.

Many things had occurred during these months: the Princess Lixiu incident concluded; Cheng Shefei was tricked out of his Indestructible Vajra Body and left in a huff; Duan Tianya married Ryūyō Hyōsu, and Cheng Shefei even became the imperial son-in-law.

Wang Ming had not participated in any of these events, hiding far away from things that were both unprofitable and dangerous.

In the past few months, he had only gone out once, taking advantage of the chaos in a gambling den to swap the real Mermaid Xiao Mingzhu for a fake one.

After that, he stayed home studying the original owner's martial arts.

During this time, Wan Sanqian and Zhu Wushi both sought him out a few times, but Wang Ming brushed them off with excuses, telling him to go search for people—Wang Ming was not the real Zhang Jinjiu, so how on earth could he find anyone?

Yet Wang Ming discovered that he could not understand the original owner's martial arts manuals. The characters in this world differed from modern ones, and he had no idea what meridians or acupuncture points were, let alone how to circulate that so-called vital energy to the dantian.

He could barely guess and muddle through the words in the manuals, but once put together, their meaning escaped him. Looking at the classical Chinese manuals, Wang Ming felt like an illiterate on the spot.

Driven to no other option, Wang Ming had to set martial arts aside for the moment and wanted to learn the script of this era.

He thought about finding a private school tutor to teach him classical literature, but stopped just as he was about to act.

This was undoubtedly a brain-dead move: why would Zhang Jinjiu, The First Under Heaven detective, suddenly not know how to read?

What would Zhu Wushi think if he found out?

Therefore, Wang Ming could only shelve this idea for now and wait until Zhu Wushi died.

For the time being, he could only gather more martial arts manuals to build up a collection.

Once the storyline ended, acquiring martial arts manuals would not be so easy.

"Come out!"

"The number one internal secret agent of the Earth division is truly formidable, hearing my movements from so far away." Wang Ming appeared behind Guihai Yidao, holding a wine flask.

Timing it right, Wang Ming waited for Guihai Yidao at Shuiyue Nunnery.

"Zhang Jinjiu, you came looking for me—does that mean the matter I asked you to investigate has results?"

Earlier, Guihai Yidao had asked him to investigate the cause of his father Guihai Bailian's death.

"No!"

Wang Ming replied with a slightly intoxicated tone.

As the words fell, Wang Ming felt the atmosphere in the air turn even colder.

"However, I accidentally found out where your father's martial arts manual, Hegemon Under Heaven, is located."

"Where is it?" Guihai Yidao's expression showed a clear trace of excitement.

Wang Ming did not answer; instead, he found a place to sit and began drinking.

After a moment of silence...

"That wine you want—I can beg the Divine Marquis for it." Guihai Yidao understood; the other man wanted payment.

"There's no need to go to such trouble, I don't want wine."

"Then what do you want? As long as it is within my power, I can get it for you." Guihai Yidao was somewhat anxious now.

"The Saber Manual. I want a copy of that too."

At this, Wang Ming dropped his disguise of drunkenness and met Guihai Yidao's eyes directly.

"Fine! No problem."

Guihai Yidao was a good person who had essentially been brainwashed by Zhu Wushi, and in his normal state, he would not kill lightly. Besides, Guihai Yidao still needed him for other matters.

A quarter of an hour later, the two reunited in the bamboo forest not far from Shuiyue Nunnery.

"I've searched these clothes hundreds of times. It's not here." Guihai Yidao brought out the belongings left behind by his father.

Wang Ming stood up, picked up the clothes, and tossed them straight into a fire he had prepared in advance.

"What are you doing!" Seeing Wang Ming destroy these clothes, Guihai Yidao flew into a rage on the spot.

"Look!" Wang Ming paid no attention to Guihai Yidao's anger.

Sure enough, the words for Hegemon Under Heaven appeared on the clothes over the fire.

"Hahaha... I found it! I will definitely get my revenge!" Guihai Yidao picked up the saber manual from the fire.

Wang Ming watched the shouting Guihai Yidao with cold eyes, having no intention of disturbing him while he was in such an emotional state.

Copy the saber manual!

He would wait for this emotional wave to pass before asking to copy the manual. If he lacked tact at a time like this, Wang Ming feared he would be cleaved in half on the spot.

Half an hour later,

Once Yidao had calmed down and read through the saber manual several times himself, he copied it out for Wang Ming.

Having obtained his copy of the manual, Wang Ming left Shuiyue Nunnery.

Wang Ming had not wasted his time during this period either. Not daring to hire a private tutor to teach him how to read, he had nonetheless figured out a way to learn.

That was to buy fictional storybooks to read, first guessing and muddling his way through them to memorize the unfamiliar characters.

Then he would find a poor scholar to read the stories to him aloud based on those books.

If he hired a private tutor to learn characters, Zhu Wushi wouldn't even need to use his brain to realize something was amiss.

Being lazy and having a poor scholar read storybooks to him was no different from listening to storytelling at a tavern, and no one would pay it any mind.

Through the readings of a poor scholar, Wang Ming basically learned ancient characters.

On the way back from Shuiyue Nunnery, he memorized the saber manual and then burned it on the spot.

Perhaps due to some hidden perk brought by transmigration, his memory had clearly improved. While it hadn't reached the level of photographic memory, reciting a saber manual meant his recollections would not get confused.

Ever since obtaining Hegemon Under Heaven, Wang Ming had been tossing and turning at home, feeling thoroughly dissatisfied.

The saber technique was useless!

Wang Ming had no interest in practicing a martial art that drove people mad.

There were plenty of good martial arts in this world, but the ones he could trade for using intelligence were all in the hands of the Four Great Secret Agents or Zhu Wushi.

Thinking of Zhu Wushi, Wang Ming sank into a long contemplation.

"Always getting these trash martial arts isn't going to be good for my future plans!"

In the end, he decided to take a gamble.

After a spell of traveling, Wang Ming arrived at the Dragon Protecting Manor.

"Zhang Jinjiu, what brings you here?" Zhu Wushi asked, standing alone in the grand hall.

"The news about the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom that the Divine Marquis asked me to investigate has yielded a lead."

"Where is it?" Zhu Wushi's expression shifted instantly as he asked with excitement.

Wang Ming continued to put on an act of drinking, ignoring Zhu Wushi's question as he thought to himself, You old bastard, if you don't give me any benefits, you're trying to get a free ride!

At this time, Zhu Wushi had not yet eliminated Cao Zhengchun, so his face would not change on a dime just yet.

A bizarre atmosphere settled over the air.

A moment later,

Zhu Wushi snapped out of it, realizing that Wang Ming was holding out for a reward.

How could a figure of his stature fail to grasp Wang Ming's meaning?

He had simply been too excited just now and overlooked it for a moment.

"Haha! Rest assured, Zhang Jinjiu. As long as the information is true, I personally authorize all those bottles of fine wine from the First Wine God Under Heaven to be yours."

Zhu Wushi made a generous promise; wine had zero value to him.

"No! I don't want wine. Lately, I feel my martial arts are too weak, so I wish to trade for the Marquis's Heaven and Earth Great Shift," Wang Ming slowly stated his demand.

Hearing this, Zhu Wushi instantly lost his previous ecstatic expression, his gaze turning razor-sharp as he stared at Wang Ming.

Wang Ming felt a bit panicked under that look.

Without a word, Zhu Wushi turned, walked up to his throne, retrieved a book from beneath it, and used his internal energy to make the manual float slowly toward Wang Ming.

Without checking it, Wang Ming tucked it straight into his robes.

"The manual is yours, Zhang Jinjiu. Speak!" Zhu Wushi was growing impatient.

"Cao Zhengchun has one piece. The Marquis can verify the truth of this information ourselves. As for the remaining one, this subordinate is investigating it with all my might."

"Good. The First Detective is truly formidable. Once the remaining piece is found, name your reward and it shall be granted."

With that, Zhu Wushi lowered his head to write something. Knowing this was the dismissal, Wang Ming offered his farewells and departed swiftly.

On the way back, Wang Ming's back was completely soaked with sweat. Previously, he had been terrified that Zhu Wushi might deviate from the script and arrest him for harsh interrogation.

Wang Ming actually wanted the Great Art of Absorbing Power, but he didn't dare bring up that condition for fear of being butchered by Zhu Wushi, and also out of fear of receiving a fake.

Rushing back to his residence, he carefully read the manual, but still could not make sense of it.

Knowing how to read characters did not mean one could understand classical texts.

Martial arts manuals, in particular, could only be memorized first.

Wang Ming thought anxiously, I just hope Zhu Wushi isn't too petty and sends someone to kill me!

Even so, the harvest this time was huge, and Wang Ming planned to study the basics before practicing.

Wang Ming sighed helplessly. "Pity that time waits for no one; I don't have the luxury of time to study and quietly grow stronger. The knowledge and intelligence I hold will lose their meaning once the time passes. Missing the plot nodes means completely abandoning any hope of acquiring these manuals."

Thinking of the present moment, Cao Zhengchun should be inviting Zhu Wushi to the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom banquet, and Zhu Wushi would also be going to verify the truth of the information.

Wang Ming's deduction was correct: Zhu Wushi had already obtained the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom and revived Suxin.

Initially, Zhu Wushi had indeed harbored thoughts of killing Wang Ming.

Yet right after that came Cao Zhengchun's invitation and the awakening of the beloved Suxin—these events followed one another in rapid succession, leaving him no time to issue the order.

Finally, looking at Suxin and thinking of the third Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom, he forcefully suppressed his murderous intent.

An ordinary person with neither power nor influence, who didn't follow the plot, would be a fool.

This was his sole advantage; giving that up meant waiting for death.

Requests for collections and recommendations.