Chapter 27

Ning Chang'an was still on the arena. At last, he had some peace and a chance to catch his breath. Only then did he notice the little girl in green beneath the arena, blinking a pair of snowy-bright eyes as she watched him with intense curiosity.

He too was thinking and observing, hoping to find some clue. He had never heard of or seen such a method of murder before, and his heart was likewise filled with shock.

Old Man Mu ran around like a madman for a while before losing all strength. He curled into a ball on the ground, shivering violently. Spring was no longer cold, yet he seemed to be trapped in a winter where ice sealed the land for a thousand miles, cold sweat pouring from his entire body.

More people emerged from Lu Family Manor, their target Old Man Mu.

All three wore soft armor beneath their clothes. They pushed their cultivation to its limit and protected their entire bodies tightly. Rather than flying forward, they proceeded step by step, their footfalls steady and firm.

The people of Lu Family Manor were already being exceedingly cautious.

Yet something still happened to these three. Like Mao Dongyue, they began coughing. Once they coughed, they coughed up blood. After taking another two steps, all the cultivation in their bodies scattered, and they collapsed limply onto the ground, dead.

Because Ning Chang'an cultivated the Three Purities Nine Nether Wondrous Dharma Lotus Heart Sutra, he was especially sensitive to the loss of internal force and true qi. His hearing, eyesight, and senses were all sharper than those of ordinary people. This time, he saw it very clearly. The instant the three Lu Family Manor experts clad in golden-thread soft armor began coughing, the true qi throughout their bodies fell into chaos. Their qi gushed out as swiftly as an erupting volcano, violently bursting from their bodily meridians and dispersing completely in the blink of an eye.

Such a death was far too bizarre and sinister.

Old Man Mu remained curled up in the middle of the martial arts grounds, completely isolated.

Everyone saw that he had not made a move. Other than trembling all over, he had not even moved. Yet the way everyone looked at him was wrong, because he was far too abnormal. Where something extraordinary happened, there had to be a demon at work.

The atmosphere was tense and oppressive!

Carrier pigeons and hawks flew out from Lu Family Manor one after another. Mao Dongyue had died a violent death, and they did not dare conceal it in the slightest. They had already begun sending out the news. Everyone knew King Mao was coming.

Once King Mao arrived, the nightmare would truly begin.

The girl in green had actually finished her pine nuts long ago.

At this critical juncture, she suddenly clapped her hands and, as though no one else existed, prepared to leave.

Lu Feixin shouted, "Where do you think you're going? Before this matter has been investigated to the bottom, no one is allowed to leave!" Yet he did not immediately come down from the building to stop the girl. He merely shouted to halt her.

Unable to judge the situation, he did not dare take risks either.

The girl jerked at the shout and stopped, her face full of grievance. "I'm hungry. I'm going to eat! Do you provide food here? Even if you do, it definitely won't taste good... You're feeding so many people, so the food must be rough! I'd better go eat in Mohe City!"

As she spoke, she started walking again.

Three young escort masters darted out nimbly, weaving through the crowd and instantly blocking the girl in green. With dark expressions, they said, "At such an extraordinary time, it would be best for you to remain."

The girl in green said, "My path cannot be blocked!" Her eyes were large and bright, blinking with lively charm. She was indescribably cute and mischievous. With both hands behind her petite body, she paced back and forth in tiny steps.

One young escort master sneered. "If you want to die, then go ahead!"

The girl in green snorted. "Lu Family Manor isn't some nice place either. Not only do you bully fat people, you even bully a little girl. Aren't you afraid people will laugh if word gets out?"

The young escort master said coldly, "The situation leaves us no choice. Once this matter is settled, Lu Family Manor will naturally give all innocent people an explanation. You must stay now!"

The girl in green puffed out her cheeks. "I refuse! If I want to eat, I'm going to eat. No one can stop me."

Sure enough, no one could stop her—at least, those three young escort masters could not. The moment her petite body moved forward, the three escort masters cried out and flew backward, sent flying by the seemingly delicate girl in green.

The girl in green gave a soft snort through her lovely nose and swaggered away.

She had taken only a few steps when three chestnut-red steeds charged urgently into the martial arts grounds. Three burly men in purple sat atop them, their faces covered in thick beards and their eyes like hawks.

One of the burly men stared fixedly at the twelve corpses on the martial arts grounds, his gaze turning icy.

The burly man in the middle shook his head and said gravely, "We came too late!"

Another burly man sighed. "Mao Dongyue is already dead!"

With a glance, Ning Chang'an spotted these three extraordinary men, and confusion immediately appeared in his eyes. These three had no small background. They were known as the Divine Detective Eagle, officials granted rank by the imperial court and prominent figures within the Six Doors. The Divine Detective Eagle roamed the martial world, specializing in solving strange and major cases. They had rendered countless merits. Though they belonged to the Six Doors, they held an exceptionally high status in the martial world and were truly renowned figures.

The Divine Detective Eagle were three brothers, each possessing extraordinary martial arts. They were Ma Liao, Ma Kuo, and Ma Guang.

The moment the eldest brother, Ma Liao, saw the situation here, his brows furrowed, his thick eyebrows constantly twitching.

Ma Guang, the youngest, suddenly called out, "Is Senior Lu Feixin of Lu Family Manor present?"

Lu Feixin said, "This old man is here! Why have the Divine Detective Eagle come?" The moment the Divine Detective Eagle arrived, he knew these bizarre deaths were anything but ordinary. Their appearance alone was enough to show that this matter was deeply involved. Besides, Mao Dongyue had died. No matter what, this could not be a small matter!

Ma Guang said, "To catch someone!"

Lu Feixin asked gravely, "Catch whom?"

Ma Guang said, "The murderer! An expert skilled in hidden weapons!"

Lu Feixin said in shock, "You're saying these people all died from hidden weapons?"

Ma Guang said, "They were indeed hidden weapons, a kind of hidden weapon almost impossible to see, killing without form."

Lu Feixin asked, "Is the murderer still here?"

Ma Guang shook his head and sighed. "We don't know. No one knows how he attacks or what he looks like, but whenever he intends to kill someone, one person will always learn of it first. Before he killed Mao Dongyue, we suddenly received word and raced here at full speed, but we were already half a step too late. King Mao will arrive soon. Old Manor Lord, you should think about how you will explain this!"

Lu Feixin's expression turned ugly. An explanation?! Would King Mao listen to anyone's explanation?!

Suddenly, a carrier pigeon flew back. This pigeon had originally been sent by Lu Family Manor with a letter notifying King Mao, yet it had abruptly returned. The letter was still safely attached to the pigeon. Lu Feixin immediately felt an ominous premonition. He instinctively removed the letter, opened it, and saw only one name written there—Chang'an!

The handwriting was so black it filled one with dread, impossible to look at directly!

Chang'an was Ning Chang'an.

Lu Feixin's eyes shifted toward Ning Chang'an, and a trace of relief appeared on his face. At once, he saw Ning Chang'an's entire body shudder before he suddenly fell onto the ground. The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword clanged onto the floor.

Several hundred pairs of eyes turned toward him at once, every heart sinking. They all assumed Ning Chang'an was finished and would follow in Mao Dongyue's footsteps.

Ning Chang'an coughed violently as well, and his face abruptly turned blood-red. At last, he understood how those people had died. The murderer had actually struck out with a strand of inner qi—not internal force, nor true qi, but something far more profound: essence qi, and extraordinarily refined essence qi at that, already condensed into gangsha and refined into baleful intent. That gangsha essence qi was colorless and formless. Once it entered a person's body, it directly attacked the heart meridians and the dantian qi sea. Those struck not only had all their cultivation scattered, but their heart meridians ruptured. Even immortals would be powerless to save them. No wonder these people had died so bizarrely and strangely. It turned out to be this—this was not a hidden weapon at all.

That strand of gangsha essence qi was like a venomous snake. It suddenly pierced Ning Chang'an's body and split into two, one stream rushing straight for his dantian and the other for his heart. As he fell onto the ground, he felt the Three Purities Nine Nether Wondrous Dharma Lotus Heart Sutra begin circulating on its own, like a sleeping evil dragon struck awake with a stick. As the mental cultivation method moved, a mysterious and unfathomable power rose in the unseen, making Ning Chang'an's entire body feel as if it were being scorched by blazing fire, giving him the illusion that he would turn to ash.

Yet at this life-or-death moment, Ning Chang'an's thoughts became incomparably clear. His first thought was that he absolutely could not allow the gangsha essence qi to shatter his heart meridians. He had to protect them immediately. Once the heart meridians ruptured, only one blessed by heaven with fortune that reached the skies could retrieve a life; otherwise, there would be ten deaths and no life.

The Heart Sutra circulated with increasing urgency. He could feel a fire dragon racing through the bones and limbs of his body, pouncing toward his chest and the gangsha essence qi at his dantian. In his hallucination, he felt as though the inside of his chest had already burned completely empty, while sweat as large as soybeans streamed from his entire body.

It was as if he had thrown himself into a furnace, undergoing nirvana.

At this moment, Ning Chang'an suddenly gained a trace of enlightenment. Every part of cultivating the first level of the Three Purities Nine Nether Wondrous Dharma Lotus Heart Sutra was filled with trials. It was almost like making a person stand at the edge of an abyss of demons. If one's will was not firm, the slightest carelessness would result in demonic possession nine times out of ten. This Heart Sutra tested one's inner heart to an enormous degree. It constantly tested and tempered one's will. The slightest loosening could give rise to countless demonic thoughts, casting one from the wondrous realm of the Three Purities into the Nine Nether Hells.

Once he understood this, he no longer dared let his mind wander in the slightest. Though pain twisted his face into a savage mask, warped his entire body, and made him bite through his teeth until they bled, his will was as firm as a boulder. It no longer wavered.

This was precisely the trial where one thought led to heaven and one thought led to hell.

As his mind cleared, Ning Chang'an immediately discovered the abnormality in his body. He found that deep within his dantian, his innate qi sea had vanished without a trace. After his internal force had been scattered, his innate qi sea had shrunk into a single point, and he had never paid attention to it again. No matter what mental cultivation method one cultivated, the qi it nourished gathered in the innate qi sea, then circulated through the body's bones and limbs from the qi sea, forming a heavenly cycle. Yet he suddenly discovered that he had no qi sea at all, leaving him shocked beyond measure.

He immediately thought of the unforgettable finger strike Su Wantu had delivered when they first met, and he remembered Su Wantu's words. At once, he understood.

There had been another mystery behind Su Wantu's finger strike. It had completely shattered his innate qi sea.

A person without a qi sea naturally could not cultivate any mental cultivation method—not even divine cultivation methods.

At this moment, Ning Chang'an gained an even deeper understanding of the wonders of the Three Purities Nine Nether Wondrous Dharma Lotus Heart Sutra. He felt his strength increasing again, surging massively. The sensation of that explosive rise in power made his body tremble even more violently.

The gangsha essence qi had actually been swallowed up, transformed into Ning Chang'an's strength.

Not only had Ning Chang'an not died, he had instead gained enormous benefits, turning disaster into fortune. Essence cultivation and essence qi—this was Ning Chang'an's first time encountering them. Essence cultivation methods were rarely seen in the world, while essence qi was even more incomparably refined. Its benefits truly were extraordinary.