Internal Breath Realm?

Qi Da ignored him. He had rushed over as soon as he received Chu Yuan's message and still didn't know the full situation.

He turned his head to look at Chu Yuan and scolded, "Too impulsive! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was!?"

Chu Yuan was unbothered: "If the other party wanted my life, they would have come for me directly instead of going through all that trouble to kill Li Chen..."

Seeing this, Qi Da's temper flared even more: "Nonsense! Do you think you're so clever!?"

"..."

Chu Yuan said nothing, and Qi Da felt somewhat helpless.

He knew Chu Yuan had a point, but this kind of behavior was inherently risky.

He had only told Chu Yuan to keep an eye out for anything unusual around him—like whether anyone was deliberately approaching him—but he had never told him to actively seek out anomalies...

The Public Security Bureau captain, seemingly trying to make up for his subordinate's earlier blunder, spoke up: "Principal Qi, this student of yours is indeed very strong!"

"No matter how strong, he's still a student!" Qi Da snorted coldly. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"The specifics are that the person impersonating me appeared and killed Zhou Zhe's father.

Then this captain suspected I staged the whole thing and specially brought in a martial artist from the Internal Breath Realm to act out this play with me..."

Qi Da nodded. "Chu Yuan is a student. Can't you investigate his social connections?

If that's the case, then it seems I'm the one with the biggest suspicion?"

"..."

Chu Yuan thought about it. Among the high-level martial artists he was close to, wasn't it really only Qi Da?

He was indeed the most suspicious, but the Public Security Bureau captain didn't dare pick up that thread and could only force a couple of awkward laughs.

Qi Da walked over to the broken window and looked down.

Though the night was dark, it was nothing to a martial artist of the Fifth Realm.

Soon, his gaze settled on one spot, and his expression tightened.

There, the asphalt road showed cracks like a spiderweb, as if struck by a tremendous force.

A few drops of blood were scattered around...

"Is that where the impostor ultimately escaped?"

"Yes."

"Who struck the blow?" Qi Da looked at the captain with some confusion. He was the only Internal Breath Realm martial artist present, so it should have been him.

But it didn't quite fit. If the captain could wound someone, he should have pursued them...

Besides... his Internal Breath Realm was a bit watered down.

That was how the Public Security Bureau was—their strength wasn't great.

Because their main targets were still ordinary people. Cases involving martial artists, especially high-level ones, were handled by another agency.

That agency, aside from the military, was the largest violent institution in every city: the Martial Suppression Bureau.

But since Chu Yuan and Li Chen weren't officially martial artists yet, and with Qi Da's guarantee...

They hadn't been called in from the start. The Martial Suppression Bureau was always short-handed, with more important tasks to attend to.

But after tonight, with confirmation that another martial artist was pulling strings behind the scenes, it might be time for them to take over...

The thought flashed through Qi Da's mind, and then he heard Chu Yuan's answer.

"I did it."

"You?" Qi Da looked at him with doubt.

"It was indeed this classmate, Chu Yuan, who acted. When the culprit was fleeing, he threw his longsword like a hidden weapon!" the captain added, then picked up the broken sword from the table and handed it to Qi Da.

"This is the sword!"

Qi Da's gaze turned serious. The sword itself was nothing special—just an ordinary craft piece.

But he suddenly realized he had overlooked a problem!

He snapped his head up to look at Chu Yuan. "What realm are you in now!?"

"Forget it, we'll talk when we get back!"

Seeing Qi Da take Chu Yuan and leave as if no one else was there, the female Public Security officer beside the captain couldn't accept it.

"Captain! Are we just letting them go like that?"

"What else?"

"Well, the First High School principal is one thing, but that Chu Yuan... he's not just a suspect—I think he has a lot he hasn't explained!"

"What do you mean by 'the First High School principal'?" The captain stared her down, re-evaluating his foolish subordinate.

At first, he thought she was brave and upright.

But now, he was starting to see things differently.

In the end, he didn't say anything else, only: "This case, most likely we won't need to follow up on it. Call off the operation."

"So, what realm are you at now?"

Qi Da hadn't driven to get here as fast as possible;

sometimes, driving was a symbol of status and a form of courtesy;

but for a Fifth Realm martial artist, their own speed was faster.

Chu Yuan glanced at the bright streetlamp, hesitated little before speaking: "Probably... the Internal Breath Realm?"

"Hiss~"

Even with Qi Da's experience, he couldn't help but let out a cliché sharp intake of breath;

"Internal Breath Realm!? Are you sure!?"

Chu Yuan had only been cultivating for a week, and Qi Da had only given him some basic Martial Arts Pills... how had he jumped to the Internal Breath Realm!?

Although every year among the college entrance exam takers, a few Internal Breath Realm geniuses always appeared;

that was under the relentless piling of family resources and the Blue Cloud Project, taking a full month to reach that realm!

Chu Yuan... had nothing!

Now, even Qi Da couldn't help but suspect if Chu Yuan had secretly colluded with some "person";

otherwise, even if his talent was unmatched, where did the resources come from?

Chu Yuan said nothing, only raised a finger, a faint glimmer of light appearing at its tip;

Qi Da's doubts vanished; energy externalization was the absolute hallmark of the Internal Breath Realm!

Chu Yuan's internal breath seemed a bit different from ordinary people's, but that was normal;

everyone's internal breath was different;

internal breath was like a martial artist's ID card—even cultivating the exact same technique, the internal breath produced would still differ.

As long as no Alien Race aura was detected within it.

"The technique you're cultivating now... is it still the Essence Tempering Technique?"

"Of course."

"Show me."

Chu Yuan then activated the technique, a faint divine charm radiating from him.

A surge of immense joy welled up in Qi Da's heart;

It was the Essence Tempering Technique! And truly the Internal Breath Realm!

Chenyang No. 1 High School... had indeed produced an extraordinary figure!

He forcibly restrained himself from indulging in thoughts of how high Chu Yuan's future achievements might be;

only said in a low, serious tone: "Don't speak of this to outsiders. Remember, you can only 'advance' to the Internal Breath Realm on the eve of the college entrance exam!"

"Those security officers..."

"I'll handle it!"

Chu Yuan looked at Qi Da in surprise, a strange meaning in his eyes;

"...What are you thinking? Just having them sign a confidentiality agreement, not silencing them..." Qi Da said, exasperated. "Is there anyone else who knows you've advanced to the Internal Breath Realm?"

"Yes, Yang Yi; but he'll keep it secret for me."

"Yang Yi..." Qi Da briefly recalled, immediately forming an impression: "Also in your class, that son of Yang Tianlei?"

"Uh... yes." Actually, Chu Yuan didn't really know Yang Yi's father's name, but there was no other Yang Yi in his class.

"I see..."