Prince Jiang's Estate's Young Master, Wang Lin.
He was assassinated not far from the entrance of Prince Jiang's Estate.
His clothes had been stripped off.
By the time he was found, he was dead beyond all doubt.
It was exactly the same as Zhang Lun's death.
The news swiftly spread to the ears of every high-ranking figure in Two Rivers Prefecture.
Inside Zeng Anmin's quarters.
"Once the Literary Qi in the seven hundred major acupoints is full, one may wait for an opportunity. If enlightenment comes, one may fill one's Literary Qi and Open the Purple Mansion. Once the Purple Mansion is opened, the seven hundred strands of Literary Qi are drawn into it and gathered in one place, becoming Vast Righteous Qi."
"At that point, one may be called a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator."
In his mind, Zhang Lun's gentle, refined voice seemed to still echo by his ears.
Zeng Anmin slowly opened his eyes and murmured:
"Seven hundred and twenty strands of Literary Qi gathered in the Purple Mansion, condensing into Vast Righteous Qi."
"Brother Tongyu, I made it."
Though it had happened so quickly only because the Dragon Survey Map had opened his Purple Mansion in advance, allowing him to take a shortcut.
No matter what, he was now a Confucian Path Seventh Rank, a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator!
His gaze slowly shifted toward the Golden Finger's panel.
Congratulations on breaking through a rank. Martial Arts Entry loaded successfully. Please choose one of the following three Martial Arts Entries. "Silver Exquisite Martial Arts: Weapons obtained through this entry, including Spiritual Artifacts, cannot be used for forty years. After forty years, they will transform into a random auxiliary-path Spiritual Artifact." "Silver Martial Arts Construction: Obtain a fragment of a Martial Arts Spiritual Artifact. After seventy years, the fragment will evolve into a complete Spiritual Artifact." "Silver Martial Arts Restructuring: All Martial Arts Spiritual Artifacts obtained through this entry will be promoted into random higher-grade Spiritual Artifacts." Note: Entries not selected will disappear permanently. Countdown: 30, 29, 28...
Sure enough, it was just as he had expected.
This system wanted him to break through in the Martial Arts Realm even more.
Both of his Confucian Path breakthroughs had given him utterly useless silver entries.
Only that Martial Arts breakthrough had given him a rainbow-colored one.
Case closed—the system discriminated against the Confucian Path...
Zeng Anmin's gaze slowly swept over the three entries.
Exquisite Martial Arts and Martial Arts Construction both looked truly tempting.
But they required time—one needed forty years, the other seventy...
Directly passed.
By then, the daylilies would have gone cold, some master would have become stronger, and even the teachers from the island nation would have changed careers...
So he could only choose one.
Martial Arts Restructuring: All Martial Arts Spiritual Artifacts obtained through this entry will be promoted into random higher-grade Spiritual Artifacts.
"Only this one."
The instant Zeng Anmin finished making his choice.
He felt a tremor in his sea of consciousness.
With a thought, he looked into it.
The short blade that had originally floated there had now turned into a completely unrelated Hand Axe...
Yet rainbow light flickered across that Hand Axe, while ancient and mysterious patterns glimmered upon its surface.
Even though Zeng Anmin had prepared himself, his breathing still caught.
"A... Divine Artifact!"
Though this was a world of immortals and martial heroes, its weapon rankings were not some gaudy mess.
There were only three grades.
The first was ordinary weapons, forged by ordinary blacksmiths.
The second was weapons inscribed with formations by the Profound Formation Division, also called Spiritual Artifacts.
The third was weapons possessing a certain degree of consciousness, also known as Divine Artifacts!
"Dean..."
The steward wore a grave expression as he looked at Qin Shouchang, who was holding a fishing rod, then hurried forward.
"Wang Lin died last night on his way home."
Qin Shouchang's hand paused slightly, astonishment flashing across his face.
"Dead?!!"
"Yes. He was assassinated by a martial artist wearing a Black Cat Hood."
"A passerby witnessed it. That martial artist used an Ornate Dagger."
"The Xuanjing Division is now hunting him throughout the city."
Qin Shouchang fell silent upon hearing this. After a long while, he suddenly gave a cold laugh.
"Then let him be dead. He brought it upon himself and could not live."
After saying that, he was about to turn back toward the water when he suddenly froze.
Unbidden, a face with phoenix eyes surfaced in his mind.
He took a deep breath and said:
"Zeng Anmin... did he leave the Academy last night?"
The steward's expression abruptly stiffened, then he said gravely:
"I don't know, but... we can investigate."
A thoughtful glimmer flashed across Qin Shouchang's face.
At that moment, he gently twitched the fishing rod.
"Boing~"
The bobber on the water's surface bobbed lightly.
"It's hooked!! It's hooked!! Hahaha!!"
Qin Shouchang's face abruptly lit up with delight. Having caught nothing for days, he was overjoyed to see a fish take the bait.
Just then, a faint aura suddenly emerged.
Qin Shouchang sensed it and abruptly raised his head, looking toward the Academy.
The hand holding his fishing rod also froze.
"A student has broken through, opened the Purple Mansion, and condensed Vast Righteous Qi!"
Yet because his attention had shifted, the fish slipped free and leaped back into the water.
"Haha, this truly is a double blessing..."
The steward, smiling broadly, was about to offer congratulations.
But when the fish fell back into the water, he suddenly froze. Caught off guard, he blurted out:
"Blessings in the eastern corner, chickens gathered in the mulberry trees."
Qin Shouchang's face also stiffened somewhat.
He shot the water an irritated look, then forced a smile.
"At least our Academy has gained another pillar of strength."
As he spoke.
A burst of hurried footsteps approached.
"Dean, the person who just broke through to the Purple Mansion Realm was Zeng Anmin."
A book boy dressed like a servant came running in at full speed, panting as he reported.
"Who?!!" Qin Shouchang's face suddenly went blank.
"Zeng Anmin..."
Qin Shouchang abruptly rose to his feet, and the fishing rod in his hand slipped into the water.
Yet as though he had not seen it happen, he stared fixedly at the servant boy and asked:
"Did you see clearly??!"
The servant boy dropped straight to his knees with a thud, pointing at the heavens as he swore:
"If even half a word is false, may Heaven take this little one's soul away!!!"
"Five days... from entering the ranks to opening the Purple Mansion?!"
Qin Shouchang did not even blink.
He only felt that the world had played an enormous joke on him.
Forget seeing it—he had never even heard of such heaven-defying speed!!
His successful arrival at the Purple Mansion Realm also proved from the side that all of Qin Shouchang's previous suspicions about Zeng Anmin had been complete nonsense.
This Zeng Shilin! Why was he better than him at everything??
His literary talent might have been slightly inferior, but his Confucian Path talent, his way of governing, his appearance—even his ability to win a beauty's smile...
And now, even his ability to sire a son had crushed him...
Qin Shouchang stood there in a daze for a full quarter of an hour.
"Dean?!"
The steward was not a Confucian Dao cultivator, after all, and did not fully grasp what such speed meant. He was the first to recover, approaching Qin Shouchang quietly and asking in a lowered voice:
"Should we still investigate?"
"Investigate my ass!" Qin Shouchang suddenly came back to himself and stared hard at the steward.
"No matter who comes, remember this: no matter who it is, even if the Emperor himself arrives, Zeng Anmin spent last night seeking a breakthrough in his quarters and did not take a single step outside!!"
"Click."
Zeng Anmin's door was pushed open.
A group of elderly men stared at him in utter shock.
"Zeng Anmin?!! It really is him!!!"
"In just five days, he leaped three ranks in a row??!!"
"Unheard of, unseen!!"
"Even the Confucian Sage probably wasn't this fast back then!!"
When their gazes locked onto Zeng Anmin, everyone fell speechless.
Zeng Anmin looked at them all and blinked.
It's settled!
Could the sensation caused by the Governor's son breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm in five days fail to overshadow news of Prince Jiang's Estate's Young Master's death?
He bared his white teeth in a grin and looked at the instructors with a smile.
"Quanfu greets all the esteemed teachers. May I ask, esteemed teachers..."
Before he could finish speaking, an elderly man suddenly lunged at him, his entire body trembling as he grabbed Zeng Anmin's hand.
"Quanfu, this teacher is willing to take you as my personal disciple and impart all I have learned without reserve. Are you willing?!"
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