Profound Formation Division

How satisfying was showing off?

Or rather, how satisfying was showing off in front of a big shot?

Zeng Anmin held Huzi, his face still wearing a brilliantly radiant smile.

He had finally experienced the joy of a top student solving high school olympiad math problems before a teacher.

His father's expression had somewhat frozen.

Forget his father—throughout the entire courtyard, aside from Qi Dachun, who had just been beaten up, who wasn't utterly bewildered?

Zeng Anmin withdrew his fingers, blinked, and spoke in an innocent tone:

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

His voice shattered the silence in the courtyard.

Everyone turned to look at Zeng Anmin with a swish.

At that moment, the lingering rays of the setting sun happened to sweep across the tip of his nose, his chiseled profile, and those striking phoenix eyes, lending him the high-spirited vigor unique to youth.

His father came back to himself. With one hand behind his back, his expression returned to calm as he cleared the throat that seemed clogged by something:

"Ahem. Opening Purple Mansion at your age does indeed count as having quite some talent."

At this point, his father's tone shifted:

"However, opening Purple Mansion is merely the first step into the Confucian Path. A foundation a thousand miles high begins beneath one's feet. From now on, you must not be impetuous. Cultivate patiently."

"You must understand that earnestly comprehending heaven and earth is the foundation of the Confucian Path."

"From now on, you may cultivate Confucianism at home. If there is anything you do not understand, come find me in the study."

Having said that, his father took noticeably quicker little steps than usual and hurried toward the study:

"This old man suddenly remembered that he still has official duties to attend to. I will not be having dinner tonight."

With that, he stepped into the study.

Bang.

He shut the door behind him.

"Tsk."

Zeng Anmin lowered his head and teased Huzi. Then he perfunctorily lifted his eyelids, glanced at the tightly shut doors and windows of the study, and said:

"Then let's leave Grandpa alone and eat first, Huzi."

"Okay!!" Huzi seemed unconcerned about anything. Yet the moment Zeng Anmin mentioned the words "eat," his eyes suddenly shone with an incomparably bright light.

"Okay, okay! Hehe."

Drool was already running from his mouth.

Zeng Anmin lifted Huzi's shirt and wiped his mouth for him.

He glanced toward the study again, curled his lip, and muttered:

"Suppressive education and all that is the most annoying."

Inside the study, Zeng Shilin peered outside through a crack in the window.

After Zeng Anmin left the courtyard with Huzi and Aunt Lin to eat,

the servants in the courtyard also gradually departed.

He waited a while longer, until the entire courtyard was so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard.

Zeng Shilin finally could not hold it in any longer and released his hand, which had been clenched white.

"Hahahahahaha!!!!"

His exuberant laughter rang throughout the study.

"Qin! You like competing with this old man in everything?"

"So what if your daughter entered the Cultivation of Temperament Realm in half a year?"

"Hahaha! She can just marry this old man's son!"

"..."

But the rest of those words, his father only said in his heart.

Prince Jiang's Estate stood in the southern part of Two Rivers Prefecture.

After turning two corners, the official road was not far away.

It was also where Prince Jiang's Estate's Young Master, Wang Lin, had died.

At this time, though night had already fallen, Prince Jiang's Estate was brightly lit.

Main hall.

A burly, imposing figure sat expressionlessly in the chair at the very center.

He was around thirty-seven or thirty-eight, tall and powerfully built, tightly cloaked in purple robes.

The skin visible at his neck and wrists was bronze.

His features were sharply defined and deep-set, with dark, icy eyes.

This man was the current Prince Jiang. Without uttering a word, he stared at an elderly man with a slight hunch seated diagonally opposite him.

"The Young Master truly died beneath a Spiritual Artifact."

Deep furrows crossed the hunched old man's face, and his plain cloth garments made him look exceedingly simple.

If one did not know better, one would have taken him for some old farmer.

Yet a sharp gleam occasionally flashed through his seemingly clouded eyes, giving him an unfathomable air.

The old man was an adviser of Prince Jiang's Estate, named Qi Lang, though he preferred others to call him Mr. Qi.

Mr. Qi's voice was low and certain, carrying a faint rasp:

"I am all too familiar with the Spiritual Artifacts made by the Profound Formation Division."

"A Er died beneath the same Spiritual Artifact. The killer was at least a martial artist of the Sheng Pin Realm."

"One strike, one kill—clean and swift. That is enough to prove that Black Cat Martial Artist is a habitual offender."

After saying this, he watched his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, sitting there in silence.

He was waiting, waiting for Prince Jiang to speak first.

After a long while.

Prince Jiang finally raised his deep-set eyes. Within them flickered a dangerous light that made people tremble uncontrollably.

Throughout all of Two Rivers Prefecture, Martial Artists possessing Spiritual Artifacts from the Profound Formation Division could be counted on one's fingers.

"Not one of those Spiritual Artifacts is a short blade."

As he spoke, he looked at the Xuan paper spread across the table.

A jade-colored short blade was drawn on the paper. The owner gripping it was a mysterious person wearing a black hood.

It had been drawn based on eyewitness descriptions.

"Then Your Highness must send someone with this drawing to the Profound Formation Division and demand an explanation."

The old man slowly shook his head, his gaze profound.

When he spoke the three words "Profound Formation Division," he was briefly distracted:

"The Profound Formation Division keeps records of every standard Spiritual Artifact it makes. It should be possible to trace it."

Upon hearing this, Prince Jiang fell into thought, his fingertips rhythmically tapping the tabletop at his right.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

The sound carried an unmistakable rhythm.

A moment later, Prince Jiang raised his head, revealing his somewhat rugged face. His voice turned vicious as well:

"Heh, then go ask! I want to see who has such audacity."

As he spoke, dense killing intent surged forth.

The entire main hall sank into a deathly silence.

The insects did not dare chirp, nor did the birds dare call.

The old man was silent for a moment and did not continue the topic.

Yet Prince Jiang clearly had no intention of letting him off. Instead, he slowly fixed his gaze on him:

"Mr. Qi, I have heard that the Profound Formation Division in the capital possesses an array called Ask Heaven, which can deduce things based on a person's appearance and other information. I wonder..."

He stopped halfway through, but his meaning was already clear.

Hearing this, the old man was briefly dazed, then revealed a bitter smile:

"This method damages one's lifespan... and my cultivation is not deep enough. I may not be able to deduce anything."

Prince Jiang did not even blink. He merely narrowed his eyes slightly and continued staring at him.

For a time, an eerie atmosphere filled the main hall.

The old man sighed faintly to himself, then forced a smile. Slowly rising to his feet, he bowed to Prince Jiang:

"However, I can understand Your Highness's grief. How would I dare refuse your command!"

"Good!" Prince Jiang beamed with delight, clapping his hands as he exclaimed:

"Having met Mr. Qi, I am like a fish in water!"

Before long, all kinds of materials had been laid out in the main hall of the estate.

Prince Jiang dismissed all the servants. With one hand behind his back, he stood beside the old man and quietly observed everything.

Mr. Qi's expression was solemn, a Black-Purple Compass in his hand.

He looked at the exceedingly complex patterns drawn on the floor in blood.

"Heaven's Law on Earth, earth's law on heaven; with Golden Fluff, gain a thread of knowing breath."

The old man muttered under his breath, then suddenly opened his eyes. The compass in his hand abruptly began to spin.

Before long, a faint ripple descended upon the patterns on the ground.

"Buzz~"

The sound rang out. Amid the encirclement of several stones, the mysterious patterns on the ground faintly flashed with an almost imperceptible light.

The old man immediately closed his eyes again.

Perhaps some images flashed through his mind.

Or perhaps it was words.

Outsiders had no way of knowing.

Prince Jiang only saw that when the old man opened his eyes again, a trace of blood was already seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Your Highness, I have fully grasped the identity of Black Cat Martial Artist."