In the Name of Divine Powers, Part 9

[In the fifteenth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, Shao Yuanjie, a Daoist priest of Mount Longhu, entered the palace. Through his arts for strengthening the nation and expanding the imperial line, he succeeded in enabling the Jiajing Emperor to have a son.]

Divine powers had existed since ancient times. Life development had gone by different names throughout history, and in ancient times, there really had been a practice of refining essence into qi.

But whatever it was called, it clearly could not grant immortality. Otherwise, the kings, nobles, generals, and ministers of history would not have died.

No matter how much vitality they had, none had lived past one hundred and thirty.

Cultivation scams remained widespread in modern society, and repeated government crackdowns had failed to stamp them out. No matter how much public education was promoted, plenty of people remained superstitious.

People of every age and class became obsessed with them, possibly because life development provided a tangible basis for belief.

Since humanity could move mountains and fill seas, why couldn't it live forever? Was the method wrong?

A thought occurred to Lu Zhao, followed by countless questions.

Shao Yuanjie has survived until now as a spirit. Perhaps his path is the right one.

I wonder what he's after. Maybe immortals all like doing things this way.

Lu Zhao couldn't figure it out, but one thing was undeniable: the old Daoist had given him a hand, providing him with the means to break out of his predicament.

No matter what, he had to acknowledge that favor.

Lu Zhao now had 35.6 vitality and would reach forty in another forty-four days. With a sufficient supply of life supplements, he could reach fifty in less than half a year.

Fifty vitality was another watershed, allowing every aspect of his body to undergo a transformation. His dermis, for instance, would be able to stop .45-caliber handgun rounds.

At fifty vitality, he would become a second-tier transcendent. Second-tier transcendents gradually developed extraordinary self-healing abilities. Ordinary wounds could heal in a single breath, and the vast majority of injuries fatal to humans would no longer be lethal.

A peak second-tier transcendent with nearly two hundred vitality could even use his muscles to maintain blood circulation throughout his body after his heart was damaged, while slowly healing the heart.

In terms of social standing, each tier brought earthshaking changes.

Take Lu Zhao, for example: he could take his service record and transfer to a local post. This was important, and one reason he didn't want to resign.

If he resigned, he would lose his fresh-graduate status even if he passed the civil service exam again, leaving a blemish on his record.

It would also be a roundabout way of bowing his head and admitting defeat.

If Lu Zhao were a third-tier transcendent, he could be promoted to field officer without conditions, and automatically become a colonel once he had served long enough.

In an administrative post, he would skip the clerk and chief clerk ranks altogether and receive the benefits of an official.

Chapter 10: Fate Bone

In Dama County, ten kilometers from the border station, was the county hospital's morgue.

Harsh white light fell on a figure covered by a white sheet. The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and rotting flesh, and a powerful air conditioner growled as it blew cold air.

The Greenwood bandit shot dead a few days earlier lay on the central table. Lin Zhiyan was "interrogating" the dead man.

Without any protection, her long, slender fingers plunged directly into the brain tissue exposed by the sawn-open skull.

Lin Zhiyan's eyes were tightly shut. Her spirit, like the finest probe, made a difficult passage through the dead man's shattered mental world.

After a long time, she opened her eyes and quickly withdrew her hand.

Her assistant immediately brought her water. Lin Zhiyan scrubbed her hands vigorously, sending droplets flying, as if she meant to scrape off the skin.

Only when her skin reddened and broke in several places did she stop.

Her expression grim, Lin Zhiyan said, "I saw him obtain a piece of deep-blue jade. It was heavy and carried the earthy smell of an ancient tomb. Then the memories broke off. Forcing them together, I could only see fragments of his flight. I couldn't determine the Fate Bone's exact location."

"We need to find out everyone he came into contact with and everywhere he stopped along the way."

A year earlier, a Ming-dynasty prince's tomb had been excavated in Lin City, and a great many Fate Bones had been dug up inside.

Normally, Fate Bones would not be used as burial objects. They were a foundation of the ruling order, much less something to be buried in large quantities.

For that reason, the ancient tomb's excavation had not required a military or police guard.

But something unexpected happened: over a hundred Fate Bones were unearthed in the tomb, and even more unexpectedly, Greenwood bandits stole every last one.

On May 27, it was Lu Zhao's turn on duty.

There were two kinds of border assignments: one was to be stationed at a frontline outpost deep in the mountains and forests; the other was to conduct largely symbolic patrols in the surrounding area.

The latter was relatively easy. At most, it involved joining public security officers in inspecting border hotels and entertainment venues and checking the identities of suspicious people.

The former required patrols along the national border, on foot or by vehicle, across difficult terrain including mountains, jungles, deserts, and islands, facing smugglers and demonic beasts.

Lu Zhao had just completed a rotation at the frontline outpost and had a much easier time now. All he had to do was drive the patrol jeep, its paint peeling, around the winding mountain roads each day.

At 9:10, Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang set out to patrol the mountain in the little wreck of a car.

At 10:30, they parked halfway up the mountain. Liu Qiang remained on standby while Lu Zhao continued uphill.

With no one holding him back, he moved faster. Boosted by vitality averaging thirty points, he raced along like a bird of prey skimming low over the ground.

On a rock at the summit, Lu Zhao swept the surroundings with his spiritual power, which sent back a rough outline to his mind.

Then he bent down and reached into a crevice in the rock. With a little effort, he pulled out a shoulder bag steeped in the smell of damp earth.

Being covered in rock, it naturally liked rocks.

Inside the shoulder bag was a palm-sized piece of deep-blue jade, giving off a faint glow.

Lu Zhao examined it for a moment, his expression gradually growing grave. "A Fate Bone?"

The vast majority of Fate Bones were in the state's possession. Private ownership was illegal.

"Where did Greenwood steal this from?"

Lu Zhao considered what to do with it.

Should he hide it for his own use, or sell it?

A person could have only one kind of Fate Bone, but could merge similar types to obtain a more powerful Divine Ability. Following the numbers of the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend, all Divine Abilities could be sorted into categories.

They were like trees: Great Divine Abilities were the trunks, powerful ones the branches, and weak and faint ones the leaves.

But Lu Zhao's own Divine Ability was not weak, nor had its development reached a bottleneck. He also had no way to determine the Fate Bone's category.

At this stage, he had no need for it. What he lacked most was money.

Selling the Fate Bone on the black market would bring him a large sum, perhaps enough to cover his expenses for the next ten years.

The thought of selling it had barely appeared before Lu Zhao rejected it.

A Fate Bone and its Divine Ability left in circulation would inevitably end up being used to kill. Good people who had use for a Fate Bone didn't need to buy one, and most likely couldn't afford one either. Only evildoers needed Fate Bone Divine Abilities as weapons to challenge the established order.

That was his bottom line.

If everyone could be selfless, then naturally he could be selfless too. Conversely, even if everyone were corrupt and bent the law, Lu Zhao would still keep his bottom line.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Lu Zhao planned to bring it out in exchange for merit when a relevant assignment came up in the future.

He found a place to bury the shoulder bag, then continued swiftly toward the deeper reaches of the mountain's rear slopes.

Ant Ridge was not a single, isolated peak, but a vast mountain region stretching thirty kilometers.

Their daily patrols covered only a relatively safe little area on the very outskirts of Ant Ridge, less than a tenth of its total area.

Often, all the frontline outposts could do was provide warning; scattered demonic beasts were always breaking through the blockade.

Recently, the frontline station had found traces of demonic beasts crossing the border. In such cases, Lu Zhao would usually request a rotation back so he could track and hunt them.

In the entire border station, only Lu Zhao meticulously followed the planned patrol route to the end and completed every task without the slightest deviation.

Zhang Like had complained bitterly about this, saying Lu Zhao worked too hard and made the rest of them look as though they were just killing time.

As Lu Zhao pressed deeper, the trees grew taller and thicker, their canopies blocking out the sky. Sunlight struggled to filter through the gaps in the branches and leaves, leaving it somewhat dim even at noon.

Lu Zhao finally stopped when the forest floor became occupied by ferns and shade-tolerant shrubs so dense they were almost impassable.

He looked around, inspected the traces, and, after setting markers and traps, began heading back.

When he returned to the outer area, Liu Qiang had already climbed to the summit.

"Brother Lu, the higher-ups want us to search the mountain for whatever that fugitive hid here a few days ago."

"It's getting late. Let's head back first."

Lu Zhao shook his head and refused. He then led Liu Qiang down the mountain, and on the drive back to the border station, a scolding from Lü Jinshan over the phone was unavoidable.

Liu Qiang wore a pained smile and made placating noises throughout. With only seven or eight vitality, he didn't even count as a transcendent. What could he do before a big leader but bow and scrape?

Lü Jinshan's words went in one of Lu Zhao's ears and out the other. He didn't even respond.

He had no intention of bringing it out immediately. If he did, Lü Jinshan would certainly interfere again just to make things unpleasant for him.

Lü Jinshan seems to be in a hurry.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

Suppose this was a demand from the special investigation team, or even from the county's higher-ups.

If Lü Jinshan failed to recover the important lost item within a reasonable time, he could face disciplinary action for dereliction of duty.

After Lü Jinshan hung up on Liu Qiang, Lu Zhao asked, "In the report I had you write a few days ago, did you include the information that the fugitive might have hidden something?"

"I did. They only thought of searching the mountain today, and the heavy rain has washed away all the traces."

Liu Qiang's clerical work was always thorough and impeccable.

Lu Zhao was very satisfied with that.

Chapter 11: A scolding

At the border station, the former personnel office had been converted into a temporary office for the special investigation team.

Lin Zhiyan opened the case file on the Lin City fugitive, and a rather familiar name met her eyes.

[Report on Comrade Lu Zhao's lawful use of a weapon to shoot and kill the fugitive Tian Er]

[Ant Ridge border station, Fangnan City, May 25, 3242: Our team received a report that the wanted criminal Tian Er had appeared on the rear slopes of Ant Ridge. Border police officers Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang encountered him while patrolling the mountain. After confirmation from the police dispatch center, they shot and killed the fugitive.]