Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 295: Chapter 168: Investigation

’My son had a real way with women. He even had a proud young lady like Su Man wrapped around his finger in just a few months. If nothing had happened to him, he would have had a great future.’

’But alas, he was killed by that damned beast.’

After a while, Su Man’s emotions calmed. Xiao Hua said, "I heard from Chen’er’s mother that on the day of the incident, he came into the city to see you. Did you notice anything unusual?"

With red-rimmed eyes, Su Man shook her head. "No."

Xiao Hua frowned deeply. "Nothing? Was he with you at home the entire day, or did he go out?"

"He went out!" Su Man said. "We went to Cuiwei Building for a meal, and then he left. The incident happened after that."

"Did you encounter anyone strange on the way? Fellow sect members, for instance?" Xiao Hua asked.

Purple Sun Sect disciples were known to ambush and kill their own, so he suspected this was the case. Most of the deaths in the sect each year were caused by other members. For an incident to happen on the road like that, it was very likely the work of someone from the Purple Sun Sect.

Su Man said, "We ran into Xu Yang of the Ten Heroes."

Xu Yang?

Xiao Hua shot to his feet, his killing intent flaring. He gritted his teeth and said, "So it was that little beast who harmed my son!"

’I already wanted to get rid of Xu Yang. On top of that, during those few days, I was being punished to garrison Cyan Mountain Town because of him. If Xiao Chen ran into Xu Yang in Cyan Yang City, he would have definitely wanted to kill him to eliminate a future threat. It must have been Xu Yang who killed Xiao Chen!’

Su Jianye shook his head. "Brother Xiao, calm down. Xiao Chen was just one step away from Marrow Cleansing. A year ago, that Xu Yang was only at Gang Qi Minor Achievement. Ten of him couldn’t have taken Xiao Chen’s life."

Su Man had already told them about this. It was impossible for Xu Yang to have killed Xiao Chen.

"It must have been him! And even if it wasn’t, he’s connected to it!" Xiao Hua’s eyes were bloodshot.

’Su Jianye doesn’t know about the history between Xu Yang and me and my son. But I know that if Xiao Chen encountered Xu Yang in Cyan Yang City, he would never have passed up the chance to kill him.’

"Did you have a grudge against this Xu Yang from before?" Su Jianye frowned.

He could tell from Xiao Hua’s expression that it was a long-standing grudge.

Xiao Hua gritted his teeth. "He’s the one who got me punished with a year of garrison duty at Cyan Mountain."

He only mentioned this and said nothing about Lin Wei.

’After all this questioning, Xu Yang was the only suspect. Whether Xu Yang had the strength to kill Xiao Chen or not, he was now my next target.’

Not staying long, Xiao Hua quickly returned to the Purple Sun Sect.

...

’This is my last Gathering Essence Pill!’

Xu Yang swallowed the last Gathering Essence Pill and circulated the Fuyue Bear Scripture to absorb its medicinal power. The two batches of Gathering Essence Pills he had refined were finally used up. If he didn’t perform Alchemy, he would have no more Elixirs, and his cultivation speed would slow down.

The problem now was that Xiao Hua might be watching him, ready to strike if he left the mountain.

He had never seen a master at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement in action, so he couldn’t be sure if he was a match for Xiao Hua right now.

’I can’t take the risk. I have all the time in the world to wait him out.’

After some thought, Xu Yang decided against taking the risk. He was immortal; it didn’t matter if his cultivation progressed a little slower. There was no need to take a chance.

Besides, his Fuyue Bear King’s Palm had not yet reached Perfection. Comprehending its Martial Dao Imagery was proving more difficult than he had imagined.

Every day he could postpone facing Xiao Hua was another day to increase his strength and improve his odds.

Time slowly passed. News kept coming from the new generation of Dragon Ascending Disciples; all the geniuses on the Ten Heroes List had reached Qi Cultivation Gang.

It was as if their generation of disciples had faded from the stage, with very little news about them.

Aside from hearing a few days ago that Su Zhe, ranked ninth, had reached Gang Qi Great Success, there was no news about the cultivation progress of people like Lu Ren or Han Feng. It seemed everyone had learned to keep a low profile.

’Why won’t this little beast leave the sect? Could it be he has a guilty conscience?’ Xiao Hua frowned to himself.

He had been watching Xu Yang for over half a month. The moment Xu Yang dared to step out of the sect’s gates, he would make his move.

Seven days ago, he even had someone spread the news that the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was holding an auction, but Xu Yang hadn’t taken the bait.

The more Xu Yang acted this way, the more convinced he became that Xu Yang was involved in Xiao Chen’s death. Otherwise, why would a master at Gang Qi Great Success be so cautious and prudent?

After all, Xu Yang had attended every previous auction at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. This was a clear sign he was guarding against him.

’Do you think I can’t do anything to you just because you’re hiding in the Sect?’

Xiao Hua gritted his teeth. If Xu Yang wouldn’t leave, he would just have to resort to other means.

...

"Junior Brother Xu, this is your task settlement slip. A total of eighty contribution points!"

On Li Fire Peak, Gao Lin smiled as he handed the task settlement slip to Xu Yang. "I’m not trying to nag you, Junior Brother, but with your cultivation, you should be out adventuring in the Yunling Mountain Range, seeking opportunities. How will you ever reach Marrow Cleansing by doing these refining tasks?"

He had originally thought very highly of Xu Yang and even considered recruiting him into Li Fire Peak once his three-year term as an Outer Disciple was up.

But Xu Yang’s recent behavior had left him increasingly speechless. A dignified master at Gang Qi Great Success who didn’t even dare to enter the Yunling Mountain Range, instead competing with junior brothers who had just reached Qi Cultivation Gang for low-contribution-point tasks like refining ore. He completely lacked the sharp, enterprising spirit of a Martial Artist.

Even people like Jiang Fan and Li Chuyang, despite having the backing of their families’ resources, frequently entered the Yunling Mountain Range to temper themselves. He had never before seen someone as talented, yet as overly cautious, as Xu Yang.

Xu Yang took the task slip and cupped his hands. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. I was planning to make a trip to the Yunling Mountain Range in a little while."

Gao Lin was left a little speechless. He had heard Xu Yang say this several times already, but he had yet to see him actually go to the Yunling Mountain Range once.

"You’d best take this to heart. Your batch of disciples is about to complete your three-year term and will have to find masters. If you had the talent and background of Jiang Fan or Du Chuan, you naturally wouldn’t need to worry about finding a master."

But your talent isn’t as good as theirs, and neither is your background.

"When the time comes and you submit your discipleship requests to the peaks, the Elders will see how timid you are, not even daring to set foot in the Yunling Mountain Range, and no one will accept you as a disciple."

Xu Yang’s brows furrowed slightly. He hadn’t really thought about this problem. "Even if I can place in the top three of this year’s Outer Disciple competition, would they still reject me because of this?"

Martial Artists were meant to be courageous, diligent, sharp, and enterprising. Many people did indeed place great importance on these things. In the past, Lin Cheng had thought him too cautious, and many others had mocked him for it, saying he was unworthy of being a Martial Artist.

’Although I know I’m not timid, outsiders don’t see it that way.’

Gao Lin shook his head. "Don’t overthink it. For this year’s Outer Disciple Grand Competition, the top three will likely be Lu Ren, Han Feng, Xiong Kun, or Xie Zhan. If you want to place in the top three, it’ll only happen if the few people ranked ahead of you on the Ten Heroes List all die."

In the last Outer Disciple Grand Competition, Xu Yang didn’t even have the courage to participate. How could he possibly talk about placing in the top three now? Was that even possible?

Moreover, with another year having passed, getting into the top three of this year’s Outer Disciple Grand Competition would be even more difficult than the last.

In Jiang Fan’s year, there were only three Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artists.

By the time of this year’s competition, he calculated there would be at least four Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artists, making it even harder to place in the top three.

It wasn’t even certain if Xu Yang could defeat Su Zhe, let alone Lu Ren, Xie Zhan, and the others ranked ahead of him.

Xu Yang said, "Senior Brother Gao, I’m speaking hypothetically."

Gao Lin was taken aback. He thought for a moment and said, "That, I don’t know. If you could place in the top three, perhaps some Elders wouldn’t care about your timidity. But it would be impossible for you to be accepted by an ideal master."

Different masters offered different teachings, and within a peak, the best inheritance naturally came from the Peak Master. But with Xu Yang being so timid, even the Elders would look down on him—let alone a Peak Master or, at the highest level, becoming the Sect Leader’s Disciple.

Pondering Gao Lin’s words, Xu Yang took his task settlement slip and soon arrived at the Task Hall. As luck would have it, the Steward on duty was none other than Xiao Hua.

Xu Yang’s expression remained unchanged as he smiled. "Steward Xiao, here is my task settlement slip."

Seeing Xu Yang’s expression, Xiao Hua’s eyes looked as if they were about to spew fire. He felt as though Xu Yang was mocking him for his son’s death and for his punishment of a year’s garrison duty at Cyan Mountain.

Suppressing his killing intent, he took Xu Yang’s task slip and gave him the contribution points he was owed.

"Thank you, Steward Xiao."

Xu Yang took the contribution points and was about to leave when he heard Xiao Hua shout, "Hold it!"

His heart sank. He turned to see Xiao Hua speaking with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "The guard is changing at the Divine Weapon Workshop. Your name is on the new garrison roster. Report here in five days. It’s thirty contribution points a month."