Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Public Enemy of the Nine Realms

While Yang Ze and the others were speaking, Wu Yong came toward them from the side.

“You’re Yang Ze, aren’t you? No wonder you could take one of my punches and live. You really do have some skill. Out of everyone here, you were the only one who managed to kill a villager possessed by a vengeful spirit,” Wu Yong said in mild astonishment.

“Senior Brother Wu, you flatter me. During our match that day, I knew you were holding back, or how could I possibly have taken your punch? Besides, the vengeful spirit you just dealt with was far stronger than the one I faced,” Yang Ze said.

This was not modesty; he was simply telling the truth. He had observed earlier that the vengeful spirits these outer disciples of Martial Dipper Academy were facing were much stronger than Fan Yongnian. If he had run into those spirits, he might not only have failed to kill them, but even protecting himself would have been a problem.

Hearing this, Wu Yong laughed heartily and said nothing more.

“What were the three of you talking about just now? I even heard you say something about asking me something,” Wu Yong suddenly asked, changing the subject.

“Senior Brother, we’re curious about quite a few things right now. You must tell us,” Lu Qing blurted out before Yang Ze could speak.

“You want to know about what happened tonight?” Wu Yong said.

“That’s right. Senior Brother is already an inner disciple of the academy, so you must know far more about tonight’s events than we do. We hope you can explain them to us. Otherwise, if we encounter something like this again, we’ll be caught completely off guard,” Yang Ze said solemnly.

“What I know about tonight’s affair is limited as well. Ask what you want to know. If I can answer it, I’ll tell you,” Wu Yong said, his tone suddenly turning serious.

Seeing this, the three exchanged glances, and Yang Ze spoke up. “Then thank you, Senior Brother Wu. My first question is: what exactly is a vengeful spirit?”

Wu Yong thought for a moment before replying. “A vengeful spirit is formed from the soul of someone who died carrying immense resentment. Some people die unwillingly; after death, their souls refuse to dissipate so easily and linger within the body for a short time.

“During that brief period, certain martial artists with profound cultivation can refine those souls steeped in resentment into vengeful spirits and place them into vessels to nourish them. That black liquid from tonight was one such vessel.”

“How is a vengeful spirit refined? Does that mean any of us could be turned into one after death?” This time it was Bai Lun who asked, sounding rather uneasy.

Wu Yong fixed him with a glance. “Refining a spirit is not so easy. The lower one’s cultivation, the harder it is to refine a vengeful spirit. The higher the cultivation, the longer the resentful soul can persist, and the easier it is to refine.

“But a resentful soul is only raw material. To refine it into a vengeful spirit, one needs sufficiently strong cultivation. Aside from special techniques and martial arts, at the very least one must have reached the fourth rank to even qualify. For martial artists whose cultivation is insufficient, only with the aid of treasures refined by a high-ranked martial artist would there be any possibility of doing it.

“The heretic from tonight had not even reached the fourth rank. He must have had some treasure bestowed upon him by a high-ranked martial artist.”

Only then did Yang Ze and the others understand what vengeful spirits truly were.

“Vengeful spirits are no good thing. They are a monstrous, heaven-defying existence. Within our Great Martial Empire, anyone who dares refine a vengeful spirit is an enemy of the empire. You must remember that, understand?” Wu Yong added. When he said this, his eyes lingered especially on Bai Lun.

Bai Lun’s body trembled slightly. He had not expected his thoughts to be seen through.

Yang Ze did not pay him any mind and continued, “Senior Brother Wu, I have a second question. Who exactly was that black-robed man tonight, and why did Elder Ma call him a heretic?”

This time Wu Yong did not answer immediately. He seemed to hesitate. After a while, he finally said, “Very well, I’ll tell you. You should know that a thousand years ago, a meteorite from beyond the heavens struck the lands of the Nine Provinces, bringing with it spiritual energy and ushering in an entirely new era.

“After that, our great Emperor Wu swept across the world and unified the Nine Provinces, and only then was peace restored to all under heaven.

“But some remnants of that age still remain in this world. They formed a power, hiding in the shadows, opposing the court at every turn. They belong neither to the martial world nor to the imperial court. They work against the Nine Provinces at every opportunity, and thus they are the heretics of the land.

“They commit every evil imaginable. Things like vengeful spirits come from their hands. Anyone refined into a vengeful spirit can never be reborn after death. So remember this: if you ever encounter such heretics, you must eliminate them. They are the public enemy of our entire land!”

Wu Yong said this bitterly, clearly harboring deep hatred for these heretics.

Yang Ze and the others were all somewhat shocked. Yang Ze had originally assumed the black-robed man came from some martial sect, but he had never expected him to be one of the heretics of the Nine Provinces.

That made sense. Only the common enemy of the Nine Provinces could commit such utterly inhumane deeds.

“Any more questions? If not, I’m leaving,” Wu Yong said, turning to go, but Yang Ze stopped him.

“Senior Brother, please wait a moment. I still have two more questions. My third is: how do rank-based martial artists differ from the martial arts we practice? My fourth is: how are our positions divided within the academy?” Without waiting for Wu Yong to refuse, Yang Ze quickly asked.

Wu Yong shook his head and hurriedly replied, “Rank-based martial artists are those who begin at the first rank and reach the ninth as the peak. Their starting point is the first-rank Bone Tempering Realm. Even that alone is enough to contend with the Xiantian Realm of your secular world, so now you should understand just how much strength I was holding back back then.

“After the first-rank Bone Tempering Realm comes the second-rank Blood Condensation Realm, and above that is the third-rank Meridian Opening Realm. These three realms are the entry level of martial cultivation. Once mastered, the body reaches an entirely new stage; the strength is far beyond that of ordinary people. When a third-rank martial artist strikes, killing a thousand commoners is no difficult matter at all.

“As for the fourth rank and beyond, that is still far from me. If you ask me about it, I cannot answer. When you have the chance at the academy, you’ll come to understand.

“As for the division among our academy disciples: those like you, who have only just entered, some with nothing within their bodies and some already possessing true qi, can only be registered disciples. Only once you have refined true essence and successfully tempered one bone, becoming a first-rank martial artist, will you be outer disciples.

“When your cultivation advances to the second-rank Blood Condensation Realm and you temper the internal organs, then you become inner disciples. Above the inner disciples are the core disciples, and they are the true prodigies of our academy. However, the requirements to become a core disciple are extremely strict. It is not enough to simply have sufficient cultivation.

“All right, any more questions? You haven’t even properly entered the academy yet, so don’t ask too much. Knowing too many things will not be good for you. Remember that.”

Wu Yong said this to Yang Ze. When he finished, he turned and left quickly, as though afraid Yang Ze might stop him again.

After Wu Yong departed, the three of them all felt somewhat astonished. As expected, Wu Yong knew far more than they did. With just a few questions, he had dispelled many of their doubts.

“All right, let’s split up. Elder Ma has given us tasks, and we should do our part,” Yang Ze said.

Bai Lun and Lu Qing nodded, and the three quickly dispersed to act separately.

Yang Ze walked along the village’s main road, going farther and farther until he reached the edge of the settlement, where he saw a house. He simply went inside.

The house was empty. After checking around and finding no one, Yang Ze found a spot, sat down heavily, and began to rest.

His injuries had not yet recovered, and after repeatedly fighting with others, his condition was nowhere near as good as it appeared.

There were already plenty of people carrying out Elder Ma’s orders; they did not need him as well. There was not even any reward in it, so he had no intention of doing it. Just then, with no one around, it was the perfect time for him to use the Black Stone to recover.

Fortunately, he had brought both bundles out with him. Yang Ze opened one, took out the medicinal herbs inside, and without the slightest hesitation swallowed them whole.

The moment they entered his stomach, the Black Stone activated, transforming the herbs into a surge of energy that poured into his body and nourished his wounds.

Yang Ze could not help but sigh. It really was better to have a cheat-like advantage. Without this precious Black Stone, he would never have dared swallow medicinal herbs so recklessly. That could have gone badly.

The warm energy circulated through his body as Yang Ze began to operate his cultivation art and recover.

It was not until noon that Yang Ze finally emerged from the house. By then, his complexion looked much better; his injuries had not worsened, and his strength had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent.

Not daring to waste time, Yang Ze hurried to the village entrance on the other side. He jogged all the way there, and when he arrived, Lu Qing and the others were already present.

The three exchanged information and discovered that none of them had found a single living person. Looking at the others, after searching every corner of Qin Family Ridge, the total number of survivors found did not even reach fifty.

That heretic had been too thoroughly prepared. Last night’s attack had nearly killed off all the remaining villagers in Qin Family Ridge.

Looking at the few people left, Zhang Yongxu clasped his hands toward the carriage where Elder Ma was seated and said, “Elder, we found a total of forty-seven people. Should we help bury the villagers who died? Also, I think this drought may well be related to those heretics. Should we investigate more carefully?”

After Zhang Yongxu finished, a long while passed before Elder Ma finally responded.

“Yongxu, do not forget our mission this time. We have already delayed here long enough. It is time to go.”