Chapter 77: A Dead Man
Translator: 549690339
The God-hidden Cult emerged forty to fifty years ago, only leaving traces within the Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty. It is said that a monk had a dream of the Respected God-hidden in his sleep, from whom he received the secret of the power of god-hiding. Upon waking, this monk founded the God-hidden Cult, becoming the Sect Hierarch, recruiting followers, and spreading the method of obtaining the power of god-hiding.
The God-hidden Cult believes that there are hidden secrets within the human body that, if discovered, can make the attainment of divinity as easy as common daily tasks. However, due to insufficient knowledge and experience of cultivators, it may be impossible to find one’s own hidden secrets. Fortunately, the Respected God-hidden has passed down a method, stating that the constant Heavenly Dao leaves a line of opportunity for harnessing the power of god-hiding using others’ life force. This, however, is a Heavenly Machine, not to be lightly passed on. Non-believers should not know, and the taking of lives is detrimental to universal harmony. Each person is allowed, at most, to kill a thousand people.
This is all the information that Heavenly Secret Pavilion knows about the God-hidden Cult. The text speaks of the power of god-hiding but does not mention the power of merit at all.
No surprise there, if they knew that the power of god-hiding was the power of merit, Jiang Li would not need to ask, as they would already be informing him about this matter.
The power of merit is the Heavenly Dao’s approval of a cultivator’s actions, equating to saying that the Heavenly Dao encourages murder!
The implications of this information are far-reaching.
Whether it is the Dao Sect or the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, both have directed their attention towards the Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty. Of course, Jiang Li intends to visit and he even suspects that the secret of the Lord Commanding General that the Dragon patriarch once spoke about is this God-hidden Cult.
In fact, Jiang Li wanted to inquire about the situation with Yu Yin, but considering that she is currently gathering momentum for the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, it is not appropriate to disturb her, so he abandoned the idea.
At this time, the atmosphere in Emperor Tianyuan Imperial City was somber. Even cultivators who were unconcerned about political affairs had heard that the Tianyuan Empress had failed her attempt at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, and sustained internal injuries. The imperial physicians were helpless; even the elder from the Alchemy Peak invited by Dao Sect could only shake his head and suggest convalescence to avoid anger.
The Tianyuan Empress heeded the advice of the physicians, retreated into the Yangxin Hall for recuperation and left the handling of state affairs to her ministers.
The former Tianyuan Royal Family, sensing a rare opportunity, felt regret by the Empress’ arrogance in not purging them. Now was the time to make her regret her arrogance, pull her down from the throne, viciously trample her on the ground – taking their pleasure in her suffering!
They exploited every opportunity, liaising with various forces and influential court officials, intent on overthrowing Yu Yin’s rule!
Even General Che Wu, who was mostly stationed at the border, returned to the court. He stated that there was only small-scale warfare with the Great Zhou Dynasty, and there was nothing to fear.
However, everyone knew that the Empress did not order General Che Wu to return to the court, this was the decision made by the ministers!
No one knew for sure whether this was permitted by the Empress or it was decided by the ministers themselves.
A Qi cultivator of Body Integration Realm who has killed countless people could influence the impending rebellion!
The imperial city, which used to be the most orderly of all the cities in the Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty, had changed. After all, the nobles of the dynasty always put on an amicable facade, and never tore off their masks. But now, either the Ministry of Justice was investigating murder cases on the streets, or they were catching culprits, or the responsibilities of the two departments were reversed.
Their duties had begun to overlap and create chaos.
Jiang Li stood in front of the mansion of General Che Wu, surrounded by personnel from the Ministry of Justice and the prefecture interrogating and investigating the murder case.
The deceased was named Che Wu, who held the position of a top general. It was initially determined that the time of death was two hours ago. Che Wu was killed by someone in a single fatal blow, his soul escaping his body. The perpetrator remained undiscovered, deducing that it was someone Che Wu trusted.
Jiang Li encountered the old man from the God-hidden Cult two hours ago.
The Ministry of Justice, supporting the previous Tianyuan Imperial Family, and the prefecture, supporting the Tianyuan Empress, both suspected that it was someone from the other party who killed Che Wu. Although their conversations were filled with testing and probing, they couldn’t ascertain anything.
Jiang Li entered the Che Wu ‘s mansion, silently observing the expression on Che Wu’s face; fear, bewilderment, disbelief, and other emotions. Just like the myriad of victims Jiang Li had seen, Che Wu’s facial expression was quite expressive.
He couldn’t decipher anything from it, but it didn’t matter, because he knew of an individual who was an expert in this field, who could be of assistance.
“Do you have some time right now?” Jiang Li arrived at the palace of Great Zhou Dynasty, noticing that Ji Zhi was approving memorials on one side and at the same time swallowing a refreshing pill produced by Dao Sect.
“Forget I asked.” Jiang Li met eyes with Ji Zhi, roughly understanding why Ji
Zhi could only stay in the Divinity Transformation Stage.
Too busy to cultivate.
“Do you know how many problems will arise by issuing a provisional decree regarding Spiritual Treasures?” The memorials in front of Ji Zhi were nothing but the negative impacts that had arisen after implementing the decree in several trial cities. The officials consolidated them, proposed countermeasures, and then were each rejected by Ji Zhi, writing out parts of the decree that needed to be amended.
“Say it, what did you come to find me for?”
“Good news, General Che Wu, who’s been harassing you Great Zhou Dynasty along the border, is dead.”
Ji Zhi paused: “When did this happen?”
“Two hours ago.”
“So you came all the way here just to tell me this good news?” Ji Zhi didn’t believe Jiang Li had good intentions.
“Yes, also I want you to help me find out who the murderer is.”
“I’ve used my Eye Double Vision a lot recently to obtain the best effect for the decree. As you can see, I’ve almost blinded myself. Furthermore, the decree has a pile of issues. If you’re not in a hurry, wait for about a ten days or so, when my eyes have healed, and I’ll help you investigate.”
“If you’re in a hurry, you can ask Ji Kongkong for help.”
Jiang Li remembered Ji Kongkong, the cute little girl, Ji Zhi’s daughter, the nineteenth princess of Great Zhou.
“Isn’t she just about seven or eight years old, and only up to the third level in Qi cultivation? Could she have learned Time Retrospection?”
Ji Zhi, speaking about his youngest daughter, had a proud look on his face: “You wouldn’t know this, but my Kongkong was not in human form at birth, but was a little white fish, just like the ancestors recorded in the books! She transformed into a human form when she was three years old. Her talent in the
Dao of Time surpasses mine, and is on par with our ancestors!”
If that’s the case, Ji Kongkong’s future prospects are indeed bright.
Before Jiang Li could go to find Ji Kongkong, Ji Zhi warned anxiously: “You must protect my daughter. If she loses even a strand of hair, our friendship is over!”
Before Ji Zhi could change his mind, Jiang Li flew to the princess’s mansion, to find Ji Kongkong.
At this time, Ji Kongkong was floating in a pool, holding a book, transforming into a tiny white fish as described in the book, experiencing the Dao of Time.
“Hmm, it really is easier to understand in the form of a small white fish… Uncle Jiang!” As Ji Kongkong was puzzling over which form to use for cultivation, she saw Jiang Li descend with a beaming smile.
When the maid saw the little princess about to transform back into human form, she hurried over with a cloth to shield the view, helping her get dressed. Jiang Li also turned away tactfully.
After Ji Kongkong had changed her clothes, she transformed back into the delicate and adorable little princess.
“Is this a book on learning the Dao of Time from the Great Zhou Royal Family?” With Ji Kongkong’s permission, Jiang Li picked up the book she was just reading, thinking that he might also be able to learn the Dao of Time.
Then he saw what Ji Zhi had written on the first page: Brother Jiang, don’t bother. You won’t be able to learn this.
Ji Kongkong reminded him from the side: “Father has written this sentence in all the books related to the Dao of Time..”