Chapter 748: Chapter 746: The Curse of Shattering (Part 5)_1 Chapter 748: Chapter 746: The Curse of Shattering (Part 5)_1 The farce, essentially sparked by Fu Qian, quickly drew to a close.
“Professor Ni, if you don’t trust President Cass’s judgment, you are at complete liberty to verify it again using your own methods, I’m sure no one would object,”
After berating the two of them, the female instructor from the Swordsmanship Department cast her gaze over everyone’s faces before making the suggestion.
Hmph!
Ni Huayuan immediately took the opportunity to descend the slope and stepped forward under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
One way or another, the deadlock was finally broken.
“Do you mind if I take a look?”
Approaching the body on the ground, Ni Huayuan glanced at Kamakura Si.
“Thank you for your trouble, Professor Ni.”
Kamakura Si hesitated for just a second before indicating for Ni Huayuan to proceed at his convenience.
In Fu Qian’s eyes, even that second was merely for the sake of performance.
What could be rejected at this point?
Professor Ni’s words were merely a pretense to show humility.
That’s the tragedy of the weak, choosing to seek help from others when faced with threats they cannot resist, and seldom does such assistance come without a price.
Although some payments are more subtle, like being used as free observational material.
“Thank you.”
As if striving to distance himself from unsavory characters like Cass, Ni Huayuan still graciously offered his thanks before lifting the cloth covering the body.
It was a uniquely designed hooded robe which Kamakura Guizhi had removed from himself to wrap around his grandfather’s riddled body.
The ghastly face of the corpse was revealed, prompting a few sobs.
After a silent examination, Ni Huayuan extended his hand and smeared a bit of blood from the wound.
The color was dark red, yet it showed no signs of coagulation.
The next moment, as he rubbed his two fingers together, the blood began to vaporize and boil, diffusing outward and instantly forming a puff of red mist.
This cloud of red mist rose midair, stayed condensed, and quickly took on a humanoid silhouette.
The next moment, the red figure began to move.
Its arms clung tightly to its body. The original posture of kneeling and looking upward swiftly crumbled, and one could see it tremble uncontrollably.
Although the form was blurred, the pain could still be imagined.
The trembling continued for about ten seconds before the figure finally collapsed with a crash, slowly becoming motionless.
Was this a reenactment of death?
Fu Qian watched with great interest from the side.
After all, having bested their players, he had done his homework on the Divine Ashes Institute of the Academy.
Compared to Heaven’s Commencement Institute, they focus more on the spiritual aspect and have a multitude of methods.
Witnessing these methods first-hand today, the reputation was indeed well-deserved.
The scene before him even seemed somewhat spiritualist, although it was very rudimentary.
The entire process involved only a bit of the deceased’s postures, with no other elements visible, nor any way to communicate.
Even so, judging from the reaction of the surrounding audience, it undoubtedly caused a profound shock; such methods must be rare.
Moreover, regardless, compared to Cass’s more abstract means, this could be considered straightforward and understandable.
Even the grief and anger of the Kamakura family seemed to lessen slightly.
Although vague, it was clear to see that the deceased had not suffered any external harm and had fallen piece by piece on their own.
If one still insisted it was foul play, one could only suspect poisoning.
In the quiet air, even Ni Huayuan fell silent for a moment.
“The Divine Ashes Institute truly has a plethora of methods.”
At that moment, Cass chimed in with timely amazement.
“I wonder what conclusions you have drawn, Professor Ni? Could you interpret this for us?”
Quite a sentimental person too!
This blatant act of fanning the flames elicited a burst of admiration from Fu Qian.
“The president of Heaven’s Commencement Institute certainly has a different style from Li Weixuan and the others,” he mused.
With such leadership, it was no doubt one of the reasons why the research culture at Heaven’s Commencement Institute was so lively.
“It seems to have nothing to do with Mr. Yun indeed,” someone concluded.
Not wanting to let the two of them start arguing again, the female instructor timely made a summary and turned to Kamakura Si.
“Shall we head back now that we’ve found the person? Time is precious.”
“Yes.”
Kamakura Si immediately agreed, evidently seeing the point.
After all, the person was already dead; dwelling on the cause of death was no more important than the living.
For every second they delayed, the risk of everyone meeting the same fate increased incrementally.
In fact, he had even begun to fear subconsciously that if it turned out that this newly advanced Demigod was the killer, what they would do to handle the situation.
…
The group was now on a mountain full of huge white boulders.
Near the gate where the three had emerged, they could see some uniquely shaped stone huts, which may have once been the Tomb Guardians’ residences.
Of course, there was no doubt they had long been abandoned.
The current Tomb Guardians of the Kamakura Family, on the other hand, had greatly improved working environments.
As a special guest, Fu Qian joined the Academy’s team under the scrutinizing eyes of its members, and following Kamakura Si, they soon reached the grand courtyard at the foot of the mountain.
It seemed that the Academy’s team had only just arrived; the first thing Kamakura Si did was to arrange accommodations for the research teams, treating Fu Qian with the same courtesy, seemingly afraid that the group would only take a quick look and then leave.
This palpable sense of desperation!
Overall, the Transcendents of the Kamakura Family were still very easy to identify: you just had to check for any bloodstains on their bodies.
And their numbers were even more abundant than described: just among those around Kamakura Guizhi’s age, Fu Qian noticed several people of the same style, whose ranks were all quite strong.
For a regular Transcendent family, this would obviously be a good thing.
Unfortunately, at this moment, the anomaly had turned this gift into a curse in an instant.
As they walked along, nearly everyone had more or less bloodstains on their clothing.
At a glance, it was as if half a herd of lambs had been slaughtered.
In comparison, Kamakura Guizhi was already on the better end of the spectrum.
…
“Mr. Yun, what’s your take on the Kamakura Family’s issue?”
Possibly because of previous enjoyment from seeing Ni Huayuan embarrassed, President Cass seemed to hold Fu Qian in high regard, becoming the only one willing to strike up a conversation with him.
If I knew what to think, we would have proceeded to the next stage by now, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.
However, the Kamakura Family’s situation was indeed somewhat unique.
According to the mission briefing, as “Cursed” Swordsmen, they would cause continuous splitting wounds on their opponent’s body even if their strikes did not connect, a trait deemed eerie and difficult to deal with.
Now the situation looked very much like a backlash of power.
The question was, why the backlash? He needed to find the reason himself.
“Unable to confirm,” Fu Qian responded, shaking his head sincerely.
“Their power is too unique; in fact, it’s debatable whether this can even be considered Sword Dao.”
“A true Sword Path Demigod,” Cass acknowledged, showing approval of Fu Qian’s assessment.
“The Swordsmanship Department also holds similar views regarding the nature of the Kamakura Family’s Cursed Swordsmanship. If it were not so, they would have been leading the team.”
As they spoke, they looked up to see Kamakura Si hurrying over.
“President Cass, someone else has just fallen,” he reported.