Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 224: Chapter 163: Another Ultimate Achievement! Freeloading a Spirit Method

The Heart Blade responded in kind. The sensation was difficult to describe—it was as if any and all force could become a blade, ready to be unleashed in an instant at a mere thought.

’Combined, these two Martial Skills are definitely a case of one plus one being greater than two.’

Wan Ze opened his eyes, his gaze bright. ’Once Palm Blade also reaches the Ultimate level, the Effect will be even stronger.’

He focused the energy at his fingertips.

A terrifying surge of strength welled up inside him, then instantly shot out, slicing through the air like a blade.

The sharpness was a pleasant surprise to Wan Ze.

’Killing without a trace.’

’Another ace in the hole!’

He quickly glanced at his personal Attributes.

...

Physical Strength: 2.66

Intelligence: 2.46

Agility: 2.56

Endurance: 2.56

Power: 2.71

Coordination: 2.54

...

’The only thing I’m missing to start the Cultivation of the Soldier Immortal Technique is Intelligence.’

Wan Ze stared at the ”2.46” line, lost in thought.

’I could either learn another Martial Skill and just brute-force the stat up.’

’Or I could grind through more professional books... I’ve actually been reading this whole time, but it has to be serious academic papers, professional treatises, or even cryptography. It’s giving me a massive headache.’

’Fortunately, after all these days, my Intelligence has shot up by 0.04.’

’It’s just nowhere near as fast as training in martial arts. These documents are hundreds of thousands or even millions of words long. Even for a speed-reader like me, my eyes feel like they’re about to go blind.’

Just as he was thinking, his communicator rang.

Wan Ze answered.

”Ah Ze! Ah Ze!!”

Zhai Jia’s voice came through, a little breathless. ”I chased down the lead on those people. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but what I found was a real shocker.”

”What did you find?” Wan Ze asked.

”It’s about that Snake Form tattoo. We’ve locked onto six potential targets in total.” Zhai Jia paused. ”Two of them are from thirty years ago, from our master’s generation... but their whereabouts are unknown, and the grass on their graves is probably waist-high by now. Three others are major federal criminals who were caught over the last ten years and are still locked up. The last one...”

He paused, his tone strange.

”The last one is someone you’re familiar with. It’s related to our old nemesis.”

”You mean... the Secret Palace?” Wan Ze’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

”Right! The guy’s name is Shan Wu, a Refining Force expert from the Secret Palace... though he’s getting on in years,” Zhai Jia elaborated.

Wan Ze fell into deep thought.

’The Secret Palace...’

’It’s those guys again.’

But he wasn’t the least bit surprised that the Secret Palace might be involved in this.

Zhai Jia sighed. ”Unfortunately, the investigation is pretty difficult. We haven’t even expanded the search area yet. Just within the entire North of the River region, we only found these few people. But they’re either dead or in prison, and the last one is connected to the Secret Palace... there’s nowhere to go with the investigation. Plus, the time span is too long... over a thousand years, Ah Ze! The trail is as cold as it gets. Trying to find the Female Sword Immortal’s physical body is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Wan Ze was silent.

Zhai Jia was right.

A period of one or two thousand years.

’After so many changes in dynasties, wars, and famines, forget a single body—even entire cities could have been reduced to rubble.’

”Did she tell you anything else?” Zhai Jia asked hurriedly. ”Like any special features, or markings? Even one more clue would help.”

Wan Ze thought for a moment. ”Just the three clues... It’s to the east, it’s too far away for her Perception, and the grave robber had a Snake Form tattoo on his neck.”

”Ugh!” Zhai Jia’s voice deflated. ”The east? The east is huge! How far is ’too far to perceive’? A hundred miles? A thousand? And she didn’t even describe what the tattoo looks like...”

He grumbled on for a while before finally sighing, ”Ah Ze, how about... you go find her again when you have time? Ask for more details? We have way too few clues; it’s impossible to investigate. Tell her not to be so stingy with her words.”

Wan Ze pondered for a moment.

’Go back to the Otherworld? It’s not out of the question.’

”Alright. I’ll find a chance to contact her again.”

”You got it!” Zhai Jia’s voice immediately perked up. ”I knew I could count on you! I’ll wait for your news, then. Contact me as soon as you have any progress.”

After hanging up, Wan Ze stood in the courtyard.

’Secret Palace... Shan Wu...’

’Snake Form tattoo...’

He shook his head and tossed his towel aside.

He went inside, closed the door, and then activated his Spiritual Form.

Unfortunately, he didn’t see the woman today; who knows where she’d run off to.

So he simply began his Cultivation of the Taiyin Breathing Technique in this mysterious world.

...

Meanwhile, after the call ended, Zhai Jia tossed his communicator onto the table and slumped over a messy pile of documents.

The table was covered with more than a dozen maps, their edges marked up with red circles and dots.

Next to them were several yellowed files—old case files he had someone pull from the police department.

The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts, and the tea in his cup had long since gone cold.

Zhai Jia rubbed his eyes, staring at the red circles on the maps until his head throbbed.

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Zhai Yu walked in. His gaze swept over the chaotic mess on the table before finally landing on Zhai Jia’s exhausted face. His brow quickly furrowed, and his tone was unfriendly. ”What have you been busy with these past two days?”

Zhai Jia didn’t even look up. ”Investigating something.”

”Taking time off behind my back again?” Zhai Yu took two steps closer, his voice growing colder. ”Last time you said it was a family emergency, and this time you said you weren’t feeling well! Do you take the boss for a fool, or do you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Zhai Jia looked up with a bitter smile. ”Brother, I’m really not trying to slack off this time. This is a matter of life and death.”

Zhai Yu raised an eyebrow.

’A matter of life and death?’

He knew his younger brother. Normally, his mouth ran faster than his brain, but he never joked about serious matters. For him to use a phrase like ”life and death” meant things were probably complicated.

After a moment of silence, Zhai Yu walked over and stopped by the table.

He spoke softly, ”Who did you get on the wrong side of? Is their background that powerful? Or are you saying even I couldn’t take them?”

Zhai Jia opened his mouth, then closed it again.

’How could he explain this?’