Chapter 28: How Do You Kill A Grandmaster?
Soon, agents from bureau and the local police arrived. After setting up a perimeter nearby, they began to clear the scene.
In Duan Tianhe’s Passat, he had a lively, cheerful chat with Jiang He about many trivial matters before finally getting to the point.
“Jiang He, I heard from Wang Siyu that you’ve only reached rank-four in martial arts today?”
Jiang He nodded.Duan Tianhe smiled, but didn’t continue probing into the matter.
He had already reached the level of grandmaster, with his Insight extending far beyond from what it reached before, he was able to uncover Jiang He’s martial-arts rank with a single glance.
Rank-four intermediate. He also had true qi in abundance far beyond his peers of the same rank.
Still, Duan Tianhe thought that it was not an issue for Jiang He to hide his cultivation, since all martial artists have their own trump cards.
After a brief pause, he added, “Jiang He, I’ve seen the wounds on the Ferals and Cordo. Aside from the snake, the other Ferals must have been killed by a bomb, whereas Cordo was instakilled by one palm. How did you do it when you’ve just reached rank-four in martial arts?”
Jiang He glanced at him in slight surprise. He had thought that Duan Tianhe would interrogate him about where he got his bomb and was thinking about how to avoid that conversation. But since Duan Tianhe did not ask, he naturally would not offer an explanation on his own.
After musing to himself for a moment, Jiang He asked, “Team leader Duan, don’t you think that your intel has a problem?”“Hmm?”
“That Cordo you mentioned is a rank-four pinnacle and should be very powerful, but I felt that he was very weak,” said Jiang He after giving it some thought. “When I bombed the beast-tamer and his Ferals to death, the midg—I mean, Cordo, managed to escape and backstabbed me from behind, catching me off guard. But then, he immediately died after I palmed him once.”
Duan Tianhe’s mouth hung open. Though he was not present when that happened, he could determine many things by observing the scene.
For one, Jiang He’s white tracksuit was now pitch black, and his face was full of black soot, meaning that he must have been at the edge of the explosion. And yet, under such circumstances, he managed to retaliate against a rank-four pinnacle martial artist and instakill him…
After taking a long look at Jiang He, Duan Tianhe smiled. “You’ve done well, Jiang He. Getting rid of Cordo and a beast-tamer of the Sky Demon Sect is a great help to our bureau. There would have been severe casualties if they attacked the village with their Ferals.”
That was when Wang Siyu’s voice could be heard from outside the car. Jiang He opened the car door handily, and she crawled in with an inventory in her hand.
“Team leader Duan, the numbers are in. There were a total of thirteen rank-one Ferals, worth a hundred and thirty merit points, as well as a rank-two Feral worth fifty merit points. As for the beast tamer…”
Wang Siyu paused for a moment before continuing, “He was blasted to a horrific pulp and there’s not much to go on, but he should at least be a class-C beast-tamer since he could control so many Ferals. So, he’s worth one hundred merit points. And Cordo himself is a rank-four pinnacle martial artist worth five hundred merit points.”
Duan Tianhe nodded. “You’ll handle this matter. Transfer all the merit points to Jiang He’s account.”
Beside them, although Jiang He was keeping a straight face, he was secretly thrilled to pieces.
Jackpot!
Jackpot!
What do people mean when they say ‘overnight millionaires’?
This!
In a single night, no, in a dozen minutes, he had bombed Ferals and killed Cordo. Even if he added the time it took for him to track them down and travel to the cornfield, it was an hour at most. One hour, and 680 merit points were being deposited into his account. One merit point was worth ten thousand dollars, meaning that he had just earned 6.8 million dollars in just an hour!
‘Calm down, calm down. It’s just 6.8 million dollars, which is insignificant compared to the wealth my farm could provide. If I wanted to, simply selling a dozen cucumbers would earn me more than that.’
But despite how he was trying to compose himself inwardly, there was a hint of a smile at the corner of Jiang He’s lips.
“Oh, right,” added Duan Tianhe, “While the National Martial Arts Department is getting ready, the National Superpower Research Department has started to buy Feral materials from various major cities. I’ve notified their branch at Lingzhou and they should arrive soon.”
“Eh?” Jiang He did a double take before asking, “Monster materials… can be sold for money?”
Duan Tianhe chuckled. “Of course. The new metal matrix composites (MMC) are produced by combining a new ore with some extract found in Feral bones. Their meat is also one of the raw materials that can be refined into pellets that improve qi and blood, and is worth at least tens of thousands.”
Jiang He stayed silent for a few beats, then suddenly solemnly asked, “Team leader Duan, since you knew that the Sky Demon Sect was coming for me beforehand, does that mean that you have a mole placed in the Sky Demon Sect and are aware of their movements?”
“That’s right. The Sky Demon Sect has been active since more than ten years ago. They’ve been wreacking havoc everywhere, which is why the bureau is setting the stage to go against them,” said Duan Tianhe, nodding as he answered truthfully.
“Before this, they have been active at the Western Frontier, Miaojiang, Yungui, and other regions. This time, they sent one heavenly general and several Awakened, along with many rank-six and rank-five martial artists. They perhaps intend to set up a base at Linzhou, using it as a foothold to spread their influence across Xibei, connecting to their comrades at the Western Frontier and Miaojiang. When that happens, they would be tough to handle.”
“But this time, I’ve learned some information about the Sky Demon Sect martial artists and even several of their elites who came to Xibie. After having infiltrated this place for some time, they are good at impersonation and have some degree of status in Linzhou.
Jiang He smiled. “Well, could you share some of that information with me, team leader Duan?”
When he saw the weirded-out look on Duan Tianhe’s face, he quickly explained, “You know that the Sky Demon Sect is ruthless. All I’ve done is kill eight of their Ferals and they’re already sending such a strong force to deal with me. If my dog back home wasn’t smart, I would have been crushed under my own roof. Knowing is half the battle after all. I would at least have an easier time sleeping at night.”
“…You’re not thinking about fighting the Sky Demon Sect, are you?” asked Duan Tianhe solemnly. “They have their eyes on you now, and I’m afraid they won’t just be bringing a rank-four martial artist if they come again.”
“I suggest that you come stay with our division for some time. When the matter at Mount Dadong is settled and we have hands to spare, I will work with the military to purge the Sky Demon Sect elites hiding in Lingzhou. It wouldn’t be too late even if you return to the village then.”
“No way!” exclaimed Jiang He, shaking his head. “I have to sleep in my own bed, I can’t fall sleep anywhere else.
Smiling, he then asked, “Team leader Duan, it’s been a short time since I started training in martial arts, and I’m not too familiar about the strength of martial artists of various ranks… That’s why I want to ask, how do I kill a grandmaster?”
