I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 543 The Demon Clan from 3000 Years Ago
The northern wind howled, passing over the desolate valley and eliciting a series of eerie cries. Silhouettes of trees swayed wildly, endless falling leaves pouring down like rain. A trail of black smoke roiled and twisted amidst the forest. Suddenly, it constricted, forming into a mass of shadow which gradually condensed into a figure clad in a black robe.
As the robed figure appeared, he placed a little girl he held in his arms onto the ground. The girl was unconscious, yet even in that state, her face was still etched with a look of intense fear.
The robed figure then retrieved the Buddha statue he had prepared in advance and struck it with his fist. The statue, seemingly just an ordinary bronze artifact, remained completely unscathed by the assault from the robed man.
The robed man was capable of standing up to Wang Lan’s Sunlight Sword Swordplay head-on. His strike could make heaven and earth tremble, but when this strike hit the Buddha statue, there was no reaction at all.
"Hmph!" The robed man uttered a cold snort as his aura suddenly burst forth. Thick black smoke swirled around him, and suddenly, a dark Energy Ball coalesced in front of his chest. He then ferociously smacked it towards the torso of the Buddha statue.
"BOOM—"
Great rumbles shook the world, and the chest of the Buddha statue also emitted a gleam. A golden Swastika Buddha Seal appeared in the center of the statue’s chest. The Swastika Buddha Seal slowly revolved, transforming into a Wheel of Wishes that resisted the robed man’s attacks.
"Three thousand years of the remnants of Buddha’s power have eroded. How much longer can you hold out?" a tearing voice from the robed man rang out, as one black Energy Ball after another bombarded the statue like machine-gun fire.
Gradually, the Swastika Buddha Seal dimmed, and after a vigorous assault from the robed man, it suddenly shattered. The moment the Swastika Buddha Seal cracked, countless fissures also appeared all over the Buddha statue. The ancient Buddha statue, a legacy passed down for thousands of years—one of three ancient Buddhas left by Buddha Shakyamuni, the Demon-restricting Buddha Statue—was forcefully smashed into a pile of rubble.
Among the ruins, a column of black smoke swirled up into the sky. Simultaneously, the robed man’s body emitted a dense, liquid-like black vapor. Shaking violently, the robed man eventually knelt down, prostrating himself.
"Master—" an old, hoarse voice called out from the robed man. This voice, completely different from the neutral voice heard before, sounded as if it came from damaged vocal cords, emitting a terrible, ear-piercing noise.
Suddenly, a substance like black tar surged over the robed man’s body. The tar spread out to reveal a gruesome ghost face. The black smoke floating in the sky instantaneously fused with the ghastly ghost face, becoming as monstrous and terrifying as a symbiote. The liquid, as if spotting its prey, lunged towards the little girl, enveloping her in the blink of an eye.
"AAH—"
An agonizing scream tore through the heavens as the venom seeped into the girl through her facial orifices, rapidly burrowing into her body. After a while, the girl opened her eyes, which were completely black, devoid of any whiteness.
Where the robed man had previously been, there was now a middle-aged man with a hideously disfigured and ferocious face, as if it had been corroded.
The man knelt on one knee before the little girl and bowed his head. "Master."
"Three thousand years have passed..." A distant and ethereal sigh echoed. The girl murmured to herself, "You sealed me three thousand years ago. I shall exact my interest from your descendants."
The girl looked down at her hands as dark smoke roiled around her. "A human’s body is still too fragile. I need to find the sealed flesh to inhabit. As for you..." she said, lifting her head to gaze at the middle-aged man who knelt before her. Feeling the little girl’s stare, the middle-aged man shuddered. "Master..."
"Rest assured. Considering you’ve hosted me for so long... I won’t kill you."
"Thank... Thank you, Master."
「Half a month later.」
It had been half a month since the incident at the museum. It seemed as though the robed man’s business was finished, as there had been no sign of him during this time.
The robed man had only appeared twice: once during the Star Martial Art contest where he killed Yan Tong and briefly engaged Wang Lan, confirming the incredible level of his power. The second time was when he attacked the Suzhou City Museum and stole the Buddha statue.
The robed man’s actions prompted the Tianjian Bureau to take him very seriously. After half a month of intense, concentrated investigation, he remained as elusive as a shadow, almost as if nonexistent. No matter how seriously the Tianjian Bureau regarded the matter, or how much Wang Lan dreaded him, it now seemed the robed man had completed his task and departed. Given his power, if he chose to hide, no one could find him.
"Wang Lan, we have a response from Cloud Sea. Yan Tong belonged to a mid-sized Star Martial Warrior corps in the northern region. Before the new year, there was some activity among the Exotic Beasts there, and Yan Tong’s squad was ordered to investigate.
Yan Tong’s squad was relatively elite, including one from the Galaxy Stage and four from the Star Cloud Stage. Their last mission was to explore a newly emerged space fragment, where they encountered Exotic Beasts resembling bats. Afterward, what happened was exactly as Yan Tong had described, but now his words cannot be trusted...
During that mission, almost Yan Tong’s entire squad was wiped out. According to his final account, they were surrounded by Ghost Exotic Beasts that could merge into more formidable ones."
"It’s indeed very similar to Ghost Face. Then their squad was killed by the merged beast, and he was the only survivor?"
"That’s right. Since he wasn’t very strong, he remained as a liaison. If there was any trouble, he was responsible for coordinating and calling for reinforcements from headquarters. Yan Tong said the battle situation changed too quickly. Before he even had time to react, half his squad was lost.
Following the original plan, he immediately retreated from the battlefield to call for help from headquarters but was pursued along the way and returned to the command post in the northern region with severe injuries. The command post immediately dispatched a rescue team, but curiously, those Ghost Exotic Beasts had disappeared. Not only had the beasts vanished, but the newly appeared spatial fragment was also gone without a trace."
"So, you’re saying that the black-robed person might not be human but an Exotic Beast? It pursued Yan Tong to complete an unfinished chase? That’s impossible. The black-robed person clearly has intelligence, and if it were an Exotic Beast, what would it want with the Demon-restricting Buddha Statue?"
"But these are the only bits of intelligence we could get from Cloud Sea. We know nothing about the black-robed person’s origins or motives, and it hasn’t shown up since. I’m afraid this case is going to remain unsolved." Lige spread his hands helplessly. Without any clues, the investigation simply couldn’t progress.
Wang Lan frowned as he looked at the information in his hands. He had sensed this for the past half month, but his stubbornness kept him reviewing the case, hoping for new leads.
But the black-robed person had only taken action twice in total, and the encounters didn’t even add up to twenty minutes. It wasn’t just the black-robed person’s appearance that was elusive—even confirming their build was a challenge, let alone obtaining any substantial evidence.
Wang Lan had previously thought tracking down the culprit with the current leads was unlikely. But now, the investigative report from Cloud Sea claimed they weren’t even sure if the black-robed person was human. This made the investigation even more hopeless.
"Let’s put it aside for now. There are too few clues, and it’s impossible to proceed," Wang Lan sighed. "Issue an announcement on behalf of the Tianjian Bureau in Suzhou City to all the bureaus across the country. First and foremost, this black-robed person is extremely dangerous and not to be taken lightly."
"I know that. You’ve been helping us with the case this half month and neglected your little girlfriend," Lige teased with a smile, adeptly pulling out a cigarette. "Want one?"
"No, thanks. Xinyu is fine. She’s understanding. Well, I’m heading back today. Make sure to notify me as soon as there are any new developments."
"No problem."
Exiting the Tianjian Bureau, dusk was about to fall. Although he appeared calm and in control in front of Lige, deep down, a trace of panic still clenched his heart.
Picking up his phone, he dialed a number. "Hello, yes, I’m done."
"The killer hasn’t been caught, right?" Jiang Xinyu was sitting on Jiang Xinchen’s back, legs crossed and phone in hand with a gentle expression, but Jiang Xinchen looked at his sister with a pained expression, filled with unspoken anger.
"No, the black-robed person hasn’t made a move since the museum incident. Without further leads, the investigation can’t continue. I was supposed to enjoy my rare holiday and have some fun, but I’ve been tied up with this for half a month."
"That’s alright. Oh, by the way, my mom said we’re going to Hanming Temple tomorrow. Hanming Temple’s chrysanthemums and red maples are open to visitors now, and tomorrow is also Buddha Shakyamuni’s birthday. There seems to be an event at the temple."
"Will it be crowded then?"
"That’s exactly why my mom wants to go... I already promised her."
"Okay, then we’ll go together tomorrow."
"Fine, I’ll hang up now."
"Brother-in-law— Save me—" As Jiang Xinyu was about to hang up, Jiang Xinchen quickly called out. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
"Hmm? What’s wrong?" Wang Lan asked suddenly upon hearing a cry of distress.
"It’s nothing, just assessing Xinchen’s training progress. It’s a total mess. He’s graduating in a month, but I doubt his strength can even match Feifei’s."
"Don’t be too harsh. Feifei is special. Not just Xinchen, even I might not have been able to beat her back in the day. I’m going to hang up now."
"Okay!" Jiang Xinyu hung up the phone with a smile, then hopped off Xinchen’s back. The smile slowly faded from her face.
"Sis, surely you wouldn’t harm your own adorable little brother, would you? I’m so delicate, pitiful, and helpless..."
"You had twenty minutes and couldn’t even free yourself from my hold. Quite delicate, pitiful, and helpless indeed... Already resorting to outside help?"
"Sis, you, a mighty Star Sea Stage, are oppressing me, an early-phase Star Cloud Stage cultivator. Is that fair? How could I possibly escape?"
"That’s because you’re incompetent. You know Hu Feifei, right? We’ve eaten together before. She’s only thirteen this year, and she would have at least five ways to escape from the pressure I applied earlier. You are seventeen now, huh?
Don’t say I didn’t take care of you as your sister. You were also taught the Immortal Cloud Mysterious Green Record early, and your Star Martial Art level has risen quite fast, but your combat power doesn’t match your Star Martial Art level at all. If you don’t satisfy me today, I guarantee you won’t be leaving the house tomorrow."
"So that’s your true motive, huh? Willing to sacrifice your own family for your so-called justice—"
