The Modern Martial Immortal-Chapter 61: The Curtain Falls

Yaoguang quickly started a web browser and opened a video. It began with a short self-introduction from Xia Wuyuan. Only then did it move to the main topic.

"I regretfully informed everyone that this world is not limited to what we can see on the surface. There's a deeper layer of terror hidden in the shadows. Borrowing a term for convenience, I'll refer to them as daemons."

"These daemons operate within our world. Some might have been carrying out specific missions, some might have been raised and controlled by others, and some might even have existed solely to indulge in the pleasure of killing. Regardless of the reason, the harm they pose to society is so immense that it absolutely could not be ignored."

"One year ago, Dayu recorded 600,000 missing persons. This year, that number has increased tenfold. The true culprits behind all of this were these daemons."

"They concealed themselves within human society under human identities. They established companies such as Yulong International and Longquan Real Estate, operated factories, and engaged in..."

As Yaoguang watched Xia Wuyuan speaking in the video, a trace of confusion surfaced in his eyes. Why did he choose to do this?

"The royal family didn't give him any direct response?" Yaoguang asked.

"It seems that way," Yue Xingzhou replied. "The royal family clearly had their reasons for withholding a public response. It might be because the Rebirth Society's influence is too great, and exposing it openly would force them to make a desperate move, causing massive losses. Or it might be because the royal family has its own plan and is gradually eroding and eliminating the Rebirth Society step by step...

"Xia Wuyuan deciding to expose the Rebirth Society in this manner was the most ineffective and exhausting approach."

Yaoguang fell silent for a moment after hearing this. He had already learned the truth from the World-Saving Society and naturally understood why the royal family had not acted openly. Handling the matter openly would inevitably escalate the conflict. If things went wrong, Dayu would have to face retaliation from the Crimson Star Empire directly, a scenario that the country couldn't afford.

Rather than that, it was better to act in the shadows. Once the Rebirth Society was discovered, the World-Saving Society would be informed immediately and allowed to uproot it thanks to its status as a civilian organization.

"This time, Xia Wuyuan is in serious trouble. Even the best outcome would be permanent detention, never seeing the light of day again. If things go badly..." Yue Xingzhou trailed off.

Yaoguang had already guessed what he meant. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "Let's wait and see for now."

"That's all we can do. The relevant departments have already started taking action and deleting posts. Although Xia Wuyuan prepared thoroughly and seemed to have used software to distribute the information across almost every platform in an extremely short time, that kind of preparation is meaningless in front of the country's equipment," Yue Xingzhou said with clear regret in his tone. There was also a faint hint of worry.

Yaoguang said nothing more. After hanging up the call, he turned to Zong Yan beside him and asked, "Director Zong, how will this be handled?"

When Yaoguang had played the video, Zong Yan, Fang Lu, and Liao Ming had all heard the audio and were already aware of the situation.

At Yaoguang's question, Zong Yan frowned slightly. "It should follow standard procedures. The conflict between our World-Saving Society and the Rebirth Society hasn't reached the point of being brought into the open. The video will be taken down first. After that, similar movie promotions will be released to guide public opinion. A few entertainment news pieces will be thrown in to divert attention. Overall, it shouldn't become a major issue..."

As he spoke, he shook his head. "I vaguely remember Xia Wuyuan. We once considered recruiting him, but he lacked flexibility in his methods. His talent also wasn't high enough to warrant special treatment. In the end, we gave up."

"He really doesn't understand priorities," Fang Lu could not help but speak up. "As a prosecutor, he had no sense of the bigger picture at all. Behavior that occupies public resources to spread alarmist claims absolutely deserves severe punishment."

"The prosecutor general definitely understood the stakes involved and must have told him not to publicize this recklessly. Yet, he still acted on his own. The Grand Prosecutor's Office will handle this accordingly." Liao Ming paused before adding, "He's probably already been taken into custody."

"Taken into custody?" Yaoguang glanced at him. "The Rebirth Society has likely already learned about this. I don't oppose placing Xia Wuyuan under control, but his original intent was to maintain social stability. No one can deny that. He is not a criminal. To prevent the Rebirth Society from silencing him, his safety must be guaranteed."

The faintly commanding tone in his words caused some dissatisfaction in Fang Lu and Liao Ming. However, considering Yaoguang had reached the grandmaster tier at the age of nineteen, a bit of arrogance was understandable. As such, neither of them said anything unpleasant.

Liao Ming responded in a formal tone, "The ones handling him will certainly be from the Grand Prosecutor's Office. The Grand Prosecutor's Office possesses powerful armed forces. There is no shortage of grandmasters, martial masters, and expert gunmen. Even if a martial paragon breaks in, they will still be surrounded and killed."

"His safety must be guaranteed," Yaoguang said. "If you cannot do that, hand him over to me."

Zong Yan, who had been standing to the side, seemed to realize something and suddenly asked, "Xia Wuyuan's investigation of fiends is something you indirectly pushed him toward, wasn't it?"

Yaoguang nodded. Zong Yan, Fang Lu, and Liao Ming reacted swiftly and quickly grasped the underlying logic.

Zong Yan immediately reassured him. "Rest assured. The Rebirth Society cannot fully control the masses in the Central Continent."

He then turned to Fang Lu and Liao Ming and added, "Since Xia Wuyuan is one of Yaoguang's people, you'll need to be careful in how you handle this."

"I will report it to His Majesty," Liao Ming replied.

Seeing this, Yaoguang said nothing further. Picking this moment to expose the existence of daemons had indeed been an ill-timed choice by Xia Wuyuan. For now, the only option was to let things cool down.

***

Afterward, under Zong Yan's guidance, Yaoguang collected some of the pills and natural treasures stored within the World-Saving Society's Dayu Headquarters. During this time, he also briefly browsed the cultivation arts and manuals in the World-Saving Society's database.

The World-Saving Society possessed a large number of cultivation methods and martial skills, but compared to Yaoguang's vast information reserves, they had no value at all. Every martial skill paled in comparison to Signless Infinity by at least an entire level.

In the end, he did not choose a Martial Dao cultivation art. Instead, he selected a qi-refining technique.

The Martial Dao branch of the ancient tree only collected information related to the Martial Dao. The Qi Refiner profession had not yet been unlocked, so there were naturally very few records related to it.

At the very least, high-tier combat armor techniques that used flying swords in place of missiles for killing could only be executed by middle- to high-tier qi-refining cultivators.

***

Qi condensation, qi nurturing, true qi... Yaoguang flipped through the qi-refining technique.

The defining characteristic of qi refinement was clear: refining essence into qi. It condensed all the energy throughout the body into true qi, then used true qi as the foundation to release techniques and kill enemies.

The power of these techniques was considerable. However, because all of one's essence and qi were diverted into nurturing true qi, qi refiners didn't possess strong physiques. A single bullet could easily kill a third-realm qi refiner.

So a third-realm qi refiner is equivalent to a martial artist carrying a grenade launcher...

It was hard to say who was stronger or weaker. At most, it was simply a difference in roles. Still, just as refining the body would allow one's physique to transform upon reaching the fourth realm, qi refinement was the same. At this tier, qi cultivators nurtured psychic consciousness. Using psychic consciousness to guide techniques was equivalent to installing a targeting system on a grenade launcher, instantly widening the gap between the two sides.

Qi-refining techniques stop at the fourth realm. In fact, even the fourth realm is only briefly mentioned. There isn't even a method explaining how to nurture psychic consciousness. Yaoguang set the book down.

If it did not exist, then so be it. From his current perspective, qi refinement was rather fragile. It was far less satisfying than tempering the body. One had to be able to stand firm before they could produce damage.

His phone rang again. He glanced at the number and answered the call.

Ye Yuhe's worried voice quickly came through. "Young Master Su, I'm sorry to disturb you, but my senior brother—"

"I know," Yaoguang responded, then added, "Don't worry. He'll be fine."

"No... Last night he called me and said a lot of strange things. He said something about how the world was wrong and how the truth wasn't what we imagined it to be. Then today, something like this suddenly happened. I've already lost contact with him."

"I know." Yaoguang deliberately softened his tone. "I know what he meant. He'll be fine."

"You really know?"

"Mhmm."

"Then he..."

"Just wait for a while," Yaoguang replied.

Xia Wuyuan was definitely going to be hidden away for some time. As for safety, Xia Wuyuan had not actually committed any wrongdoing. Dayu's royal family would not do anything drastic to a powerful grandmaster over something like this.

On top of that, as long as he remained in the Grand Prosecutor's Office, the Rebirth Society would not dare to storm the place to kill him, unless they were prepared to discard their relationship with Dayu and start a conflict. There was no major issue.

Once his own status rose after reaching the martial paragon tier, he would bring this matter up and have the royal family release Xia Wuyuan as soon as possible. With his current grandmaster status, his words did not necessarily carry decisive weight at that level.

"Alright then." Ye Yuhe could not say anything further. After all, the relationship between her, Xia Wuyuan, and Yaoguang was not particularly close.

After hanging up, Yaoguang took out a Snow Ginseng Pill he carried with him, swallowed one, and began internally refining his organs.

Martial paragon... Yaoguang thought.

***

The next day, Zong Yan arrived outside the small pavilion where Yaoguang was staying, followed by multiple people carrying boxes. With a wave of his hand, they set the boxes on the ground in front of Yaoguang and opened them one after another.

"Divine Shadow Sword!" The martial paragon pointed at one of the sword cases. "In some respects, it's not inferior to a refined artifact. Take a look."

Yaoguang stepped up to the case. This was a sword roughly eighty centimeters long, including the hilt. The blade itself was just over sixty centimeters, making it a slightly longer-than-average short sword.

Yaoguang lifted the Divine Shadow Sword from the case. The moment it entered his hand, he clearly sensed its defining trait. It was light, incomparably light.

"This is..." He was genuinely surprised. Judging by its material alone, the sword should have weighed at least several kilograms, yet in his hand it felt almost weightless.

"This is the difference between true divine weapons and ordinary famous or treasured swords," Zong Yan said. "The Divine Shadow Sword is not only incomparably sturdy and capable of cutting through iron like mud, but it is also light as a feather. In addition... Try swinging it."

Without hesitation, Yaoguang flicked his wrist and flourished the sword. As the blade danced, for reasons unknown, the edge dragged visible shadows behind it. [1]

"This is..." He stopped swinging. Only then did the shadows catch up to the blade and merge back into it.

"This is why it's called Divine Shadow Sword!" Zong Yan said. "A divine sword that produces layers of afterimages like this holds an obvious advantage in life-and-death combat. I don't need to say more, do I?"

Yaoguang nodded solemnly. Holding the sword, he carefully examined it. "How does it do this? Light refraction?"

"Don't use mortal knowledge to try to understand the profundities of refined artifacts," Zong Yan said with a smile. "Wingsuit flight would have seemed inconceivable to ancient people, like humans flying through the sky as heavenly beings, yet in reality, it's merely an application of aerodynamics. The Divine Shadow Sword's ability to produce sword afterimages is the same. We can't comprehend its mysteries now, just as the ancients couldn't comprehend wingsuit flight. It's simply a matter of not being at that level yet. Once you reach it, you'll naturally understand."

Yaoguang did not respond. He continued examining the sword, familiarizing himself with it. His eyes were filled with curiosity.

"If you really insist on a principle, it's probably that the sword's special material generates friction with the air when swung. The energy produced during that friction activates something akin to a virtual projection within the blade, ultimately producing those light-shadow effects," Zong Yan added with a chuckle.

Yaoguang listened and did not dwell on it further. The advancement of technology had already turned many techniques once attributed to immortals in myths into reality. Being unable to understand the mysterious phenomena attached to refined artifacts was only a consequence of not having the required knowledge.

"Additionally, this is the level 5S combat suit you purchased. The World-Saving Society doesn't have many Crimson-Gold Combat Suits in stock, so you'll have to make do with this set for now." Zong Yan followed up by opening the second crate.

Yaoguang glanced at it and nodded. A level 5S combat suit was more than sufficient for the time being.

After the divine sword and the combat suit, what came next were cultivation resources and medicinal materials. Some of these materials were meant for internal refinement of the organs, while the majority were used for blood renewal and marrow cleansing. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

In any case, another 300 billion aster would soon be credited to his account. When it came to medicinal materials, Yaoguang bought nothing but the best. It was precisely because he had this stream of funds and these materials as his foundation that he dared to carry out blood renewal and marrow cleansing, nurture psychic will, and cultivate the Flawless True Body all at the same time.

"The efficiency is impressive," Yaoguang remarked.

"Of course," Zong Yan replied with a smile.

Then, as if he had just thought of something, he added, "By the way, the day after tomorrow, Yao Hu, who's ranked twenty-ninth on the leaderboard, will challenge Wan Renshan, who's ranked twenty-sixth, here at Dayu Headquarters. Do you want to stay and watch the spectacle before leaving?"

The World-Saving Society's leaderboard encompassed all grandmasters and martial paragons across dozens of countries in the Central and Eastern Continents. It carried considerable weight.

Although those holding the twenty-ninth and twenty-sixth rank were not martial paragons, they were unquestionably among the strongest grandmasters. Even an aging martial paragon like Zong Yan might not necessarily gain the upper hand against them.

Yaoguang wanted to see just how powerful grandmasters at this absolute peak truly were, and how they compared to fiends.

"Then I'll stay another two days and take a look," Yaoguang replied.

With that, he did not rush back to Tiannan. The following afternoon, Yue Xingzhou called him. His tone was heavy as he delivered the news. Xia Wuyuan was dead. He had not died in the royal capital but in Tiannan.

1. A sword flourish is the act of stylishly spinning or twirling a sword, primarily for show, practice, or visual effect, rather than practical combat. ☜