Martial Saint with Passives

「Two days later.」

Jiang Che left early in the morning with the Escort Agency team, carrying the Kunji Saber on his back.

The escort leader was, coincidentally, Sun Yong.

When he saw Jiang Che, his whole demeanor was no longer as casual as before.

He was still in the Bull Skin Realm, while Jiang Che was already unrivaled below Force Integration.

This gap was even greater than the one between a Bull Skin Realm Martial Artist and an ordinary person!

No matter how familiar they had been before, he no longer dared to call him ”brother.”

Instead, he addressed him as ”Master Jiang,” speaking with the utmost respect.

Jiang Che sighed. He knew that when the gap in status was too great, you could no longer fit in with them, no matter how approachable you tried to be.

So he didn’t force it, simply riding his horse alone at the back of the group.

The journey was uneventful, and the group soon arrived at Hengsha City.

Jiang Che couldn’t help but feel a little wistful.

The last time he came here, he was just a weak Martial Artist who had only recently broken through to the Qi Blood realm.

Now, he had no rivals aside from Force Integration Martial Artists.

After entering the city without any trouble, Jiang Che made an excuse and left the escort team.

He headed straight for the west side of the city, intending to investigate Li Yuanwai’s Mansion again!

Jiang Che moved quickly. As he passed through the small woods, he saw the abandoned well from before.

He suddenly recalled the strange incident he had encountered and the Young Servant he had thrown down the well.

Curiosity made him want to go take another look.

’There shouldn’t be any danger...’

Thinking about how much stronger he was now, Jiang Che decided to go have a look.

He slowly walked to the side of the well.

The Omen didn’t trigger, and there was nothing else out of the ordinary.

He slowly peeked over the edge.

Down in the well, it was still covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, obscuring the bottom.

’So, no one ever found that Young Servant?’

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

It was the smell!

There was no smell of a rotting corpse!

Besides, a body that has been soaking for a long time will bloat and float to the surface.

’Did someone fish it out?’

The more Jiang Che thought about it, the more he felt something was off.

Suddenly, he sensed soft footsteps approaching from behind!

Without even looking back, Jiang Che immediately drew his Kunji Saber and slashed behind him.

But he cut through empty air.

He turned to look.

There was nothing there.

Cold sweat beaded on Jiang Che’s forehead.

The Omen hadn’t reacted at all.

But he was certain he had truly sensed someone behind him, slowly approaching.

Jiang Che couldn’t help but shiver.

He felt this place was too eerie and quickly left.

Jiang Che hurried on his way and quickly passed through the small woods.

However, when he arrived in front of Li Yuanwai’s Mansion, he was stunned.

The once-stately Li Yuanwai’s Mansion had been reduced to a charred ruin!

A few workers were clearing away scorched wood, furniture, and other items.

Among the debris, he could occasionally glimpse what looked like charred corpses!

Jiang Che quickly grabbed one of the workers and asked, ”Brother, may I ask what happened here?”

Seeing Jiang Che’s impressive aura and Martial Artist attire, the man immediately replied respectfully:

”Young Master, this was Li Yuanwai’s Mansion. A few nights ago, a fire broke out for some unknown reason and burned the whole place to the ground! More than a dozen people in the household, from top to bottom, didn’t make it out. It was a true tragedy!”

”Thank you for telling me.”

Jiang Che frowned. The Blood Spirit Sect must have set this fire deliberately!

They must have wanted to relocate and decided to destroy all the evidence!

’Now the trail has gone cold...’

A wave of frustration washed over Jiang Che as he stared at the ruins before him.

Suddenly, as if he’d thought of something, he began to circle the ruins.

’Something’s not right!’

He then ran straight into the ruins and carefully inspected every corner.

Seeing Jiang Che’s formidable presence, the workers didn’t dare to question him.

After checking everywhere, Jiang Che finally confirmed his suspicion.

’If what Liu Hai said before was true—that they were capturing that many people—then this place isn’t nearly big enough to hold them all!’

His eyes grew brighter and brighter.

’In other words... there’s probably a secret underground passage here!’

An ordinary person wouldn’t know this was a branch of the Blood Spirit Sect, so they wouldn’t think along these lines and would have a hard time noticing this.

But Jiang Che was certain something was wrong with this place and knew they needed to hold many people.

Plus, in his previous life, he had read plenty of novels and watched many TV shows.

He had seen his fair share of plots involving hidden basements.

That’s how he arrived at this guess.

However, he couldn’t verify it right now; after all, there were still quite a few people at the scene.

’I’ll wait for tonight... I’ll come back to investigate once everyone is gone.’

With that, he left to find Sun Yong.

After explaining that he had some personal business and needed to stay for another day, Sun Yong and the others headed back first.

Jiang Che, in turn, found an inn to stay at.

...

「Nightfall.」

Jiang Che used Qinggong to quietly leave the inn, making his way toward Li Yuanwai’s Mansion.

When he arrived, Jiang Che didn’t enter immediately. Instead, he made sure no one else was around before stepping into the ruins.

He felt around everywhere, tapping the ground with his saber and listening carefully for any differences in the sound.

Suddenly, in what seemed to have been the main hall, he noticed the sound from directly beneath him was somewhat hollow.

This was the place!

Jiang Che’s eyes lit up, and he began searching for any possible mechanism.

But after searching for a long time, he found nothing.

Jiang Che frowned and decided to just break it open by force!

He took off his shirt and silently chanted in his mind.

’Heart of the Black Abyss!’

In an instant, he transformed into a robust, two-and-a-half-meter-tall Black Armored Martial Artist.

Jiang Che had recently discovered that as long as he didn’t go on a killing spree after transforming, he wouldn’t lose control.

Although he felt a certain irritability, he could basically maintain his reason.

He picked up his Kunji Saber and smashed it violently against the ground!

BOOM!