12 Detained

'Core- Core Condensation?', Zhang Baichi mind turned blank. What kind of concept was that? Judging from Yu Hao's extreme reaction, the Core Condensation Realms isn't just one realm above theirs… 'F*ck, now they don't even need to frame me! With that old man taking action, they can do whatever they want!'

While Zhang Baichi cursed his own fate, the old man and the Law Enforcement Division didn't spare him a single glance. The old man looked around the site of battle and inspected the injuries on the disciples from afar. None of them were severe and they were just unconscious, and even Di Yuansheng's wounds were healing well after Yu Hao took care of them.

The old man turned to Yu Hao and sighed to himself, inconspicuous enough that none of the young disciples noticed. "Yu Hao. Go help the others. Ye Chen, Han Qiong, take this child back to the Law Enforcement Hall. He'll be imprisoned for now."

The disciples of the Law Enforcement Division quickly acted upon their given orders; Yu Hao took out two more healing pills to treat the injured disciples, then he and the young man that was kicked to the sidelines before lifted Di Yuansheng up to take him away, too.

Meanwhile, the two remaining members of the Law Enforcement Division grabbed onto Zhang Baichi and pulled him along.

Jian Fu, the old man, who was respectfully addressed as Elder waved his hand and told the surrounding onlookers to disperse. Then, he walked into Zhang Baichi's cottage and looked around. The cottage was in disarray from the prior search, but there was nothing unusual. That is, until the Elder noticed a few splinters of glass in a corner.

He waved his hand and a few of the splinters flew toward him. After a brief look, he frowned and sniffed at them, then his frown deepened. He waved his hand again and the bed, nightstand and everything else inside the cottage started floating.

Inside the corner behind the bed was more shattered glass, as the Elder expected. Waving his hand for the third time, the remaining splinters all flew toward him, then the furniture gently floated back down onto the ground. "Poison on the glass… This was a vial before. Did someone try to poison him? Or did he try to destroy evidence against himself?"

Without another word, the old man left the cottage, closed the door and waved his hand yet again… A thin sheen of light surrounded the cottage as the same runic words that bound Zhang Baichi appeared on the walls and door of the small hut.

After that, the old man vanished, leaving a few last onlookers stunned.

.

.

.

Zhang Baichi was thrown into a damp, dark room in an underground prison.

He was lead through the Outer Sect, along the path leading to the Inner Sect and brought into the building at the edge of the Outer Sect's territory, the Law Enforcement Hall. Then, he was lead underground and finally thrown into a cell…

By now, he had fortunately calmed down a lot and was able to think clearly again, though still bound by the strange means of Elder Jian Fu. He struggled to get into a sitting position, his back leaned against the wall. 'System, how did he bind me?'

[Ding! Host was bound by a simple Formation. The structure of the Qi bindings is at the Low-Rank of the Mortal-Class.]

'This rigged junk-system… I've already been caught, but now you know what it is?', Zhang Baichi grumbled, knowing full well that his ramblings would lead to nothing. 'How do I break them?'

[Ding! Host is currently too weak to break the Qi bindings created by a Core Condensation Realm expert.]

'Well, that figures. How strong is a Core Condensation Realm expert, anyways?'

[Ding! The Core Condensation Realm is the fourth Realm of Cultivation.]

'The fourth?!', Zhang Baichi's eyes shook. This was stronger than he was expecting! 'If that's the fourth realm, what's the second and third realms? Since we've met someone stronger, you can tell me, right?'

[Ding! The realms of cultivation go from Body Forging, to Qi Condensation, to Essence Sea Realm and finally to Core Condensation.]

'Qi Condensation and Essence Sea… That already gives me a rough idea…', Zhang Baichi mused, still trying to get his mind off of the fact that he was currently imprisoned. 'It really similar to the novels that I've read before. System, is there any more information about the three realms of cultivation above the Body Forging Realm?'

[Ding! There is no further information available.]

[Ding! The system recommends visiting a library as soon as possible. Information contained within the books of a library can be scanned and recorded by the system.]

'Yeah, you said that before… autonomously gathering information, right? I'll visit one if I somehow get out of this.', Zhang Baichi showed a wry smile, shaking his head in self-mockery, only to look surprised. 'I can move again?'

He wiggled around, moving his arms and shoulders, then twisted his back back and forth. He was still bound, like with ropes, and he couldn't utilize any Qi, but his physical movements were much less restricted. 'Why, though? System, tell me, is the binding getting more loose?'

[Ding! The Qi bindings have purposely be loosened by the by the marital artist who placed them.]

'By the old man? Is he close by?'

[Ding! Jian Fu is indeed close by. His presence has been detected roughly 12 meters east of the Host.]

'12 meters east… behind the wall?', his eyes shifted to the wall where the old man supposedly was and he took a deep breath. "Elder, you are close by, right? You loosened the Qi bindings."

A short while passed without an answer, causing Zhang Baichi to shake his head and sigh, "Elder, are you willing to listen to what I have to say? I regret what happened to Di Yuansheng, but I swear upon my life that I am no traitor, nor spy."

Another short while passed, only this time Zhang Baichi heard a chuckle. He looked up and saw the old man, Elden Jian Fu, stand in front of him with his hands behind his back. "Your instincts really are sharp. You noticed that I'm close by as soon as you sensed the bindings loosening?"

He spoke in an indifferent voice, but his tone failed to hide his curiosity. Zhang Baichi picked up on that, but shook his head. "I was just making a blind guess. Since the bindings loosed, I figured that Elder was loosening them on purpose. That, or there was a problem with Elder's technique, causing it to lose effect. Either way, I had nothing to lose by speaking up."

"What if a guard noticed you and notified me? After all, you're meant to be restrained.", the Elder spoke in a quizzing tone, his former indifference long gone. Right now, he didn't have the imposing aura he displayed when he stopped the fight between Zhang Baichi and the Law Enforcement Division.

Instead, he looked like a regular old grandpa you would meet across the street. This stark contrast made Zhang Baichi cautious. He didn't dare meet the old man's gaze and spoke with his head still lightly lowered. "If it was a regular guard, they wouldn't be able to notify Elder directly, right? I would have had quite a bit of time before Elder came, and I might have had the chance to talk, like right now."

"Smart. I like that.", the old man spoke, an appreciative smile now on his face. "Now then, why would a smart kid like you attack a member of my Law Enforcement Division so viciously? You let them search you cottage without issue, but accepted a low class provocation and even injured your opponent severely. What are you intentions?"

Zhang Baichi smiled wryly, a faint blush even present on his face as it really was embarrassing to be called out like that. "It was an honest mistake… Di Yuansheng's brother was defeated by me and I thought the allegations against me might come from his, as a form of revenge. When he challenged me, I simply fought. I don't really know why, either. Mostly pride? Or to relieve some anger?"

Jian Fu listened to him speak and nodded, "The allegations really come from Di Yuansheng. If they're false, then you injuring him can be considered payback and the issue will be resolved at that then. But there's still two more questions: You combat techniques and the fact that there was a shattered vial with poison residue in you hut. Care to explain those?"

Being questioned about the first part was obvious, as those were the allegations against him in the first place, but the second part surprised Zhang Baichi, though he quickly suppressed those emotions. "My combat techniques… They're nothing special. I already told Yu Hao what happened. Di Fangsheng and later his brother, attacked with such obvious attacks and even shouted out their names, so of course I knew those techniques and would counter them."

He tried to shift the conversation to the first part, which the Elder noticed, but decided to ignore for now. "That much I can understand, but it still doesn't explain your combat methods. When attacked by the Second Movement of the Breezing Winds Sword Technique, the natural response would be to block or redirect the attack, and to use the counterforce to attack. Yet, you jumped over it; Probably the most idotic move to make in a battle."

The old man shifted his posture, now looking like an Elder teaching a disciple. "In a jump, you lose all footing and with it all possible ways to change your positioning in combat. If those two had stopped their attacks midway and chose another way to attack, you would have lost either battle right that moment."

"But they didn't.", Zhang Baichi blurted out. He looked up and met the Elders gaze in a confident matter, then tried to continue to speak, but no words left his mouth. He couldn't really explain why he was so confident about those battles… 'I've… I've never really fought anyone in my past life. And neither did the old Zhang Baichi… Why was I-'

The old man smiled, genuinely this time, and showed his white teeth, excitement visible in his eyes. "You can't explain it, right? Why you fought the way you did. How you knew so very clearly what your opponent would do. Kid, have you heard of Special Constitutions?"