Chapter 19: The Foundation of Baijiang Investigation Bureau

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Three skills, from basic swordsmanship to Mysterious Evil tracking, all the way to Palm Thunder.

It's all about progressing from easy to hard.

And facilitating tactical withdrawal.

Basic swordsmanship can train the body, making one run faster, while Mysterious Evil tracking can detect the elusive Mysterious Evil, helping to avoid danger.

After learning basic swordsmanship, even though it exhausted me, I nevertheless enjoyed the physical enhancement it brought.

Mysterious Evil tracking was a bit more painful; after all these days, my eyelids still twitch from time to time.

They twitch even when I'm typing.

That's the aftereffect of learning Mysterious Evil tracking: it causes pain in the eyes, making me somewhat...uh, scared of learning Palm Thunder.

It's like being prepped for surgery.

Of course, if it's a minor surgery, I still have to go through with it. I originally planned on learning it tomorrow, but what happened today...

"Time waits for no one."

"Black Blade is going all out; I, as the one supporting from behind the scenes, can't fall behind."

"Moreover, according to the current intelligence, gaining strength requires Awakening, and the prerequisite for Awakening is gathering mystique. The method to accumulate mystique is to come into contact with and slay Mysterious Evil."

I'll have to face Mysterious Evil head-on sooner or later.

And Palm Thunder, with its lethal power, is a skill I must learn as well.

However,

I can't rush it—it won't work.

I don't think I can compare to Black Blade the very next day just because I've reached proficiency in my three skills. Besides, Black Blade had a tough fight when he faced the Mysterious Evil at the construction site.

It wasn't easy!

I don't have Black Blade's physique, nor do I have his experience in handling matters with exceptional familiarity.

Before I can face Mysterious Evil, even a one-star Mysterious Evil, I must at least...uh...

Fang You set a small goal for himself.

Raise my physique to above "3" and cultivate Palm Thunder to at least Mastery level.

So now, it's my turn, Skill Book... Use!

...

A familiar whirl of dizziness struck, and in front of Fang You appeared an empty and deserted platform.

The wind howled as it slapped against his face.

He stood firm, without a weapon in his hand.

After all, Palm Thunder relies on a pair of flesh and blood palms.

Fang You had become accustomed to this kind of skill learning mode. Since he couldn't control his body, he might as well 'enjoy' the immersive experience.

The sooner I master it, the faster I can escape this suffering.

And today's learning of Palm Thunder seemed less complicated than Mysterious Evil tracking did in the past few days.

Maybe it will be simpler.

A simpler skill is a better skill.

Boom—

At this moment, Fang You heard the muffled sound of thunder, and his gaze slowly lifted upwards.

This place was a platform, located atop a mountain peak.

However, just above the platform, where the sky was not far, dark clouds had gathered, forming a dense mass. Within it, lightning arcs flickered, becoming more and more concentrated, until there was a booming sound and it plummeted straight down.

Fang You: Damn!

I'm just learning an ordinary Palm Thunder; does it have to be such a big fuss?

...

"The ancients were right, 'When heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a man, it first strikes his heart, sinews, and skin...'"

"Ah—"

Fang You lay sprawled on the ground in a spread-eagled position, thinking he could spit out a black ring from his mouth.

Of course, the sensation of being completely fried was just an illusion. Aside from a tingling and spasming feeling all over his body, he didn't have a single wound.

While on the Cloud Summit Platform, both blood and stamina were locked.

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As for other people wanting to cry without tears, experiencing the agony that comes from the world, it might as well not be mentioned.

However,

Setting aside the occasional convulsions that still afflicted his entire body, learning the skill "Palm Thunder" was indeed quite marvelous.

Unlike the tracking of Mysterious Evil, which ultimately is just "seeing,"—barely perceiving the Mysterious Evil but having no actual interference with physical reality—

Palm Thunder was different; this was the real special ability he had envisioned.

It was firmly etched in his mind.

With a mere thought, sparks could dance at the tip of his fingers. Fang You slowly raised his hand, then abruptly stopped.

No, he was completely out now.

To use Palm Thunder again would be to risk dying on the spot?!

He had nearly been reckless there!

…

Sunset, but the sun had not yet risen.

While Fang You was still occasionally convulsing, the atmosphere tensed up along a desolate road several kilometers away.

The mountain rain was about to come!

"Chief Zhou, the civilians in the vicinity have all been evacuated," said a staff member from another department.

The investigation bureau had contingency plans for such situations.

Quickly call for assistance, evacuate, seal off the area.

The actions were very swift, and no accidents occurred during the entire process, but...

The middle-aged man with a square face was still heavy-hearted.

As long as this terrifying Mysterious Evil remained, the crisis would persist, the bomb at the brink of explosion.

The situation was still manageable only because the Mysterious Evil moved slowly.

But when it would pick up speed, who knew?

"Did you bring everything?"

"Yes, the Buddha Beads blessed with twenty-five years of power by Mage Ming Deng, and the mage also told me to bring the decades-old lamp from the temple, as well as the safe marked with a 'special' sign as you mentioned," replied the staff member.

This was indeed the full backing of Baijiang Investigation Bureau.

Of course, the Baijiang City's bureau had been established for just a few years, and rather than calling it the strength of Baijiang City, it was more appropriate to consider it the strength of Jiangming Temple outside the city.

The twenty-five-year build-up of Buddha Beads was five years more powerful than the previous set that had broken.

And that was not all.

The previous beads had been used several times before snapping, and the blessed power on them was like water with no source; each use resulted in loss.

Otherwise, the beads assigned to the investigators would not have been of the ordinary variety.

The truly powerful beads were extremely rare; they couldn't be used carelessly and were reserved for critical moments, to be used only as a last resort.

Now, the twenty-five-year Buddha Beads had just been requested from Jiangming Temple, along with that ever-burning lamp.

Yet, these items were still not enough, far from enough!

Chief Zhou did not dare harbor great expectations; causing the Mysterious Evil to shed a bit of blood would already be fortunate—extremely lucky. To hope that these two items alone could vanquish the Mysterious Evil was something the middle-aged, balding Zhou did not dare to naively believe.

Facing the Mysterious Evil, humanity was so powerless, all measures were like bubbles.

There were no cultivators.

There were no mages.

Only Mysterious Evil could combat Mysterious Evil.

And even among the special-class investigators, those who had the power to harm Mysterious Evil, most could only handle the most common ones.

The more one knew, the more one despaired.

At this moment, it was dawn, the sun had just risen, but the sky was still shrouded in a faint mist.

Dim! Dark!

It could not be dispelled.

Chief Zhou's gaze fell on the safe marked with a 'special' sign, and he was silent for a long time.

It was then,

Investigator Ke Yuan ran over, beaming with joy, "Chief Zhou, the special... the special-class investigator has arrived!"