Xiao Ran entered the rest chamber.
He took out the three bottles of dragon blood and consumed them. His physical body became stronger again. With his physique's current evolution, he could easily defeat a warrior of Grand Master Realm Level 1.
Back at the antechamber on the first floor,
Xia Luoran had been waiting for him for a long time. Her attractive eyes lit up when she saw him. "Did she eat it?"
"Yes," Xiao Ran replied.
"How was it?"
"It had some effect. You have to ask the Eldest Princess for the details."
"I understand." Xia Luoran nodded.
After getting the answer she wanted, she left with the two palace maids.
The lieutenant and Little Zhou walked over from the side.
"Lord Shen has been waiting outside for a long time, you guys better hurry over!"
Both men left the Celestial Dungeon and met Shen Yiming at the entrance.
Along with Ling Qing'er, their three-year terms were completed too.
Both had been transferred back and there would be new personnel to replace them and continue guarding the Celestial Dungeon.
"From now on, I am your immediate superior," Shen Yiming said with a stony countenance.
When he recalled the news that the Divine Sword Guards had just announced, he was filled with anger that he could barely contain.
The Divine Sword Guards were short of manpower, especially after the recent spate of events. Although the Blood Blade Sect, the Rakshasa Sect, and Sky Devil Sect had been destroyed, they had also suffered heavy losses.
After transferring Xiao Ran and the rest to him, he would have to recruit the remaining men himself.
"Follow me."
Shen Yiming turned around and left.
Xiao Ran and Little Zhou looked at each other and followed him.
On the way, Shen Yiming gave them a briefing. The Great General's residence had been destroyed with no survivors. The moment the news broke, His Majesty flew into a rage and issued an inviolable order that the Divine Sword Guards and the Sacred Martial Bureau were to crack the case within three days and apprehend the perpetrators.
"My Lord, the Great General is a Grand Master Realm warrior, yet he was still exterminated with all his family members in the capital city. Why was there no news before the incident?" Little Zhou was puzzled.
Shen Yiming shook his head. "I don't know either."
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, he continued, "Although this matter is bizarre, we only have three days. We have to crack the case within three days. Otherwise, all of us will get the blame."
When they reached the Great General's residence,
it was swarming with Imperial Guards who surrounded the place securely.
Seeing their approach, the lieutenant who was leading the team saluted and opened up a path for them to enter.
They entered the residence.
The pungent smell of blood assaulted their senses. The ground was strewn with blood and corpses.
The further in they went, the more corpses they saw.
In the back courtyard, other than Yang Baoyu who had been killed by the Courtesan in revenge earlier, the rest of the people, including their families, all had their heads crushed by monstrous claws and died gruesome deaths.
"Is that all the manpower in the Divine Sword Guards? Just the three of you?" The guys from the Sacred Martial Bureau had already arrived. The one who spoke was Li Heng.
According to the official rank designation,
the Sacred Martial Bureau was divided into Martial Masters, Martial Emissaries, Martial Marshals, Martial Sheriffs, and ordinary members.
The speaker was a Martial Emissary, and his status was equivalent to a Lord Amethyst Sword.
Apart from him, there were also twenty people from the Sacred Martial Bureau.
"You don't have to worry about whether we have manpower. If this case isn't solved by the deadline, both our departments will suffer," Shen Yiming replied.
"Hmph!" Li Heng responded with a scornful snort and led his men away to continue the investigation.
"Let's go," Shen Yiming said.
They entered the study.
The Great General's corpse was lying on the ground. His limbs were chopped off, his eyes gouged out, and all the meridians in his body had been severed. Every drop of blood in his body had been drawn out, and his face was all contorted in agony. Before he died, he had clearly suffered horrendous torture.
Gasp!
Shen Yiming drew in a sharp breath of cold air. The perpetrator had been too ruthless.
Unless there was a deep hatred between them, they wouldn't be so cold-blooded.
Little Zhou stomach turned. He was so horrified by this grisly sight that he leaned against the wall and puked.
"Are you all right?" Xiao Ran patted his back.
"I'm fine." Little Zhou said shakily.
"You have been working in the Celestial Dungeon for three years. Aren't you used to this kind of situation?" Shen Yiming was displeased.
Little Zhou apologized, "It won't happen again."
"Check the whole room and see if there are any other clues."
Shen Yiming then squatted down beside the general's corpse and examined it carefully.
They broke up and proceeded separately.
After making a quick survey, Xiao Ran walked towards the study desk and stared at the wet brush tip. The ink was still fresh and there was a stack of papers on the desk.
"Why aren't there any words?" Xiao Ran frowned.
He flipped through the stack of papers, but there were no words.
He felt that something was amiss. The ink in the inkstone was almost depleted. How could there be no words?
Unless what was written had been taken.
However, it still didn't make sense. The stack of papers was still there.
He took a brush and tried to draw on the paper.
The tip of the brush slid across the surface of the white paper. No brush strokes appeared at all.
"Spiritual Clarity Eye." Xiao Ran invoked his special skill.
Words emerged on the originally blank piece of paper, line by line.
He picked up the stack of papers and scanned them from beginning to end. Every piece of paper was filled with words.
On the last page, there was a title 'Celestial Varg Guards'. This was a troops training method.
According to what was written, once a practitioner mastered the Celestial Varg Guards technique, he would be able to fend off hundreds of opponents and wipe out thousands of enemies. He would take no prisoners, had no weaknesses and would not be afraid of pain.
"Did he write this?" Xiao Ran was shocked.
He withdrew his Spiritual Clarity Eye and quickly walked across the room.
Shen Yiming stood up and glanced at the stack of papers in his hands. "Have you found any clues?"
"Yes," Xiao Ran nodded.
He handed the stack of papers over.
Shen Yiming flipped through the blank pages, and waited in bewilderment for him to explain.
"Little Zhou, come here." Xiao Ran waved to him.
"Yes, Brother Xiao?" Little Zhou hurried over.
Taking his hand, Xiao Ran cut his fingers, squeezed out fresh blood, and dripped it onto the paper, smearing the blood evenly.
The blank paper revealed some handwriting.
The opening page was the general outline of the 'Celestial Varg Guards'.
Shen Yiming took one glance. His expression turned serious and he hastily tucked it away.
"Keep this matter to yourselves and don't say a word about it."
"We don't know anything," Xiao Ran said.
Shen Yiming was pleased with his attitude and reassured them. "With this, we won't have to take the blame even if we can't solve the case within three days."
Hurried footsteps could be heard as Li Heng walked in from outside. "What's in your arms? Show it to me."
Twenty men from the Sacred Martial Bureau spread out behind him, surrounding Xiao Ran and the other two.
Swords were drawn and the atmosphere was tense.
"You want to start a fight between the Divine Sword Guards and the Sacred Martial Bureau?" Shen Yiming refused to budge.
"Since I'm in charge of this case, I have the right to ask about anything. You'd better be sensible and don't make things difficult for me." Li Heng heaped on the pressure.
The aura of a Level 3 Grand Master pressed down on Shen Yiming.
"I intend to do exactly that today!" Shen Yiming sneered.
He released his aura, revealing his Level 2 Grand Master Realm power. Although it was one level below Li Heng, it still blocked his aura from pushing over.
"Are you giving it to me or not?" Li Heng issued his ultimatum.
"No!" Shen Yiming was adamant.
"I heard that you guys from the Divine Sword Guards have extraordinary abilities. I just happened to be itching for a fight, so I'll give it a try today," Li Heng said.
An afterimage lingered on the spot as he flew towards Shen Yiming.
He extended his claw-like hand and hundreds of claw shadows materialized instantly, tearing through the air and grabbing at his chest from all directions.
"You guys have to take responsibility for what happened today!" Shen Yiming said in an icy cold tone.
The Amethyst Light Sword was unsheathed. A beam of sword light soared into the sky and slashed down in one mighty stroke.