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Upon hearing this, Alkaid couldn't help but show a deep sense of regret.
One billion two hundred million.
It was hasty.
He didn't ask at the time.
This scene suddenly made Ye Yuhe, as well as Lin Xiaowei and Su Yaoyu, who were secretly observing him, realize that Alkaid…
was truly interested in matters of the Martial Arts World.
He even felt regret for the passing of someone he didn't know, just because that person had excelled in this industry.
However, what secretly caught Lin Xiaowei's attention wasn't that, but rather…
Her professional instincts told her something was off about Alkaid.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
This instinctively made her observe carefully, unwilling to miss any detail.
"Among the 'Ten Tigers of Tian Nan,' the ones with the most momentum are the Seven Killings' Wang Lie and the Dragon Slayer Lei Ao, both of whom, in recent times, have risen to prominence as top martial masters, with hopes of becoming grandmasters," Ye Yuhe explained.
"Risen to prominence?"
Alkaid asked further, "Their influence has been strong recently?"
"Yes," Ye Yuhe nodded. "Wang Lie made his name in the underground fighting rings of Nan Bay City with ten wins in ten matches, completely ruthless, nicknamed the Tyrannosaur..."
As she spoke, she glanced at Lin Xiaowei.
Mentioning the underground fighting rings seemed a bit inconsiderate in front of Inspector Lin.
But Lin Xiaowei smiled and said, "As long as it's on record with the Martial Arts Association, if some martial artists insist on determining who is superior, the authorities won't interfere too much."
Encouraged by this, Ye Yuhe continued to introduce Lei Ao: "This Dragon Slayer is equally impressive. At thirty he was unremarkable, but after turning thirty, he achieved martial dao mastery. In the neighboring Shanlong City, he is called the number one expert."
At this point, she paused and said, "Speaking of coming from behind, we can't leave out Xie Yusheng from the 'Three Greats of the South and North.' He was low-key and practiced hard for the first half of his life. After passing forty, his sudden and incredible progress allowed him to conquer the grandmaster title, leading the Red Blade Sect to forcefully create a great influence. Currently, he is the undeniable martial overlord north of Tian Nan."
"Coming from behind, accumulated effort and sudden success..."
Alkaid listened to these evaluations from Ye Yuhe.
He didn't believe in sudden progress from accumulated effort.
A martial master's sudden surge in power, in his view, only had one possibility...
Demon possession.
Well, that narrowed it down to three likely suspects at once.
Much more efficient than knocking on doors and taking his chances.
Especially that Xie Yusheng.
If that was his publicly acknowledged strength, what was his real power!?
He knew that people like Xia Li and Long Daoqi, whom he had killed, were publicly known as peak martial masters.
"Aside from Blade Exceed Xie Yusheng, Thunder Exceed Feng Dong with his Roaring Thunder Fist has also dominated Tian Nan for more than forty years. He is the most respected and influential figure in the entire Martial Arts World of Tian Nan, as well as the face of our community. The last Martial Exceed..."
Ye Yuhe smiled slightly, "is my senior brother, Xia Wuyuan. He is also the champion of the 14th National Martial Arts Competition."
"Brother, perhaps you don't know, but the selection of the National Martial Arts Competition represents the uncrowned king among tens of thousands of martial artists from Dayu's thirteen provinces, like choosing the strongest among three hundred million people. Although the older generation can't compete after winning the championship once, the title still carries far more weight than the championship of the Overlord Cup martial contest," Ye Yuhe explained.
Lin Xiaowei interjected: "Consultant Xia, precisely because of this achievement, upon entering the Grand Procuratorate system, was directly appointed as a senior prosecutor, enjoying the treatment of a prosecutor general."
Alkaid nodded his head.
The Grand Procuratorate of Dayu was an institution directly appointed by the royal family. Even the Prime Minister had no authority to dismiss the Grand Procurator. It was the royal family's sharpest sword in supervising the cabinet.
The two maintained a balance of power, ensuring the royal family's absolute rule over Dayu.
It was an institution with tremendous power.
To call it a modern Jin Yi Wei wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"What about the Martial Saint?"
Alkaid asked, "I don't seem to have heard any news of a Martial Saint."
"Martial Saint?"
Ye Yuhe was taken aback for a moment.
Then she shook her head: "A Martial Saint... that's someone at the very pinnacle of the Martial Arts World, having broken through human limitations. If we were in ancient times, they could almost become buddhas or ancestors. There are not many in the whole Dayu, and in Tian Nan Territory, we haven't seen a Martial Saint in a hundred years."
"Not any?"
Alkaid was somewhat surprised: "Isn't that just one step beyond a grandmaster? Isn't it just a short distance away?"
"Of course," Ye Yuhe replied with some emotion, and she found the question from this outsider somewhat amusing. "A Martial Saint is considered inhuman, superhuman. Their strength cannot be comprehended or measured with ordinary perspectives. Once they appear, they often signify the rise of a top power, and even the royal family would treat them with great deference and invite them as distinguished guests."
"I checked some related data when I came over," Lin Xiaowei suddenly said. "The physique of a Martial Saint is so strong that ordinary bullets can hardly cause them serious injury. A rifle could kill them, but aside from whether ordinary guns could hit them, even if they did, with the enormous wealth of a Martial Saint, it would be easy to purchase some bulletproof equipment, making ordinary firearms virtually no threat. They just need to avoid major firepower. And a Martial Saint intent on hiding is almost impossible to detect. A hundred years ago, during the era of turmoil, countless high-ranking officials and royal members were assassinated by Martial Saints, leading to national instability and eventually resulting in the downfall of empires."
"Indeed," Ye Yuhe nodded with longing. "It is said that a Martial Saint with a top-notch support team is worth an armored brigade."
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She spoke with a tone that was nearly prideful, "If nuclear bombs represent the light of technology, then Martial Saints represent the light of humanity."
"The light of humanity..."
Alkaid repeated the term in his mind.
It could only be the light of humanity.
He didn't know how many demons there were.
But with beings like Xia Li, once transformed and their demonic bodies manifested, even if they were not quite at the Martial Saint level, they would undoubtedly be not far off.
Not to mention terrifying existences like Xie Yusheng who showed themselves in the form of Grandmasters.
Naturally, it was too early to say that Xie Yusheng had been possessed by a demon, but Alkaid knew...
Martial Saints represented the limit for humans, but certainly not for demons.
...
There was a vast difference between the information accessible to insiders and outsiders.
The details Alkaid found on the internet about Martial Artists were far less than what Ye Yuhe, the inheritor of True Martial Fist, had described.
Although her understanding of the circle was limited to the Tian Nan Territory, this description had already given him an insight into all the martial masters and powers of Tian Nan.
In his mind, he had noted down more than a dozen targets to be further confirmed.
While everyone was exchanging information, Su Yaoyu's cellphone suddenly rang.
She stood up apologetically and took the call.
While she was on the phone, Lin Xiaowei also received a message.
Looking at the message, she visibly started.
"Good news."
Su Yaoyu returned quickly after hanging up, a smile on her face, "Black Triangle Star has posted a notice of account cancellation, announcing that they are withdrawing from the underworld. This means these people have escaped from Dayu Country, and naturally, they have also given up their operation against Alkaid."
"The deterrence of the Su Family of Tian Nan really is extraordinary."
Lin Xiaowei raised her phone, "I also got the news. It must be that the people of Black Triangle Star are afraid of the Su family's reputation and have fled in haste."
"Perhaps they were planning to leave Dayu all along. This can be inferred from the orders they've been taking recently. It was madness before departure. Once they undertook this order worth fifteen million, they didn't dare delay and quickly fled Dayu without stopping, even intentionally creating a false trail by appearing in Yunmeng City to attract attention, which facilitated their escape from the country,"
Su Yaoyu stated.
Lin Xiaowei nodded.
Nevertheless, whatever the reason, the threat from Black Triangle Star was indeed eliminated.
"To be safe, we will strengthen the patrols around Chahe Mansion and the nearby streets to ensure full-proof security,"
Lin Xiaowei stated.
"In that case, we owe the Security Bureau for the trouble,"
Su Yaoyu responded.
"It's our duty,"
Lin Xiaowei smiled.
Su Alkaid listened but did not say much.
He was already planning in his mind which bus to take to Shanlong City.
City bus or train?
Forget it, Shanlong is just over sixty kilometers away from Yunmeng, so he might as well take a taxi.
...
Lin Xiaowei didn't get back to the Security Bureau until after 11 PM.
She rubbed her somewhat weary brow.
She'd been on the go all day like a spinning top, without a moment's rest.
First there was the major case in the old city district, where the Dragon Spring Property's General Manager was murdered. Hardly had she handed the case over to the expert from above, Xia Wuyuan, than she began a non-stop search for information related to the Martial Arts World.
Then, the young lady of the Su Family from the capital visited, fearing that someone was planning to kill Su Alkaid, who was suspected to become the only male heir to Su Huaifeng's line.
If Su Alkaid were to die in Yunmeng, all members of the Security Bureau would be held accountable.
Fortunately, right after a trip to Chahe Mansion, she received good news.
Black Triangle Star had canceled their account.
Indicating they would no longer operate in Dayu Country.
They took money for work, and with no grudge against Su Alkaid. Since they had canceled their account and left, the danger to Su Alkaid was naturally resolved.
Finally, she could relax a little.
Just after Lin Xiaowei finished checking in her service weapon, Zhang Qing came in hurriedly, "Sister Wei."
"Still not gone home this late?"
Lin Xiaowei glanced at him, "How are you going to find a girlfriend in the future?"
"Which girlfriend is as interesting as cracking a case."
Zhang Qing waved his hand dismissively and quickly handed over some intelligence that had just come in, "I recently received unconfirmed news. Black Triangle Star's posting of their account cancellation and departure from the Dayu market wasn't because they had enough and were ready to leave, but rather..."
He subconsciously lowered his voice further, "Except for the dark line never involved in operations, the other three have all been wiped out, not one survived."
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