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nHe carefully sized up Xiao Ran, trying to see through him.

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nThere was no discrepancy. He was indeed at the level of Connate Realm.

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nIn that case how did he discover me? Could he have in his possession a special numinous treasure?

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nAt the thought of this,

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nthis intruder became very excited. “Hand over your numinous treasure and I’ll give you a quick death!”

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n“How did you guys find me?” Xiao Ran asked with a puzzled look.

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n“There were only the three of you from the Divine Sword Guards investigating the death of the Great General. The Sacred Martial Bureau only had Li Heng left. The three of them are holed up in their respective headquarters. You, on the other hand, are still staying outside.”

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n“Have Little Zhou and the others gone back?” Xiao Ran became even more puzzled.

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nWhen he left Drunken Immortals Court, the two of them were still having fun.

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nThen again it made sense after he thought about it. It was already way past midnight.

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n“Hand over the Numinous Treasure.” The intruder moved forward in a threatening fashion.

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nA huge aura burst out and enveloped the living room, firmly locking onto Xiao Ran. A pair of cold merciless looking eyes glared at him, devoid of emotion.

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n“Besides you, how many other Yama guys are coming to the capital city this time?” Xiao Ran again inquired casually.

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n“You talk too much!” The intruder lost his patience totally.

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nWith one step forward, an overpowering earth-blanketing pressure, churning and roiling like thunderous lightning, rolled forward like a tsunami, rushing towards Xiao Ran.

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nHe had just arrived in front of Xiao Ran and had yet to launch his attack.

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nIn that split second, a palm flashed with golden light, and an even stronger aura completely eliminated the intruder’s aura. It grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

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nNo matter how he struggled, it was futile against this immovable palm.

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nHis face was filled with shock and his eyeballs were almost popping out. He looked at Xiao Ran in horror. “You… you’re at the Profound Realm!”

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n“What were you expecting?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“Aren’t you just an ordinary member of the Divine Sword Guards?”

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n“Who said that a Profound Realm guy can’t be an ordinary person?”

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nWith a sudden fling of his palm, Xiao Ran smashed the intruder to the ground. Before he could get up from the ground, Xiao Ran re-appeared in front of him. Stepping hard on his chest, he questioned him again, “Where are the rest of you?”

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n“Sir, if I tell you, will you let me go?”

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n“What do you think?”

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n“Since I’m going to die anyway, do you think I’ll talk?”

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n“You will.” Xiao Ran assured him confidently.

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nTen consecutive shots of Heavenly Slave Divine Finger were fired into his body.

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nThe pain from his soul was so excruciating that he wanted to die at once. He writhed and rolled on the ground, grabbing at his flesh. Within a dozen breaths, he was covered in blood.

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nA blood-curdling scream reverberated through the night sky.

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n“Tell me everything you know and I’ll give you a quick death,” Xiao Ran said.

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n“Forget… it!” The intruder grunted through clenched teeth.

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nXiao Ran watched calmly. After hanging on for seven to eight minutes, the intruder couldn’t take it anymore.

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nIt hurt so much. The torment was driving him crazy.

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n“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything!”

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nXiao Ran gestured with his hand and temporarily relieved his pain. “You only have one chance.”

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nThis intruder told him everything he knew, including details of the Yama people who came to the capital city this time.

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nA deputy hall master leading the team? And a Profound Realm expert no less?

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nApart from investigating how and why Malevolent Earth and the others were destroyed, they were also secretly in cahoots with the Yin Incubation Institute. They were the ones who invited the middle-aged Daoist priest to absorb the Immense Righteous Energy of the Dragon Lake Institute.

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nThe mastermind behind all these was the Yin Incubation Institute.

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nJust three days ago,

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nthe deputy hall master accidentally discovered that the full year tax collection from Chuyun Province was hundreds of millions of taels of silver. They had their eyes on it.

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nAfter taking three days to check,

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nthey hatched a complete plan. Tonight, they would split into two parties.

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nOne party would be led by the deputy hall master in person to go to the Ministry of Revenue. Before the tax money was locked into the treasury, they would grab it.

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nThe other party,

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ncomprised just him alone. His job was to capture Xiao Ran and make him spill the beans. He was to interrogate him on the cause of death of Malevolent Earth and the others.

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nUnfortunately, their accommodations were not fixed. Otherwise, it would have saved a lot of trouble as they could then be wiped out in one shot.

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nThe Empyrean Conflagration Holy Fire burst down upon him and instantly turned him to ashes.

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nThe Golden Tome of Creation flipped to a random page and displayed three items. The rewards for a Level 10 Grand Master Realm was more generous comparatively speaking. 500,000 Mastery points, 50 years of Martial Arts Evolution, and the Seven Star Detoxification Pill.

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nHe added the 500,000 Mastery points to the Apotropaic Divine Lightning.

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nAfter the attributes were refreshed,

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nApotropaic Divine Lightning: Perfection

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nHe was ten years away from advancing his martial arts evolution another step.

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nSeven Star Detoxification Pill: Can neutralize hundreds of poisons.

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nHe opened his mouth and swallowed it. It turned into a warm current that was absorbed by his body.

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n“These people are really bold. To think that they dared to have designs on the tax money,” Xiao Ran said thoughtfully.

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nInvoking his Traversing the Heavens in Twelve Steps, with one step he vanished.

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nBy the time he arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, the place was already under heavy security.

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nThe whole place was illuminated brightly. There were people everywhere. Inside, the building was packed with so many people that they spilled outside.

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n“Have they succeeded?” Xiao Ran thought to himself, watching this scene from the shadows.

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nHe stayed for a while before leaving.

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nThe next day,

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nwhen he stepped into the Divine Sword Guards headquarters, he immediately felt the difference in atmosphere. His colleagues all walked by with stony expressions and hurried footsteps.

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nWhen he arrived at the small courtyard,

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nLittle Zhou immediately rushed up to him. “Brother Xiao, something big has happened.”

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n“Was the tax money stolen?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“Eh! You know all about it?”

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n“I heard on the way here.”

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nLittle Zhou pulled him inside the building and said in a low voice, “That’s not all.”

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n“Stop wasting time.” Xiao Ran kicked him irritably.

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n“Two major incidents happened last night. The first was the robbing of the tax money that was placed in the Ministry of Revenue. The second was the theft of the ‘Celestial Varg Guards’ training manual, which was secretly kept by the Ministry of Defense.”

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n“Are these men all pigs?”

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nLittle Zhou nodded in agreement. “More useless than a pig! Even a dog is better than them.”

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n“Our Lord was summoned by Vice Sword Master Qin early in the morning. Looks like this matter will end up on our laps.”

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n“Let’s wait and see,” Xiao Ran said.

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nThey did not have to wait long. Soon, Shen Yiming returned, walking briskly towards them with an icy cold expression.

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n“How is it, my Lord?” Little Zhou asked.

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n“The people from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Revenue are useless! The items were heavily guarded, but they were still stolen from under their noses,” Shen Yiming berated them mercilessly.

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n“And then?”

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n“The relevant people have been arrested and locked up. The person who led this attack has been imprisoned and is being interrogated severely right now.”

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nHis gaze landed on Xiao Ran.

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n“Have you gone to the Celestial Dungeon yet?”

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nXiao Ran shook his head. “Not yet! On the way here this morning, I heard that the tax money was stolen so I rushed over quickly.”

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n“Good.” Shen Yiming was pleased with his attitude.

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n“His Majesty was really furious this time. A full year’s worth of tax money that was collected from Chuyun Province was gone just like that. Then there was that matter of the ‘Celestial Varg Guards’ training manual. The original intention was to have the Ministry of Defense secretly choose suitable people to be trained as Celestial Varg Guards. Before the plan could be implemented, the manual was already lost.”

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n“No backup copies?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“No!” Shen Yiming bellowed.

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n“According to the schedule, His Majesty should be meeting with the people from the Yin Incubation Institute today. Now that such a major incident has happened, the meeting has been postponed indefinitely. Moreover, if the training manual were to fall into the wrong hands, once a large number of Celestial Varg Guards are nurtured, it will be a huge disaster!”

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nLittle Zhou cursed out loud, “Did all our previous efforts go to waste?”

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nShen Yiming was also very pissed off. He had just earned a large sum of money, but before he could squander it away, he became embroiled in this mess.

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n“Stop whining. Deputy Sword Master Qin just summoned me and gave me an inviolable order. He said that we are to hunt down the ‘Celestial Varg Guards’ training manual at all costs and wipe out the thieves responsible.”

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n“Just the three of us?” Little Zhou asked incredulously.

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n“We’re not gods. We can’t perform miracles! The thieves managed to get away with it without alerting anyone, even though the Ministry of Defense is heavily guarded. If it is just the three of us, how long is it going to take before we crack the case?” Shen Yiming rolled his eyes in disbelief.

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n“Besides us, there are also people from the Spiritual Divinity Bureau and the Sacred Martial Bureau. The three departments will work together to solve the case.”

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