Heavenly Ranking

Chapter 186 Benefits
"Completely wiped out?! How could they have been completely wiped out?!"

In the core building of the Mist War Research Institute, all employees could feel the fury of Xia Zheng, a master in both spirit and physique.

"Xia Feng himself possesses a level of perception second only to a master-level spiritual energy user. Yao Huang and Fan Hai, who are by his side, are powerful martial artists with top-tier inheritances. With the cooperation of the others, they would have a good chance of succeeding even if they were to surround and kill the Fishman King. How could they possibly be completely wiped out in the waters of Bibo Lake!?"

A powerful mental pressure filled the conference room, making it difficult for the two master-level martial artists, Fang Sheng and Lü Yue, who were standing in front of him, to breathe.

Of course, this kind of pressure...

It comes not only from the spiritual level, but also more from Xia Zheng's identity, status, and the human and material resources he can mobilize.

Seeing the two of them remain silent, Xia Zheng understood that it would be pointless for him to lose his temper with them.

Suppressing his anger, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Investigate! Investigate!"

He slammed his hand on the table: "That kid's team may suffer heavy losses in the waters of Bibo Lake, but I absolutely do not believe that not a single one of them will escape! Someone must have attacked them, which is why they ended up like this!"

“We investigated the 13 teams that entered the Bibo Lake area during that period. Of these 13 teams, 11 did not have the strength to threaten Young Master Feng. The other two were: one was the team led by Long Xiang, who was on our side and had no reason to attack Young Master Feng; the other…”

Fang Sheng paused slightly at this point, then said, "It's Qi Lingyun."

The mere mention of Qi Lingyun's name caused Xia Zheng's anger to momentarily subside.

The current Supreme Council can be roughly divided into four major factions.

The first camp consists of the newly elected president, along with the fifth and ninth speakers of the House, who are reformists who want to push for comprehensive federal reform.

The second camp consists of the conservative faction led by the Second and Seventh Speakers, who were defeated by the president and are currently forced to remain inactive.

The third faction was led by the Third Speaker and united with the military faction, including the Eighth Speaker and He Jinglan.

They belong to the fourth and sixth speaker factions, which control a large amount of federal wealth and resources.

If Xia Feng is a sharp blade in the hands of the economic conglomerate faction, then Qi Lingyun…

It was a big knife pushed out by the president's faction.

He introduced a series of reform measures in less than a year after taking office.

The reason why such a precious resource as Source Crystals is accessible to people from the lower and middle classes is because they are at the forefront of battle.

Even the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament was initially planned by him, but the Third Speaker managed to steal the credit through various means.

This person...

Not to mention his son Xia Feng, even he, the director of the War Research Institute, was quite wary of him.

The name quickly calmed Xia Zheng down: "Although there are conflicts between the major factions, there is still a general consensus that the fog is a major concern for everyone. Qi Lingyun would not go to the fog specifically to deal with Xiao Feng."

He analyzed, "Although Xiao Feng is aggressive, he is very perceptive and knows who he can deal with and who he can't. If they really encounter Qi Lingyun, they will definitely turn around and run away immediately! Even if Qi Lingyun wants to lead his men to chase and kill them, it will be difficult for them to capture them all while the six of them are running away with all their might."

Fang Sheng and Lü Yue wanted to say that anything could happen in the fog.

Even powerful figures like Gu Qing and Xiao Juechen wouldn't dare say they were 100% certain they could escape unscathed after entering the mist.

However, they obviously couldn't say these things to Xia Zheng, who had just experienced the pain of losing his son.

"There are only two possibilities for Xiaofeng and his team to be wiped out! First, they encountered a powerful opponent far beyond their limits!"

Xia Zheng paused as he spoke.

He could count these enemies on one hand.

Their every move is followed by countless people, which can be ruled out to some extent.

So, that's the second possibility.

Xia Zheng narrowed his eyes: "The opponents they encountered were ones they thought they could handle. As a result, because of this confidence, they stepped into the enemy's trap and were killed one by one without even a chance to escape."

After speaking, he turned his gaze to the two of them: "Among the enemies that Xiao Feng has provoked, has anyone recently become a master-level expert? Have you ruled them out?"

“We had already been investigating the movements of these potential enemies for four days.”

Fang Sheng said in a deep voice: "When Young Master Feng acts, he usually eliminates the root of the problem and leaves no hidden dangers. Those opponents who cannot be eliminated permanently are basically reconciled with immediately... There are not many such people. We have analyzed them one by one... and ruled them all out."

"Rule it out? How did you rule it out?"

“These people are either not capable enough, or their actions don’t overlap with Young Master Feng’s.”

After Fang Sheng finished speaking, he glanced at Xia Zheng.

He was more inclined to believe that Qi Lingyun was the most likely candidate.

Feng Shao ended up in Qi Lingyun's hands for some reason, or perhaps Qi Lingyun wanted to get some information from Feng Shao, which is why he took action against Feng Shao and his group.

Even if Feng Shao is very vigilant, he might still fall into a trap if someone is not careful.

At that moment, Xia Zheng's phone rang.

He glanced at it, answered the phone, and a cold voice quickly came from the other end.

"Xia Feng is dead?"

“Yun Mengqing, he is, after all, your fiancé. I think you should show him enough respect in your tone.”

Xia Zheng frowned unhappily.

"I just wanted to give you a hint."

The voice on the phone remained cold: "Among the people Xia Feng has offended recently, there is one who could kill him."

"Who?"

"That dark horse who emerged from Chuzhou because of the trial battle, Ji Fuyou, who gained fame through the Heavenly Ranking and caught the eye of He Jinglan and his ilk."

"Seasonal Floating".

Xia Zheng immediately recalled information about this person.

The master-level martial artist newly recruited by He Jinglan possesses top-tier inheritance and remarkable potential. He is destined to become a leading figure among martial artists. To win him over, He Jinglan and his group promised him a position as a member of the Heavenly Ranking Committee.

They went all out.

At that moment, Xia Zheng's gaze fell on Fang Sheng.

The martial arts master hurriedly said, "The day after Young Master Feng went missing, we began investigating all of Ji Fuyou's whereabouts. After leaving Tiandu, his movements for the next five days were traceable. He basically stayed at his residence. The only time he lost surveillance was when he entered Huanglong Cave and came out 26 hours later. Huanglong Cave and Bibo Lake are different forbidden areas, thousands of kilometers apart..."

As he spoke, he took out a document.

Above it was all the information about Ji Fuyou's days in Starlight City.

Xia Zheng glanced at it, his eyes turning somewhat cold.

"What about at night? Couldn't he just run to Bibo Lake and commit the crime under the cover of night?!"

"Uh……"

Fang Sheng was speechless at the question.

Leaving aside whether one night is enough for a round trip of over a thousand kilometers, even if it is, once you enter Bibo Lake, it will definitely take a considerable amount of time to find one of the teams.

This is clearly...

At this moment, the voice on the phone rang out again: "My father's meaning is that the Heavenly Ranking Committee cannot allow someone who doesn't follow the rules and harms his colleagues to exist."

"You want to fill in for me?"

Xia Zheng responded, "But I lost a son in the process, and you're just going to let it go like this?"

“You don’t only have one son, I can get engaged to him again.”

The voice was cool and indifferent as it spoke, as if it were just a trivial matter.

Xia Zheng pondered for a moment before agreeing: "He Jinglan probably won't agree so easily!"

“We will handle their side of the matter. They themselves know that they cannot monopolize all the seats on the Heavenly Ranking Committee. Appropriate concessions are necessary to promote the establishment of the Heavenly Ranking Committee more quickly.”

"That's fine."

Xia Zheng slowly exhaled. His son was dead, and the murderer was pointing the finger at Qi Lingyun…

An entity they simply cannot defeat in a short period of time.

In this situation, the only option is to maximize the benefits of the son's death.

"Get here as soon as possible."

After Yun Mengqing finished speaking, she hung up the phone.

At that moment, Xia Zheng turned his gaze to Fang Sheng.

Fang Sheng immediately said, "I understand. Ji Fuyou must have gone to Bibo Lake under the cover of night and killed Young Master Feng! He must cooperate with our investigation. He cannot be released until the matter is cleared up!"

He knew that this argument was utterly absurd.

But regardless, Xia Feng is dead.

Xia Zheng lost his son!
Someone has to step up and take the blame for this anger!

Who told Ji Fuyou to be so unlucky? He had just had a conflict with Xia Feng not long ago.

An ordinary, powerful person, if they get into an argument with someone and then die three or five days later, might still arbitrarily sue the person they argued with, forcing them to pay a large sum of money!
Even if someone dies, people will still make a scene, no matter how unreasonable they are!
Moreover, the one who died was the son of Xia Zheng, the high-ranking and powerful director of the War Research Institute.

……

Ji Fuyou, currently shrouded in mystery, was unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

In the past few days, he has devoted most of his energy to exploring his dreams.

Even Ji Qingqing's special training was slowed down a bit.

However, high-intensity combat does require a balance between work and rest, and it is also necessary to analyze gains and losses after the battle.

Although Ji Qingqing hasn't been frequently fighting orcs these past few days, she is rapidly transforming from a novice hunter into a qualified one.

Time flies, and four days have passed quickly.

At one point, Ji Fuyou suddenly sensed something and voluntarily broke free from the dream constructed by the Great Dream Scripture.

"Xiao You?"

Ji Qingqing, who was on guard duty, quickly said, "I was just about to call you. Just like you said, the fog is getting thicker."

"Hmm, some powerful monster is about to appear. Go up in the tree and conceal your presence."

Ji Fuyou said something.

"it is good."

Without wasting any words, Ji Qingqing quickly climbed the tree and hid in the canopy.

During this time, he intentionally taught her the tricks of the Illusionary Shadowless Technique. Although it was too early for her to master this skill, she was already quite good at concealing her aura.

Ji Fuyou moved several dozen meters away, stretched his muscles and bones, and prepared to unleash his power.

As the fog concentration reaches a certain level...

"Roar!"

A roar suddenly erupted from the mist.

A majestic figure then appeared.

Orc leader.

(End of this chapter)