A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

"Let me see, people from Liaodong, Caiyun, Tieling... Wow, they're all here so quickly this year?"

Liu Ming took a sip of wine, glanced around the room, and smacked his lips in amazement.

A nearby investigator from Jiyang was squatting by the fire, turning over meat skewers. Hearing this, he looked up and chuckled.

"How could we not be fast? Jinghai has been soaring like a rocket this year. We heard you've already arrived, and we're so anxious we're practically spitting fire."

"I lost the literary contest to you Jinghai, and you almost shattered my Dao heart. Do you know how that feels?"

He gestured exaggeratedly:

"It's like a long-distance running champion, leading the pack, and then you look back—good heavens, an old man with a cane 'whoosh' past you, and he's lapped you a whole lap!"

"Who can withstand this?"

Ji Zuodao, listening from the side, grinned from ear to ear.

This metaphor just doesn't sound right.

Just then, Liu Ming pointed with his wine jar at a particularly conspicuous figure in the center of the square, and lowered his voice:

"Hey, look over there, that flashy guy in all white, with long flowing hair, gazing at the sky at a 45-degree angle, who is he?"

"Those who know this are watching the 749 Grand Martial Arts Competition, but those who don't might think it's a period drama filming location."

"He's such a damn good actor. All the investigators present were wearing uniforms, but he acted like the male lead in a fantasy drama, with a melancholy look on his face that said, 'Nobody in this world understands me.'"

Ji Zuodao looked in the direction he was pointing.

It is indeed eye-catching.

The man was dressed in a moon-white long robe, the hem of which fluttered without wind. His long hair was loosely tied up with a jade hairpin, and his profile was stern. He was staring intently at a certain point in the void, as if he were conversing with heaven and earth.

The other investigators, also wearing the uniforms of the Jiangnan Branch, were at least three meters away from him, squatting on the ground chatting and skewering meat, and none of them came near him.

"Oh, him."

The investigator from Jiyang spoke with a tone so sour it could pickle vegetables:

"Lu Jian from the Jiangnan branch had an incredible stroke of luck. He somehow obtained a sword cultivation inheritance from some obscure corner and went from an ordinary person to a Dharma Aspect in an instant."

"Where can you even go to reason with this?"

"Our cultivation is a process of taking one step at a time, shedding blood and sweat, gritting our teeth, and persevering year after year. This guy, on the other hand, has accomplished in a single day what takes us almost twenty years to achieve."

"The problem is that he gets the benefits but acts innocent, always putting on a show of being 'lonely and lonely at the top.' Look at him, even his own people from Jiangnan don't want to be near him."

As they were talking, Lü Jian seemed to sense the gazes and discussions around them.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze landing precisely on Liu Ming, Li Shuwen, and Ji Zuodao, especially lingering for a moment on their Jinghai-style trench coats.

Then, he lifted his foot and walked over step by step.

His steps were unhurried, his clothes fluttered, and with his handsome face that had little expression, he really did have a bit of an "aloof and independent" air about him.

He stopped in front of the three people, chin slightly raised, his gaze sweeping over them indifferently, his voice as cold as his expression:

"From Jinghai?"

Without waiting for a reply, he continued on his own, his tone flat yet exuding an air of self-righteous arrogance:

"Looking at it, it's nothing special."

"This year's battles, both intellectual and physical, are all in Jiangnan."

The moment he finished speaking, an undisguised and powerful aura belonging to the Dharma Aspect Realm emanated from him like a tide, pressing down on Liu Ming and Ji Zuodao.

provocative.

A blatant provocation.

Liu Ming and Ji Zuodao exchanged a glance, both reading the same meaning in each other's eyes:

"Hey?"

"Damn it, is there anyone in this world more arrogant than Jinghai?"

"Can you tolerate this?"

Ji Zuodao laughed, and he and Li Shuwen hooked their arms around Liu Ming's neck, one on each side.

The three stood in a row with their arms around each other's shoulders, looking at Lü Jian opposite them.

"Oh, Dharma Image—"

Ji Zuodao spoke in a drawn-out, exaggerated tone, yet his face wore an innocent smile:

"That's amazing!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking—

"boom!"

"boom!"

Two powerful, even more solid and profound, auras of the Dharma Aspect Realm erupted from Ji Zuodao and Li Shuwen like sleeping beasts awakening!

One on the left and one on the right, like two invisible mountains, they collided with the aura released by Lü Jian!

"Woof!"

Dog Lord, who was squatting at Ji Zuodao's feet, raised his head at the right moment, grinned, and revealed a set of sharp white teeth.

The aura of the third Dharma Aspect Realm cultivator, languid yet carrying an undeniable ferocity, joined the battlefield.

Qiqi was intently fiddling with the red thread on her wrist when she sensed a change in the atmosphere around her. The little girl looked up blankly, glancing left at her brother and right at Dog Grandpa.

Although I don't understand what happened, it's okay.

She did whatever her brother did.

So, to everyone's astonishment, Qiqi slowly repeated Ji Zuodao's words:

"Wow, the Dharma Image is amazing!"

The aura of the fourth Dharma Aspect Realm, tinged with a touch of naivety yet utterly pure, quietly emanated from the little girl.

The aura of the Four Dharma Aspects!

Like four towering mountains descending together, carrying the unique, unruly, and bandit-like domineering aura of the Jinghai 749 Bureau, they moved without any frills towards Lü Jian's lone aura—

They ran over it!

"puff--"

When Lu saw that flowing white robe suddenly sway backward, his face turned pale instantly. He groaned and stumbled back three steps before barely managing to regain his balance.

The melancholy expression on his face, which had been as lonely as snow, finally crumbled, replaced by shock and disbelief.

At this moment, the entire bluestone square fell into an eerie silence.

Only the meat skewers on the grill were still sizzling and dripping oil.

All the investigators who were drinking, eating meat, and chatting froze in place.

Mouth open, meat skewers held aloft, wine glasses in hand.

A pair of eyes widened, staring intently at the three people standing in a row in Jinghai, their arms around each other, the black dog with its tongue lolling out at their feet, and the quiet little girl beside them.

Holy crap?

Four...four Dharma forms?!

Wait a minute, that dog is also a Dharma form?!

And that seemingly harmless little girl?!

This is fucking...

After a brief silence, the square erupted in chaos!

"Holy crap! Has Jinghai really stirred up trouble with Faxiang this year?!"

"Four! Four whole Dharma forms! What's the point of playing this game?!"

"Why bother with a martial arts competition? Just give the award to Jinghai! They're number one every year anyway!"

"Yeah, since they can't make the list through literary competition anyway, it doesn't really matter whether they come or not?"

"Damn, I suddenly don't think that show-off Lu Jian is so annoying anymore. At least he only acts cool for himself, while Jing Hai is trying to act cool for the whole room!"

The sounds of discussion, exclamations, and curses mingled together.

Liu Ming picked at his ear, grinned at Lü Jian, whose face was alternating between pale and flushed, revealing a set of white teeth:

"Dude, want to buy everything?"

"Your ambitions are quite lofty."

"However..."

He pointed to Ji Zuodao, Li Shuwen, and Gouye beside him, and finally to Qiqi, his tone incredibly sincere:

"We need to ask Jinghai if they agree first."

Ji Zuodao nodded in deep agreement and continued the conversation:

"Don't think we're showing off. After all, we at Jinghai don't like to play dumb to fool others."

"With this level of strength..."

He paused, exchanged a glance with Liu Ming and Li Shuwen, and the three of them grinned simultaneously, their smiles dazzlingly bright:

"Why are you even pretending to be a pig?"

"Just pick out whatever you want to eat from the table."