Lu Zhenghai did not pretend to be profound and mysterious, and said directly:
"What if Gao Ren was skilled in ventriloquism? Gao Shihan was clearly poisoned long ago, but he deliberately mimicked a conversation between himself and Gao Shihan for the two night watchmen outside the study to hear?"
"During that half an incense stick of time, Gao Ren easily mimicked the two people's conversation using ventriloquism while fabricating the scene."
... The murderer used the method of imitating the victim's voice to blur the timeline of death. He had seen this in many films and television dramas in his previous life.
Even in modern society, people mastered lifelike ventriloquism, let alone in a high Martial World... Centurion Song and Chief Huang looked at each other, utterly shocked.
Centurion Song took a deep breath and said, "Continue. I presume you can also provide the answer regarding Gao Ren's motive for murder."
Lu Zhenghai:
"Is Gao Ren necessarily Gao Ren? What if the real Gao Ren died at the hands of foreign tribes long ago?"
"What if the Gao Ren who delivered the late-night snack last night was a foreign tribesman disguised through facial alteration?"
"Coincidentally, the murderer needed a large amount of fresh blood to fabricate the scene."
"Where did the blood come from? The murderer simply killed Gao Ren first and took his blood."
At this point, there was genuinely no room for doubt.
Chief Huang slapped his thigh fiercely: "Damn, this fake Gao Ren is truly insane! He killed Gao Ren, then used Gao Ren's identity to kill Gao Shihan, and even used Gao Ren's blood to fake the scene of Gao Shihan's death..."
Centurion Song's voice was solemn yet agitated: "I must go see the Commander Sir."
The mere possibility that this letter involved collusion with foreign enemies and the private sale of military equipment was a matter of utmost importance.
Of course, it had to be reported immediately.
After Centurion Song left, Chief Huang patted Lu Zhenghai's shoulder: "Changqing, you did very well!"
Chief Huang did not have a good temper, and previously looked down on Lu Zhenghai, who was a good-for-nothing that had even bought the position of Squad Leader, but today his view changed completely.
Lu Zhenghai had performed a great service and would certainly receive a reward.
As Lu Zhenghai's superiors, he and Centurion Song would also benefit.
"Banner Commander Sir, you should immediately take people to arrest the fake Gao Ren. Arresting the fake Gao Ren cannot be delayed."
The fake Gao Ren would definitely flee, having already completed his mission.
Furthermore, since the fake Gao Ren was using Gao Ren's identity, once the Centurion Sir finished communicating with his superiors... the matter of the Gao family colluding with foreign tribesmen and privately selling military equipment would spread, and the Gao family being raided was a certainty.
The fake Gao Ren, bearing Gao Ren's name, would be executed, so he definitely had to run.
"Let's go together," Chief Huang said with a face full of smiles.
"I won't go. I have other things to attend to," Lu Zhenghai refused. Anyway, the great merit that belonged to him wouldn't run away, and he indeed had more important things to do.
Chief Huang left excitedly and hurriedly.
This was the good thing about being an Embroidered Uniform Guard; the work hours were quite flexible.
After Chief Huang left, Lu Zhenghai also directly left the Garrison and went to the Guangming Auction House.
As the largest city within the Great Yu Dynasty, the Imperial City housed over seventy million people.
Commerce was extremely prosperous.
Auction houses were spread everywhere, and large and small auctions were taking place almost constantly.
The Guangming Auction House was a chain store, also present in other cities of the Great Yu Dynasty, and had a good reputation.
The Guangming Auction House had a significant advantage: its auctions used anonymous buying and selling methods, offering extremely excellent privacy.
The seventy thousand taels of silver in Lu Zhenghai's hands could not be exposed, at least not temporarily.
Going to the Guangming Auction House to spend was perfectly suitable.
He was truly ruthless.
He spent all seventy thousand taels of silver, not leaving a single copper.
He obtained one Di Rank Lower Grade Jade Spirit Medicinal Pill, one 100-year-old aged ginseng, and two 30-year-old aged ginseng.
This small amount of Martial Cultivation resources, totaling only a few items, was worth seventy thousand taels.
If converted to Earth's prices, it could be used as 150 million Yuan.
But in the hands of a Martial Artist in the Great Yu Dynasty, it was barely enough.
Within the Great Yu Dynasty, it seemed like everyone could Cultivate Martially.
Yet, if you look around on the street, 99% of the people are ordinary folk or existences at the first or second layer of the Acquired Realm.
Why?
First.
The vast majority of people do not have Internal Skill Cultivation Techniques, so naturally, they cannot Cultivate Martially.
Even if you are lucky enough to obtain an Internal Skill Cultivation Technique, they are divided into good and bad.
Possessing a Human-Grade Internal Skill is like walking on foot, while possessing an Earth-Grade or even Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique is like flying a plane for transport.
The efficiency difference is enormous.
The second is Martial Cultivation resources!!!
Based on the outrageous prices of Martial Cultivation resources in the Great Yu Dynasty, an ordinary person could not afford a 30-year-old aged ginseng in their entire lifetime.
Meanwhile, those disciples of major sects or members of the Imperial family are so damn extravagant that they can frequently consume great medicines.
So-called great medicines are aged ginseng, snow lotuses, spiritual mushrooms, and other Heaven And Earth Treasure that are over 100 years old.
How can an ordinary person compete with someone born in Rome?
That is why Jiang Chiyao mocked Lu Zhenghai as Martial Dao trash.
He did not accept this!
While his Martial Dao Comprehension Ability was indeed far inferior to Jiang Chiyao's, the gap wasn't so large as to reach that extent.
What he lacked more was Martial Cultivation resources, or rather, he lacked money.
Returning to the Lu Residence.
Lu Zhenghai went directly to the Cultivation chamber, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began circulating the Sea-Absorbing Qi Swallowing Art.
Cycle after cycle.
Every time he completed a cycle, he took a bite of the 100-year-old aged ginseng.
Truly refreshing.
His whole body felt warm.
The 100-year-old aged ginseng brought a considerable increase in Qi and blood, and the speed of his True Essence circulation clearly accelerated.
After the entire aged ginseng was consumed, night had fallen, and Lu Zhenghai was still immersed in Cultivation.
At a certain point in time.
"Boom..."
The True Essence in his body easily broke through a small Acupoints barrier. His Realm had reached the fifth layer of the Acquired Realm, and he was not far from the sixth layer.
After his emotions calmed down, he excitedly and expectantly swallowed the Di Rank Lower Grade Jade Spirit Pill worth 50,000 taels of silver in one gulp.
This was the main event!
Converting this to Earth's terms, it was equivalent to 100 million Yuan per mouthful.
Damn it!
Upon swallowing the Medicinal Pill, in an instant, Lu Zhenghai only felt his heart start beating rapidly, thumping heavily.
The True Essence in his body seemed about to lose control, surging mightily, roaring like a flood Dragon.
Lu Zhenghai's face was slightly pale as he circulated the Sea-Absorbing Qi Swallowing Art to its limit.
He used all his strength to absorb the violent energy flow from the Jade Spirit Pill, Breakthrough, Breakthrough, and damn it, Breakthrough again.
After an unknown amount of time, everything calmed down.
"Open the attribute panel."
[Realm: Acquired Realm Ninth Layer]
Awesome!
One Jade Spirit Pill was worth at least five years of his hard Cultivation effort.
This was the power of microtransactions; it was incredible. Lu Zhenghai was so excited he wanted to cry.
This was still because the Sea-Absorbing Qi Swallowing Art was only a Yellow Grade Medium Grade Internal Skill, and its efficiency in absorbing Spiritual Qi and converting it into True Essence was not high.
Whether it was the 100-year-old aged ginseng or the Jade Spirit Pill, some of the medicinal effects were wasted.
If he could possess an Earth-Grade Internal Skill, tonight, relying on the aged ginseng and the Jade Spirit Pill, he might even be able to directly assault the Innate Realm.
"It's a pity. The ancestors of the Lu Family were clearly so incredible, so why didn't they leave behind a few powerful Internal Skill Cultivation Techniques?" Lu Zhenghai muttered to himself.
He felt that some unknown secret must be hidden within this.
"Regardless, the Acquired Realm Ninth Layer is already enough to dominate almost every Squad Leader within the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
This was the charm of seventy thousand taels of silver.
Seventy thousand taels!
Let alone a small Squad Leader, even a Banner Commander or Centurion would find it difficult to accumulate that amount in a lifetime without huge unexpected gains.
Gao Shihan was a good person. The intelligence system was truly damn powerful, hahaha... When he opened the Cultivation chamber, it was already the next morning.
He hadn't slept all night, yet he didn't feel tired at all; instead, he was full of energy.
"I still have two 30-year-old aged ginseng left. I'll give one to Zhou Hu and one to Zhao Black Pillar later."
Yesterday, when he bought the Martial Cultivation resources, he thought of giving his two loyal subordinates a little benefit; there was nothing wrong with that.
"System, continue refreshing the intelligence."
[Ding, seventy miles southeast of the Imperial City, there is an abandoned Daoist temple. In a stone box behind the Three Pure Ones statue in the temple, there is an Internal Skill Cultivation Technique.]
In an instant, Lu Zhenghai was stunned.
Holy crap!
The System is awesome, the System is invincible, System, you are my dad... He was just complaining that the Sea-Absorbing Qi Swallowing Art was only Yellow Grade Medium Grade, and its efficiency in absorbing Spiritual Qi was too low, delaying his Martial Cultivation!
Unexpectedly, a pillow was immediately sent when he was sleepy. Although it was called intelligence, it was actually an Opportunity. He knew without thinking that the Internal Skill hidden in the statue must be vastly superior to the Sea-Absorbing Qi Swallowing Art.
It is difficult for an ordinary person to encounter even one Opportunity in their entire life.
And me, Lu Zhenghai? I have infinite Opportunities.
Cheating is fun for a while, but cheating forever is always fun!
Calming his emotions, Lu Zhenghai was slightly curious: "System, how often is the intelligence refreshed?"
[Ding, the intelligence refresh frequency is not fixed. Currently, the host is in the novice phase. To help the host's strength rapidly increase, the frequency is relatively higher.]
"So that's how it is."
Lu Zhenghai walked out of the main courtyard.
In the passage between the main courtyard and the Wangshu Pavilion, the Maidservants were still building the wall, clang-clanging away.
The efficiency was very low. They started building the wall the day before, and it wasn't finished even today.
Lu Zhenghai glanced from afar, saw the wall being built, and also saw the Wangshu Pavilion, then withdrew his gaze.
The Wangshu Pavilion was quite large, featuring a master bedroom, east and west wing rooms, corridors, and so on, similar to an independent courtyard layout with two layers of entry.
In the hall of the Wangshu Pavilion, Jiang Chiyao was eating breakfast.
Every morning, her routine was to get up, wash up, eat breakfast, and then Cultivate.
Every month, she had to make a trip to the Lu Family Sword Tomb.
Just as she finished breakfast, Jiang Chiyao's personal Maidservant, Jade Orchid, walked in quickly: "Young Miss, the wall is almost finished."
"Did Lu Zhenghai not stop you from building the wall these past two days?"
"No."
"That's good. Have the Maidservants keep a close eye on the main courtyard. If Lu Zhenghai tries to climb over the wall to the Wangshu Pavilion, stop him immediately," Jiang Chiyao snorted.
As she spoke, a trace of shame and annoyance flashed across her exquisite face.
Yesterday morning, she was called to the main courtyard to discuss the so-called "important matter," which was "divorce."
While he was speaking, he kept secretly looking at her feet.
Fortunately, she was wearing shoes at the time, preventing him from seeing the full view of her feet.
In fact, her feet were very beautiful, crystal clear, painted with lacquer, and covered by thin, translucent silk stockings. But they were just feet! She didn't know what was so appealing about them.
She worried that Lu Zhenghai had Acquired some strange, abnormal fetish that she didn't understand, and she had to guard strictly against him...
Lu Zhenghai left the Lu Residence and did not go directly to clock in at the Jinyiwei Garrison.
After leaving the Lu Residence, he left the city alone and headed towards the Daoist temple.
An hour later, he retrieved the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique from the stone box. Just by the name, he knew it was hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than the Sea-Absorbing Qi Swallowing Art.
Unfortunately, this Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique was only a simplified version.
It was likely left by a great figure for their descendant, simplified because they feared the descendant's Comprehension Ability was insufficient.
After simplification, it was much easier to Cultivate.
But the Internal Skill Cultivation Technique, which was originally highly likely to be Heaven-Grade, the strongest rank, had now become Earth Grade High Rank.
"Phew, one shouldn't be too greedy. This is already very, very good!"
In the whole world, there weren't many people who could Cultivate an Earth Grade High Rank Internal Skill.
"Besides, this is just the beginning. Maybe the System will refresh even greater intelligence Opportunities in the future. At that time, it wouldn't be impossible for me to directly switch to Cultivating a Divine Rank Internal Skill."
The Internal Skills of the Great Yu Dynasty were, in a sense, just tools for inhaling and exhaling Qi.
If there was a better tool, he would simply replace the original one, that was all.
He didn't need to dispel his cultivation; he just needed to switch techniques.
After obtaining the Cultivation Technique, Lu Zhenghai leisurely returned to the Imperial City.
"Starting today, I will switch to Cultivating the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique. However, since this Cultivation Technique is Earth Grade High Rank, it probably won't be easy for me to master it, especially since my Comprehension Ability is average."
"If only I could buy some enlightenment tea."
enlightenment tea can temporarily increase Comprehension Ability.
Of course, since enlightenment tea is so formidable, its price is also astonishingly high.
Profound Grade quality enlightenment tea costs 30,000 taels of silver per ounce of tea leaves.
Earth-Grade quality enlightenment tea costs 100,000 taels of silver per ounce of tea leaves.
"Damn it!"
Where the hell is this Martial Cultivation? Let's not pretend, it's pure microtransactions!
What should he do if he lacked money? Lu Zhenghai's first thought was to raid the Gao family.
Unfortunately, Gao Shihan was only a Fifth Rank Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War. Raiding his house probably wouldn't yield too much silver, right? And he couldn't take all the spoils for himself.
"Damn it, the position of Squad Leader is still too low."
He absolutely had to climb up the ranks fiercely. He wanted promotion and wealth!
Lu Zhenghai had no idea that about half an hour after he obtained the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique and left the ruined Daoist temple...
A young woman, dressed in white, holding a green longsword, wearing a veil, and with bare, fair, jade-like feet, floated gracefully to the temple.
The woman walked into the ruined Daoist temple, went straight behind the Three Pure Ones statue, and opened the stone box.
Then, beneath the veil, her exquisite face froze in shock.
"Where is the item?"
Her beautiful eyes remained blank for a long time.
Finally, she bit her red lip almost until it broke: "Which damn little thief stole the treasure that I, Meng Qingchan, hid?!"
Looking closely, Meng Qingchan's beautiful eyes were red.
Grief!
Explosive grief!
Heaven knows how much effort she put into stealing the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique!
After successfully stealing it, she was immediately discovered by the Dayan Sect, a top power in the Jianghu of the Great Yu Dynasty.
What followed was endless pursuit.
She faced danger many times during that period, surviving by a hair's breadth.
Precisely because of this, she had no time to study or Cultivate the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique during that period.
To prevent the possibility of being caught by the Dayan Sect's experts one day and losing the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique then.
Half a month ago, while being pursued, she cleverly found a time window and hid the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique in the stone box behind the Three Pure Ones statue in this ruined Daoist temple.
No one else in the world knew this secret.
And then.
It's gone?
Meng Qingchan's personality had always been relatively aloof since childhood; very few things could cause her emotions to fluctuate.
But at this moment, she was so angry she was on the verge of crying loudly!
What was more despairing was that she had no idea on which day the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique had been taken during the past half month. Let alone who took it?
There was no surveillance!
"I, Meng Qingchan, swear that no matter how difficult it is to investigate, I must find out who that little thief is!"
"Little thief, when this young mistress finds you, I will certainly make you understand the meaning of regret!"
Meng Qingchan muttered to herself. The air around her turned frigid due to her rage and Evil Qi.
Meng Qingchan, only 19 years old, was actually an existence at the third layer of the Grandmaster Realm.
What was even more terrifying was that Meng Qingchan had only been Cultivating a Profound Grade High Rank Internal Skill.
One didn't dare to imagine what Realm she would be in now if she had Cultivated an Earth-Grade or even Heaven-Grade Internal Skill since childhood. Perhaps she would already be a Great Grandmaster?
At this time.
Lu Zhenghai was completely unaware of Meng Qingchan's situation, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
As for treasures, the virtuous possess them.
Since I, Lu Zhenghai, found it first, it proves my virtue is lofty; nothing wrong with that.
Returning from the ruined Daoist temple and arriving at the Imperial City, he entered the city leisurely.
Just as he entered the city, he was found by Zhou Hu and Zhao Black Pillar.
"Boss, where did you go? Hurry back to the Garrison! The murderer has been caught. Centurion Song has requested a great merit for you, and the rewards will be substantial," Zhou Hu said, unable to contain his excitement.