Book 4, Chapter 259: Trimming Overgrown Branches

After Jiang Kui returned to the airship, he took a look at the subdued Aunty Bai.

Now that she was close by, he could observe her injuries, and he found wisps of golden-white light coming from her. He could feel mental energy from the spirit flames, which made his mutated tissue tremble in fear.

He couldn’t help but think that even if his mentor hadn’t given them the long needle, Aunty Bai would have been unable to recover from her wounds.

His companion was also trembling in fear. “Mr. Chang asked Fellow Faction Member Chen to hold Security Advisor Bai for a while so that she wouldn’t interfere with the operation, so I didn’t expect him to have beaten her up to such an extent.”

“I wasn’t expecting it either,” Jiang Kui said with a sigh. He felt quite a lot of complicated emotions.

He had met Aunty Bai several times with Chang Shuyu, and she was always aloof and distant, as if she was a high-and-mighty god. He held her in great respect and had never expected to see her beaten up to the point of being unrecognizable. Chen Chuan had not held back in his fight against her.

No. He did. Otherwise, she would be dead.

His companion got excited. “Isn’t Fellow Faction Member Chen the branch leader of Jibei Road’s branch?”

“Yes, but Jibei Road’s branch isn’t like ours. Mr. Chang said that something happened to it many years ago, which led to the destruction of the branch. It’s only recently that Fellow Faction Member Chen joined hands with a few other faction members to rebuild the branch,” Jiang Kui explained.

“That couldn’t have been easy!” his companion cried out.

Jiang Kui nodded. It had to have been hard, because Chang Shuyu had been impressed about it when he commented on it.

The purity faction wasn’t weak in Shannan Road, but the other factions also had their influence, so they ran into all sorts of obstacles whenever they tried to do anything. The branch in Jibei Road was built from scratch, though, so he could only imagine just how difficult it was for them and how many hardships they faced.

It was no wonder why Chang Shuyu had decided to launch the operation the moment he heard that Chen Chuan had come. Jiang Kui had thought that it was too risky. If they failed, not only would many things be difficult to push forward in the future, but it might also lead to adverse effects. However, reality showed that Chang Shuyu’s judgment was correct.

***

After the airship left, Chen Chuan headed back to the residential area. The sky was turning dark, and the street lamps as well as the lights in the houses started lighting up. Many people were lingering around on the streets, peeking out from behind their curtains, or standing on their balconies. All of them were staring at him with respect.

He chose not to acknowledge any of it. He continued walking down the spacious road until he reached the gate of Han Kuang’s villa.

Once he disappeared behind it, someone said, “Things are going to change.”

Even though they didn’t know the details, the arrival of the airship that clearly belonged to the military in the merged space and everything that had happened before were more than enough clues. Quite a few started panicking, and some of them fled the place in their cars, because they no longer had the luxury to worry about anything else. Others refused to give up and continued waiting.

Soon after Chen Chuan walked into the villa, they heard the sound of propellers. A few airships appeared above the residential area, and searchlights shone down, creating a tense atmosphere. At the same time, armored cars drove down the road.

Once they stopped, soldiers stepped out. With the airships providing them cover, they secured the main roads and occupied high positions. After a commander gave his orders, they spread out and ran to some villas that stood out like sore thumbs. The smart ones could tell that all those villas belonged to high-ranking officers in the garrison.

***

When Chen Chuan stepped into the villa, he calmed down his and Yu Jie’s family before going back to his room. Once he wiped down the sword he got from Aunty Bai, he opened the briefcase.

Aside from calorie-dense medicine, there was also a beating heart inside it. This was what weighed down the briefcase.

The heart was sealed in a package, and Chen Chuan brought it to his eyes. When he held it in his palm, he could sense its rhythmic, heavy heartbeat. It should be from some creature from the merged space. He could sense its great vitality just by holding it in his hand.

Then, he noticed the patterns and distinctive arcs on the heart, and surprise shone in his eyes.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this was the heart of the Bow Fish, a creature that lived near the World Ring.

Not only was its heart full of nutrients, but it was also a great help for mastering the Furnace of Heaven and Earth. Chang Shuyu had clearly handpicked this gift for him.

The Bow Fish’s heart was a rare item, and great luck was required to find it. Its shelf life was also incredibly short—around ten days. It was worth far more than his fight against Aunty Bai. If he were to measure it, he would say that it was worth four to five fights.

Clearly, Chang Shuyu wasn’t just rewarding him, but also thanking him for his help.

Chen Chuan couldn’t just keep the heart for long, so it would be best to use it over the next few days. With that thought in mind, he removed the packaging and took out the Veshahan artifact. Once he lit it up, he put it in front of him and sat down in a meditative position.

While holding the beating heart in his hands, he started using the Furnace of Heaven and Earth.

As he breathed, the beating heart’s rhythm fell in line with his own breathing and heartbeat. The heat coming from his body also caused it to start shining crimson. It then turned into red fog that resembled spirit flames and entered his body with every inhale. When he exhaled, it came out of him and gathered above his head.

With each cycle of breathing, he could sense more mutated tissue joining. Usually, he needed a long time to activate the mutated tissue and spend a lot of energy to guide it, but now, he was able to do so easily.

Of course, the artifact lent a hand with this. With both the heart and the incense burner, his training went so ridiculously smoothly that it was better than any training he went through in the past.

The night passed, and the heart on his palm turned a chalkish white. When he squeezed it, it turned into ashes. His eyes were incredibly bright and only returned to their usual state after a long while.

The Furnace of Heaven and Earth was the foundation for the Blinding Blaze and Fist of the Vast Sky. If he gained greater mastery of it, it would help him master the other two martial arts faster.

Chen Chuan stood up and pulled the curtains back so that the sun could shine in. The armored cars and airships from yesterday night had left, so the operation should be at its end.

Most people in the residential area had spent the night in fear and anxiety, unlike Han Kuang’s family, which had slept in peace. They had a martial arts master at home, so why should they be worried?

At around 9 a.m., the phones in the living room on the second floor and the first floor’s corridor started ringing. Han Kuang and Yu Jie had to keep running around to answer them.

A long while passed before Yu Jie ran up to the second floor and said excitedly, “Did you hear, Lao Han? The Ming family and the Fan family’s eldest and second sons were captured!”

“Yes, I heard.” Han Kuang’s expression was a mix of complicated emotions. They weren’t the only ones. Chief of Staff Bai and Deputy Commander Liu were also arrested. Based on the information he received, the garrison commander of the merged space was the one who had pushed the operation forward, but the orders came from the National Defense Ministry. The Department of Administrative Affairs had also coordinated with them.

“The Ming family was always so smug and looked down on everyone around them. They only started being polite to me over the past few days after Xiao Chuan came over, but their smiles were so fake.

“And you know Mrs. Fan, don’t you? Ever since Xiao Chuan showed up, she kept trying to strike up a conversation with me to talk about how good her daughter is. She must have been thinking of marrying her off to Xiao Chuan.”

Han Kuang huffed. “I don’t think her target was Xiao Chuan, but Han Cheng. If she became our in-law, she would become Xiao Chuan’s relative too, and that would get her a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Yu Jie clicked. “They wish.”

“When I went with Lao Bai to pick Xiao Chuan up, the second son-in-law went with us. Their family has always been doing things like this. Thank goodness Yu Zhen didn’t marry him,” Han Kuang pointed out.

Yu Jie bristled. “There’s no way A’Zhen would’ve fancied him. He’s not even worthy of her presence!”

Han Kuang stared at her for a bit. Pretend I never said anything, then.

“Didn’t you say that you were going to make chicken soup for Xiao Chuan today?” he asked instead.

“Oh, yes! I almost forgot!” Yu Jie patted her forehead and ran down.

Han Kuang stood around for a while before he laughed. After some thinking, he picked up the phone and punched in a string of numbers. “Connect to Commander-In-Chief Zhao of headquarters.”

A moment passed before Commander Zhao’s deep voice came through. “Han Kuang?”

“It’s me, sir,” Han Kuang said.

“I was just about to call you. I received a reassignment order from the higher-ups. Soon, another commander-in-chief will take over my position,” Commander Zhao said.

“But this has nothing to do with you!” Han Kuang cried out in surprise.

“Let’s not dwell on this. I have to be held accountable for what Deputy Commander Liu did. This matter is already set in stone, so there’s no need to talk about it any further,” Commander Zhao said sternly.

Han Kuang immediately stood at attention. “Understood, sir.”

Once he was done, Commander Zhao sighed and said with slight envy, “You have a good nephew, Lao Han. If it weren’t for him, who knows how much longer it would’ve taken us to get rid of this tumor. Tell him I said thanks.”

“I’ll be sure to pass the message to him,” Han Kuang promised.

He had always been grateful to Commander Zhao. Without his care and some of his other comrades, they would have been dragged into the mud or sent to marginalized departments to be benched for eternity. They wouldn’t have gotten their achievements.

“Anyway, I need to tell you something. I’ve recommended you for promotion to the position of the new commander. Get ready for it,” Commander Zhao continued.

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