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In the courtyard, the body of He Mingxuan had been taken down from the wall. The broad knife that had pierced through his chest was placed beside him. The crimson blood stains on it had dried up and a faint scorch could be seen.

Standing next to the body of He Mingxuan was the Chief Constable from the West City District, He Guangzong; he was the first to arrive at the news and simply stood there, his face gloomy and silent without uttering a word.

Time seemed indeterminate.

As the sky began to lighten slightly.

Another large group of men arrived from the Inner City, enclosing the courtyard completely.

A man dressed in a green long robe, who bore some resemblance to He Mingxuan but looked significantly older, walked into the yard with a cold gaze that quickly swept over the surroundings.

"Second brother,"

He Guangzong said gravely as he saw the newcomer.

The man in the green robe was He Mingxuan\'s father, He Guangxun, the Deputy Governor of the Smelting Bureau in the Inner City, in charge of all iron smelting in Yu County, similar to the Salt Affairs Bureau controlled by the Yu Family.

The Smelting Bureau was almost completely controlled by the He Family; from the "Servant\'s Knives" used by all government officials and workers up to the common people\'s kitchen knives and servant\'s knives, and even the strong crossbows, arrows, and iron armor used by the army—all equipment passed through the hands of the He Family.

He Guangxun had many sons, three from his legitimate wife and more than twenty from concubines, making him prolific among the third generation of the He Family. However, he didn\'t pay much attention to many of them except for the three legitimate sons and a few talented ones among the illegitimate children.

He Mingxuan was one of the legitimate sons, the second in line. His talent and ability were not the best among his siblings but were considered front-line since he had entered the Tendon Changing Realm. Although it took him three Tendon Changing Pills to barely break through and a lot of resources to nourish his Qi-Blood and ease the difficulty of Tendon Changing, he had still made it through.

Even though it was almost impossible for him to enter the Bone Tempering Realm in the future, making it to Tendon Changing Perfection by the age of thirty-five was not a big issue. In the He Family, he was still considered one of the prominent younger members, capable of holding his own.

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Whether taking up a position in the government or serving as a local officer, he was a core force of the He Family.

Appointing He Mingxuan as the Deputy Chief Constable of the City Defense Division was largely for the purpose of training him.

Although the position of Chief Constable was occupied by Xu Hongyu, there were plenty of Seventh Grade official positions corresponding to Chief Constable in Yu City. As a martial artist in the Tendon Changing Realm, He Mingxuan was qualified for many of these Seventh Grade positions.

It wasn\'t necessary to wrestle Xu Hongyu\'s position, but the He Family would have preferred him to compete with Xu Hongyu. If he could outdo Xu Hongyu and squeeze him out, that would be best; failing that, it was still a form of training, and after all, he could still maintain the momentum in the South City District.

But.

He Mingxuan was dead.

He died in the townhouse he had purchased in the South City District, right under the eyes of all the Protector servants.

"How is the investigation going?"

He Guangxun walked slowly to the side of He Mingxuan\'s body, sweeping his gaze over it without showing any sorrow, only indifference visible.

Having many sons, and He Mingxuan not being the most outstanding, his death aroused more anger than sorrow in him. However, as a dignified Deputy Governor of the Smelting Bureau, he was adept at keeping his emotions in check, still appearing detached even now without any emotional fluctuation.

He Guangzong spoke solemnly, "It was a violent snatch of a Protector servant\'s broad knife, thrown from a distance of twenty to thirty meters in the dead of night. The attack was powerful and weighed heavily, at least to the extent of Tendon Changing Perfection, and even involved the use of Artistic Conception..."

With He Mingxuan\'s capabilities, being ambushed by a mere Tendon Changing Perfection strike could likely have been unavoidable, especially since the attacker had a clear intent to kill, emerging suddenly in the night and even invoking the power of Artistic Conception aimed to leave no chance for He Mingxuan to survive, ensuring a fatal blow.

He Guangxun bent down slowly, picked up the blood-stained broad knife, and inspected the marks on the blade closely. Narrowing his eyes, he said,

"Thunderclap Artistic Conception?"

"Yes,"

He Guangzong nodded, his eyes revealing a trace of instability, "From any perspective, the Yu Family had the most reason to want Mingxuan dead, but this is very peculiar. Most of the Yu Family\'s proficient members are from the Kan Water Sect, and I\'ve never heard of anyone mastering Thunderclap Artistic Conception except for a few individuals from the Xue Family, mostly found in the Xie Family."

He Guangxun stood up and threw the broad knife to the ground, then slowly closed his eyes and said, "Recently, the Yu Family lost a batch of salt goods and, in a fit of rage, sought revenge. Thus, they did not hesitate to hire someone to assassinate Xuan\'er as a stern warning to the He Family."

Listening, He Guangzong slightly furrowed his brows.

However.

He Guangxun suddenly opened his eyes again, changing his tune, "The Yu Family lost a batch of goods, and the He Family lost a batch last night too. The Yu Family\'s influence is still prominent, but someone wants us, at this moment, to fight the Yu Family to death. Thus, they took the opportunity to kill Xuan\'er in the chaos, hoping to incite a full-blown feud between our families."

He Guangzong\'s expression eased slightly; this seemed a bit more plausible.

But he then thought of something else and said, "If so, why not hire someone to attack using the Kan Water Artistic Conception instead of the Thunderclap Artistic Conception? Wouldn\'t it be more obvious to use the Kan Water Artistic Conception."

He Guangxun said dismissively, "That would be too deliberate!"

"The Yu Family just lost a batch of goods, and someone using the Kan Water Artistic Conception to assassinate Xuan\'er... Do you think the Yu Family really wants an all-out war with us? Being too deliberate would only make it more suspicious."

"Instead, the current situation, being mixed with truth and falsehood, even leaves me unsure whether it was really the Yu Family, the Xie Family, or perhaps the Xue Family."

He Guangxun spoke up to here, his expression turning somewhat grim.

It was clear.

Someone intentionally wanted to muddy the waters.

Using the Thunderclap Artistic Conception to kill could mean several things: it could be the Yu Family who hired someone to act and then disassociate themselves from it, it could intentionally point towards the Xie Family, and hence even the Xue Family was highly suspicious, as both families would love nothing more than to see the He and Yu Families destroy each other.

He Guangzong also fell into deep thought and after a while said, "Then, what should we do?"

"Open confrontation, secret investigation."

He Guangxun spoke indifferently, "Mingxuan is dead, no matter who acted, someone must pay the price, and they must give an explanation to our He Family. In the face of the He Family\'s wrath, at the very least, they from the Yu Family must yield South City District."

"Exactly."

He Guangzong nodded as well, a flicker of coldness passing through his eyes.

Mingxuan\'s inexplicable death in South City District meant that Xu Hongyu was at least guilty of neglect. Using this opportunity to strip Xu Hongyu of his position as Chief Constable was no issue.

If the Yu Family did not want to face the He Family\'s wrath directly, they would most likely yield, and the City Lord, too, would need to compensate for the death of Mingxuan, and would probably go with the flow.

No matter what, Mingxuan\'s death could not be in vain; he must at least serve the He Family in death.

Then came the secret investigation.

Secretly investigating the matter thoroughly to ascertain which family was involved. Whoever dared to strike at a direct descendant of the He Family couldn\'t be overlooked!

An individual who had at least achieved Tendon Changing Perfection and mastered the Thunderclap Artistic Conception wasn\'t ordinary. Such a person was recognized as a formidable entity in the whole of Yu City, even a typical Bone Tempering Realm martial artist without any Artistic Conception would find it difficult to match him.

Such a character couldn\'t be left unchecked; it was essential to unearth some leads.

In Yu City, though the He Family\'s intelligence network wasn\'t as extensive as the Xie\'s or Xue\'s, it had basically infiltrated everywhere. A person who mastered the Thunderclap Artistic Conception couldn\'t remain unnoticed unless they suddenly popped out of a stone without any previous traces of action, otherwise, some clues would surely be found.

Thinking of this.

He Guangzong shook his head and said, "Speaking of which, not long ago the Yu Family revealed an individual who mastered the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, and so far, we still haven\'t figured out their identity."

"Oh?"

He Guangxun looked towards He Guangzong, "I seem to remember this matter."

So He Guangzong briefly recounted some previous events.

After listening, He Guangxun shook his head slightly and said, "Hmm… then this time, the Yu Family\'s suspicion is actually the smallest. I don\'t think the Yu Family has the capability to hide two individuals who have mastered Artistic Conceptions; otherwise, the Yu Family wouldn\'t have needed to make so many concessions over the years."

"Indeed."

He Guangzong nodded again.

The possibility of two previously unknown, traceless Artistic Conception level existences suddenly appearing is too terrifying for the Yu Family; there might even be a third or a fourth, which is highly unlikely.

After all, the key point is, the foundation of the Yu Family\'s strength is a Kan Water Diagram, imitated by a disciple of a great ancient artist. Though it isn\'t one of the original three generations of diagrams, just being an imitation by the disciple, in today\'s age, it\'s still considered middle-grade.

Because of this diagram, the Yu Family was able to nurture so many individuals who achieved the Kan Water Artistic Conception.

As for other Artistic Conceptions?

Without a middle-grade or higher imitative diagram for reference, it\'s not easy to achieve enlightenment!

Like their He Family, they possessed a Gen Mountain Diagram of comparable quality, which is why over the years, the family had accumulated individuals who had achieved the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception.

Whereas the lower quality stamped and printed diagrams, their He Family also possessed several, including ones of Separating Fire and Dui Ze, but no one had ever been able to draw real Artistic Conception from those lower quality diagrams.

These foundational diagrams, the closer they are to the original, the clearer the essence of the universe within them, and the easier it is to touch upon them. Those imitations and further printed copies, degraded many times over, barely retaining a trace, are unlikely to enable ordinary people to glean any Artistic Conception from them.

At most, they help someone better appreciate the profundities of \'Momentum\'.

In Yu City.

The Xue Family controlled the most foundational diagrams.

The Xue Family had these resources because generations ago, one of their ancestors was an Elder of the Seven Profound Sect, a formidable figure by the standards of the entire state, said to have crossed the Viscera Realm.

Later, as the Xue Family gradually declined, falling to an external force of the Seven Profound Sect, they still managed to oversee the entire Yu County on behalf of the Seven Profound Sect. Their relationship with the Seven Profound Sect was significantly closer than with the other three families.

This was the heritage of the Xue Family.

It was something the other three families couldn\'t match.