Beside the SUV, Master Xiaowei waited leisurely. He was very experienced by now. When Mr. Chen went out on a job, if he wasn’t told to head back first, it meant he’d surely return before long.

He turned on the car radio, and a news broadcast immediately filled the air. The most frequent topic over the past few days had been the ownership of the Molan Building.

The topic was trending right now, and many companies had expressed interest. The ones mentioned most frequently were National Enterprises like Yuan’an and Canghong Celestial Canal, as well as domestic corporate giants like Longde Foods and Celestial Hundred Herbs. However, it seemed some foreign companies were also quite interested.

But he wasn’t interested in that, so he changed the station again, tuning to a mystery program. He preferred listening to things like urban legends and strange tales.

The reason he had been assigned as Chen Chuan’s driver, aside from his excellent driving skills and reliability, was his personal interest in these things. He felt that by following Chen Chuan, he could witness many things one normally wouldn’t see.

He hadn’t been listening for long when he saw Chen Chuan approaching from a distance. He immediately sat up straight, got out, and opened the car door for him.

Chen Chuan thanked him and settled into the back seat. Once Xiaowei was back in the driver’s seat, he said, "Master Xiaowei, let’s head back."

"Yes, Mr. Chen."

The car started slowly, returning smoothly along the path they had come.

Chen Chuan placed the small leather case he had gotten from Han Chang to the side. It probably contained quite a few clues, but he had no intention of opening it. He would just hand it over to Director Lei to handle later.

After the car returned to the city, he called Director Lei. By the time they arrived back at the entrance of Wuyi Academy, Director Lei’s official car was already parked there.

Chen Chuan told Driver Xiaowei to head back first, then got out with the small leather case and boarded Director Lei’s car. As he recounted the mission, Director Lei had someone beside him take notes. Then, he opened the case on the spot. The first things he saw were a stack of gold notes and a case packed with Jianyuan Coins, along with some ledgers, deeds, and notebooks.

Director Lei ignored the gold notes. He rummaged through the contents, pulled out a booklet, and opened it. After looking at it for a moment, he looked up. "Chen, have you read the materials I sent you these past two days?"

"I have," Chen Chuan replied.

Director Lei handed him the booklet. "Take a look at this first and tell me what you think."

Chen Chuan took it and flipped through it. He saw some simple drawings and what was clearly an itemized price list for Esoteric Ritual materials.

After looking through it, he thought for a moment and said, "The materials Director Lei gave me contained the Life Sect’s ritual patterns and a list of the various Esoteric Materials required. But this booklet is missing many of them. I think it’s not that they didn’t want to reproduce the original ritual, but that their resources were limited. They couldn’t gather all the materials, so they had to settle for a cruder version."

"You’re right, but it’s not that simple. Rituals are the culmination of generations of work by members of Esoteric Buddhism; they aren’t easily modified. Anyone capable of simplifying them is usually an extremely rare, elite talent within their ranks."

Director Lei spoke slowly. "The simplification of a ritual, while making it much less effective than the original, makes it easier to spread. This is actually not a good thing."

He took another booklet from his briefcase, turned to a specific page, and handed it to Chen Chuan. "Following some leads, we found some of this sect’s older arrangements. Compare this to the Esoteric Ritual pattern used recently. See anything?"

Chen Chuan opened it and saw two photographs of patterns that looked largely the same but had subtle differences. After studying them for a moment, he looked up and said, "He’s trying to improve it?"

Director Lei’s gaze was full of approval. He nodded. "Exactly. I have reason to suspect that the person behind this wanted to use the Blood Mark Gang to take over the village, set up more rituals, and thereby refine their own ritual structure."

He took the booklet back from Chen Chuan and flipped to another page. "Now, look at this."

Chen Chuan took it and looked. It felt very familiar. "This looks a bit like the ritual pattern the Mutual Aid Association used at the old factory..."

Director Lei said, "It is. But this one is from three years ago. Flip to the next page. The one after it is the one you encountered."

Chen Chuan flipped the page and compared the two. He realized they weren’t completely identical; there were subtle changes. At that moment, a possibility occurred to him. He looked up at Director Lei. "Director Lei, I have a feeling that perhaps..."

Director Lei nodded. "It’s just as you suspect. After our comparison, we can confirm that the person who drew the esoteric diagrams for the ritual at the old factory and the one who drew them for the Life Sect are the same person."

At this, his expression grew serious. "We have reason to suspect that this individual is inextricably linked to many of the Esoteric Rituals in Yangzhi City. If we can root this person out, the entire underground Esoteric Ritual scene in Yangzhi City, if not completely dismantled, will certainly vanish for a very long time."

Chen Chuan’s mind raced. ’It seems this person has been hiding behind the scenes all along,’ he thought. ’Even the fall of Molan Company wasn’t enough to make them retreat.’

He asked, "Director Lei, since those powerful families needed this person to draw the esoteric ritual diagrams, does that mean none of them know who this person is?"

Director Lei said, "They really don’t. They found him through the Double-faced Secret Sect. And because there’s a certain code of conduct for dealings between factions of Esoteric Buddhism, the followers of the Double-faced Secret Sect also don’t know his true identity. All we can do now is wait for him to surface again. We believe this person is still in Yangzhi City right now."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and agreed completely. "I think so too."

"Oh? Tell me your reasoning." Director Lei looked at him, seeming very interested in how he had reached that conclusion.

Chen Chuan mulled it over. "I feel like this person is seeking a breakthrough in their craft. It’s like us Fighters, always chasing higher and stronger limits, trying to challenge one peak after another."

He pointed at the two drawings. "The feeling he gives me is that he’s also chasing something. This drive is expressed so intensely that it’s hard to ignore. I don’t think a person like that would back down easily without achieving their goal. Even if they suffer a temporary setback, they won’t give up."

Director Lei studied him for a few moments, then said slowly, "You’re very observant." He took a hardcover folder from his briefcase, opened it, and gestured for Chen Chuan to take a look.

Chen Chuan put down the booklet and took the folder. He saw that its contents were an analysis of this very person—the artist of the esoteric diagrams.

Judging by the handwriting, it was likely written by Director Lei himself.

The analysis also concluded that this person had a highly obsessive personality, driven by an absolute pursuit of perfection.

Following this was a concluding remark: A person like this would never yield to a temporary setback. They will inevitably continue to perfect their work in Yangzhi City to prove the flawlessness of their craft.

Director Lei said in a low voice, "The principles are universal. You Fighters need to challenge and defeat opponents, and so does he. Looking at his body of work, his rituals have been getting larger and larger in scale, as if he’s trying to compensate for the effects of simplification with sheer size. But the current situation in the city hardly gives him any room to operate."

"If he wants to complete this kind of ritual, he might have to find a way to do it outside the city, or bring in external forces to throw the city into chaos and draw everyone’s attention, buying himself the space and time to set up. And as it happens, Yangzhi City has just such a force—one that didn’t die out even after Molan Company fell."

Chen Chuan immediately understood. "Director Lei, are you talking about the resistance organization?"

Director Lei nodded. "The so-called resistance organization in Yangzhi City has always operated under the banner of resisting the government while carrying out all sorts of vicious attacks, showing no regard for the lives of civilians."

Chen Chuan nodded. There had been traces of the resistance organization’s cooperation in Fang Dawei’s group’s activities. And during the incident with the Foreign Affairs Bureau, he had witnessed firsthand how brazen they were, firing directly into a crowd—completely contradicting their own propaganda.

’From Director Lei’s tone, it seems there are factions within the resistance organization.’ However, the topic was sensitive, so he didn’t ask.

Director Lei continued, "Due to the lack of leads, there’s not much we can do right now but wait. You should review the materials I gave you as much as possible, so you know how to guard against key threats. Fighters are very skilled in head-on combat, but some Esoteric Rituals are difficult to defend against. Knowing a little more will be good for you."

Chen Chuan deeply agreed. Back then, Shen Zheng had been unrivaled at the academy, but he had still fallen victim to a plot involving an Esoteric Ritual.

Besides his own interest in mystical things like Esoteric Rituals, he was also intrigued by the fact that they seemed capable of binding supernatural anomalies.

’If that’s possible,’ he wondered, ’could these anomalies be used as another source for medicines?’

After his conversation with Director Lei ended, he got out of the car and walked into the academy. As he walked, he continued to ponder the matter.

’But it’s not as if there were no leads at all.’

While examining the bodies of the Blood Mark Gang remnants today, he had found several people who didn’t seem to be members. The gang’s members all had five bloody marks drawn on their chests and clothing, making them easy to distinguish. These other individuals, however, had nothing on them to indicate a special identity.

’Could these people have been members of the resistance organization?’

Lost in thought, he walked into the dormitory building. The dorm manager suddenly called out to him, "Chen, Manager Cheng is looking for you. Give him a call when you get back."

Chen Chuan snapped out of his thoughts and said thank you. He returned to his dorm room and immediately called Cheng Zitong. When the call connected, Cheng Zitong’s excited voice came through:

"Xiaochuan, get ready. The Armor Certificate review committee is coming to the school tomorrow. They’ll conduct an on-site evaluation. If you pass, you’ll be able to receive your Armor Certificate."

"An on-site evaluation?" Chen Chuan asked.

Cheng Zitong said, "They’ll mostly just ask you a few questions. It’s a process they have to go through, otherwise the review committee would have no reason to exist."

Chen Chuan understood. After asking for the time, he said, "Alright, sir. I’ll be there on time tomorrow."

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