Chapter 349 - 231: The Theft Case

Chapter 349: Chapter 231: The Theft Case

Yu Fei was dressed in simple black attire, his sword, Zhanming, housed within an alloy-forged Sword Box. It was simply spray-painted with a coat of cyan paint and bore no decoration.

Time had been tight. Just as he was about to leave, Yu Fei remembered he needed a Sword Box for Zhanming. Otherwise, carrying the bare blade through crowds of ordinary people would be far too conspicuous.

So, when he had one made, it was a rather rushed affair.

As a student of Shenhan University, he was automatically granted a Class C weapons license, which permitted him to carry cold weapons.

They were not, however, issued Class B licenses that would allow them to carry super-powered weapons. The extreme long-range sniping capability of super-powered firearms would make crimes committed by Martial Artists nearly impossible to trace.

Martial Artists are human, after all. If one decided to kill and had the means to do so from a distance, the crime would be incredibly difficult to investigate. Carrying a cold weapon, on the other hand, was not considered a major issue.

Before setting out on the mission, Yu Fei had made a point to purchase a piece of inner armor from Celestial Craft Armor: the Red Scale Armor.

This was a custom model exclusive to mid-tier Martial Artists. His Martial Uncle, Chen Yu, had previously gifted him a suit of Profound Scale Armor, but unfortunately, it had been battered to scraps during a military exercise.

It occurred to Yu Fei that he seemed to have a knack for getting his armor destroyed.

The Profound Scale Armor was ruined in the military exercise, and the Profound Armor from Jiang Nianwei had been pounded into a pile of scrap metal in the Abyss.

The Profound Armor had withstood multiple brutal assaults from fifth and sixth-tier Spider Demons. This precious suit, capable of blocking a full-powered strike from a Gang Qi Martial Artist, was ultimately warped so badly that it was difficult to even remove.

After two chaotic battles, Yu Fei had come to appreciate the value of good armor. It meant a higher margin for error.

The Red Scale Armor was worth 100,000 merit points. It was considered a high-quality piece, capable of defending against most common attacks.

Yu Fei wore a headband to cover his forehead, concealing the unusual appearance of the Immeasurable Sword Seal.

He took a special underground express to the outskirts of Songfeng City. Following the signs through several stairwells, he emerged into a bustling city subway station.

The station was a cacophony of human voices. Even from a hundred meters away and three stories deep, his keen sense of smell could already detect the aroma of food stalls near the entrance.

After spending so much time in Shenhan University—a city of Martial Artists overflowing with futuristic technology—he felt a surreal sense of dislocation.

Countless people streamed past him. Even with the massive Sword Box on his back clearly identifying him as a Martial Artist, passersby gave him nothing more than a second glance before going back to queuing up as usual. He received no special treatment.

And it wasn’t as if he could just use a movement technique to leap over the crowd.

His general education classes had taught him that when a Martial Artist left the world of martial arts and entered ordinary society, they were to avoid displays of power and abide by the rules of the mundane world.

This rule existed to prevent a massive cognitive divide from forming between Martial Artists and ordinary people.

The more a Martial Artist flaunted their special abilities, the more they might begin to see themselves as something other than human, which was detrimental to social stability.

Therefore, unless they had special authorization from the Security Bureau or encountered an emergency that required immediate intervention, they were not permitted to break protocol.

Furthermore, if a Martial Artist caused harm to an ordinary person’s life, property, or health, they would be held fully responsible. A malicious act resulting in death would lead to extremely severe criminal penalties.

These penalties included, but were not limited to, assignment to the Suicide Squad, a fixed term of labor in the mines, or incarceration.

Any legal violations by Martial Artists, once discovered or reported, were to be handed over by the local Guard Bureau to the Martial Arts Administration Bureau. If the case couldn’t be resolved or the suspect escaped, it was escalated to the Security Bureau.

Of course, if an ordinary person was found to have made a false accusation against a Martial Artist, their punishment would be particularly harsh.

The Security Bureau’s workload was immense—hunting down fugitives, combating malevolent organizations, dealing with blood sacrifices, and more. Occasionally, they would filter out tasks they couldn’t handle and post them on a platform called [Tranquil Heavens] for capable university students to take on.

Private missions between Martial Artists were also posted on [Tranquil Heavens], with specific conditions that other Martial Artists could browse and accept.

This system formed the primary model for managing the majority of the Martial Artist population.

Ever since he began his cultivation, and especially after reaching the Inner Qi Realm, Yu Fei had developed a certain ethereal quality. To put it simply, he just had a different aura than most people.

Walking down the street now, he was turning quite a few heads.

Ordinary people had always been fascinated by the world of martial arts, and any Martial Artist they saw was likely to spark their imagination.

However, thanks to the strict laws of the Yu Kingdom and the education Martial Artists received from a young age, the two groups could generally coexist peacefully. At the very least, there was little difference in their basic human rights.

After leaving the station and walking through the bustling streets, Yu Fei grew uncomfortable with the constant stares. With a flicker of his body, he activated his Illusory Sword Intent and vanished into the crowd.

Once hidden, Yu Fei’s footwork shifted. Channeling the qi for his Celestial Star Travel Body technique, he leaped onto the branches of a tall banyan tree and bounded away into the distance. This was much faster.

’I’m in stealth, so this doesn’t count as breaking the rules,’ he thought. ’At least, no one can see me.’

Yu Fei observed for a while. Even in a major metropolis like Songfeng City, there were very few Martial Artists at or above the Inner Qi Realm. Most of the active ones were below the third realm.

The Zhang Family estate. This was the address.

Yu Fei allowed his form to become visible again and presented the application code from the platform to the guard at the gate.

A short while later, a large, bustling group of people approached, led by a portly middle-aged man.

Yu Fei sensed the man was in the Gang Qi Realm. ’To be honest, I’ve never seen a martial artist who couldn’t control their weight, unless their Cultivation Technique specifically required it.’

’This man is all fat. Even though he’s in the Gang Qi Realm, he feels incredibly weak.’

A pretty young woman next to him caught his eye. It wasn’t because of her looks, but because he could tell she had an orange-level talent and had already reached the third realm.

’Now that I’m out of Shenhan University, it’s rare to see even a purple-level talent among the general populace, let alone an orange one. Most people are blue or green.’