World's No. 1 Swordsman
Chapter 57: Rain Falls, Winds Rise, Lightning Flashes, Thunder Roars

Chapter 57: Rain Falls, Winds Rise, Lightning Flashes, Thunder Roars

Wang Sheng had always been meticulous when handling matters. When he arranged for him and Zhou Yinglong to sneak back to the Li residence for the exorcism, he also asked Li Shiwu to drive back to Mount Wudang to prevent the Li family's mole from placing a tracking device on the car.

Although it was later proven that Li Qiran wasn't clever enough to make such meticulous preparations, it would have still been better to be safe than sorry.

Now, after defeating some of the Supernatural Revelation Club's elders, Wang Sheng directed the police to take down a criminal gang instead, deliberately misleading the club's key figures and preventing them from immediately realizing that official forces were monitoring them. His plan gave the investigation team more room to maneuver.

Before the seven elders were captured, they only managed to send one message.

An expert is here.

How the opposition would interpret it and what countermeasures their leaders would prepare were unknown.

For some reason, the Special Investigation Unit members involved in the case felt somewhat pressured. Most of them were ordinary people—many had just graduated from police academies and, after a short period of intensive training, were immediately assigned to the Special Investigation Unit.

Even with firearms and temporarily stronger authority, they still felt no sense of security when facing cultivators, whose abilities and spells were unpredictable.

At the moment, they were merely tasked with interrogating seven Spirit Convergence Realm cultivators whom Wang Sheng had already subdued, yet even that required every possible precaution. It exhausted them and put them on edge.

The Special Investigation Unit had to ensure that the Spirit Convergence Realm cultivators in their custody had no chance of resistance or escape. Straitjackets proved to be extremely effective since they could restrict movements. They combined it with sedatives, tasers, and mouth gags.

Wang Sheng didn't participate in the interrogation. Although Mou Yue and Bulldozer hoped he could join them and oversee things, he politely declined. He was only lending a hand, not working for the government.

Wang Sheng put Abyss Listener in a violin case and brought it with him back to campus. On the way, he stopped to buy breakfast for his senior sister and arranged to meet her in a quiet corner.

The two sat on a patch of grass under a willow tree for a while. Wang Sheng briefly recounted the incidents from the previous night, and Mu Wanxuan listened attentively before looking at him with a slightly reproachful expression.

How could he get into a fight without bringing along his senior sister?

Wang Sheng chuckled. "They were just some insignificant, unaffiliated practitioners. The major sects are unlikely to be involved in this matter, so we shouldn't be facing too many troublesome enemies."

Mu Wanxuan puffed her cheeks, but she didn't press the issue further.

"Try to approach our junior sister today," Wang Sheng said. "Let's see how things develop. I'm actually quite curious about the person behind the Supernatural Revelation Club now."

Mu Wanxuan looked puzzled. "Mm?"

"The elders I fought were clearly from different regions. Based on the intel we've gathered so far, their club has at least a dozen more Spirit Convergence Realm cultivators serving as elders, and most of them are actual elderly people.

"Moreover, they seem to have higher-ranking people than the elders, one of whom should be their leader. I'm just curious about them. Anyway, let's focus on protecting our junior sister and helping the mistress resolve this issue for now."

"Mm!" Mu Wanxuan nodded solemnly, seemingly conveying that she completely understood what her junior brother was saying. In truth, though, she still felt a little confused.

The two sat under the tree for a while longer. Eventually, Mu Wanxuan rushed back, fearing that something would happen to Chi Wen.

Watching his senior sister's long hair flutter as she walked along the campus path, the slight restlessness in Wang Sheng's heart gradually settled. He sighed softly and stayed a few more minutes before heading back to his dorm.

When he arrived, his three dormmates were still sound asleep. Wang Sheng quietly climbed into his bed. He originally planned to meditate, but a wave of drowsiness washed over him, and he ended up falling into a nap.

Having taken out a third of the Supernatural Revelation Club's elders, they could face some sort of retaliation. Wang Sheng didn't dare sleep too deeply.

At around ten in the morning, his phone vibrated, waking him. Mou Yue had sent him several documents.

Even though it had only been a short period, the Special Investigation Unit had already compiled Ge Tianlin and the seven elders' interrogation records along with their preliminary findings.

Their efficiency rendered Wang Sheng speechless.

Who said government institutions were slow? Those young, passionate, and mission-driven people can prove them wrong in minutes.

Opening the files one by one, Wang Sheng's expression gradually shifted. His brow furrowed as he read them, then slowly relaxed.

So that's how it is...

The elders, most of whom were in their sixties or seventies, had chosen to come out of seclusion to serve as the club's elders instead of staying at home and cultivating in peace for one simple reason: money.

Not for rare cultivation resources or the continuation of their Daoist heritage. They were out here just for a modest amount of money.

The seven Spirit Convergence Realm cultivators whom he had captured today all came from remote areas, where they had lived in poverty their entire lives. However, with the resurgence of primal qi, the ancient techniques that their ancestors had passed down and the farming methods that they had been practicing daily suddenly turned into cultivation paths.

Thanks to decades of accumulation and tough training, their cultivation levels rapidly improved, but the completeness and quality of their inherited Daoist techniques, along with their lack of understanding of cultivation, limited them. Hence, they still lagged behind the cultivators of renowned sects on sacred mountains.

For them, cultivation seemed to make little to no difference.

Young people continued to leave for the bustling cities, making their grandparents care for the children they couldn't afford to raise in urban areas. The villages grew increasingly desolate, losing the vibrancy and activity that they once had.

Even with their newfound strength and martial prowess, the elders remained trapped in poverty; their lives were still as hard as before.

Some wanted to pass on their ancestral Daoist techniques to their descendants, but doing so required time and money. After all, cultivation couldn't be achieved overnight, and supporting a young cultivator or two was equivalent to feeding a couple of mouths for free.

A family of cultivators? Only the wealthy could afford such a concept. The only option for those who only had incomplete Daoist techniques—which their ancestors had left behind—was to become unaffiliated cultivators.

However, two or three months ago, the Supernatural Revelation Club's core members approached the seven elders and invited them to leave their homes. To Wang Sheng's surprise, they wholeheartedly served the club for a mere monthly salary of a few thousand yuan and occasional benefits and rewards.

Naturally, their arrangement only lasted for a brief period. Once one's desires were aroused, it would expand infinitely. After the elders had adjusted to their new lives, they started growing dissatisfied with their situation. Eventually, they began striving to secure greater benefits for themselves.

The Supernatural Revelation Club had recruited over twenty elders. Among them, some were invited by younger relatives who were already involved in the club, like Ge Gufeng. The elders accepted, hoping to make something of themselves.

After being captured, the seven elders tried to hold out since the club had treated them well. It wasn't until Mou Yue clarified that they had committed far more than just simple fraud and could face charges that could implicate their families—like endangering public safety—that they began to falter.

Afraid of getting their families involved, they finally stopped resisting and revealed everything they knew. They even laid bare the Supernatural Revelation Club's entire structure before the Special Investigation Unit.

According to them, the leader of the Supernatural Revelation Club was a mysterious man known as Fire Sage. He was the soul of the organization and the architect of its development blueprint, and he always appeared in a mask to nurture an air of mystery.

Below him were two chief protectors, four regional emissaries, thirty-six elders, and seventy-two protectors, though many of the elder and protector positions remained vacant.

By coincidence, one of the captured elders had met Chi Wen and recognized her as one of the regional emissaries. However, she held no actual authority; her title was more honorary than functional.

Chi Wen had become a core member of the Supernatural Revelation Club because she had secured its first batch of funding during its early development stages, earning great merit. Unfortunately, her cultivation speed was only average, which explained why she didn't hold any real power.

The club's revenue model had two main components.

First, they promoted Daoist arts within a few universities, establishing a membership system to leech off the students who had stepped into the world of cultivation. This was a long-term, stable source of income.

Second, they cultivated trusted members into fighters and integrated them into their combat division, engaging in theft, robbery, and underworld turf battles. These risky but fast-money schemes quickly accumulated the funds necessary for the club's growth.

Currently, their combat division comprised forty to fifty members. They operated in the shadows of the city and were reported to already be gaining some notoriety in criminal circles.

Such an organization could already be classified as a crime syndicate with a background in cultivation.

"Fire Sage..." Wang Sheng murmured as he sent his senior sister some useful information.

What was the Supernatural Revelation Club's ultimate goal? Was it simply to grow larger and accumulate wealth?

If not for Chi Wen's unique status and the coincidence that exposed the club, it could have become a huge trouble even for the authorities in a few months.

The Fire Sage was no simple man.

He targeted university students, leveraged the free-thinking and loosely monitored campus environment as fertile ground for their organization's growth, and recruited so many unaffiliated practitioners, whom the broader cultivation world had overlooked. Moreover, he paired all of those with a well-thought-out profit strategy.

All things considered, he was likely another conspirator trying to exploit the changes in the era.

The Special Investigation Unit had already begun a thorough operation, determined to make the case go down in history as their first battle and the event that proved their worth since the unit's founding.

However, in just a few hours, while Wang Sheng slept, the Special Investigation Unit suffered repeated setbacks, squandering the favorable position that Wang Sheng had created for them.

Somehow, word had leaked out. Leading a large contingent of armed police, the investigation unit's members raided several locations where the Supernatural Revelation Club elders were believed to be gathering. However, by the time they reached their destinations, the club had already evacuated all its members.

The social media groups that they had discovered through Ge Tianlin were also swiftly disbanded, leaving only a single announcement.

Rain falls, winds rise, lightning flashes, thunder roars.

The club evidently had skilled network experts. Law enforcement failed to obtain effective identifications.

The Supernatural Revelation Club's core members had likely long prepared hideouts. Apart from a few students—who could be considered victims—and some recently promoted protectors, it completely vanished without a trace.

In just an hour or two, they dissolved into scattered fragments, disappearing right under the Special Investigation Unit's nose.

In the end, cultivators had to resolve matters involving cultivators.

Decisive as ever, Wang Sheng sent another message to his senior sister.

Wang Sheng: Arrange a meeting with Chi Wen.

He couldn't keep wading through this mess. With their mistress no longer holding back, they could now act freely.

The Special Investigation Unit and the Supernatural Revelation Club were likely about to enter a game of chase. If they just played along, who knew how much time would be wasted here?

Regardless, he and his senior sister had to prioritize getting Chi Wen out of the picture before doing anything else.