Chương 44: Broken Stone Tower

Looking at the body of the Early Muscle Realm cultivator without a head, Fang Hao knew that if they gave him any information or he removed it from their necks, the necklace would explode.

However, he also believed he had an idea of how it worked and wanted to remove the first limitation. With these thoughts, he walked over to Wenxiu, who was waiting for him, seemingly unconcerned and still naked.

---

A Few Hours Ago.

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In the broken stone tower located outside the village, a middle-aged man sat with a bored expression, closing his eyes as he focused on cultivation. Various formations surrounded him.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and his bored expression shifted to one of joy, he noticed a new toy arrive, a cultivator was approaching. He sensed a faint aura from this newcomer. However, his joy quickly turned into a frown as he closely observed Fang Hao from a distance, scrutinizing his image. He muttered to himself, then stood up with a serious expression.

"Early Muscle Realm, around 16 years old, no sect robes, no tracing bag. Is he from one of the other two sects or a loose cultivator?"

"It's time to make him leave. If you're a loose cultivator, I might spare you. If not, hehe, blame your own ignorance," he said lightly, preparing to either scare him off or, if necessary, kill him. The resources and time invested in this place were too valuable to waste on a random intruder.

Just as he was about to take a step out, a loud voice echoed in his mind, causing him to freeze. "STOP!" Turning his head slightly, he saw a cultivator wearing a mask and black robes.

He cursed silently, unable to discern the realm of this person. It was evident that this newcomer was much stronger than him, and he started sweating nervously.

"Senior, this is the Sword Hall area. If you harm me, I will break my mission medallion, and someone will arrive," he quickly said, his tone calming down as he brought out the medallion in his hand, ready to break it if necessary.

"The younger generation is becoming more foolish and impatience," the masked guard said casually before tossing his identity token to the man.

Raising his eyebrow, the man carefully inspected the token. His expression changed from worry to shock and then to sheer terror as he swiftly spoke.

"Sir, I didn't betray the sect. I swear, I will take an oath at the Soul Brand Tower. If I lie, may my soul be burned for eternity." He began to sweat profusely and fell to his knees, offering no resistance.

"Get up," the masked cultivator ordered, and the man complied, still confused. The masked cultivator brought the identity token flying back and sat down on a broken stone. He spoke in a raspy voice.

"Don't interfere with the young cultivator who is coming. He's from our sect. I was patrolling the area and saw him discard the sack of gold and change his robes."

The man's eyes widened, and he nodded with a smile, saying, "Of course, if he's from our sect, it's only natural. After all, this place was made for them." He continued nodding rapidly, but sensing the change in the atmosphere, he suddenly fell silent.

A cold, oppressive air filled the tower, making him shiver. He understood that he had to perform his job without any issues, or the inspector would not hesitate to kill him.

As various formations activated, a screen materialized, displaying every detail of the village.

"Everything is prepared," the man stated briskly, then settled into a seated position, producing a scroll to start his grading, maintaining a professional demeanor.

The masked man nodded in acknowledgment and quietly observed.

Meanwhile, as Fang Hao neared the village, he abruptly halted his steps, fixating on the broken, empty stone tower. This was a common sight often overlooked due to the tower's sensory-disrupting formations, but something about it caught his attention, something out of the ordinary.

"It's just luck, isn't it? The formations are functioning," the middle-aged man stated quickly as the Inspector raised an eyebrow, displaying a surprised expression.

Meanwhile, Fang Hao continued to approach the broken stone tower, causing the middle-aged man to break into a nervous sweat. He retrieved a token and spoke into it with evident frustration.

"Make someone open the gate and bring the cultivator inside," he commanded. As a result, the gate swung open, and Hu Guang Len promptly addressed Fang Hao, asking, "Who are you?"

As the conversation played out near the gate, the Inspector turned his attention to the person standing beside him, narrowing his eyes. "This is not permitted," he said, causing the middle-aged man to tremble nervously.

"Sir, I had no choice. I won't interfere again, and I can't violate the oaths scroll in any way," he muttered, his voice trembling slightly. He felt the intense glare on him gradually dissipate.

None of them spoke as they continued to watch. The middle-aged man needed Hu Guang Len to call Fang Hao back inside and offer him a reason. Surprisingly, it worked.

As Fang Hao entered the village, the middle-aged man couldn't help but swear aloud in frustration while looking at the tower he was in.

"Does this sect member have an issue with his head? Why would he want to inspect a broken tower? What could possibly be interesting about some stones?It's freaking stones!" The middle-aged man couldn't contain his frustration, and tears welled up in his eyes.

However, the voice of the Inspector snapped him back to attention. "Grade him 100 for awareness," the Inspector commanded, causing the middle-aged man's eyes to widen. "Sir, this?!" he exclaimed, clearly taken aback by the unexpected praise.

"I said grade him 100. He has noticed something amiss with this tower, and you had to intervene twice to keep him away," the Inspector spoke calmly from behind his mask.

He wore a surprised expression as well, finally realizing why the sect leader was keen on keeping tabs on this young cultivator.

"Fine, I won't go against your orders," he conceded. "He called himself Yang Jun, is this his real name?" he muttered as he looked at the Inspector, but he didn't receive a reply.

Sighing, he held the scroll, added the name to the information, marked awareness 100, and displayed a picture of Fang Hao wearing ordinary clothes. The photo showed Fang Hao reaching the gate, smiling, and awkwardly scratching his head.

Even the Inspector's eye twitched at the photo, finding it unsuitable for a cultivator.

As they watched Fang Hao enter the village, both of them observed silently. They followed the unfolding events, particularly when Wenxiu arrived to seduce him and led him to the inn.

The young kid seemed to have been seduced too easily, and the subsequent scenes left them somewhat speechless.

After she served him safe food to lower his guard, she went to the back and prepared a glass of water containing poison that could kill a mid-realm muscle cultivator. Quite impressive," he commented.

"Yet, she noticed the medallion he was wearing and quickly changed the water to wine."

They continued to watch as she handed him the water and brought him a bottle of wine. He nodded as the image showed them drinking, and Fang Hao started to describe the city he was in before arriving at the sect to Wenxiu.

"This city he's talking about is Cloudsour, no doubt about it," the middle-aged man muttered. But then, he looked at the scroll and exclaimed, "Wait, Jun, Yang Jun!!!??"

Standing up, the middle-aged man had a grave expression and shouted, "IMPOSSIBLE! If it's that lunatic, we would be doomed! What is going on?!" He demanded answers; this situation was beyond his pay grade, that person was crazy!

"Shut up. He is using his name, that's all," the inspector frowned, a bit unhappy as the name had left him with unpleasant memories.