275: So...what is the ultimate in martial arts?

“How is your Cultivation coming along?” Bai Wei asked indifferently as she walked ahead.

Shen Bei was quite pleased, a proud expression on his face: “I have to say, those two guards are truly professional; their torture methods are authentic.”

“The second step has been completed, and I’ll ponder over the third step for a few more days when I get back. I reckon it will be done then.”

Bai Wei hummed softly in acknowledgment.

Shen Bei was a bit displeased.

He was so awesome.

And all he got was a hum?

Shouldn't she be shocked, awestruck, show a look of astonishment, then scream in surprise, and praise him profusely as a Genius?

Was her calm demeanor because praising him would be too shameful, making it hard for her to speak?

Shen Bei cleared his throat, coughed, and asked: “Isn't my Cultivation progress incredibly fast?”

Bai Wei curled her lips in disdain: “Are you trying to say you’re a Genius?”

“That’s just the fact.”

“I've seen plenty,” Bai Wei stopped, her face devoid of expression, only calm and numb: “Everywhere is full of Geniuses, but only the Geniuses who survive to the end are true Geniuses.”

Shen Bei cupped his hands upon hearing this: “Understood, you’re praising yourself.”

Everyone who can live to become a Martial God is a damn Genius.

That was what Bai Wei wanted to express.

Below Martial God, all are ants.

No matter how much of a Genius an ant is, it is still an ant.

So, in Bai Wei’s eyes, Shen Bei was just so-so.

Bai Wei smiled inscrutably, turned, and continued walking forward.

At this moment, a question suddenly arose in Shen Bei’s mind: “I saw many new scars on the walls in the basement of the villa. Do you still need to Cultivate?”

Isn't Martial God the ceiling?

Shen Bei took this opportunity to ask another question.

Bai Wei chose her words carefully, her voice unusually low: “Martial God is indeed the ceiling for humans, but according to the intelligence we obtained from the Central Continent of the Dungeon, it seems that the situation is not quite so. There should be levels above Martial God, but they have not yet been explored.”

“What does that mean?”

Shen Bei was a little confused.

Of course, it wasn't that he didn't understand Bai Wei's words, but rather that he didn't understand what was above Martial God.

Logically speaking, if there were higher-level existences above Martial God, one would just continue to Cultivate, and a Breakthrough would happen sooner or later.

Humans have been Cultivating the Martial Dao for so long, and no one has been able to achieve a Breakthrough yet?

At this point, Bai Wei slowly said: “According to the rule, when a Martial Artist breaks through a boundary and advances, they will be rewarded with additional attribute points.”

“For example, a First-Rank Martial Artist entering the Second Grade will gain 20 additional attribute points.”

Bai Wei let out a sigh of unclear meaning: “Unfortunately, after Martial God, with the progress of Cultivation, attribute detection equipment can indeed detect attribute points increasing, but this increase seems endless.”

“That is to say, no large rewards of attributes have been found. The absence of this rule means that one is still in the Martial God Realm and has not yet crossed over.”

“To put it in an inappropriate way…” Bai Wei paused, thought for a moment, and said: “It’s like you’re wandering in the boundless Universe; you can feel yourself moving forward, but you just can't reach the end.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Bei showed an incredible, even somewhat fearful, thought.

Especially Bai Wei’s analogy, which gave a deep sense of powerlessness.

Attributes can increase, but there's no end to it, which is maddening.

This is equivalent to losing one's goal and becoming lost.

Shen Bei shrugged: “Indeed… it’s a bit helpless.”

Bai Wei nodded: “However, I believe that with the development and understanding of the Dungeon, all of this will have answers.”

Shen Bei asked again: “Then why not go to the Dungeon to catch Stranger to understand?”

“Catch whom?” Bai Wei questioned: “The more Advanced the intelligence, the fewer Stranger know about it. Take humans, for example, there are less than a hundred Divine-Grade Martial Gods.”

“The Central Continent might have more, but it’s not advisable to randomly capture people in the Central Continent. Not to mention whether we can catch a Tenth Order Martial God, once a war is triggered, it will disrupt the current situation.”

“For now, the overall national strategy is to steadily develop the Dungeon, not to be aggressive, to accumulate strength, and then to act when the opportunity arises.”

Shen Bei understood; the main point was stability.

Regarding what lies beyond Martial God, it was still too far for Shen Bei.

By the time he reached the Divine-Grade, perhaps everything would have an answer, and he might even get to enjoy ready-made results.

“Take this.” Bai Wei threw a stack of documents to Shen Bei.

Shen Bei opened them and looked; it was about Yun Zhiyi's movements over the years.

These were clues Bai Wei had found by sending people out to follow up over the past three days.

Starting from Sun Boss at the brick kiln, they worked backward, spending a lot of manpower and financial resources, interviewing many people to obtain this information.

Soon.

The two arrived at Yun Zhiyi's cell in silence.

Bai Wei nodded, and the guards brought Yun Zhiyi out and threw him into the interrogation room.

Bai Wei sat in the main seat, and Shen Bei pulled up a chair and sat to one side.

Yun Zhiyi looked to be in good condition.

He clearly seemed like a stubborn one who could endure torture.

Bai Wei tilted her head, her gaze lingering on Yun Zhiyi for a moment, then said indifferently: “Yun Zhiyi, do you have anything else you want to say?”

Yun Zhiyi’s eyes looked as if they were covered with a thin layer of dust: “There’s nothing to say. I never intended to collect intelligence when I infiltrated the Headhunter Tribe. I can't provide any value either.”

“Come on, follow your heart, execute me, and be done with it.”

Bai Wei raised her chin: “You also know I’m a woman. Women are indecisive, kind-hearted, and can’t bear to see others suffer.”

“You are the person I chose; I made the mistake first. I have no intention of killing you completely.”

“I just want to know, why did you lose contact? What made you disregard everything, and what are you pursuing?”

“Tell me, and I’ll let you go.”

Shen Bei glanced at Bai Wei from the corner of his eye.

Such lies were useless.

Was Bai Wei ruthless… did he even need to think about it?

A woman who could climb to one of the top ten Martial God positions in the country.

Did he really think it was by Cultivation progress?

No one would believe that.

She must have stepped on countless white bones and a sea of blood and corpses to get there!

It could be said that the fraction of people or Stranger Bai Wei had killed far surpassed Shen Bei’s total.

There was absolutely no need to doubt Bai Wei’s ruthlessness.

When women go crazy, they are like pigs at New Year's, impossible to hold down.

Naturally, Yun Zhiyi would not believe Bai Wei’s nonsense either.

He was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing, and his laughter grew increasingly maniacal: “Bai Wei, why are you even more childish than Shen Bei? Let me go? I don’t even want to live anymore, haha!”

Bai Wei’s temple throbbed faintly, but her face was still wreathed in smiles, showing no hint of it: “Everything I said is true, because I made a mistake first.”

Yun Zhiyi still sneered: “No, you made no mistake. On the contrary, you made me. Otherwise, I would not have glimpsed the Martial Dao Pinnacle. Whether you kill me or not is up to your mood; I don’t care.”

Bai Wei slowly raised her head, her gaze deep: “The military doesn’t keep idlers.”

The next moment.

Bai Wei extended one hand, and an invisible ripple spread out.

Yun Zhiyi was instantly pulled towards her.

Bai Wei choked Yun Zhiyi by the neck, her eyes cold: “When I think of the three people who died for their faith, I hate it so much I can’t sleep! You’ll be buried with them!”

“No!”

Shen Bei quickly reached out to stop her.

To start fighting and killing after only a few words, it was unnecessary, truly unnecessary.

Shen Bei said with a chuckle: “This Martial Skill doesn’t seem to be telekinesis; it’s interesting. I’d like to learn from you sometime.”

“How about this, go have tea and a meeting. I’ll chat with Brother Yun.”

Bai Wei snorted, tossed Yun Zhiyi aside, and turned to leave.

Only Shen Bei and Yun Zhiyi remained in the interrogation room.

Shen Bei paced for a while, his mind full of thoughts, and after a long time, he finally managed to speak: “I say, old brother, do you hate me or Bai Wei?”

“Is there a difference?” Yun Zhiyi glanced at him, no longer concealing the chilling coldness in his tone.

Shen Bei spread his hands: “The difference is huge. Bai Wei is the root of everything, while I was merely unaware and stumbled into it.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Regarding your past, the wronged have their grievances, and the indebted have their creditors.” Shen Bei looked down at Yun Zhiyi, exhaled, and spoke again: “And I just want to know, why were you hiding in the brick kiln?”

“Is it any of your business?”

Shen Bei smirked, returned to the table, and opened the documents on it.

“Before, to conceal your existence, Bai Wei dared not investigate your disappearance, fearing that it would expose you, her planted spy.”

Shen Bei said with a smile: “She always held a glimmer of hope for you, until before I captured you.”

“And yet you were hiding in the brick kiln.”

“According to Sun Boss’s account, you started working at the brick kiln a month ago from the labor market.”

“After investigation and interviews, three months ago, you were working in a restaurant kitchen.”

“For some time periods before that, we don’t know where you were, but in the past year, from surveillance cameras to public interviews, you’ve changed five jobs.”

Shen Bei put down the documents, walked back to Yun Zhiyi, his face grim: “You tell me, a high-and-mighty Martial Artist, competing with ordinary people for jobs, and the dirtier the work, the more you liked doing it.”

“And each job was different. Are you challenging all 360 professions?”

Shen Bei gripped Yun Zhiyi’s neck, his tone filled with confusion and ferocity: “Could it be… that you’re like me?”

Yun Zhiyi’s expression changed. At this moment, he realized a problem.

He had indeed been frequently changing jobs, regardless of whether they were respectable, as long as the work was different, he would do it.

And Shen Bei…

He was also a Martial Artist.

Why would he go to a place like a brick kiln, where he would suffer and toil?

Was it really the same?

Yun Zhiyi’s pupils constricted, as if pierced by a sharp blade, but he quickly calmed down: “Trying to trick me? Why didn’t I see you in the Dungeon?”

Huh?

Shen Bei’s face remained expressionless, without any fluctuation, perfectly concealing his inner shock.

Originally… Shen Bei wanted to ask if this guy also gained attributes from frequently changing jobs.

Although it was almost impossible, suspicion was still worth having.

But why did this guy suddenly change the subject and go straight to the Dungeon?

Shen Bei felt like he had grasped something.

“Just because you didn’t see me doesn’t mean I wasn’t there, does it?”

Shen Bei’s expression was normal: “I can tell you honestly, I change jobs even faster than you. Sometimes I change three or four jobs a day. Can you do that?”

“Heh.”

Yun Zhiyi laughed: “Stop pretending, you’re just trying to trick me. Back then, the entire team of ten went down to the Dungeon, everyone died, only I survived. You weren’t there at all; only I saw the Martial Dao Pinnacle.”

Shen Bei’s lips twitched: “You’re so smart, it makes things difficult for me. Share it, what is the Martial Dao Pinnacle?”

“I just won’t tell you. What can you do?”

“You already mentioned the Dungeon, I can go down and see.”

Yun Zhiyi laughed heartily: “Then you go look. See how long it takes you to find the correct Dungeon. And how much time you’ll have to spend in the correct Dungeon to find the correct location.”

Shen Bei licked his lips, turned, opened the interrogation room, and called to the guards: “Torture him, harshly.”

The guards nodded, and several people walked in.

Soon, Yun Zhiyi’s screams echoed.

Bai Wei crossed her arms and asked: “Are there any valuable clues?”

Shen Bei paced back and forth, gritted his teeth, and said: “Now we need to compile all Dungeon data, focusing on teams where ten people entered, and only one survived.”

“Yun Zhiyi’s transformation happened in that Dungeon!”

Bai Wei was stunned, and her head immediately began to ache: “There are more than twenty Permanent Dungeons nationwide, and without a timeline, how long will it take to investigate?”

“It’s simple,” Shen Bei said quickly: “Yun Zhiyi’s identity at that time was either a Headhunter Tribe member or an Apocalypse Cult member.”

“Their entry and exit records must have been deleted.”

“Coincidentally, didn’t we just clear out some moles in the military a few days ago?”

“Give them some Advanced memory recovery techniques, and we’ll definitely find clues.”

“As long as we know which Dungeon it was, we can go down and search, and then we’ll know what this Martial Dao Pinnacle that Yun Zhiyi saw actually is!”