Starting as an infant, with parents who are blond-haired delinquents?

The investigators, having lived for several decades, have developed a fixed way of thinking and reasoning, making inferences and deductions based on the most probable circumstances.

However, this is not what Zhang Chaoqiang wanted to emphasize, but he did not shake his head to deny the investigators' inferences.

It was merely a gentle explanation of his own opinion.

“I think this is also a form of theft.”

"steal?"

These words were like a wake-up call. Huang Feng and Bai Lu were captivated by Zhang Chaoqiang's words, and the other investigators remained silent.

Upon closer examination, it is indeed true that the crystal nuclei exposed to the air lose crystal nuclei at a much faster rate. Isn't this a form of theft or embezzlement?

The only difference is that theft, like that of a thief, is done secretly, while now it's done openly and honestly.

"You mean, the spiritual energy of the crystal core doesn't dissipate naturally, but something is constantly absorbing it, causing the crystal core to become increasingly dim right before our eyes..."

“That’s right!” Zhang Chaoqiang snapped his fingers.

Then, he raised his head slightly and continued his analysis: "So I guess that, under the current circumstances, at least we can confirm that this strange beast stealing fat has probably always been around us."

Yes, that's right.

Although the investigators were deep in thought, they could genuinely sense the reliability of Zhang Chaoqiang's words.

The Jushan Mountains are filled with the power of the photinia flowers. There is simply no way to detect or sense any scent, spiritual energy, or fluctuations in energy.

Unable to sense any life energy fluctuations or spiritual power from any strange beasts around them, they naturally couldn't find any clues.

However, vision has always been there. If the thief has always been around them, greedily stealing the spiritual power from their crystal cores, why couldn't they see it?

"Comrade Zhang Chaoqiang, could this Stealing Fat have a second ability, such as invisibility? We really can't sense the fluctuations of the other party's spiritual power and life energy."

But our eyes are perfectly fine, so why didn't we detect their presence at all?

Zhang Chaoqiang quickly answered his question within the next second:

"This is my initial guess. Everyone saw the many crystal cores that the five people stole and carried. The fourth and fifth-order crystal cores had consumed a lot of spiritual power."

In other words, a significant amount of their spiritual energy was stolen.

"The time they entered Jushan Mountain is positively correlated with the amount of spiritual energy stolen from their crystal cores."

This martial artist entered Mount Ju seven days ago, so among the five people, the crystal cores on his body exposed to the air consumed the most spiritual energy!

When compared with other people's crystal cores, sure enough, the longer one stayed in the Jushan Mountains, the better.

Then the spiritual energy consumed will be higher.

Before continuing to elaborate on his thoughts, Zhang Chaoqiang paused again. He realized that he had been the one talking the whole time and had forgotten to examine the martial artists.

"Why don't you put these stolen crystal cores in your spatial rings?"

"Say!"

Behind Zhang Chaoqiang, the investigators glared at the five martial artists, making them tremble with fear and blurt out the truth.

"I don't know, I don't know why, it just inexplicably came out of my spatial ring..."

Zhang Chaoqiang then asked, "So, did you do this as soon as you entered the Jushan area?"

The group nodded abruptly.

well.

This confirmed Zhang Chaoqiang's suspicions once again.

He noted down this detail and continued to explain: "It is obvious that from the moment they entered the Jushan area, the thief used his power to take the crystal core out of the spatial ring that could seal the space."

So that it could steal the spiritual power contained within.

And from the crystal cores exposed to the air on each of the five people who entered, plus us and Uncle Rong, their spiritual energy dissipated at the same time.

"So you mean that the thief isn't like someone who can hide, but rather someone who is everywhere?"

Despite their extensive experience, Bai Lu and Huang Feng were quick-witted and sensible, and they were able to glean the meaning from Zhang Chaoqiang's words.

"Yes, I believe it's everywhere!"

At this point, Bai Lu and Huang Feng suddenly seemed to have imagined something unbelievable, and both of them took a big step back.

Then, looking at the entire Jushan Mountain range, he said with a somewhat solemn expression:

"I understand what Comrade Zhang Chaoqiang means..."

Bai Lu muttered to himself.

From the very beginning, Zhang Chaoqiang had already become suspicious. The crystal core was inexplicably being consumed at an accelerated rate, as if a special force was secretly stealing spiritual energy.

Then came the arrival of the five thieves who had entered Jushan earlier. They were in different places, and their crystal cores still lost spiritual power.

Doesn't this perfectly represent the power of the stolen fat, which envelops the entire Jushan Mountain?

"What I believe is that the 'stealing oil' is the power of this photinia spiritual flower that envelops Mount Ju!"

"Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense. Why don't they have any destination? Because every single place in this Jushan Mountain is their destination!"

Throughout the entire Jushan Mountains, it's fair to say that theft of fat is ubiquitous.

Now, Zhang Chaoqiang put forward one last conjecture: "Is it possible that the 'stealing fat' scheme aims to use these influenced people to steal?"

This would provide it with a stable source of spiritual energy from its crystal core. Could this goal be closely related to breaking through its own limitations, reshaping its physical form, and leaving this place?

There are only three objectives, which could be one of them or all of them.

Do you remember that the rarity level of the Photinia Spirit Flower is purple?

However, in the legend of stealing fat, one story mentioned the comparison between the fat-stealing people and the original inhabitants of Jushan at that time.

It states that the thing the thieves fear most when stealing the oil from the photinia is encountering people from the mountains, that is, the indigenous people.

The indigenous people always drove it away with a feeling of reluctance to harm this small, fiery red bird, and the thief was often terrified of their expulsion.

From this record, we can roughly see that the life condition and strength level of the Zhizhi at that time were at least completely inferior to those of the indigenous people.

The strength and hierarchy of the indigenous people were not well represented in the legends.

However, their fondness for ambushing black bears that are up to three meters tall and their numerous battles with tigers, cheetahs, and chimpanzees suggests that most of the indigenous people are at the first to third stage.

Therefore, we can conclude that the person who stole the fat back then was at most at the second or third level of strength. It is normal that he was burst by the power within after stealing an entire mountain of photinia spirit flowers.

This is why Zhang Chaoqiang, in his previous speculations, specifically believed that the reason why the Stealing Blossom had not left Jushan for more than two thousand years was very likely because it was absorbing the power of the Photinia Spirit Flower.

Given its strength back then, how could it possibly absorb all the rare purple spiritual plants covering the mountains and fields without any pain or discomfort?

Therefore, Zhang Chaoqiang's deduction is also a conjecture. Just like the power of the photinia spiritual flowers that cover Jushan Mountain, the Stealing Fat also dissipated throughout his body.

In this sense, perhaps the main purpose of the strange beasts stealing the spiritual power from the crystal core is to reshape their physical bodies.

According to Zhang Chaoqiang's rigorous and powerful conjecture, the Stealing Blossom does not have a physical body at this moment, because its spirit has been completely fused with the power of the Photinia Spirit Flower. This also suggests that it may have only recently completed the final absorption more than two thousand years later.

Unfortunately, it is very likely that this move will not be successfully completed as desired.

Otherwise, the thief could probably use its abilities and the power given to it by the photinia flower anytime, anywhere.

Therefore, what they are currently facing is likely a fat thief who has completely lost consciousness and can only follow his instincts, desperately trying to complete any method that can bring him spiritual power.

However, what Zhang Chaoqiang and the others couldn't guarantee or confirm at this point was whether their conjecture was entirely correct.

Then they parted ways again.

A very simple method is that Huang Feng, Bai Lu, and others will explore different areas in batches, and their goal is to search the entire Jushan Mountain area as much as possible without missing any hidden corners.

They dug three feet into the ground to see if they could find any trace of the stolen fat.

Zhang Chaoqiang's task was to keep an eye on the crystal cores exposed to the air. He continuously used his diffusion ability to reflect the energy fluctuations of the crystal cores' spiritual power back to his senses as much as possible, and then explored the air.

Observe the location where these spiritual energies completely dissipated, whether they remained in place or were transferred to a specific location.

In reality, Zhang Chaoqiang could not be said to be spreading spiritual energy fluctuations.

Because spiritual energy is a special energy vibration with a frequency, it is not a diffusion phenomenon between molecules.

It has a unique energy fluctuation that is more pronounced than anything else, and there is no way to spread it out directly.

Some auxiliary medicinal powders are needed, which can adhere to the energy fluctuations of spiritual power.

Although this powder is colorless, it has a subtle, barely perceptible odor. This means that the fluctuations in spiritual energy have become a molecular motion phenomenon with an odor.

After nearly an hour of careful exploration, Zhang Chaoqiang repeatedly tried the same location to ensure the accuracy and targeting of his diffusion capabilities.

Furthermore, the smell of the medicinal powder made it difficult to detect. Therefore, the spiritual energy within the crystal core was constantly being consumed and dissipated.

It often takes almost half an hour to catch a glimpse of them.

"I've got it! From the diffusion process just now, I've diffused all the surrounding scents into my senses."

After numerous attempts, I finally managed to capture and observe the exact moment when the spiritual energy within the crystal core was consumed.

They didn't specify the direction they left in; they simply vanished. But before they vanished, they had a very crucial destination!

That was being under the power of the colorless and odorless photinia flower.

In other words, Zhang Chaoqiang's words proved that the flow of spiritual energy does not go to any specific direction.

Instead, it dissipated into the surrounding air, or more precisely, under the cover of the photinia flowers.

As night fell, Bai Lu and Huang Feng dug almost three feet into the ground across the entire Jushan Mountain before bringing back important news…

Chapter 186 Vortex Convergence

"We can't find it. Just like before, there are no clues whatsoever."

Having received this reply, Zhang Chaoqiang already had a pretty good idea of ​​what to do.

The fact that this area of ​​Jushan Mountain is covered by the Photinia Spirit Flower can basically be identified as the location of the Stealing Fat Flower!

Judging from the rate at which spiritual energy was lost from the crystal core, it was indeed being absorbed into the power of the photinia flower that could conceal the fluctuations.

And it's absorbed directly!

"Uncle Huang Feng!"

Suddenly, Zhang Chaoqiang thought of a way to verify what exactly was going on with this fat-stealing thing.

"Could you please work with the Investigation Bureau headquarters to monitor the real-time fluctuations of life energy around Jushan?"