Steam-powered martial arts: My virginity cultivation technique has been broken.

Short-sighted and blinded by greed.

Ku Ning really wanted to use those two words to describe that woman.

Vacuum was of humble origin. However, he was the senior disciple of an elder in the Arhat Hall of Hakugeji Temple. Would his more distinguished junior disciples simply stand by and watch him become a servant or a guard?

This is not only a slap in the face to them, but also to Elder Huiwu, and even more so to Baige Temple.

Even if he couldn't meet the woman's original expectations, with his current strength at the third rank, after some training, he could easily join any martial arts department and rise rapidly in rank, making him more than capable of marrying a merchant's daughter.

Perhaps it was his way of expressing himself that was problematic. Having lived in a secluded temple for many years and only thinking about pure love, he brought the woman directly to her parents, who were still servants. The shock of this sudden change made the woman forget all about it.

On the other hand, his attempt to find love in a relationship that was inherently illegitimate was ultimately futile.

The two parted on bad terms, and the woman died that very night.

The murderer pointed into the vacuum.

The incident involved a feud between disciples of two sects, and the Xingwu Division came to arrest him. Zhenkong refused to confess and resisted arrest on the spot, resulting in a fierce fight with the Xingwu Division. Three officers were seriously injured, and one died from his injuries. Zhenkong escaped and disappeared.

This incident shocked the capital, and Baige Temple was immediately thrust into the spotlight.

Elder Huiwu personally led his eight disciples to investigate the truth. He refused to believe that his eldest disciple was a heartless man who disregarded human life.

Ku Ning was among them; he was the seventh student under Hui Wu.

Of course, he was just an extra in this operation; he mainly relied on the identities of his seven fellow disciples to carry out the mission.

Besides the head monk, the Luohan Academy has twelve elders. Elder Huiwu ranks third and specializes in the Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Taming True Yuan Technique. He is gentle on the outside but firm on the inside and values ​​the unity of his disciples. Disciples can compete, but they cannot have any conflicts in private.

His nine disciples, at least on the surface, were all as close as brothers.

The eldest disciple was the first to join the sect and often guided his fellow disciples on their spiritual practice questions, earning their deep respect.

Thus, a strange scene unfolded in the capital: nine bald monks, young and old, of all ages, blocked the gates of the Xingwu Division, demanding a reinvestigation of the Vacuum Murder case and the withdrawal of the warrant for arrest, so that the Hakugeji Temple could find the perpetrator and hand him over to the authorities.

Xingwu Division already found the matter troublesome. Although the women's sect couldn't compare to Baige Temple, it was still considered a second-rate sect in the capital. Baige Temple was more than happy to take on this hot potato, letting them deal with the mess themselves. However, even if Zhenkong was wronged, the fact remained that he had killed and injured their personnel, so it was impossible for them to drop the warrant.

The imperial court couldn't lose face, so in the end, both sides compromised: the Xingwu Division guaranteed that its personnel would not pursue the suspects. The Baige Temple had to hand over the suspects within three days.

After negotiating with the Xingwu Division, Elder Huiwu was about to assign tasks to his disciples.

Ku Ning suddenly asked, "Master, do you want to save our eldest brother, or do you only want to salvage the temple's reputation?"

Huiwu looked at him: "What are your thoughts?"

Huiwu knew that his seventh disciple was naturally intelligent, quick-witted, and often surprised him with his views.

Ku Ning explained the situation: "Senior Brother has already committed a crime. Even if the murder is a false accusation, his violent resistance to the law, which resulted in the death of an official, is enough to cause him serious trouble."

Huiwu agreed with him: "Yes, that's the troublesome part. Zhenkong has already done something wrong, and it's difficult for me to protect him."

Ku Ning said, "Actually, it's not difficult. If we want to save our senior brother, we absolutely cannot devote all our manpower to finding him, nor can we pin our hopes on the Xingwu Division to investigate the case. We have to investigate it ourselves, or ask for outside help."

Huiwu pondered, "What do you mean?"

Ku Ning turned to his second senior brother and said, "Please contact the Six Doors to intervene."

The second senior brother's surname was Tu, his Buddhist name was Zhenyuan, and he came from the Tu family of Donghai Prefecture. His ancestors had been granted the title of Marquis of Pingshan. The main connections of the Tu family were in the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Six Doors. His uncle was the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and his cousin was a top-ranking detective in the Six Doors.

Facing the puzzled looks of his master and second senior brother, Ku Ning explained, "The Xingwu Division is an administrative body whose main responsibility is to supervise martial arts sects and mediate disputes between them. The Six Doors is the government office that specifically handles crimes committed by martial artists."

"The case of the eldest brother and that woman has not been investigated clearly yet. Based solely on one side's testimony, the Xingwu Division has already classified the case and taken direct action to arrest people. To put it nicely, it is acting foolishly; to put it bluntly, it is overstepping its bounds and committing murder by perverting the law."

Second Senior Brother Zhenyuan's eyes darted around, and he immediately sorted out his thoughts: "That's right, as long as we prove that Eldest Senior Brother is innocent, it will show that Xingwu Division was at fault first, and that Eldest Senior Brother was forced to resist. Letting the Six Doors intervene can put pressure on Xingwu Division, and it will be more convincing, so that others won't say that we fabricated evidence to save people."

Ku Ning nodded and added, "Furthermore, this matter is strange. Our senior brother has returned to secular life and was once a disciple of my White Pavilion Temple. Given the Xingwu Division's usual practice of 'leaving a way out for others,' how could they possibly send people to arrest someone without notifying the temple based on the one-sided account of a second-rate sect? Unless someone is backing him up, or someone is directly interfering in this matter using their power."

Zhenyuan also said, "Our senior brother has always been reasonable and values ​​the dignity of our sect the most. I believe that if he were to kill someone impulsively, he would face it calmly and would not run away after injuring someone. There must be something we don't know about in this process."

The two of them talked back and forth, laying out the advantages and disadvantages, causes and effects, before Huiwu. In particular, he deeply agreed with Ku Ning's final guess.

This is also why he personally came out of seclusion. Public opinion outside had already reached the sky, and Hakuge Temple had no choice but to deal with it. He wanted to see which demons and monsters dared to throw dirty water on Hakuge Temple.

He spread his network of connections and those of his disciples, splitting his forces into two groups. Huiwu led two disciples to search for his eldest disciple, while his second disciple and Ku Ning, along with their fellow disciples, investigated the Vacuum Murder Case.

Elephant Garden, the place where the murder occurred.

This place was first built in the third year of Emperor Taizong of the previous dynasty. The Kingdom of Nanmiluo presented two golden-eyed white elephants to Da Chen as tribute. The emperor ordered people to build this garden for people to enjoy.

After the white elephant died, the place was not closed, but became a place for people to relax, and now it is a place for students to spread their ideas.

The mechanical revolution has been underway for over eighty years, and the changes in the world are far greater than in the previous millennia—a true transformation of the world. The reform of Confucianism and the liberation of thought to adapt to the development of productive forces have also deepened along with the mechanical revolution.

The arrival of the monks seemed quite abrupt in this place.

Today is a gathering of students from the Dongshan School. A tall, middle-aged man, reminiscent of the revered Confucius, stands there, holding a pistol in one hand and the Analects in the other: "We scholars can no longer tolerate martial artists standing on equal footing with us! They do not study the classics, do not respect the orthodox tradition, and use martial arts to disrupt the law; they are a cancer on the world! We must not only possess advanced ideas, but also master advanced weapons. There is nothing that a pistol cannot solve; let this backward product of martial arts be completely eradicated from the stage of history..."

The second senior brother and the others stared at the middle-aged man as he spoke, their faces grim.

As mentioned earlier, Hakukakuji's attitude towards machinery was conservative.

Because they served the royal family, they had no choice but to follow the emperor's orders. They were considered moderates within the conservative faction, neither agreeing nor opposing the policy. But the more moderate they were, the more they valued the dignity of martial artists.

"cancer?"

"behind?"