Chapter 1 The Righteous Unveiling

Zhengyi Academy is one of the seventy-two top-ranked academies in the country.

Throughout the ages, Zhengyi Academy has consistently ranked in the top three. The 'Dao Sage' in the current 'Thirty-Six Sages Central Committee' comes from this very academy—in fact, it can be said that the vast majority of Dao Sages throughout history have come from here.

Zheng Country has seventy-two first-class academies and one hundred and eight second-class academies. The former holds twenty to twenty-four Sage seats, while the latter holds ten to twelve. In addition to these one hundred and eighty academies, there are also three hundred and sixty specialized academies. If an exceptionally talented individual emerges from among them, they can also obtain a Sage seat and join the Thirty-Six Sages Central Committee to preside over national affairs.

Of course, the Thirty-Six Sages is generally just an approximate number. In some eras, talent is scarce, and the Sage seats are not fully occupied, while in others, geniuses emerge frequently, and the number of seats even doubles—but Thirty-Six Sages is the baseline, regardless of increases or decreases.

Some time ago, the large-scale spiritual energy eruption that occurred on the border between Shan Country and Zheng Country was confirmed by various relevant organizations worldwide as the aftermath of a failed 'cataclysm-level Void Ritual'. Although it failed, it was also regarded as a prelude to the true beginning of the spiritual energy revival—because if the spiritual energy concentration was still the same as it was a few years ago, this ritual would not have even lasted long enough to trigger changes in the celestial phenomena before failing.

In order to cope with the coming great changes, major academies with Sage Dao inheritances have dispatched their elite high-level members to assist in suppressing possible demon activity in various places. Zhang Fucheng, with his modern professor title, was a High Adept who mastered the Five Thunder Righteous Method before the spiritual energy revival. The true talismans he cast were enough to reveal the original form of the aura of ninety-nine percent of the demons and monsters in the world—but at this moment, they were ineffective.

"Interesting, interesting."

In addition to doubt and worry, there was also the excitement of being challenged. The middle-aged professor stroked his beard, his eyes flashing with a desire to take on the challenge: "No wonder the Celestial Master often said that ten years of hard cultivation is not as good as one experience—the academy's assessments do not have such strange demons for me to hunt."

Without wasting words, since there were no clues on the remains, he would go to the scene.

At this moment, not far from a certain crime scene, a young man who was worried about his future image perked up his ears and looked around, only to see the lights characteristic of a police car.

"A police car is coming... That's about it."

Regardless of his future image, the present is the present.

In addition to the police car issue, the sky was also beginning to brighten. There were already more people on the streets at five in the morning. Su Zhou knew when to stop and immediately hurried back to his residential area, then, like a gecko, he climbed along the wall, easily scaling back to his balcony from the side, out of the surveillance cameras' view.

This was also something he had planned long ago—Su Zhou had tested it at home and in the gym. His fingers could easily support his body weight, and with a little force, he could even break through wooden boards and scratch marks on stones. The walls of the building were not perfectly smooth, and with a little force, he could climb faster and more stably than a gecko.

For the Awakened, the most obvious thing is that 'choices' have increased. Many roads that ordinary people cannot take, common sense that they subconsciously avoid, are all new choices for the Awakened.

And Su Zhou thoroughly enjoyed this.

Back home, Su Zhou picked up his phone and began to summarize the gains and losses of his action while cooking in the kitchen—first of all, he had to say that he was still too young and a little naive. Not to mention the black night-walking suit, he should at least wear a mask and hood when wandering outside, otherwise, what if someone accidentally saw him?

As for the five spiritual energy shards, containing the resentment of different wraiths, he could just find a glass bottle to cover them, then seal them with holy water. When he had filled a jar, he could probably use a ritual to melt them into spiritual water to give the Wisdom Tree a little snack.

As for other odds and ends, such as night-walking clothes and masks, Su Zhou planned to have Shao Qiming help him buy them. It wasn't that he didn't have money, but Su Zhou had also figured it out that it would be conspicuous for an ordinary person like him to suddenly buy gold, silver, and gems. Qiming probably thought of this when he offered to help him buy them.

And whether it was night-walking clothes or other things, if it were him, the police would definitely be able to find these sensitive items, but Shao Qiming's channels might not.

"After all, so many people in my family have been police officers for so many years. Although I'm not exceptionally smart, I can still study hard and get into a key high school."

After finishing cooking, Su Zhou chewed on a chicken breast steak while sending Shao Qiming a nearly coded message consisting of abstract text, various emoticons, and scattered words: "I want to Cos a Detective Black Shadow, I need to buy some black clothes and a mask, you know?"

At this time, it was only five-thirty in the morning. He didn't know if Shao Qiming hadn't slept or had just woken up, but as soon as Su Zhou sent the message, the other side immediately responded as if saying, 【I understand everything! Typing...】

By the way, Shao Qiming's common online ID is 【I understand everything!】, Su Zhou's common online ID is 【What do you understand?】, and Shao Shuangyue's ID when playing games is 【Ask him, he understands!】.

【I understand everything!: Ok. Understood. Wait for my good news!】

【What do you understand?: Good brother! We're still good, right? (Two-headed ogre emoticon)】

【I understand everything!: Of course! (Two-headed ogre emoticon)】

After settling this matter, Su Zhou really had nothing to do—he already had a weapon, tested his lethality against supernatural creatures, and everything was ready for the Wisdom Fruit advancement ritual. All that was left was to find the fiend and then slay it.

The problem was—where was the fiend?

Originally, this was indeed a question that needed to be considered. Fortunately, Su Zhou might be ordinary in other respects, but his memory of things he wanted to remember was quite good. He came to the table in the living room and grabbed the 'Victim Murder Location Diagram' left by his father, Su Beiluo, when he returned to the country.

When Su Zhou had just returned to the country, Su Beiluo had a professional relapse in the middle of a conversation and drew the murder locations of the victims, even with detailed markings and analyses.

Although Su Mu, Ning Shiyu, interrupted Su Beiluo when he was about to continue analyzing the case process and doubts, this was enough.

【First victim's location: Chigutan Riverside Square Residential Area, time, around 2 AM, victim returning from a late-night gathering, intoxicated. Cause of death: Massive abdominal bleeding, missing a part of internal organs, thigh muscles cut, sharp weapon marks.】

【Second victim's location: Jiangxin Amusement Park area, time, 12:17 AM, victim playing in the water, suddenly disappeared without a sound. The next day, the body was found on another riverside beach. Cause of death: Legs missing, sharp weapon cut marks, internal organs, fat, and intestines in the abdomen had cut marks.】

【Third victim's location: Edge of Fuhe North Road, time, around 11 PM, victim's identity unknown due to missing head, no ID carried. Cause of death: Cranial separation, sharp weapon cut marks.】

"Huh, they're all by the river?"

At a glance, Su Zhou could see that the murder locations of the three victims were all by the river—to be precise, in the riverside woods, which happened to be in the same area as where he hunted the wraiths yesterday.

There were no surveillance cameras in that area, and there were few people at night. If something unexpected happened, entering the river could also escape pursuit... Thinking about it carefully, it wasn't strange.

"Wait, Gan River, Jiangxin, Fu River... This crime area is too big, isn't it?!"

But when Su Zhou took a closer look, he also discovered the reason for his father's confusion—from the south of Fu River all the way to the north of Gan River, such a vast crime area indeed made it difficult to lock down the perpetrator's location... Especially since the suspected area included the old city of Hong City and the new city of Chigutan, with too many people. It would be impossible to search for the culprit hiding among them!

"Where do I even start looking?"

After roughly mapping out a suspected area on the map software on his phone, Su Zhou began to bite his thumb in distress, but before he could bite down, Yala suddenly prompted him, "Perhaps because of the criminal police education you've received since childhood, you're probably falling into a 'human' mindset."

"Who told you that the culprit had to be a human? That they had to live in the city?"

"Su Zhou, look, all three cases happened by the river—don't you have any ideas?"

This was indeed a wake-up call.

Su Zhou immediately understood: "Is it an aquatic monster?!"

"No, no! Don't be so arbitrary!" But soon, Su Zhou rejected this overly naive idea. Perhaps the Su family's detective blood was beginning to awaken, Su Zhou narrowed his eyes and began to analyze the details of the entire case in detail: "It could also be a land creature that can cross water—but what exactly is it..."

After less than ten seconds, Su Zhou happily gave up thinking: "Forget it, I can't figure it out—Yala, let's go to these crime scenes and see what's going on now!"

The Su family's son, who had abandoned his family's blood, not only felt no shame but was even quite righteous.

"Anyway, I'm a superpowered person. If I don't use my spiritual vision, wouldn't that be stupid!"