Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 442 - 393: Sea Charm

The Academic Palace’s Exotic Beast Taxonomy, based on a demon beast’s capacity to impact human society, divides demon beasts into five levels.

The lowest, Level 5 demon beasts, simply possess a few more special abilities than ordinary wild animals. For example, a blood-sucking bat with a wingspan as wide as a human arm can, when encountering a predator, spray poisonous blood stored in its stomach sac through openings in its fangs. The toxicity of this blood is similar to snake venom. However, unless it is ingested or sprayed into sensitive areas like the eyes, mouth, or nose, it will not be fatal; it will only cause pain. Experienced veteran hunters, when fully equipped, can handle a Level 5 demon beast on their own.

Level 4 demon beasts, however, are much more difficult to deal with. For instance, a certain type of weasel can emit an illusionary light from its eyes, causing people to see hallucinations. If it caught someone unawares, a single Level 4 demon beast could easily kill a robust, fully armed man. An entire squad of soldiers would be needed to capture one without casualties.

Level 3 demon beasts are beyond the capabilities of ordinary soldiers. Examples include the Li Mu Cattle, comparable to heavy tanks, or the Red-eyed Purple Lady Bee that Li Ang breeds in caves, capable of causing biological disasters. Suppressing them requires the Garrison to dispatch Cultivators, leading hundreds or even thousands of soldiers equipped with special gear.

Moving to Level 2 demon beasts, the threat to humanity becomes terrifying. There is the Ben Jiu Turtle, as large as an island and capable of smashing giant sailing ships with a single strike. The Mountain Rat can hollow out a small mountain and trigger geological disasters. The Double Guardian Fish possesses self-splitting abilities and can cause mass extinctions of other fish species.

And Level 1 demon beasts are entities to which the Yu Country must pay the utmost attention. Examples include the Nearby Worm, which can communicate over vast distances. There is also the Bookworm Immortal, capable of accessing immense amounts of information, and the Dark Filth Worm, which can erode faith in Haotian. The criteria for classifying a Level 1 Demon are based on its influence on the Yu Country. This includes both abilities useful to humanity and destructive power towards human society.

The cat demon beside the Su youth—possessing self-awareness, the ability to speak human language, and clear logic—would undoubtedly be classified as a Level 1 Demon in the Academic Palace’s Exotic Beast Taxonomy. It would possess at least one, or possibly several, Innate Abilities.

This is a bit troublesome... Li Ang mused. If the cat demon weren’t present, I could have my Ink Silk Clone pose as a member of the Demon Sect. I could then directly kidnap the Su Family descendant, extract the origins of Mo Si, and release him. Alternatively, I could purchase hallucinogenic drugs from the Chang’an Ghost Market and have the Ink Silk Clone administer them to him, thereby gaining clues about the origin of Mo Si. However, with a Level 1 Demon of unknown abilities present, such crude and direct questioning methods would likely be ineffective.

Li Ang pondered for a moment, then immediately instructed the beetle-shaped Ink Silk Clone in the woods to divide. Half transformed into mosquitoes to follow the Su youth from a distance, maintaining surveillance. The other half turned into a fly and headed towards the Suzhou Clinic.

The Suzhou Clinic was personally constructed by Li Ang, and he was intimately familiar with its architectural layout—it felt just like coming home. The Ink Silk Fly navigated easily through the clinic’s corridors to the records room, slipped into a drawer, and began searching for documents.

The round-faced young man had mentioned obtaining a Doctor Qualification Certificate issued by the Suzhou Clinic. Therefore, his personal information had to be in the clinic’s records room. After a quick search, the Ink Silk Fly soon found the information on the round-faced youth.

Su Xinghuo, from Wu County, sixteen years old, both parents deceased...

The Ink Silk Fly examined the information. Meanwhile, the Ink Silk Mosquito watched from afar as Su Xinghuo rode a carriage towards the north of the city.

After the resolution of the Water Poison epidemic, the Suzhou City North Port had regained its vitality. This was particularly true as the Yu Country was pouring national resources into constructing railroads, incorporating Suzhou into its railway network. Far from destroying the city’s shipping industry, this development further promoted it. More railroads meant more goods could be transported overland to Suzhou and then shipped to distant locations by sea.

Shipbuilding workshops, cement production workshops, and silk and porcelain production workshops were all operating at full capacity. Steam clouds, generated by the fully operational Spiritual Energy Machines, enveloped the entire Suzhou Port.

Su Xinghuo alighted from the carriage and went straight into a coastal inn. He soon emerged from an upstairs guest room carrying two large trunks of luggage. His black cat remained perched on his shoulder, meowing softly from time to time. Its eyes, now devoid of the keen intelligence and cunning they had shown in the forest, made it seem like an ordinary black cat.

With the help of a young attendant at the inn, Su Xinghuo moved the two trunks from the inn to the carriage. He first tipped the attendant as a token of appreciation. Then, he directed the carriage to the port, where it stopped before a massive ocean-going sailing vessel.

SS Sea Charm.

Li Ang, observing through the eyes of the Ink Silk Mosquito, narrowed his own slightly.

This nine-masted giant sea vessel was a product of the Holy Empress’s era, from sixty years ago. The previous Academic Palace Master, Chou Zhibai, had chosen to keep the Academic Palace neutral during the increasingly fierce struggle between the Holy Empress and the Li Yu Royal Family.

After ascending to the throne, the Holy Empress ruled the Yu Country under the Wu surname. To suppress those loyal to the Li Yu, she implemented a series of measures. These included changing the state’s name to Zhou, re-establishing the capital in Luoyang, attacking the Gate Valves, reforming the bureaucracy, launching offensives against the Turkic, and... constructing great marvels.

The Holy Empress had a particular fondness for grand, colossal constructions. In Luoyang, to build the Sky-reaching Floating Tower (which included both a giant Buddha statue and a Buddhist Pagoda), she conscripted tens of thousands of laborers daily. For several years, timber was felled in distant river valleys and mountains, and the expenses ran into the trillions. The Sky-reaching Floating Tower, Ziwei City, Qianling, Tianshu—she built these architectural marvels both to satisfy her personal desire for such wonders and to showcase the Yu Country’s national power, thereby solidifying her rule.

The SS Sea Charm was one of these marvels. This ocean-going vessel was only slightly smaller than the Heavenly Boat and capable of carrying 5,000 passengers and crew members. At sea, it cut through waves, impervious to wind and rain. It was even capable of sailing into the outer fringes of the Endless Sea. Using its onboard repeating ballistae and harpoons, it could hunt gigantic sea beasts or destroy enemy naval vessels.

The SS Sea Charm took ten years to construct. Upon completion, under the Holy Empress’s command, it was led by her most trusted court eunuchs and Wu Family offspring. Carrying 5,000 soldiers, it first patrolled the Yu Country’s maritime borders. Then, it sailed southward, passing the Zhou Kingdom and Nan Zhao, towards the faraway lands of the Extreme West. Along the way, they distributed valuable goods such as silk, porcelain, jewels, and spices carried onboard as gifts to the populace of coastal nations, thereby bolstering the grandeur of all nations paying homage to her court.

The magnificent spectacle of the SS Sea Charm returning to the Yu Country with the All-Nations Delegation was still fondly recounted by the elderly residents of the Yu Country’s coastal states and prefectures.

However, after the Holy Empress fell from power and her rule was overthrown, her achievements were systematically dismantled by the Li Yu Royal Family. The Tianshu Copper Pillar, made of cast copper and iron and encircled by coiling dragons and Qilin, was melted down and recast into Copper Coins. The Sky-reaching Floating Tower was burned down by the "Demon Sect," leaving only ruins. This included the SS Sea Charm. The reigning Emperor Yu at the time (father of the current Emperor Yu, Li Si) also wished to destroy it. After all, the ship employed numerous talisman techniques, and its mere maintenance cost a fortune. The Li Yu Royal Family saw no need to continue paying for the Holy Empress’s grand ambitions.

Fortunately, the then Academic Palace Sacrificial Official, now Academic Palace Master Lian Xuanxiao, persuaded the former Emperor. He convinced him to have all the talisman-based weaponry on the SS Sea Charm—weaponry designed for engaging sea beasts and enemy navies but now deemed unnecessary—removed. The ship was then converted into an ordinary sailing vessel for civilian use.