I Have Infinite Skill Points

Li's words might be true, or they might be false; taking him down was also a safety precaution. However, it was Li's intelligence that provided a stronger suspect.

That evening, the intelligence department's system began investigating Duan Ziqi.

"Duan Ziqi has unclear parentage. It is speculated he could be the result of young, inexperienced teens tasting forbidden fruit; he was left at the doorstep of an orphanage not long after birth. There's no birth record of him in the hospital, and he weighed less than two kilograms when he was found.

He survived with the care of the orphanage, growing up there and developing a very strong sense of independence. By the age of ten, Duan Ziqi's thought and action patterns were already very mature.

Duan Ziqi awakened as a Star Martial Warrior at nine, which could be considered genius. However, due to limited resources, his progress wasn't fast. It wasn't until he reached puberty in middle school that his power surged.

In high school, he had already reached the Star Shine Stage, and then around last October, he broke through to the Star Cloud Stage. He mastered one A-grade Star Martial Skill, one B-grade Star Martial Skill, and three C-grade Star Martial Skills. However, that's just the public data; whether he has other unknown Star Martial Skills isn't known."

After gathering the intelligence, Xu Shiyun summarized it.

"Duan Ziqi is just an orphan, yet his growth rate is no less than Jiang Xinyu's... Don't you find that strange?"

"Not strange at all!" Xu Shiyun said, leaning back in his chair. "Duan Ziqi grew up in an orphanage. Before him, quite a few older boys had left the orphanage when they came of age. Some joined various professions, while a few got involved with the mafia.

It wouldn't have been difficult for Duan Ziqi to infiltrate the underground forces of the Ancient City District. Plus, with his identity as a Star Martial Warrior and his considerable strength, he has dominated the Ancient City District's underground forces for the past five or six years and amassed a significant sum of money.

A kid in his teens, and he's already in control of a district's underground forces. If it were any other child that age, they'd probably be thinking about toys all day.

Moreover, Duan Ziqi has visited the trial grounds many times. His growth trajectory, although not as legendary as yours, has much in common with a few of your friends.

Of course, I'm inclined to think the Demon Clan paved the way for Duan Ziqi's smooth rise. Now we have two options. First, we capture Duan Ziqi immediately and dig out the Demon Clan forces behind him. Second, we monitor him secretly and close the net quietly."

Xu Shiyun's eyes blazed as he looked at Wang Lan, who wore a pensive expression. Although arresting him directly would yield the most immediate benefit, surveillance could lead to unforeseen complications. Wang Lan recalled the scene where the two kidnappers who had abducted Xu Dongdong were killed instantly, just as they were about to reveal their mastermind.

The Demon Clan's methods are bizarre and ever-changing. No one can guarantee Duan Ziqi hasn't had some spell cast upon him. The most likely outcome of capturing Duan Ziqi would be ending up with a corpse.

"Let's monitor him secretly," Wang Lan decided. "I've already challenged Duan Ziqi. If the Demon Clan's intent is to prevent me from participating in the provincial martial arts competition, might they have other means? I'll observe him at school, and you send someone to watch covertly.

I have a feeling the Demon Clan might make some moves targeting this provincial martial arts competition. If Duan Ziqi truly is a pawn of the Demon Clan, then this pawn will definitely make a move."

"Alright then!"

In the pitch-dark night, amidst dazzling lights, Duan Ziqi walked slowly through a deep alley, his face grim. Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings broke the silence. A bat landed on Duan Ziqi's shoulder.

"How did the Tianjian Bureau take down Mori? Have you been exposed?"

"Xu Donghai is one of the top students at the school; his case was bound to cause a stir. It's not hard to trace the connection between Xu Donghai and Mori, so it's normal that the investigation led to him."

"But it was the Tianjian Bureau that took down Mori."

"Xu Donghai is a Star Martial Warrior. Isn't it perfectly normal for the Tianjian Bureau to get involved?"

"Aren't you underestimating the Tianjian Bureau? Their strength is not to be taken lightly; they've likely already traced it back to you."

"If that were the case, you wouldn't be talking to me right now, and I'd probably be a corpse on a medical examiner's dissection table," Duan Ziqi sneered.

"This series of incidents was caused by your mistakes. Don't provoke my bottom line. In our infiltration plan, you are far from the best."

"But I will be the best, sooner or later. Neither of us has found the Evolution Potion, so the Tianjian Bureau probably can't find it either. As long as the Evolution Potion remains unfound, they won't pay this case much attention. In a few days, if the case isn't solved, it will be closed as an unsolved case.

If you're not convinced, why not manipulate a Star Martial Warrior into exposing himself and then pin Xu Donghai's murder on him?"

"Just be careful yourself."

"The school has notified us: the challenge tournament begins in three days. Should I continue to thwart Wang Lan?"

"Are you confident?"

"Give me an Evolution Potion, and I should have no problem. After a year of experiments, I've managed to use the Evolution Potion's power without transforming."

"Without my permission, you are not to act rashly!"

The bat flapped its wings, flew high into the night sky, and disappeared into the darkness. All of this was done so covertly that even those secretly watching failed to notice.

「Three days passed quietly, and another weekend arrived.」 Principal Zhang returned from Jin City, and the challenge tournament, postponed for three days, was scheduled to begin on Monday.

After school, the leaders of the Star Martial Arts Campus gathered for a meeting.

"This trip to Jin City for the meeting was mainly to convey the directives from above regarding the upcoming nationwide provincial martial arts competition. This year's provincial martial arts competition will be different from the past. Previously, it was a closed event where only observers from various high schools and the representing team from the host city could watch on site.

But this time, the provincial martial arts competition will be broadcast live on television. Provincial TV stations and online platforms across each province will directly broadcast the event."

"What? This is unprecedented in the fifty-year history of the provincial martial arts competition! Isn't this foolhardy? Don't the higher-ups understand the importance of the provincial martial arts competition? Broadcasting it live?" the Director of Studies asked incredulously.

"Yes, I was puzzled too. But I heard it was decided after a discussion by the elders."

"Principal," Mr. Liu raised his hand and asked, "the provincial martial arts competitions have always been closed events. I just thought it was the norm. But from your tone and the Director of Studies', it seems holding it privately is a necessary measure? With information technology being so advanced, shouldn't we keep up with the times?"

"Mr. Liu, you are still young. Consider this: who attends the provincial martial arts competitions?" the Director of Studies asked, looking at Mr. Liu with a somber tone.

"They are... all the most outstanding students from each city, right?"

"Let me put it another way. The Southern Flame Emperor placed eighth in the Jiang Province provincial martial arts competition twenty-five years ago. The Eastern Azure Emperor was the champion of the Qi Province provincial martial arts competition, and the Western White Emperor was the champion of his provincial martial arts competition forty years ago.

In our Jade Country, out of the 1,720 existing Titled Strongmen, all have participated in provincial martial arts competitions, and eighty percent of them achieved top-ten rankings in their respective provinces.

The seeds of today's provincial martial arts competition are the future pillars of the Jade Country. Now do you understand why it cannot be made public?"

The reasoning was immediately clear. Where do the Jade Country's Star Martial Warriors come from? All are products of the Jade Country's basic education and training system. Those who can participate in the provincial martial arts competitions are undoubtedly the most elite and talented students from their respective cities.

They are the future of the Jade Country. Going public would mean exposing an entire generation of the Jade Country's future leaders to everyone. If opposing forces targeted these talents, what would become of the Jade Country in twenty years?

"Alright, this decision was made after consultation with the elders, so there's no point discussing it now. Besides the public nature of the provincial martial arts competition, there's another matter: the host city for each province... has not yet been determined."

"Hasn't it always been Jin City?"

"In the past, the provincial martial arts competitions were held in the provincial capitals. Strangely, this year it seems to be a random draw among several cities, with no prior notice. Jiang Province has thirteen candidate cities, with Jin City, Suzhou City, Tong City, Xu City, and Wuxi City as five of the options. I'll discuss this with the mayor tomorrow. If Suzhou City is chosen, we'll need to plan accordingly."

"Arranging it like this... it feels like they're guarding against something."

"Right, Principal, will the challenge tournament to select Suzhou City's participants start on Monday?"

"Have the other cities submitted their rosters?"

"They have. I've already obtained their lists of participants."

"How's their strength? Do we stand a chance to make a comeback this time?"

"Well... if Mingyue Wucheng were participating in the provincial martial arts competition, we might have some hope, but he has no intention of registering.

Jiang Xinyu is strong and talented, but compared to the representatives from established powerhouses like Jin City, Chang City, Tong City, and Tai'an City, she falls a bit short.

Especially Jin City's starting team—they're all at the Star Cloud Stage! Tong City has several multi-attribute talents. Tai'an City has descendants from Secret Skill Clans and Star Martial Arts clans competing. And Chang City, needless to say, leads Suzhou City with talents from both Star Martial Arts clans and commoners."

"Is that so? It seems I was too optimistic. Apart from Jiang Xinyu and Mu Shaoyun, what about other promising candidates? Duan Ziqi? Wang Lan? And Zhuang Haotian, Xu Xiangwen, and Gong Feiyu?"

"Principal, Mu Shaoyun's family experienced a major incident, and he hasn't been to school for nearly twenty days. Duan Ziqi was eliminated by Wang Lan during the preliminaries, and Zhuang Haotian was eliminated by Jiang Xinyu. Even if they make a comeback in the challenge rounds, it seems only Jiang Xinyu can carry the team.

However, relying solely on Jiang Xinyu is unlikely. As usual, let's aim for sixth place or fight for fifth."

"Hmm, let's settle on that then."

「Meanwhile, information on the teams representing each city was circulating through Jiang Province via various channels.」 Almost all the primary team details for each city were exposed, except for two or three cities that hadn't yet confirmed their rosters for various reasons.

This intelligence naturally fell into Jiang Xinyu's hands as well. Her intelligence-gathering abilities had always been strong. Even though Xu Xiangwen and the others could have gathered it themselves, they were too lazy to bother.

They were accustomed to Jiang Xinyu sharing the information as soon as she acquired it.

When Xu Xiangwen saw the lineups of each city's primary team sent by Jiang Xinyu, he couldn't help but blurt out a curse.

Is this really the primary lineup?

Compared to last year's primary teams from each city, the difference was as stark as that between a primary school team and the national team!

In the past, having three Star Cloud Stage cultivators was considered a strong team. Teams predominantly consisting of Star Cloud Stage cultivators were championship favorites.

But this year, Jin City's starters are all Star Cloud Stage! Tong City has nine Star Cloud Stage cultivators and a representative from a Secret Skill Clan. Chang City has eight powerhouses leading two others each, and Tai'an City is the same!

What kind of monstrous squads are these?!

Xu Xiangwen had thought that as a Star Cloud Stage expert, he could at least shine for a while and last a few rounds in the provincial martial arts competition. But looking at this lineup, it feels like I'm on course for a first-round knockout!