Invincibility Begins with Mastery of Fist Techniques-Chapter 127 - 123: Funeral

"Because you subdued the most troublesome and unexpected General level Celestial Demon, we ultimately managed to drive the others off the island, despite a few setbacks. It's just a shame that the other General level Celestial Demon abandoned its physical body and escaped Haisa Island with a group of them. We weren't able to keep them all there."

"Now that something this major has happened on Haisa Island, it's not only been exposed to the Celestial Organization, but it has also attracted the attention of neighboring countries. I'm afraid things won't be very peaceful for a while."

Lu Zhen shook his head and said with some regret.

"Is that so? What's the situation with the fighting tournament?"

Zhou Yuanjue asked.

"The tournament already restarted two days ago, but it's not important to you anymore, is it?"

Lu Zhen said.

Zhou Yuanjue nodded.

Indeed, his original reason for entering the fighting tournament was to use battle to stir his fighting spirit, to sublimate his body and mind, all in hopes of breaking through to the Saint Awakening Realm.

But now, he had already reached that realm. The fighting tournament had indeed lost its appeal and purpose for him.

He wouldn't continue participating in the rest of the tournament. He was now on a completely different level than the other Martial Artists; such duels were meaningless to him.

'Saint Awakening…'

Zhou Yuanjue looked up at the ceiling. At this very moment, he could clearly feel how different the world was from before.

"Is the person in charge of the Secret Inspection Bureau's Southern region in Guangpu right now? I'd like to meet him."

A moment later, he turned his gaze back to Lu Zhen and asked.

Now, only someone on the same level as him could offer new inspiration.

After all, his understanding of the Saint Awakening Realm was extremely limited. He knew nothing about the path forward, nor how far his predecessors had gone.

"The Director is in Guangpu right now. He wants to meet you, too."

Lu Zhen nodded and said.

"Alright. When? Where?"

Zhou Yuanjue nodded.

"Now. At the cemetery."

...

...

「South Suburb of Guangpu City. Southern Headquarters of the Secret Inspection Bureau, Martyrs' Cemetery.」

In the center of the Martyrs' Cemetery stood a three-meter-tall stone monument. The monument was made of marble and bore no inscription. Behind it was a plot of burial ground, and in that plot stood rows of small headstones. Names were carved on each one—a dense, endless sea of them at a glance.

When Lu Zhen brought Zhou Yuanjue to the cemetery, the funeral was already in its final stages. Dozens of men and women in solemn black Secret Inspection Bureau uniforms stood before the martyrs' monument. A tall, middle-aged man stood at the very front of the group. His posture was ramrod straight, like a drawn sharp sword. To Zhou Yuanjue's eyes, the man's powerful aura seemed to pierce the heavens.

Behind this middle-aged man stood twelve members of the Secret Inspection Bureau. Each of them held a folded Secret Inspection Bureau uniform.

Even though the uniforms had been carefully folded, they still looked tattered and torn. Clotted bloodstains and a great deal of dust were faintly visible on the black fabric.

On top of each uniform lay an identification card and a work badge.

These were the last possessions of the Secret Inspection Bureau investigators who had been sacrificed in the battle for Haisa Island.

The belongings of Tang Chen, the man who had saved Zhou Yuanjue and Jiang Jiushan, were also among them.

Led by the middle-aged man, the group gave a military salute to the monument. Then, the twelve Secret Inspection Bureau members holding the uniforms walked to the cenotaphs that had been prepared behind the monument. They gently placed the uniforms inside and lightly covered them with soil using small shovels.

"Their bodies have already been cremated and returned to their families. What we bury here are the last uniforms they ever wore. To the outside world, only their decayed flesh is buried. But here, this is where we lay to rest their eternal Heroic Spirits."

"See that monument? Do you know why there isn't a single word or eulogy on it? It's because for those of us who do secret work, even in death, the outside world will never know what we did or what we died for."

"There is no fame, no public honor. Unlike other heroes, we aren't celebrated in life or publicly mourned in death. Even our families can't know the real reason we died. Take Tang Chen, who saved you. His public identity was just a member of the Guangpu City marine anti-smuggling unit. What his family was told is that he was killed by a bullet during an anti-smuggling operation."

"But that monument doesn't need a eulogy, because we remember everything in our hearts. We will carry on this flame they lit with their lives. And it wasn't just them. In the battle for Haisa Island, many support personnel also sacrificed their lives heroically. They didn't leave their names behind, and besides us, no one will ever know what they died for."

"It's cruel, but some things in this world just have to be done by someone. This world isn't actually a bright place, but it's precisely because some are willing to shoulder the darkness that our families and our countrymen can live in the sun. For that, I am willing to give everything, just as they did. If one day, I can lie there with them, it would be my honor. My soul would join theirs, forever facing this sea, guarding our nation's frontier."

Lu Zhen stood beside Zhou Yuanjue, his voice calm as he spoke. Zhou Yuanjue didn't need to turn around to know that tears were already streaming down the burly man's face.

It's often said that a man doesn't cry easily, but only because he hasn't been truly hurt.

"That is a will worthy of respect."

Zhou Yuanjue watched the crowd attending the funeral in the distance, his thoughts turning to that night—the image of Tang Chen leaping forward, enduring the General level Celestial Demon's Spiritual Attack to save them. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

His own power hadn't been great, but without his sacrifice, Zhou Yuanjue and Jiang Jiushan probably wouldn't have survived. They wouldn't have been able to break through that unseen barrier and risk everything to destroy the General level Celestial Demon's body. The entire battle for Haisa Island would likely have turned out differently because of it.

Even an ordinary person, armed with unshakable faith, could wield the power to change the world.

'Saint Awakening… it lies within everyone's heart.'

He lowered his head and bowed his spine—a spine that would never bend to any foe or pressure—in a slow, deep bow toward the cemetery.

"Their sacrifice was worth it. We held Haisa Island. And from this day forward, Donghua has one more Saint Awakening."

Lu Zhen said calmly.

Just then, as the funeral was drawing to a close, the tall, middle-aged man leading the group turned around and slowly began walking toward Zhou Yuanjue.