The Modern Martial Immortal-Chapter 42: Target

Lei Yun worked with remarkable efficiency. In less than two hours, batches of audio recordings were delivered one after another.

Tiannan province's top figures frequently attended public events. Although many recordings could not be accessed by ordinary people, obtaining them was not difficult for professionals from the Su family's External Affairs Hall.

These audio files covered the three major authority holders of Tiannan Province and over a dozen deputy officials. Further down the hierarchy were the heads of several important departments, which also fell within Lei Yun's search scope.

However, there were a lot of department heads, and gathering their audio required more time. For now, Yaoguang could only begin his search from the top—the governor, the chief prosecutor, the speaker of the council, the deputy governors, the provincial military commander, and others.

He examined the materials Lei Yun had delivered, then started going through the files. Shortly after, Yaoguang stopped.

"Deputy Governor Zhao Sheng." He quickly opened one of the videos, which showed a man in his sixties, an elder whose vigor still shone bright.

Among the three deputy governors, Zhao Sheng oversaw the Cultural and Tourism Department, the Transportation Department, and the Public Relations Department.

Although he did not control the highly influential police bureau or the Finance Department, these three departments alone granted him considerable influence within Tiannan. More importantly, the Zhao family behind him ranked among the province's top families.

To suppress the Yue family and the other local aristocratic families, Governor Wei Kongming had, for years, strongly supported their opposing factions, and the Zhao family was one of the greatest beneficiaries.

"Culture and tourism, transportation, public relations." Yaoguang studied the deputy governor's jurisdiction.

Zhao Sheng had connections in almost everything. He replayed more of Zhao Sheng's audio and compared the voices repeatedly. With his memories as reference, he nearly confirmed the match.

Still, for safety, he listened to all remaining recordings. Among them, he found another similar voice, which belonged to the head of the Innovation and Technology Department.

After noting down the two voices that best matched his target, he summoned Lei Yun.

"I need their detailed schedules. I don't need to meet them. I only need to see them from afar," Yaoguang said calmly.

Lei Yun glanced at the two names. Though she did not know what he planned to do, she immediately issued the order. She was not the only one working under Yaoguang. The External Affairs Hall also had specialists dedicated to information gathering.

Soon, she returned with an answer. "Deputy Governor Zhao traveled to the Haoyue Plantation in the neighboring province today for an inspection. Department Head Zhou will attend the Robotics Innovation Competition at Tiannan's University tomorrow."

"Haoyue Plantation? When will he return?" Yaoguang asked.

"He will be back on the second," Lei Yun answered.

"So the day after tomorrow," Yaoguang said. He could wait two days.

Then he instructed her, "Make arrangements for Tiannan University. I will take a look."

"Yes, Young Master," Lei Yun answered respectfully. Ever since learning that Yaoguang had become a grandmaster at nineteen, she obeyed every order without question.

After she left, Yaoguang wasted no time. He tempered his physique for an hour, then returned to his bedroom. There, he visualized the Great Solar Psyche-Suppressing Diagram to nourish his psyche. Only when his psychic mind became severely depleted did he have no choice but to sleep.

Whether tempering his body or visualizing, he never dared cultivate to the limit. If danger struck while he was in a weakened state, he would be placing himself in an extremely disadvantageous position.

Even here in the Su family's estate, even in the well-secured Villa No.49, with Lei Yun and others stationed outside, he made no exception. Security of this level was meaningless before a grandmaster.

By judging others through himself, he knew that any enemy of his level could just as easily ignore such security.

***

Early the next morning, Yaoguang woke up feeling refreshed.

A woman in her early thirties had already prepared breakfast. She was the housekeeper assigned by the Su family. After he finished eating, Leng Jun arrived outside Villa No.49 with several people.

"Come in and have a seat," Yaoguang said. "Have you eaten?"

"We have." Leng Jun led the group inside and introduced them. "These are the elite of our External Affairs Hall."

Yaoguang nodded. Besides Lei Yun, there were four others, each with martial training. One man, in his thirties, possessed a strong build and well-tempered bones and tendons.

"Big families capable of supporting a grandmaster often follow the example of the aristocratic families who have raised martial paragons, building a dedicated support team around them. Our Su family is no exception. A support team usually covers several roles: information scouting, electronic assistance, equipment maintenance, firepower coordination, and medical support." As he spoke, Leng Jun pointed at Lei Yun. "You've met Lei Yun. She handles information scouting for the squad. Bai Ya manages electronic assistance."

A fair-skinned, gentle-looking man with glasses stepped forward. "Young Master Yaoguang."

Leng Jun continued, "Su Yizhou, equipment maintenance."

Su Yizhou, short and thin at barely one-seventy tall, bowed respectfully.

Leng Jun continued, "Pang Long, firepower support."

Pang Long was the only one over 190 cm tall, the one whose strong bones and tendons Yaoguang had noticed earlier.

"In front of Young Master Yaoguang, I don't dare claim anything about firepower support. I can only assist from the side," Pang Long said humbly. After hearing from Lei Yun about Yaoguang's true strength, he held immense respect. Any martial artist would show deference to a grandmaster who had refined his internal organs.

Leng Jun added, "Pang Long is not only well-versed in Martial Dao. He also understands many modern weapons. Young Master Yaoguang, if you need it, you may follow Pang Long to familiarize yourself with how to counter modern weaponry."

Yaoguang nodded. Learning to counter modern weapons was indeed a compulsory lesson for any grandmaster, even for a martial paragon. After all, no matter how powerful a martial paragon was, they still could not withstand fire from modern weapons head-on.

"The last one, Ai Li, medical support." Leng Jun gestured toward a woman whose presence felt warm and soothing.

"Hello, Young Master Yaoguang. From now on, if you have any needs regarding medical care or nutrition, feel free to instruct me." The woman smiled.

She was not the type whose looks struck people at first glance, and she seemed to be around thirty. Yet her attire, demeanor, and every gesture carried a natural grace that made people unconsciously trust her.

Yaoguang's heart stirred. "You trained in body language, psychological guidance, and hypnology?"

Ai Li paused slightly, then smiled again. "Young Master Yaoguang, you have sharp eyes. Besides these, I also studied visual psychology, linguistics, and sociology."

Yaoguang nodded. Hypnosis and manipulation in the fifth-tier's psychic-will phase relied on far more than psychic will alone. Body language and emotional control were also embedded within.

For example, to impose psychic-will intimidation, one should combine it with exaggerated movements, bold offensive actions, and thunderous scolding. The shift from stillness to explosiveness achieved the optimal effect.

If one could also apply linguistic pressure beforehand, the impact became even greater. In other words, when two psychic-will martial artists faced each other, the clash often began the moment each learned the other's name. Reputation, past victories, and accomplishments would amplify a martial artist's psychic will, allowing them to establish an advantage even before meeting the opponent in person.

"We can exchange thoughts sometimes," Yaoguang said.

"It would be my pleasure," Ai Li replied with a gentle smile.

"Get familiar with one another. When the team expands in the future, each of you will be responsible for your own division," Leng Jun added, then concluded, "Of course, if your abilities fall short and you fail to meet Young Master Yaoguang's standards, being removed from the team will be no one's fault but your own."

The group nodded, their expressions solemn. Yaoguang was a nineteen-year-old grandmaster with a high likelihood of becoming a martial paragon in the future! Supporting a future martial paragon was the lifelong dream of people like them. To seize that opportunity, they needed to do their best to earn Young Master Yaoguang's approval.

"Young Master Yaoguang, let's create a group chat for easier communication," Lei Yun said.

"A group chat..." Yaoguang's expression looked a little strange

Every industry truly kept pace with the times. Still, he scanned the QR code and joined the six-person group Lei Yun had already created.

The reason there were six was that Leng Jun was in the chat as well. Yaoguang could contact Su Chiming directly, but Lei Yun and the others could not. As the head of the External Affairs Hall, Leng Jun had to approve budget requests and logistical paperwork for them.

"This is my dietary plan for the coming period. I will leave it to you." Yaoguang sent the prescription he used for tempering his body to Ai Li.

Then, after glancing at Pang Long and Leng Jun, he hesitated for a moment, then trimmed the prescription. "You two can try this simplified version. It should work well."

Leng Jun and Pang Long's eyes lit up. This was guidance from a grandmaster.

Pang Long even stepped closer. "Captain, do you want to double-check it?"

"People's constitutions vary greatly. I can gauge your tempering progress, but physical constitution is hard to judge in detail. Use this formula first. I will adjust it as your cultivation progresses," Yaoguang said with a small smile.

"Thank you, Captain," Pang Long replied happily.

Over the next hour, Yaoguang exchanged some casual conversation with Bai Ya, Su Yizhou, and Pang Long. During this time, Bai Ya also modified his phone.

More than an hour later, Bai Ya and the others stayed behind while Yaoguang and Lei Yun departed again, heading toward Tiannan University.

However, shortly after leaving, Lei Yun sensed something. "Someone is following us."

Relying on his sharp eyesight, Yaoguang quickly identified who was tailing them. It was Zhang Rufeng.

"Lose him," Yaoguang said.

Last night, Zhang Ya had called him multiple times. But considering her personality, he did not want to be entangled with the Zhang family any further.

"Understood. Please hold on." Lei Yun shifted gears rapidly. "I'm going to accelerate."

She stepped on the gas, and the car sped forward. Thanks to Lin Yun's driving skills and her heightened reflexes as a martial artist, the already high-performance luxury car weaved through traffic effortlessly. In a short time, Zhang Rufeng had been thrown far behind, nowhere in sight.

Ten minutes later, the screech of the brakes could be heard as the vehicle slowed down and drove into Tiannan University.