PCJ – Chapter 726 Found a Clue

When Zhang Jiaohua still hesitated, Wang Zongxian continued to persuade him: “Don’t worry. Considering Bijiang City’s specific situation, Secretary Su believes the city should maintain a stable development trend for now. In principle, the leadership team will be promoted directly from Bijiang’s reserve cadres. So, for the moment, you don’t need to worry about anyone interfering with your work. As for the candidate for mayor, Secretary Su said he will take your recommendation into account.”

This granted Zhang Jiaohua tremendous authority. In effect, both the Party Committee and the government would be under his word. Normally, higher authorities would never allow such a situation, but Bijiang was different—mainly because Zhang was different. In addition to being the city’s mayor, he was also a world-class scientist. And with Bijiang’s transformation, Zhang had become one of the brightest rising stars in politics. The city’s changes were directly tied to him, and Bijiang had become a national model for converting scientific achievements into productive forces.

There were also matters beyond Wang Zongxian’s knowledge, but at Secretary Su Xinpeng’s higher level, he knew a bit—for example, Meishan Group’s cooperation with the military. Though the details remained a state secret, Su Xinpeng was well aware of the partnership.

What Wang said tempted Zhang Jiaohua. A stable Bijiang was extremely important to him. So, after several days of weighing pros and cons, he decided to accept Wang’s suggestion.

Personnel arrangements for Bijiang had long been agreed upon by the Provincial Party Standing Committee, awaiting only Zhang’s approval. Now that he nodded, everything else fell naturally into place.

Former Daixian County Party Secretary Fu Jianping had advanced rapidly over the years and was now Executive Vice Mayor. His rise was closely tied to Daixian’s development. Once one of the poorest counties in the country, always ranking last in Bijiang, it had since become the richest. Ecological agriculture and tourism were booming, skyrocketing the county’s economy. This was largely thanks to Zhang’s earlier work there, but as the local leader, Fu’s contributions were also critical.

When Zhang was acting mayor, Fu had already entered the municipal leadership team. When Zhang’s title dropped the word “acting,” Fu advanced again to become Executive Vice Mayor. Many Daixian officials, having worked on the county’s ecological agriculture and tourism projects, now carried that credential, making them highly sought-after across Bijiang. Other counties needed similar expertise, so these cadres were promoted and reassigned over the years. Some even jokingly called Daixian “Bijiang’s Whampoa Military Academy,” for having supplied a large number of excellent cadres to drive reform and development.

Once this matter was settled, Zhang further optimized Bijiang’s leadership structure, setting up scientific training and supervision mechanisms so that every cadre received complete education and development. Their governance skills and capacity steadily improved.

Only after the Party Committee and government teams were running smoothly did Zhang finally find time to seriously study Kong Fangzhou’s artifact refining.

Just then, Kong made a discovery. He had forged a rather unusual sword blank—much sharper than any he had made before.

“But the refining method I used this time was no different from usual. Yet once it was finished, I felt something was different—the color was darker, and it carried a faint trace of that ancient sword’s aura,” Kong admitted, puzzled. He couldn’t explain why.

Zhang accepted the sword blank from him and immediately noticed it was indeed unusual. Even gripping its rough hilt, he could feel a chilling aura seeping from it. Though far inferior to the ancient sword, it nonetheless shared a faint similarity.

“During refining, did you feel anything different from usual?” Zhang asked.

Kong shook his head. “The only thing was, while forging, I thought about that ancient sword. But afterward, I tried the same approach a few times, and it had no effect.”

He then brought out several failed attempts to show Zhang.

Zhang picked up the ancient sword and sliced through the failed products as well as Kong’s successful blank. Kong winced in regret, but the cuts revealed the structural differences inside the blanks.

“The structure—it’s definitely different. This blank is the closest to the ancient sword, which explains why it carries a trace of its aura. But what’s the real cause?” Zhang wondered aloud, frowning at the blank.

“Normally, we carve arrays onto the blank to give the sword true spirituality. But ancient spiritual swords were refined differently. Some had no carved arrays yet possessed even greater power. Sadly, those techniques have long been lost. To evolve a spiritual sword into an immortal sword, it must also be endowed with a sword spirit—that is when true transformation occurs,” Kong explained with a sigh, holding the ancient sword.

“Wait—you just mentioned arrays. Is there a refining method…?” Zhang asked suddenly.

“What kind of method?” Kong looked confused.

“What if, while fusing the sword materials, we directly form arrays inside the blank itself? If we arranged certain combined formations, might the sword acquire the properties of an ancient blade?” Zhang suggested.

“Hm?” Kong furrowed his brow. “But how could we possibly control the refining materials to assemble themselves into arrays?”

“What if we used willpower to guide the internal structure of the blank as it forms? Could that create such a sword blank?” Zhang pressed.

Kong nodded slowly. “It’s possible… but extremely difficult. Nearly impossible.”

“That’s fine. Research is about failing countless times until we succeed once,” Zhang said calmly, unfazed.

Kong smiled and nodded. Once merely a refiner, he now found himself becoming a researcher. It was something unimaginable in the past. He used to think cultivation and science were utterly unrelated. But here in the Meishan Sect, the two were merging—cultivation as a scientific system. Kong couldn’t help but wonder: if his ancestor who compiled the sect’s refining manuals could hear such a statement, would he climb out of his grave just to knock him on the head?