"My lord, we've arrived at the Town Pacification Office."
Xiong Sanrang's respectful voice came from outside the carriage.
The heavy curtain was lifted, revealing a handsome, refined face. Chen Ping'an slowly rose and stepped down from the carriage.
The elite officers stood solemnly in salute, their eyes fixed on him in welcome.
"Welcome, Lord Chen. May you be well." Before the Province Town Pacification Office, elite runners stood in rows on both sides, saluting in greeting.
Chen Ping'an gave a slight nod, his expression calm as he entered the Province Town Pacification Office.
Not long ago, someone from the Province Town Pacification Office had delivered word. The merit credits for the Evil Extremity Twin Fiends had been assessed and issued, and Lord Chen was asked to inspect them.
Chen Ping'an had naturally been paying attention to the matter of the Evil Extremity Twin Fiends' merit credits.
Though he had been in seclusion, the Province Town Pacification Office had dispatched someone, and through Xiong Sanrang and the others, the news had reached his ears at the first opportunity.
Under normal circumstances, once merit credits had been assessed and issued, the person who submitted the claim needed to keep track of it in real time. There was simply no reason for someone from the Province Town Pacification Office to make a special trip.
After all, whose matter it was, that person followed up on it. If one did not even care about one's own affairs, who else could one expect to care!?
It had always been the submitter who urged things along; never had the assessor turned around and personally notified them.
But clearly, that did not apply to Chen Ping'an.
As one of the Province Town Pacification Office's giants and a Hidden Dragon Heavenly Talent whose fame was on the rise, he possessed this tiny bit of privilege.
The instant the merit credits were assessed and issued, he had been informed of it simultaneously.
After learning of it, Chen Ping'an did not delay for long. Taking advantage of a break in his breathing adjustment, he made a trip to the Province Town Pacification Office.
The Evil Extremity Twin Fiends were top Grandmasters of the Evil Extremity Path who had long been famous. When they erupted in full force, their combat strength touched the threshold of a Great Grandmaster. The merit credits earned from such top Grandmasters with years of accumulation were naturally no trifling sum.
Even if someone tried to throw a wrench in the works, it would not affect his ability to make up the difference and exchange for the top Supreme Divine Skill, the Grand Void Wind Riding Step.
Chen Ping'an's visit today was only secondarily to collect his merit credits. His primary purpose was to exchange for this top Supreme Divine Skill.
Otherwise, with his state of mind and temperament, he might not truly have been willing to make this extra trip.
As for the exact amount, so long as privacy was not a concern, he could have entirely sent someone below to handle it.
Aside from gaining Chen Ping'an a valuable sum of merit credits, this harvest also left a bold and colorful stroke upon his service record.
Promotion within the Province Town Pacification Office required not only strength, but also the corresponding merits and seniority.
Normally, the greater one's strength and standing, the greater the merits one could obtain. Or rather, the chances and possibilities of obtaining greater merit were higher.
Strength was one of the most important considerations, but it was not the only one.
There had once been Division Head Candidates of exceptional strength who, whether because of poor opportunities and a lack of major meritorious incidents, or because they were too lazy and insufficiently proactive in every matter, had never advanced into the ranks of Senior Division Head Candidates.
They possessed strength close to that of a Deputy Division Head, yet held only the rank of an ordinary Division Head Candidate.
Such cases were rare, but not nonexistent.
The Province Town Pacification Office occupied vast grounds, far exceeding its subordinate institutions. Its enormous complex contained towers, halls, courtyards, compounds, public offices, staff rooms, and every conceivable functional arrangement.
The Province Town Pacification Office contained a Merit Treasure Vault specifically for exchanging treasures. Cultivation techniques, weapons, and all sorts of rare spiritual materials could be exchanged there.
The Merit Treasure Vault had abundant reserves and countless categories, far surpassing those of ordinary Great Families.
Even a family on the level of the Azure Dragon Gu Family found it difficult to compare with the Province Town Pacification Office's Merit Treasure Vault.
However, the scale supported by the two was entirely different, so the resources ultimately distributed could hardly be compared in practical terms.
Furthermore, although the Province Town Pacification Office was the central authority of a region, behind it stood the shadows of major families and various factions. Rather than belonging solely to the Province Town Pacification Office, its Merit Treasure Vault was more accurately a resource shared by all parties.
Some truly rare treasures might not remain in the Province Town Pacification Office's Merit Treasure Vault for very long.
Each province had different local conditions, and the naming of Merit Treasure Vaults varied accordingly. Still, they were generally called things like Heaven's Bounty Pavilion, Treasure Overseerate, Treasure Hoard Tower, or Gold and Jade Treasury.
It was said that higher-level Town Pacification Office institutions had names such as Xuanbi Platform, Crimson Gold Pavilion, and Azure Kui Hall.
The names were secondary. What mattered was that such treasure vaults and golden pavilions were protected by intricate restrictions, their might deep as an abyss, possessing immense power.
But such matters were too far removed from Chen Ping'an, and he had not paid much attention to them.
First, the cost-effectiveness of such intelligence was poor. Second, other intelligence worth his attention had higher priority. Since those matters were distant and beyond his current reach, he chose to devote his limited energy elsewhere.
The Merit Treasure Vault of the Azure Dragon Province Town Pacification Office bore a conventional name: the Inner Treasury Pavilion. It was located in a confidential area of the Province Town Pacification Office.
The pavilion's location had been selected with extreme care. It stood near the offices of several Deputy Division Heads of the Province Town Pacification Office. It also possessed an exceptionally complete patrol and warning system.
Within the pavilion, Martial Grandmasters stood guard, and there were even stringent defensive measures and self-inspection mechanisms.
Its treasury security was more than sufficiently guaranteed.
Guided by dedicated elite officers, Chen Ping'an soon arrived at the confidential area of the Inner Treasury Pavilion.
Strictly speaking, this was Chen Ping'an's first visit to the Inner Treasury Pavilion.
Although he had previously exchanged for the Soaring Dragon Movement Technique, he had applied for the exchange in the name of a lower-level institution and had not personally come to the Inner Treasury Pavilion.
However, the Soaring Dragon Movement Technique was merely a divine skill, and its value naturally could not compare to the Grand Void Wind Riding Step he had come to exchange for today.
Even giants at the Deputy Division Head level had to treasure a cultivation technique inheritance of this rarity.
Even if—
This cultivation technique inheritance possessed an incomplete intent.
"Lord Chen."
A white-haired elder led Chen Ping'an into the pavilion.
Chen Ping'an had not visited the Azure Dragon Province Town Pacification Office many times, but his reputation was immense, and quite a few people within the office knew him.
This elder was a senior vassal of the Province Town Pacification Office Vassal Pavilion. He possessed Jade Balance Middle Stage cultivation and was also one of the Inner Treasury Pavilion's nominal guardians.
"May I ask what Lord Chen requires on this visit?" With no one else around, the elder spoke in inquiry. His tone was not especially warm, but goodwill could be sensed within it.
"Here are the exchange categories. Lord Chen may take a look."
"No need." Chen Ping'an waved a hand. "I wish to exchange for a movement technique—the Grand Void Wind Riding Step!"
"The Grand Void Wind Riding Step?" A faint light flashed in the elder's eyes, and a trace of strange surprise passed over his face. Yet it quickly vanished.
"That's right." Chen Ping'an nodded faintly.
The Inner Treasury Pavilion was exceedingly quiet around them, but Chen Ping'an sensed several auras hidden in the dark, all belonging to Jade Balance Grandmasters. Further away, there seemed to be the gaze of a Great Grandmaster spying upon and watching this place.
"Lord Chen, please come with me." Once he saw Chen Ping'an's certainty, the elder stroked his beard and spoke.
Chen Ping'an did not exchange further pleasantries and followed the elder straight to the top floor of the pavilion.
A cultivation technique inheritance on the level of the Grand Void Wind Riding Step was among the rarest categories even in the Inner Treasury Pavilion of the Province Town Pacification Office. Even if it was not among the absolute top resources, it was close to that tier.
The entire exchange process went extremely smoothly, without any incident.
The exchange procedure was exceptionally rigorous. In addition to Chen Ping'an's personal presence, it required him to produce items such as his seal and command token for multiple layers of verification.
The seal and token bore unique markings that could be identified with the naked eye. Beyond their outward forms, they also bore specialized spiritual inscriptions. Such inscriptions had little practical use, but they served as an excellent anti-counterfeiting measure.
Every layer of verification was indispensable.
Such measures were also intended to prevent people from changing their appearances, borrowing another's identity to exchange for treasures, and trying to muddle their way through.
It was worth mentioning that during Chen Ping'an's exchange verification, he sensed a faint, indistinct attention sweeping over him from the shadows.
That attention was light, minute beyond measure, and exceedingly covert.
If he had not cultivated to the first stage of breakthrough, possessed the robust foundation granted by the Golden Finger Panel, and undergone the purification from the Dual Cultivation Method, he might not even have noticed it.
Chen Ping'an's expression remained normal, as though he had sensed nothing, and he handled the matters in his hands with complete naturalness.
Only after leaving the Inner Treasury Pavilion did a ripple arise in Chen Ping'an's heart.
Beneath that ripple lay an inner sea that appeared calm but was in truth turbulent.
"Was that a Pseudo Celestial? Or a Celestial!?"
The aura that had swept over him from the shadows was entirely different from spirituality. It was a new kind of power.
A power above spirituality—this was
Soul power!
For a Martial Dao Great Grandmaster to cultivate to perfection, one had to fully pass through the third stage of breakthrough: spiritual inscriptions condensing into essence, nurturing the soul, and breaking the shell, before one could assault the Martial Dao Celestial Realm.
Under Unity of Heaven and Man, if the shell stage had flaws and the soul was damaged, the path ahead was completely severed. That was the Pseudo Celestial Realm.
If the shell was utterly shattered, the soul flawless, smooth and self-consistent, that was the Martial Dao Celestial Realm!
Yet whether one was the former or the latter, so long as one could break the shell, one could generate soul power.
With soul power, the Martial Path Realm of the person secretly watching and sensing him was self-evident.
The question of whether it was a Pseudo Celestial or a Martial Dao Celestial only lingered in Chen Ping'an's mind for an instant before he had his answer.
According to the information he had previously learned, throughout Azure Dragon Province and the surrounding several provinces, including the various hegemonic forces and violent institutions such as the Universe Control Division and the Town Pacification Office, there were many experts, but only one true Martial Dao Celestial!
And that Martial Dao Celestial was within Azure Dragon Province, within Canglong itself.
The remaining factions might have figures who suppressed their foundations, but they were all Pseudo Celestials!
Though the truth of this matter was difficult to determine, it had spread widely throughout the province.
Anyone who entered the upper circles within the province had generally heard of it.
Since it had spread so widely, the matter possessed considerable credibility to a certain extent.
In other words, the aura and attention Chen Ping'an had just sensed came from a Martial Dao Pseudo Celestial.
Furthermore, Pseudo Celestials enjoyed a lifespan of eight hundred years!
But compared to the thousand-year lifespan of true Celestials, there was still an enormous gap.
Even their lifespans differed so greatly, to say nothing of their power and divine mysteries.
If the person who had secretly watched him just now had been a true Martial Dao Celestial, then with Chen Ping'an's current foundation and reserves, he might not have discovered the other party as he had now.
"Pseudo Celestial!"
Chen Ping'an's eyes were calm, his expression unchanged as he walked through the corridor.
Based on Chen Ping'an's previous senses, although the Inner Treasury Pavilion was heavily guarded, it still fell some distance short of true security.
Not to mention a Storm Cloud Great Grandmaster—even an expert whose combat strength reached the level of a Storm Cloud Great Grandmaster might, with deliberate planning, not be unable to succeed.
Although the pavilion's top floor had Spirituality Restrictions dividing the various areas, they clearly could not stop an expert of that level.
But now, the doubts in Chen Ping'an's heart had completely dispersed. He clearly understood that the true foundation guarding the Inner Treasury Pavilion was that hidden Pseudo Celestial.
With such an expert guarding the Inner Treasury Pavilion, no wonder the Azure Dragon Province Town Pacification Office had never worried about its treasury being robbed.
Under such defenses, if the treasury could still be robbed, then the Azure Dragon Province Town Pacification Office need not remain seated over Azure Dragon Province. Should that day truly come, it would either mean the dynasty's prestige had been utterly lost and evil demons raged unchecked, or that the world was in chaos and rebel armies rose everywhere!
Chen Ping'an walked down the corridor and left the pavilion area. After only a few steps, he saw a towering building.
That was the office of Li Wusheng, Deputy Division Head of the Azure Dragon Province Town Pacification Office.
It neighbored the Inner Treasury Pavilion, allowing for mutual support during ordinary times. In a crisis, he could rush to reinforce the Inner Treasury Pavilion at the fastest speed, minimizing the risk of an incident within it.
There were quite a few arrangements like Li Wusheng's around the Inner Treasury Pavilion. Several Deputy Division Head giants had their offices nearby.
"Li Wusheng."
Chen Ping'an walked past the towering building with a calm expression and natural bearing.
Perhaps—
He should change his approach.
Within a secret chamber on the pavilion's top floor, an elder sat suspended in the air, cross-legged.
The elder's eye sockets were sunken like deep wells, his eyelashes black as raven feathers. A Blue-Gray Brahma Nail was embedded in his brow, while his grizzled hair moved without wind.
"Jade Balance Middle Stage."
The elder murmured, a trace of surprise appearing on his face.
Beyond Chen Ping'an's cultivation, he had also sensed an will within him that did not lose to that of a Great Grandmaster.
His aptitude was peerless, monstrously extraordinary.
But—
Hidden Dragon Heavenly Talents appeared once every fifty years, while each generation rose every thirty. The Hidden Dragon Rankings changed and shifted; that was nothing unusual. He had lived for several hundred years and had seen no few Hidden Dragon Heavenly Talents.
Although Chen Ping'an's talent surprised him, it was still far from enough to shock or shake him.
Looking across the previous Hidden Dragon Rankings, aside from those near the top who had hope of ascending to Martial Dao Celestial, did not all the rest merely achieve the ranks of Pseudo Celestials? Even those who ultimately became Pseudo Celestials only did so decades, or even one or two hundred years, after dropping from the rankings.
Not to mention that a handful of heavenly talents suffered ill fortune, met death and Dao extinction, fell early, and stopped at the Great Grandmaster Realm.
The path of cultivation was ever-changing. Only after experiencing the affairs of the world could one see through them clearly.
The elder's gaze was deep as he slowly closed his eyes.
Those who did not enter the Celestial Realm were ultimately ants!
After boarding his carriage, Chen Ping'an returned smoothly to his own courtyard.
At this hour, Er Ya—no, Zhaoheng—was still at the academy.
After returning to the courtyard, Chen Ping'an did not delay and went straight to his room.
After setting up a simple Spirituality Restriction, a flash passed through his eyes, and an object appeared in his hand.
The top Supreme Divine Skill, Grand Void Wind Riding Step!
During this trip to the Province Town Pacification Office, he had exchanged for the cultivation technique inheritance he had long yearned for. That secret observation had also changed the calculations in his heart.
He would think quietly and seek another opportunity.
Only—
No matter what, before he left Azure Dragon—
Li Wusheng was certain death!
Chen Ping'an's gaze tightened slightly. Spiritual light flashed at his brow as he opened the Inheritance Jade Book before him.
Spiritual light flickered, its radiance swirling in hazy currents.
Within that haze, an inheritance intent emerged.
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