Returning Origin Art

"There was still no news yet."

Yan Qingshan gently shook his head.

"Forget it. When the appointed time comes, it will reveal itself."

Because Wei Qing had ordered Zhu Huan to keep their mouths shut.

They still knew nothing about the deaths of the two Spiritual Stream Demonic Cats.

Around noon, inside the Inn.

Wei Qing was just about to head out.

Zhang Zhidong hurried over and reported, "Lord Wei, we just received secret intelligence. Young Master Yan has left with the Yan Family's younger generation. There are three carriages in total, and judging by their formation, they seem to be heading on a long journey."

"Should we take them down?"

Wei Qing snorted coldly. "Their noses are quite sharp. We had only just traced things back to them, and they were already preparing to grease their soles and run." He immediately gave the order, "Let them travel five li out of the city, then take them down."

He then continued, "What about the Yan Family's other members?"

At this moment, he was more concerned with the whereabouts of Yan Qingshan and the other core figures of the Yan Family.

Zhang Zhidong quickly replied, "Tonight, they will make a move at the City God Temple in the western part of the city."

"Just keep a close watch on them."

"Yes."

No sooner had he finished speaking than A'Fu arrived with a man dressed in a Guardian Envoy's uniform.

When Wei Qing saw the newcomer, delight appeared on his face. "Why are you here, kid?"

"Hehe, I didn't have a mission for the time being. Uncle Zhou said he had something for you, so he sent me to make the trip."

The newcomer was none other than Jun Wushang.

As he spoke, he handed a gray bundle to Wei Qing.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhidong said, "My lord, let us go to a private room on the second floor."

"Mm."

After entering the private room, Wei Qing did not bother avoiding anyone and directly opened the bundle.

The first thing he saw was a rectangular Identity Token.

Wei Qing picked up the token and examined it. One side bore the three words Heavenly Realm Division, while the other read Guardian Envoy—Wei Qing.

The only difference from his previous token was that the word "probationary" was gone.

Jun Wushang smiled. "Congratulations, Qingzi. Now you're officially a Guardian Envoy. We'll have a proper celebration later."

"No problem."

Zhang Zhidong chimed in, "Congratulations, Lord Wei, on becoming an official Guardian Envoy. Your future will surely be bright as brocade. I hope you will look after me in the future."

"Brother Zhang, you flatter me. We are colleagues, so helping one another is only right."

Wei Qing smiled faintly and put away the Identity Token.

This was his second Identity Token from the Heavenly Realm Division.

According to the rules, when receiving a new Identity Token, the old one had to be reclaimed at the same time.

But since he had not returned to the Heavenly Realm Division, that step had been omitted.

One day, when he returned to the Heavenly Realm Division.

He would still have to hand in the Identity Token immediately for cancellation.

There were three other items in the bundle.

Three letters.

A manual, with the three large words "Returning Origin Art" written on it.

Wei Qing's eyes lit up. He had not expected it to be this High-Grade Profound Tier cultivation art.

His father, Wei Yuan, cultivated the internal cultivation method known as the "Returning Origin Art."

After martial artists broke through from Seventh Rank to Sixth Rank and completed their bodily tempering, they needed to purify and compress the Qi Force within their bodies, transforming it into True Essence.

The "Returning Origin Art" was one of the top five High-Grade Profound Tier internal cultivation arts in the Heavenly Realm Division for converting True Essence.

Only Guardian Envoys with extraordinary talent or those who had rendered great merit would be bestowed such an art.

If anyone in the Heavenly Realm Division dared to privately give or receive such a cultivation art.

Once discovered by the Supervision Division, the lightest punishment would be the destruction of their cultivation, while the harshest would be death and the dissipation of their soul.

Other than that.

Only a porcelain bottle marked: Qi Gathering Pill remained.

As its name implied, the Qi Gathering Pill was an auxiliary pill used to gather, compress, and purify Qi Force.

One pill was worth ten days of ordinary cultivation, and one bottle of Qi Gathering Pills contained twenty pills.

This alone saved him over half a year of cultivation time.

Wei Qing placed the pills to one side and opened one of the letters. It was unexpectedly an Appointment Letter.

It appointed him to temporarily serve as Acting Magistrate of Lin City. Before the new Magistrate arrived, he was to temporarily oversee Qingcheng. A large seal was stamped in the lower-right corner of the letter.

He was not very familiar with the seal, but it was presumably some sort of appointment seal from the Ministry of Personnel.

"Brother Zhang, do you recognize the seal on this?"

Wei Qing handed the Appointment Letter to Zhang Zhidong.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhidong carefully accepted it with both hands. After sweeping his gaze over it, his eyes shone brightly. "My lord, this is the official appointment seal of Great Zhou's Ministry of Personnel. From this moment onward, you are Qingcheng's Acting Magistrate. Congratulations, my lord."

"Oh ho, Qingzi, you've transformed into an official in the blink of an eye!"

The moment Jun Wushang heard this, he snatched the Appointment Letter away and examined it no fewer than three times. A smile curled across his lips. "Treat us! Today, you have to treat us properly to celebrate!"

"You fellow, can't you think about anything other than eating?" Wei Qing shook his head helplessly, though there was a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.

"Fighting. Slaying demons."

Jun Wushang raised a brow and suddenly clenched his right fist. His knuckles let out a crisp crack.

An expression of I knew it would be like this appeared on Wei Qing's face.

He knew his brother Jun Wushang far too well.

He was born battle-hungry.

When he fought, he was even more reckless with his life.

It was also because of this that Wei Qing had had a rather difficult time during his stay at Marquis Huaiyuan's Estate.

He was injured almost every day.

And because of that, after entering the Heavenly Realm Division, Jun Wushang had relied on sheer ruthlessness to become the first official Guardian Envoy among their batch.

Afterward, Wei Qing opened the second letter.

The contents of the letter were the Imperial Court's verdict on the Fang Family.

Just as he had expected, the Imperial Court loathed anyone who colluded with demons and monsters. Once the Verdict was issued, it had essentially cut off the Fang Family's last chance of survival.

"The Fang Family is finished."

"It's just a pity about Lord Fang. He was dragged down by such a foolish son."

Wei Qing sighed.

Although Zhang Zhidong had not seen the contents of the letter, he basically understood everything from Wei Qing's words.

"Lord Wei, compared with the stability of the entire empire, even if Lord Fang was known to be a good official, he still had to die!"

"If he was not severely punished, it would not serve as a warning. More people would loosen their own bottom lines afterward and do things that betrayed humanity."

"The deaths of the Fang Family are also a warning bell for others."

"Yes. If Fang Youting had properly disciplined his son, there would never have been any collusion with demons and monsters." Jun Wushang nodded in agreement. "I do not deny that he was a good official, but he was certainly not a good father."

"Mm, I was too attached to appearances."

Wei Qing laughed at himself.

"I think your old habit of being softhearted is acting up again." Jun Wushang sighed, putting on an expression of frustration at iron for not becoming steel.

"If you don't speak, no one will take you for a mute."

"That's more like it!"

Seeing Wei Qing snap back at him, Jun Wushang smiled instead.

Next, Wei Qing opened the final letter.

It contained several words Zhou Cang had sent him. Considering that this mission carried a certain degree of risk, the higher-ups had decided to grant him some benefits. Once the Heavenly Realm Division freed up manpower after some time, they would transfer him back.