Sweetwater Well Alley

Sweetwater Well Alley.

Zhong Shenxiu swept past the window and returned to his room. He quickly changed his clothes, then raised a hand and wiped his face.

In an instant, Zhong Shenxiu's face disappeared, and the honest, good-natured Su Daozhi returned.

This little gathering really had nothing of value, but it was still a threshold... This time, I deliberately revealed my strength. Aside from earning Heavenly Show Points, I also wanted to attract attention.

A Divine Ability Cultivator is worth winning over. He is also qualified to enter higher circles and obtain better resources...

The next time I go there, perhaps I will find what I want.

Without strength, and without reaching a certain level, no one would even bother with you. There was nothing to be done about that.

At this thought, Zhong Shenxiu waved his sleeve again, and a pile of gleaming objects appeared on the floor.

These were all the belongings of those two unlucky fellows.

Speaking of which, they really had been unlucky. One was Xiantian, and the other was in the Gang Sha Realm—either one would have been powerful enough to dominate a region wherever they went.

Unfortunately, they had encountered Headless Count's spatial magic. After only a moment of fighting, Zhong Shenxiu had thrown them all into an alternate space, where their flesh and bones melted away, leaving no trace behind.

With the power of divine abilities, exterminating Gang Sha and Xiantian cultivators was simply this convenient and swift!

Those two fellows had truly been unlucky, serving as the chickens killed to warn the monkeys and as gift-bringing boys.

Zhong Shenxiu looked through everything. He tossed some gold, silver, and miscellaneous items aside, then picked up several objects.

There were not many things that caught his eye—only three: a copy of the Yellow Sand Daoist Book, a small apricot-yellow banner, and a white conch.

Zhong Shenxiu opened the Yellow Sand Daoist Book first and discovered that it was the cultivation notes and life summary of a Rogue Cultivator who called himself Venerable Yellow Sand. It scattered records of quite a few Martial Arts and Ultimate Skills, Six Paths Magic, and the refining methods for two magic artifacts. They were not particularly profound; in fact, they were exceedingly crude.

Even the step Zhong Shenxiu cared about most—how Xiantian could break through into the Gang Sha Realm—was described extremely vaguely. It only said that he had crossed over by chance through the power of pills and given birth to magic power.

The Six Paths Magic was ordinary as well. There was only one Yellow Wind Evasion Technique, which required cultivating with Yellow Wind Sha Qi. It could stir up a gust of yellow wind, rise a hundred zhang from the ground, and fly dozens of miles.

At the end, the book even sighed: "Following unorthodox paths while seeking the righteous fruit—how difficult it is!"

"This... can't even count as a true transmission of the Daoist school, can it? There isn't even any hope of breaking through into the Divine Ability Realm. In terms of foundations, it's inferior even to the Ten Directions Beast Art..."

Zhong Shenxiu was somewhat speechless. He raised his hand and shook open the small apricot-yellow banner.

This was a magic artifact recorded in the Yellow Sand Daoist Book, named the Yellow Sand Banner. It had been refined with the Daoist Arts of flying sand and rolling stones, and contained three layers of restrictions. Its power was roughly equivalent to cultivating this Daoist Art to the third layer.

As for the white conch, it had belonged to Feng Yi Palace.

The conch was pure white all over, with an elegant shape. Faintly, the sound of ocean tides seemed to come from within.

Zhong Shenxiu placed it beside his ear, but heard no sound of ocean tides. After thinking for a moment, he slowly injected a thread of True Qi. At once, he heard a faint voice, as though it had come from the depths of the sea: "There is qi among mankind, and its name is Ha. Joined with Daoist Arts, it is called Soul Stirring Drink..."

"So it's the cultivation method for a Daoist Art—Soul Stirring Drink. This Daoist Art requires refining Ha Qi together with another qi, the Hum-Ha Qi? Then is there another Daoist Art that requires refining Hum Qi?"

"Hum-Ha Qi... sounds like a type of human qi."

Zhong Shenxiu did not know that Hum-Ha Qi truly was a type of human qi. A trace of it was occasionally generated when ordinary people breathed, shouted, or raged, only to quickly dissipate into the heavens and earth. Gathering it was neither difficult nor easy.

If one could obtain the strength of the government and mobilize ten thousand or even tens of thousands of people, it could be gathered within a few moments or months.

But Feng Yi Palace was a lone-legged great bandit. How could he possibly obtain the government's assistance?

Not to mention that he was not in the Gang Sha Realm himself and could not refine killing intent.

Thus, he had only cultivated Soul Stirring Drink halfway. As a result, Zhong Shenxiu looked down on the Daoist Art as well.

He casually tossed the conch aside. "Forget it... it's still a Daoist Art, after all. Even if I give it to Er Ha to practice, it wouldn't be bad."

"My lord."

Zhong Shenxiu had not rested for long when he heard a knock at the door.

He tidied himself up and rose to open the door, only to see Er Ha's dog head wearing a fawning smile. "What happened?"

"Someone from the government is here. They say Colonel Feng has issued an order for you to go to the southern training grounds and receive your instructions." Er Ha hurriedly recited what he had memorized.

"Ah, yes. My leave has run out too. I understand."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded, suddenly feeling the reluctance of a worker from a previous life who did not want to go to work.

If he did not still have a whole family to support, if his official identity did not carry such deterrent power, and if he did not want to obtain more Daoist Arts and Daoist Secrets...

He truly would not want to keep working as the Subordinate Ninth Rank Deputy Envoy of Exorcism.

The southern training grounds.

After eating two steamer baskets of buns for breakfast, Zhong Shenxiu arrived outside the gate. He saw the guards cross their weapons and shout, "This is a military stronghold! Idlers are forbidden entry!"

He took out his waist token and only then entered the training grounds without trouble, where he was led before a tent.

On both sides stood more than a dozen members of the Black Armored Iron Cavalry. Each wore heavy armor and held a steel saber, their expressions solemn. At most, they showed some curiosity when their eyes swept over him.

Feng Xi'er's Black Armored Iron Cavalry was wiped out from top to bottom. I never expected them to be replenished in such a short time. The power of an Aristocratic Clan truly cannot be underestimated.

Zhong Shenxiu explained his purpose. One of the Black Armored Iron Cavalry told him to wait while he went inside to report.

It was not long before he first heard several voices arguing. Then the curtain was lifted, and Daoist Linghe walked out. Without paying attention to anyone around him, he left on his own.

A moment later, that Black Armored Cavalryman came out and ordered, "The Colonel wishes to see you."

Zhong Shenxiu entered the tent and saw Feng Xi'er seated in the principal position. Her cheeks were flushed, as though she had just quarreled with someone.

"Greetings, Colonel. Thank you for your righteous assistance earlier."

Zhong Shenxiu bowed first. He was thanking her for the matter concerning the Su Family.

"It was nothing. Wait for now."

Feng Xi'er appeared to be in a poor mood and waved a hand.

Zhong Shenxiu waited to one side, watching one group of people after another enter and pay their respects.

The person closest to Feng Xi'er was the newly appointed squad leader of the Black Armored Iron Cavalry, an official of the Principal Ninth Rank named Wang Xiao. He had a hooked nose and a cold, sinister gaze.

Besides him, there were several Battalion Commanders, as well as several Deputy Envoys of Exorcism like Zhong Shenxiu.

Once everyone had arrived, Feng Xi'er said coldly, "We have received the Grand Protector's orders to investigate lawbreakers, protect the borders, and keep the people safe. Yesterday, we received a report that a mysterious Rogue Cultivator had appeared in Black Wind Ridge, calling himself Young Master Shenxiu. He is suspected to be a Divine Ability Cultivator. You are to investigate thoroughly, but take note: do not anger him, and do not throw away your own lives."

"Understood!"

The group bowed in salute.

Mixed among them, Zhong Shenxiu felt a hundred emotions stirring in his heart. I'm certain that people from the Protector's Office were mixed in among the Black Mountain Gathering last night...

It's normal for the government to monitor these things, but have me investigate myself? Fine... When I run short of money someday, I'll sell a little of Zhong Shenxiu's intelligence...