Watching the Show

Fufeng City, Records Office.

After presenting his credentials, Zhong Shenxiu unceremoniously pulled up all the information on rogue cultivators at or above the Divine Ability realm within the Protectorate.

"White Bone Scholar, real name Xie Heze, origin unknown, rose to prominence in the seventh year of Shenwu, massacred a village in the eighth year of Shenwu, refining a hundred-bone human demon... later advanced to Divine Ability, was wanted by the court, and fled to Fufeng... whereabouts uncertain, cunning and cruel in nature, committed numerous major crimes. Anyone who can provide information on his whereabouts will be rewarded with one thousand White Emperor Coins upon verification, and a bounty for his elimination..."

"Fei Luan, real name unknown, a native of Fufeng Protectorate, formerly a renowned courtesan, later entered the Daoist path, known as the Flying Flower Sisters alongside Hua Ye, occupying Scattered Flower Mountain to cultivate, neutral faction, no evil deeds..."

Even, there was his own.

"Young Master Shenxiu, claims to be Zhong Shenxiu, origin unknown, age unknown, initially posed as a Xiantian martial artist, infiltrated the Black Mountain Gathering, killed Venerable Yellow Sand, and became a Divine Ability expert... estimated to have refined two Divine Abilities, one for soul control, one for void manipulation. Later reappeared, conspired briefly with White Bone Scholar and Fei Luan, requires further investigation!"

The ink on the last sentence was barely dry, clearly a recent addition.

Zhong Shenxiu felt a flicker of alarm and then reviewed the files of Venerable Poison Dragon and others.

Finally, he came across True Lord Dragon Tiger.

"True Lord Dragon Tiger, real name Zhang Taiyi, traitor of the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect, reason for betrayal unknown, whereabouts uncertain, astonishing Divine Ability. Those who provide clues and confirmation will be rewarded with a great merit!"

"These rewards are truly generous. A great merit from the Second Yanhan Empire can directly absolve a guilty person, or promote an official by three ranks. The reward for White Bone Scholar is nothing compared to this. Perhaps he holds some secret?"

Zhong Shenxiu mused inwardly, increasingly feeling that he shouldn't get involved in this mess.

Just from the dossiers, he could tell that this True Lord Dragon Tiger was on a completely different level from White Bone Scholar.

In fact, due to differences in heritage, foundation, Daoist Magic, magical artifacts, and so on, the combat power gap within the Divine Ability realm was astonishing.

This was also why White Bone Scholar dared not seek out True Lord Dragon Tiger himself and needed to constantly find helpers.

'One White Bone Scholar could casually slaughter ten Feng Xi'er!'

'And True Lord Dragon Tiger could probably slaughter ten White Bone Scholars!'

'This is a damn trap!'

Zhong Shenxiu walked out the door, secretly deciding that in the future, he would at most contact that group of ghosts, no need to even meet them.

For a person, self-awareness is paramount.

Even if he unleashed all his trump cards, he might not be able to deal with a Divine Ability cultivator like White Bone Scholar, let alone someone at the level of True Lord Dragon Tiger.

Outside the government office was the liveliest street in Fufeng City.

Pedestrians streamed by, with all sorts of stalls and hawkers lining the street.

"Tanghulu, tanghulu..."

A rhythmic shout reached him, causing Zhong Shenxiu to pause. He suddenly remembered that his body's cousin, the one named Su Wei, really liked eating them. If he brought some back, she would surely be happy. He quickened his pace, reaching into his robes as he walked to feel for the Black Emperor Coin.

After walking a short distance, he saw a crowd gathered in a circle. The tanghulu vendor was beaming with joy and stood there, not moving.

"Something happened?!"

Zhong Shenxiu looked at the crowd and sighed that the people of his great nation had always had a tradition of watching a spectacle. He didn't rush to buy tanghulu and peered inside.

Inside, it seemed to be a performance circle, but at this moment, a corpse lay on the ground, its head severed from its body, yet no blood flowed out.

A white-haired old man, seemingly the grandfather of the corpse, knelt on the ground, desperately pleading with a richly dressed noble opposite him to spare his grandson.

The noble was a young man in his twenties, wearing a fine jade thumb ring, which he slowly rubbed as he said with a smile, "I paid for the show, to watch the magic. What use is it to beg me? Go and conjure him back yourself, bring your grandson back."

"Alas, this pair of grandparents and grandchildren are truly pitiable."

Someone nearby sighed, explaining the situation to a friend. Without Zhong Shenxiu needing to inquire, he understood about ninety percent of it.

It turned out that this grandfather and grandson were surnamed Qian and came from Yanzhou to make a living by performing.

The Qian family had a technique passed down from their ancestors called the 'Flying Head Technique', which allowed a person to separate their head from their body and remain unharmed. Each performance astonished the audience and garnered numerous rewards.

However, while this skill was popular inland, they had forgotten that Fufeng Protectorate, though remote, had a thriving scene for various strange arts. This Flying Head Technique was merely a minor art, with many restrictions on its cultivation, such as never being able to eat donkey meat, or being unable to perform on certain days, and the flying head being easily struck by lightning. Furthermore, it was extremely easy to break.

Today, during their performance, they had run into trouble.

The noble young man hadn't done much, only rewarded them with a coin.

But it was a Red Emperor Coin!

Zhong Shenxiu immediately understood what was going on.

Even some Yin Sha Spells were countered by things like black dog blood, peach wood cores, and female red dragons. This Red Emperor Coin, originally from the imperial palace, naturally carried a certain nobility, functioning similarly to black dog blood, like a consecrated artifact, adept at breaking spells.

Coupled with the fact that the young man appeared to be of noble birth, the two factors combined would suppress even ordinary Yin Sha Spells.

Not to mention that this old man's grandson didn't even seem to be in the Gang Sha Realm!

The Flying Head Technique was naturally easily broken, and encountered a massive backlash.

If the head couldn't be reattached within a short period, the grandson would truly die.

Old Man Qian's forehead was covered in blood from his repeated kowtows. He repeatedly chanted incantations and performed hand seals, but he couldn't put his grandson's head back. He was on the verge of despair.

His magical power was shallow, and the noble refused to retract the Red Emperor Coin and lift the suppression.

If this continued, it would be hopeless, but he only had this one grandson! He wailed incessantly, his misery extreme.

Seeing his miserable state, some people actually wanted to step forward and offer some comfort.

But they were immediately pulled back by observant companions: "Don't be a hero. Don't you see even the public officials dare not intervene? They're using Red Emperor Coins!"

Red Emperor Coins were only occasionally used as rewards from the imperial family, signifying nobility!

It could be said that within the entire Fufeng Protectorate, only the Grand Protector might possess some, and even Feng Xi'er was not qualified!

This young master's background was truly intimidating, as even the public officials dared not meddle too much.

After all, the public display of magic by this pair of grandfather and grandson was a crime, big or small. If encountered, they could be branded as sorcerers, so it was their own doing.

"Alas... I never imagined my old Qian family would be childless today."

Old Man Qian regretted it deeply, fully understanding why his ancestors, despite mastering this peculiar art, were content to merely mingle in the marketplace and not swindle any high officials.

It turned out that giving too much in rewards could also lead to death.