Top Grade

Internal Affairs Hall.

In the side hall, Deacon Tang—a man of over fifty with graying hair and a stout build—took the two letters handed over by Yu Xiu.

The first was from Guo Boyan, stationed in Guiping County, Donghe Prefecture, recording that the three Water Demons in Tantan Lake had been eliminated, identifying who had slain them, and detailing the specific strength of the three demons.

The second was written by Su Wenjin of the Inner Court Law Enforcement Hall, clarifying the reasons behind the deaths of Fang Jiming and his eight companions in Guiping County, as well as confirming that the culprit, the Water Demon, had been dealt with and by whom.

"Yu Xiu?" Deacon Tang looked up from the letters, casting a glance at Yu Xiu. He reached for the roster of Inner Court disciples and located the file on him.

After a careful review, Deacon Tang looked at Yu Xiu again. His eyes, no longer sharp but now strangely gentle, were filled with astonishment.

"You have been in the Inner Court for just over two months, not even three?" Deacon Tang seemed unable to believe it. After checking the file once more, he suppressed his amazement and regained his professional composure.

"When you were slaying demons in Lushui Town, Guiping County, you must have already broken through the four Ascending Dragon passes and entered the Four Great Passes, correct?" This was not a question, but a statement of fact.

"Then, when Fang Jiming and his eight companions were slaying demons, what were you doing?"

Before Yu Xiu could speak, Su Wenjin, who had been standing by, pulled him aside and glared at Deacon Tang: "Are you the one enforcing the law, or am I?"

"When the Law Enforcement Hall is handling matters, since when do you have the right to interfere?"

Deacon Tang choked slightly and coughed twice: "Look, you're getting agitated again."

"I was just asking as a matter of procedure."

Su Wenjin sneered: "Trying to put pressure on Yu Xiu, then offering a carrot to lure him into your Powang Peak?"

He huffed: "Put away those little schemes of yours. Yu Xiu is not someone your Powang Peak can recruit."

Hmm? Deacon Tang ignored Su Wenjin and looked closely at Yu Xiu. After a long moment, he sighed inwardly, He has cultivated the Dragon-Slaying Evil-Purging Sword of Dragon-Slaying Peak!

It seemed Powang Peak truly had no chance of recruiting Yu Xiu!

What a pity!

Those at Dragon-Slaying Peak were truly lucky to have snatched up such an unpolished gem ahead of time.

Why hadn't such a stroke of good fortune fallen to him?

When Deacon Tang looked at Yu Xiu again, his face was full of kindness: "Congratulations, Junior Brother. From this day forward, you are a true sword cultivator of the Qingwei Sword Sect under the Main Sect."

With a wave of his hand, he marked Yu Xiu's entry mission with the grade of "A-Plus."

It was indeed worthy of an A-Plus rating. To slay a Water Demon of the Five Elements Realm while only at the first stage of the Four Great Passes—the Five Viscera Realm—was an extremely rare feat.

Of course, Deacon Tang knew that the people of Dragon-Slaying Peak must have been pulling strings.

If nothing else, the fact that Yu Xiu had learned the Dragon-Slaying Evil-Purging Sword before even joining the Main Sect meant that Dragon-Slaying Peak had been giving him special treatment.

Yu Xiu didn't know it, but Deacon Tang was well aware that the Dragon-Slaying Evil-Purging Sword was the supreme technique of Dragon-Slaying Peak. Not every disciple could learn it; only those with exceptional aptitude and talent were qualified to practice such a technique.

"Many thanks." Yu Xiu offered his gratitude before departing with Su Wenjin.

"Tomorrow, you may ascend to the Main Sect and enter Dragon-Slaying Peak," Su Wenjin instructed.

When Yu Xiu returned to his Bamboo Cottage and was about to refine the Five Viscera Treasure Light Pill to increase his cultivation, his courtyard gate was knocked upon.

It was Zhao Hong and the others.

Compared to their usual selves, these few were noticeably more despondent.

"We don't know why, but recently Senior Brother Du stopped taking us on missions. Instead, he demands that we give him the majority of the contribution points we earn!"

"We have also approached people from the Jade Excellence Society and the Skylark Society. They are very willing to let us join, but if they take us on missions, we still have to hand over the majority of our contribution points to them."

"In their words, this is already the greatest favor they can grant us, considering we've only been in the Inner Court for three years!"

"Of course, when we go on missions with those senior brothers and sisters, we really can't help much. But what I can't understand is why Senior Brother Du and the others have had such a drastic change in attitude!"

The four of them had lost their usual high spirits and were all filled with frustration.

The speaker meant no harm, but the listener understood the implication. In an instant, Yu Xiu grasped the cause and effect of the entire situation!

So, that Senior Brother Du was also one of Fang Jiming's people!

Fang Jiming had not only used Zhao Zheng of the Flying Smoke Society to set his trap, but Liu Qingchuan, Xu Rou, and Zhao Hong were also caught in his web. Everything had been designed to force Yu Xiu out of the Inner Court.

Now that Fang Jiming had been slain by Yu Xiu, that Senior Brother Du could no longer reap the benefits from Fang Jiming, so naturally, he wouldn't bother taking Zhao Hong and the others on missions for free.

"Although you have to give up most of your contribution points, it is safer to have senior brothers and sisters from the societies leading you to slay demons," Yu Xiu advised.

To put it bluntly, those senior brothers and sisters in the societies could have easily gone to slay demons themselves without needing to bring Zhao Hong and the others along.

With their strength—having only just entered the third stage of the Ascending Dragon, the Qi Sea Realm—they couldn't help at all and were more likely to become a burden.

The only reason they were willing to take them was because they saw potential in their future.

Truth be told, rather than saying those senior brothers and sisters were taking the majority of their contribution points, it would be more accurate to say those seniors were gifting them a small portion of the points.

After all, if they didn't bring Zhao Hong and the others, all the contribution points from those missions would have belonged to the seniors themselves.

It was just that Zhao Hong, Xu Rou, and the others had been taken on a few missions by the ill-intentioned Senior Brother Du, who had previously let them keep all the points. Now that they had to give up the majority, they couldn't balance their expectations.

To be even more transparent, they had all been riding on Yu Xiu's coattails, acting as bait in someone else's scheme without even realizing it, simply because they weren't strong enough in the Inner Court yet.

"That may be true, but still... sigh!" Zhao Hong sighed repeatedly.

"Cultivating here in the Inner Court is truly difficult. If we want to reach the Life Spring and ascend to the Main Sect, who knows how many years and months we will have to endure!"

"By the way, Brother Yu, how has your cultivation been progressing lately? Any signs of breaking through the first level of the Qi Sea?" Xu Rou asked.

The first level of the Qi Sea?

The third pass of the Ascending Dragon?

Yu Xiu could not answer directly. Having entered the Inner Court on the same day, those four were still stuck at the first level of the Qi Sea in the third pass of the Ascending Dragon, while he had already broken through the Qi Sea and Life Spring, entering the first of the Four Great Passes.

He had even perfected the Five Viscera realm of the first of the Four Great Passes; he only needed to refine some medicinal pills to supplement his cultivation before he could break through the Five Viscera realm and enter the Five Elements Realm.

If he were to say this out loud, Zhao Hong and the others would likely have their Dao hearts shattered on the spot.

"Cultivation has been going quite smoothly," Yu Xiu replied vaguely.

He then shifted the topic, asking with feigned curiosity, "Who is this Senior Brother Du?"

Colluding with Fang Jiming and wanting him dead?

In the past, he might have only been able to take matters into his own hands, but now, he was about to become a disciple of Dragon-Slaying Peak of the Main Sect, an enforcer holding the authority of the sect's laws.

To put it simply, this Senior Brother Du had committed a crime!