Credit Peddler

The arrival of Consort Chun at the Baosu Marquis Residence in the Yuan River was a momentous event for the Yuan River Prefecture.

Today, Chu Jizhe, the prefect of Yuan River Prefecture, personally came to the Baosu Marquis Residence to see how the East Courtyard was being tidied up.

He wore a royal blue robe with a fox fur cloak over it, and stepped through the moon gate of the East Courtyard with his hands behind his back, followed by seven or eight subordinate officials and guards.

Lin Longyue accompanied them, Yunhe Commandery Princess happened to be in the mansion as well, so the group walked together in the East Courtyard.

Several stewards, including Liu Que from the West Courtyard and Wang Chu from the South Courtyard, followed behind these important figures, their hands clasped and heads bowed, not daring to overstep their bounds in the slightest.

This manor lord looks somewhat similar to Chu Linzi, with slanted eyebrows, slightly upturned eyes, and a strong, well-defined jawline. Yet, he appears quite young, with fair skin and no beard, looking no more than thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old.

His gaze was deep as he swept his eyes around the courtyard, a smile playing on his lips. He nodded slightly to Lin Longyue and asked, "Where is your elder brother Lin Suri, today?"

Lin Longyue stood on the steps, about to reply, when Chu Jizhe said again, "I heard that he hasn't been to the Metropolitan Commandery Office for over a month. Cultivation is important, but he should still ask the court for leave."

These words were spoken calmly, but the meaning behind them was clear.

Lin Longyue remained silent for a moment, then turned her gaze slightly and landed on Wang Chu.

Wang Chu was in charge of the South Courtyard, so naturally she should be the one to answer Lin Suri's questions.

Wang Chu understood, stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Reporting to the Lord, my young master is currently in seclusion and is about to break through to the Silver Bone Perfection."

I have indeed not left my home these past few days, nor have I gone to the Metropolitan Commandery Office to report for duty.

The young master said that he would submit the leave request to the court after the breakthrough.

Chu Jizhe frowned, but said nothing more, only calmly remarking, "Silver Bone Perfection, truly extraordinary!"

Since that's the case, let him cultivate diligently, just make sure he doesn't neglect his important duties."

Lin Longyue agreed.

Right now.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from outside the side gate. The footsteps were heavy and fast, making a thud on the bluestone slabs, and they arrived in an instant. A government official dressed in black rushed into the moon gate. When he reached Chu Jizhe, he couldn't stop himself and knelt on one knee, almost slipping.

"Master!" The constable's voice trembled, his face deathly pale. "Something has happened at Clear River Estate!"

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Lin Longyue Yunhe Commandery Princess's expressions both changed.

Chu Jizhe frowned. "Speak."

The constable, panting heavily, managed to squeeze out a complete sentence after several breaths. "At Clear River Estate, Young Master Yang was murdered... All the other martial artists were killed as well."

Yunhe Commandery Princess's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and Lin Longyue couldn't help but frown.

"Yang Zhuri is dead?" Chu Jizhe took a deep breath and asked again.

The constable nodded. "It is said that the person who made the move was a masked figure, dressed in a black robe, and carrying a knife at his waist."

This person only kills martial artists; the servants and men in the mansion were not killed. The shopkeeper has already interrogated several of them on the spot."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chu's expression changed slightly.

He wore a ghost mask, dressed in black, and had a long sword at his waist...

The figure she had seen that day in the gilded palace of the Eastern King immediately flashed into her mind.

The man opened his mouth and spat out a beam of purple light, instantly killing a bearded man with Silver Bone Perfection. Even the scholar Mohe Envoy dared not utter a word in his presence.

"Spirit-Wielding General!" Wang Chu murmured to himself.

Chu Jizhe's face was grim. He said to the constable, "Lead the way."

He then strode towards the side gate, with his subordinates and guards quickly following, their footsteps echoing through the corridor.

Yunhe Commandery Princess's expression also hardened. After standing silently for a moment, she turned and quickly left.

The steward and servants in the courtyard looked at each other in bewilderment.

Lin Longyue shook her head. There was actually a powerful person in Yuan River Prefecture who dared to kill Yang Zhuri.

She was silent for a moment, then ordered, "Strengthen the defenses and recall all the retainers scattered throughout the land."

Liu Que should be the answer.

Lin Longyue then looked towards the East Courtyard Garden and said to Liuzhu, "Place out all the flowers that Chen Lingxi has arranged recently, and take good care of them, lest they die."

That night, the cold moon hung high in the sky.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged on the hard bed in the servants' quarters, his consciousness sinking into his Divine Chamber, where he used his Wandering Sight Divine Ability.

After Fourth Floor of Qi Circulation, Sight-Roaming had expanded to four thousand feet in both directions. His gaze followed the wisp of smoke as it drifted out of the high walls of the Marquis's mansion, over the city walls, and landed directly on the Ancestral Mountain of the city.

"Lin Suri is going to Ancestral Mountain?" Chen Lingxi was surprised.

Thick fog billowed.

Within the Ancestral Mountain, Lin Suri's figure moved among the rugged rocks.

Through Lin Suri's perspective, Chen Lingxi took in the surrounding scenery.

The rocks are jagged like animal teeth, the ancient trees reach for the sky and block out the moon, and the fog is so thick that it almost solidifies, slowly flowing in the night wind.

In the next instant, Lin Suri's figure vanished.

"This is beyond the scope of Sight-Roaming!"

"I am currently residing in the Baosu Marquis Residence, Sight-Roaming cannot encompass the Ancestral Mountain."

Chen Lingxi immediately withdrew from the Sight-Roaming.

He opened his eyes, his mind racing, and suddenly stood up.

He quickly left the Baosu Marquis Residence, crossed the quiet long street, and settled in an inn in the west of the city.

The innkeeper, yawning, gave him the most secluded room.

He closed the door, sat cross-legged on the bed, and once again entered a state of Sight-Roaming.

A sharp pain shot through me.

"Even if the Sight-Roaming was extremely short, launching two Sight-Roaming in one day... is still overwhelming..."

Chen Lingxi had a splitting headache.

His vision was blurry, his temples throbbed, but he clenched his teeth tightly, concentrating his mind to the extreme.

The perspective shifted again, and he saw what Lin Suri had seen.

Lin Suri walked through the thick fog, beneath the Void.

The surrounding mountains and rocks were completely shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to see anything more than a few steps away.

But Lin Suri's pace was unhurried, as if he were strolling in his own backyard.

An unimaginable aura emanated from him, an aura that did not burst forth outwards but was restrained and profound, like a bottomless abyss, its surface calm and still, yet beneath it, immense power flowed silently.

"This is the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor!"

At this moment, Chen Lingxi confirmed that Lin Suri had already entered the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor.

Because Lin Suri possessed an extremely powerful aura, with each step he took, the surrounding thick fog was pushed aside by an invisible force, forming a clear gap around him.

Moreover, Lin Suri has become even younger than when he first traded with the Candle of Time and lost twenty years of his lifespan.

By then, the silver strands at his temples had disappeared, and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes had been completely smoothed out. His entire face was like a piece of fine mutton fat jade immersed in clear water, exuding a coolness, yet with a more warm and lustrous glow than before.

"Where is Lin Suri going? Is he going to find that Mother Qi?" Chen Lingxi wondered.

Lin Suri walked forward, and the thick fog receded on its own in front of him.

He walked for a long time until he came to a stone.

The stone was about half a person's height, and its whole body was grayish, just like any ordinary mountain stone that could be found anywhere in the mountains, with nothing special about it.

But Lin Suri stopped in his tracks, stood in front of the stone, and quietly looked at it.

A few breaths passed, the mountain wind howled as it passed through the cracks in the rocks, and the thick fog slowly swirled between Lin Suri and the stones.

A soft laugh suddenly came from the stone, "Young Master Lin's visit is an honor, I have failed to greet you properly."

Then, a bizarre scene unfolded.

Suddenly, a very faint ripple appeared on the surface of the stone, just as the water surface was disturbed by a pebble, and the ripples spread out in layers.

A thin crack appeared in the very center of the stone, and the crack widened, emitting a faint blue light.

Chen Lingxi was taken aback.

The stone twisted and turned, like a lump of kneaded clay, constantly changing shape, until finally a person emerged from it.

The man was dressed like a traveling merchant.

He was dressed in a drab gray short brown outfit, with a hemp rope tied around his waist, wearing a pair of worn-out cloth shoes, and carrying a bamboo basket on his back, which seemed to contain some odds and ends.

He looked quite young, around twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with delicate features and a slightly upturned mouth, carrying a hint of frivolousness.

He emerged from the stone, dusted off non-existent dust from his clothes, bowed to Lin Suri, and said with a grin, "I wonder if Young Master Lin has come to my humble shop to buy something?"

Small shop?

In this desolate wilderness, shrouded in thick fog, where could a small shop possibly be?

Lin Suri, who always claimed to be aloof, bowed respectfully to the peddler and said, "Greetings Credit Peddler."

Is this the Credit Peddler? Chen Lingxi had heard this name in other people's conversations.

When Lin Suri spoke with the cultivator surnamed Chao, he mentioned the struggle for the Ancestral Mountain Mother Qi, saying that besides the government, the Lu Family, and the Mystic Wonder Abbey, this Credit Peddler credit might also be among those who coveted it.

At that time, Chen Lingxi thought he was just an ordinary figure in the martial arts world, but he never expected that this person could emerge from the rocks in such a bizarre way.

"I wonder what level of cultivation this Credit Peddler possesses."

Chen Lingxi thought to herself.

After Lin Suri bowed, he said, "I have already ascended to the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor. My master once taught me a magic array called the Mountain-Smelting Formation."

The Qi Circulation Sixth Floor can be used to set up formations, Mountain-Smelting Formation can refine the spiritual energy of mountains and rivers, and the Spiritual Qi of all the sacred mountains.

But now, in this place devoid of spiritual energy, I cannot find anything to use for setting up an array.

Therefore, I would like to ask the Credit Peddler to find me a few things for use in setting up the formation."

Upon hearing this, the Credit Peddler tilted his head and looked at Lin Suri, a sly smile playing in his clear eyes.

Then he extended his right hand and quickly tapped his thumb between the knuckles of his index and middle fingers a few times, just like a seasoned accountant fiddling with an abacus.

He did some quick calculations, his brow furrowing slightly before relaxing. He suddenly nodded and smiled, saying, "I can find the treasure for setting up the formation for you, but you'll need to exchange it for something."

Lin Suri asked, "What is it?"

The Credit Peddler's eyes narrowed into crescent moons, and his smile deepened, "I need the Six-Qi True Formula."

Upon hearing this, Chen Lingxi's pupils suddenly contracted.

The Six-Qi True Formula! Could there really be such a coincidence in this world?

He had Sight-Roaming the Lin Suri for about a year!

From the initial methods of breathing exercises to the later explorations of the Qi Circulation Realm, what I learned was merely the superficial aspects of the Six-Qi True Method.

He was frustrated by the lack of the true secret, and after Fourth Floor of Qi Circulation, he had no way to Tower Ascension.

That day, during the Total Perception Evolution, he traded the Candle of Time with the Cauldron Venerable, wanting to exchange it for the Six-Qi True Formula, but the Cauldron Venerable said that his lifespan was not enough.

Now, this Credit Peddler is actually asking Lin Suri for the secret formula.

And he just happened to be here, so he heard it all clearly.

"What a coincidence?" Chen Lingxi thought in surprise.