Return, a New Identity!

After cursing for a while, Wang Ping obediently sat back down.

"Looks like I'll have to be more careful in the future."

For the time being, he had no plans to return to the Immortal Sect world. After all, the [Six-Desire Demon Banner] was currently in that young "Qi Refiner's" hands.

The moment he went over, the boy would probably notice something was wrong.

Then it would all be over.

"Mm, I'll go back to Great Shun."

At the very least, compared to the Immortal Sect, whose scale had risen to the cosmic level and where interstellar travel was commonplace, the Great Shun Court's Divine Weapon Martial Dao seemed far more harmless.

"Sure enough, I was born to be a martial artist. Even after cultivating immortality, my martial heart hasn't changed in the slightest."

He still liked stomping weaklings just as much.

Although the Great Shun Court's waters ran rather deep as well, no matter how deep they were, surely they could not compare to that "Qi Refiner" from earlier, who could reverse time with a flick of his finger, could they?

With that thought, Wang Ping looked again at the scripture of the [Otherworldly Celestial Demon].

[Current identity: Constable (yamen runner).]

[Current destiny: Seven (a heroic wanderer of one region).]

[Would you like to consume destiny to exchange for a new identity?]

"Exchange it."

Wang Ping nodded faintly. He had squeezed nearly all the value he could from the constable identity. If possible, he naturally wanted to begin with a better identity.

Yet what surprised him was that, despite his destiny having increased a full sevenfold compared to last time, when it came time to exchange identities, his actual identity rank was still [yamen runner]. There was no qualitative transformation—only a faint trace of blue-red light had appeared within the mystic radiance.

"So destiny from zero is a commoner, while one through ten are all yamen runners?"

Realization dawned on Wang Ping. Then the words on the scripture began to shift continuously, all manner of identities alternating in turn before finally settling slowly on one.

[Golden Cavalry Guard].

"Why is it an official again?"

Wang Ping frowned slightly. Information on the [Golden Cavalry Guard] swiftly flashed through his mind. It seemed to be directly under the capital's Imperial Guard, an identity akin to the emperor's personal attendants.

A little like the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

From that perspective, there was still a difference between destiny one and destiny seven. The former could only become a constable in a county town, while the latter was already part of the capital's Imperial Guard.

Immediately afterward, Wang Ping looked toward the other side of the high platform.

There, densely packed pills had been piled into a small mountain. Within the perception of his Spirit Sense, their terrifying Life Essence resembled a vast ocean.

These were all the Life Essence he had pocketed earlier within the [Six-Desire Demon Banner], stolen using the [Life-Stealing Thief]. One-third had come from the corpses of those Marauder Cultivators, while the remaining two-thirds had all been generously gifted by You Xuexin. Their quality was so high it left one gasping in admiration.

"This time, I can finally eat my fill."

Thinking of this, Wang Ping eagerly anticipated just how far he could grow after returning to Great Shun and digesting all this Life Essence.

The next second, he stepped forward and entered the [Great Shun Celestial Dynasty] within the scripture, allowing the towering tome before him to bloom with light and engulf him.

Wang Ping opened his eyes again.

An unfamiliar ceiling entered his sight. He was wearing a fitted martial outfit and seemed to have been resting on a bed. He immediately flipped over and inspected his physical condition.

Only after a moment did he let out a sigh of relief.

"...It hasn't changed."

His reborn body had perfectly retained the martial arts of his life before last. [Heavenly Roc Force] roared within him, while his Lesser Celestial Circuit Body remained at its absolute peak.

"What's regrettable is that the immortal cultivation gains from my last life didn't come back with me. Is it because I was refined into an artifact spirit in that life? ...But never mind. Even if they had returned, it would only have been a Defective Spiritual Root, nothing useful. The [Life-Stealing Thief] and Life Essence are what truly matter."

Wang Ping quickly adjusted his mindset.

Then he walked before the bronze mirror in the room. As expected, the handsome face reflected in it was still his own.

Moreover, compared with his life before last, even his age had not changed much.

"This won't do."

Wang Ping's brow furrowed deeply. Once or twice was fine, but if he kept appearing one after another under different identities while wearing the same face, even a fool would know something was wrong.

Remembering the fleeting glimpse he had caught within the [Peace Scripture], when that Qi Refiner descended from the sky and reversed time to directly revive You Xuexin, Wang Ping could not help sighing. The revival mechanism of the [Peace Scripture] simply was not shameless enough. Why could it not turn back time as well?

"Looks like I need to find a martial art for disguising my appearance."

Wang Ping calculated inwardly. Martial arts of that sort were not difficult to find. The problem was that, after changing his appearance, he could not let anyone spot a flaw. That was not easy.

Just then, memories abruptly surfaced.

"Here we go again."

Wang Ping rubbed his brow and began digesting the memories of this body's former owner. By now, however, he had vaguely understood the true nature of these memories.

Rather than memories of a former owner, they were more like background settings.

After all, most of these memories concerned his new identity, yet there were no memories related to everyday matters such as eating, sleeping, or using the toilet.

Very soon, Wang Ping frowned.

In these memories, he was a Golden Cavalry Guard directly under the capital's Imperial Guard. This time, he had been ordered by the military to travel to Longxing County in Changle Commandery and serve as the military supervisor of the [Black Armor Battalion].

"Why is it Longxing County again?"

At this moment, Wang Ping even suspected that Longxing County was some sort of singularity. Once or twice could be called a coincidence, but all three rebirths had been connected to it.

There was a conspiracy here. Someone had orchestrated this.

Wang Ping continued digging through the memories.

"At this point in time, around four months have passed since I caused havoc at the county yamen. Since the yamen suffered a devastating blow, the Court's foundations in Longxing County have been shaken."

"Afterward, someone seems to have pulled strings at the Changle Commandery Office. In the end, the Changle Commandery Governor overrode all objections and first transferred a military camp to Longxing County to garrison there, claiming it was to assist the county yamen in maintaining stability. Only afterward did he notify the capital and request a military supervisor... This is acting first and reporting afterward. Where did the Changle Commandery Governor get such nerve?"

Mobilizing troops without authorization, interfering in county affairs, and muddling official duties.

"According to news from the capital, it seems a remarkably influential noblewoman spoke up, which was what led to the Changle Commandery Office's violation of procedure this time."

As for who exactly she was, Wang Ping had no idea.

"No matter what, the [Black Armor Battalion] is already in Longxing County, and I am the military supervisor sent by the Court. On the surface, my duty is to assist the county magistrate in maintaining stability..."

In secret, however, he had also received an order.

Thinking of this, Wang Ping reached into his clothes and withdrew a bright yellow piece of brocade, patterned with cloud motifs and mounted on a black rhinoceros-horn roller.

This was an imperial decree.

More precisely, it was a secret decree. It bore the emperor's imperial seal and ordered him, after reaching Longxing County, to secretly support civil unrest and ensure that rebels breached Longxing County!

Paired with the imperial decree was a bronze military tally, capable of mobilizing any battalion-level force. Clearly, he had been granted the authority to act independently when necessary.

Wang Ping was stunned when he saw this.

Why?

If the emperor's seal on the decree had not been unquestionably genuine, he would have suspected he had read it wrong. Was the Court digging out its own foundations?

"...Sure enough, something is strange." Wang Ping became even more certain of Longxing County's uniqueness. Then he cast aside his reservations. In any case, he was no longer the same as before. So long as he digested the Life Essence stored in the [Morgue], he was confident he could pin that dog official Xu Bingzheng to the ground and grind him into the dirt!

"I still need to train my martial arts."

Although he was now considered half an immortal cultivator, he had not obtained the True Disciple teachings. Rounding it off, he was a Rogue Cultivator—he had cultivation, but no arts to protect his path.

In the early stages, martial arts should be able to make up for this weakness.

As for his own path in the Martial Dao, Wang Ping had also formed an entirely new idea. If it worked, he would walk a road no one else had ever traveled.

Outside Longxing County.

Unlike several months ago, when this place had been nothing but empty wilderness, a towering military camp now stood there, its smoke and human bustle soaring into the sky.

Great Shun Dynasty's military system assigned five hundred men to each battalion, under which were fifty tents of ten men each. There were thus five centurions, one hundred squad leaders, fifty squad captains, and a commander overseeing the whole force. All were full-time soldiers supported by the Court, lacking neither martial arts nor weapons, and their status stood above that of constables.

This was especially true of a titled battalion like the [Black Armor Battalion].

Within all of Changle Commandery, it was elite among elites. With five hundred men joining forces, its combat power was enough to surpass most Titled Martial Masters on the [Weapon Ranking].

Yet at this moment—

As the commander of the [Black Armor Battalion], Wu Xintai was staring in great distress at a beautiful married woman with an icy expression, who clearly would not rest until she achieved her goal.

"Commander Wu, are you deploying troops or not?"

The beautiful woman asked in a low voice.

"Madam Su, it isn't that I don't want to deploy troops. I truly cannot deploy them... That is the county town. Setting my camp here has already broken the rules..."

At these words, Madam Su's expression grew even colder. Yet looking at Wu Xintai, who spoke humbly but remained firm in his stance, she could not help feeling powerless.

Her experiences over the past four months rose through her mind one by one.

This [Black Armor Battalion] had been obtained after she contacted her natal Household in the capital. One of her former close friends, a sister as close as handkerchief companions, had personally gone to the Changle Commandery Office and arranged it for her.

Because she was unwilling to leave things at that.

That young constable whose word had been A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold had vanished without even a corpse being found for four months. She wanted to avenge him and kill that dog official hiding in the county yamen.

"Good heavens..."

Looking at Madam Su before him, Wu Xintai could not help lamenting inwardly. This woman is probably insane. I wonder how the Longxing County Magistrate offended her.

She was even urging him to send troops to kill the county magistrate.

What a joke. Deploying troops meant rebellion; killing an official meant treason! He was doing perfectly well as commander. How could he possibly be willing to destroy his own future like that?

What was more, the [Black Armor Battalion] garrisoning here had already broken the rules. Those above had made an accommodation, allowing them to act first and issue orders afterward. If he deployed troops without orders and publicly killed the county magistrate, he might as well stop being commander and slit his throat to accompany that Longxing County Magistrate in death.

Wu Xintai had a bellyful of words he wanted to say.

But in the end, he swallowed them back down—there was no helping it. Although the woman before him was mad and knew no martial arts, he could not afford to provoke her.

Because he had made inquiries as well.

This woman herself was not particularly remarkable. Though she had once been a noble daughter of the Su Household in the capital, she had long been struck from its rolls and fallen into the countryside.

But the problem was that, in her youth, she had a close handkerchief companion, a cousin-sister with whom she shared an excellent relationship.

That person was different. She had been chosen by the [Way of Fangxian] in those days. After so many years, she had become a Transcendent—and one of the very best among them!

When this Miss Su had encountered trouble several years ago, that woman had happened to be cultivating in the [Way of Fangxian]. Now that she had returned and learned of Miss Su's situation, she immediately rushed to the Changle Commandery Office and single-handedly arranged the transfer of the [Black Armor Battalion]. Her reach was truly vast, and her backing was frighteningly solid.

"What a pity."

"If she had not left suddenly because of an unexpected matter, then with her taking responsibility at the front, it wouldn't have been impossible for me to deploy troops. Killing a county magistrate would have been no great matter."

But with only himself, that was a different story.

In any event, Wu Xintai would never be the bird that stuck its head out first. He would rather make the wrong choice than commit an error. He had made up his mind to remain still without orders.

Madam Su grew even more furious at this.

"That county magistrate uses his authority for private gain, and the officials of Changle Commandery shield one another. Liu Ye has already been arrested. Even if you won't deploy troops to kill him, at least rescue Liu Ye..."

This was the true reason she could wait no longer.

Originally, her close friend had said that she would temporarily leave to deal with a matter, then return to handle that dog official who preyed upon the people.

As for Liu Ye, who had previously helped send her word, she had made arrangements for him too. He was originally to be sent to another commandery office, but Liu Ye himself was unwilling to leave his homeland. Thus, they had eventually chosen Changle Commandery. Yet Xu Bingzheng had connections there. Upon learning the news, he immediately plotted against Liu Ye.

The result was that Liu Ye was arrested under the charge of "disrespecting a superior."

The entire process followed the Great Shun Code. Liu Ye was stripped of his position and returned to his native place as a commoner, only to be sent back to Longxing County, where he was thrown into the county yamen's dungeon that very day.

Madam Su had come to Wu Xintai this time mainly to save him.

Yet Wu Xintai still shook his head. "My sincerest apologies, but the military camp cannot move without orders."

He knew about Liu Ye's situation as well, but in his view, this was clearly another faction within the Court at work, one that might not be weaker than Madam Su's close friend.

How could a mere commander like him involve himself in a clash of power between such great figures?

After considering it from every angle, he felt that the only thing he could do was fulfill his duty faithfully. That way, even if the sky collapsed, no blame could land on his head.

"..."

Madam Su was utterly despairing.

It was not because of Liu Ye alone. In her eyes, both Liu Ye and she herself had been protected at the cost of that young constable's life.

Yet Liu Ye still could not escape calamity.

In the end, it had all come to nothing.

Then had her husband not died for nothing? Whenever Madam Su thought of this, she felt it was not worth it for him, her heart filled with fury and helplessness.

Just then—

"Commander! He's here, he's finally here!"

The tent flap was suddenly pulled open, and one of the [Black Armor Battalion]'s centurions rushed inside shouting. "The military supervisor sent by the Court has arrived and is waiting outside the camp..."

"Calm down."

Wu Xintai shook his head, looking as though he hated iron for failing to become steel. "When faced with matters, you must keep your composure. That is the bearing of a general. How many times have I taught you this?"

"It's merely a military supervisor. You're acting as though you've never seen one before."

"To put it bluntly, aren't they just a bunch of pale eunuchs with no balls? When we rotated deployments to the north back then, I saw enough of them to grow sick of the sight. Have you gone too long without seeing a woman..."

"No, Commander."

The centurion hurriedly shook his head and emphasized, "This one isn't a palace eunuch. He's a cavalry guard—a Golden Cavalry Guard directly under the Imperial Guard!"

"...A cavalry guard?"

Wu Xintai froze. "One of the emperor's personal guards?"

The centurion nodded like a pecking chicken.

"Fuck! Why didn't you say something so important earlier?"

The next second, Wu Xintai, who had just been preaching that one must "keep calm when faced with matters," shot to his feet as if electrocuted and raced out of the tent without stopping.