"You’re back."

Liu Li, the Vice Commander of the Divine Mansion Army in charge of patrols, laughed heartily when he saw Hu Ben return. He waved his hand, and a squad of Divine Mansion Army soldiers came forward to take the reins from Hu Ben’s hands.

Gazing at the cart, which was packed with Spirit Medicine, Liu Li’s smile widened. "This will last us for a good while. Well done, Commander Hu."

Hu Ben waved a large hand. "It’s what we’re supposed to do."

The two men walked arm in arm into one of the outermost courtyards.

Like a thief, Hu Ben pulled a bottle of aged wine from his robes.

Liu Li’s eyes instantly lit up.

Back in the Divine Mansion Army, he and Hu Ben were the kind of men who couldn’t enjoy themselves without wine. This period of abstinence had been killing him.

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

...

「Late at night.」

Except for the torches of the patrolling Divine Mansion Army soldiers, the Divine Mansion Sect was shrouded in darkness.

A figure moved swiftly through the darkness, just outside the Divine Mansion Sect’s complex.

The more Lu Yu saw, the more alarmed he became.

He knew the Divine Mansion Sect had preserved its strength, but he never imagined it would be this powerful. The experts here in the Hundred Thousand Mountains alone were enough to crush most of the forces in Ling Province.

’If Ji Chang knew about this, he’d probably lose sleep over it.’

Just as he was about to investigate further, a sudden whistling sound cut through the air.

A throwing dart shot straight for his face.

Lu Yu moved with extreme speed, twisting at the waist to dodge the fatal blow. The dart grazed the corner of his robes and flew into the woods.

A figure emerged from the night.

"Lu Xiaoyu?"

Bai Yuan was somewhat surprised when he got a clear look at the man’s face.

He hadn’t expected Lu Yu to show up in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

With his powerful perception, Bai Yuan had detected Lu Yu not long after he arrived at the Divine Mansion Sect. Of course, even with his perception, Bai Yuan couldn’t possibly know from a distance who was infiltrating the sect, which was why he had attacked.

’Of course, even if I knew it was Lu Yu, I still would have attacked. I just might have struck a bit harder.’

Lu Yu saw Bai Yuan too, and his face returned to its usual roguish grin. "So it is you, Brother Bai."

Bai Yuan’s expression was icy. "You still dare to come here? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?"

’I already know about the relationship between Lu Yu and General Lu. The son of my enemy has delivered himself to my doorstep; there seems to be no reason not to kill him.’

’Before, I was only worried that killing Lu Yu would send the Lingzhou Army into a frenzy. But now, Lu Yu is in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. I can just kill him and frame the Demon Sect.’

’It would be giving them a taste of their own medicine.’

Lu Yu’s expression tightened. With his sharp mind, he quickly guessed that Bai Yuan had very likely already discovered his identity as an illegitimate son.

He immediately cried foul. "Brother Bai, I didn’t mean to hide it from you! I really am that old turtle’s son, but just an illegitimate one. Hell, I only met him for the first time two years ago! I’ve never even set foot in the Lu Family residence."

Lu Yu grew more animated as he spoke, cursing his General father as if he were lower than a pig or a dog.

He spat out the words "old turtle" with practiced ease.

It was as if he and his General father shared a deep, bloody feud.

Then again, Bai Yuan had heard rumors about General Lu sowing his wild oats everywhere.

"That old turtle supposedly popped his cherry when he was eight. He’s a fiend for women! I wish I could kill him with my own hands."

"Brother Bai, why don’t the two of us team up and slaughter that old turtle? What do you say?"

...

Bai Yuan’s mouth twitched.

’What a filial son.’

There might be some truth to Lu Yu’s words, but Bai Yuan felt that even he couldn’t match this level of shamelessness.

"Xiaoyu, those things were all done by your father. They really have nothing to do with you," Bai Yuan said slowly.

’He could sense that Lu Yu had already broken through to the Entering the Realm. Given his style, which was more slippery than a loach, even I’m not confident I could kill him.’

’Since I can’t kill him, I might as well find a way to make him useful.’

Lu Yu was overjoyed. "Brother Bai, you’re the one who truly understands me."

If anyone else saw them, they would think they were genuinely the best of brothers.

Lu Yu said, "Brother Bai, why didn’t you tell me you were doing business? The Spirit Medicine I can get is countless times better than that second-rate stuff from the Changhe Gang."

Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow.

’I’ve been thinking about opening a new trade route for a while. Since Lu Yu is interested, I might as well go with the flow.’

"But the General won’t necessarily agree."

Lu Yu sneered.

"Don’t worry. We’ll use my private accounts. That old turtle is going to be stuck in the Northern Plains for a long time; there’s no way he’ll find out."

...

’That settled it. Lu Yu really was the most filial of sons.’

General Lu had sent him back from the Northern Garrison Army to protect the Lu Family’s assets. And what does he do? He turns around and starts selling off the family property.

But this was all the Lu Family’s business, and Bai Yuan had no intention of getting involved.

As long as Lu Yu could really provide Spirit Medicine, he wouldn’t turn him away.

In just a few words, the two of them hammered out the details.

Bai Yuan suddenly asked, "What do you think about the matter of the Divine Mansion?"

The two had met because Lu Yu had come to Shenfu Mountain in search of the Divine Mansion. It was unexpected that they would meet again because of it.

Lu Yu sneered again. "That old turtle didn’t tell me much, only that I should find Murong Tian and use his blood to open the Divine Mansion."

"But I heard a rumor that the suggestion came from a Wandering Daoist from the Central Plains."

"You can’t trust those stinking Daoists. They’re all a bunch of charlatans."

Bai Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’A Wandering Daoist...’

’A Daoist who could convince both a General and Master Longevity must have an extraordinary identity.’

However, only that Wandering Daoist and Lu Xiao knew the method to open it. Even though Murong Tian was right here in the Divine Mansion Sect, they still didn’t have the means.

Of course, Bai Yuan had no intention of opening the Divine Mansion right now.

Because with his current strength, even if he did open it, he would only be paving the way for others.

Just before he left, Lu Yu suddenly said, "Kaiyang Taoist and the Prefect’s student, Yan Mo, have also come to Huanglong Prefecture."

Bai Yuan nodded.

With that, the two parted ways.

Not long after Lu Yu left, Yu Hui, Commander of the Divine Mansion Army, appeared beside Bai Yuan. "Should we go after him?"

He hadn’t become the Divine Mansion Army’s Commander, second only to Elder Dong, based on his leadership skills alone. If he couldn’t even detect the commotion between Bai Yuan and Lu Yu over here, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes.

Bai Yuan shook his head.

’Lu Yu has his methods, and his mind is meticulous. Unless I acted myself, even Yu Hui would be detected by him.’

Besides, from what he had overheard and his past experiences with the man, Lu Yu truly wasn’t close to the Lu Family.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have written that letter warning him to be wary of Ji Chang.

Cooperating with someone like him might yield unexpected results.

Not to mention, Bai Yuan had been using the Face Reading Technique the whole time to discern the truth in Lu Yu’s words. A good eighty percent of it was true, which was enough to facilitate their cooperation.

No matter what Lu Yu’s intentions were, Bai Yuan only needed to care about his own interests.

’In the face of schemes and conspiracies, the only way is to increase one’s strength as quickly as possible, and then crush everything in your path.’

...

「Huanglong Prefecture, the Nine Revolutions Sect headquarters.」

"What does the Lord Governor mean by this?"

An old man stared intently at the two young men before him.

Yan Mo smiled faintly. "My master once said, ’Under all of heaven, there is no land that is not the king’s; within the borders of the land, there are no people who are not the king’s subjects.’"

"The Nine Revolutions Sect has disrespected the laws of the king by privately selling salt and iron in Huanglong Prefecture. This calls for severe punishment."

The old man’s eyes turned red.

Xuan Yang did have laws against the private trade of salt and iron, but those were rules for commoners. Major sects like them had always ignored such things, never paying them any mind.

Besides, Longevity Palace, home to the Daoist standing next to this scholar, had done its fair share of the same.

And he hadn’t seen the Lord Governor do anything about them.

"The Nine Revolutions Sect will explain this matter to the Lord Governor ourselves."

The old man suppressed his rage.

He knew very well that these two young men were not to be trifled with. Their strength was no less than that of the long-famous masters of the Jianghu.

Yan Mo’s smile remained. "There’s no need."

The old man frowned, not understanding what this scholar meant.

But then he saw Kaiyang Taoist’s originally slender frame suddenly swell to several times its size. His palms became as large as cattail fans as one of them swung toward him.

The old man’s pupils contracted violently. He had no time to dodge.

SLAP!

With a crisp smack, the old man was instantly turned into a headless corpse. Until the moment of his death, he couldn’t comprehend how these two young men could be so audacious.

Yan Mo acted as if he didn’t see the gore before him.

The other members of the Nine Revolutions Sect turned pale as they saw their Elder swatted to death with a single slap.

Yan Mo said, "I see no reason for the Nine Revolutions Sect to continue doing business in Huanglong Prefecture."

As he spoke, a squad of fully armed soldiers stormed the Nine Revolutions Sect’s headquarters, weapons in hand. Screams of agony filled the air.

An hour later, not a single living person was left in the Nine Revolutions Sect’s headquarters.

The bloody scene caused passersby to clutch their stomachs and vomit.

Yan Mo turned to Kaiyang Taoist beside him. "Brother Kaiyang, let’s go."

The Lord Governor hadn’t sent him to Huanglong Prefecture for a simple tour.

Almost every significant sect in Ling Province had gathered in Huanglong Prefecture. Yan Mo’s task was to make the stance of the Lingzhou Prefecture Magistrate’s Office clear.

The destruction of the Divine Mansion Sect was only the beginning. The Lord Governor was using this opportunity to bring the Jianghu of Ling Province to heel.

And Kaiyang Taoist represented the attitude of Longevity Palace.

With even Longevity Palace joining forces with the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office, what other sects would dare to resist?

If those sects were still unwilling to restrain themselves, then what happened in Huanglong Prefecture today would be repeated throughout Ling Province.

And it wouldn’t be as simple as losing a single sect headquarters.

The Prefect of Lingzhou clearly wanted to use this chance to regain control over the Lingzhou Jianghu.

Kaiyang Taoist didn’t say a word the entire time.

He simply walked quietly side-by-side with Yan Mo.

Although the two were friends, a move of this magnitude was not something he could decide on his own.

His actions represented the stance of Longevity Palace.

In truth, this was all Master Longevity’s arrangement.

Because of its Founding Ancestor, Longevity Palace had close ties to many great families of the Court and thus knew many secrets of the central government.

He had heard that His Majesty the Emperor, who styled himself the ancestor of a new revival, was incredibly ambitious.

He was no longer willing to follow the ancestral ways of ruling the world alongside the sects. Instead, he wanted to bring the entire world under the Royal Family’s control.

The Prefect of Lingzhou would only dare to move against the Divine Mansion Sect under the Court’s directive. Otherwise, how could a General and a Prefect break a thousand-year-old stalemate and attack the Divine Mansion Sect with such force?

Everything was just a sacrifice in the games of those great figures.