"I see Captain Bai has official business to attend to, so I won’t disturb you any longer."

Bai Yuan and Sheng Bin exchanged pleasantries for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before Sheng Bin finally left, satisfied.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

’Clearly, this new Ten-Household Captain isn’t one of those arrogant scions from a great family. He shouldn’t cause any major trouble.’

The saying that Huanglong Prefecture was full of hidden dragons was no empty phrase.

The waters of Xiaohe Town might have been shallow, but that didn’t mean a dragon had never emerged from them.

Take the Chai Family living in the easternmost part of town, for example. They had produced a City Defense Army Commander and were a family one absolutely could not afford to offend.

Seeing that Bai Yuan wasn’t some reckless hothead, Sheng Bin’s mood greatly improved.

It couldn’t be helped; he’d been tormented into submission by the last few young masters who held the post.

...

「Several days passed.」

The newly appointed Captain Bai did nothing more than his daily patrols. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

This allowed the watchful Kong Wen and his two men to breathe a sigh of relief.

They certainly didn’t want a superior who was difficult to serve.

Kong Wen and his men gradually grew bolder, resuming their practice of skimming off the top, although they were much more discreet than before.

Bai Yuan, of course, saw all of this.

He wasn’t the type to nitpick every little thing. As long as Kong Wen and his men weren’t too excessive, he saw no need to intervene—especially since fifty percent of their profits would end up in his hands anyway.

This was the long-standing rule in Xiaohe Town.

「Wan Jun Peak, in the small courtyard.」

Bai Yuan looked at the Spirit Medicine and monster flesh he had collected, very satisfied.

In addition to the standard allowance for being an Inner Sect Disciple, a Ten-Household Captain in the Divine Mansion Army also received a separate, very generous stipend.

Just the one pound of Tier Five Monster Flesh was enough to make other Inner Sect Disciples drool with envy. No wonder the Inner Sect Disciples from the other twelve peaks were fighting tooth and nail to become a Ten-Household Captain in the Divine Mansion Army.

Before long, the aroma of meat wafted from Bai Yuan’s small courtyard.

He stewed the monster flesh, Spirit Vegetables, and Fire Spirit Soup together in one pot.

It was over ten times more potent than his previous Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Soup, and the effects were incredible.

He was now a Blood Refining Martial Master and had already cultivated inner strength, so naturally, he had to find a way to break through the Entering the Realm Pass.

Although there was only one pass between the Blood Refining and Entering the Realm stages, it required a massive accumulation of resources.

Fortunately, Bai Yuan was a Divine Chef himself, so his logistical support was off the charts.

The time needed for a breakthrough was greatly reduced.

In fact, his current breakthrough speed was already terrifyingly fast. It would be difficult to find a genius in the entire Ling Province who was faster.

He had already broken through the Blood Refining Pass.

At this rate of progress, even the True Disciples of the Divine Mansion Sect would be eclipsed by him.

Bai Yuan was just waiting for the right moment to become a True Disciple in one fell swoop.

Once he became a True Disciple, he could go to the Merak Pavilion in the Instructor Hall to choose a Cultivation Technique comparable to the Tiger Form and Crane Style.

Currently, both his Tiger Form and Crane Style and his Blood Tiger Saber had been elevated to the Master level.

If he wanted to advance further, he had to find a comparable Cultivation Technique. Otherwise, his only option was to spend a massive amount of points and grind it out over a thousand years to forge a new path.

Of course, Bai Yuan unhesitatingly chose the more cost-effective path.

In his current status as an Inner Sect Disciple, the highest he could access was the Phecda Pavilion.

In fact, most of the time, even True Disciples could only choose Cultivation Techniques from the Phecda Pavilion. They only got one extra chance to pick a technique from the Merak Pavilion upon promotion. After that, if they wanted more techniques, they had to earn merit points to buy them.

Old Dong did have Cultivation Techniques on par with the Tiger Form and Crane Style.

But he had only just received three techniques. If he went back to Old Dong now to ask for a new one, he would likely just be criticized for being too greedy.

Old Dong pursued the path of cultivating ten thousand techniques in unison.

But that meant cultivating each one to a profound level, not just dabbling in all of them and stopping at the introductory stage.

Bai Yuan drank his daily portion of the enhanced Fire Spirit Soup, feeling refreshed and clear-headed, one step closer to Entering the Realm.

Life was looking more and more promising.

...

「Huanglong Prefecture, Xiaohe Town.」

"Proselytizing?"

Kong Wen’s brow furrowed as he listened to the Official before him.

Chief Constable Sheng Bin was away on business, so his subordinate had come to find Kong Wen.

The Xuan Yang Dynasty did not forbid proselytizing, so civilian temples and Daoist Temples were a common sight.

But not just anyone could proselytize. Only those who had received approval from the Xuan Yang Court were allowed; all others were classified as heretical cults.

The Celestial Heart Sect this Official spoke of was precisely such a heretical sect, unapproved by the Xuan Yang Court.

And this time, it was the Celestial Heart Sect that was proselytizing in Xiaohe Town.

According to rumors, this Celestial Heart Sect had existed for a long time, its presence spread throughout the Xuan Yang lands. They had always proselytized in secret and were extremely clandestine.

Ever since the Soul-Chasing Tower was annihilated, the Celestial Heart Sect had, on the contrary, started to show signs of emerging.

Kong Wen himself had heard of more than one of their proselytizing locations in Xiaohe Town alone, a testament to the breadth of their infiltration.

However, compared to their stance on the Soul-Chasing Tower, the Xuan Yang Court and the Divine Mansion Sect were far more lenient toward the Celestial Heart Sect, mostly choosing to turn a blind eye.

"I understand."

Kong Wen nodded.

’This matter isn’t huge, but it needs to be investigated. If they aren’t too troublesome, I’ll just deal with them.’

After a moment of thought, he took Wang Ming with him to check it out first.

Unlike the Soul-Chasing Tower, the Celestial Heart Sect generally didn’t have any experts in residence, so the danger level was not high.

As a veteran, Kong Wen was very measured in his actions. He didn’t rush to report the matter to Bai Yuan, but went to investigate the situation first.

Of course, the main reason was that he had handled many such incidents before.

Kong Wen and Wang Ming followed the Official to a residence near the city wall.

From the outside, the residence didn’t look particularly unusual.

A man with a pointy chin and monkey-like cheeks, who looked rather shifty, was already waiting by the courtyard wall.

Kong Wen knew this man.

His name was Zhou the Third, a notorious loafer in Xiaohe Town.

Zhou the Third looked at Kong Wen with a fawning expression. "Master Kong, I’ve been hearing the sound of chanting from this courtyard often these days. It’s very strange."

Kong Wen nodded.

This Zhou the Third was one of the many eyes and ears he and the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office had planted in Xiaohe Town.

It was impossible for the Divine Mansion Sect and the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office to control so many people in Huanglong Prefecture City with their limited manpower.

So, besides keeping tabs on the reputable families in Xiaohe Town, they also had to win over these local snakes.

Local snakes like Zhou the Third were idle all day, but this also made them well-informed and able to bring unexpected benefits.

Take this courtyard, for instance. If not for Zhou the Third, how would Kong Wen and his men have ever known it was a den for a heretical sect?

Zhou the Third added, "In a little while, they’ll start chanting some strange scriptures."

Just as Zhou the Third had said, only a moment later, an extremely faint sound arose from the courtyard. If one didn’t listen carefully, it could be mistaken for the low hum of mosquitoes.

Kong Wen and Wang Ming both tilted their heads and listened intently.

They had handled two cases related to the Celestial Heart Sect before, so they were somewhat familiar with their scriptures.

A full stick of incense’s time passed.

Only then did Kong Wen and Wang Ming exchange a glance.

’It really is the Celestial Heart Sect.’

But just as the two were preparing to leap over the wall, a black shadow flew out from the top, hurtling straight for their heads!