265: Chapter 265 Return to Wuyang

Sensing the resentment, Liu Three-Blade laughed heartily, "I told you not to come. Now you have to accept losing the bet, right?"

Wang Hengshan said helplessly, "Those brats are really itching for a beating. It seems I've been too lenient with them lately; now they even dare to gossip about me behind my back."

Liu Three-Blade smiled, "Oh, give it a rest. Who doesn't know that they call you the Black Yama behind your back?"

"Lord Liu, where did you hear that? If I find out who's spreading such nonsense, I'll have to give them a couple of lashes," Wang Hengshan said, feigning anger.

After this joint operation, the two had become much closer. Their exchanges now carried a hint of banter, rather than the strictly official tone they used on regular days.

Liu Three-Blade paused before saying, "Alright, I know your character; you're just paying lip service. The Evil-Suppressing Guard suffered significant casualties this time, but fortunately, we took down the Laughing Arhat. The success of this mission is entirely due to the contributions of Grandmaster Qingyun."

Speaking of this, Wang Hengshan's tone shifted, and his expression turned grave, "To be honest, if I hadn't seen the Laughing Arhat's head, I wouldn't have believed this mission could succeed. It's somewhat embarrassing to say, but I previously opposed paying Grandmaster Qingyun with three pure origin fruits. It seems my vision was too narrow."

"That's in the past, why bring it up? I also didn't expect Grandmaster Qingyun to possess such strength. If my guess is correct, Grandmaster Qingyun must be an Invincible Grandmaster," said Liu Three-Blade.

"An Invincible Grandmaster!" Upon hearing this, Wang Hengshan's heart skipped a beat, and a glimmer of curiosity appeared in his eyes.

He was not like Liu Three-Blade, who knew the entire process of the battle between Pei Qingyun and the Laughing Arhat. Throughout the scene, he had been almost entirely focused on his fight with Poison Three. The fact that the Laughing Arhat died at the hands of Pei Qingyun was intelligence he had obtained from Liu Three-Blade.

Seemingly noticing the curiosity in Wang Hengshan's eyes, Liu Three-Blade recounted what he knew.

"Hearing you say that, Lord Liu, I believe there is an eight or nine in ten chance that Grandmaster Qingyun is indeed an Invincible Grandmaster." While feeling deeply moved, Wang Hengshan also felt fortunate. If Pei Qingyun hadn't arrived, he and Liu Three-Blade would likely have perished.

"There's no need to publicize Grandmaster Qingyun's strength; it's enough that the two of us know," Liu Three-Blade reminded him.

Wang Hengshan nodded, "I understand."

As if remembering something, Liu Three-Blade continued, "By the way, I have already applied for the yuan-cleansing pill you wanted from the General Headquarters. If nothing goes wrong, the application should be approved. However, regarding the timing, you might have to wait a while; I estimate it won't arrive until the end of next month."

A look of joy appeared on Wang Hengshan's face, "I've troubled you with this, Lord Liu. I can afford to wait that long. Thank you very much."

Liu Three-Blade curled his lip, "Don't give me that nonsense. Aren't you going to get me two jars of fifty-year-old spirit fruit wine?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Hengshan's smile instantly collapsed, and a rare look of heartache appeared on his face, "Lord Liu, could you leave me some? These two jars are my last remaining stock."

Liu Three-Blade rolled his eyes and said nothing. But his expression undoubtedly conveyed the message: 'Guess whether I believe you.'

"Fine, you win," Wang Hengshan spread his hands, looking helpless.

Liu Three-Blade said, "There is one more thing I forgot to tell you. My transfer order has arrived. I must return to the General Headquarters to report for duty at midnight today."

"So soon!" Wang Hengshan said with a look of surprise. One must know that they had only been back for a few hours, and for news to reach the capital would take at least a few days. Therefore, it was impossible for the General Headquarters to have received news of the mission's completion here in advance. Let alone such a rush. It was highly likely that something else had happened at the General Headquarters.

However, he did not ask for the reason. Although the two had some friendship, it had not reached the level where he could inquire about the other party's official business. After all, many pieces of intelligence needed to be kept confidential before a mission was executed. Another point was that even if he knew, he wouldn't be able to help. In the end, he was merely a Commander of a branch bureau.

But since Liu Three-Blade had voluntarily mentioned reporting for duty, it couldn't be idle talk. Sure enough, the next moment, Liu Three-Blade gave the answer, "After I leave, I will trouble Commander Wang to follow up on the allocation of the other two pure origin fruits. Also, please hand this token in my hand to Grandmaster Qingyun."

As he spoke, Liu Three-Blade handed the token in his hand to Wang Hengshan. On the front of the token was written a large character 'Liu', and in the bottom right corner, in characters one size smaller than 'Liu', were the words 'Three-Blade'. If one flipped it over to look at the back, one could also see a pattern representing the Family crest.

Liu Three-Blade was handing his Family token to Pei Qingyun. The intention to befriend him was clear. To put it bluntly, if Pei Qingyun took this token to find the Liu Clan, the Liu Clan would certainly treat him as an honored guest.

With just one glance, Wang Hengshan understood the function of this token, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. The value of an Invincible Grandmaster went without saying; it was an existence capable of sweeping through an ordinary second-rate family. In Great Jing, there were only a single-digit number of them on the surface.

But the reason Invincible Grandmasters were so famous was never due to their strength or numbers, but their potential value. Any Invincible Grandmaster on the surface, as long as they didn't perish, could break through to the Great Grandmaster Realm within the next ten years. However, Pei Qingyun was not one of those Invincible Grandmasters on the surface; he belonged to the ranks of the 'old monsters'.

The reason these 'old monsters' were in the shadows was mostly because they had damaged their Foundation in their youth, and in their old age, they were unable to break through to the Meridian Opening Realm. Although these old monsters might be even more powerful than the few Invincible Grandmasters on the surface, they were, in the end, still in the Grandmaster Realm. Their potential was exhausted, and they couldn't break through to Pulse Opening. Thus, in terms of value, they were greatly discounted.

Of course, as far as Wang Hengshan was concerned, Pei Qingyun was still a powerhouse he needed to look up to. Even if he obtained a yuan-cleansing pill, the hope of a Breakthrough remained slim. But Liu Three-Blade was different; he not only had the potential to break through to Pulse Opening but also came from a powerful second-rate family. On the surface, Pei Qingyun's value to Liu Three-Blade was far less than it was to Wang Hengshan. Yet, Liu Three-Blade still did this.

This made Wang Hengshan feel a bit more curious, but he didn't ask further and instead agreed, "Rest assured, Lord Liu, leave this matter to me."

Seeing that Wang Hengshan agreed, Liu Three-Blade exchanged a few simple pleasantries. While the two were chatting, Pei Qingyun was already lying flat in the courtyard. Having nothing to do, he opened his attribute panel.

[Name: Pei Qingyun] [Lifespan: 37 years 7 months] [Cultivation: Six Bowels Realm Late Stage (8710 / 40000)] [Cultivation Technique: Evergreen Art middle volume Perfection (Earth-Grade Top-Grade), Blazing Sun Fire Art Perfection (Earth-Grade Top-Grade), Yellow-Grade Cultivation Technique hidden] [Bloodline: Yi Wood Tier 4 Mid-stage (500 / 10000), Flame Fire Tier 3 High-stage (1500 / 2000)...] [family luck: 5.5 (1740) (Note: family luck can recover, it can naturally recover 87 points daily.)] [Skill: Analysis Technique]

Compared to before he set off, the total usable Luck had increased by thirty points. This caught Pei Qingyun by surprise. In the past, the growth of family luck was either due to clan members having a Breakthrough or changes in the Family's influence. The latter generally involved many people. For example, when the Pei Clan expanded its influence to the entire Yun Clan, the family luck had increased. This time, he had merely exposed his strength to Liu Three-Blade and Wang Hengshan, and the reputation brought by it had a significant impact. Could it be that there was such a thing as potential reputation? Fortunately, Pei Qingyun was never someone who dwelt on things; as long as it brought positive benefits, he didn't need to get to the bottom of it.

"It's almost dark, a good time for a bath. After the battle, my body feels a bit greasy. Indeed, as one gets older, one should take things easier." Standing up, Pei Qingyun walked towards the house.

... In the blink of an eye, several days passed. Things had calmed down within the Evil Suppression Bureau, and the deaths of the Laughing Arhat and Poison Three had not spread throughout Longnan Prefecture. Only some people from Great Families had learned bits and pieces through the Evil-Suppressing Guards. The reason for this was that the Laughing Arhat and Poison Three had not yet had time to conduct a large-scale blood sacrifice within the city. Otherwise, even if the Evil Suppression Bureau had deliberately concealed it, it would have spread long ago. For ordinary Martial Artists and commoners, Blood Demon Sect Martial Artists were absolutely an existence that made them pale at the mention of them. To a certain extent, they were even more terrifying than Demons. After all, Demons had no thoughts and hunted randomly; as long as the source of the Demons didn't have any incidents and the Evil Suppression Bureau cleaned them up regularly, the proportion of Martial Artists and commoners who died at the hands of Demons each year was not high. Perhaps, accumulated over many years, more people died at the hands of Demons. But in the eyes of ordinary people, these were two completely different concepts. Just like in his previous life, in the Dragon Nation, over ten million people died naturally every year, and hundreds of thousands died in accidents, but not many people cared. However, if a disaster occurred and dozens of people died suddenly, it would be a shocking piece of national news. In the eyes of the commoners of Great Jing, it was the same. Once Blood Demon Sect Disciples performed a blood sacrifice, it would involve dozens of people, or even a village massacre. If the blood sacrifice were even larger, it might even affect a town. As for blood sacrificing the population of an entire county, that had not yet happened within Great Jing. Although the number of times they performed blood sacrifices was small, the impact was astonishing. It was precisely because of this that people turned pale at the mere mention of them.

Just like that, Pei Qingyun stayed in Longnan Prefecture for a few more days. It was only today that he received the remaining two pure origin fruits from Wang Hengshan.

"With the three pure origin fruits in hand, it's time to leave. It's been over two months since I left Wuyang," Pei Qingyun sighed with emotion.

Since his Transmigration, this was the longest time he had stayed in an outside prefecture. To be honest, he still preferred the days at the Pei Clan Estate. Although his days in both places were much the same, homesickness was always one of the unavoidable human emotions.

"Commander Liu, this departure is a bit rushed. I originally intended to inquire about more information, but it's a pity," thinking of this, a hint of regret appeared on Pei Qingyun's face.

Although the three pure origin fruits were in hand, he was still far from being able to refine them. Not to mention that his Alchemy skills had not yet reached the fourth tier. At the very least, he needed to collect the refining Materials first. The pure origin fruit was only one of the main ingredients; he had yet to obtain the channels for most of the other Materials. As an Earth-Grade Evil-Suppressing Guard of the General Headquarters, it was not impossible that Liu Three-Blade might have such channels.