Chapter 294 - 291: I Remain Unshaken

Chapter 294: Chapter 291: I Remain Unshaken

Unexpectedly, Bai Yuan ended up staying in Lu State for another five days.

During this time, Yan Lei received news from Chuzhou that one family and one sect were willing to head north.

Given the Yan Family’s standing in Chuzhou, it was natural that these two factions had already been won over by them.

With this, the trip south had now gathered four different powers.

This had far exceeded Yan Lei’s expectations. His grandfather, the Grand Protector, would surely be pleased.

There was no longer any point in staying in Jiangnan, so after some discussion, the group decided to return to Ling Province as soon as possible.

With the help of the Cao Bang’s cargo ships, they crossed several thousand miles in just three days, arriving at the border of Yan Province. From there, it would only take a few more days on horseback to reach Ling Province.

The three of them experienced the thrill of covering nearly a thousand miles in a single day.

As the familiar cold wind blew, Li Huan found himself starting to miss Jiangnan.

「Five days later.」

The group returned to Huanglong Prefecture.

As the Chief Official of Ling Province, Bai Yuan naturally had to stay in Huanglong Prefecture.

Yan Lei and Li Huan, however, continued north into Ling Province.

As soon as Bai Yuan returned to the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office, he saw Yang Fangyu, who was completely swamped with work.

After he had left, Yang Fangyu had essentially become the acting Prefect of Lingzhou. After all, Chen Danian spent his days composing poetry in his small courtyard, barely paying any attention to political affairs.

Yang Fangyu looked up, saw Bai Yuan, and was instantly overjoyed.

"Ah Yuan, you’re back."

Bai Yuan strode over to Yang Fangyu.

"Brother Yang, has anything happened in Ling Province recently?"

Although Yang Fangyu looked somewhat haggard, sporting large dark circles under his eyes, he shook his head. "Nothing major."

Upon asking, Bai Yuan learned the truth.

Since his departure, more and more people from Lingzhou City had fled to Huanglong Prefecture. If this continued, it seemed there would be no need for them to move back to Lingzhou City even after the war ended.

With so many people flooding into Huanglong City, the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office was naturally under immense pressure.

To handle all these matters, Yang Fangyu had been as busy as a coder during crunch time.

Bai Yuan cleared his throat. "And what of Ling Province?"

The mention of Ling Province piqued Yang Fangyu’s interest. "I hear Grand Protector Yan has already conquered the Three Mansions in a row and is pushing toward Yuquan Mansion. His forces are now in a standoff with the Demon Sect along the Yuquan Mansion front."

Bai Yuan nodded.

Given the forces Yan Shao’an had brought to Ling Province, such military achievements were not unexpected.

After several major battles, Xuan Yang had come to understand that completely annihilating the Demon Sect in a short period was a near-impossible task.

This was true even with Yan Shao’an personally overseeing the campaign.

This war was bound to drag on for a very long time.

...

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

The Lingzhou People were highly adaptable. Just as they had for a thousand years, they continued to eat when it was time to eat and farm when it was time to farm.

Huanglong Prefecture gradually returned to prosperity.

However, it still paled in comparison to Ling Province at its peak.

Due to the situation in Dingzhou, many well-off families had moved to the southernmost states of the Northern Territory, which were undoubtedly safer.

Those who remained in Ling Province were the poor, who couldn’t afford to leave their homes.

As long as it wasn’t a matter of life and death, these people would not easily leave the land where their ancestors had lived for generations.

It wasn’t out of any great love for the land, but because without it, they would only die faster.

Everything in Ling Province gradually became orderly once more.

"Brother Yuan, I’ve returned to Linzhou. Everything here is the same as always. I hope to see you again soon."

Bai Yuan looked at the letter that had traveled thousands of miles from Linzhou, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Although the situation in Ling Province had stabilized for now, Bai Yuan had no intention of bringing Sister Qiao back.

The Soul-Chasing Tower’s roots ran too deep in Xuan Yang.

His relationship with the Soul-Chasing Tower was one of life and death. Even Kuaidong himself had personally made a move against him. If Sister Qiao were in Ling Province at this time, it would be no different from exposing his greatest weakness to them.

Yang Fangyu thought the same way.

It was said that he had returned to Jiangzhou only when Yan Hongxiu was giving birth, then rushed back to Ling Province. The entire trip took no more than ten days, and that included travel time.

In these times, it was the norm for men who wanted to achieve great things to spend little time with their wives and children.

Fortunately, both Bai Yuan and Sister Qiao were now Martial Artists. After becoming a Demon Hunter, Sister Qiao had a good chance of breaking through the Perception Pass. They had a long life ahead of them to see each other; there was no need to rush.

Putting the letter away, Bai Yuan finally looked at his panel.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Profession: Demon Hunter, Sword Ghost, Boxer, Spirit Cooker, Skin Painter]

[Skills: Divine Mansion Technique, Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber (Legendary), Manggu Zhuhe Technique (Master), Demon Mimicry Technique (Master), Spirit Extraction (Legendary), Spirit-Seizing Technique (Legendary)...]

[Enhancement Points: 0]

He had finally upgraded his Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber to the Legendary level.

It would be no exaggeration to say that his current saber skills were unparalleled in Shuofang.

For the past six months, he had spent most of his time traveling around, suppressing rebellions.

Although Xuan Yang and the Demon Sect were at a stalemate in Dingzhou, there were still many rogue monsters sneaking into Xuan Yang’s territory.

Bai Yuan had used his skills as a Demon Hunter to slay countless monsters.

It was thanks to those monsters that Bai Yuan had been able to upgrade his Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber to the Legendary level so quickly.

The Legendary-level Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber pushed the concept of "speed" to its absolute limit. Now, Bai Yuan could unleash a full thirty slashes in the span of a single breath.

Such terrifying speed was rarely seen in the world.

Bai Yuan could feel the force within his body unconsciously transforming into a brand-new type of power: a sensory power.

The appearance of this sign meant that a breakthrough was not far off.

Perhaps once he also upgraded the Manggu Zhuhe Technique to Legendary, he would touch the very limits of the Entering the Realm stage, completely filling the vessel of its power.

It had taken Old Dong a full thirty years to reach this step, but Bai Yuan had drastically shortened that time.

’Who could blame me? I have a cheat...’

Just as Bai Yuan was pondering this, he suddenly turned his head and glanced toward the depths of Shenfu Mountain.

That was where the Lili slept.

Over the past six months, Bai Yuan had also transformed into a Zhuyan to chat with the Lili, but he hadn’t managed to get any more useful information.

He would probably have to wait until after he cultivated the Divine Mansion Technique to learn anything about those three palaces.

At that moment, a young boy walked into the Sect Leader Hall.

In the Divine Mansion Sect, the only ones who could freely enter and exit the Sect Leader Hall, aside from Bai Yuan’s confidant Yu Hui, were his disciple, Murong Fu.

The young boy, Murong Fu, lived up to his reputation as a prodigy born from "genetic modification," possessing extremely high talent for the Martial Dao.

He broke through the Skin Grinding Barrier in just three days, the Bone Forging Pass in one month, and the Yijin Pass in three months.

Such a terrifying speed of advancement was not only due to the Murong Clan unsparingly using Spirit Medicines on him, but also because of Murong Fu’s own perseverance and talent.

The initial stages for a Martial Artist were all about refining the body, a process that was naturally faster with the aid of medicinal power.

It was said that the breakthrough speed of the Royal Family’s children was even more exaggerated.

But reaching the Entering the Realm stage was a true hurdle. Many geniuses who had previously advanced with unstoppable momentum ended up getting stuck at the Entering the Realm pass.

Because of this, the Entering the Realm stage was often called the Dragon Gate Pass.

Force could not be built up through medicinal power alone.

"Master."

Murong Fu bowed to Bai Yuan.

He was much more composed than when they first met, looking as if he were already thirteen or fourteen years old.

Bai Yuan was very pleased with his disciple.

After all, he had barely had to worry about him, yet Murong Fu had already matured quite well.

"If your foundation is weak, you must train harder. If others practice one punch, you practice two. Understand?"

Bai Yuan was suddenly reminded of what Zhang Yang had told him on his first day of boxing practice.

Murong Fu’s expression faltered.

Bai Yuan’s words were clearly a warning to keep him in line.

"Yes, Master. This disciple will redouble his training."

Murong Fu was already in awe of Bai Yuan, and hearing this admonishment made his face turn pale with fear.

In reality, his foundation was far from poor; it was actually quite strong, even among the top tier in Ling Province.

But Murong Fu was still too young and could easily become arrogant, which was why Bai Yuan spoke to him this way.

Bai Yuan then spent some time explaining the essentials of saber practice to Murong Fu.

The young boy, Murong Fu, gradually became entranced as he listened.

Bai Yuan’s insights into saber techniques were practically unrivaled in Shuofang. Murong Fu naturally benefited immensely; problems that had been troubling him for a long time suddenly became clear during Bai Yuan’s explanation.

He couldn’t help but admire his master even more.

Bai Yuan spoke for a full two hours, and Murong Fu left, completely satisfied.

To encounter a saber grandmaster like Bai Yuan at the very beginning of his Martial Dao journey meant his path of saber training was sure to be incredibly smooth.

...

「Autumn of the 45th year of Yuanding.」

The position of Prefect of Lingzhou was finally decided. It was to be an official from the Central Plains who had previously served as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

The official documents from the Ministry of Personnel had already been delivered to Huanglong Prefecture. The new Prefect would likely be arriving in Ling Province soon.

Yang Fangyu slammed his hand on the table indignantly. "If you ask me, that position should have been yours."

Bai Yuan said, "Don’t say that again once the new Prefect arrives."

Previously, most officials in Ling Province had assumed Bai Yuan would become the new Prefect.

He was more than qualified, both in terms of power and accomplishments.

But no one expected the Court to send someone from the Guanglu Temple to be the Prefect. It was a real shock.

The Guanglu Temple was in charge of sacrifices, banquets, and the imperial court’s meals—a first-class lucrative post.

Furthermore, it was common knowledge that the Minister of the Ministry of Rites was a follower of Grand Protector Yan Shao’an’s faction.

The Court’s reason for not promoting Bai Yuan was likely a desire to suppress Xu Dingchun’s faction.

Although the Minister of War, Xu Dingchun, had been stripped of his military authority, his prestige within the army remained.

Because of the Northern Garrison Army’s major defeat, the Court had been forced to promote Dong Wanjun, a member of Xu Dingchun’s faction, to Grand General of the North.

If Bai Yuan were now also promoted to Prefect of Lingzhou, Xu Dingchun’s influence in the Northern Territory would become far too powerful.

His Majesty the Emperor was naturally unwilling to see such a situation arise.

So, no matter how outstanding Bai Yuan’s performance was, it would be difficult for him to get promoted.

Neither the Emperor nor the other political factions wanted to see Xu Dingchun’s power grow again.

That was why they sent an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites to be the Prefect of Lingzhou—to counterbalance the power of Xu Dingchun’s faction.

Yang Fangyu’s expression grew worried. "Ah Yuan, this new Prefect coming to Ling Province will probably target you. You must be careful."

To be fair, no one would want a subordinate who could threaten their position.

Bai Yuan smiled faintly, unconcerned.

He looked inward at his body... ’The venomous power has grown stronger again.’

’No matter how the world outside changes, as long as I am strong enough, I will remain unshakable.’