Chapter 1002

"... on the Treasure Ship of Creation, is that the Earl of Baron Xingyi?"

Liang Qu surfaced, his two ice-jade toads blinking their eyes, gazing into the distance.

A small boat flew rapidly; a man in black on the boat had his clothes fluttering, and though no one was rowing, the boat's speed was extremely fast.

At his waist was a unique waist plaque, glowing with a brilliant purple light; separated by more than two hundred zhang, he cupped his hands from afar, not daring to approach rashly.

"Finally here!"

Having eaten and drunk in the Ice-Jade Toad territory for over half a month, this was precisely to wait for the imperial court's team to eradicate the Great Snow Mountain's secret stakes!

Liang Qu knew they had this capability, especially when he remained stationary.

The River Patrol Office manages the waters, and the Demon-Hunting Division captures and kills chaotic demons on land.

As for solving cases and personnel matters in the world, the Three Judicial Offices take the lead.

Among them, the Tiqi are the hounds, the claws and teeth of the state, hence also known as the Cloud Eagle Tiqi, specializing in investigating cases and making arrests.

They are divided into several grades; the lowest level are candidate Tiqi, who are unranked and have no credentials.

Those who truly enter the fold are Bronze-Plated Tiqi, who can serve as the main force for solving cases in a county, as Chief Constables; afterward, there are Silver-Plated,

and Gold-Plated, who shine in prefectures and even provinces.

In the past, the three families of the Xige Prefecture, in order to secure a chance for their juniors to learn, had to fulfill Liang Qu's requirements, and they had spent a great price to invite several Gold-Plated Tiqi to search for bandits; although there were no results in the short term, it indirectly helped Liang Qu lock onto the specific range, obtaining five Great Merits, which then just happened to satisfy the exchange requirements for the Xuanhuang Plaque, raising the River Lord's Favor to the fourth layer in one fell swoop—it was truly impressive.

And this was still not the end; above the bronze, silver, and gold grades, there was an extremely special Purple-Gold!

Every Purple-Gold Plaque is personally bestowed by the Holy Emperor; there are no rigid standards, and they can only be obtained by solving national-level major cases; to this day, whether there are even twenty of them in the entire Great Shun is still a question.

Famous cases include, but are not limited to, the theft of the Northern Border Tiger Tally, the Imperial Examination Yin-Yang List, the Ministry of Revenue's Blank Seals, the robbery of the Dunhuang Scriptures...

Without a doubt.

The actions of the Great Snow Mountain are worthy of the imperial court specifically dispatching a Purple-Gold level Tiqi to sit in command!

Perhaps even more than one!

"Perfected Form Grandmaster—" Long Long Yanrui was slightly surprised, "Elder, could it be that there are strength restrictions for investigating Tiqi?"

Liang Qu shook his head: "Not really, it's just that strength and level are complementary."

Although the level of Tiqi is mostly related to solving cases and pursuing fugitives, the higher the level, the larger the platform, the larger the cases handled, and the better the treatment; unless one's talent for cultivation is truly dull, with the accumulation of time, one will always have some martial arts achievements.

Conversely.

High strength, sharp senses, and agile thinking also have divine benefits in pursuing criminals; they are complementary.

It's just that this Perfected Form level Purple-Gold Tiqi is truly surprising; not to mention solving cases, just based on strength alone, he is definitely in the upper-middle tier among Purple-Gold Tiqi!

The wind blew ripples.

The other party cupped his hands from afar.

Liang Qu naturally nodded in response.

Upon their first meeting, on the small boat, Ling Xuan spoke again: "I am Ling Xuan; I wonder if I may come aboard to talk today?"

Liang Qu did not answer; Datakai received the order, walked quickly to the side of the boat, and lowered the rope ladder.

Ling Xuan understood the intent and did not rely on his Perfected Form strength to jump aboard; he climbed the rope ladder honestly,

climbing up the deck one knot at a time to show his attitude; once they met, Ling Xuan got straight to the point.

"The Ghost Mother Sect needs the River Patrol Office to sit in command; the Earl of Baron Xingyi's strength is extraordinary, and he can be called the Needle that Calms the River; leaving Pingyang and traveling thousands of miles to Blue Lake to carry out such a major event—you didn't just come for the rumored family visit, did you?"

"Lord Ling is a dignified Purple-Gold Tiqi, acting silently in the Great Snow Mountain—you are also here to solve a major case, right?"

"Why don't the two of us each write a character to verify each other?"

"Good."

Liang Qu waved his hand, and a ball of water came to the deck.

Datakai brought over a small table.

Both dipped their index fingers in water simultaneously, covering them with their hands; but after Liang Qu finished writing, Ling Xuan did not move, wiping the water stains off his finger.

"The Earl of Baron Xingyi has the ability to control water; I'm afraid my covering the writing would be useless." After speaking, Ling Xuan bit his index finger,

painting with blood, then covering it with one hand, "Likewise, I ask the Earl of Baron Xingyi to reveal yours first, to avoid changes from water control."

Liang Qu withdrew his hand.

A transparent character "Dry".

Ling Xuan also withdrew, a blood-red character "Water".

"Interesting."

Liang Qu's eyes flashed.

Two characters; to others, they would seem inexplicable, but both sides understood clearly.

Once the Drought Demon appears, the land is scorched for ten thousand miles; this is water "Dry", which is also "Drought", and at the same time, it fits the meaning of having just done a ruthless deed to the Bai family upon arrival—he is here to "stir up trouble."

"Water" is the antonym of "Dry", and at the same time, it is about investigating the secret stakes in Blue Lake; both revolve around "water" to make a point.

After confirming the look, both sides exchanged waist plaques to verify their authenticity.

They were on the same side.

Liang Qu brought the person directly into the quiet room: "Lord Ling, what is the matter that you came to find me today?"

"What is the matter that Lord Liang had us find you?"

"What is the distribution of the secret stakes? What are their forms and methods of removal? Where do you usually operate?"

"The matter of the secret stakes is not urgent for now." Even if he confirmed it was Liang Qu himself, without much understanding, Ling Xuan did not dare to blurt out all such confidential matters; if a mistake occurred, he would be the one held responsible. "The monks of Yuequan Temple are active near Ice Mirror Mountain with the dogs of Wansi Temple; I wonder what Lord Liang plans to do?"

Yuequan Temple, Wansi Temple?

Liang Qu did not know much about the former.

There are countless temples in the Snow Mountain region; even though he had a grasp of the basics through investigating the three people, it was impossible to know every single one clearly.

He did know the latter; it was one of the seventy-two medium-sized temples, famous in the Great Snow Mountain for the dogs they raised; it was quite a formidable one among the medium-sized temples, ranked in the upper tier, and the large dogs they raised could be sent directly into the sect lineage; it was one of the few medium temples that could directly contact the Snow Mountain sect lineage without going through the seven major temples.

"Is Yuequan also a medium temple?"

"No."

"Then is it a major temple?" Liang Qu suspected he had misremembered the names of the seven major ones.

"It's not a major temple either."

"Not major, not medium—then is it a small temple?"

"Yes."

Liang Qu was stunned.

How did the losses of the Ice Wheel Bodhi Temple fall directly onto a small temple?

Quite strange.

Ice Wheel had been holding back for two months without any major movement, and as a result, the next news they got was just Yuequan Temple coming out...

"What is the strength of the two monks from Yuequan Temple?"

"Around the mid-stage of Galloping Horse, but the two dogs have the strength of Great Spirit Monsters."

Good fellow.

People are not as good as dogs.

Liang Qu couldn't figure out what medicine was being sold in the Great Snow Mountain's gourd for a moment.

"Have you done anything?"

"We only tracked their movements; we haven't taken any extra actions."

"I'll trouble Lord Ling to inform me of their movements more often; otherwise, there's no need to disturb them."

Small characters are irrelevant; what Liang Qu wants is for the big figures behind them to show themselves.

After some idle chatter.

Both sides understood each other better.

Liang Qu brought up the matter of the secret stakes again.

Ling Xuan did not give a direct answer, instead asking Liang Qu: "I wonder if Lord Liang, upon arriving at the Great Snow Mountain, has felt that his luck has been somewhat poor, especially during the battle with the Master of the Lotus Sect?"

Liang Qu's eyes flashed.

"What does Lord Ling know?"

"Just a few guesses, not really knowing. According to my speculation, the entire Great Snow Mountain and even the surrounding prefectures,

are actually shrouded in this kind of mysterious luck. This kind of influence is extremely difficult to detect; for ordinary people, it's nothing more than choking on water after a few days, kicking a table corner while walking—almost impossible to discover, and there is a very common method of relief."

"Method of relief?"

Liang Qu's spirit lifted; besides the Tathagata, is there a way to cleanse 【Drowning Karma】?

Ling Xuan did not keep him in suspense.

"Burning incense and worshipping Buddha!"