Chapter 705: Return to the Capital

Dongfang Bubai's internal force was sharp and fierce, and it indeed caused some damage to Bai Lang's incomparably majestic internal force. This sharp intent was like fine drizzle, seeping into the gaps. It actually infiltrated Bai Lang's Golden Bell Shield internal force all the way. Fortunately, Bai Lang also vibrated his joints, and his internal force turned into the sound of a great bell, shaking away Dongfang Bubai's internal force. Bai Lang also knew that Dongfang Bubai probably didn't get the better of it either; Bai Lang's majestic internal force must have also caused her to suffer internal injuries from the counter-shock, and the injuries could only be much heavier than Bai Lang's.

The three former Demon Cult leaders had lost the courage to continue opposing Dongfang Bubai. Bai Lang watched as Ren Woxing suddenly looked as old as seventy or eighty, and Xiang Wentian no longer had that arrogant temperament toward others. Only Ren Yingying seemed to have let out a long sigh of relief—it was true, Dongfang Bubai was just teasing the three of them just now; if she wanted to kill them, she could have done it at any time. Ren Woxing couldn't even withstand a casual strike from Dongfang Bubai.

Ren Woxing had been imprisoned in West Lake, and all these years he had been holding on to the spirit of regaining the position of sect leader after getting out. Now that he was out and saw that Dongfang Bubai had reached the sky, he lost all his spirit. Bai Lang thought this old man probably wouldn't live long; once the spirit was lost, martial arts would regress significantly, and soon the strange true Qi in his body would rebel—this was the disadvantage of the Star-Sucking Great Art as a pirated version. If it were the North Ocean Divine Art, it would turn all the waters of the world into the North Ocean, so how could there be any problem with strange true Qi?

Ren Woxing's life was not long, unless there was an expert to help him regulate his true Qi, or if he directly abolished his martial arts and dispersed his power, he might live a few more days. Bai Lang thought about who could regulate his true Qi. "Find Shaolin's Fangzheng, see if you can get the Yi Jin Jing. Relying on the pure power of the Yi Jin Jing to gradually dissolve the strange true Qi, although internal force would inevitably be lost, after purification, martial arts would not regress, and life could be preserved."

There was another more direct way: find an Innate expert to help, and directly "format" all the true Qi in his body with Innate true Qi. This matter would also be settled. The problem was, who could Ren Woxing find? Dongfang Bubai was probably impossible to help him drive out the strange true Qi. Bai Lang naturally couldn't help the old man drive it out; this person wasn't even qualified to enter the heavenly prison—he hadn't been the sect leader for more than ten years, and the stuff in his stomach had long since expired and was useless.

If the Ministry of Justice still had a wanted notice, Bai Lang wouldn't mind sending him in for a beheading after the autumn assizes. Unfortunately, no victim came to report to the government, so naturally, there was no wanted notice—when Bai Lang left the capital, he really went to check the Ministry of Justice documents. "Sigh, it's a good thing that these Jianghu bandits kill each other..." Thinking carefully, it was exactly like that. From the perspective of the imperial court, the Five Mountains Sword Sects and the Demon Cult were all Jianghu bandits, right? The Demon Cult openly disobeyed the royal transformation, while the Five Mountains Sword Sects and their ilk secretly disobeyed the royal transformation.

It was a good thing for such people to kill each other.

"They learned literature and martial arts but didn't serve the imperial court, they deserve it!" Bai Lang thought. "Left Envoy Xiang, it's about time to send you to the heavenly prison." Bai Lang grabbed him casually. Xiang Wentian, who had lost his ambition, was slow to react and was grabbed by him and thrown onto the cart again. "Miss Ren, let's part ways here. By the way, your father only has a few days left, you can start preparing for the funeral." Bai Lang kindly added another sentence to Ren Yingying. "The mind is scattered and cannot drive true Qi with intent, the strange true Qi is scattered and misplaced, his life will be gone immediately, hahaha."

After saying this, Bai Lang let Linghu Chong drive the cart away. Ren Woxing was dejected and didn't say a word about Xiang Wentian being caught, just squatting there looking like he was about to die. Ren Yingying stood beside her father, worried to death.

The cart left the two behind, and Bai Lang entered the capital and went straight to the government office. "Throw this person into the heavenly prison and interrogate him about the White Lotus Sect." Bai Lang ordered at the office, and two Jin Yi Guard small flag officers immediately pierced Xiang Wentian's shoulder blades and took him down—generally speaking, Bai Lang would never see this "Heavenly King" again. The next occasion he might see him would be the autumn execution. This "Heavenly King" had victims reporting him in recent years, and there was indeed a wanted notice for this old man in the Ministry of Justice's archived documents.

It wasn't that the Ministry of Justice's head catchers didn't want to catch him, it was just that there were bigger criminals to catch all over the country in recent years, and they really didn't have time to catch a mere Xiang Wentian. Now that Bai Lang had conveniently brought him, the Ministry of Justice also sent a deputy head catcher to do some paperwork to close the case. Linghu Chong hadn't seen Bai Lang in his official robe, and it was truly full of official authority. If he could change the green robe to a red one in the future, and change the rank badge from a silver pheasant to a crane or golden pheasant, it would be even more impressive.

Bai Lang sat on the hall like a general, and the clerks ran around below, constantly sending all kinds of documents for the master to approve—the Great Ming had nothing else, but this administration relied entirely on official document circulation, which was similar to the modern countries of the future. Therefore, even though Bai Lang, this Secretary, actually had unclear responsibilities, many documents were still uploaded and downloaded to him, and as usual, he had to draw circles and stamp seals...

Linghu Chong just stared blankly at Bai Lang sitting in the hall, holding a two-inch-four-square copper seal and stamping it—this was an official master. Bai Lang never thought about promoting his senior brother to the Jin Yi Guard—first, he didn't have the face to do so now; recommending someone to the Jin Yi Guard wasn't something he could do. Otherwise, would it be interesting to just recommend Linghu Chong to be a small flag officer? It was meaningless. Besides, a person like Linghu Chong couldn't be an official, and Bai Lang didn't want to harm him.

It was enough for this person to be a local landlord in Huayin County; he was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and that was fine—in Bai Lang's view, the "Nine Swords of Dugu" with broken swords and broken knives were actually completely useless on the road to seeking power and wealth. If it were "Swinging Sword Style! Breaking Sword Style! Obscene Sword Style," it might be a bit useful. In fact, if Linghu Chong were proficient in two-handed long sword skills, Bai Lang would dare to recommend him for a future right now.

For martial arts that seek wealth, bows and crossbows come first, followed by spears and sticks, and then knives and shields; fist and foot techniques are just the foundation. Anyway, Bai Lang prepared to let Linghu Chong play in the capital for a while and then drive him back to Huayin County. It was just that he might have to find a Jin Yi Guard or a Ministry of Justice expert who was going on a business trip along the way to escort him, so as to avoid this senior brother's spinelessness acting up and causing some trouble again—if this guy was abducted into the White Lotus Sect and talked about loyalty with them, it wouldn't look good if Bai Lang killed him when he suppressed the White Lotus Sect.

After Bai Lang finished this, he would submit a memorial to the cabinet ministers to handle—the main part of the White Lotus Sect and the source of wealth for Altan Khan were in the city of Bansheng. Should they organize an elite force to launch a surprise attack? Anyway, the cabinet ministers would put the sticky notes, the Ritual Office would do the red approval, and the overall control would be the Jiajing Emperor himself—this emperor's intelligence and shrewdness could be ranked among the emperors of all dynasties. In the Great Ming Dynasty, he was likely the first. Did people really think he didn't care about state affairs? He controlled it very well. ===== CHAPTER 706 =====