Chapter 73: Heading to Linjiang Prefecture Again

"What's the difference between body-tempering methods?"

In the courtyard, Shen Yi took his habitual stroll to aid digestion.

"There are plenty of them — like the Vajra Sect's Qi Body Tempering, Accumulation Body Tempering, Essence-Blood Body Tempering…"

Butcher Zhang knew this field well and answered off the cuff: "But normally, once you reach the Jade Liquid Realm, you rarely find similar martial arts anymore, so most of them are beginner-level techniques."

"Why?" Shen Yi didn't quite understand.

He felt it worked quite well for him — it cultivated both internal breath and the physical body. Wouldn't that crush peers of the same realm?

"Because of lifespan."

Butcher Zhang shrugged: "Before entering Jade Liquid, lifespan is only around a hundred years, but breaking through to Jade Liquid extends it by a century, and another century after reaching perfection. Body-tempering methods might give you strength comparable to Jade Liquid, but without the nourishment of heaven and earth's Qi on the five viscera and six bowels, they don't add to your lifespan."

"If you cultivate both, this time-consuming and laborious grinding work becomes rather a white elephant — better to learn a few more lightness arts and fist/palm techniques for practical use."

Shaken awake by that one sentence, Shen Yi nodded thoughtfully.

Perhaps it was his previous experience deducing martial arts.

For him, the demon-beast lifespan required by the Golden Yang Eight Treasures Mystic Body was far less than other Jade Liquid Realm martial arts.

In reality, he'd need over forty years to cultivate it to perfection himself, and no matter others' talent, without the aid of medicinal power, they'd need just as long.

But other martial arts were different.

It was just that he was comparatively slow; everyone else was quite fast.

Just as the two were chatting idly by the tree, a figure hurried into the side courtyard.

Li Mujin came to the stone table beneath the tree, sat down, took out a document, and without caring that a strange, burly man was present, looked straight at Shen Yi: "You're in trouble."

Her expression turned solemn, not the slightest hint of jest.

"Do you know about the recent matter at Qingfeng Mountain?"

Originally, upon seeing a charming, alluring beauty approach, Butcher Zhang had been waggling his brows and nudging Shen Yi with his elbow; but hearing these words, his expression suddenly shifted slightly.

Li Mujin stared intently at Shen Yi's fair face and found he showed no unusual emotion.

She sighed softly: "Looks like you already know. I received word — the General of Linjiang Prefecture has ordered another five hundred men drafted from the outer camp. Apart from Xinhan and Ma Tao, who are recuperating, you and I and a few others are all on the roster."

"My family has always been on good terms with Qingfeng Mountain, quite deeply connected… my father won't let us go."

"Besides, Outside Qingzhou hasn't seen the encirclement of a Nascent Core Realm powerhouse in many years—the danger is extreme, and no one can guarantee what unexpected changes might occur."

Li Mujin slowly opened the document in her hands, her eyes glimmering.

"The family had someone issue a transfer order — consider it a chance to relax."

On the roster, the names Li Mujin, Liu Xiujie, and Li Xiao'er were already listed, with only one blank space remaining.

"You're a smart man, and you saved our lives. I don't want to beat around the bush — this isn't something I can decide… come with me."

In just a few words, Li Mujin revealed the full extent of a great clan's power.

Even when the Zhen Mo General personally drafted men, they had ways to slip out in advance.

For other Captains, it was a matter of life and death, leaving them to fate — but the Li family's disciples even had the leisure to consider their relationship with Qingfeng Mountain.

"…"

Butcher Zhang grew more and more confused the more he listened.

His expression gradually shifted from pleasant surprise to bewilderment.

He stared at the document, feeling puzzled — clearly it was a transfer order, so why did it sound so much like an indenture contract?

Shen Yi lowered his gaze and looked at the table, not overly surprised.

He had vaguely anticipated this earlier; he just hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

Li Mujin appeared calm, but waves were stirring in her heart. She said gently: "The news came too urgently — in at most an hour, the Deputy General will arrive with the written order."

Having finally gotten this chance, she didn't intend to give him too much time to think.

The Zhen Mo Si had finally shown its fangs.

Driving him into a corner with no choice.

Under Li Xinhan's hand, another capable subordinate would ultimately be added.

Shen Yi couldn't even find a reason to feel resentful.

This was a document the Li family had someone issue — they were just a group of juniors and could only obey the family.

The other superiors in the Zhen Mo Si weren't fools either.

In this turbulent period, being suddenly transferred away made Shen Yi's identity self-evident.

Just then, she caught a flicker of emotion in the young man's eyes.

Shen Yi reached out toward the document.

Li Mujin's lips curved into a smile, which quickly froze on her face.

She saw Shen Yi close it and casually push it back, saying flatly: "It's not appropriate."

Hearing this, Li Mujin's chest rose and fell sharply. She bit down hard on her pearly teeth, seized his wrist tightly, and looked up — her expression unusually, momentarily losing composure: "Aren't you being overly proud? People will die!"

The huge gap from what she'd imagined, or that black blade that occasionally surfaced in her mind — either way.

No matter what, gambling one's life over a fit of pique was an utterly foolish act!

This wasn't slaying demons for the people — this was a slaughter of sect disciples!

"…"

Shen Yi pulled his hand free, about to speak.

But he heard a faint sound of a door opening.

Fang Heng stepped out slowly, his voice flat: "A mere transfer order — does it really have to be one your Li family secretly obtained?"

Li Mujin's gaze swept over him, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She hadn't expected at all that someone else was living in the courtyard.

If anyone else had said this, Li Mujin wouldn't have given it a second thought—there were barely a handful of forces in all of Outside Qingzhou capable of pulling a person out from under the Town Demon General's hands.

But the person before him was Fang Heng.

Among the great generals garrisoning the twelve commanderies, his senior brothers and senior sisters alone occupied two of those positions.

"So that's how it is. Looks like I'm the one making a fool of myself."

Li Mujin gathered up the documents and looked at Shen Yi again.

He was somewhat unable to figure it out.

The two of them had been at each other's throats just days ago—how had they ended up together again?

So it wasn't about keeping to himself after all.

It was that the other party had quietly latched onto the thickest thigh in the Zhen Mo Si.

By comparison, the Li family really did come up short.

Li Mujin slowly rose, his gaze turning cold as he withdrew it: "Since you don't need me, I'll take my leave."

Fang Heng walked to Shen Yi's side, a glint of pleasant surprise in his eyes.

The other's casual manner seemed to bring him one step closer to formally taking shelter under his master's tutelage…

Whether senior brothers and senior sisters, or himself, there was no precedent for backing out at the last moment.

But Fang Heng was willing to make an exception this once, to go ask Zhu Shixiong Bai for help—after all, the other party had already proven his courage, and there was no need to take further risks.

To be honest, Shen Yi had only been in the Zhen Mo Si for a handful of days, hadn't even drawn a single paycheck, and unlike himself, who had been raised for this since childhood, there was simply no reason for him to risk his life in a fight to the death.

The few stood beneath the tree, each with a different expression.

Yet from beyond the gate came the sound of hurried footsteps.

A vice general draped in a great cloak, leading over forty Captains, stood at the doorway with a grim expression, his voice carrying an overbearing tone that brooked no refusal: "By order, personnel transfer—Captain Shen Yi of the Town Demon Outer Camp, come with this general…"

His words cut off abruptly.

The vice general frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Li Mujin and Fang Heng.

Suddenly his mouth felt parched.

He had thought he was coming to fetch a mere minor captain—how could he possibly run into so many acquaintances?

Li Mujin stayed silent. Fang Heng drew a deep breath and, rather awkwardly, opened his mouth—rarely one to mingle with people, this was his very first time stepping forward to put in a word for someone.

Unfortunately, before the words could leave his lips—

Shen Yi shifted slightly, and with the scabbard at his waist, swatted Fang Heng back.

He walked calmly toward the courtyard gate and stood among the many Captains: "This subordinate obeys the order."

In truth, it wasn't as full of twists and turns as Fang Heng and Li Mujin imagined.

Shen Yi's thinking was simple to the point of being unable to get any simpler.

If he couldn't see the evil flood dragon die with his own eyes, the thought of a Core Condensation demon lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike, would leave him unable to eat or sleep in peace.

Seeing this, the vice general let out an inexplicable sigh of relief.

Little did he know that Shen Yi's actions had already plunged the three people in the courtyard into a daze.

Zhang the Butcher and Fang Heng exchanged a glance: "…"

Li Mujin stared blankly at Shen Yi among the crowd, her breathing suddenly growing rapid.

Perhaps it was the environment she had grown up in that made her feel everyone had to lean on something—otherwise, they wouldn't feel at ease inside.

Even all the back-and-forth shirking was nothing more than fighting for greater benefit.

Yet at this moment, the surging black robes, the figure chasing into the mountain forest, the body drenched in blood, the casual expression as he drew the black-glowing treasured blade from Meng Xian's skull—all of it surged up before her eyes.

So from beginning to end, neither the Li family nor the Regional Commander had ever been within the other party's calculations.

She bit hard on her lip, watching the many Captains walk into the distance, a faint, barely perceptible trace of loss appearing in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)