Chapter 116

Chen Mu was a bit confused.

A Hidden Dragon prodigy is a celebrity known to martial artists throughout the Great Zhou.

To have one's name on the list!

But getting on the list is not easy.

The "Hidden Dragon List" doesn't look at cultivation, only at battle records...

Wait, battle records?

Chen Mu's heart stirred; he put down his chopsticks and walked toward the counter...

A moment later.

Chen Mu returned to his seat and continued eating and drinking, but his movements slowed down significantly.

After some inquiries, he understood the reason.

The "Hidden Dragon List," which updates every three months, had been updated more than half a month ago!

Chen Mu was fortunate enough to be on the list, ranked second to last.

Besides him, there was another person on the list, but that person's ranking was much higher, eighty-third.

Entering the list at eighty-third.

One can see the combat power!

Chen Mu got on the list for killing Sun Jindong, Fang Yuanfu, and five others.

The other newly listed genius fought ten against one.

"They're all beasts~"

Understanding what was going on, Chen Mu sighed inwardly.

Being on the Hidden Dragon List, even second to last, meant he was famous.

And the kind of fame that spreads throughout the world.

"So the person who jumped into the river and ran away last time was a member of the force behind the 'Hidden Dragon List'?"

The existence of the "Hidden Dragon List" has spanned thousands of years.

The force that publishes the list has long been investigated.

Tianji Sect!

This sect is very mysterious, one of the "Nine Great Strange Sects," and also belongs to a force with a long heritage.

Members of the sect rarely show their faces, and most are peripheral members.

No one knows how many official members the "Tianji Sect" has or who the Sect Master is.

Of course, those at the very top of the world, the Myriad Phenomena Realm powerhouses, should know.

The "Tianji Sect" only publishes the list and never participates in various disputes.

Even if they know about the "Heaven River True Qi" and that he killed people, there's no need to worry.

This also put Chen Mu's mind at ease.

However, Chen Mu knew that the people of the Fang family in Hannan would inevitably associate him with it after seeing the latest "Hidden Dragon List."

One of the battle records was an Innate eighth-stage expert "injured and not yet recovered" dying at his hands.

In Nanyun Prefecture, besides Fang Yuanfu, who else could this Innate eighth-stage expert be?

"Being so far away, the tentacles of the Fang family's influence can't reach Tai'an Prefecture..."

Chen Mu continued to listen while eating.

For the whole afternoon, Chen Mu stayed in the "Hero Tower" and figured out the distribution of forces in Tai'an Prefecture.

Tai'an Prefecture governs eight counties, and its overall area is equivalent to Nanyun Prefecture.

But the martial atmosphere is much more prevalent than in Nanyun Prefecture.

Here, besides the government office and the Martial Bureau, the Jianghu is led by ten major forces.

They are: Jinyang Sect, Qinghua Sect, Shuangdao Sect, Bafang Sword Sect, Juliu Villa, Seven Stars Valley.

And the four great families: Wang family, Qi family, Zhao family, and Zhou family.

Each of these ten major forces has experts at the late Innate stage sitting in command, and each family has several Innate martial artists.

Correspondingly, the number of Innate martial artists in the Martial Bureau is also higher than in Nanyun Prefecture.

When Chen Mu left the "Hero Tower," he bought a copy of the main information on all the large and small forces in Tai'an Prefecture, including the experts within the Martial Bureau.

Then, after finding an inn to stay in, he lay on the bed and flipped through it.

Waking up the next day, through a real estate agency, he rented a small courtyard in the inner city and paid the rent for half a year at once.

As a Martial Bureau inspector, there is no fixed duration for supervision, but it is generally one year.

Although Chen Mu is not short of money, it is inconvenient to stay in an inn every day.

Having an independent small courtyard is different.

The accommodation was settled.

Chen Mu went out and inquired about the location of the mass graves outside the city.

Then he left the city, went to the mass graves for a turn, and looted more than a dozen Internal Power Cards, five Power Cards, and a pile of Energy Cards and Stamina Cards.

He kept the Internal Power Cards, used the Power Cards one by one to strengthen his body, a weak reinforcement.

He returned to the city.

He took a turn in the inner city and outer city, and looted a few more Internal Power Cards, Cultivation Cards, and Skill Cards.

The Skill Cards were Postnatal martial arts, and the Internal Power Cards were still accumulated.

The resident population of Tai'an Prefecture city is hundreds of thousands, and the floating population is two or three hundred thousand.

With so many people and a prevalent martial atmosphere, there are fights and brawls almost every day.

No one here has seen Chen Mu, and no one knows Chen Mu's identity.

As for "Prodigy Chen Mu," they talk about it, but no one has thought that he would appear by their side.

For this reason, Chen Mu resumed the daily routine he had at the beginning in Nanyun Prefecture.

For several consecutive days, he wandered around inside and outside the city.

Incidentally, he also ran to the eight counties below and looted about twenty Internal Power Cards from the mass graves.

After wandering for ten days, Chen Mu finally wrote a letter and sent it to the Martial Bureau, to Zhao Fuzhou's junior brother in Tai'an Prefecture, Lu Tang!

In a remote restaurant in the inner city, in a private room on the third floor.

"Brother Chen, you came to Tai'an, why didn't you say so in advance? How could I let you spend money?"

Lu Tang, who was of medium build, with a round chin and very fair skin, held a wine glass and said helplessly, "For the next few days, you must let me treat you, it's settled!"

"Good."

Chen Mu smiled, "Brother Lu doesn't need to entertain me too much; I won't be leaving Tai'an for a while. There's plenty of time to drink."

"That's true."

Lu Tang laughed, "Speaking of which, I haven't congratulated Brother Chen yet! Come, Brother Chen, let's have a drink!"

"Hey, that was just luck, a life-and-death outburst under pressure." Chen Mu raised his glass, and the two toasted each other.

Hidden Dragon List, one hundred and seventh place!

Lu Tang didn't say it directly, but the meaning was clear, and Chen Mu could naturally hear it.

If it were someone else, they might envy and be jealous of this "Hidden Dragon prodigy."

Lu Tang wouldn't.

Lu Tang, only twenty years old, was already at the fourth stage of the Innate Realm.

In the Martial Bureau of Tai'an Prefecture, where there are many experts, he belongs to the top ten figures.

Most importantly, Lu Tang has a master who is a Myriad Phenomena Realm powerhouse!

"Hidden Dragon prodigy" is just a name; the actual benefits cannot be compared with disciples with strong backgrounds like Lu Tang.

This is also the reason why Chen Mu, as an inspector, met with Lu Tang, who is a Silver-Ranked Guard.

Other guards might be corrupt, collude, or defect.

Lu Tang wouldn't.

He wouldn't even if his brain was flooded!

Because he is not short of resources at all and doesn't need to do these dark things.

Serving in the Martial Bureau of Tai'an Prefecture is just coming over to gain experience and gild himself!

Eating and drinking, talking happily.

After three rounds of drinks.

Chen Mu asked straight to the point, "I suppose Brother Lu also knows my mission in Tai'an Prefecture; I wonder if Brother Lu has any suspicious personnel? If there is a list, that would be best."

"There really isn't a list."

Lu Tang pondered, "There are a few suspicious people. One of the biggest problems is..."

Lu Tang lowered his voice, "Pei Pei Renguang!"

Hmm?

A light flashed in Chen Mu's eyes.

Pei Pei Renguang?

The person in charge of the Martial Bureau in Tai'an Prefecture?

The person with the strongest strength and highest status in the Martial Bureau actually has the biggest problem?

"... Brother Lu, did you discover anything?"

Chen Mu also lowered his voice, "This concerns Lord Pei; we must have conclusive evidence."

"There is no evidence."

Lu Tang shook his head, "I'm just suspicious."

Uh~

Chen Mu blinked, a bit speechless.

Suspicion alone is not enough!

Unless...