Chapter 111

Chen Mu was a bit confused.

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

Famous on the list!

But getting on the list wasn't 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 over half a month ago!

Chen Mu had the honor of being 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.

Ranked eighty-third upon entering the list.

One can see the combat power!

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

The other genius who just got on the list fought ten against one.

"They're all monsters~"

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 that spreads throughout the world.

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

The existence of the "Hidden Dragon List" had reached thousands of years.

The force that publishes the list had long been investigated clearly.

Heavenly Mystery Gate!

This sect was very mysterious, one of the "Nine Great Strange Gates," and also belonged to a force with a long heritage.

Members of the sect rarely showed their faces, and most were peripheral members.

No one knew how many official members the "Heavenly Mystery Gate" had or who the Sect Master was.

Of course, those at the very top of the world, the Myriad Phenomenon Realm experts, should know.

The "Heavenly Mystery Gate" only publishes the list and never participates in various disputes.

Even if they knew about the "Heavenly River True Qi" and he had killed people, there was no need to worry.

This could be considered to have put Chen Mu’s mind at ease.

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

One of the battle records was an Innate eighth-stage expert who was "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 power can't reach Tai'an Prefecture..."

Chen Mu continued to listen while eating.

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

Tai'an Prefecture had jurisdiction over eight counties, with an overall area equivalent to Nanyun Prefecture.

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

Here, besides the government offices and the Martial Suppression Office, the Jianghu was led by ten major forces.

They were: Golden Sun Gate, Green Splendor Gate, Twin Saber Gate, Eight Directions Sword Sect, Giant Willow Villa, Seven Stars Valley.

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

Each of these ten major forces had Innate late-stage experts sitting in charge, and each family had several Innate martial artists.

Correspondingly, the number of Innate martial artists in the Martial Suppression Office was 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 Suppression Office.

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

The next day, he went through a real estate agency and rented a small courtyard in the inner city, paying six months' rent at once.

As a patrol envoy of the Martial Suppression Office, the duration of supervision was not fixed, but it was generally one year.

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

Having an independent small courtyard was different.

Accommodation solved.

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

Then he left the city, went around the mass grave, and looted more than a dozen internal energy cards, five power cards, and a pile of energy cards and stamina cards.

He kept the internal energy cards, used the power cards one by one to strengthen his body, a weak enhancement.

Returned to the city.

He went around the inner city and outer city, looting several more internal energy cards, cultivation cards, and skill cards.

The skill cards were post-natal martial arts, and the internal energy cards were still accumulated.

The resident population of Tai'an Prefecture city was hundreds of thousands, with a floating population of two or three hundred thousand.

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

No one here had seen Chen Mu and didn't know Chen Mu’s identity.

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

For this reason, Chen Mu resumed his daily routine from 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, looting twenty or so internal energy cards from the mass graves.

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

In a secluded 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 smiled. "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 explosion under duress." 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 obvious, and Chen Mu naturally understood.

If it were someone else, they might envy and be jealous of him, 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 Tai'an Prefecture Martial Suppression Office, which had many experts, he belonged to the top ten figures.

Most importantly, Lu Tang had a master who was a Myriad Phenomenon Realm expert!

"Hidden Dragon prodigy" was just a name; the actual benefits couldn't be compared to disciples with strong backgrounds like Lu Tang.

This was also the reason why Chen Mu, as a patrol envoy, met with Lu Tang, a silver-rank guard.

Other guards might be corrupt, collude, or defect.

Lu Tang wouldn't.

Even if he were brain-damaged, he wouldn't!

Because he wasn't short of resources at all and didn't need to do these shady things.

Serving in the Tai'an Prefecture Martial Suppression Office was just coming over to gain experience and gild himself!

Eating and drinking, conversing happily.

After three rounds of wine.

Chen Mu asked directly, "I suppose Brother Lu 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 Renguang!"

Hmm?

A light flashed in Chen Mu’s eyes.

Pei Renguang?

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

The person with the strongest strength and highest status in the Martial Suppression Office actually had the biggest problem?

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

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

"There is no evidence."

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

Uh~

Chen Mu blinked, a bit speechless.

Suspicion alone won't do!

Unless...