Chapter 41: Discussion on Bone Replacement

"Has the Heroes List been updated with a new edition? Let me take a look." Lu Xingzhou extended his large hand.

Sheng Yuanyao, in a bad mood, tossed the booklet in her hand over to him. Lu Xingzhou caught it, flipped through it, and his eyes hooked onto the first page as if by hooks, not moving an inch.

Both women could guess who he was looking at; now that this fellow hailed from the Netherworld Hall was no longer a secret in their hearts.

Sheng Yuanyao's tone was cool: "What, seeing your Nether Lord's rank rise, shaking the world with even greater might, are you regretting that you ran away?"

Lu Xingzhou stared into space for a long while, then said in a low voice: "How did she suddenly rise to third? Has there been any recent event where she fought a first-grade expert to a standstill?"

"No, this is because of a battle a year ago... she easily escaped from the pincer attack of two first-grade elders and multiple second or third-grade experts at the Heavenly Yao Holy Land, injuring several of them. It was truly demonic flames soaring to the heavens."

"Oh, that battle... it's been a year already. Your Heroes List updates too slowly, doesn't it? Is the chief editor a banana?"

"It was reformed half a year ago. Why haven't you been looking at it?"

Lu Xingzhou fell silent.

"It's impossible to replace all the lists just because of one battle record; they are cumulative, and generally, they are updated once every half year. This time just happens to be the moment to switch to the new list, so I came to ask you." As Sheng Yuanyao spoke, she suddenly took an interest, draped her arm over Lu Xingzhou's shoulder like a close brother, and asked in a low voice: "Could it be that you had a hand in that battle a year ago? Tell me the details?"

Lu Xingzhou stole a glance at Miss Qingli: "No, no. How could a seventh-grade cripple like me possibly participate in such a high-end battle situation?"

That battle involved scheming against her sect... Fortunately, no one died; otherwise, Bai Mao might have turned on them. But Bai Mao probably wasn't very familiar with those elders anyway...

Miss Qingli also glanced at him, roughly guessing what he was thinking, and actually didn't care.

Her sect... except for her master, she had hardly met anyone else, feeling no emotional bond. Even when they met, it was only to see them frown at her monstrous appearance of white hair and blue eyes.

Who cares about dealing with them.

In this world, the only one who seemed to think this looked good was truly Lu Xingzhou... Even Shen Tang merely didn't mind, rather than thinking it was beautiful.

But that must be because Lu Xingzhou is strange, right?

Sheng Yuanyao simply didn't believe Lu Xingzhou's nonsense and said in a bad mood: "Then let's leave this matter for now. Can you two calm down next, so I don't have a hard time?"

Before her words had even faded, a merchant house guard ran in from outside the door, saying in a hurry: "A messenger from the Prefect has arrived, saying he is looking for Commander Sheng."

Sheng Yuanyao was very puzzled. She went out to look and saw several officials smiling as they cupped their hands toward her: "Commander Sheng, congratulations on your promotion."

Sheng Yuanyao was baffled: "What promotion?"

"The Ministry of Personnel believes Commander Sheng has made great merits in this campaign and understands the specific situation, so they intend to have Commander Sheng temporarily assume the post of Mayor of Xiazhoucheng."

Sheng Yuanyao was shocked: "My Demon Suppressing Bureau has an independent establishment and is not subordinate to other officials! Besides, I don't know anything about administration at all; how can I possibly serve as mayor? Isn't this nonsense?"

"It is only a temporary assumption, to quickly stabilize the situation. Once this matter passes, Commander Sheng will surely be promoted to Prefect Commander..."

Sheng Yuanyao pinched her forehead, feeling powerless to retort.

She still wanted to return to the capital; not only could she not go back, but she was now acting as mayor.

However, she could roughly guess what was happening. Putting aside other things, why demons and monsters appeared here had not been thoroughly figured out. What if there were even stronger ones? The position of mayor was a hot potato in the short term; temporarily, no one wanted to touch that seat.

As for what her own father was thinking, he had instead pinned her down here. Seeing this trend from above, it felt better to just let her do it, to transition through this period. After all, continuing to investigate the demon case also aligned with her official duties; no one expected her to handle any administration.

The prefectural officials, seeing her expression, knew she understood, and all said with smiles: "Congratulations, Mayor Sheng. Serving as mayor at under twenty years old makes you the youngest mayor in this dynasty... Today everyone is here; shall we set a banquet at the Drunken Immortal Tower to congratulate Mayor Sheng on her great promotion?"

Sheng Yuanyao didn't even have the strength to speak: "Whatever."

Watching Sheng Yuanyao leave, surrounded by a crowd, Miss Qingli finally said: "Is this the 'waiting for the mayor's appointment' that you and Shen Tang mentioned?"

"I didn't expect it to be her... But if it is her, things will indeed be much easier to handle. It is obvious that Sheng Yuanyao has always been secretly looking out for you."

"I didn't notice."

Lu Xingzhou smiled and didn't explain much; his energy was mainly focused on adjusting the alchemical fire.

Seeing his slightly worried expression, Miss Qingli asked in a low voice: "You dare not refine the Bone-Replacing Pill?"

"It's that feeling of being timid when nearing home... I'll be cautious and take it step by step."

Miss Qingli hesitated for a moment: "Have you ever heard of a method to replace bones? I always feel that method suits your condition better; your bones truly won't be useful just by being connected."

Lu Xingzhou was somewhat lost in thought: "I've heard of it... To put it plainly, it's making prosthetics, refining various treasures into bones to replace them... But for me, this seems a bit luxurious; I never expected it."

Miss Qingli said: "It's not merely prosthetics. In earlier times, people went to search for the lost lands of ancient immortals and demons, using immortal bones to replace their own. Even people with intact hands and feet deliberately did this, after all, such immortal blessings could create a stronger cultivation root. However, nowadays, it is rarely heard that such secret places still exist; there hasn't been a single one in recent years."

"Yes, over so many years, all places that should be searched have long been explored by various factions. How incredibly lucky would one have to be to encounter such a blessing? I never expected it. The Netherworld Hall's intelligence network has been built for so long, and over these years, no similar place has been discovered."

Miss Qingli was somewhat hesitant but didn't speak it aloud.

Actually, the imperial family possesses such things, and the Holy Lands do too.

It's just that with Shen Tang's current situation, it's impossible for her to ask the imperial family for such a thing. Miss Qingli herself has some qualification to ask her master for some treasures, but on what grounds? If the reason isn't sufficient, for a treasure of this level, her master would simply not agree.

To put it plainly, her master might not even hope for Shen Tang to cure her leg, after all, the disabled state is actually more beneficial for her to hide her light and preserve her life. Otherwise, she should have secretly sent medicine some time ago; how could it have dragged on until waiting for Lu Xingzhou to treat it...

Additionally, no one knows whether the collections of the imperial family and the Holy Lands are compatible with Lu Xingzhou. Such things depend on fate; they cannot be given to just anyone.

Both fell silent, each in their own thoughts. After a while, the alchemy furnace trembled slightly.

Lu Xingzhou gathered his spirit and carefully adjusted the alchemical fire.

Not long after, the furnace lid jumped lightly, and a pill slowly floated up.

A sixth-grade Sinew-Continuing Pill, of supreme quality.

With just this single feat, Lu Xingzhou's alchemist rank should actually be sixth grade. Whether it was the formula or the refining, it was a one-man operation, sufficient for the grade evaluation. For an occupation like alchemy that extremely requires experience, a sixth-grade alchemist at this age is no simpler than her, Miss Qingli, a fifth-grade cultivator.

Perhaps there is still some gap compared to Chen Jinian? After all, the gap in age and experience is right there; the number of people Lu Xingzhou has seen might not even match the number of patients Chen Jinian has seen... But it is truly already remarkable.

If they are called cultivation geniuses, actually Lu Xingzhou is a genius in every aspect as well, just limited by his body, trapped here. Miss Qingli dared not think about how Lu Xingzhou would soar to the heavens once he solved the problem.

When that day comes, can Shen Tang really keep him?

Perhaps the Nether Lord didn't cure his leg because he felt that once the shackles were suddenly removed, he would transform into a dragon and ascend to the heavens, and could no longer be kept.

Lu Xingzhou put away the pill, his mood excellent, and moved to the window to prepare the external medicine. Glancing sideways at Miss Qingli's thoughtful expression, he smiled: "What are you thinking about?"

Miss Qingli was about to answer when her heart stirred slightly, and her long sword unsheathed.

A figure suddenly flashed past, avoiding her sword strike, and revealed his form beside them: "Wait!"

Miss Qingli protected Lu Xingzhou, staring coldly at the newcomer: "Who are you?"

The newcomer cupped his hands: "Yang Dechang, a patron of the Huo family, greets the two of you."

Lu Xingzhou's expression remained unchanged: "Since you have come, hiding your head and tail to observe from the side, what is your intention?"

Yang Dechang had, of course, come to secretly observe whether this person might be Huo Shang; he too was an old hand of the Huo household and knew Huo Shang.

But the troublesome thing was, when Huo Shang died he was only eight years old, and an eight-year-old's appearance really isn't easy to compare with that of a young man. Huo Yu could recognize that Lu Xingzhou was Huo Qing because back then they were of similar age, and Huo Qing had even bullied him as a child — they had plenty of shared history, so he could vaguely recall. How could anyone else possibly remember what some other family's child in the mountains looked like back then? Yang Dechang, moreover, had never even met Huo Qing at all.

After secretly observing for a long while, with the preconception in place he did feel there really was some resemblance to Huo Shang, but couldn't fully confirm it. On the contrary, seeing him successfully refine a sixth-grade pill and even produce a supreme-quality one stirred something in his heart — and his aura was detected by Dugu Qingli.

Yang Dechang thought it over, then simply said: "Young Master has already entered the Huo family's sights. In fact, some matters might as well be laid out openly. If Young Master is not the Seventh Young Master, then the Huo family truly has no premise for any dealings with you, and each side can simply leave the other in peace. If he truly is the Seventh Young Master, blood is thicker than water — what grievance cannot be attempted to be resolved?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled faintly: "How would you resolve it?"

To Yang Dechang's ears, those words were practically the same as a direct admission. He beamed and produced a deed: "I hear the Shen Trading Company rents this land from Young Master. Since Young Master's land borders the Huo residence, perhaps you'd take a fancy to it?"

Lu Xingzhou laughed despite himself: "That old residence is already a haunted house. The Huo family will either leave it idle forever, or if they wanted to sell it, it wouldn't have been worth much long ago. You call this putting waste to use?"

Yang Dechang said with a chuckle: "Young Master is underestimating this… The vast fields outside, including the back mountain — they're all encompassed in this deed. It's not merely a single residence."

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment: "Let's settle accounts properly. I'll pay for it — name your price."

"There's no need for that. Even if you aren't the Seventh Young Master, we can all still be friends." Yang Dechang left the deed, then suddenly flashed away: "If fate allows, I'll come drink and chat with Young Master again some…"

He hadn't even finished the word "again" when a gold ingot abruptly appeared up ahead, with a talisman stuck to it.

A teleportation talisman.

Yang Dechang's heart gave a slight jolt. Such exquisitely precise control of spellcraft… If this had been a magic artifact teleported over to suddenly explode, he himself might have suffered for it.

His hand instinctively caught the ingot, and Lu Xingzhou's cold voice came from behind him: "One doesn't accept reward without merit… This way we are even. Please go back, sir."

Dugu Qingli glanced sidelong at Lu Xingzhou: "Trading a single gold ingot for such a vast stretch of land — how do you have the nerve to say we're even…"

Lu Xingzhou leaned back against the chair, but his voice was chilling: "Saying we're even is just so they don't think they've done me a favor. Thinking this bit of interest can dissolve the grudge… they dream prettily."

(End of chapter)