How is this possible?!

Long Ao’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Zhou Tao was a Junior Grandmaster who had reached Entering the Realm. Never mind in Qinghe, even across the whole of Huanglong Prefecture, there weren’t many who could kill him.

But now, Zhou Tao’s head had been tossed right in front of him. It all felt unreal.

Suddenly, a commotion of shouts erupted from the martial arts hall’s entrance.

Several Flying Eagle Castle disciples were sent flying, landing before him.

Then, a young man with a saber on his back appeared at the entrance.

When Ji Hanming saw him appear, his eyes instantly turned red. He spat out two words through gritted teeth.

"Bai Yuan."

He would never forget that face, not unless it was turned to ash.

Seeing Bai Yuan, Xiao Qiaoniang, Chu Yuan, Old Xue, and the others all showed expressions of pleasant surprise.

A letter Bai Yuan had previously sent to Xiao Qiaoniang mentioned that he had already broken through the Blood Refining Pass and had even become a True Disciple of the Divine Mansion Sect.

Flying Eagle Castle could act like kings in Qinghe, but before the Divine Mansion Sect, they were nothing.

Today’s crisis was as good as resolved.

Long Ao stared intently at Bai Yuan.

He just couldn’t figure out why Bai Yuan would appear in Qinghe ahead of schedule, let alone why he would have cut off Zhou Tao’s head.

The scene froze for a moment. Everyone from Flying Eagle Castle turned to look at their Young Master.

Long Ao suddenly broke into a smile.

"It’s all a misunderstanding. A disciple from Huwei Arts Hall injured one of my Flying Eagle Castle men, so I was just here to investigate the situation. I hope Brother Bai can understand."

The viciousness on his face vanished in a puff of smoke. There was no trace of the man who had just been about to annihilate Huwei Arts Hall; he seemed like he was truly just here on official business.

Bai Yuan just said, "Oh."

"So that’s how it is."

Long Ao said, "Since Brother Bai has returned, I won’t disturb you any longer."

The term ’brother’ rolled off his tongue with practiced ease.

If Bai Yuan could kill Zhou Tao, killing him would be as easy as slicing a melon. Right now, his only advantage was that this body belonged to Ji Hanming.

Although he had surrounded Huwei Arts Hall, at least key figures like Chu Yuan and Xiao Qiaoniang were unharmed. There was still a chance to de-escalate.

Long Ao had studied Bai Yuan long ago.

The man was ruthless, but he didn’t seem to have a habit of killing indiscriminately.

If bowing his head was all it took to survive, Long Ao wouldn’t hesitate for a second. To someone like him, face was the most useless thing in the world.

The Flying Eagle Castle disciples behind him secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their Young Master’s actions.

The Young Master had backed down, causing Flying Eagle Castle to lose a great deal of face, but at least they wouldn’t have to offend the Divine Mansion Sect.

What kind of entity was the Divine Mansion Sect?

They could sneeze and wipe Flying Eagle Castle completely off the map of Qinghe County.

Seeing that Bai Yuan didn’t respond, Long Ao was not foolish enough to wait for him to speak. He nonchalantly turned, preparing to leave.

But just as he was about to slip away—

Bai Yuan spoke out of the blue, "Long Ao?"

The two words, appearing so suddenly, exploded like thunder in Long Ao’s ears.

’How could he know?!’

But his movements didn’t falter in the slightest. In fact, he quickened his pace, as if he had no idea who this Long Ao was.

The next instant!

Bai Yuan erupted into motion. The long saber on his back was already unsheathed, its gleaming blade whistling through the air toward Long Ao’s back with a cold glint.

The terrifying pressure was almost suffocating Long Ao.

He whipped his head around, glaring viciously at Bai Yuan as wisps of black energy rose from his palms.

Long Ao raised his sword, trying to block.

But it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The long saber sliced his sword in two and continued, unimpeded, toward his face.

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!

Long Ao knew he was dead for sure and no longer hid his resentment.

Before, when he was still Long Ao, he couldn’t block a single strike from Bai Yuan. Now that he was Ji Hanming, his strength was greatly diminished; taking this blow was even more impossible.

This was the second time Bai Yuan had killed him.

The last time he was killed, he still had a chance to be reborn. But this time, there would be no vessel for him to occupy.

He would undoubtedly dissipate into nothing.

Everything would come to naught.

SHLICK...

Blood splattered as Long Ao’s head left his neck, spinning as it flew through the air.

Bai Yuan walked expressionlessly toward Long Ao’s corpse, marveling to himself.

’So techniques to possess corpses and return to life really exist in this world?’

’They say the Celestial Heart Sect’s methods are sinister. I never thought they’d actually have such a heaven-defying ability.’

’A second life!’

’Who could possibly resist such a temptation?’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Naturally, Bai Yuan wanted it too.

He bent down and searched Ji Hanming—or rather, Long Ao’s—body. Other than some silver notes, he found nothing.

He stood up with a hint of regret.

He had hoped to get lucky and find the corpse-possession Cultivation Technique on Long Ao’s body, but it seemed he had been overthinking things.

Seeing their Young Master killed, the faces of the Flying Eagle Castle experts who had come to Huwei Arts Hall all turned deathly pale in an instant.

Ji Hanming was dead. That meant they were next.

And Bai Yuan certainly didn’t disappoint them. His three-foot-long saber had long been thirsting for blood.

「An incense stick’s time later.」

The entrance to Huwei Arts Hall was already piled high with corpses—all of them Flying Eagle Castle disciples who had followed Ji Hanming.

Bai Yuan had no intention of letting anyone else do the job. He killed almost all of them himself. A few tried to escape in the chaos, but not many, and fleeing was useless anyway.

These were all enhancement points, after all. Naturally, Bai Yuan had to harvest them personally.

He sheathed his long saber.

Only then did he turn his head, a smile touching his lips. He first bowed to Old Xue in the manner of a disciple.

"Master."

His current master was Old Dong, but that didn’t affect the bond he shared with Old Xue in the slightest.

Back when he left Qinghe County for the Divine Mansion Sect, Old Xue had already formally ended their master-disciple relationship, but Bai Yuan had never forgotten his kindness.

Old Dong didn’t care if he acknowledged another as his master, so it wasn’t a breach of etiquette for Bai Yuan to call Old Xue "Master."

Hearing Bai Yuan call him "Master" was extremely gratifying for Old Xue.

One had to remember, Bai Yuan’s current master was the Divine Mansion Sect’s Thousand-Handed Butcher.

By that logic, he was technically of the same generation as the Butcher. Thinking of this, his smile grew a little more smug, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened.

"Good, very good."

Old Xue praised him with a hearty laugh.

The little apprentice from Huwei Arts Hall had now become a figure who could make all of Qinghe tremble. He couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride.

"Junior Brother Bai."

"You rascal."

...

Chu Yuan, Ma Dingjun, Cheng Li, and Zhang Yang all spoke up one after another with smiles.

Bai Yuan greeted them one by one, his gaze finally landing on Xiao Qiaoniang.

"Sister Qiao."

He called out to her softly.

Xiao Qiaoniang’s eyes glimmered as she simply gave a soft "mm."

"Brother Yuan."

Although she had now reached Yijin Pass herself, and Bai Yuan had been gone for two years without her thinking much of it, now that Brother Yuan was back, she finally felt she had someone to rely on.

Chu Yuan said, "Junior Brother Bai, Qinghe is already showing signs of great chaos because of Flying Eagle Castle. I heard the Divine Mansion Sect is sending a new Commander. I’m afraid the situation is about to get even worse."

As the future master of the martial arts hall, he naturally had to consider more than just the immediate situation.

Compared to the Divine Mansion Sect, Flying Eagle Castle was not even worth mentioning.

Bai Yuan glanced at the mountain of corpses behind him.

’Qinghe County really does need to be unified.’

...

「The next day.」

A troop of over a hundred men on tall horses slowly rode into Qinghe County Town.

At the very front, a large Black Gold Banner fluttered high, emblazoned with two large words: Divine Mansion.

The Divine Mansion Army had finally arrived in Qinghe!

The sight of this well-disciplined, tiger-like army filled everyone on the streets with awe and fear.

In Qinghe, a Yijin Martial Master was a top-tier expert, but in the Divine Mansion Army, they were nothing more than an ordinary soldier.

Zhao Han, riding at the very front, had a cold look in his eyes. He had been a soldier in the Slaughter Camp for ten years and had been to nearly every county in Huanglong Prefecture.

He knew one principle deep in his bones: if you wanted to take complete control of a city, the first step was to make its people fear you.

That was why, as a Blood Refining Martial Master, he was deliberately releasing his Qi and Blood—to intimidate the people of Qinghe County.

Otherwise, there would be endless trouble later on.

But before he could bring the city to heel, his first task was to welcome back the Commander of Wei Camp.

...

「In front of Huwei Arts Hall.」

"Is that... the Divine Mansion Army?"

The disciple guarding the martial arts hall’s gate saw the menacing army and felt his legs go weak.

If the Divine Mansion Sect was a distant legend, then the Divine Mansion Army were demons whose name alone could stop a baby from crying in Huanglong Prefecture. Countless cities had been trampled under the army’s iron hooves.

The Divine Mansion Army’s fearsome reputation was built on blood and bones.

How could an apprentice from a small-town martial arts hall possibly withstand such an imposing presence?

The man riding at the head of the Divine Mansion Army troops reined in his horse before the martial arts hall, then swiftly dismounted.

"Please inform Commander Bai that Zhao Han has arrived with one hundred and thirteen men from Wei Camp to report for duty."

"Com... Commander Bai?"

The gatekeeper disciple was stunned when he heard those two words.

For a moment, he had no idea who this "Commander Bai" the middle-aged man was talking about could be.

Just then—

A hand clapped the gatekeeper disciple on his right shoulder.

A voice sounded slowly from beside him. "Vice Commander Zhao, come with me to the County Magistrate’s Office first."

The speaker was, of course, Bai Yuan.

Chu Yuan, Xiao Qiaoniang, and Ma Dingjun had come with him.

Zhang Yang saw the soldiers of the Divine Mansion Army—men who made the counties of Huanglong Prefecture tremble—acting as meek as house sparrows in front of Bai Yuan, and he swallowed hard.

’Damn it, this is how a real man should live!’

He was fiercely envious of Bai Yuan.

It wasn’t just Zhang Yang; Chu Yuan and Ma Dingjun felt the same way.

Although they had already learned from Bai Yuan that their junior brother was the new Divine Mansion Army Commander, their hearts still couldn’t calm down now that they were actually facing the Divine Mansion Army’s Wei Camp.

A Divine Mansion Army Commander was a hegemon with the authority to slaughter an entire city.

Back in the day, even Old Xue would have only dared to glance at such a powerful figure from a great distance.

But now, Bai Yuan had become just such a terrifying existence. His growth rate was dumbfounding.

"There’s an empty plot of land next to the martial arts hall. You can make camp there."

After giving a few orders, Bai Yuan led Zhao Han toward the County Magistrate’s Office.

He had selfish reasons for choosing the Divine Mansion Army’s campsite next to Huwei Arts Hall, of course. This way, the army would become a natural protective barrier for the hall, ensuring the safety of everyone inside.

「Not long after.」

He and Zhao Han appeared before the main hall of the County Magistrate’s Office.

Magistrate Zhang had long since heard the news and had been waiting at the entrance for quite some time.

The attitude of this "father and mother official" of Qinghe County was now obsequious to the extreme.

Bai Yuan’s status was several times greater than that of You Shengnan or Xiongshan. He was a powerful figure who could have him stripped of his official post with a single word. Naturally, the magistrate could only serve him with the utmost care.

"Magistrate Zhang, it’s been a while."

Bai Yuan said coolly.

Although he had spent a long time in Qinghe, he basically had no relationship to speak of with this Magistrate Zhang.

Of course, when he first joined the Divine Mansion Sect, the strength he had shown was far from enough to come into contact with the highest echelons of Qinghe County, so it was normal that he’d had no interaction with Magistrate Zhang.

The ones who truly controlled Qinghe had always been those few Strong Internal Martial Artists.

Magistrate Zhang looked at Bai Yuan, feeling a wave of emotion.

He had never expected Bai Yuan to grow so quickly. Two years ago, he was just a talented young man who had just entered the Divine Mansion Sect. Upon his return, he was now a Divine Mansion Army Commander, a regional hegemon.

Magistrate Zhang had clawed his way through the political world for decades, yet he had never seen such a genius.

Forget a small county like Qinghe—you couldn’t find many like him in the entire Ling Province.

Bai Yuan said, "Magistrate Zhang, the Northern Demon Sect is advancing south, and the Divine Mansion Sect intends to purge the remnants of the Demon Sect from Huanglong Prefecture. Are you aware of this?"

Magistrate Zhang nodded. As the head of a county, he was of course aware of the situation.

"There is an old saying in Qinghe: to repel foreign invaders, one must first bring peace to the interior. Are you also aware of this?"

Hearing this, Magistrate Zhang felt a chill run down his spine.

’This new commander is definitely not someone to be trifled with.’