I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 181 Do you regret it?

The snow stopped in the middle of the night.

Before dawn, Tao Fang was woken up by her grandfather and left the inn to continue her journey.

Each of the two men led a horse. As soon as they stepped out of the inn, they saw a luxurious carriage parked in the open space outside. It was much larger than an ordinary carriage, and it was pulled by four fine horses, all of which were jet black and had not a single stray hair.

Tao Fang couldn't help but glance at the large carriage a few more times. She knew that Chen Ming, who had caused such a commotion yesterday, was in the carriage and hadn't gotten off.

Moreover, even she could tell that he wasn't the only one in the car; there were several other breathing sounds, clearly those of women.

Bah, you lecherous thief.

She cursed inwardly, imagining what the situation inside the car must have been like.

Even when traveling, he would sleep with women under the same quilt, which shows how licentious and immoral this man was.

"Fang'er".

The old man called out, and she pulled on the reins, urging the horse to chase after him.

The snowy roads were difficult to travel, so the grandfather and grandson had to slow down.

Around noon, as they passed a large tree, Tao Fang suddenly exclaimed, "There's a dead person!"

The old man glanced at the body lying behind the tree and said, "It's a bounty hunter we chased after yesterday."

It seems that the middle-aged merchant was more skilled and killed the man here.

Although it wasn't the first time Tao Fang had seen a dead body, she still found it hard to understand. "To lose your life for a few kills?"

The old man's face held a compassionate look that suggested he had seen through the ways of the world. "For these bounty hunters who have no affiliation with any sect, those few heads can be used to exchange for a more profound martial art, thereby changing their fate. It's worth risking their lives for."

Tao Fang protested, "But Chen Ming is also from no sect or faction. How could he make it onto the Azure Cloud Ranking?"

"Rumors from the martial arts world are not to be trusted. If I'm not mistaken, the markings on that carriage belong to the Cangyue Sect, one of the four major sects in Jiangzhou. Moreover, there are experts accompanying them."

"An expert? How does he compare to you, Grandpa?"

The old man looked at her with affection and said, "Your grandfather is just a free spirit, how can he compare to those masters from major sects?"

The two continued walking as they talked.

After walking several miles, they saw another corpse lying by the roadside, and a dozen or so feet ahead was the corpse of another person.

This shows how fierce the fighting was yesterday for those four heads.

After walking several more miles, Qingfeng City came into view.

The old man suddenly stopped, looked up at the tree, and sighed.

"What's wrong? Ah!"

Tao Fang followed his gaze and saw a corpse on the tree, frozen into an ice sculpture. It was the middle-aged merchant from yesterday.

Unexpectedly, he ultimately failed to enter Qingfeng City and died there.

The four human heads that he had tied around his waist were nowhere to be seen; no one knew who had taken them.

"Let's go."

The old man called out.

Tao Fang followed silently, without saying a word the whole way.

Upon entering Qingfeng City, the old man looked at the bustling streets and sighed, "Everyone says Qingfeng is a prosperous commercial hub, and seeing it today, it truly lives up to its reputation."

He turned his head and saw that his granddaughter seemed unusually upset. He asked, "Is this world of martial arts different from what you imagined?"

Tao Fang said with a frustrated look, "I always heard my senior brothers talk about how they were chivalrous and righteous, and how they were quick to settle scores. They said how those heroes kept their word, and how those young and beautiful heroes traveled the world hand in hand, like a pair of celestial beings, envied by everyone. But the world here is completely different from what they described."

Suddenly, a sneer came from the side.

She turned her head and saw a man who looked like a merchant glaring at her. "What are you laughing at?"

The traveling merchant chuckled, "Judging from your accent, young lady, you must be from Xia Prefecture. This kind of thing doesn't apply in Jiang Prefecture. If you don't like it, you'd better go back to Xia Prefecture as soon as possible."

After he said that, he left.

Tao Fang said indignantly, "No wonder everyone says that the people of Jiangzhou are treacherous, it's true."

The old man said, "It's not fair to generalize. There are treacherous people in Xia Prefecture, just as there are heroic figures in Jiang Prefecture."

Tao Fang always trusted her grandfather's words, but after a while, she said with some worry, "Grandpa, I'm afraid all the inns in Qingfeng City are full. Where will we stay?"

"Come with me."

The old man, accompanied by his granddaughter, arrived at the Six Doors (a government agency), produced a letter of introduction, and soon met a fifth-rank military officer.

This fifth-rank captain, surnamed Li, introduced himself as Li Guangjie, and was extremely respectful. "Senior Tao, I understand your purpose in coming, but as you have seen, we simply cannot spare any manpower in Qingfeng City..."

The old man said calmly, "Don't worry, I'll find the person myself. You just need to cooperate. Also, arrange a place for them to stay."

Upon hearing his request, Li Guangjie immediately made the arrangements.

"Furthermore, Admiral Zhao is very busy, so even he was disturbed."

"yes." ……

After the grandfather and grandson left, some people whispered among themselves, "Who is this senior? Why was the boss so respectful?"

"You don't even know Senior Tao?"

Is there such a person in Jiangzhou?

"It's not from Jiangzhou, it's from the neighboring Xiazhou."

"Xiazhou, the one surnamed Tao... could it be the venerable Tao Zhiquan?"

"That's him. This senior can be said to be a legendary figure in the Six Doors. He was originally a bounty hunter, but later he was appreciated by a big shot and specially recruited into the Six Doors. He solved countless major cases and was revered as a divine detective. His own cultivation level has even broken through to the third rank, but unfortunately, because of his background, he has never been able to be promoted to the third rank of admiral. He was disheartened by this and stepped down from his position. It's a pity."

"What brings Senior Tao to Qingfeng City?"

"You don't know this, do you? It's said that he took on a disciple in his early years, who was actually a distant nephew. Who knew that this disciple would be so heartless as to kill his son and his entire family? He's been hunting that disciple down for years..."

"I never imagined such a tragedy would happen."

……

After settling Senior Tao in, Li Guangjie went to report to Lord Zhao and happened to run into Du Caiyue, whom he hadn't seen for half a year.

Seeing that Du Caiyue's face was still a little pale, Li Guangjie said with a hint of sarcasm, "Are you in such a hurry to break through to the third rank? You actually suffered a qi deviation and ended up in such a sorry state. You've been recuperating for half a year and your injuries are still not fully healed."

Du Caiyue said calmly, "If you're injured, you'll recover after some rest. But some people offend the wrong person, and they'll probably never have peace in their lives."

Li Guangjie sneered, "Now that you've entered the Six Doors, you're not afraid of offending people."

"Really?" Du Caiyue looked at him with a half-smile. "At least 30% of those who have participated in the Qingyun Ranking over the years have been able to advance to the Divine Treasure Realm. You didn't know that, did you?"

After she finished speaking, she saw a hint of unease flash in Li Guangjie's eyes and did not continue.

She believed he was now regretting offending Chen Ming. Of course, more likely, he was wondering why he hadn't gone all out and killed the kid.

Who could have imagined that in less than a year, that insignificant sixth-rank official, whom they had disregarded, would rise so high and become famous throughout Jiangzhou?

That's the Qingyun Ranking!
This means that among those under the age of 25 who are of the fifth rank, his strength belongs to the top tier.

Others might not know the value of this, but how could she and Li Guangjie not know?
Once you reach the fifth rank, the difference in strength between martial artists of the same level can sometimes be greater than the difference between the fifth and sixth ranks.

The disciples of those top-tier aristocratic sects practiced unparalleled martial arts, the most exquisite sword and saber techniques. They had masters who frequently sparred with them. Their strength far surpassed that of their peers.

How could an ordinary fifth-rank official be a match for these people?
Chen Ming was able to defeat disciples from numerous aristocratic families and sects; his strength was simply unbelievable.

When Du Caiyue first heard the news, she didn't believe it. It wasn't until she saw the latest version of the Qingyun Ranking and saw that Chen Ming's name was indeed in sixth place that she had no choice but to believe it.

She had a suspicion at the time, believing that Chen Ming's rapid improvement in strength in such a short period of time must be related to the "Taiyin True Scripture".

Six months ago, after obtaining the "Blazing Sun Divine Skill," Du Caiyue couldn't resist wanting to cultivate it as well, hoping to achieve a balance of Yin and Yang. However, she suffered a qi deviation right after starting and nearly died on the spot.

She spent a full six months recovering from her injury, and she still feels lingering fear when she thinks about what happened back then.

She eagerly awaited Chen Ming's return so she could ask him for the secret. But more than two months passed, and he still hadn't returned to Qingfeng City.

If it weren't for her duty, she would have loved to ask Lord Zhao for leave and go to Jiangzhou City to find Chen Ming.

At this moment, the steward came out and led the two into the study to see Zhao Shouchang.

Du Caiyue and Li Guangjie both walked inside with solemn expressions.

……

In the study, Zhao Shouchang was practicing calligraphy.

The two stood by and waited. They had been following Zhao Shouchang for quite some time and knew that he would start practicing calligraphy whenever something important happened.

After a moment, Zhao Shouchang finally finished writing a piece of calligraphy, put down his brush, took the damp towel handed to him by the butler to wipe his hands, and said, "I heard Tao Zhiquan is here?"

Li Guangjie replied, "Yes."

"These are truly turbulent times," Zhao Shouchang sighed.

"My lord, this is already the fourth Rank 3 expert. There are countless other Rank 3 experts operating in secret. As a result, Qingfeng City is like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment. I'm afraid you alone cannot..." Li Guangjie said with some worry.

He's been under immense pressure these past few days. If anything really goes wrong, he'll be the one to take the blame.

Zhao Shouchang said, "I have already sent a message by carrier pigeon to Jiangzhou City and the capital about the situation in Qingfeng City. They will send reinforcements soon. We must not let anything happen before then."

"Yes." What else could Li Guangjie say?
After Zhao Shouchang finished speaking, he looked at Du Caiyue and asked, "How are your injuries?"

"Thank you for your concern, sir. I have almost fully recovered."

"That's good. From now on, Qingfeng City will not be very peaceful. You all need to work together to ensure that nothing major happens in the city."

"Yes."

"correct."

Finally, Zhao Shouchang said, "Chen Ming is coming back."

These words caused the expressions on the faces of both subordinates to change.

(End of this chapter)