I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

Six days later, in Linyuan County.

Chen Qing sat upright on his dragon-scale horse, his expression calm, his gaze sweeping over the mountains and forests on both sides, his spiritual sense extending forty-three feet.

Unlike two years ago, this time he returned nearly twice as fast. The Dragon Scale Horse was already extremely fast, and with the Azure Wind Boat he could use alternately, the travel time was greatly shortened.

"The next step leads to Qingxi Valley."

Chen Qing reined in his horse and stopped, his gaze fixed on a verdant valley not far away.

He had been keeping in mind what Lin Jingyuan had mentioned last time. If the appearance of Qian Kingdom cultivators in the vicinity was true, it was no small matter.

Chen Qing thought for a moment, then turned his horse around and headed towards Qingxi Valley along the side road.

……

Qingxi Valley.

The Lin family hall.

Lin Jingyuan personally served the spirit tea, cupped his hands and smiled, "Governor Chen, you've just returned from the sect? You must have had a long journey."

Chen Qing picked up his teacup, took a sip, and nodded. "Clan Chief Lin, you're too kind. I just stopped by to see if things are peaceful in the valley lately?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jingyuan's smile faded slightly, and he sighed, "Peaceful indeed, the Tribulation Cultivators haven't appeared much lately. However, a few days ago, a disciple from our clan returned from Lin Yuan City and said that he saw several cultivators from the Qian Kingdom in the city."

Chen Qing paused slightly, his hand holding the teacup still: "A cultivator from the Qian Kingdom?"

"Yes." Lin Jingyuan nodded. "That disciple raised a low-grade first-level spirit rat, which is most sensitive to blood energy. He said that although those people dressed no differently from us, they all carried a faint trace of blood energy that others could not detect, but his spirit rat reacted very strongly."

Chen Qing put down his teacup, his brow furrowing slightly: "How many people? What are their cultivation levels?"

"Five." Lin Jingyuan held up five fingers. "That disciple said all five were at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, at least that's what he sensed. However, one of them had the densest blood energy, so he guessed it might be at the late-stage of Qi Refining. He didn't dare get close, observed from a distance for a while, and then quietly left."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment: "When did this happen?"

"Two days ago," Lin Jingyuan said, "if nothing unexpected happens, those people should still be in Linyuan City."

Chen Qing nodded, without saying anything more, and simply said, "I understand."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, his gaze calm, but his heart was in turmoil.

Five are at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and one is suspected to be at the late-stage of Qi Refining.

The cultivators of the Qian Kingdom possessed a strong blood and qi.

This setup doesn't look like an ordinary bandit gang at all.

Chen Qing put down his teacup, secretly making plans in his mind, but remained outwardly calm. He chatted with Lin Jingyuan for a few more minutes before getting up to take his leave.

……

Lin Yuan City.

It was just past noon, and the sun was blazing.

Merchants and farmers came and went in a constant stream at the city gate, while a few ordinary soldiers guarding the city leaned lazily against the base of the city wall, chatting idly.

A young man dressed in a gray short-sleeved brown shirt walked out of the city gate. He was unremarkable in appearance, with some dust on his face, and looked no different from an ordinary farmer who came to the city to sell vegetables.

It was Chen Qing.

Half Moon Lake is only fifty miles away from here. He had to come and investigate the five Qian Kingdom cultivators who appeared here, and he also wanted to see if he could get some information out of them, otherwise he would be like a headless fly.

Therefore, he borrowed the spirit rat from the Lin family, changed into mortal clothes, and then went into the city to investigate.

Chen Qing looked around and touched the spirit rat in his arms. The spirit rat was curled up in his arms, its nose twitching slightly, but it was still relatively quiet.

"Five cultivators from the Qian Kingdom, four at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and one possibly at the late-stage of Qi Refining..."

Chen Qing silently recited the information provided by Lin Jingyuan and strode into the city.

He deliberately pushed the "Hidden Spirit Technique" to its limit, suppressing the fluctuations of spiritual power on his body to the lowest level. Now, with his cultivation at the seventh level of Qi Refining, he was perceived by others as just a rogue cultivator at the early stage of Qi Refining, and could even be mistaken for a mortal if not careful.

Although Lin Yuan City is not as large as Yun Zhou City, it is still very large, with nearly a million ordinary people. The east of the city is a bustling market, the west of the city is mostly workshops and residences, and the south of the city is where high-ranking officials and nobles live.

Chen Qing walked and stopped frequently, but his gaze subtly swept across his surroundings.

When he passed through the south of the city, he deliberately slowed down.

This was the place where the group of Qian Kingdom cultivators mentioned by the Lin family disciples had last appeared. Chen Qing walked back and forth along the street twice, but the spirit rat in his arms did not react at all, only its beard twitched lazily.

"Not here?"

Chen Qing muttered to himself and continued walking westward into the city.

……

At 3:45 PM, the sun was beginning to set in the west.

Chen Qing stood at the entrance of a small alley in the west of the city, his brows slightly furrowed.

He walked from the east to the west of the city, then from the south to the north, for nearly two hours, until his legs were so thin from walking, but he still didn't find anything.

"Lin Jingyuan said that the spirit rat's perception range is fifty zhang..."

Chen Qing took the spirit rat out of his bosom and held it up to his eyes. The two stared at each other, one big and one small.

The clever mouse blinked innocently, its nose twitched twice, and it sneezed a little, looking like it had nothing to do with it.

Chen Qing sighed and tucked it back into his arms.

He searched the entire fifty-zhang area of ​​Lin Yuan City without finding it. Either the spirit rat was unreliable, or the group had already left.

But Chen Qing felt that something was wrong.

He stood at the alley entrance, his gaze passing over the low-rise houses and looking towards the north of the city, when suddenly a thought struck him.

There was another special location in the north of the city that he hadn't looked for; it was an area where cultivators gathered, and the Lingyun Sect's office was also located there.

Chen Qing subconsciously ignored that place because, in his opinion, no matter how bold those cultivators from the Qian Kingdom were, they wouldn't dare to go under the nose of the Lingyun Sect's office.

But what if...

Is that where they're headed?

Chen Qing's gaze sharpened slightly, and he strode towards the north of the city.

……

North of the city.

Unlike other parts of the city, this area was noticeably quieter, and the shops on both sides of the street were more elegant, selling talismans, pills, and a few inns for cultivators to rest.

The Lingyun Sect's office is located at the end of this street, in an inconspicuous two-story building with the four large characters "Lingyun Office" on the plaque in front of it.

Chen Qing didn't approach the office. Instead, he disguised himself as a passing Qi Refining Level 3 rogue cultivator and slowly walked along the other side of the street. He had only taken about ten steps when the spirit rat in his arms suddenly moved. It poked its little head out from Chen Qing's clothes, its nose twitching wildly, its whiskers shaking like willow branches in the wind, and it made a soft "squeak" sound.

Chen Qing didn't stop walking, glancing sideways in the direction the spirit rat was facing.

Across the street was a two-story inn. On the second floor, by the window, five people dressed like ordinary rogue cultivators were sitting around a square table. On the table were several small dishes, several bowls of spirit rice, and a pot of spirit wine.

Chen Qing's expression remained unchanged as he turned into a shop with a sign that read "Lingfu Pavilion" on the side of the road.

The shopkeeper was an old man at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Seeing a customer arrive, he greeted him with a smile: "What would you like to buy, fellow Daoist? Our shop has a full range of spirit talismans, from low-grade to high-grade, and the prices are fair."

Chen Qing nodded casually, his gaze sweeping over the shelves as he responded to the innkeeper's sales pitch, while his spiritual sense quietly extended outwards, carefully sensing the auras of the people on the second floor of the inn.