Chapter 6

Qingzhou City, Black Market.

Nanling Zhao sat in front of a small stove on the street, with two fish roasting on it, their golden color and aroma wafting through the air.

Nanling Zhao's eyes never left the two fish, occasionally turning them gently.

Her presence, a figure of extraordinary beauty, naturally drew the attention of many around her, but no one dared to approach. Behind her stood twelve guards, each at least at the Ten Thousand Methods Realm, and even more impressively, the Deputy City Lord of Qingzhou City was personally accompanying her.

The Deputy City Lord, who looked to be in his forties or fifties, wore a simple robe and stood beside Nanling Zhao with a respectful demeanor.

Nanling Zhao suddenly leaned forward, sniffing the fish lightly, and a charming smile spread across her face.

At that moment, a man in black hurriedly approached Nanling Zhao, about to speak, but she suddenly said, "Wait until I finish."

The man in black bowed respectfully and stepped aside.

Nanling Zhao picked up one of the fish and began to eat it gracefully. She particularly enjoyed fish and often managed to eat the meat while leaving the bones intact, like a work of art.

Everyone waited in silence, not daring to breathe heavily.

After a long while, two complete fish skeletons appeared in front of Nanling Zhao.

Nanling Zhao took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped her mouth, then said, "Is it a complete failure?"

The man in black was surprised, "My lord, you are truly insightful. We have reviewed all cloud records from the past three months and investigated all merchants selling 'Corrosive Spirit Liquid' and their buyers over the past three months. Apart from a few hours ago, Ye Tianming has not been here in the past three months."

Nanling Zhao put the handkerchief back into her sleeve and slowly stood up, "He planned to kill, not just today. If I'm not mistaken, he must have bought the 'Corrosive Spirit Liquid' from the Immortal Treasure Pavilion. The more dangerous the place, the safer it is, and he probably wouldn't buy it himself..."

The man in black immediately said, "I will investigate him and his Ye family at the Immortal Treasure Pavilion."

"No need."

Nanling Zhao suddenly stopped him, turning to look at the Deputy City Lord of Qingzhou, who, upon seeing her gaze, hurriedly bowed with a flattering smile.

Nanling Zhao said, "Deputy City Lord Zhou Yuan, as I understand, the Ye family's ancestral land was expropriated, and their ancestral temple is worth at least ten thousand spirit crystals, but the Immortal Treasure Pavilion is only willing to offer eight hundred. Isn't this just a blatant robbery?"

"Ah?"

Zhou Yuan looked puzzled, "Is that true?"

Nanling Zhao looked at him without speaking.

Zhou Yuan immediately turned to an elderly man standing respectfully, "Who is in charge of this matter?"

The elderly man hurried forward and said respectfully, "My lord, this matter is led by the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, and our academy only assists. Therefore, I am not very clear about the specifics."

The Immortal Treasure Pavilion!

Zhou Yuan turned to look at Nanling Zhao, somewhat hesitant. Although the Immortal Treasure Pavilion is under the academy's jurisdiction, the situation is not that simple.

Nanling Zhao smiled faintly, "Can't you handle it?"

Zhou Yuan hurriedly said, "Of course, I can. My lord, please wait a moment, I will immediately notify the manager of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion to come..."

As he spoke, he gave the elderly man a meaningful look.

The elderly man understood and immediately stepped back.

Zhou Yuan said respectfully, "My lord, please wait a moment."

In fact, as the Deputy City Lord, he was well aware of these matters, but he would not take responsibility for them, preferring to push them to the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.

A short while later, a manager from the Immortal Treasure Pavilion appeared. The manager, in his forties or fifties, was very fat, and his body jiggled as he walked.

The fat manager quickly approached Nanling Zhao and bowed respectfully, "Greetings, my lord."

Nanling Zhao asked directly, "What's going on?"

The fat manager wiped the sweat from his face, "My lord, although the expropriation is led by the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, we have outsourced all the work to the 'An Fan Chamber of Commerce'..."

Nanling Zhao looked at the fat manager, "An Fan Chamber of Commerce?"

The fat manager nodded and whispered, "It's the chamber of commerce founded by the An family of Qingzhou..."

The An family of Qingzhou!

Upon hearing this, Nanling Zhao's eyebrows furrowed deeply. They were a first-class family, with three martial gods in their lineage.

The fat manager continued, "According to my information, the An Fan Chamber of Commerce has further outsourced the work to various smaller families, including the Zhao family, which is responsible for the Ye family's area... My lord, we offered them the market price, but after multiple layers of outsourcing, the final amount dropped from over ten thousand to eight hundred..."

He stopped speaking at this point.

Zhou Yuan lowered his head and remained silent.

Nanling Zhao was also silent.

At this moment, she realized that the matter was not as simple as she thought. It involved many forces, and she could not shake them, even if she wanted to. Her family would not agree, as it could be seen as a political struggle, which would cause significant trouble for both her and the Nanling family, being only a second-class family.

Nanling Zhao sighed inwardly, turned to Zhou Yuan and the fat manager, who were both looking down and silent.

They would never dare to handle this matter.

To offend so many powerful families and the An family of Qingzhou for the sake of an unrelated Ye family...

They would have to be out of their minds to do so.

Moreover, they could not shake these forces.

Even this inspector could not...

Of course, this could not be said aloud.

After a long silence, Nanling Zhao said, "Punish the Zhao family, give the Ye family justice, and that's it. Any problems?"

The fat manager was about to speak, but Zhou Yuan suddenly said, "No problems."

Nanling Zhao nodded and turned to leave.

After Nanling Zhao left, the fat manager suddenly turned to Zhou Yuan and said angrily, "No problems? You know very well that the Zhao family's member has entered the inner court of Qingzhou and become a disciple of Xu Qing, who can represent Qingzhou in the Ten Thousand States Competition. If we punish the Zhao family, we won't know how we will die!"

Zhou Yuan sighed softly, "Old Mo, didn't you see that the lord was already angry? If we don't agree, it will be obvious that we are making her lose face. If she insists on pursuing this matter..."

Old Mo's face turned cold, "If she insists, let her do as she pleases."

"Doing as she pleases!"

Zhou Yuan said angrily, "She has the Nanling family behind her and support in the cabinet. If she insists, even if she can't defeat the An family, she won't suffer much. At worst, she might be dismissed, but what about us? Will the higher-ups not need scapegoats? Think about who will be the scapegoats in the end?"

Old Mo's face turned pale, and cold sweat appeared.

Clearly, they would be the scapegoats. What is the role of a deputy? To be a scapegoat!

Zhou Yuan looked into the distance and said softly, "This lord is very smart, knowing that this matter cannot be pursued further, so it's enough to stop here."

Old Mo said solemnly, "What about the Zhao family... should we really punish them?"

Zhou Yuan shook his head, "Of course not."

They could not afford to offend this lord, but they also could not afford to offend the Zhao family, as the Zhao family was now in a position of power.

Old Mo was puzzled, "Then..."

Zhou Yuan said, "One word: delay. Inform the Zhao family to be less excessive... This lord is just passing through and is unlikely to return, and she will soon forget this minor matter. So, we just need to delay."

Old Mo was hesitant, "The Zhao family is very arrogant now. Telling them to be less excessive might not work."

Zhou Yuan sighed, "Old Mo, this expropriation is really excessive. If it continues, it will cause problems..."

Old Mo was dissatisfied, "What can I do? This matter should not have been outsourced. Why was it outsourced? You know how many interests are involved. What can we do besides executing the orders from above?"

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment and said, "Regardless, we need to visit the Zhao family and tell them to be less excessive. Also, we should secretly help the Ye family to build a favor..."

Old Mo was puzzled, "Why help the Ye family?"

Zhou Yuan glanced at Old Mo, thinking that if it weren't for his good father, he would have died many times over.

For the sake of his father, Zhou Yuan felt he should give some advice, so he said, "Old Mo, how did Zhao Xiu die?"

Old Mo was still puzzled.

Faced with this brainless person, Zhou Yuan had to continue explaining, "He was most likely killed by Ye Tianming. Think about it, a sixteen-year-old boy killing over a dozen people instantly..."

"Damn!"

Old Mo finally understood and was surprised, "You mean Ye Tianming is not simple and might be hiding his talent and strength?"

Zhou Yuan nodded, "In life, anything is possible. The Ye family is currently at a disadvantage, but who can be sure they won't rise in the future? Leaving a line now might save our lives later."

Old Mo looked at Zhou Yuan, genuinely admiring him, "Old Yuan, you are really a cunning old fox!"

Old Yuan: "......"

On the other side, outside the city.

Nanling Zhao was riding a small donkey, moving slowly.

Beside her, a man in black followed respectfully, "My lord, is this matter just let go?"

Nanling Zhao countered, "A Ying, if you were Ye Tianming, what would you do in this situation?"

The man in black was silent for a moment and said, "Kill."

He paused and added, "But breaking the law is breaking the law."

Nanling Zhao said softly, "Beyond the law, there is emotion, reason, and conscience. If we only follow the 'dead law' without emotion, reason, or conscience, we are just emotionless law enforcement machines. Moreover, not everything in the world can be solved by the law... Go and see that young man."

As she spoke, she suddenly stood up and took a step forward. In just one step, Ye Tianming appeared before her.

Seeing the sudden appearance of Nanling Zhao and the man in black, Ye Tianming's face changed instantly. He tightly gripped the Dao sword at his waist, and at that moment, he truly had the intention to kill.

Nanling Zhao stared at Ye Tianming, "Ye Tianming, the world has people like Zhao Xiu, people like you, and people like me. We need to see which type of people are more numerous. If there are too few people like us and too many like Zhao Xiu, the world will be in chaos."

Ye Tianming stared at her, still on guard, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

Nanling Zhao suddenly took out a thick stack of wanted notices and pulled out one, which was Ye Tianming's wanted notice. She lightly pinched it, and the paper immediately caught fire.

Nanling Zhao leaned forward and gently patted the Dao sword Ye Tianming was holding, "Ye Tianming, we are both walking in the dark. Let's see who can ultimately reach the dawn."

With that, she turned and tore through space, disappearing before Ye Tianming.

Tearing through space!

At least the Immortal Realm!

Ye Tianming was shocked. After a long silence, he whispered, "Nanling Zhao..."

Soon, he drove his carriage away.

His expression was serious because he realized that if Nanling Zhao had acted, he would have had no chance of survival.

He was unsure why the woman had let him go, but he did not like the feeling of his fate being controlled by others. If it were another inspector, would he have survived today?

His fate must be in his own hands.

Moreover, Zhao Yu was already at the Ten Thousand Methods Realm before entering the inner court. Now, with the guidance of a famous teacher and the resources of the academy, his strength was at least at the Lesser Tribulation Realm, or even higher.

Cultivation!

Ye Tianming took a deep breath, took out his 'Tianming Decision' cultivation technique, and began to improve it. His current technique, once activated, could not be controlled, which was unacceptable. It must be able to be both released and reined in.

Suddenly, a thought appeared in his mind, and he blurted out, "Books say that spirit energy is just one form of energy in the world. Besides spirit energy, the world contains various forms of energy. If we can absorb spirit energy, why can't we absorb other forms of energy? I must try..."

Little Pagoda: "......"

......