Chapter 72: 72: The 6th Blood Refining

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The 6th Blood Refining

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The following day.

After completing a night of cultivation, Chen Yuan awoke from his meditative state, a sharp glint in his eyes as he exhaled a turbid breath.

Having refined all of the Blood Essence Pills and eight Tiger Bone Pills over the course of the night, Chen Yuan had completed his sixth Blood Refining. His strength had increased yet again, but the amplification was not as formidable as before.

Even the top-tier Body Refining Divine Skills have their limits; it is not possible for each session of Blood Refining to yield an explosive increase in strength. In fact, as the number of Blood Refining sessions increased, the effect would gradually diminish.

However, the gold color in his blood had become richer.

...

Even with the reduced effect, it was still many times stronger than those ordinary cultivation techniques that allowed for only three Blood Refining sessions.

Chen Yuan stood up and twisted his neck slightly, causing a series of cracking sounds.

He had now completed the majority of the nine Blood Refining sessions he planned. He estimated that the Tiger Bone Pills he possessed would be enough to support him through one more refinement.

Just from Han Feihu alone, Chen Yuan had found ten Tiger Bone Pills and several Blood Essence Pills, and the combined total from the remaining bandits was only about ten.

All these items had fallen into Chen Yuan’s hands.

The Government Officials merely pretended not to see, after all, Chen Yuan had been generous enough to them.

As for where all the cultivation resources of the merchant caravan had gone?

Of course, they had been used up by those bandits!

Chen Yuan put on his arrest officer’s official attire, hanging on the wall, feeling refreshed. A night of cultivation was more comforting than a whole night’s sleep.

“Screech…”

Wang Ping pushed open the door and entered Chen Yuan’s courtyard.

“Brother Yuan…”

“What is it?”

Chen Yuan finished dressing and stepped out of his room to look at Wang Ping.

“Shall we go to the County Government together?”

Chen Yuan nodded and scooped up some cool water from the basin in front of him to wash his face:

“Let’s go.”

“By the way, Brother Yuan, the Wang father and son are still locked up in the prison. What should be done with them?” Wang Ping asked casually, hurrying to follow behind Chen Yuan.

“I promised them their lives would be spared.”

“Understood…” Wang Ping nodded.

“What do you understand? I made the promise, not you,” Chen Yuan glanced at Wang Ping.

Wang Ping’s expression became momentarily blank, and then he laughed softly:

“Understood.”

After buying some breakfast from Zhou’s Steamed Bun Shop, Chen Yuan and Wang Ping ate as they walked, soon arriving at the County Government where all the Government Officials came up to greet them.

Their eyes were filled with awe when they looked at Chen Yuan.

“My Lord…”

Zhao Ning hurried over to Chen Yuan with dark circles under his eyes.

“How did the interrogation go?” Chen Yuan asked.

Having left a survivor from the previous day, Chen Yuan wanted to clarify their origins. He had his suspicions that these bandits were impostors, but he lacked evidence.

“It has been found out. Most of them are deserters from Liangzhou, and the leader is not Han Feihu, but Song Ming, a Centurion, because…”

Zhao Ning reported everything about the interrogation to Chen Yuan without daring to conceal any details.

Chen Yuan’s gaze flickered, and he nodded, confirming his suspicions.

“You’ve worked hard tonight. Have someone parade the bandits’ heads through the streets, and then take a couple of days to rest at home.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

“By the way, don’t let the true identities of these bandits leak out.”

“Yes.”

“`

…

“I didn’t expect these guys to actually be escaped soldiers from Liangzhou…” After listening to Chen Yuan’s words, Li Mingqi tapped his fingers gently on the table and glanced at Chen Yuan a few times with a roving gaze.

“Sir, should we report this news?”

“Of course, capturing these escaped soldiers isn’t the County Government’s responsibility. Even if the higher-ups don’t mention rewards, they should still acknowledge your merit,” Li Mingqi nodded.

“That’s all thanks to your credit, sir. I am merely following your orders,” Chen Yuan replied.

“I hear all the recovered goods, including the cultivation resources, are gone?”

“Everything has been assimilated by those horse bandits,” Chen Yuan said with a smile.

“Hm, those horse bandits are indeed loathsome.” Li Mingqi and Chen Yuan exchanged knowing smiles, all was understood without words.

Chen Yuan hadn’t embezzled the one hundred and fifty taels of reward silver, so naturally, he had to compensate himself in other ways; Li Mingqi wouldn’t be heartless. After all, Chen Yuan had done an excellent job.

If it were a day later, those bandits would have secretly left Ping’an County, resulting not only in Chen Yuan facing punishment but also a loss of face for Li Mingqi himself.

With such an efficient subordinate, Li Mingqi wasn’t going to nitpick over minor issues.

Who is free from fault, apart from the saints?

“Sir, there is another matter I need to report,” Chen Yuan said softly.

“What is it?”

“From the mouths of those bandits, I learned that Liu Shuanghe had sent people to find them, tasking them to ambush and kill me,” Chen Yuan revealed, his eyes fixed intently on Li Mingqi.

“Is that so?”

Li Mingqi’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Do you have proof in hand?”

Chen Yuan shook his head slightly:

“There isn’t any.”

“I see. Don’t worry, with me around, Liu Shuanghe can’t touch you…”

Chen Yuan glanced at the floor and said with a smile:

“That’s a given. With the sir here, Liu Shuanghe dares only play petty tricks.”

Yet, inwardly he was mocking—anyone who trusted Li Mingqi was truly ignorant of how they would die.

One cannot place all hope on the government, for how can a thief guard against another thief every day?

After leaving the County Government, Chen Yuan sat alone in his study for an hour.

“Yuan brother, were you looking for me?”

Wang Ping pushed the door open, sized him up, then sat down opposite Chen Yuan.

“You go to Liu Family in Cao County for me,”

Chen Yuan cut to the chase without any pleasantries.

Seeing Chen Yuan’s serious demeanor, Wang Ping didn’t ask why, but simply nodded in agreement:

“Alright.”

Chen Yuan took a letter from behind him and handed it to Wang Ping, then instructed him to take one token each from Liu Ruqing and Liu Changzhi, and to deliver them along with the letter to Liu Shuanghe’s residence.

Wang Ping, not daring to delay, took the letter and left the room.

Chen Yuan’s gaze flickered uncertainly, a hint of murderous intent passing through his eyes. The matter of Liu Shuanghe hiring people to kill him was something he couldn’t let go, but at the moment his power was insufficient.

Besides the situation at Cien Temple, Chen Yuan couldn’t spare the effort to seek retribution. He had to feign ignorance and bide his time to stabilize the situation.

In the letter, Chen Yuan subtly mentioned Han Feihu’s death as a warning to Liu Shuanghe that similar incidents would seal Liu Changzhi’s fate, and Liu Ruqing would be thrown into the cell of death row inmates for disposal.

After the warning, he indirectly told Liu Shuanghe that he didn’t wish to be enemies with the Liu Family; the arrest of Liu Ruqing was all Shangguan’s orders, and he was merely executing them.

Moreover, he made it clear that as long as he himself was unharmed, Liu Ruqing and Liu Changzhi would be completely safe. He hoped Liu Shuanghe wouldn’t do anything unwise.

They had no grudge and there was no need for a fight to the death; the real enemy of the Liu Family wasn’t him!

Whether the letter would be useful or not, Chen Yuan didn’t know, but it should at least buy him some time.