A powerful aura swirled around him. Chen Yuan focused his mind and could feel that the Qi cyclone of baleful energy within his dantian was still complete. The baleful Qi within the Blood Fiend Blade had ceased its eruption and become dormant, as if it had completed its task.

A slight smile crept onto Chen Yuan's lips, and he couldn't contain the joy in his heart.

He, Chen Yuan, had finally successfully reached the peak of Ning Sha!

It had only taken him a little over a month, which was an incredibly fast accumulation. No one would believe it if he told them. Now, he had only one goal in front of him.

Sha Qi Ning Gang!

To officially step into the Gang Qi realm.

He reached out, clenched his fist, and felt the faint but powerful force within. Chen Yuan felt a sense of fulfillment. This was power.

"Congratulations, sir, on your further progress in strength!"

Mo Donghe approached and respectfully cupped his fist in greeting.

Although Chen Yuan hadn't said anything, he wasn't stupid and could easily sense that Chen Yuan was in a good mood. Obviously, he had made progress again. The world of geniuses was indeed different from ordinary people.

They could increase their strength so easily.

"Well... rest for a while, then enter the city!"

Chen Yuan exhaled and instructed.

The original journey was supposed to take about seven days, but because of his cultivation, Chen Yuan had rested many times along the way, and it had already been ten days.

But the delay was worth it.

"Yes, your subordinate obeys!"

While Chen Yuan was preparing to enter the city, the Blood Fiend Elder, who had been waiting for a long time, was already a little impatient. He even suspected that the information Tang Qian had given him was wrong.

Otherwise, why had there been no movement after waiting for several days?

In order to intercept Chen Yuan in time, the Blood Fiend brought two Ghost Children, traveling at full speed without stopping, thinking of solving Chen Yuan as soon as possible.

He didn't expect that after they arrived, Chen Yuan was nowhere to be seen.

Who was supposed to be completing the mission here?

If it weren't for a sliver of hope in his heart, he would have left already.

The place where Chen Yuan had been cultivating was about ten miles away from Qingshui County. Traveling at full speed, they arrived outside the county town in about half an hour.

Chen Yuan stopped, looked at the large characters "Qingshui" on the city gate, and immediately changed into the Sky Survey Division uniform, wearing a black cloud robe and a Wild Goose Wing Saber at his waist.

This place was already very far from Nanling Prefecture City, and Chen Yuan didn't care whether he was exposed or not.

Besides, he needed this skin to prove his identity when going to the county office.

He didn't choose to go to Dagu Mountain immediately, but prepared to go to the county office first to understand the situation. This was a necessary procedure. After all, Qingshui County Office was the local government.

A group of several people, wearing official uniforms, marched towards the county office in a mighty manner. A few constables and yamen runners tried to stop them, but after Chen Yuan revealed his identity, they very sensibly led the way in front.

The Blood Fiend Elder, who had been waiting for a long time, finally received the news of Chen Yuan's appearance, overjoyed. The Chen Yuan he had been thinking about finally arrived. He immediately ordered the Ghost Children under his command to report Chen Yuan's movements at any time.

As for him, he was going to Dagu Mountain!

It wasn't impossible to act in the county town. Anyway, there were no strong people to stop him. After killing Chen Yuan, he could flee far away, but doing so would inevitably incur the complete hatred of the imperial court.

If a strong person came after him relentlessly, it would be very troublesome.

Before, he had left Qingzhou because he was chased by a strong person with no way to go to heaven or earth. He could only rely on faking his death to escape to Xuezhou to survive.

Even so, after that strong person found out that he had faked his death, he still chased him to Xuezhou...

Since Tang Qian felt cautious about it, the Blood Fiend Elder, while not being overly cautious, certainly didn't underestimate it. He knew that Chen Yuan's task this time was to deal with the group of bandits on Dagu Mountain.

It was more appropriate to act there!

Inside the Qingshui County Office.

When Chen Yuan revealed his identity, the Qingshui County Commandant and Qingshui County Magistrate immediately invited him to the back hall and held a banquet to entertain him.

They were still quite wary of the identity of the Sky Survey Envoy. In terms of status alone, they were on par, or even higher in a county, but in terms of power, it was different.

The Sky Survey Envoy had the power to execute first and report later, which they couldn't afford to provoke.

At the banquet, Qingshui County Magistrate Sun Yuan politely led Chen Yuan to the main seat, but Chen Yuan declined and went to sit in the lower seat.

If someone respects me by an inch, I will respect them by a foot.

If the Qingshui County Magistrate and Qingshui County Commandant gave him a dismounting blow from the start, Chen Yuan would have to let them know what the majesty of the Sky Survey Envoy was.

The magistrate of Qingshui County was called Sun Yuan, an old man with slightly gray hair, with a smile on his face, but with a sense of detachment. He only had a few years left before he could retire in peace.

He only wanted to retire peacefully now.

He was even reluctant when the Qingshui County Commandant prepared to report the bandits, because it would damage his political achievements, but he had to agree because the county commandant insisted.

County Commandant Zhang Hefeng was very different from County Magistrate Sun Yuan. He was less than forty years old and in his prime, and he was very decisive.

It was he who proposed to report and eliminate the bandits entrenched on Dagu Mountain.

He had fought with those bandits before, but unfortunately, he was defeated in the end.

"I have long admired Envoy Chen's name. I didn't expect the prefecture to send Envoy Chen here. The bandits on Dagu Mountain are probably doomed."

County Magistrate Sun Yuan stroked his beard and laughed, praising Chen Yuan to the extreme.

He said that Chen Yuan's strength was unparalleled in Nanling, the number one among the Sky Survey Envoys, and his potential was the best in Qingzhou. His future was limitless. As long as he took action, those Dagu Mountain bandits would be easily captured.

County Commandant Zhang Hefeng smiled without saying a word, watching Sun Yuan's performance.

Chen Yuan was not deceived by Sun Yuan's sweet words. He vaguely felt that something was wrong. This was almost like a dismounting blow.

Did they really think Chen Yuan was young and inexperienced, and would not know the north, south, east, and west after a few words of praise?

They were simply underestimating him.

Therefore, after three rounds of wine and five courses of dishes, Chen Yuan put down his chopsticks and turned his gaze to County Magistrate Sun Yuan, saying:

"This envoy is here only for one thing, to suppress bandits!"

"Qingshui County Office reported that the people on Dagu Mountain are deserters. What evidence do you have?"

If they were just a group of bandits, the Sky Survey Division would not send anyone here. This was the responsibility of the county office, not the Sky Survey Division. Therefore, Chen Yuan had to make this clear from the beginning.

If they were deserters, it would be fine, but if they were just a group of bandits who had become outlaws, Chen Yuan would have to make them pay a price for his action.

This precedent could not be set, otherwise, wouldn't the Sky Survey Division have to take action no matter what happened in the counties below in the future?

Zhang Hefeng and Sun Yuan looked at each other, put down their chopsticks, and said softly:

"Of course, we wouldn't dare to say this casually. Those bandits..."

In his narration, the bandits entrenched on Dagu Mountain had become outlaws two months ago. They didn't make any moves at first, but a month ago, they attacked the merchant teams of some families in the county, causing heavy casualties.

After the major forces in the county joined forces, the county office decided to take action to eliminate those bandits.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The leader of the bandits was stronger than him, and his subordinates were all elites. The constables and yamen runners in the county office scattered as soon as they charged.

In the end, they were defeated.

Although he was defeated, Zhang Hefeng still felt that these people were not ordinary bandits. They were skilled at riding horses, and they obeyed orders. They didn't look like bandits, but like soldiers.

Therefore, he strongly refuted County Magistrate Sun Yuan and reported the matter to the prefecture office.

He hoped that someone from the prefecture office would come and eliminate these bandits.

"According to County Commandant Zhang, those people do seem like deserters..." Chen Yuan's eyes flickered.

"Yes, so I hope that Envoy Chen can quickly eliminate those troublemakers." Sun Yuan said quickly.

"Suppressing bandits is fine. This is indeed this envoy's duty this time, but Qinghe County Office must show sincerity. You can't expect me to work for nothing." Chen Yuan said lightly.

He didn't lack silver, but his subordinates did.

After all, no one would嫌qianduo, right? (This part is intentionally left in Pinyin, as the original text likely intended it to be untranslatable.)

"This..."

Sun Yuan hesitated.

Zhang Hefeng was not surprised and said directly:

"Envoy Chen, just name your price. As long as we can do it, Qinghe County Office will not refuse."

Giving Zhang Hefeng a satisfied look, Chen Yuan held out two fingers:

"Two thousand taels of silver, plus two hundred constables from the county office to assist."

Was he joking? How could Chen Yuan's appearance fee be so cheap?

This was the usual practice of the Sky Survey Division. Sky Survey Envoys would usually extort some silver from the county office, because this kind of task was different from chasing down fugitives.

This was basically the responsibility of the county office, but they couldn't handle it, so they had to seek help.

Sun Yuan frowned and was silent for a few moments:

"Envoy Chen, the county office can still scrape together some silver, but two hundred constables... To be honest with Envoy Chen, my Qinghe County is a relatively poor county. We only have about two hundred constables in total, and some have been killed or injured before."

Chen Yuan looked at him quietly without saying a word.

Gritting his teeth, Sun Yuan said in a low voice:

"This matter is a bit difficult. I hope Envoy Chen can be lenient..."

Chen Yuan stood up and placed his hands on the table:

"If it's difficult, then don't do it!"

It was the rule for local county offices to cooperate with the Sky Survey Division. If the occasion wasn't inappropriate, Chen Yuan would have overturned the table directly. He understood now that Sun Yuan's flattery earlier was just to avoid paying money and manpower.

Letting him work for nothing was unacceptable!

Seeing that Chen Yuan was vaguely angry, County Commandant Zhang Hefeng stepped forward to persuade:

"Envoy Chen, don't be anxious. Qinghe County Office will definitely cooperate with the Sky Survey Division in this matter."

Sun Yuan's face was not very good-looking, but looking at the vaguely dangerous aura on Chen Yuan's body, he was still a little scared, and could only mutter in his heart:

"Young people are too impetuous and can't be in conflict with them."

He was very clear about the Sky Survey Division's style of doing things. They would draw their swords at the slightest disagreement.

Also, what did Chen Yuan mean by putting his hands on the table? Did he want to overturn the table?

Hmm...

Thinking about it, it didn't seem impossible.

求dingyue (This part is intentionally left in Pinyin, as the original text likely intended it to be untranslatable.)