In Zhao Nanshan's narration, the situation in Tangshan was indeed more chaotic than in some other prefectures, and the forces were also more numerous than in ordinary prefectures.

However, this was for a reason. Mainly, Tangshan had a good geographical location, located at the bridgehead of Qingzhou, bordering Shuzhou and Xuezou, and was known as the Tang Triangle.

Moreover, Tangshan Prefecture was rich in cultivation resources, with many rare mineral veins gathered, and many spiritual herbs could only grow in Tangshan Prefecture, which created Tangshan's prosperity.

And this chaotic atmosphere was mostly transmitted from Xuezou.

According to Chen Yuan's understanding, although Xuezou belonged to one of the Thirteen Prefectures of Great Jin, the imperial court's control was extremely low.

For hundreds of years, whenever someone committed a crime, their first reaction was to run to Xuezou, obviously treating it as a sacred place for the Demonic Path.

To this, the imperial court could do nothing.

The further south one went, the lower the imperial court's control was. For example, Nanzhou, near Xuezou, was adjacent to the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Southern Frontier, and it was necessary to station hundreds of thousands of troops to maintain stability.

Military and political power were in the hands of the Prince of Zhennan alone, and it was said that even the imperial court would not easily offend him.

In addition, the Ten Great Immortal Sects and the Two Great Demonic Path forces were all in Xuezou, and the imperial court could not suppress them, which greatly increased the arrogance of Xuezou martial artists.

Chen Yuan saw these things more profoundly than Zhao Nanshan because of his position, but he didn't say it and still maintained a listening posture.

This was also a piece of advice from Zhao Nanshan's decades of martial arts career.

"Don't worry, Zhao Lao, Chen is always cautious."

Chen Yuan picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Laughing, Zhao Nanshan suddenly realized and thought of the previous help he had given Chen Yuan, saying:

"That's right."

Chen Yuan was calm, cautious, and very independent. There must be a reason for his trip to Tangshan Prefecture, but he couldn't tell him for some reason.

"Your current strength has reached a realm that I can't reach. I'm teaching you how to do things... haha..."

Zhao Nanshan smiled bitterly.

"Zhao Lao is still full of vigor and in his prime. There may be a chance to take it a step further in the future."

His age was not actually high, only a few years older than Xu Lingtian. He was indeed in his prime now, but due to injuries and other reasons, his spirit had waned, so he had aged so quickly.

"Being able to live peacefully for the rest of my life is already a blessing."

After chatting for a long time, Zhao Nanshan told Chen Yuan as much as he could about his experiences and interesting things that happened during his travels in the Jianghu. Perhaps his words were useless to Chen Yuan now.

But he still said them.

Chen Yuan didn't show any impatience and dealt with it with a smile.

He was young and vigorous, and sometimes he really needed some experienced people to give him pointers.

After spending half a day in Sanhe Fist Hall, Chen Yuan had a few drinks with Zhao Nanshan. The four Zhao Beishan brothers accompanied them, and Wang Ping told many interesting things.

As they drank and talked, Zhao Nanshan suddenly mentioned Longhu Sect, looking a bit dazed. He said that "Zhao Nanshan" was an alias, just to prevent Xu Lingtian from noticing.

Over the years, he had secretly funded many martial artists with some talent, but they either died or forgot their gratitude after gaining strength. Only Chen Yuan had always fulfilled his promise.

He had not misjudged anyone, but unfortunately, he no longer had anything that Chen Yuan could fancy. He could only hope, with his old and frail body, to see the day when Chen Yuan shook the Jianghu with his prestige in the future.

Chen Yuan smiled upon hearing this and looked at the distant sky, his eyes burning with a flame called 'ambition.'

Shake the Jianghu with his prestige?

No,

His goal was to dominate the world and live forever!

That day, Zhao Nanshan got drunk, the first time he had been drunk since he was seriously injured.

......

......

The next day.

Outside the south gate of Ping'an County, Chen Yuan and his party changed into ordinary clothes. If they didn't know better, they would think it was a wealthy young master traveling in the Jianghu with his subordinates.

This kind of thing was common. Many young people were full of vigor, wanting to travel the Jianghu with a three-foot sword, helping those in need. Unfortunately,

Most of them died miserably.

The Jianghu was cruel. It devoured people without spitting out bones, far from the unrestrained life the storytellers described.

"The road in the Jianghu is long, so I'll see you off here."

Chen Yuan sat on his horse, cupping his hands to Wang Ping and his father.

Yesterday, after having dinner at Sanhe Fist Hall, he first had Guo Xu help Zhao Nanshan to bed, and then placed some cultivation resources and two yuan crystals in front of Zhao Nanshan's bed.

Zhao Nanshan used to provide Chen Yuan with cultivation resources, and now it was time for Chen Yuan to repay him.

Two yuan crystals were a huge fortune to others, but they were nothing to Chen Yuan now. After all, this time he was going to Tangshan Prefecture,

Not just to carry out Jiang He's mission.

Tangshan was so rich. As the Qing Envoy, how could he not get a share of the pie?

In addition, Chen Yuan left a letter, telling Zhao Nanshan not to see him off, that they would naturally meet again in the future, and to take good care of himself,

And live to see the day when he shook the Jianghu with his prestige!

After that, Chen Yuan left with Wang Ping, ordered a few appetizers at the tavern, and sat on the roof of the Wang family's house to drink and chat, just like more than half a year ago when the sun was setting.

"Yuan-ge, travel safely."

"Travel safely."

The last sentence was said by Wang Ping's father, Wang Dafu.

Since Wang Ping became the head constable of Ping'an County, he had also become wealthy and influential by virtue of his son. Everyone who saw him had to say, "Uncle Wang?"

Wang Dafu knew very well where all this came from, so he inexplicably felt a sense of respect for Chen Yuan.

"Let's go, cultivate hard, and strive to break through as soon as possible."

After saying that, Chen Yuan pulled on the reins and rode away.

Wang Ping's eyes gazed at Chen Yuan's back for a long time, not retracting.

"Why didn't you leave with him?"

Wang Dafu took a deep breath. Now, he didn't dare to act like a father in front of Wang Ping anymore. Wang Ping was now in charge of the Wang family.

"With just a Bone Refinement cultivation, what's the point of following him?" Wang Ping laughed to himself.

The lowest cultivation level among Chen Yuan's subordinates was probably stronger than him. Going would only be a hindrance. Chen Yuan had said before that he should leave with him, and that only experience could lead him further on the path of martial arts.

However, Wang Ping declined. After that, Chen Yuan didn't say anything more.

"That's true..." Wang Dafu sighed:

"Chen Yuan is a person who does great things. You can't help him much by staying by his side, and it's also very dangerous. Isn't it good now? Our Wang family is now also a prominent family in Ping'an County."

"This is just a rootless duckweed, all borrowed from Yuan-ge's influence. Without Yuan-ge, where would Wang Ping be today?" As he said this, he took out the key to the Chen family's small courtyard from his arms.

Then he turned and left.

Wang Dafu asked in confusion:

"What are you going to do?"

"Go clean up Yuan-ge's house..." Wang Ping replied from afar, muttering to himself, "It seems that only these small things can help Yuan-ge."

......

Leaving Ping'an County, Chen Yuan headed straight for the southwest.

He had already wasted half a month on the road from Qingzhou City. There was not much time left, and he had to reach Tangshan Prefecture as soon as possible.

Fortunately, Tangshan Prefecture was not too far from Nanling Prefecture. As long as he crossed one more prefecture, he would be able to reach Tangshan in a few days.

Chen Yuan was no stranger to the prefecture sandwiched in between, called Yunyang Prefecture, which bordered Nanling Prefecture. When Chen Yuan succeeded in condensing his evil energy, on his way back to Nanling Prefecture, he had encountered several Jianghu martial artists from Yunyang Prefecture chasing the Ever-Changing Langjun, Miao Renfeng.

Unfortunately, they didn't have eyes and provoked Chen Yuan, and all of them were killed. They all came from the same sect, the Azure Lotus Sword Sect.

After killing the people, Chen Yuan had thought that someone would take revenge.

But there was no trace of it at all. It was probably because his disguise was too good at the time, and there were no witnesses, making it difficult to find out who the murderer was.

After all, even Miao Renfeng was dead...

Killings in the Jianghu were too common, and this was nothing.

Going straight through Yunyang Prefecture, without any problems, Chen Yuan finally arrived at his destination, Tangshan Prefecture, after several days!

From the Qingzhou City Collection Pavilion, he learned that Tangshan Prefecture was named after a mountain range, which was rich in resources and had abundant heaven and earth vitality.

It was an excellent place for growing spiritual herbs and objects.

And this mountain range was called the Tangshan Mountain Range.

Entering the Tangshan Prefecture, the speed of Chen Yuan and others suddenly slowed down, and they began to hide their tracks. His position as Qing Envoy had been decided.

He was replacing the current Tangshan Qing Envoy, but the other party was not aware of it yet.

No news had come out from Qingzhou City, and Jiang He wanted him to catch all those involved in the blood sacrifice case by surprise.

Chen Yuan had originally thought that it might be a bit difficult, because this kind of collusion was generally relatively secretive, but what he did not expect was that

Tangshan was rotten to this extent!

Even walking on the side of the road, he could clearly hear some passers-by casually talking about the collusion between the government and the Jianghu forces.

As if...

This was the normal phenomenon.

And the Chopping Knife Gang that Zhao Nanshan mentioned was still in existence, according to his investigation, and its power was huge, with over a thousand members, occupying several mineral veins. The gang leader, Shen Yongzhi, was in the late stage of Profound Connection Realm.

It was said that the name Chopping Knife Gang was created by him.

In his early years, he had relied on two kitchen knives in his hand to kill his way through ten streets, establishing his reputation. Since then, Shen Yongzhi founded the Chopping Knife Gang and ran rampant.

In just a few decades, he became the most prominent Profound Connection martial artist in Tangshan Prefecture.

And he himself had several sons and daughters, using marriage to bring all the top forces in Tangshan together, and now it was like an iron bucket.

And the legendary experience of Shen Yongzhi was also recited by countless people, and many Tangshan martial artists regarded him as their goal!

It could be said that after learning this, the entire Tangshan Prefecture was simply rotten to the core.

Much worse than Nanling Prefecture.

Tang Triangle, the name was well-deserved!

If it weren't for this blood sacrifice incident, Chen Yuan felt that this Shen Yongzhi might really become the underground emperor of Tangshan Prefecture.

Unfortunately, he met Chen Yuan.

No matter what kind of person he was, he would eventually be annihilated under his fist.

On this day, Chen Yuan came to a county town closest to Tangshan Prefecture City. In just a few hours, he would be able to reach Tangshan Prefecture City.

And this was the starting point he had prepared for sweeping Tangshan Prefecture.

He had been in Tangshan Prefecture for two days and had not rushed to show his face, but was waiting for an opportunity to break the situation and announce the arrival of Chen Yuan to the entire Tangshan Prefecture.

There were no Grandmaster in Tangshan Prefecture, so what else was there to hold back?

This county town was called Lushui County, and it was one of the important branch locations of the Chopping Knife Gang. And the Chopping Knife Gang was the force that Chen Yuan had chosen to show his blade.

Apart from Zhao Nanshan's sake, more importantly, he was also a little interested in this Shen Yongzhi.

After investigating and confirming, Chen Yuan and his party stealthily came to a more famous inn in Lushui County. The waiter greeted them with a smile and arranged seats for Chen Yuan and his party.

The inn was noisy, discussing rumors from all over the world. Chen Yuan even heard his name mentioned, and couldn't help but sigh,

He was indeed famous in Qingzhou now.

The food in the inn was good. The few people ate their meals peacefully. Before long, Mo Donghe walked into the inn wearing a bamboo hat and nodded silently to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan understood and nodded slightly, continuing to pick up the food from the plate.

Soon, following closely behind Mo Donghe was a young man in extraordinary clothes, followed by four or five guards holding swords and weapons.

As soon as the young man entered the restaurant, all the diners' eyes gathered on him, and the original noisy sounds instantly solidified.

The shopkeeper, who was calculating with an abacus, was stunned. A smile quickly squeezed onto his face, and he trotted to the young man's side, bowing:

"Young Master Shen."

The man, who was called Young Master Shen, had a flushed face and exuded a pungent smell of alcohol. However, his figure was very stable, and he seemed to be a little short of being drunk.

Shen Tao glanced at the somewhat chubby shopkeeper and stepped forward to pat his face:

"I just heard that there are several good-looking young ladies in the inn. Where are they?"

Sweat flowed down the shopkeeper's face, and he quickly said:

"Young Master Shen, there are only so many people on the first and second floors of our inn. Where are there any beautiful ladies?"

Shen Tao frowned, his eyes slowly scanning the first floor. Although there were a few women, they were far from beautiful. A wave of anger rose in his heart.

He couldn't help but push the shopkeeper and scolded, "Get out of the way."

"Yes, yes, yes... I'll get out of the way right away."

The shopkeeper had a smirk on his face. This was originally the property of the Chopping Knife Gang, and he was just a dog of the Shen family, so naturally he didn't dare to have any dissatisfaction. Moreover,

The drunken Young Master Shen was definitely not to be provoked.

Recently, everyone in Lushui County had heard that Shen Yongzhi was looking for a marriage partner for Shen Tao, but the other party looked down on him, saying that he was a mud that couldn't be supported and was just a playboy.

In the end, the marriage was returned. In shame and anger, Shen Tao was furious, but he was powerless. He was just a concubine's son, and Shen Yongzhi would not stand up for him and become an enemy of the force that was no less powerful than the Chopping Knife Gang.

So he had been drowning his sorrows in alcohol these past few days.

The other day, two Jianghu women were almost beaten to death by him because they disobeyed Shen Tao's wishes.

But in the end, nothing happened.

There were rumors in Lushui that in the past two months, no one could afford to offend Shen Tao.

A playboy, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, with a terrible reputation.

And this was the reason why Chen Yuan set his sights on him!