Chapter 1 The Ominous Sign

Huangfu stood facing south, his eyes half-closed, muttering to himself:

"A purplish-black evil aura is coming overhead like dark clouds. Ominous, ominous! This is a sign of great misfortune..."

Huangfu's heart grew heavy.

He was a disciple of Han Changgong, the head of the Directorate of Astronomy, and had been observing qi for many years. He had already mastered this art. He was right two or three times out of ten, making him a master in this field.

But in all his years of observing qi, he had never seen such an image.

In his half-closed eyes, a vast black evil qi, like a storm about to break, was gathering but not yet released. And within the rolling black evil, there was a purple rising.

It is said that bright qi brings prosperity, dim qi brings decline, black qi brings disaster, and purple qi brings great fortune.

The ultimate black evil contained the supreme noble qi.

Could it be that some great figure was about to unleash his thunderous rage upon this Ronghua Prefecture?

"Whom are you trying to find?"

Huangfu asked again.

"This time, the Soul-Stealing Demonic Art has appeared. That great demon severely injured Lord Ming. Constable Xue was furious, so he asked Lord Huang to come and find this person..."

Du Hangong's heart became more and more uncertain:

"Could there be something amiss?"

"The Soul-Stealing Demonic Art... That person couldn't kill Ming Tang months ago. How could he bring calamity upon the entire Ronghua Prefecture this time? It must not be just this person, or perhaps not just this person."

Huangfu shook his head slightly and asked again:

"Besides that person, are you hiding anything?"

"Lord Huang..."

Ming Tang's heart 'thumped' as he remembered Zhao Yanyan and Dongmen Ruo, who were detained in prison, and hesitated to speak.

"Lord Ming has something to say?"

Huangfu glanced at Ming Tang.

Ming Tang hesitated for a moment before saying:

"In order to investigate the whereabouts of that bandit, we detained Dongmen Ruo of the Supreme God Sect and Zhao Yanyan of the Moon Worship Villa..."

"The Supreme God Sect and the Moon Worship Villa..."

Huangfu thought for a while and shook his head again:

"Huangjishen and the Moon Worship Grandmaster won't provoke the imperial court for just two disciples. Zhao Changlin's coming to negotiate is enough. They won't come to Ronghua Prefecture in person..."

The Supreme God Sect and the Moon Worship Villa were indeed top sects in Dafeng and even the whole world, but Dafeng was the strongest power in the world, without any equals.

Huangjishen and the Moon Worship Grandmaster were renowned grandmasters listed on the weapon index, but neither his master, Han Changgong, the head of the Directorate of Astronomy, nor the God Catcher of the Six Doors, Yang Lin, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or Cao Tiangang, the Grand Supervisor of the Eastern Depot, would lose to them.

It was absolutely impossible to offend the imperial court for two disciples.

"Lord Xue thinks so too."

Ming Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

Huangfu paced a few steps in front of the carriage, still somewhat uncertain. The others didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing his thoughts.

After a moment, Huangfu stopped and slowly exhaled a long breath:

"When Lord Xue returns, tell him that the person he's looking for is in the south. He will surely gain something by going forward..."

"Are you?"

Seeing Huangfu stepping on the stool again to board the carriage, Ming Tang and Du Hangong both widened their eyes.

"This official doesn't have my teacher's ability to lock souls from thousands of miles away. Saying this much is already the limit. I can't see or say more."

Huangfu lifted the curtain of the carriage and got in, responding faintly:

"If you listen to me, you should be able to find that person. This official still has important matters to attend to, so I won't stay any longer..."

With that, the coachman turned the horse's head, heading back the way they came.

"Lord Huang? Lord Huang?"

Ming Tang and Du Hangong were dumbfounded. They never expected that this Fifth Rank Spiritual Altar Official of the Directorate of Astronomy would leave just like that.

They hesitated for a moment but didn't dare to step forward to stop him, exchanging bitter smiles.

"They didn't chase after us, did they?"

After turning two streets, Huangfu, holding a cup of hot tea in the carriage, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Reporting to milord, they did not chase after us."

The coachman hesitated slightly before saying:

"But milord, if you leave like this, wouldn't you offend Xue Chaoyang and the Six Doors?"

"Heh."

Huangfu sneered, put down the teacup, and said slowly and deliberately:

"Do you know that my teacher has dozens of disciples, among whom there are many senior brothers whose talent and wit surpass mine? Why am I able to be this Fifth Rank Spiritual Altar Official?"

The coachman's face tightened:

"Naturally, it's because milord is more wise and martial, and your qi observation skills have surpassed others."

"Bullshit!"

Huangfu scoffed and then said in a light tone:

"It's just because I only say three-tenths of what I know, do only half of what I should, don't do what can't be done, avoid danger, and retreat when facing difficulties."

"Uh..."

The coachman was stunned for a moment, not daring to respond for a long time.

"Let's go. Ronghua Prefecture will become a place of trouble. It's pointless to stay long."

Huangfu didn't say much, instructing faintly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage stopped. Before he could frown, the coachman's urgent voice sounded:

"...L-Lord, we, we can't go."

"Hmm?"

Huangfu's eyes were half-closed. He saw a crimson pillar of qi not far ahead, rising into the sky like wolf smoke, with the faint roar of a hungry wolf.

He couldn't help but change his expression:

"Xue Chaoyang?"

At the end of the street, the crowd dispersed. Xue Chaoyang, wearing a scarlet robe and a large cloak, stood with his arms crossed, speaking coldly:

"Lord Huang's words are thought-provoking. Xue is ashamed of his inferiority."

Swish~

Huangfu lifted the curtain of the carriage and jumped down, gazing at Xue Chaoyang standing in the street in the distance, his smile somewhat stiff:

"Lord Xue is dedicated to the country and the people. Huang admires you greatly."

Being blocked like this, Huangfu's old face was a little embarrassed.

"Is that so?"

Xue Chaoyang smiled noncommittally:

"I thought Lord Huang didn't trust me, Xue, and wanted to leave?"

How could he not know what kind of person this old fox was?

He had promised Zhao Changlin to release Dongmen Ruo and Zhao Yanyan, who had rushed over to block this old fox.

Otherwise, how could he release people without Zhao Changlin paying a sufficient price?

"Where, where? Who doesn't know the great name of Constable Xue? I was afraid that milord would be ambushed, so I was going to Nanshan to help milord!"

Huangfu smiled awkwardly.

"In that case, Xue misunderstood milord."

Xue Chaoyang glanced at him with a smile that wasn't a smile, his tone calm:

"In that case, the reception banquet in the city lord's mansion has already been prepared. Milord, please come with Xue. You are the protagonist today and cannot be absent."

"Alas."

Huangfu couldn't hold back any longer and sighed:

"I've already said what I could say. Why must Brother Xue make things difficult for me?"

Whoosh~

Xue Chaoyang took a step forward. Before anyone could see how he moved, he had already arrived in front of the carriage.

The smile on his face disappeared as he looked coldly at Huangfu:

"Then what exactly did Lord Huang see that made you leave in such a hurry? Could it be that Xue is going to die in this Ronghua Prefecture?"

"What are you saying, milord?"

Huangfu's expression changed. Xue Chaoyang's words left him with no way out.

If he knowingly retreated when he knew that Xue Chaoyang would encounter danger, not to mention his master Han Changgong, even the imperial court wouldn't spare him.

"Since that's the case, Xue promises to let it go. Unless all the members of the Six Doors are dead, I will never let milord suffer the slightest harm."

Xue Chaoyang's expression softened as he said:

"Xue's promise should still carry some weight, I believe."

"Very well, Huang will accompany you to the end today."

Huangfu sighed in his heart.

It seemed that it would be difficult to retreat this time.

However, the purple qi was about to rise but hadn't yet risen. It was likely that an unparalleled figure might appear in this Ronghua Prefecture.

How to manipulate it, he had to plan carefully...

.........

Dazzling sunlight streamed down, filling the heaven and earth like an ocean, omnipresent.

Nanshan City, the backyard of the Yǎngxiào Hall.

An Qisheng held a crimson pill the size of a longan, examining it carefully under the sunlight.

This pill was entirely crimson, not revealing the slightest medicinal fragrance. Looking closely, one could even see the tiny lines on the surface of the pill. It could truly be called a work of art.

This pill was called the Six Prisons Minor Sacred Pill. As the name suggested, it was a simplified version of the Six Prisons Sacred Pill, famous throughout the Six Prisons Demonic Sect.

Its difference from the Six Prisons Sacred Pill lay only in one main ingredient.

Its value was no less than that of the Minor Revitalizing Pill of the Imperial Awakening Temple. Taking one pill could add thirty years of internal energy.

Bai Xian'er and Bian You, two personal disciples of the Crimson Sun Dharma King, had been granted such a pill this time because they were coming to investigate the Soul-Stealing Demonic Art.

When Bai Xian'er said that the pill had been lost, Bian You was almost so angry that he spat blood, and almost fought Bai Xian'er to the death.

If he knew that Bai Xian'er had given the pill to An Qisheng, he would probably try to snatch it at the cost of exposure.

"A single pill can increase internal energy by more than half a Jiazi (sixty years). How superior are the cultivation conditions of these famous sects?"

An Qisheng examined the pill and couldn't help but feel sad for Old Daoist Wang Quan.

Seventy years of hard cultivation were equivalent to just two pills for others.

This was still the Six Prisons Minor Sacred Pill. If it were the Six Prisons Sacred Pill, which had even greater effects than the Great Revitalizing Pill of the Imperial Awakening Temple, one pill would be enough to equal a lifetime of hard cultivation.

However, he also knew that such things would happen in any world. On Earth, how many people worked hard all their lives but couldn't compare to the red envelopes that some people received during the New Year...

Was this the Jiufujie version of the wealth gap?

"It can solve my urgent need."

An Qisheng flipped his wrist and put the pill in his mouth.

His realm had already been reached, and he only lacked internal energy for the Blood Exchange. This Six Prisons Minor Sacred Pill was just right to make up for the internal energy he needed.

Jade fluid was produced in his mouth, and his throat wriggled, flowing the pill into his stomach.

Glug~

It was like a stone falling into a deep well, splashing up ripples.

The moment the pill entered his stomach, An Qisheng felt as if a furnace had been lit inside, and strands of heat rose from his organs.

For a time, his body felt warm and comfortable.

Closing his eyes slightly, An Qisheng seemed to be able to 'see' the various organs of his body, and the flowing blood greedily devoured the heat.

Under the effect of the medicinal power contained in this pill, the speed of internal energy generation throughout his body was many times faster.

If his original method of transporting internal energy was like a snail crawling, this time it was like riding a rocket into the sky. The speed was so fast and the force was so fierce that even An Qisheng's current physique felt a burst of numbness, as if he was being electrocuted.

"Such strong medicinal power may help me complete the second transformation after the Blood Exchange..."

An Qisheng's eyes lit up, feeling the joy of his organs.

Following this joy, he moved his feet and began to practice boxing in the courtyard.

Whoosh~

In the slow boxing routine, the blood around An Qisheng's body was incomparably boiling. Heat flowed from his abdomen, flowing through his whole body, and then generating internal energy, which was transformed into more pure internal energy after being baptized by the Heavenly One Pearl.

After that, it merged with the boiling blood flowing through his body and then reached his limbs and bones, until every subtle place.

Hoo hoo~

With An Qisheng's breathing, the air in the courtyard roared.

As his intestines and stomach accelerated their peristalsis, the strands of heat became more and more rapid, and then, like a roaring river, they merged into his blood.

Viscera, limbs, and bones, and then, under An Qisheng's spontaneous urging.

Rising from the vertebrae section by section, reaching the meeting of a hundred yangs, the leader of the six yangs!

Boom!