For Xie An, who had cultivated the Bright Jade Skill to the eighteenth level, his five senses were already extremely sharp, capable of discerning details that ordinary eighth-level martial masters couldn't detect.
The five senses are inherently mysterious.
It's somewhat similar to the bond between a father and son; even if the son has been separated for over a decade, and his appearance has drastically changed upon reunion, there's still an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Just like Xie An felt when he saw this young woman.
Very familiar.
He was certain he had seen her somewhere before.
However, just as Xie An intended to further activate his five senses for a more detailed assessment, he couldn't discern any more information.
Xie An had no choice but to give up.
When Xie An retracted his gaze, he noticed that the young woman had been staring at him the entire time.
Hmm?
Does she know me?
This deepened the curiosity in Xie An's heart.
Just then, Chen Tie smiled and began introducing Xie An, "Chief Commander Xie, this is Zhu Kun, a sixth-rank Assistant Commander, this is Liu Qian, a sixth-rank Assistant Commander, and this young lady is a distinguished guest from Nan Province… May I ask for the young lady's name?"
Earlier, when Zhu Kun and Liu Qian brought the young woman in, they had solemnly introduced her to Chen Tie, stating that she was an honored guest of the Prince of Huainan, but they didn't mention her name.
Although Chen Tie's status wasn't low, he was still very polite and gave her ample respect when facing an honored guest of the Prince of Huainan, especially a beautiful young woman.
Only then did the young woman retract her gaze from Xie An and said faintly, "You may call this humble servant Chenxi."
Chenxi?
A rather pleasant name.
Xie An muttered to himself.
"Chief Commander Xie, please take your seat," Chen Tie reminded Xie An.
Xie An snapped out of his thoughts and, at Chen Tie's gesture, took the main seat. Wei Haoran and Chen Tie Yuhe sat on the right side, while Zhu Kun, Liu Qian, and Chenxi sat on the left.
Clearly demarcated.
Clearly displaying the current power structure of the Green Crow Town Demon Subjugation Division: the Princess's faction and the Prince of Huainan's faction each held half. Xie An, the neutral party, was in the center as the leader.
Wei Haoran already disliked the Prince of Huainan, and coupled with his headstrong personality, he naturally wouldn't say any polite words. Yuhe, on the other hand, didn't care much about these factional disputes and only stood behind Xie An, not saying a word.
Chen Tie stepped in to smooth things over, "The imperial court established the Green Crow Town Demon Subjugation Division because it has high expectations for us. We must work together with one heart and strive to achieve new merits under the leadership of Chief Commander Xie."
Although it was meaningless official jargon, it was still useful to say it in public.
Although Zhu Kun and Liu Qian didn't think much of it in their hearts, they had no choice but to smile and echo his sentiments.
"Deputy Commander Chen is right. We should naturally follow Chief Commander's orders and share the burden for His Majesty."
"With Chief Commander Xie stationed in Green Crow, he can surely deter villains and purify the filth."
Listening to the obviously insincere and extremely hypocritical words, Xie An felt a burst of discomfort in his heart, but he still smiled and said, "It's all thanks to the Emperor's grace, all to share the burden for His Majesty."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Xie An felt they were very fake.
But for officials, everyone uses this kind of rhetoric.
The ways of the world…
After some pleasantries, Zhu Kun and Liu Qian exchanged glances, then spoke, "Chief Commander Xie has just taken office and already solved the case of Magistrate Zhou Li colluding with the Giant Whale Gang. It's truly gratifying. Liu Qian and I had also previously discovered some problems with the Giant Whale Gang. After our joint deliberation, we have already killed Li Chonghe, the evil leader."
These words truly surprised Xie An, Chen Tie, and the others.
Especially Xie An, his eyes narrowed.
That's not right…
According to the previous confessions of Zhou Li and Li Fushan, Zhu and Liu had long been colluding with the Giant Whale Gang.
Could Zhu and Liu have killed Li Chonghe, the Grand Chieftain of the Giant Whale Gang?
A falling out?
Zhu Kun continued, "Although Zhou Li is from Nan Province and a colleague of mine, this person colluded with the Giant Whale Gang and deserved this end. Moreover, Zhou Li was able to commit suicide out of guilt, which shows he had some self-awareness. I will write a document to Prince of Huainan, stating the details and mentioning Chief Commander Xie's impartiality in eliminating corruption in the imperial court."
Xie An naturally sensed that Zhu Kun was demonstrating and mocking him.
However, they had the Prince of Huainan as their backer, and were also sixth-rank Assistant Commanders. With the Deputy Commander and the Imperial Inspector of their faction about to take office, and Xie An not having obtained solid evidence of their collusion with the Giant Whale Gang, he naturally couldn't do anything about it.
Even if he obtained solid evidence, he still couldn't do anything about it.
He needed the Princess.
Moreover, Xie An didn't want to provoke the Prince of Huainan, nor did he want to create unnecessary trouble.
But to say he was afraid of Zhu Kun and Liu Qian's demonstration, that wasn't the case either.
They had the Prince of Huainan as their backing, and Xie An also had a backer.
Thinking of this, Xie An also revealed a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble you two."
…
"This Xie An is too much. He killed Zhou Li as soon as he arrived. He's killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, establishing his authority over us," Zhu Kun angrily complained to Liu Qian after leaving the high-rise and arranging for Chenxi to temporarily stay in the Demon Subjugation Division.
Liu Qian looked resentful, "Isn't that right? What suicide out of guilt? It was clearly him who did it. But they got the evidence, and we can only swallow this bitter pill."
When they first arrived at the Demon Subjugation Division, they heard the news of Zhou Li and Li Fushan committing suicide out of guilt in prison. At that time, they angrily went to find Chen Tie.
As a result, Chen Tie took out a detailed confession.
Zhu Kun and Liu Qian could only shut up.
At the same time, they felt a bit of luck.
Fortunately, the superior envoy killed Li Chonghe, giving them a chance to prove their innocence. It also cut off the possibility of Chen Tie and Xie An continuing to dig deeper along the Giant Whale Gang line.
Just now, Zhu Kun deliberately said that he would submit a memorial to the Prince of Huainan, also to deter Xie An and Chen Tie, so that they would know when to stop.
Seeing Xie An's final reply, Zhu Kun and Liu Qian felt that the deterrence had worked, but the resentment in their hearts couldn't be erased.
Zhu Kun said fiercely, "Just who is this Xie An? Why can he be the Chief Commander?"
Liu Qian shook his head, "I don't know either. But we can take advantage of these few days to investigate thoroughly."
Zhu Kun nodded, "That's right. It doesn't matter if Li Fushan and his son died, it's nothing big. But Zhou Li died too unjustly. We have to figure out what happened."
…
Seventh floor.
Once Zhu Kun, Liu Qian, and Chenxi left, only their own people were left in the room.
Xie An felt that something was wrong, so he asked Chen Tie for details. Chen Tie told him all the details after Zhu Kun and Liu Qian entered the Demon Subjugation Division, and finally expressed his doubts, "This matter is indeed not right. When we went to the county office to handle matters, the news was not leaked. During the process of arresting Li Fushan and Zhou Li, I used only my trusted aides, there was absolutely no possibility of leakage. How did Zhu Kun and the others seem to know the news in advance? And they killed Li Chonghe to silence him?"
Wei Haoran patted his head, feeling a headache, and finally said in a muffled voice, "My brain is straight, I'm not good at this kind of thing. I'd better go practice my spear. If you need anything, just call me."
After speaking, Wei Haoran left as if fleeing, unwilling to stay and use his brain with everyone.
Eh.
Chen Tie shook his head helplessly, watching Wei Haoran's departing figure, "This guy is really a roughneck. Marquis Wei asked him to go out and train, mainly to make him smarter. But he's good at… avoiding the important and dwelling on the trivial."
Xie An supported his forehead, sweating for Marquis Wei.
Could it be that the dignified Marquis Wei also raised a foolish son?
But after thinking carefully, Xie An felt that Wei Haoran wasn't foolish, he just didn't want to use his brain. It really made Marquis Wei's heart break.
"Chief Commander Xie, what do you think?"
Faced with Chen Tie's inquiry, Xie An went through the details of the matter in his mind. Because there was too little information to refer to, Xie An couldn't make a judgment, "Is it possible that the information was leaked? Did Zhu and Liu arrange for informants in the Demon Subjugation Division that you don't know about?"
Chen Tie thought about it and could only agree with this guess, "Only this explanation can make sense. The informants knew that Zhou Li and Li Fushan had revealed the news of the superior envoy. Zhu and Liu then killed Li Chonghe to clear their relationship and cut off their arms to protect themselves."
Xie An said in a deep voice, "Then please, Deputy Commander Chen, thoroughly investigate the possible informants. However, after this, I'm afraid we have already alarmed that female superior envoy. The Princess may come for nothing."
Chen Tie was very worried, "But there is no better way at the moment. Everything still needs to wait for the Princess to come and preside over the situation."
Xie An said, "That's the only way. Before the Princess arrives, everyone should not take any action, everything should be as usual. And don't send anyone to Water Lantern Town to investigate the Giant Whale Gang. Lest the situation worsens."
"Very well said."
"In addition, Deputy Commander Chen, you also need to pay attention to this newly arrived Chenxi girl. I always feel that this person is not simple."
"Okay."
After agreeing, Xie An left Yuhe and Chen Tie to discuss follow-up matters, and returned to the Southeast Courtyard alone.
Along the way, they encountered many Demon Suppression Guards, who greeted Xie An one after another, calling him Chief Commander.
Normally, Xie An would have felt very comfortable and would even take the initiative to greet everyone, but at this moment, Xie An was listless, simply nodding to everyone as a greeting.
Closing the courtyard door, Xie An lay down on the Drunken Weng chair, looking up at the starry sky, the face of the Dawn Maiden constantly appearing in his mind.
Especially the look in Dawn's eyes when she looked at him made Xie An feel very uncomfortable.
He always felt like he had seen her somewhere before.
But no matter how hard Xie An racked his brains, he couldn't remember.
In the end, Xie An could only give up, "Forget it, she may really be an expert sent by the Prince of Huainan. She's here for the Eldest Princess... Everything will be fine when the Eldest Princess arrives."
Xie An comforted himself in this way.
Afterward, Xie An stood up and began to temper his inner strength.
Since breaking through the first level of inner strength, Xie An's novelty for inner strength had not yet passed.
One hand practicing the Bright Jade Skill for nourishing and replenishing the body, and the other hand practicing inner strength, mainly for attacking.
Dual cultivation kept Xie An enjoying it.
For a long time, Xie An had been stuck in the Blood冲境, which, apart from increasing his strength, was of little use. This led Xie An to lose interest in martial arts, and he spent most of his time cultivating the Bright Jade Skill.
Now that he had broken through his inner strength and felt the various wonders of inner strength, a strong interest spontaneously emerged.
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Holding the Demon Suppression Famous Blade, with the blessing of inner strength, his practice became more and more comfortable, and its power was several times greater than before.
The Pressure Blade Technique, the nine-fold stacking... all became extraordinarily powerful because of inner strength.
"It seems that only with inner strength can the power of the Heavy Mountain Blade be fully utilized."
"Moreover, although I am only at the first level of inner strength, the strength of my inner strength is completely comparable to that of a second-level martial artist." Xie An had seen the inner strength of a second-level martial artist and did not feel exaggerated in making such a comparison.
Eight years of health cultivation had made Xie An's body extraordinarily strong. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a humanoid monster.
"If I can cultivate to the seventh level of inner strength, plus my eighteenth level of Bright Jade Skill, even if I face a ninth-level martial artist, I can still arm wrestle."
Thinking of this, Xie An became more and more aware of the urgency of tempering his inner strength.
Jin Xiaotang, Li Changchun, Prince of Huainan, Changsheng Sect... Guang Chanzi, Chen Gong...
These existences all made Xie An feel a lot of pressure.
Because of the Eldest Princess, Xie An felt that he had inevitably been drawn into it. Although Xie An didn't want to stand out, he still needed to work hard if he wanted to have the ability to protect himself.
"Before the Eldest Princess arrives, I will consolidate my inner strength."
"The five Inner Strength Pills that Brother Tang gave me, I only used one, and the remaining four can be considered for sale. Han Li and He Chunli still have a long way to go before they reach the Blood冲境."
"However, I can go to the pharmacy to collect the second-level Inner Strength Pills."
Each month, depending on the strength of the Chief Commander, they can receive two corresponding Inner Strength Pills.
This was an excellent benefit.
Previously, Xie An was not in a hurry to receive them, but chose to use the Inner Strength Pills given by Tang Zhengyang first, thinking that after he broke through the first level of inner strength, he could go to receive the second-level Inner Strength Pills.
This was all planned by Xie An.
What's more, after ordinary people break through the first level of inner strength, they need to spend a long time forging and accumulating before they can consider attacking the second level of inner strength.
But Xie An, due to the Bright Jade Skill, had accumulated extremely strong potential energy. As soon as he broke through the first level of inner strength, the potential energy accumulated in his body poured down like a mountain waterfall. He soon reached a perfect state, giving him the foundation to attack the second level of inner strength.
"Tomorrow morning, I will go to collect the second-level Inner Strength Pills."
The next morning, Xie An got up early.
After washing up, eating the breakfast prepared by Yuhe, and practicing the health cultivation skill and inner strength again, confirming that he could attack the second level of inner strength, he bid farewell to Yuhe and went out.
Leaving the courtyard door, the bright and warm sunlight shone down, falling on Xie An's face.
Like gentle tentacles stroking his face, warm and cozy.
Not far away, Xie An saw that the martial arts field was very lively, and from time to time there were sounds of cheering.
Perhaps the sound was too harsh, Xie An, who didn't like to join in the fun, couldn't help but glance over, and was surprised to find a group of Demon Suppression Guards surrounding Dawn, asking for guidance in martial arts.
Dawn?
Guidance in martial arts?
Xie An couldn't help but be curious and went over to take a look.
He saw Dawn, wearing a cyan Luo skirt, surrounded by a group of Demon Suppression Guards, waving her sword, dancing with her sword, punching, practicing palm techniques, wielding a big spear, and carrying an axe from time to time...
The cheers rose and fell, resounding throughout the entire martial arts field.
Xie An was dumbfounded.
Even Xie An, a master of swordsmanship, felt that his swordsmanship was far inferior when he saw Dawn wielding her sword, and he had a feeling of admiration.
What exquisite martial arts!
Proficient in all eighteen weapons.
Amazing.
Xie An had been practicing martial arts for many years, and it was the first time he had seen such a spectacle.
Practicing martial arts emphasizes focusing on one skill, and one who can master one skill is a master.
Practicing multiple weapons at the same time is easy to become superficial and not proficient, which is a great taboo in learning martial arts.
This Dawn is so amazing?
What kind of expert did the Prince of Huainan invite?
After watching for a while, the Dawn Maiden finished her practice, walked through the crowd, and smiled at Xie An: "Hello, Chief Commander Xie."
Xie An then came back to his senses, "Hello, Miss Dawn."
After greeting her, Xie An did not stay any longer and hurried to the pharmacy to collect the second-level Inner Strength Pills.
The shopkeeper of the pharmacy was a round-faced fat man, surnamed Ye, named Luo.
At the beginning, he had a smiling face and was very enthusiastic, but when he heard that Xie An wanted to collect the second-level Inner Strength Pills, he couldn't help but feel very surprised.
To be a sixth-rank Difference Officer, at least the strength of a fourth-rank martial artist is required.
The official position of the Demon Suppression Division is directly linked to strength.
If the strength is insufficient to hold a high position, it is easy to have problems.
Ye Luo couldn't believe that the Chief Commander was actually a first-level inner strength martial artist?
How did he get to the top?
Although shocked in his heart, Ye Luo still showed a smile, "Chief Commander, are you sure you didn't say anything wrong?"
Xie An shook his head, "No, I just broke through the first level of inner strength."
Ye Luo: "..."
Soon, Ye Luo showed an understanding expression, while giving Xie An a second-level Inner Strength Pill, he kindly reminded him, "Chief Commander, you have to hurry up, the Demon Suppression Division is deep, and even trivial matters can easily be used to attack you."
Xie An heard the deep meaning in Ye Luo's words and thanked him.
Ye Luo kindly reminded him, "Is one enough? Ordinary first-level inner strength martial artists need two to three Inner Strength Pills to break through to the second level safely."
Xie An was very confident in himself and said, "I will collect one first. If I break through to the second level, can the quota for the remaining one be exchanged for a third-level Inner Strength Pill?"
Ye Luo was greatly surprised and thought to himself: It is not easy to break through to the second level of inner strength with one Inner Strength Pill. Is this Chief Commander so confident?
But he said, "Of course."
"That's fine."
Xie An thanked him and left.
Returning to the Southeast Courtyard, Xie An closed the courtyard door, went to the room and sat down cross-legged, took the second-level Inner Strength Pill, and began to break through.
With the Bright Jade Skill escorting him, Xie An, relying on his powerful physical potential energy, spent a full four hours, and by nightfall, he had broken through the second level of inner strength.
Before Xie An had time to feel the mystery of the second level of inner strength, he felt particularly tired, drowsy, and unable to open his eyes.
"Perhaps it is because I have been breaking through for two consecutive days, and my body can't bear it. I will sleep first, and deal with it tomorrow when I wake up."
Xie An didn't even take a bath, and went to sleep directly with his clothes on.
Yuhe was not in the Southeast Courtyard, but was in the main building discussing the miscellaneous affairs of the Demon Suppression Division with Chen Tie. The entire Southeast Courtyard was quiet in the night.
Suddenly, a black shadow quietly sneaked into Xie An's bedroom.
It was Dawn.
She walked to Xie An's bed, quietly looked at Xie An, and murmured to herself, "So it was you who took this palace's Seven Treasure Exquisite Box. It's really hateful."
Hmph.
She snorted, approached the bed, reached out and groped Xie An's body, and finally took out the Immortal Treasure Box from his inner pocket, greatly rejoicing, "The thing has been returned to its original owner. No, this is not this palace's either. But this Seven Treasure Exquisite Box is a good thing, even more important than the Heavenly Treasure Dynasty."
Dawn was about to leave when she suddenly saw a palm print appearing on the Seven Treasure Exquisite Box, greatly shocked.
