Daqian Martial Saint

With Xing Rongzi and Gu Wu having fled, and thus losing two great Profound Light Battle Powers, this Celestial Net Church was quickly and completely overrun.

However, though the church had been taken, the mission to encircle and annihilate the sect members was far from over. There were still numerous tasks to handle, such as searching, interrogating, and sorting through the aftermath.

Inside the church were archives that the sect members hadn’t had time to destroy. These materials would be of great benefit to both the Garrison Commandant’s Office and the Qiankun Bureau. A careful examination would undoubtedly yield valuable intelligence.

Anything involving the Celestial Net Sect was never a small matter!

Everyone on site searched with extreme care and caution. In addition to the search within the church, many constables and Qiankun Bureau personnel scoured the mountain for the escaped remnants of the Celestial Net Sect.

Aside from Xing Rongzi and Gu Wu, a number of other Celestial Net Sect remnants had managed to escape as well.

After parting on bad terms with Zhao Zhiteng and Chu Long, Chen Ping’an did not leave immediately. With the encirclement operation now in its final stages, there was still much to be done, so it was only natural for him to remain and oversee matters.

The first thing Chen Ping’an did after emerging was to pen a message and have it sent by express rider to the Weishui Garrison. Additionally, he dispatched another messenger to the Five Peaks Mountain Residence, ordering them to send men to bolster patrols in the surrounding area and prevent the Celestial Net Sect remnants from making a clean getaway.

To prevent the men at the Five Peaks Mountain Residence from merely feigning compliance, Chen Ping’an also specifically dispatched three Standard-Bearers to supervise the operation.

The reason for sending three men, not one or two, was his hope that they would act as a check on one another, preventing any of them from trying any funny business.

For now, the successful raid on the Celestial Net Church had allowed him to establish a degree of authority. But he had only stepped into a position of power today. Not much time had passed, and his subordinates were still unaware that Guan Yu Ping was dead. It was entirely possible that some would remain dismissive of his orders as Deputy Inspection Envoy.

Chen Ping’an took these extra precautions to prevent anyone from spoiling his plans. Human nature is a complicated thing; one can never be too careful!

If these Celestial Net Sect remnants managed to escape, it wouldn’t affect the grand scheme of things, but it would undoubtedly render the operation less than a complete success.

Fortunately, aside from the reinforcements he’d ordered from the Five Peaks Mountain Residence, the Qiankun Bureau would likely take action as well.

After all, with so much credit up for grabs, who could claim the larger share would come down to who was more capable!

If Chen Ping’an could figure this out, then Zhao Zhiteng certainly could as well.

In fact, even before Chen Ping’an had returned, Zhao Zhiteng had sent a trusted subordinate to his Qiankun Bureau branch to request reinforcements. He relayed the story of the raid on the Celestial Net Sect stronghold and, to ensure the branch took it seriously, heavily emphasized the matter of Xing Rongzi. He reported that a Celestial Net Sect remnant of the Profound Light Middle Realm was still at large, and requested the branch to dispatch experts to coordinate the affair.

On that note, Zhao Zhiteng had been running his own calculations. When Chen Ping’an first revealed the location of the Celestial Net Sect stronghold and proposed a joint operation with the Qiankun Bureau, Zhao Zhiteng hadn’t reported it to his branch. Instead, he kept the information to himself.

Reporting it to the branch was risky. For one, if Chen Ping’an’s information turned out to be baseless, he, as the one who filed the report, would face severe consequences.

For another, if the matter went to his superiors and caught their attention, any credit that might trickle down to him would be left entirely to chance.

That wasn’t what Zhao Zhiteng wanted. He’d been a Three-Seal Qiankun Guard for far too long!

In truth, despite the loss of several colleagues’ lives, the rewards this time had far exceeded Zhao Zhiteng’s expectations. They had raided an actual Celestial Net Church, one responsible for coordinating numerous surrounding strongholds and relaying intelligence.

If he could just dig deeper into these matters, there would be even more, highly significant credit to be gained.

If he could successfully capitalize on all this, it was no mere fantasy to think he could move up and secure a position as a candidate for Qiankun Envoy.

Zhao Zhiteng and Chu Long were both still in the weakened state that followed their use of a Burst Secret Technique. They worried that once Xing Rongzi recovered from his injuries, he would double back and launch a surprise attack, catching them completely off guard.

Aside from waiting for experts from the Qiankun Bureau to arrive, after handling the most urgent matters, Zhao Zhiteng and Chu Long found a room within White Cloud Temple and began to focus fully on recuperating, hoping to restore their peak battle power as soon as possible.

The two held respectable positions within the Qiankun Bureau and naturally carried high-quality Healing Elixirs and Recovery Secret Medicine on their person. With just a few days to recuperate, they could regain the majority of their battle power!

After directing a few matters on-site, Chen Ping’an used the excuse of needing to nurse his wounds and entered a room in White Cloud Temple.

"Don’t bother me unless it’s something important!" Chen Ping’an instructed a Xiaoqi from the Garrison Commandant’s Office.

"Yes, sir!" The Xiaoqi accepted the order respectfully, his gaze toward Chen Ping’an holding a trace of reverence.

Although Chen Ping’an had not been back for long, news that he had slain a Profound Light Realm expert of the Celestial Net Sect had already begun to circulate.

The rumor was that the expert Lord Chen had slain was a prodigy from the Rising Star Chart and held a position of great importance within the Celestial Net Sect!

Setting aside the credit he had earned, the mere fact that Chen Ping’an had slain a Profound Light Realm expert was enough to leave them in awe. It meant that their Vice Envoy possessed overwhelmingly powerful Profound Light Battle Power!

When you looked at it that way, it seemed Lord Chen was in no way inferior to Lord Guan! And most importantly, Lord Chen was so much younger, with a future of boundless potential ahead of him!

His battle power, his achievements, and his cunning—all these factors were causing the scales in the hearts of the Garrison Commandant’s Office elites who had participated in the raid to slowly tip in Chen Ping’an’s favor.

After a period of time, once the news of Guan Yu Ping’s death was finally revealed, these men would be ready to become Chen Ping’an’s trusted inner circle!

Of course, the process would also naturally involve various other means, such as tying their interests together with his own.

Upon entering the room, Chen Ping’an first scanned his surroundings to confirm there were no issues. Then, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began to inspect the spoils he had taken from Xing Rongzi.

Xing Rongzi had carried quite a few items on him. For the moment, Chen Ping’an ignored the silver notes and silver taels, his gaze falling instead upon several diamond-shaped crystals.

’Yuan Crystals!’ A glint appeared in Chen Ping’an’s eyes.

There were nine in total, but the luster of two had dimmed considerably. Evidently, Xing Rongzi had used them as an emergency measure during their fight.

Yuan Crystals contained Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi and could provide a certain boost to one’s Martial Dao Cultivation. However, using them for cultivation was undoubtedly extravagant. Thus, they were typically reserved for emergencies—used to replenish one’s body when True Qi was depleted, preventing damage to one’s foundation. They could also help restore a measure of True Qi.

However, the effect was rather underwhelming. They were only good for emergencies; their cost-to-benefit ratio wasn’t high at all.

Aside from the two that had been used, seven Yuan Crystals remained. In terms of value, that was seventy thousand silver taels!

Of course, their value couldn’t be so crudely equated with a monetary figure.

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