The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 374: Chapter 368: Heaven Rewards the Diligent

"Brother Yuan~"

Her soft call seemed to hold a world of affection. They say the waterways of Jiangnan have eighteen bends, but that was nothing compared to her single utterance of "Brother Yuan."

The person standing at the door was none other than Xiao Qiaoniang.

Fang E blinked.

’Oh no, it’s the master’s wife!’

’Looks like I’m going to get in trouble with Master again. This is awful.’

She had heard from Murong Fu long ago that they had another mistress—the wife their master had married before he rose to prominence.

Her master and his wife were deeply in love, practically inseparable. It was only because of the war in Ling Province that she had to leave for the distant Southern Border.

’The Southern Border sounds like it’s a very, very long way away.’

This was the first time she had seen her mistress. ’She’s so beautiful. A perfect match for Master, indeed.’

Bai Yuan gently took Sister Qiao’s hand. "It must have been a hard journey."

Sister Qiao lowered her head and shook it gently. "It wasn’t."

After arriving in the Capital City, Bai Yuan had written to Sister Qiao, hoping she would come north to join him.

The Capital City wasn’t Ling Province; it was largely a time of peace and prosperity here, so there was no need to worry about safety.

Bai Yuan glanced outside. "Why don’t I see Elder Zhou and Elder Liang?"

Sister Qiao pursed her lips, seemingly suppressing a smile. "They prefer to stay in the Southern Border. They didn’t want to come to the Capital City and get caught up in needless trouble."

Bai Yuan nodded.

From Sister Qiao’s expression, he gathered that he now officially had a master’s wife in his life.

Although he had more than one master, this was a first for him.

In this respect, Zhou Siming was leagues ahead of Dong Wanjun.

With the master and his wife finally reunited after a long separation, the young girl Fang E was whisked away by two maids to have fun in the Capital City.

She had no desire to get caught in the crossfire.

As it turned out, their decision was absolutely the right one.

Even though Sister Qiao was now an Entering Martial Artist, she was still the one begging for mercy by the end.

She leaned against the headboard, blushing crimson, her temples damp with sweat.

"Brother Yuan, you’re amazing."

...

Over the next few days, Bai Yuan took Sister Qiao sightseeing all over the Capital City.

The officials in the Capital City were more than happy to see the Living Yama, Bai Yuan, slacking off on his official duties. Otherwise, he was bound to stir up another storm and leave everyone in disarray.

Therefore, even though many officials saw Bai Yuan out and about, no one dared to make trouble by reporting him.

Besides, for an official of Bai Yuan’s rank, it made little difference whether he showed up for the morning roll call or not.

Reporting him would, at most, be a minor annoyance and have no real impact.

Bai Yuan had no intention of hiding Sister Qiao’s presence.

His public tour of the city with her these past few days was a deliberate act. He wanted to announce to everyone in the Capital City that Sister Qiao was his one and only legal wife.

He had many enemies in the Capital City, and it would be child’s play for them to investigate his past in Ling Province.

There was no hiding it...

Even if Sister Qiao were far away in the Southern Border, she could still be targeted by his enemies.

Rather than hiding her away, it was better to overwhelm his opponents with a direct show of power.

The status of a legal wife was indisputable in this era. Anyone who wanted to move against Sister Qiao would have to think twice.

As long as Bai Yuan remained as powerful as he was now, Sister Qiao would always be safe.

Court officials, unlike the sects of the Jianghu, would not resort to such underhanded tactics.

After all, which of them didn’t have a family to protect?

They all feared unscrupulous retaliation against their own families.

Although Bai Yuan himself had killed the children of many officials, he had done so as part of official investigations by the Imperial Inspection Office; he had never targeted them specifically.

Most officials were Confucian scholars. They could accept normal political struggles, but harming an opponent’s family was an act that would be universally condemned. Even if they succeeded, their own career would be finished. The losses would far outweigh the gains.

Thus, unless they were utterly desperate with no other way out, most would never commit such a vile act.

This was precisely why Bai Yuan had asked Sister Qiao to come to the Capital City.

Paradoxically, she was safer here.

"Tier Six?"

A little cyan snake slithered out from Sister Qiao’s sleeve.

It was Xiaoqing, the demon Bai Yuan had previously controlled.

Xiaoqing had now recovered to its full strength and possessed the ability to shrink its body.

Sister Qiao and her master, Liang E, were both successors of the Demon Hunters’ Demon-Controlling Lineage.

This lineage was exceptionally unique.

Its practitioners’ strength was inextricably linked to that of the demons they controlled.

Normally, with Sister Qiao’s innate talent and aptitude, she would have had little chance of breaking through to the Entering realm in her lifetime. But thanks to Xiaoqing, her breakthrough speed had been frighteningly fast.

However, now that she had reached the Entering realm, her progress had slowed considerably.

There was almost no room left for further growth.

Her rapid rise was due to her controlled demon, as was her current stagnation.

The Demon Race naturally developed much more slowly than humans. It could take a century for one to even gain sentience. For an ordinary Snake Demon to reach Xiaoqing’s level would require several hundred years at least.

Therefore, once a master’s realm matched that of their controlled demon, the demon would in turn become a shackle, holding back the master’s progress.

After all, before breaking through to the Zhigan realm, a human Martial Artist had a lifespan of a mere hundred years.

Bai Yuan mused that it was time to find Sister Qiao a more powerful demon to control.

If Sister Qiao could subdue a Tier Seven Demon, her lifespan would increase to two hundred years.

Then they would have a very long time together.

But controlling a demon was not so simple. Even if Bai Yuan beat a Tier Seven Demon to within an inch of its life and presented it to her, it would be all for naught if her own demon-controlling techniques weren’t sufficient. If it were that easy, the Demon-Controlling Lineage would have been mass-producing experts long ago.

These things couldn’t be rushed.

Fortunately, both he and Sister Qiao were still young. They had plenty of opportunities.

There was no need to be hasty.

...

「The days passed, one by one.」

The Imperial Inspection Office could be extremely busy, or it could be completely idle.

It all depended on the whims of its Chief Official.

The Right Chief Imperial Censor, Lord Zhang, had completely given up, so the entire Imperial Inspection Office now looked to Bai Yuan.

After several blissful days with Sister Qiao, Bai Yuan returned to his "work."

Indulging in constant pleasure would only dull the edge of his blade.

He no longer went after officials in the Capital City who had committed crimes, but the "cleanup" of the Black Prison continued without the slightest delay.

With Emperor Li Chengyuan’s approval, he was granted much greater leeway in the Black Prison.

While the two former Second-Rank Ministers were still off-limits, he could deal with the others as he pleased.

In any case, they were all destined to grow old and die in the Black Prison. Whether they died sooner or later made no real difference.

Through this, Bai Yuan earned a massive amount of Enhancement Points.

He didn’t choose to upgrade the two new Cultivation Techniques he had acquired. Instead, he first raised his Dragon and Tiger Strength Body to the Legendary level.

With his current combat strength, any Cultivation Technique below the Master level offered little improvement. It was better to focus on mastering a single technique and integrating it into his Divine Mansion. That was the best way to convert his Enhancement Points into immediate combat power.

Heaven rewards the diligent.

Bai Yuan worked tirelessly in the Black Prison, forgetting to eat or sleep as he beat confessions out of—ahem, interrogated the prisoners about their wicked deeds. Finally, he upgraded his Dragon and Tiger Strength Body to the Legendary level.

This time, he integrated the Dragon and Tiger Strength Body into the Divine Mansion in his head.

The five great Divine Mansions in his body merged and reinforced one another.

With the enhancement from the Dragon and Tiger Strength Body, his other four Cultivation Techniques grew even stronger.

The mysteries of the Divine Mansion Technique far surpassed his imagination.

Anyone else practicing so many different Cultivation Techniques would have to worry about them conflicting with one another. But since he had the Divine Mansion Technique, he was free from such restrictions. All he had to do was train diligently, and the Divine Mansion Technique would handle the rest.

By combining multiple Cultivation Techniques, his power multiplied!

’A perfectly balanced warrior. Ever heard of one?’

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