The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

"What did you say in there?"

Elder Pei gazed at Bai Yuan, who had returned to his human form and walked out of the cave.

He hadn't spied on their conversation. Though the Qilin Demon's power was only average, it might have sensed his probe. Still, he had heard the Qilin Great Demon's earth-shattering roar.

Bai Yuan cleared his throat. "I just gave it a little pep talk."

"A pep talk?"

Elder Pei was even more confused.

Bai Yuan didn't want to dwell on the "pep talk." "Elder, I'd like to learn more about this demon's origins. It seems it wasn't suppressed by Celestial Master Zhang."

Elder Pei frowned slightly.

His knowledge of the great demons in the forbidden area of the back mountain all came from the Dragon Tiger Sect's records. Most of these records were ten thousand years old, so it was entirely possible for them to contain errors.

Since Bai Yuan said so, it was highly likely the records concerning this Qilin Demon were mistaken. After all, the Dragon Tiger Sect's forbidden area had existed for ten thousand years; mistakes were bound to happen.

Bai Yuan said, "The Qilin Great Demon claimed it was suppressed here by a powerful expert from the Human Race. It's waiting for another human from a later generation. I suspect that person is the Demon Seed."

Elder Pei's eyes narrowed slightly.

He never imagined the Qilin in the back mountain had such an extraordinary origin.

Bai Yuan continued, "I must trouble you to keep a close watch on this place, Elder. I've already arranged with the great demon that it will give us a warning as soon as the Demon Seed appears."

"Alright!"

Elder Pei agreed immediately.

"I'll have my disciples search the ancient texts again. We might find a record of it."

...

「Three days passed quickly.」

Emperor Li Chengyuan had completed his fast.

If it were a mortal, three days of fasting would have left them dizzy with hunger. But besides being the Emperor, Li Chengyuan was also a Mingxin Grandmaster. Not eating for three days had no effect on him; in fact, he felt even more energized.

With the heaven-worshipping ceremony complete, there was no need for him to remain at the Dragon Tiger Sect.

He immediately prepared to return to the Capital City with the officials of Xuan Yang.

As an Emperor, Li Chengyuan was actually quite decent.

He was well aware that his travels were costly affairs that burdened the people, so in the centuries he had reigned, he had rarely left the Capital City.

Thus, he was in high spirits during this trip.

As the Court returned to the capital, Bai Yuan naturally had to accompany them.

Just as he was about to find Elder Pei to say his farewells, Elder Pei found him first.

A trace of excitement shone in Elder Pei's eyes.

He held a tattered ancient scroll in his hand.

"Donor Bai, what you said was true. The story of the Qilin Demon being suppressed by our founder is a later misconception."

"According to this historical gazette, that great demon was already in the back mountain before our founder established the sect here."

"The founder sensed its existence, and feeling a connection in the unseen world, he designated the back mountain a forbidden area."

'Just as I thought!'

Bai Yuan had long suspected that the Divine Mansion predated the Dragon Tiger Sect, and now it was confirmed.

But this shocked him even more.

The Dragon Tiger Sect was a super-sect established ten thousand years ago. Back when it was founded, the Human Race wasn't even the master of this world.

Yet that mysterious expert could knock out the Qilin Great Demon with a single blow.

For such a terrifying figure to have no record in history was truly strange.

Elder Pei said, "I will keep an eye on the matter in the back mountain."

He now believed what Bai Yuan had told him.

Bai Yuan nodded. "Thank you, Elder."

His suspicions confirmed, Bai Yuan contentedly followed the officials of the Xuan Yang Court back to Jiangzhou City, then boarded a great ship to travel north back to the capital.

The journey here had a tailwind; the return journey naturally had a headwind.

The Prefect of Jiangzhou had originally prepared tens of thousands of laborers to pull the ship, but Li Chengyuan refused, citing the cost and burden on the people.

A great opportunity to curry favor was thus lost.

With no one to pull the boat, the great ship moved very slowly, even slower than carriages on land.

The ship traveled for a full ten days before finally returning to the Capital City.

As for whether the Emperor intended to use this as an opportunity to spend more time outside the Capital City, no one could say.

In any case, Emperor Li Chengyuan was in a very good mood.

He even granted the accompanying officials a three-day leave, an extremely rare occurrence for this diligent and strict Emperor.

...

Bai Yuan returned to the Imperial Inspection Office the day after he got back to the Capital City.

'It's good to be the Chief Official.'

For others, work was like being in prison, but Bai Yuan had no such worries.

Imperial Censor Zhang's memorial requesting retirement had already been sent to the Emperor's desk, waiting only to be announced at court.

Bai Yuan was already the Chief Official of the Imperial Inspection Office in both name and reality. Within his own domain, there was no one who could control him.

「The day of the court assembly arrived.」

Right Chief Imperial Censor Lord Old Zhang requested to retire to his hometown. Although Emperor Li Chengyuan was reluctant to see him go, he ultimately respected the old Imperial Censor's wishes. At the same time, he bestowed upon Lord Old Zhang a golden plaque inscribed with the four words, "Of Pure and Noble Integrity."

It was a commendation for Imperial Censor Zhang's centuries of hard work for the Court.

For a time, both the Left and Right Chief Imperial Censor positions at the Imperial Inspection Office were vacant.

But Emperor Li Chengyuan remained silent about the candidates for the new Chief Imperial Censor roles.

The Ministry of Personnel naturally had no authority to interfere in the appointment of a Second-Grade Official, so the two Chief Official positions in the Imperial Inspection Office remained empty.

Bai Yuan once again settled into a leisurely life.

He cultivated in the Imperial Inspection Office's Black Prison by day and practiced with Sister Qiao at night. Life couldn't be better.

His progress with the Dan Tian Breathing Technique also advanced by leaps and bounds.

In just two short months, his Dan Tian Breathing Technique was raised to the Mastered level.

The Dan Tian Breathing Technique was a unique skill of the Daoist Sects.

This technique was not a martial art but a form of Inner Strength—a superior Breathing Technique.

After cultivating this Breathing Technique, one's stamina would become terrifyingly immense. One would hardly need to sleep; or rather, even sleep would become a form of cultivation.

However, this technique had extremely high requirements for a cultivator's comprehension, making it a required Cultivation Technique for the most brilliant geniuses of the Daoist Sects.

He had heard that the genius the Dragon Tiger Sect had snatched from under Yan Shao'an's nose was a Great Achiever in the Dan Tian Breathing Technique.

Unfortunately, when Bai Yuan visited the Dragon Tiger Sect, its top true disciple was not on the mountain. Otherwise, they could have crossed hands.

The Imperial Inspection Office was thriving.

Of course, this came at the expense of the capital's officials, who lived in constant fear.

The prisoners in the Imperial Inspection Office's Black Prison were replaced batch after batch, at a frequency not seen in hundreds of years.

Of course, Bai Yuan wasn't arresting people recklessly. In fact, the list of arrests was carefully considered, primarily targeting officials whom the Emperor disliked but couldn't easily move against.

When dealing with such people, he felt no burden at all.

Emperor Li Chengyuan wanted to unify the Jianghu. The first step was to eliminate the officials who were secretly colluding with the major sects.

Bai Yuan, an Imperial Censor solely focused on pursuing the Martial Dao, became Li Chengyuan's finest blade.

His reinforcement points naturally soared.

Before he knew it, the Dan Tian Breathing Technique was raised to the Legendary level.

The strings of gilded characters pulsing on his panel radiated the aura of a true expert.

Bai Yuan stared at the panel, his heart pounding with excitement.

Because after the Dan Tian Breathing Technique reached the Legendary level and integrated into the Divine Mansion in his abdomen, the second level of his Divine Mansion Technique would reach perfection.

'My strength is bound to advance by leaps and bounds!'

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