I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 250 The Deceased
After chatting casually for a few minutes with the sect leaders of the Black Fiend and Profound Jade sects, as well as the old leader of the Seven Martial Alliance, Wu Ming signaled Xiao Mei to see the guests out. Everyone was very tactful and bowed to take their leave.

Only Gou Ping, the head of the Demon Suppression Division, and Dai Yuan, the head of the Cautious Punishment Division, were left behind by Wu Ming.

For Wu Ming, the local forces in Jingye City also had varying degrees of closeness and distance. Compared to the Black Fiend Sect and other forces, the Demon Suppression Division and the Cautious Punishment Division were naturally closer to him, after all, they were the legitimate forces of the Yong Kingdom's court, symbolizing the stability of Jingye City.

In addition, he had many familiar faces who served in the two departments. For example, Zhou Huai'an, who had promoted him and was grateful for his kindness, was now serving as the deputy director of the Department of Internal Affairs in the Department of Cautious Punishment. Although he was only a deputy director, the current director treated him with great respect and dared not offend him.

Even the Chief Dai Yuan took good care of Zhou Huai'an, avoiding him from all dangerous missions.

Wu Ming rose to prominence in Jingye City and had many old friends from back then, but not many of them had shown him kindness. Now that he had returned home in glory, he naturally wouldn't forget those old friends and would still look after them. He left Gou Ping and Dai Yuan behind, naturally to get a general understanding of them and give them some instructions.

Gou Ping and Dai Yuan were naturally flattered, after all, with Wu Ming's current status, even the king would have to descend from his palace to greet him, which was a world of difference between them.

"Master Wu, please rest assured."

"Those people you mentioned are now all settled in their respective positions within both departments..."

Upon hearing the names Wu Ming mentioned, Dai Yuan quickly spoke up.

In fact, ever since Wu Minglong soared to the heavens, all those who had known him before were affected to some extent. For example, those who had served as patrol officers with Wu Ming in the past, as well as the children of the deceased patrol officer Shi Zhenbang, were basically all taken care of by the Shenxing Division.

Dai Yuan took the initiative to do all these things. For him, these were just small things, nothing more than a matter of a word. But if Wu Ming asked about them or found out about them one day, even if it wasn't a favor, it would be a huge reward to make Wu Ming remember it. Who knows when it might come in handy.

"Very well, Lord Dai is very kind."

After hearing what Dai Yuan said, Wu Ming nodded slightly to him.

After chatting with the two for a while, Wu Ming saw them off again, and the courtyard finally fell silent once more.

He turned around and looked down at the pond again, his eyes lowered as if he were asleep. Xiao Mei, who was standing by his side, saw this and quietly retreated to a distance so as not to disturb him.

……

The fourth day after returning to Jingye City.

Another group of people came to visit. This time, they were old friends of Wu Ming. One was Chen Gui from the Chen family, who is now a steady and reliable middle-aged man in charge of the Chen family business. The other was Wu Qu, the former clan chief of Wu Village. Although he is a martial artist who has achieved the second stage of blood coagulation, he is now over seventy years old. Although his hair is not completely white, it is already half black and half white.

These people came to visit one after another, and Wu Ming did not turn them away. Instead, he invited them into the courtyard one by one, where they each enjoyed a few cups of spiritual tea, talked about the past, and then saw them off one by one.

Some of them had encountered difficulties and brought it up on their own initiative. After listening, Wu Ming simply agreed and instructed Xiao Mei to inform the relevant forces to resolve the issue.

For him, there are very few things he can't solve, even in the entire Yong Kingdom. Not to mention in Jingye City, there is nothing he can't solve here. In fact, many things can be resolved with just a word.

Until the seventh day.

Those old friends and relatives from Wu Village have finally passed away one by one.

On that very day, another guest arrived at the Wu residence.

In the backyard.

Wu Ming was standing at the edge of the pond, his hands behind his back, gazing at the pond. Suddenly, his eyes flickered as he looked towards the front yard, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. He then turned around and walked towards the front yard.

As soon as he landed, he appeared silently in the front yard and went straight to the main entrance.

The servants of the Wu family guarding the front yard were all surprised to see Wu Ming appear. They hurriedly bowed to Wu Ming and then turned their gazes to the outside of the main gate. They knew that someone had come from outside, but who was qualified to be greeted by Wu Ming?

Outside.

A middle-aged man dressed in a simple robe appeared there. His appearance was not unusual, but there was an invisible majesty in his eyes. However, at this moment, he had completely concealed all his aura.

Wu Ming appeared at the door and, for the first time, took the initiative to greet the man outside, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, why have you come here so quietly? I originally planned to visit you in the capital in a few days, but I have been rather impolite."

Yes.

The one who appeared here silently was none other than the ruler of Yong!

In the present-day state of Yong, there are not many people who are qualified for him to take the initiative to welcome them, and the ruler of Yong happens to be one of them.

Upon hearing Wu Ming's words, the servants in the courtyard, who were already bowing respectfully, trembled and almost cried out in surprise. Although they had seen many important figures visit these days, including the head of the Censorate, those people were worlds apart from the King of Yong!
This is the ruler of the entire Yong Kingdom, who governs hundreds of millions of people. Yet now he has personally come to Jingye City, to Wu Ming's residence, and has taken the initiative to visit Wu Ming!

"Hahaha, you have already entered the Seven Blood Refinements and are a grandmaster of this era. Our realms are equal, so how can it be considered impolite... As for this so-called throne, it is only a little special in the eyes of ordinary people."

"Besides, we have never been ruler and subject, but only fellow disciples from the same school."

The King of Yong looked at Wu Ming with a smile, showing no airs of a ruler whatsoever.

The so-called distinction between ruler and subject is a distinction of status for ordinary people. For a grandmaster, ruler and subject is just a title. Even an ordinary grandmaster in the Yong Kingdom cannot be restrained or governed by the king. It can be said that at the grandmaster level, one has already gained a certain degree of freedom among small countries, and can freely enter and leave the royal palaces of various countries, becoming a guest of honor of the kings of various countries.

Even ordinary grandmasters are like this, let alone Wu Ming.

As the ruler of a country, he was well-informed. Although he did not know everything about Wu Ming's deeds in the Holy Land, he was aware of most of them. He knew that Wu Ming had become a Grandmaster in just seven years, and that he had already achieved top-tier strength among Grandmasters shortly after becoming one. Now, nine years have passed, and his strength is already unfathomable!
As the ruler of a country, among the seven Grandmasters who have achieved the Blood Coagulation stage, his strength has only reached the 'extremely strong' level, not yet the top level. It can be said that Wu Ming's strength is far superior to his.

not to mention,
Seven blood coagulations were already the limit of his life, and Wu Ming could not possibly stop at seven blood and seven refinements. He would definitely be able to enter the eighth refinement in the future, and there might even be a slight chance to reach the ninth refinement and become a Dao Saint.

Knowing this, he naturally couldn't stay in the capital after hearing that Wu Ming had returned to Jingye City. He waited for Wu Ming to visit the capital and, after getting a general understanding of Wu Ming's situation, quietly left the capital and came here.

Upon hearing what the Prince of Yong said, Wu Ming couldn't help but smile. Back then, he felt quite pressured in front of this king, but now, sixteen years have passed in the blink of an eye, and everything has changed dramatically.

"Alright, senior brother, please."

Wu Ming smiled and then extended his hand in invitation.

"please."

Prince Yong smiled, showing no airs of a monarch, and stepped into the courtyard.

...We arrived inside the courtyard.

Prince Yong waved his hand gently, and immediately several men dressed in black robes appeared silently. They placed a wine pot made of cold jade, which was extremely exquisite, and two jade cups made of top-grade fire jade on the side.

"Come, come, try this fine wine. It's the best wine in our Yong Kingdom. It may not be as good as the best wine in the Holy Land, but it's still the wine of our hometown. It takes more than a hundred years to brew a small jar."

Prince Yong said with a smile.

Wu Ming was not at all restrained and poured himself a cup with a calm expression. The wine in the cup was chilled by the Cold Jade Pot and then catalyzed in the Fire Jade Tea Cup. After it fell into his mouth, the spiritual energy surged, and it was indeed a unique flavor.

He drank a few cups with the Prince of Yong, and then the Prince of Yong took the initiative to ask about Yan Chuyu, and casually asked Wu Ming if he had encountered any difficulties in the Holy Land. Then he took the initiative to talk about some of the recent situations in Yong Kingdom.

Yong Kingdom is located on the edge of the Northern Wilderness, and a large part of its territory is adjacent to the Wilderness. As a result, conflicts with the demon race often occur, but most of them are kept within a certain range, basically up to the fifth transformation, and very few conflicts occur above the sixth transformation.

But the situation has changed in recent years.

In the desolate region, some changes seem to have occurred, causing the activities of the demon race to become much more frequent. Moreover, extremely powerful sixth-transformation demon kings and even seventh-transformation demon emperors often appear on the border, spying on the territory of Yong Kingdom.

For this reason, several grandmasters in Yong Kingdom have been stationed on the border in recent years to guard against the actions of the demon race.

Hearing the King of Yong's conversation, Wu Ming roughly understood what the King meant and immediately said, "Senior brother, rest assured, Yong is my homeland. If any demons invade, you can inform me at any time, and I will take action..."

As he spoke, Wu Ming briefly mentioned that he would likely stay in Jingye City for at least several months.

"Alright, then thank you very much, Junior Brother Wu."

Upon hearing this, Prince Yong was immediately pleased and raised his cup to Wu Ming.

Yong Kingdom is a small border country of the human race. If it were to suffer a large-scale attack by the demon race, it would easily suffer heavy losses.

Although the surrounding countries will not stand idly by and watch Yong be destroyed by the demon race, and they will certainly come to Yong's aid if Yong is in danger of being destroyed, that is only in the case of being in danger of being destroyed. They will not provide support in ordinary battles.

However, Wu Ming is currently in Yong Kingdom. The King of Yong came to find him this time, naturally wanting to gain some confidence from Wu Ming. After all, Wu Ming's talent is unparalleled. He was already a top grandmaster nine years ago, and now he is unfathomable. He may have even touched the realm of a 'peerless' grandmaster, and he almost has the power to rival a country.

If Wu Ming agrees to intervene in a dangerous situation, then Yong Kingdom will naturally have an extra layer of protection.

The two chatted for a while longer.

Prince Yong finally got up to take his leave, and Wu Ming escorted him all the way to the door.

"Alright, Junior Brother Wu, there's no need to see me off. I'll be going now."

Prince Yong waved to Wu Ming very politely, then walked quickly, and his figure disappeared into the distance after a few steps.

Wu Ming watched Prince Yong leave, then quietly returned to his residence.

……

Time flies,

Nine months have passed in the blink of an eye.

During these nine months, no trouble occurred on the border of Yong Kingdom. Although the harassment from the demon race continued, it had always been the case in previous years. It was only the invasion of some demon races below the fifth level, and it was not up to Wu Ming to personally take action.

Wu Ming stayed in Jingye City for nine months. Most of the time, he stayed by the pond in the backyard, standing there with his eyes down on the water. No one knew what he was doing or what he was thinking.

He would only occasionally go to the front yard to give some pointers on his nephews' spiritual practice.

In the years he was away, the Xu family had developed into a powerful force. Xu Hao is now the head of the Xu family. Relying on his talent and hard work, as well as his in-law relationship with Wu Ming, he has obtained a lot of resources and is now a martial artist who has achieved the fourth stage of blood condensation. Xu Tong has also achieved the second stage of blood condensation with the help of some resources.

These things are not very important to Wu Ming. His sister, Wu Yu, has given birth to three sons and two daughters over the years. The eldest son has already grown up and is exceptionally talented. He is a martial arts master who has achieved blood coagulation three times and is currently serving as a patrol officer in the Shenxing Division. The second and third sons are younger and have not yet turned twenty.

Wu Ming also met all his nephews and nieces, and occasionally gave them some personal guidance.

This day.

The Wu residence was covered with white cloth.

A coffin was placed in the mansion.

Wu Yu knelt before the coffin, weeping uncontrollably, while her children also wept beside her.

To these young children, Wu Yu's mother, Liu, was a kind old woman who cared for them deeply and held a very high position. Whenever they encountered any problems, they could always get help from Liu.

But this old man eventually passed away; this is the irreversible passage of time, the law of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Wu Ming stood not far away, silently watching the coffin. He was also dressed in mourning clothes. Countless past scenes flashed through his mind, but in the end, all of these scenes disappeared, leaving only a silent sigh.

The old man who passed away wanted him to establish a family business before he died, but he did not want to leave such a burden, because now, even if his cultivation stopped here, his lifespan would be at least several hundred years, and ordinary people could no longer follow in his footsteps.

Walking on this path of spiritual practice, one will inevitably witness the passing away of familiar relatives, friends, and acquaintances.

This road is destined to be lonely.

Just like his master, the Qingming Peak Master, who has been walking in the world for thousands of years, most of his relatives and friends have passed away. Those who can follow her a little further on this path are not her blood relatives, but rather the masters and disciples of the holy land.

At Wu Ming's current level, in some respects, the relationship between master and disciple is even greater than that of blood ties, because blood ties are often short-lived, while the bond between master and disciple can last for thousands of years.

of course,

Wu Ming's gaze was not on the Dao Saint position achieved through nine blood and nine refinements.

To this day, he has only one goal: to reach the Nine Blood Nine Refinements, to survive the nine tribulations, and finally to transcend the mortal world and attain an immortal position in this world!
This is the direction of his Daoist heart, the place of his belief, and nothing in this world can shake his will.

(End of this chapter)