Ten Directions Sword Master

Chapter 102 Boling Cui Clan

Before the fifteen-minute preparation time ended, Lu Li, as usual, showed the Nebula Hall the few new items he had brought with him.

Gengjin and mica marrow crystal, spiritual materials that can be used to refine high-grade weapons, showed no reaction whatsoever.

And as expected, the Star-Picking Sword made a move.

"The Star-Picking Sword, a low-grade treasure weapon, was forged with remnants of the Nine Heavens Star Dew. It can be sold for 8,000 merit points."

Eight thousand merits!

Lu Li's eyes widened instantly. He had guessed that Zhaixing would suit the tastes of the Nebula Palace, but he hadn't expected it to be this exaggerated.

This figure is significantly different from the pricing of low-grade treasure weapons set by the Nebula Palace.

To reiterate, when the Nebula Palace repurchases treasures, grade only accounts for a small part; the more important factor is whether the attributes are suitable.

If it were only two or three thousand, that would be fine, but a full eight thousand merits forced him to waver.

On one side are low-grade treasured weapons that have been left idle since the cicadas started chirping.

On one hand, there are eight thousand merits, which can be directly converted into combat power and exchanged for a large number of valuable spiritual items.

"The Nebula Palace gave us way too much—"

Lu Li apologized to the dean, asking him to exchange the precious weapon he had just received.

However, the dean's original intention was to improve his strength, so he would probably be happy to see this happen.

All he could do was climb higher and higher on the list of successful candidates, to enhance the reputation of Bailu Academy and repay the dean.

Having obtained eight thousand merits, I did not hesitate to purchase the Xuanwu Inner Armor that I had long coveted, and quickly put it on. A chill ran through me.

The Xuanwu Inner Armor is a low-grade magic weapon, and requires 4,000 merit points to exchange for it.

When moonlight flows, it becomes harder than iron when pierced by a sharp weapon, and cannot be cut by anything less than a precious weapon; when struck by true energy, it becomes as flexible as water, and can deflect 30% of the force.

In the real world, defensive magical artifacts like inner armor are also quite expensive, costing several times more than other magical weapons of the same level.

The reason is simple: even the most common weapons, such as swords and sabers, are designed for specific groups of people, and they cannot be suitable for every martial artist.

However, defensive magical artifacts don't have this problem; at most, their size can be slightly adjusted, and anyone can use them.

An extra inner armor often means an extra life.

In a war-torn world like the Northern Wei, where there is a high probability of encountering powerful cultivators at the Refinement of Spirit level, it is essential to prepare an inner armor for oneself.

The other items would not significantly improve his strength, so it would be better to save the merits to forge the Sun-Covering Sword.

Just before being teleported away, Lu Li activated another Heavenly King Heart-Nourishing Pill.

Bingzhou, Tang Prefecture.

The owner of this place is the city's patrol inspector, who commands a team that dares to fight with swords drawn.

The Gray Wolf Gang, an underground force that follows his lead, has close ties with the Shen family, and is renowned for his martial arts skills. He should be riding high at this time.

But lately, Mr. Tang Lie has been in a very bad mood.

Six months ago, I helped that nobleman from the capital eliminate He Zheng, thus forging a good connection, and I thought it was the beginning of my good fortune.

A few days later, two experts at the Refinement of Spirit level arrived in the city.

It is said to be a direct disciple of a Dharmakaya master, whose bloodline descendants have gone missing here.

After nearly turning Bingzhou upside down, all the clues pointed to He Zheng, and someone reported seeing him once near the military camp in Tuntian.

Unfortunately, He Zheng was already dead, but among the belongings that were found, they actually found several of his accessories.

The evidence was conclusive, but the two Refinement God experts were not grateful. Instead, they were angry that they had killed He Zheng and could not bring him back to the capital to explain to their master.

Tang Lie could only reveal that a nobleman from the Imperial City Guard had come to kill He Zheng after hearing that He Zheng had insulted the guests and disciples of the Yuanlong Society.

The other two young cultivators were skeptical of this explanation, but fortunately they did not continue their outburst and released Tang Lie and Wei Xuan.

But after all that trouble, Wei Xuan fell seriously ill and collapsed upon returning to the Hanyue Sect.

The three major families in the city were very dissatisfied with Tang Lie's private actions and tacitly joined forces to reduce his power.

In addition, dozens or even hundreds of groups of refugees emerged in the vicinity of Bingzhou, and several villages were looted, causing him a splitting headache.

Although his position was not high, Tang Lie could clearly sense that a storm was brewing. Heyin County was becoming the eye of the storm, and Bingzhou could not escape it.

If that military governor truly harbors rebellious intentions as everyone suspects, then Heyin will be the first to bear the brunt and face his blade.

The Six Garrisons were a new army trained by the imperial court to counter powerful foreign enemies. The soldiers were elite and well-equipped, but their weakness was that they relied entirely on local support for logistics.

A few military farms alone could not possibly support an army of tens of thousands.

Once the uprising begins, they will surely occupy Heyin and then expand southward to achieve self-sufficiency in food and supplies.

"Bingzhou is unsafe, and the prefectural capital isn't much better. Should we flee south? But I heard from merchants that the rebel army in the south is even stronger, and several coastal prefectures have fallen directly, with a large number of officials surrendering—"

Tang Lie drank strong tea, his lips tasted bitter, and he was so anxious that his mouth felt hot.

"Sir, someone has come to visit."

The butler stood outside the hall, tiptoeing around, knowing that the master of the house had been in a bad mood these past few days.

"Those who come from their hometown to freeload? Just give them some money and send them on their way. I don't have time to see them."

When Tang Lie saw that the servants had not announced his name or handed him a visiting card, he knew that the visitor was not a regular customer.

"He was a young man who claimed his surname was Bai and said that the master would definitely see him."

The butler finished speaking with a stiff upper lip, fearing that he would be greeted by a flying teacup.

"Surname Bai? Surname Bai!"

Tang Lie casually put down his teacup, then suddenly jumped up.

"Could it be Young Master Bai? Where is he? Quickly lead me to him!"

They rushed to the front of the mansion, and who else could it be but Bai Wuming, whom they had not seen for more than half a year?

"Inspector Tang, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

The place Lu Li was teleported to was not in the county city, but in Bingzhou, which he had visited before.

Instead of setting off immediately, he contacted an old acquaintance he had met before, and first sought out the current situation in Heyin County.

Lest the city is now a den of dragons and tigers, or his impersonation of the Imperial City Guard is exposed, which would be like walking into a trap.

However, judging from Tang Lie's attitude, the latter can probably be ruled out.

"Thanks to Young Master Bai, things are alright—Young Master, what brings you to Bingzhou is—"

Tang Lie suddenly stopped mid-sentence, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

He then realized that this benefactor had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

If I remember correctly, more than half a year ago, Bai Wuming was only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Such an exaggerated speed of progress dispelled his last shred of doubt; how could someone who wasn't a direct descendant of the Imperial City Guardian and the Dharma Body Master have accomplished this?

It seems there were special reasons why my cultivation was shallow before.

Tang Lie composed himself, invited the person to the front hall, and gave up the main seat.

Lu Li didn't stand on ceremony and sat down casually: "I came to Bingzhou this time with a mission, and I might need your help in some way—this Heavenly King Heart-Nourishing Pill is what I promised back then, and how you and your Senior Brother Wei divide it is your own business."

Even during the Northern Wei Dynasty, when the Heavenly King's Heart-Nourishing Pill had not yet disappeared, this was an extremely rare elixir.

Apart from the royal family, no other power could offer such a thing.

Tang Lie's hands trembled as he pressed the box, and upon seeing the famous divine pill, a glint of greed flashed in his eyes.

With the Heavenly King's Heart-Nourishing Pill, he could once again fantasize about the Refining Spirit Realm, which he originally had little hope of achieving.

"A promise is a promise—if there's anything I can do for you, I'll go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Tang Lie was so excited he could hardly contain himself. Neither he nor Wei Xuan had expected that Bai Gongzi's casual promise would have such a follow-up; they had only wanted to establish a good connection for their descendants.

At their age, they've long been used to the promises of important people flying away lightly.

"Has there been any unusual activity in the six towns recently?"

Lu Li stared intently at Tang Lie's face, trying to discern the truthfulness of his words from the subtle expressions on his face.

Sending out the Heavenly King Heart-Nourishing Pill is both fulfilling a promise and demonstrating strength.

Being able to casually give away such a divine elixir adds another layer of credibility to the identity he fabricated.

"The army is still training in the camp, and the main force is confronting the desert cavalry. However, the frequency of encountering cavalry scouts has increased. Also, the Six Garrisons have forcibly taken away all the grain for the second half of the year, while raising prices and sweeping through the grain stores in various cities."

Tang Lie's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the court had noticed that the young master Bai's arrival in Heyin County was because they had discovered that the other man's ulterior motives?

"When I entered the city, I didn't see any chaos, and it didn't seem like there was a food shortage?"

During this period in the Northern Wei Dynasty, grain prices had already skyrocketed.

If another batch were to be transported away by the six towns, emotions would be ignited, and the fear of food shortages would unleash a terrifying force among the people. The streets should not be so peaceful.

"That is all thanks to Prefect Cui. He tricked the six towns with grain bags filled with ashes and boldly opened the granary to dynamically allocate disaster relief grain to various prefectures and counties, saving countless lives—and so far there has been no large-scale displacement of people. He can be called a good official."

Tang Lie's praise was genuine and clearly not flattery or fawning.

Lu Li asked a few more questions and learned that the prefect Cui Xu, whom he was to protect, was a collateral branch of the Cui clan of Boling. After passing the imperial examination, he was supported by the main branch and rose rapidly in rank.

He already possessed the cultivation level of the early stage of the Spirit Refining Realm, and was exceptionally taught the "Nine Chapters of Anping," a clan-protecting martial art.

He was always accompanied by an old servant, who was sent by the Cui family to protect him. The servant had dealt with two assassins and was also at the early stage of the Spirit Refinement realm.

In addition, there must be a branch of the Imperial City Guard in the county seat, and the person in charge of a county is the Eagle Terrace Commandant.

One who has not refined his spirit is not a captain; one who has not been a master is not a commissar.

This is the official ironclad rule of the Imperial City Guard.

Although the Imperial City Guard has the responsibility of supervising local officials, when it comes to matters of principle, they will certainly do everything in their power to protect Cui Xu's life.

This means that the assassins sent by the Six Towns would need to break through the defenses of three early-stage Refinement God experts.

This escort mission was much more difficult than expected.

The Cui family of Boling was known as the most prestigious family in the world, and its lineage continued from the medieval period until the time of Lu Li.

At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao families, who were mentioned together with it, were all still at the top a thousand years later, with only the Langya Wang family remaining.

Anping Jiuzhang was also very famous in later generations, and every move he made contained the power of heaven.

Such a person's true combat strength exceeds their apparent cultivation level.

Lu Li, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, what merit or ability does he possess to protect Cui Xu Zhou?

Tang Lie spoke frankly and revealed all the relevant information.

The more they talked, the more they felt that the imperial court was preparing a major operation to wipe out the high-ranking officials of the Six Garrisons.

"By the way, how many Nascent Soul cultivators does your Hanyue Sect have left?"

Lu Li thought of Tang Lie and the others' backgrounds. The Han Yue Sect was not as powerful as before, but it could still be considered one of the top three sects in Heyin.

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