Yin Yang Soul Searcher

Looking at Jia Qingshan in front of him, Bai Jueming suddenly thought of the Four Seasons Master. The Four Seasons Master was a unique cultivator in Western Shu. Within the Great Xia territory, only Shangzhou and Western Shu did business. As the eldest son of the Prince of Yu Nan, Jia Qingshan must know a lot about the situation in Western Shu.

"Brother Jia, how much do you know about Western Shu?" Bai Jueming then asked.

"Western Shu? Are the Four Seasons Masters involved here?" Jia Qingshan thought for a moment and then said, "Western Shu is located in the southwest of our Great Xia. It borders the three states of Lei, Wei, and Shang of Great Xia."

Their nation's unique practitioners are the Four Seasons Masters, who wield the power of the four seasons. Moreover, only the royal family of Western Shu can master the Four Seasons Masters' cultivation methods. Their emperor, Emperor Yonghui, is the foremost Four Seasons Master in the land.

The Four Seasons Master has such a powerful background? He's actually from the Western Shu royal family! Bai Jueming's eyes widened in disbelief.

If that's the case, who in our Great Xia Dynasty could have such ability to collude with the Western Shu royal family? Or rather, who in our Great Xia Dynasty is so important that the Western Shu royal family would invest in them? What is their purpose?

No, no, that Onmyoji's identity is unknown. Maybe it's an Onmyoji from Beichen colluding with the Four Seasons Master to cause trouble in Daxia. Bai Jueming recalled the conversation between the Four Seasons Master and the demons on the street that night, but there were no clues to suggest that the people who came to rescue the Four Seasons Master were definitely from Daxia.

Bai Jueming sighed inwardly. This case... well, he really didn't know what to say.

At this point, Jia Qingshan continued, "Although Western Shu borders three states of our Great Xia Dynasty, our Emperor Gaozu established a rule that only merchants from Western Shu are allowed to enter the country through Shangzhou for trade. As for the reason, I'm sure Brother Bai knows."

Bai Jueming nodded, but he didn't know much about the matter. Fortunately, Jia Qingshan was quite talkative and told him without being asked.

According to Jia Qingshan, the Jia family patriarch was doing very well in business, but the Liang Dynasty emperor indulged in pleasure and neglected state affairs, leading to widespread suffering among the people.

After the country descended into chaos, the Prince of Yu Nan's business failed. He had no choice but to raise the banner of rebellion: "Whoever tries to stop me from making money, I'll fight them!"

After years of hard work and struggle, the Jia family patriarch became one of the three strongest forces in the Central Plains.

The other two forces are the current Emperor Gaozu of the Great Xia Dynasty and the Prince of Gaoyang of Yunzhou.

The three forces agreed to drive out the foreign enemy and then vie for control of the Central Plains to determine who would prevail. Unfortunately, the Gao family ancestor died in the war to expel the foreign enemy.

At this point, Jia Qingshan sighed and shook his head slightly.

Bai Jueming leaned against the window, listening intently. This was mainly because the original owner of this body had not undergone systematic study and had only a superficial understanding of the history of the Great Xia Dynasty. Much of what he knew came from hearsay on the black market.

Han Xueshan sat at the table, propping her chin up with her hand, listening to their conversation with utter boredom. That Bai Jianren, how could he be so ignorant of so many common sense things? It makes one wonder if he's even a true citizen of Great Xia.

Jia Qingshan gently shook his folding fan and continued speaking, gazing at the distant South Gate.

In the end, only my great-grandfather Jia and the Great-Ancestor Emperor remained. Unfortunately, my great-grandfather had no interest in the throne and only cared about doing business. Therefore, he never went to war with the Great-Ancestor Emperor.

After my great-grandfather withdrew from the competition with Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Gaozu naturally ascended to the throne. To thank my great-grandfather for his sacrifices, Emperor Gaozu subsequently appointed him as the first Prince of the South, a title to be passed down through generations. He also granted the business of Shangzhou to my Jia family.

"Oh, so that's the history." Bai Jueming nodded.

The Emperor Gaozu was quite considerate; instead of eliminating these two families, he enfeoffed them as kings of different surnames. However, this left a hidden danger for future generations... Bai Jueming thought to himself.

Then Jia Qingshan continued speaking.

Because the three prefectures of Shang, Lei, and Wei all bordered Western Shu, Emperor Gaozu decreed that the prefectures of Lei and Wei were forbidden from trading with Western Shu. From then on, only the Jia family of Shang Prefecture could conduct business with Western Shu.

With this rule in place, all merchants from both countries flocked to Shangzhou, and my Jia family instantly amassed all the wealth from the trade between the two nations. All we had to do was pay our taxes on time.

Then Emperor Gaozu dispatched his capable generals with 100,000 troops to guard the borders of Lei and Wei prefectures, partly to protect the country and defend its territory, and partly to cut off smuggling trade between the two countries.

This rule infuriated Western Shu, forcing its merchants to pay higher prices to bypass Lei and Wei prefectures and travel to Shang prefecture for trade. Not doing business wasn't an option either, as Western Shu had a great need for goods from Great Xia, while Great Xia did not.

Western Shu argued that this was unfair and demanded that Great Xia open its doors to free trade, but Great Xia ignored them, locking up its two provinces. Western Shu then launched a war against Great Xia, but unfortunately, it was defeated.

At this point, Jia Qingshan shrugged: "This is the story of Western Shu and my Great Xia."

Even today, troops are stationed between the two countries, and wars of varying scales frequently occur.

The general stationed on the Great Xia side was Wu Yong, the second prince's maternal uncle.

Hearing this, Bai Jueming couldn't help but think that the constant war between the Great Xia and Western Shu borders in order to protect the Jia family's business was a truly heavy price to pay. The Emperor Gaozu was indeed somewhat too compassionate.

Bai Jueming shook his head; he couldn't say such things in front of Jia Qingshan.

The food and wine were served, and the three took their seats. Jia Qingshan poured wine for the two of them, but Han Xueshan didn't drink any. Because they had to go to work in the afternoon, they only drank a little bit before leaving the restaurant.

The three were walking together on the street when they bumped into a guest from the underworld, Luo Wuju, the second disciple of the Craftsmen's Hall.

Luo Wuju sat on a chair carried by paper figures, walking ostentatiously through the bustling streets.

Beneath Luo Wuju stood four paper figures, resembling children, dressed in indigo tie-dyed long robes with slanted collars. Their pale faces were flushed with two sickly red patches of blush.

Behind him followed many similarly dressed paper figures, like a prince inspecting his territory. However, they were not princes from the mortal realm.

The passersby were not surprised by this scene; after all, people living in the capital had seen the world and knew that there were all sorts of cultivators in the world.

Many people quickly moved aside, muttering about whose funeral this was. They hadn't heard anything about it...

Jia Qingshan asked with some surprise, "Who is this person? Why is he so high-profile in the capital?"

"You don't recognize him?" Bai Jueming was also somewhat speechless: "He's a soldier trained by the Emperor's brother-in-law..."

The Emperor's brother-in-law? Qiao Shou. Jia Qingshan understood. He had long heard that Qiao Shou of the Craftsmen's Hall had taken in three disciples, each with their own distinct personality. Seeing them today, he was indeed no ordinary person.

At this moment, Luo Wuju noticed Bai Jueming and the other two by the roadside and directed the paper figures beneath him to come forward.

Without any preamble, he went straight to Bai Jueming and said, "Tell me who the murderer is? Their mastery of formations is so formidable!"

Jia Qingshan was stunned. Had he mistaken someone for someone else? Why was he saying such things right off the bat?

Although Tang Weiwei had told him that this was his speaking style, Bai Jueming still wanted to complain.

You didn't even bother to ask how the case was going. You just blurted out that. No wonder Haifeng wanted to fight...

Bai Jueming smirked: "The investigation is still ongoing, and we don't know who the murderer is."

Luo Wuju sighed with some regret: "I didn't expect the person behind this to be so well hidden that even you Onmyoji couldn't find out."

It's not that easy. Only one day has passed since the case was solved. The South Gate case is clearly the result of interference from many behind-the-scenes forces.

It's already quite impressive that they were able to deduce so many masterminds based on the existing clues...

Taking the opportunity, Bai Jueming changed the subject: "Brother Luo, what are you going to do with all this fanfare?"

"Don't even mention it. The south gate was badly damaged, and I'm in charge of repairing the array inside." Luo Wuju shook his head. "This is no easy task; it'll probably take at least seven or eight days to fix."

"By the way, if you find the mastermind, remember to let me know. I want to see whose array formation skills can rival mine!"

This guy is too arrogant. Even Han Xueshan couldn't help but think to herself as soon as he said that.

Why are you two, fellow disciples, both like this? So confident in yourselves in your fields? Bai Jueming was too lazy to even comment on this guy.

Bai Jueming could only nod perfunctorily, indicating that he would definitely agree.

"Thank you very much. You can come to me if you ever need any formations in the future." After saying this, Luo Wuju directed the paper figure he had sat down to leave.

Following behind were many paper figures in different costumes, who left in unison under his command; these were all the help needed to repair the formation.

That was a reasonably pleasing statement. Bai Jueming watched Luo Wuju leave. The three then returned to the Yin-Yang Palace.

Inside the Craftsmen's Hall

Cheng Yanbing, whose face was unremarkable, returned to his room. The embryo he had carefully forged had become a military longsword. Then, Cheng Yanbing picked up the longsword and began to swing it forcefully in the room.

Ignoring the fact that this was his own room, he hacked at the beams supporting the dome until they were riddled with holes. The clash of metal against the alchemy furnace produced a metallic clang, sparks flying everywhere.

Then, with an excited expression, he picked up the longsword. A flash of white light appeared on the bright blade, reflecting his ordinary face.

The sword remained sharp even after being hacked, proving far more durable than the previous iron sword. If the old iron sword could bend after a hundred cuts, this sword could withstand at least five hundred. This significantly saved me time.

"This is a good thing. If this thing could be equipped on a large scale in the Great Xia army, the strength of the entire army would be upgraded by another level." Cheng Yanbing gently stroked the sword.

Of course, this sword also has a drawback, which is that it is slightly heavier than an iron sword, but that is reasonable.

Cheng Yanbing tossed the longsword in his hand, a question inevitably nagging at him.

Bai Jueming said that this method was inspired by short videos. But is this short video a person or a book?

If it were just an ordinary person, how did Bai Jueming manage to come into contact with such a powerful individual? Even with his own abilities and understanding of the principles, it would take hundreds of attempts to successfully create something like this. This person behind the short video platform is definitely not simple.

If it were a book, it would be an absolute masterpiece! The things recorded in it are truly amazing. If I ever have the chance, I must ask Brother Bai about it...

Just as Cheng Yanbing was lost in thought, the door suddenly opened. Tang Weiwei tilted her head outside the door: "Senior brother, Master wants you to go find him."

"What is it now?" Cheng Yanbing asked impatiently. What's going on with her master? She's had a lot more work to do these past two days.

"I don't know." After saying that, Tang Weiwei put a pastry in her mouth and left.

Cheng Yanbing, carrying a long sword, strode aggressively toward the third floor.