Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

After entering White Fish City, Yi Yang did not rush to take up his post at the Sky Patrol Division. He led his strange beast horse around the city for a while and found that his horse was still too eye-catching.

So he found a horse storage place with a sign that read "Horse Storage" and paid fifty copper coins to leave his horse there.

The shopkeeper was a short, stout middle-aged man who circled the strange beast horse twice, his eyes shining.

"Sir, this horse is fine. It's entirely gray-black, and its shoulder height is a head taller than ordinary horses. It belongs to the Sky Patrol Division—"

"A friend lent me the money to get somewhere quickly."

Upon hearing that the other party recognized his mount, Yi Yang handed over the reins, smiled, and explained, "Retrieve it within three days, and you'll be provided with ample fodder."

The shopkeeper realized that Yi Yang didn't want others to know his identity, so he wisely kept quiet, took the money, and did the job.

After leaving Mapu, Yiyang turned into a side alley and took out a faded gray cloth jacket from his backpack to change into.

Hu Xiao wrapped himself in a layer of coarse linen and slung it diagonally behind his back, making him less conspicuous.

Finally, Yi Yang activated the core technique of Youquan Division, "Concealing Breath Without Form."

He disguised his inner energy level as the third level of blood and qi, thus reducing his overall presence.

After finishing these tasks, he walked out of the alley and began to merge into the flow of people on the main street to observe the situation of the city where he had taken office.

The main street of Baiyu City is almost twice as wide as Yunlin County, where I previously stayed.

The ground was paved entirely with bluestone slabs, polished smooth and flat. Shops lined both sides of the street, with seven medicine shops alone, each with a queue in front of it.

Yi Yang walked along, looking around.

It's an old habit of mine to find out the details before going to any other place.

At the same time, his powerful senses spread out silently, like an invisible net, capturing the aura of everyone within a hundred feet.

Before they had walked half a street, Yi Yang's brows furrowed.

Qi and blood are in four stages.

Five levels of Qi and Blood.

Another case of Qi and Blood imbalance.

Qi and Blood Sixfold...

Among the passersby, there were more than twenty martial artists at the fourth level of Qi and Blood.

The frequency of martial artists at the fourth level of Qi and Blood appearing is several times higher than in Yunlin County back then.

Moreover, these people had something in common: weathered faces, solitary nature, always carrying a knife or sword at their waist, and exuding a peculiar aura that blended the smell of animal hides with the scent of herbs.

Most of them were solitary martial artists.

Yi Yang glanced at the direction these people were heading; most of them were walking from the south of the city to the north.

As for the north of the city, based on his prior knowledge, that was the direction of Bailongze.

Yi Yang did not stop and continued forward.

In the middle of the main street, there is a huge notice wall, about two zhang wide and one zhang high. It is covered with notices, with new ones covering old ones, and the edges of the old ones are curled up and rustling in the wind.

Yi Yang stopped in front of the wall and scanned it with his eyes.

"Recruitment: Herb Gathering Team for the Outskirts of Bailongze, limited to Qi and Blood Level 4 and above, daily payment of 30 taels of silver."

"Bounty: Kill one Red-Scaled Lizard, and receive eighty taels of silver upon delivery of the beast core—"

"Escort: Caravan enters the marshland, five-day round trip, payment negotiable, limited to Qi Realm level."

"Urgently Needed: Expedition Team Lacks Forward, Minimum Level 5 in Qi and Blood"

The walls were covered with information related to Bai Longze.

As Yi Yang continued reading, combining the information he had gathered before, he gradually pieced together the outline of this vast swamp in his mind.

Bailongze is the only large marshland in Qingzhou, covering an area of ​​hundreds of miles.

Its outer area is rich in low-grade precious medicines and common exotic beasts, while the middle layer is home to high-grade precious medicines and exotic beasts at the Inner Qi Realm. The deepest part is a forbidden zone, which is said to be a place that even experts at the True Qi Realm dare not enter lightly.

Every year, a large number of martial artists from Suining Prefecture flock to Baiyu City, all in order to fight for their lives in the swamp.

As for the result, some people became rich overnight, while others never returned, but this still couldn't stop people's enthusiasm for getting rich overnight.

This also explains why the density of martial artists in White Fish City is so high.

Where there is profit, people will flock.

Yi Yang withdrew his gaze, rubbed his chin with his fingers, and thought to himself, "A high-grade precious medicine... if I could get my hands on it, it would save me a lot of trouble in my breakthrough to the third level of perfect internal energy."

But that's a story for later; right now, the important matter at hand is what Yan Wuyuan instructed us to do.

He turned away from the notice wall, walked along the main street for about a hundred steps, looked around, and then chose a restaurant called "Wangzelou" and went inside.

The first floor was already full, so Yi Yang went straight to the second floor and chose a corner seat by the window.

The waiter, standing nearby, eagerly approached and asked:

"What would you like to eat, sir?"

"A pot of coarse tea, a dish of peanuts, and half a serving of salted duck."

Yi Yang casually ordered a few dishes to go with the wine and pressed a few copper coins on the table.

Upon hearing the order, the waiter quickly brought it over.

Yi Yang leaned back in his chair with his eyes half-closed, slowly sipping his tea from his teacup with his left hand, looking like a very ordinary lone martial artist.

But his senses had already covered the entire second floor, and nothing around him could escape his notice.

The sounds of conversations from all directions flooded into his ears, and were then filtered, sorted, and archived by Yi Yang.

"The Wei family has raised the toll fees on the eastern trade route by another 10% this year. Damn it, their greed is outrageous."

"How dare you talk about the Wei family? The Mo family is even more ruthless. If you buy goods from them, they'll officially take 30%, but secretly they'll rip you off even more."

"Let the two families fight like dogs, and we're stuck in the middle suffering."

The table by the south window was occupied by several rogue monks carrying knives.

"The Shallow Water Gang has made the dock space tight again; if you want to travel by water, you have to queue up ten days in advance."

"The Green Snake Gang is even more despicable. Last month, they swallowed up three small shops in the North City Herbal Medicine Alley, claiming it was to 'integrate the market.' Bah!"

"And then there's the Three Lakes Gang; they've raised the entry fee for their outer hunting grounds to five taels of silver a day—that's highway robbery!"

"The White Fish Merchant Guild isn't going to do anything about it?"

"It's laughable. The White Fish Merchant Guild is just a peacemaker; they give face to everyone but do nothing for anyone."

While eating peanuts, Yi Yang sketched out the general framework of the forces within "White Fish City" in his mind.

First, there are two major families, the Wei family and the Mo family, who occupy the east and west respectively and control the trade routes of Bailongze.

Then came the three major gangs: the Shallow Water Gang controlled the waterways and docks, the Green Snake Gang monopolized the medicinal herb trade, and the Three Lakes Gang controlled the outer hunting grounds.

Finally, there is the White Fish Merchant Guild, which acts as a buffer between the various parties.

The six major powers each have their own territory and their own experts.

Yi Yang picked up his teacup and took another sip. After hearing a certain remark, he glanced at the table next to him.

Three drunken martial artists were sitting at the table, and one of them was already talking non-stop.

One of the burly men, with a red face, slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "If you ask me, White Fish City is now a no-man's land! The Sky Patrol Bureau is nothing!"

The skinny guy sitting next to him quickly pulled him aside: "Keep your voice down—"

"What are you afraid of?"

The red-faced man nonchalantly waved his hand and continued, fueled by alcohol, "Right now, the strongest person in the White Fish City Sky Patrol Division is only at the sixth level of Qi and Blood perfection. At the beginning of this year, their deputy director, who was at the first level of Inner Qi, was killed by the Nine Evil Sect! Later, the prefectural city sent someone at the second level of Inner Qi, and what happened?"

He held up two fingers, a smirk playing on his lips, and said, "Dead too! Even faster than the last one!"

"Now the Sky Patrol Bureau doesn't even have anyone to hold its head up. It's just a bunch of shrimp soldiers and crab generals at the third or fourth level of Qi and Blood. They're the first to collect taxes, but the last to back down when something goes wrong."

The skinny man sighed, "Then the prefectural city doesn't care either?"

"Manage? Do you even know how far the prefectural city is?"

The ruddy-faced man took a swig of wine, let out a loud burp, and said, "Besides, these forces in White Fish City haven't rebelled, they've paid their taxes, and the Sky Patrol Bureau hasn't been wiped out, they're just a bit weak. How can the prefectural city possibly manage them all?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Yang put down his teacup. He noticed that the people around him had also heard the drunkard's words, but no one objected. It seemed that the situation at the Sky Patrol Bureau was indeed as bad as the other party had described.

This is the mess he's going to inherit.

The Sky Patrol Bureau was riddled with holes, the six major powers were each ruling their own territory, and the Nine Evil Cults were still stirring up trouble in the shadows.

Logically speaking, sending someone with a high level of internal energy to handle this situation is, to put it nicely, an important task, but to put it bluntly, a death sentence.

But Yi Yang is clearly not a normal person; his strength cannot be assessed using the simple three levels of internal energy.

He mentally assessed the situation in White Fish City.

Each of the six major forces has a master at the second level of internal energy, which is considered top-tier in White Fish City.

His true cultivation level is the third level of internal energy, but he only shows the first level of internal energy on the surface, which is enough to intimidate most people.

The only one we really need to be wary of is the hidden True Qi Realm leader of the Nine Evils Sect that Yan Wuyuan mentioned.

Although, in theory, that person wouldn't easily show up.

But it's always better to be careful than to make a big mistake.

After finding out the news, Yi Yang ate the remaining peanuts, left two copper coins as payment for tea, and got up to go downstairs.

After leaving Wangze Tower, he did not walk on the main street.

The Sky Patrol Bureau of White Fish City was located in the northwest of the city, and Yi Yang chose a secluded alleyway to bypass it. The main street was crowded and noisy, and he didn't want to attract too much attention before revealing his identity.

The alley was narrow and deep, with high gray brick walls on both sides, and the sunlight overhead was cut into a thin line by the eaves. The ground was wet, and a thin layer of moss grew at the base of the walls.

Yi Yang walked at a moderate pace, his footsteps echoing through the alley.

When they were halfway down the third alley, Yi Yang lifted his eyelids slightly.

Someone is following us.

Forty feet away, a presence moved along the wall on the right side of the alley. It was the cultivation of the first level of inner energy. The footsteps were light and the landing points were precise, stepping on the seams of the bluestone slabs.

His breathing rhythm was tight, unlike the relaxed state of a passerby.

A trained person.

After realizing what was happening, Yi Yang didn't turn around.

He casually switched the coarse tea packet he was clutching to his left hand. His right hand hung by his side, his thumb silently pushing aside the coarse linen tie over the Tiger Roar tea.

He quickly went through it in his mind.

He had been in the city for less than two hours, disguising himself as a traveling merchant the whole time, suppressing his aura to the third level of Qi and Blood, and simply sitting quietly drinking tea in the restaurant without making any outrageous moves.

Who would target an ordinary-looking old man from out of town?

Two possibilities.

First, the six major powers routinely monitor outsiders in the city. With White Fish City's thriving commerce, each power undoubtedly employs spies to spy on suspicious individuals.

Second, the spies of the Nine Cults.

Regardless of which one.

Yi Yang's gaze fell on a right-angle bend ten feet ahead.

The corner was flanked by solid brick walls, each a dozen feet high, which cut the alleyway in two, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

It's a great place for an ambush.

The instant he reached the corner, Yi Yang vanished from the bend.