Just as Du Xinghe had anticipated, Yanjing County was thrown into complete chaos.
The local authorities of the Xuan Dynasty dispatched their most powerful cultivators to pursue the culprit beyond the city walls. Within the city, they didn’t neglect their duties either. Since records were kept of visitors’ cultivation levels upon entry, all cultivators at the Core Formation stage or above were thoroughly interrogated. Those unwilling to antagonize the Xuan Dynasty had no choice but to cooperate, though they grumbled incessantly.
Du Xinghe, still at the Foundation Establishment stage, went entirely unnoticed. She stood before the bounty board, feigning ignorance as she asked, “Why all the commotion today?”
“What else? The official escorting the Maiden Tributes was killed by a Golden Core expert, and one of the maidens with a Water Spiritual Root is missing!”
“No wonder there was such a ruckus last night.”
“That maiden was probably captured to be used as a Cauldron. Do you think they’ll catch the culprit, Senior Brother?”
As the two conversed, the bounty board suddenly glowed with radiant light, and a new bounty notice materialized on its surface—
“Official Wanted Notice: Capture the fugitive cultivator who abducted the Maiden Tribute Gong Shi. Anyone providing useful information will be rewarded with five hundred high-grade spirit stones and eligibility for an official position without examination. Do not harm Gong Shi’s life!”
The same notice appeared on every bounty board across the Xuan Dynasty.
A crowd of cultivators gathered before the board, discussing the details of the wanted criminal provided by the authorities.
“Above the Core Formation stage, suspected to be a practitioner of the Incense Divine Path.”
The Incense Divine Path?
Du Xinghe was momentarily taken aback but quickly realized that the authorities, upon examining the official’s corpse, must have detected traces of Gonggong Divine Power and thus suspected the culprit to be a follower of the Incense Divine Path. Because of this assumption, they overestimated the criminal’s cultivation level, never imagining that the audacious villain was merely a lowly Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator hiding within the city.
The eligibility for an official position without examination held little appeal for the cultivators.
But the five hundred high-grade spirit stones mentioned earlier truly set the crowd ablaze with excitement.
“In the pursuit of cultivation, one needs methods, wealth, companions, and land. With five hundred high-grade spirit stones, a breakthrough would be within reach!”
“The criminal has likely fled far away. We’ll have to leave the city to pursue them.”
“What if they’re still in the city?” someone retorted.
The retort was met with scornful laughter. The cultivators believed that if the culprit were still in the city, the authorities would have already identified them during their investigation, leaving no chance for others to claim the bounty.
Yet criminals often return to the scene of the crime.
Du Xinghe stood before the bounty board, admiring the price on her head for a moment before scanning further down.
Due to the previous night’s events, she had already decided not to linger in Yanjing County. Taking on a mission to leave the city would provide a more plausible excuse. Even if no one paid her any attention, she needed to ensure that every action she took on the surface was flawless.
“Mission One: Seeking a dual cultivation partner. Must be a male cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage. Preference given to the young and handsome.”
Well, the first mission immediately excluded her based on gender.
“Mission Two: Suspected traces of a Miao Ridge Heretical Cultivator in the north. Two Core Formation stage cultivators have gone missing. Golden Core stage or above cultivators requested to investigate.”
“Mission Three: Wu Luo Stronghold is plagued by Rat Demons. Cultivators requested to resolve the issue.”
Below the third mission, an additional note was appended—
“A Golden Core Rat King has been born!”
Du Xinghe had no choice but to continue scanning. She was still consolidating her realm and wanted to take on missions suitable for a beginner—helping villagers find lost puppies, gathering Spirit Herbs, assisting carpenters with lumber, and the like…
“Mission Six: Alchemist Chen Daoren is going into closed-door cultivation for a month and requires someone to tend to her Spiritual Plants in her absence.”
Du Xinghe’s eyes lit up.
Caring for spiritual plants—this aligned perfectly with her Spiritual Root specialization!
Looking closer, Chen Daoren’s spiritual plant illustration was posted on the board. The Golden Core stage Fleshthorn Vine appeared as a two-story-tall mass of flesh constantly opening its maw, accompanied by a line of explanatory text: “The Fleshthorn Vine cries like an infant and devours humans.”
The next line contained Task Publisher Chen Daoren’s addendum: “My little vine is very well-behaved and doesn’t eat people.”
Du Xinghe: “…”
She believed him.
As she continued flipping through pages, Du Xinghe directly skipped over high-risk tasks, her gaze settling on the final entry written in gray ink.
“The Lu Family in Yunshan Township, He’an Prefecture of Dingzhou has experienced continuous strange occurrences after taking in a beautiful concubine, accompanied by anomalous spiritual energy fluctuations. Requesting cultivators to investigate.”
The reward for this task was meager—only thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Checking the posting date, it had been up for quite some time with no takers, clearly deemed unworthy by other cultivators.
This perfectly suited Du Xinghe’s desire to find an excuse to leave Yanjing County.
After accepting the task, she returned to her room and cultivated for two more days. Only after the authorities completed their thorough investigation of all cultivators in the city did she depart with A Qi.
At the city gate, the original blue-robed official had been replaced by a scholarly middle-aged cultivator. With a congenial attitude, he glanced at Du Xinghe’s entry date and asked, “Leaving so soon? Did you get to try Yanjing County’s local delicacies?”
“I’ve hardly had any appetite for food since achieving Grain Avoidance.”
“What a pity,” he smiled, then suddenly inquired: “You rented a place in the market for three months, but are leaving today?”
Du Xinghe paused, knowing this was the crucial moment. With a household official dead and a Water Spiritual Root Maiden Tribute missing within their jurisdiction, the authorities wouldn’t let matters rest—any suspicion would trigger relentless pursuit. She smiled lightly: “I accepted a particularly interesting task from the bounty board. Since I’m here for experiential training anyway, I don’t mind losing the rent.”
After exchanging a few more words, the middle-aged cultivator let her pass.
As for the kitten following Du Xinghe, it didn’t attract his attention.
…
Dingzhou wasn’t far, so Du Xinghe decided to travel by sword flight.
This was her first time flying on a sword. Neither the suddenly shrinking ground nor the intense centrifugal force affected her in the slightest—she only felt the vastness between heaven and earth, infinite exhilaration.
A Qi clung tightly to her waist with her remaining hand.
“Afraid of heights? I can fly lower,” Du Xinghe asked.
“Not afraid. Master is truly amazing,” she whispered.
Du Xinghe felt utterly helpless about this form of address.
She believed her Foundation Establishment cultivation wasn’t sufficient to take disciples, but A Qi insisted on calling her “master.” After repeated persuasion, she barely managed to change one character of the term. A Qi understood perfectly what great risk the immortal had taken to save her. Overwhelmed with gratitude but unsure how to repay it, she could only offer her wretched life—willing to give everything to Du Xinghe, let alone acknowledge her as master.
“It’s fine if you won’t take me as your disciple. Just treat me like a little cat or dog. Staying by your side is all I desire.”
The more Du Xinghe listened, the more she felt the situation was developing strangely.
But when she tried to dissuade her further, A Qi would think the immortal was rejecting her, tears welling up in her eyes.
So Du Xinghe let it be.
After all, in her heart, she truly didn’t regard A Qi as a servant—at most, she planned to leverage her kindness to treat her as free labor and a tool for accumulating Palace intrigue points. What kind of villain could she possibly be?
Arriving at Yunshan Township in Dingzhou, Du Xinghe found no traces of other cultivators nearby. The spiritual energy was extremely sparse, almost indistinguishable from a completely mortal realm.
Shortly after her arrival, someone went to inform the local Xiang Zheng.