Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chen Mu caught sight of the old man for the first time and realized why that true disciple from the Heavenly Sword Sect had suddenly glanced his way. Perhaps it wasn't his own appearance that caught the disciple's attention but rather the scruffy-looking, unremarkable old Taoist standing behind him.

"Master of the Mysterious Court, who speaks wondrously of the heavenly secrets," had already disclosed his identity—he came from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, one of the Four Great Sects.

Although Chen Mu didn't know what capabilities the old Taoist in front of him possessed, he really didn't want to get involved with this kind of mystical sect, and among the Four Great Sects, those from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion were the last he wanted to encounter.

"Sorry, not interested."

Chen Mu replied warily and was about to pull Xu Hongyu away.

"Don't go, don't go."

The old Taoist grinned, revealing a set of gap-toothed yellow teeth, and said, "The old Taoist is about to close up shop. Today you are my last divination, and I won't charge you the divination fee. How about that?"

"No thanks."

Chen Mu outright refused.

It was then the old Taoist's turn to puff up his whiskers and glare, protesting, "The old Taoist chooses whom to divine. A fortune that suits is hard to come by, and when I sense someone is fated yet you don't let me divine, no, no..."

As he spoke,

The old Taoist lay down right in front of Chen Mu and started rolling on the street, shamelessly acting like a rogue.

Xiao He and Xu Hongyu watched, dumbfounded, as after all, the old Taoist had outright claimed affiliation with the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion. To see someone from such a reputable sect rolling around like a hooligan was unbelievable. It must be an imposter, but then again, who would dare impersonate someone from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion?

Chen Mu was exasperated.

Though he couldn't sense any threatening aura from the old Taoist, seeming like nothing but an ordinary old man, the fact he claimed the name of the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion—and might even have drawn attention from the true disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect—meant he couldn't possibly be ordinary. This made it all the harder to determine his true nature.

Seeing that the old Taoist was adamant about acting stubborn unless he agreed to the fortune telling, Chen Mu finally sighed and said,

"Fine, go ahead with the divination."

Being in Yu County, he was bound to deal with people from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion sooner or later, although he really didn't want to interact with this unknown old Taoist.

At this, the old Taoist, immediately beamed with joy, jumped up from the ground, ran back to his stall, grabbed a stack of turtle-shell copper coins, and looked expectantly as he asked, "This layman, would you like a divination about your future prospects or your life's destiny?"

Chen Mu pulled a confounded Xu Hongyu forward and said, "Just calculate Hongyu's destiny."

"Ah?"

The old Taoist's expression instantly fell.

But in the end, somewhat reluctantly, he picked up the turtle-shell copper coins and tossed them. They scattered on the ground, forming a strange pattern.

"So noble it defies words..."

The old Taoist said listlessly.

The previous scene of the old Taoist's tantrum also attracted some attention, and now hearing the old Taoist's divination, someone immediately laughed mockingly,

"What kind of divination is this? I can also see that the person is nobly unspeakable."

"I told you, these fortune-tellers are all scammers of the martial world. If you really want to divine destiny, better head to the western Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion. With a recognized reputation, their divinations truly hold some substance."

Hearing these discussions,

The old Taoist suddenly got furious and retorted, "The old Taoist is from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion!"

"Shh, I think you better run now. Pretending to be from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, if they find out, disaster will be upon you," advised a bystander, shushing the old Taoist.

If nobody had seen the old Taoist throwing a tantrum on the ground, maybe someone would have believed him. However, after that performance, who would believe that the old Taoist was from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion? It sounded utterly preposterous, more like a martial world scammer.

"Pretending to be from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion? Does the old Taoist need to impersonate..."

The old Taoist was furiously arguing with the people.

The surrounding area quickly descended into chaos, and soon, Inner City guards, having heard the commotion, came but hesitated upon hearing it involved the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, and went to report to the Pavilion.

When people from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion appeared in the street, the old Taoist finally stopped his antics and glanced around swiftly. Suddenly, he grabbed his stall and squeezed through the guards, slipping into a narrow alley.

"Hmph!"

"Dare to impersonate one of us and still think of escaping?"

People from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, having spotted the scene from afar, coldly snorted and quickly pursued into the narrow alley, disappearing from view.

...

Several streets away,

Chen Mu and Xu Hongyu, who were continuing their stroll through the market, listened to a report from a Yu Family attendant and were momentarily stunned. Xiao He was similarly shocked.

"So that old Taoist was really pretending to be from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion?!"

Chen Mu scratched his head, suddenly perplexed. Perhaps the reaction of the Heavenly Sword Sect's true disciple truly had nothing to do with that old Taoist, and the old Taoist had simply been a martial world scammer pretending to be from the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion?

Yet, this was too bizarre, especially since this was the Inner City.

Chen Mu quickly shook his head and said, "Well, regardless of whether he was real or fake, it has nothing to do with us. Let's just take it that he was real since the fortune he divined for Hongyu was extremely auspicious."

Xu Hongyu blinked at Chen Mu in surprise.

As for the unimaginable luxury beyond words, she had no particular thoughts on it, as she was born into the Yu Family, far surpassing any ordinary wealthy family. Compared to these, she would much rather stay with Chen Mu, desiring to be with him for as long as possible.

Xiao He giggled beside her, "Actually, it's somewhat accurate. The young lady indeed lacks nothing in terms of wealth. I just wish he predicted that the young lady would live a long life… no, a thousand years long."

Xu Hongyu, hearing Xiao He's words, couldn't help but laugh for a moment and, reaching out, she tapped Xiao He's dainty nose and said, "What are you talking about? Who in the world lives for a thousand years? Do you want me to become a demon?"

Indeed, the lifespan of a martial artist is somewhat longer than that of a common person. After stepping into the Five Viscera Realm, one could live to be a hundred years old. If one advanced to the Seventh Realm of Marrow Cleansing, it was said one could live up to one hundred and fifty years.

But even in legends, those who advanced to the Eighth Realm of Martial Arts, reaching the Blood Exchange Level and revered as 'Martial Saints' in the records, lived at most only for two hundred years. Those who lived for a thousand years were only demons.

Chen Mu simply smiled looking at Xu Hongyu and Xiao He.

People living for a thousand years probably truly didn't exist. After all, if the great founding emperor who united Da Xuan and pacified the Four Seas were alive now, the world probably wouldn't be in such chaos. Still, these matters were ultimately too distant.

The sky gradually darkened.

Chen Mu and the two females from the Yu Family quickly returned to the Yu Family's residence and vanished into the streets of the residence.

Almost at the same time, in the dusk under the somber and murky sky, a figure dressed in a black cloak was hurrying along the streets of the southeastern part of the Inner City and soon arrived beneath a towering five-story building.

He looked up at the plaque hanging from the building.

Blood Hidden Pavilion!

The three blood-red characters emitted an aura of malevolent Qi and the quality of fresh blood in this time of dusk, which sent shivers down one's spine.

The man in the black cloak quickly averted his gaze and stepped into Blood Hidden Pavilion. The whole first floor was empty, no one was around, only an unoccupied square table and a blood-red curtain hanging in the middle of the table.

A dim candle flickered softly beside the table.

He moved closer to the table.

The dim candlelight illuminated the face under the cloak, revealing a sinister expression—it was He Guangxun from the He Family!

He Guangxun slowly sat down at the square table.

Almost at the same moment he sat down, the blood-red curtain suddenly fluttered slightly. Following this, what was an empty chair behind the empty part of the room now secretly had a figure cloaked in bloody robes taking a seat.

"Who is to be killed?"

The person in the blood robes spoke indifferently.

He Guangxun, possibly visiting here for the first time, slightly narrowed his pupils upon the sudden appearance of the person in the blood robes, a trace of wariness flickering deep in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by coldness.

Just recently, those who went to investigate the disappearance incident of He Guangzong and He Mingzhen reported back. After spending nearly a month forcibly digging out a collapsed section of the mountainside, they found the corpses of people from the He Family.

The bodies were already decomposed, further disfigured by the burial under the mountainside, making it hard to identify any traces, but in any case, the incident surely couldn't be unrelated to the Yu Family.

Right now.

The forces of the Yu Family were subdued; direct descendants had all returned to the residence without leaving. Even if the He Family wanted revenge, they found no opportunity. Destroying a few of the Yu Family's businesses was of minor importance, utterly pointless.

He Mingzhen, the most outstanding amongst the fourth generation of the He Family, the one with the highest possibility of stepping into the Five Viscera Realm among the younger generation, had now died mid-way. If it had been in the past, they would have turned Yu County upside down, but the situation in Yu County had now changed, no longer allowing them to act as they pleased.

"The Yu Family, Chen Mu."

He Guangxun spoke coldly.

Among the fourth generation of the Yu Family, no one was more outstanding than He Mingzhen, but Chen Mu was already set to marry Xu Hongyu of the Yu Family, now also a part of the Yu Family, and furthermore, understanding the Artistic Conception at the Tendon Changing Level, he was the person who posed the most threat in the future.

Since He Mingzhen had died, the Yu Family could not have it easy either—let this wedding… rather transform into a funeral.

As his words fell,

The person in bloody robes vanished silently.

When he reappeared, a quarter of an hour had passed.

"Chen Mu, a White-Clothed Guard of the Demon-Slaying Office, son-in-law of the Inner City's Yu Family, his marriage with Xu Hongyu of the Yu Family's main lineage is set, practiced in the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, Horizontally Trained Body, Tendon Changing Realm… Patterned Silver nine hundred thousand taels."

He Guangxun frowned slightly.

Expensive!

Too expensive!

Nine hundred thousand taels of silver, even for the He Family, was not a small number; it was enough to train nearly a thousand elite blade masters, among which could even emerge a dozen or possibly several dozen capable of stepping into the Tendon Changing Realm.

"Too expensive,"

He Guangxun said gravely.

The man in the blood robes simply said, "No bargaining."

The business of Blood Hidden Pavilion seemed simple, yet in reality, it was quite complex involving investigation, intelligence, and assessment layers before giving a suitable price based on the situation.

Chen Mu's Horizontally Trained Body and Tendon Changing Realm were nothing extraordinary, not even one aspect of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, but being a White-Clothed Guard of the Demon-Slaying Office, part of the Seven Profound Sect's realm of influence, assassinating a White-Clothed Guard of Blood Hidden Pavilion also came with risks and a cost, especially since the Inspector was stationed within the Inner City.

Moreover,

Chen Mu had his marriage set with the main lineage of the Yu Family and now resided in the Yu Family's residence, and the Yu Family also had an elder who once served as a steward for the Seven Profound Sect, who, despite being old, would still bring many risks to the assassination.

Assassination was ultimately something done in the shadows, hence why Blood Hidden Pavilion had the saying, 'Blood concealed, traces unseen.' Killing was not merely about killing; after the act, all traces needed to be dealt with to make the person disappear as if evaporated into thin air, leaving no source traceable and keeping it unknown whether they were missing or dead.

In fact, Blood Hidden Pavilion was somewhat reluctant to take on business involving sensitive offices like the Demon-Slaying and Inspectorate Offices, for they had just established themselves in Yu County, barely maintaining a tacit agreement with the Seven Profound Sect.

If they acted too recklessly, it would inevitably provoke targeting and suppression from the Seven Profound Sect, and other sects like Heavenly Sword and Hehuan would not stand with Blood Hidden Pavilion and would even like to see Seven Profound and Blood Hidden clash.