Da Xuan Martial Saint

Even.

The Heavenly Corpse Sect, once the enemy of the entire world, has begun to rekindle from the ashes. Not only were traces of it discovered previously in Yu County, but now, according to intelligence, remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect have been sighted in several states.

In the Realm of Blood Exchange, the Seven Profound Sect naturally had its top-tier existences. This was the confidence that allowed the Seven Profound Sect to stand tall in Yu State, and overlook the chaos of the eleven counties of the Cold North Path. At least with such figures at the pinnacle of Martial Arts stationed there, no faction would dare to fight to the death with the Seven Profound Sect. There would always be a margin left.

"Speaking of which, compared to the situation in the Cold North Path, have you seen the 'Cold North Path Rising Stars Ranking' released by the End of the World Sea Pavilion?"

Qi Zhiyuan suddenly patted the booklet in his hand and smiled at the Protector, saying, "Our Seven Profound Sect has four people listed on the ranking. It's rather acceptable."

The cover of the booklet did indeed bear the fresh title 'Cold North Path Rising Stars Ranking'.

The protector Qiao Yue was slightly taken aback, then hesitantly said, "I have seen it. In total, fifty individuals were included, but it seems our Seven Profound Sect only has Zhou Hao of the Great Profound Peak, Ling ZeCheng of Upper Profound Peak, and Lu Gong of Heaven Profound Peak listed in the ranking... only three people..."

"Hahaha."

Hearing this, Qi Zhiyuan laughed and said, "The one from Yu County, although not currently one of our true disciples, how can he not be counted as part of our Sect?"

Protector Qiao Yue suddenly realized and said, "I had forgotten about that."

The name Chen Mu, he had heard of it too. After all, it was the name of the man who had defeated Gu Hong of the Heavenly Sword Sect and Hua Nongying of the Hehuan Sect. It was said that there might even be two true disciples of the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion who possibly died at the hands of Chen Mu. When he first got the news, his heart had been shaken. He had never expected that such a figure could emerge from the most remote Yu County under Yu State.

Qi Zhiyuan smiled without saying a word.

For the Seven Profound Sect, it was naturally better to have more absolute geniuses like Chen Mu who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhou Hao of Great Profound Peak. He had already ordered people to invite Chen Mu to join the Sect. Once Chen Mu joined, it probably wouldn't take long for him to possess the strength to fight Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao had previously been too prominent among the Seven Profound Sect, with no worthy opponents in sight, which made his cultivation somewhat slack. After being defeated by Zuo Qianqiu, he finally became much more motivated. When Chen Mu arrived at the Seven Profound Sect, there would certainly be a thriving scene to behold.

...

Yu City.

Under the fierce sunlight, the towering city walls showed many signs of water erosion at the base, and the bottom of the walls was littered with accumulated silt and sand.

At this moment, numerous figures could be seen clearing away the mud and sand along the wall, all dressed in tattered clothes, looking like forced laborers conscripted from within the city. Among them were some elderly, staggering as they moved the loads.

"Hurry up, hurry up! You old fools are so slow, do you want to die?!"

A Prefecture Chief, clad in official attire, was standing at a distance, berating loudly while holding a whip in his hand. Stay tuned with empire

Snap.

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder, as if someone had patted him from behind.

The Prefecture Chief turned around cursing, saying, "Who the hell... oh."

Upon seeing the figure standing behind him, the Prefecture Chief was nearly scared out of his wits and fell to his knees, saying, "Sir, Metropolitan Commander, I greet you with respect."

As a Prefecture Chief, recognizing officials' ranks was a basic skill. Even though he had never met Chen Mu before, he quickly recognized Chen Mu's purple official robe of the Metropolitan Commander. To him, Chen Mu was a high-ranking figure beyond reach, someone even his superiors had to bow to let alone himself... and he truly recognized Chen Mu.

He was a Prefecture Chief from Wutong Grove District; he had served under Chen Mu before. Back when Chen Mu left his post, he thought Chen Mu, having offended the Yu Family, had a bleak future. Yet in the blink of an eye, not only had Chen Mu become one of the top officials of Yu City, but he had also single-handedly destroyed the entire He Family!

Every time he remembered serving under Chen Mu, it seemed to him a dream beyond belief.

"How were these laborers conscripted?"

Chen Mu glanced at the Prefecture Chief, not remembering him well, as during his time in Wutong Grove when he was Prefecture Chief himself, he had overseen hundreds of Prefecture Chiefs and remembered very few names.

The Prefecture Chief hurriedly replied: "Reporting to Sir... they are all those who couldn't pay the head tax and were punished with labor..."

Is that so.

Chen Mu sighed inwardly, then said indifferently, "All this silt and sand will eventually be cleaned up. Go and convey my orders, tell them not to be too harsh everywhere, and as for the daily meals and Silver Coin, anyone found to be skimming off the top will spend time in jail instead."

"Yes... yes..."

The Prefecture Chief quickly agreed.

When the sound of footsteps faded, he slowly raised his head to find that Chen Mu's figure had already disappeared. He quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then looked over at the laborers working in the distance, and couldn't help but feel emotional. Chen Mu had climbed to such a high official position, yet he was still the same man from his days in Wutong Grove.

He brushed off the mud and sand from his official clothes and hurriedly went around to pass on the orders.

...

Inner City.

Yu Family residence.

The courtyard of Chen Mu's home remained as clean and tidy as when he had left.

In the side room on the east side, Chen Yue and Yu Ru were squeezed together, flipping through a booklet. There were some words that Chen Yue didn't recognize, and Yu Ru was beside her, reading them aloud.

Then, not sure what was read, Chen Yue suddenly hugged Yu Ru and whispered something in her ear, which made them both burst into giggles. Their laughter echoed joyfully throughout the courtyard.