"You know too much, and it will do you no good. I have not come here today to make an enemy of you; I only intend to kill her."
The Taoist said in a deep voice.
"I said, I want her to return to Qingsong alive."
Fang Chen smiled faintly.
"Fang Chen, do not think that just because people call you a Military God, your words are ironclad law. In our eyes, you are nothing."
The Taoist chuckled. "If you try to block me, I will strike you down."
"Your cultivation... does not seem very high. Isn't it a bit rash of you to try to strike me?"
Fang Chen was slightly puzzled.
He could sense that the spiritual power within the man was on par with his own, at most at the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining. If that were the case, a single Purple Lightning Talisman would be enough to easily subdue this person.
"Heh, it seems you are new to this path and are unaware of many things. Very well, I am quite curious as to why you have suddenly come into possession of spiritual power. Today, I shall take you back and interrogate you thoroughly."
With that, the Taoist suddenly produced a bell the size of a palm and tapped it gently.
*Hum—*
A strange force rippled outward, attempting to pry into Fang Chen’s soul. But it seemed not to have expected that the soul it intended to move was as immovable as a great mountain.
In a split second, the force backfired. The bell in the Taoist's hand shattered with a *bang*, turning into scrap metal.
"Pfft!"
The Taoist spat out a mouthful of blood, his face revealing an expression of utter disbelief. How could his Soul-Suppressing Bell be backfired upon by his opponent!?
This was impossible!
The Soul-Suppressing Bell was capable of suppressing any cultivator below the 6th Layer of Qi Refining; it was a Dharmic Treasure personally bestowed upon him by his master after he had performed a great service!
Goddess Xiao was dumbfounded. She had not expected that the Taoist, with his bizarre and sinister methods, would end up vomiting blood the moment he crossed paths with Fang Chen—and Fang Chen had not moved a single finger the entire time!
"Which piece of trash dares to come and trouble the heir? Die!"
Suddenly, a thunderous shout rang out. Goddess Xiao immediately saw a giant appear behind the Taoist.
The giant used a fist the size of a mortar to smash the Taoist, shattering his bones and tendons in an instant. Furthermore, a sword pierced through the Taoist's chest, was withdrawn, and then pierced through him again!
"Heir, are you alright?"
Tiema sheathed his longsword and bowed to Fang Chen.
"Heir, this Taoist had guts, daring to come and cause you trouble. He was truly asking for death."
Huang Sihai spat at the Taoist and cursed.
"You two, don't kill him yet. I still have questions."
Fang Chen said helplessly.
"He's not dead, he's not dead. I specifically left him with a breath."
Huang Sihai immediately hauled up the limp, mud-like Taoist and barked, "Answer whatever the heir asks, you hear me? If you try any tricks, I’ll crush your skull."
"The Spirit General... he has left Dahua Temple?"
Goddess Xiao was momentarily stunned at the sight of Huang Sihai.
The people of the Xiao family were very familiar with Huang Sihai; he was one of the four great Dragon Generals who once served under Fang Chen, born with immense strength!
Then, she saw Tiema, and her daze turned into astonishment, horror, and then fury and disbelief.
"Tell me, what is your objective in Daxia? Who ordered you to kill Goddess Xiao?"
Fang Chen walked up to the Taoist and said coldly.
It was impossible for the man to have had a whim to kill Goddess Xiao; there must have been someone behind it. But in Daxia, who could command a cultivator?
Fang Chen suddenly realized that the waters in the Capital were far deeper than he had imagined. He thought he understood Daxia well, but it appeared the truth was far from it!
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The Taoist coughed up blood continuously, his eyes filled with resentment and malice. He never imagined that he, a cultivator at the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining, would one day be beaten to death by two martial artists.
His injuries were severe. Without spiritual medicine, his time was at an end!
"Fa—Fang Chen, our Blood Spirit Cult will avenge me. It won't be long before you join me down below, hahaha..."
The Taoist let out a savage laugh, then his neck went limp as he breathed his last.
Blood Spirit Cult?
Fang Chen’s expression shifted. This was clearly a sect of cultivators!
Huang Sihai and Tiema frowned. They had never heard of any Blood Spirit Cult.
"Tiema, have you been Fang Chen's man all along?"
Goddess Xiao suddenly spoke up.
"Yes."
Tiema nodded calmly.
"What a fine Military God Fang. To be able to plant someone in our Xiao family for years without any of us noticing—even my father was deceived by this Tiema!"
Goddess Xiao laughed out of extreme anger.
She finally understood why several critical battles had ended in defeat for the Wolf Army due to all sorts of coincidental factors.
The high command of the Wolf Army had a traitor, a mole—this was the best explanation!
"Tiema is a 'Hidden Dragon' under my command. Your Xiao family has also planted quite a few 'Hidden Dragons' in our Daxia; what is there to complain about? When two armies are at war, it is only natural to use every possible means. There is no need to be angry."
Fang Chen said indifferently, "You are covered in wounds; go and rest. Tomorrow, I will have someone send you out of the Capital."
"No, I am not leaving. I will not leave until I uncover his origin."
Goddess Xiao glanced at the Taoist’s corpse.
"Old Huang, take her away to rest. If she tries any tricks, break her legs."
Fang Chen ordered.
Huang Sihai gave a cackling laugh and stepped forward, grabbing Goddess Xiao and dragging her away. In his hands, she was like a helpless chick, with no power to resist.
Tiema intended to search the Taoist’s belongings, but Fang Chen shook his head slightly. "I’ll do it. He may have some odd items on him, and we must guard against any hidden cards he might have left behind."
Fang Chen squatted before the Taoist and rummaged through his things, pulling out a small porcelain jar and a small leather pouch. The pouch was bulging, seemingly filled with quite a lot.
***
Fang Chen did not open the jar immediately. He first used his spiritual power to sense it and discovered a fat, white, wriggling worm inside. Only then did he open it to take a look.
This worm was several times fatter than the one he had extracted from Goddess Xiao; it must be the mother of the Mother-Child Silkworms.
With a jolt of spiritual power, Fang Chen crushed both the jar and the mother worm into dust.
Only then did he open the leather pouch to examine its contents.
First, there were a dozen white stones, each the size of a thumb, containing rich spiritual power.
"Spirit stones? These are good things."
Fang Chen’s gaze flickered.
The *Introductory Chapter of the Three Thousand Daoist Methods* mentioned spirit stones specifically. They were essential for a cultivator's practice, capable of increasing the rate of spiritual energy absorption and accelerating cultivation.
Moreover, spirit stones were the currency of the cultivation world. Gold and silver were worthless in the eyes of cultivators; only spirit stones held high value.
These dozen stones perfectly matched the description of low-grade spirit stones.
Besides the spirit stones, Fang Chen found a codex inscribed with four characters: *Blood Spirit Technique*!
"His cultivation technique!"
Fang Chen’s eyes narrowed.
Next, Fang Chen found a special token inscribed with three characters: *Dragon Ridge Workshop*.
"Dragon Ridge Workshop? It sounds like a marketplace, and with a special token, it might be a place where cultivators gather, or perhaps the location of the Blood Spirit Cult."
Fang Chen thought to himself.
Although the Taoist was dead, he had found a few clues in the items left behind.
Fang Chen flipped through the *Blood Spirit Technique* and read a few pages. His expression grew increasingly solemn. This technique clearly followed the path of the demonic.
Just to enter the path required one hundred portions of human essence blood to condense the 'Blood Spirit Immortal Vein' within the body!
Once the Blood Spirit Immortal Vein was possessed, one could unreservedly drain the essence blood of humans, with the essence blood of cultivators being the most superior!
"This Blood Spirit Cult is no benevolent entity. What exactly is its background, and why are Blood Spirit Cult cultivators lurking in the Daxia Capital?"
A cold glint flashed in Fang Chen’s eyes.
Following the cultivation method of the Blood Spirit Cult, the Taoist must have drained quite a lot of human essence blood during his years in the Capital!
Fang Chen could not tolerate such a thing happening within Daxia.
"Go and fetch Xu Ge."
Fang Chen ordered.
Tiema nodded slightly and turned to leave. He could see that the matter was not simple, otherwise, Fang Chen’s brow would not have remained so tightly locked.
Before long, Xu Ge hurried over. When he saw the Taoist’s corpse on the ground, his face showed immediate shock.
"Heir, who is this?"
Xu Ge asked, filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
"Remember his face, then spread the word. I want all the Hidden Guards to mobilize and uncover this Taoist’s identity in the Daxia Capital."
Fang Chen instructed.
Xu Ge nodded immediately. "Do not worry, Heir, I will handle this properly."
Following this, Tiema took charge of disposing of the Taoist’s body, while Fang Chen returned to his room to toy with the spirit stones. The next moment, he projected his soul out of his body once more, overlooking the entire Capital.
Apart from the Daxia River and the Imperial Palace, which still had lights, the rest of the area was shrouded in the black curtain of night.
Fang Chen’s gaze swept across every inch of the land, attempting to find any clues, but unfortunately, he found nothing suspicious.
Suddenly, his soul arrived above the Imperial Palace.
At that moment, a special sensation welled up in his heart. It seemed as though something was faintly emitting a trace of danger, but Fang Chen could not find the source of this feeling.
He only felt vaguely that something was lurking within the Imperial Palace!
Fang Chen gathered his thoughts, and his soul returned to his physical body. His gaze, however, remained fixed toward the direction of the Imperial Palace, his eyes revealing a hint of quiet solemnity:
"In the Imperial Palace, there should be something hidden."
If a Blood Spirit Cult cultivator was hiding in the Imperial Palace, the implications were massive.
Fang Chen’s mind raced. In the end, he decided not to stir the grass to scare the snake, but to look for clues about the Blood Spirit Cult slowly.
He was currently only at the 2nd Layer of Qi Refining; even if he could make Purple Lightning Talismans, he feared he could not handle a whole sect of cultivators.
"In these five years, I have never had such a feeling. It seems that cultivation has caused a change in my soul."
Fang Chen thought to himself.
He did not believe this was a coincidence. Why, in five years, had he never sensed danger in the Imperial Palace, only to perceive it now?
This might be directly related to his advancement to the 2nd Layer of Qi Refining.
The morning sun rose.
Fang Chen went to Goddess Xiao's room. Seeing she was already dressed and ready, he said coldly, "I will use the Fang family carriage to take you out of the Capital shortly."
"I told you, I will not leave until I have figured things out."
Goddess Xiao said.
"That Taoist has accomplices. If they find out you are here, do you think you can leave alive?"
Fang Chen replied with a cold sneer, "Besides, with your strength, even if you found something, you have no power to deal with it."
"I heard you are very close to the Third Prince. He is currently a hostage in the Qingsong Kingdom; you two must haven't been in contact for a long time, have you?"
Goddess Xiao’s eyes flickered.
A cold mockery appeared in Fang Chen’s eyes. "Are you using him to threaten me?"
"This is not a threat. Just think about it—you have killed so many martial artists from the Qingsong Kingdom. If they find out, how will they treat your Daxia hostage? Now that I am in your hands, with this consideration, my father will at least step in to ensure your Daxia hostage remains unharmed."
Goddess Xiao’s eyes darted around.
She wanted to stay in the Capital not just to uncover the Taoist's origin, but because she had thought of a legend that morning.
The legend said that in stronger empires, there existed power systems far superior to those of martial artists. Last night, she had very likely encountered one of these legendary powers!
"Fang Chen suddenly recovering his cultivation must also be related to this."
Goddess Xiao’s heart grew hot.
If she could obtain similar power, it would be a joyous event for the Qingsong Kingdom, and its promotion to an Eighth-Rank Empire would be just around the corner!
"Goddess Xiao, tell me... if you were to die, the Third Prince would surely be executed, wouldn't he?"
Fang Chen said suddenly.
A look of vigilance immediately appeared on Goddess Xiao's face: "Fang Chen, do not do anything reckless..."
"Answer me."
Fang Chen looked at Goddess Xiao.
"Yes, if I die, your Daxia hostage will definitely die!"
Goddess Xiao said in a deep voice.
"That settles it... In the Daxia Capital, who wants the Third Prince dead the most?"
Fang Chen let out a cold laugh.
"Are you saying... that Taoist was your Crown Prince's man? He wanted to kill me just to force the Qingsong Kingdom to execute your hostage?"
Goddess Xiao was slightly startled.
Clearly, she was quite knowledgeable about the situation in Daxia and knew some of the history between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince.
"It is just a guess, but don't you think this guess is more reasonable? The Crown Prince just learned that I have recovered my cultivation, and immediately sent someone to kill you. Isn't it just to prevent me from going to Qingsong to welcome the Third Prince back?"
Fang Chen smiled. "I also remembered where I saw that Taoist before."
"It seems... your Daxia is not as simple as it appears..."
Goddess Xiao’s expression was solemn.
If such a power existed in Daxia, why had they been utterly defeated at Sanjie Mountain? She felt a vague sense of unease.
***
Fang Chen did not send Goddess Xiao out of the Capital; instead, they reached an agreement.
Goddess Xiao changed into a maid’s uniform and, with a bit of disguise, followed Fang Chen to the side of the Daxia River as his maidservant.
Today, there was a poetry gathering here. Not only would scholars from the three kingdoms of Guhe, Longdu, and Yizhou attend, but the young talents of the Daxia Capital and the young ladies of various noble houses would also be present.
The person presiding over this poetry gathering was none other than the Crown Prince of Daxia.
The theme of today’s poetry gathering was "Cease War."
The meaning was quite obvious: the hope that there would be no more warfare in the world.
"Heh, the scholars of your Daxia have nothing better to do than write poems and compose couplets. Unlike us in Qingsong, when we have nothing to do, we engage in martial arts sparring."
Goddess Xiao followed Fang Chen, looking at the scene with slight derision.
Fang Chen smiled and did not respond.
By the Daxia River, hundreds of scholars and young ladies gathered, occasionally expressing their poetic sentiments, lamenting the state of the world, or criticizing the current political situation.
However, these scholars and ladies were not entirely without strength; almost all of them practiced martial arts, though their cultivation was low, stopping at Qi Condensation. Finding even one Qi-Bursting Martial Artist among them would be extremely difficult.
Fang Chen was a newcomer and initially drew little attention, but as he gradually walked into the center of the crowd, someone finally noticed him!
"Fang Chen!?"
"Why is he at today's 'Cease War' poetry gathering!?"
"He is a mere martial artist, what is he doing at a poetry gathering? He isn't here to kill, is he? Just a few days ago, even Li Huang died at his hands!"
"Brother Li had such literary talent and a bright future, yet he died young because he offended this butcher. What a pity, what a pity!"
People whispered among themselves. The vast majority of the scholars held no goodwill toward Fang Chen.
Five years ago, when Fang Chen was defeated, they had been the most vicious in their condemnation.
Now, although Fang Chen had recovered his cultivation, he was forbidden from entering the court or leading armies for life. Having lost his power, these scholars had even less reverence for Fang Chen, whom they viewed as nothing more than a martial artist.
"Why is he here?"
Ye Qinghe looked at Fang Chen in the distance, his brow slightly furrowed. Standing beside him were several young men and talented ladies, all of significant background.
"Today is the 'Cease War' poetry gathering. What is the biggest war criminal of our Daxia doing here? He’s tainting the atmosphere of the gathering!"
A young man with a jade-like face sneered.
He was Tao Yu, son of the Minister of Rites. He was a famous talent in the Daxia Capital, a favorite of the Crown Prince, and together with Ye Qinghe, was known as the literary and martial protector by the Crown Prince’s side.
"Brother Tao, let’s go and meet this fellow."
Ye Qinghe smiled.
Tao Yu gave an arrogant laugh: "Fine."
With that, the group walked toward Fang Chen. Seeing this, the surrounding scholars and ladies also followed.
"Isn't this the Military God Fang? I did not expect to see the Military God gracing today’s 'Cease War' poetry gathering."
Tao Yu approached and began to mock him: "Is the Military God here today to offer us some guidance?"
The crowd immediately chuckled.
It was common knowledge that Fang Chen had never attended a single poetry gathering, and he had barely read any books in his youth, having joined the army at a young age. Anyone here could offer guidance on poetry to this Military God.
Goddess Xiao heard Tao Yu mocking Fang Chen and couldn't help but feel a flicker of anticipation. How would Fang Chen handle such a situation? Would he, like on the battlefield, draw his sword and slash them down?
"If he kills everyone here, that would be fun."
A smile flashed in Goddess Xiao’s eyes.
"And you are?"
Fang Chen looked at Tao Yu, a look of thought in his eyes.
Tao Yu was slightly taken aback, not expecting Fang Chen to not even recognize him. The smile on his face froze, and the scholars and ladies around him looked at each other in confusion.
"Fang Chen, you don't even know Tao Yu, the number one talent of the Daxia Capital? No wonder; I suppose your heart only has room for swords and spears, not an ounce of ink or paper."
Ye Qinghe bridged the gap for Tao Yu, while also mocking Fang Chen.
"Oh, so you are the number one talent of the Daxia Capital."
Fang Chen realized, then smiled: "I have been idle lately, and hearing that the Crown Prince was holding a poetry gathering, I thought I would come to join in the fun. Occasionally soaking in the scent of ink and paper can be quite refreshing."
Hearing Fang Chen claim he was just here to join the fun and soak in the scent of ink and paper, the hostility in their eyes dimmed slightly. At least the man had self-awareness.
Moreover, having the former Military God attend today’s gathering made them secretly excited; the value of this gathering had greatly increased.
Goddess Xiao felt a little disappointed, not having seen the scene she was hoping for.
"What? You all aren't welcoming me?"
Fang Chen laughed.
"How could that be? The Military God used to scoff at the path of poetry, but it seems that after a few years of settling down, you have changed your mind. Then you have arrived at the perfect time today!"
Tao Yu waved his sleeves and said: "Military God, please take a seat!"
Fang Chen smiled and randomly chose a seat, looking left and right: "Why hasn't the Crown Prince arrived?"
"The Crown Prince has gone to invite Fairy Yu."
Ye Qinghe said indifferently.
Those sitting nearby were all people of extraordinary backgrounds, and when they heard the name 'Fairy Yu,' their eyes immediately lit up.
Who did not know that the most famous talented woman in the Daxia Capital was that elegant fairy from the Jade Immortal Ship?
For an ordinary person to see her even once, spending their entire fortune might not even suffice.
"Is a woman of the red dust also coming to attend today’s poetry gathering?"
One of the talented ladies couldn't help but mutter, expressing her dissatisfaction.