Li Qingxian had thought about it. Given his aptitude, unless something unexpected happened, the paths of literature, martial arts, and the Dao were basically out of the question. The paths of Demon Fiends, puppets, and evil arts were even less of an option. Becoming a Fate Master was his last chance for advancement.
Once he became a Grade-Entering Fate Master, he would be much safer in Daqi.
The two of them slowly started talking about Fate Masters, and those hazy memories were gradually stirred.
Li Qingxian had actually memorized some of the Fate Measuring Sect’s classics and Fate Skill Rhymes, but he had just crammed them without any real understanding. He could still recite them now, but he had no idea what they meant.
Suddenly, Li Qingxian’s expression changed.
"What is it?" Luo Jing stopped and asked.
"It’s nothing. I was just remembering how I used to recite the Fate Measuring Sect’s classics as a child," Li Qingxian said.
"If you can walk the path of a Fate Master, you must not give up."
Li Qingxian nodded, but his mind was on something else.
In the three days he had been lying in bed, he had dreamed of the Celestial Destiny Instrument every night.
As he recalled the classics of the Fate Measuring Sect, he felt more and more that the Celestial Destiny Instrument from his dreams was anything but ordinary.
"Lord Divine Son, Mr. Xiaoli, we’re here!" Duan Heng’s voice rang out as he strode over with more than ten men.
These men were dressed in tight-fitting black clothes and carried long sabers. Their attire was far from the neat and uniform look of the Night Guard. Each man was tall and burly, with a fierce expression.
Duan Heng carefully walked over, holding a box wrapped in red silk with both hands.
Luo Jing stood motionless. After a moment of deep thought with his head lowered, he waved his hand and said, "To the Night Guard Office."
Luo Jing led the way with Li Qingxian behind him, and the rest followed at the very back as they headed for the Night Guard Office.
They had only taken a few steps when a black carriage pulled up. Pang Mingjing alighted and blocked Luo Jing’s path.
The soldiers on both sides gripped the hilts of their sabers, staring each other down.
Pang Mingjing cupped his fist and smiled. "I am Pang Mingjing. It is an honor to meet an official from the Ministry of Revenue."
Luo Jing had no choice but to bow his head slightly. "I am Luo Jing, a subordinate official. Greetings, Lord Pang."
An inscrutable smile flickered across Pang Mingjing’s face. He pointed at Li Qingxian and said, "He is one of my Night Guard. He was sent to the Ministry of Revenue on military orders. Why is Lord Luo taking him away? Do you perhaps have official documents from the Ministry of Revenue authorizing this?"
"This man has received a secret order from Zhou Chunfeng, the Disciplinary Officer of the Night Guard Divine Capital Department. I am taking him to see Lord Zhou," Luo Jing said.
"This Li Qingxian was brought in by our Finance Department."
"He belongs to the Divine Capital Bureau."
Pang Mingjing, a Senior Seventh Grade official, and Luo Jing, a Senior Eighth Grade official, locked eyes.
Pang Mingjing smiled. "May I ask if Lord Luo works in one of the warehouses, depots, bureaus, or customs houses?"
"I do not." The smile on Luo Jing’s face faded slightly.
"Then does Lord Luo work in the Census, Expenditure, Currency, or Granaries Section?"
"I do not."
The smile on Pang Mingjing’s face widened. He asked probingly, "Could it be that you are in the Records Section?"
"I am indeed serving in the Records Section."
Li Qingxian noticed that the smile on Luo Jing’s face was so stiff it looked frozen.
Pang Mingjing’s smile receded slightly. "I’ve had dinner with Room Leader Liang of the Records Section a few times, and I’ve met all the other Grade-Entering officials there. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you, Brother Luo."
"I just recently transferred to the Ministry of Revenue from the South Star Sect," Luo Jing said calmly.
"I see," Pang Mingjing said. "The storms in this Divine Capital are far more unpredictable than the affairs of the great sects. How about this, Brother Luo? Do myself and our Night Guard Finance Department a favor. Let this matter go, and I will pay a visit to thank you another day. In a few days, my lord will be hosting Vice Minister Feng of the Ministry of Revenue. I can have my lord introduce you. What do you say?"
Luo Jing remained silent.
’These officials are really something else,’ Li Qingxian sighed inwardly.
Luo Jing sighed. "Lord Pang, I, Luo Jing, am new to the Divine Capital. I’m unfamiliar with the people and places here and must rely on the Benefactors of the Capital City. However, I only wish to verify this with Lord Zhou. If he was indeed sent by Lord Zhou, then Lord Zhou can decide his fate. If it has nothing to do with Lord Zhou, you can do with him as you please. How about it?"
"Other matters can be discussed, but not this one. Even my lord cannot make the final call on this," Pang Mingjing said, staring at Luo Jing.
"I’m taking him to the Divine Capital Bureau first." Luo Jing stared back at Pang Mingjing without a trace of fear.
Li Qingxian’s heart skipped a beat. ’Someone even more powerful than the Disciplinary Officer of the Finance Department wants me dead?’
Pang Mingjing’s expression darkened. "So, you’re refusing to give our Finance Department face, Brother Luo?"
"I would like to, but I have my duty to attend to. Besides, since when do you get to tell the South Star Sect what to do?"
A mocking sneer suddenly appeared on Luo Jing’s face. A flash of red light glinted in his eyes. His eyeballs remained still, but his pupils darted rapidly from side to side, creating afterimages.
"You..." Pang Mingjing actually didn’t dare to look Luo Jing in the eye. He instinctively glanced at the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Divine Spirit—the most human-like of the five manifestations—before quickly lowering his head.
The South Star God, the Divine Spirit worshipped by the South Star Sect.
"Move aside!" Luo Jing said coldly.
Duan Heng stepped forward, still holding the wooden box wrapped in red silk.
"Don’t force my lord to open the Divine Token," Duan Heng said.
Pang Mingjing took a deep breath. Smoke suddenly swirled around his hands, settling on them and dyeing his skin a purplish-black.
Luo Jing chuckled. "It seems Lord Pang is not planning to yield?"
"I’d like to see how you’ll answer to the Ministry of Revenue and the South Star Sect if a fight breaks out here on Ministry of Revenue Street!" Pang Mingjing retorted, looking at Luo Jing defiantly.
Li Qingxian said, "Lord Luo, didn’t I just say it? Pang Mingjing is just here to stir up a conflict between the Night Guard and the Ministry of Revenue. He absolutely does not dare to make a move. A bastard like him, if he was going to do something, he would have done it already! He’s bluffing!"
"Mr. Xiaoli is right," Duan Heng chimed in.
"You two know each other?" Pang Mingjing asked.
Li Qingxian cut in, "Whether we know each other or not is none of your business. I advise you to get out of the way, or else. If you cause a conflict between the Ministry of Revenue and the Night Guard, that Disciplinary Officer of the Finance Department of yours won’t be able to protect you. You can look down on an Eighth-Grade Official, but you cannot insult a Divine Token!"
Pang Mingjing sneered, "As the Room Leader of the Household Section of the Night Guard Finance Department, I am only here to arrest you. This has nothing to do with the South Star Sect!"
"Are you trying to force me to join the South Star Sect?" Li Qingxian asked.
Pang Mingjing was stunned. He had never considered this possibility.
Confucianism and the Evil Sects were like fire and water. Before the invasion of the Demon Race, the Grand Scholars of Confucianism had joined forces with the Daoist Sects, dealing one defeat after another to the Five Great Evil Sects.
After the Demon Race invasion, Confucianism suffered heavy losses, which gave the Evil Sects an opportunity to grow and expand.
Li Qingxian, the son of the great Confucian monument that was Li Gangfeng, being forced to seek refuge with an Evil Sect?
The people from the Ministry of Rites would dig up Li Gangfeng’s grave, and while they were at it, they’d dig up the ancestral tombs of Pang Mingjing’s entire family.
Pang Mingjing stared at Li Qingxian, momentarily at a loss for what to do.
Luo Jing laughed. "I, on the other hand, think Senior Brother Qingxian is quite shrewd and stays calm in a crisis. It’s very possible he’s a lost, illegitimate Divine Son of our god. If he could return to the sect and be entered into the family register, it would be an act of great Merit."
Pang Mingjing said in a low voice, "I hope you dare to say the same thing in front of Vice Minister Feng!"
The two sides were at a standstill.
Li Qingxian saw Han Anbo sneaking around in the distance. Although he couldn’t quite understand his hand signals and lip movements, he could more or less guess the meaning: keep stalling, stall for as long as possible.