Li Qingxian said, "Eunuch Jingg, since you’re active in the Inner Court, could you tell me which powers and clans are at odds with the Demon Sect, especially Demon Transformation Mountain?"
Jingg Guan thought for a moment and said, "First, the Literature Cultivation faction and the Demon Sect are irreconcilably opposed. After the Demon Sect Evil Faction joined the imperial court, they originally schemed to rebrand themselves as the Holy Sect. However, the Literature Cultivators and Daoist Cultivators, sharing a common enemy, declared that if the Demon Sect dared to change its name, they would join forces to initiate the ’Great Unity’ and unseal the ’Banishing Hundred Schools’ World-Suppressing Stele. They would purge demons and perform exorcisms, fighting to the death. In the end, the Demon Sect Evil Faction had no choice but to give up and obediently stick to their old name. Eventually, everyone just got used to it."
"Second are some of the Martial Arts Families. The Martial Arts Families have little to do with the Evil Sect, but they have a deep-seated enmity with the Demon Sect, because the Demon Sect loves capturing Martial Cultivators to refine into puppets or use for their cultivation methods. The Royal Family Members also can’t stand Demon Cultivators, but the two sides keep to themselves, mainly out of fear of making the Emperor wary. Finally, there are you Fate Masters. Fate Masters utterly despise factions like the Demon Sect, which bring chaos to the destiny of the Human Race. Let’s put it this way: besides the Evil Sect, the Demon Sect has enemies everywhere. Even the Demon Race looks down on them. If the Demon Race hadn’t marched south and broken through Champion City, the Demon Sect would likely have already been annihilated by the combined major powers."
"No wonder Uncle Zhou makes no secret of his disgust for the Demon Sect," Li Qingxian said.
"Even us eunuchs can’t stand the Demon Sect, let alone a true gentleman like Zhou Chunfeng," Jingg Guan said with a laugh.
After seeing Jingg Guan out, Li Qingxian called for Han Anbo and personally poured him tea.
"Li Ke, you’re being too kind," Han Anbo said, hastily rising to his feet.
Li Qingxian gave a slight smile. "I just realized something."
"What is it?"
"Beichang County is over eighty li from the Divine Capital. You have friends all over the capital, so there’s no reason you wouldn’t have friends here in Beichang," Li Qingxian said with a smile.
Han Anbo gave a wry smile. "I do, but we’re not in regular contact."
Li Qingxian said, "There are some things I couldn’t say to Jingg Guan, but I can be frank with you. I’m preparing to use my Fate Skills to probe the Ministry of Justice for information and mess with their people a bit. To do that, I need someone to stir the pot from the shadows. How about you arrange for some men to spread rumors and sow discord?"
"If we’re targeting the Demon Sect members in the Ministry of Justice, it shouldn’t be a problem," Han Anbo replied.
"Then get ready," Li Qingxian said. "This is a good chance for me to try out some new Fate Skills."
"Alright."
After Han Anbo left, Li Qingxian began to create an Obedience Talisman.
An Obedience Talisman could seal a Fate Skill within it, allowing it to be used when needed. However, its lifespan was very short; even when stored in a Qiankun Bracelet, it would only last for a day.
The sun set and lanterns began to glow, making Beichang City even more lively.
Two men dressed in coarse linen stood at the mouth of an alley, watching the entrance to Baihua Building.
In the void, invisible to the two men, a White Mist Bronze Bell descended. Their Qi Fortune plummeted, temporarily reduced to the state of ’Fourfold Ruin’.
A White Mist Rope shot out, wrapping around both of their ankles and connecting them to a young man in brocade robes standing nearby.
A thread of flame ignited along the White Mist Rope, then suddenly erupted into a raging fire.
A finger of white mist, invisible to the naked eye, flew over and tapped twice on the back of each man’s head.
Suddenly, the young man in brocade robes hurried toward them. The two men exchanged a look but didn’t move.
"BLECH..." The young man in brocade robes vomited like a fountain. The two men were still hesitating whether to use force to dodge when they were sprayed all over their heads and faces.
"Whose little bastard are you?!" True to his nature, the Demon Cultivator couldn’t stand the foul stench covering his body and immediately started cursing.
The expression of the green-robed Steward following the young man darkened. "You lowlife son of a whore! How dare you curse Prince Qing’s nephew. Men! Seize them and send them to the mines!"
The moment the two Demon Cultivators heard the name ’Prince Qing’, they turned to flee. But two Seventh Grade masters stepped out from behind the Steward, subdued them, and sealed their True Essence.
The young man in brocade robes finished vomiting. When he heard from his Steward that someone had called him a bastard, he fumed with rage, snatched the whip from a groom, and began lashing the two men mercilessly.
Still not satisfied after the whipping, he ordered his retainers to punch and kick them.
The two men couldn’t take the beating any longer and had no choice but to shout, "We are officials of the Ministry of Justice! This is an act of rebellion!"
The young man’s eyes glinted. "How dare you impersonate Ministry of Justice officials!" he yelled. "Gag them and keep beating!"
After having the two men beaten until they were half-dead, the young man in brocade robes tossed down two silver notes and swaggered off.
Not far away, a disguised Li Qingxian stopped Observing Qi and Divining Fate. He then cast the Trace Erasing Technique, eliminating all signs of the Suppressing Fate Skill, Life-Guiding Skill, Life-Striking Skill, Life Acceleration Skill, and Disaster Pointing Skill he had used.
「Yihong House.」
Onstage, Dancing Girls fluttered in a graceful dance while a Songstress’s voice rang out, sweet and clear. Cheers erupted from the audience from time to time.
In a corner, a stream of invisible, black peach blossoms shot through the air and branded the back of a handsome, fair-faced man.
A black umbrella, invisible to the naked eye, spun above the fair-faced man’s head.
A delicate, powdered and rouged man sauntered by. His eyes swept over the fair-faced man, and he suddenly blushed. He moved closer, then his body went limp, and he fell right into the fair-faced man’s lap.
The fair-faced man froze, unsure whether to move or stay still. He could only stare at the delicate young man in his lap.
The young man said in a coquettish voice, "Thank you ever so much, kind sir. If you hadn’t caught me, I’m afraid I would have been badly hurt."
"You’re welcome. Now can you get off?" the fair-faced man said, his face devoid of expression.
The other guests at the fair-faced man’s table broke into wicked grins.
"My, what a thing to say. You saved my life; the least I can do is offer you a toast." With that, the young man grabbed a cup from the table, shot the man a flirtatious look, and drained it in one gulp.
He set the cup down, then suddenly pressed a hand to his forehead. "Oh dear," he cried delicately, "I’m so dizzy, so dizzy..."
As he spoke, he leaned against the fair-faced man.
The fair-faced man instantly understood what was happening. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the young man with both hands to pull him off, but the motion looked more like an embrace.
"You’ve got some nerve! Daring to steal my man!" A burly man charged over, swinging a fist at him.
The fair-faced man’s brow furrowed. He tossed the young man aside and casually parried the blow. With a sharp CRACK, the burly man’s right arm broke.
"Big brother! He’s trying to kill me!" the burly man suddenly yelled, his voice breaking into a sob.
The door to a private room on the second floor flew open, and a lean middle-aged man leaped down.
The fair-faced man saw that his opponent was a Middle Grade cultivator and quickly lowered his voice. "The Ministry of Justice is on a case. We’d appreciate your cooperation."
The lean middle-aged man heard ’Ministry of Justice’ and sneered, "A mere Lower Grade Little Demon dares to run wild in my presence?"
The lean Middle Grade cultivator channeled his energy and attacked. In just a few exchanges, he broke both of the men’s legs, tossed down a few silver notes, and strode away.
Li Qingxian once again used the Trace Erasing Technique, eliminating the aura of the ’Vicious Peach Blossom Lure’ and other Fate Skills.
As he walked out of Yihong House, he caught a glimpse of a slender figure out of the corner of his eye. It seemed familiar, but by the time he turned to get a better look, the person had already entered a pharmacy.
Li Qingxian racked his brain for a while but couldn’t place the person. ’Probably just a passing acquaintance from long ago,’ he thought. ’It’s normal for the memory to be fuzzy.’ Shaking his head, he walked into a small alley.
In the alley, Li Qingxian summoned an Immortal-Seeking Bee. Using a strand of the dead Night Guard’s hair as Life Materials, he guided it toward the location of the next Demon Cultivator from the Ministry of Justice.
That night, the Ministry of Justice’s field agents were plagued by either terrible luck or confrontations with powerful enemies. In the end, they were forced to recall all personnel.
Li Qingxian returned, his mission a great success.
Every time Ministry of Justice personnel clashed with others, their Qi Fortune was inevitably suppressed. And once it was suppressed, Li Qingxian could use his Qi Observation Skill and Observing Fate Skill to see fragments of their Destiny Image, even without the aid of a Qi Fortune Fish.