“Easy to invite a god, hard to send one away — I hope the Inspector understands our position.”

Madam Lin cupped her sword in a salute. “If there’s anything the Implement Sect’s disciples can do to help, please say the word without hesitation. We wouldn’t dare be the slightest bit remiss.”

Qingqiu’s foxes made a point of offending nobody. Whether dealing with the Thousand Demon Den or Great Qian, they invariably presented the face of easy harmony.

And with their fingers in every kind of craft and knowledge.

When the Implement Sect had first invited the fox over, they’d never imagined it would cause trouble.

Until this time, when it sent a letter to Qingzhou using the Implement Sect’s name without authorization… the specific reason remained unclear, but the whole thing didn’t feel like it had any good intentions tucked inside it.

“Understood.”

Shen Yi nodded and saw her out of the central offices.

With only this much information, it was difficult to guess what Qingqiu’s fox was actually after.

But he wasn’t particularly worried about it.

Knowing that Lizhou’s Implement Sect had a worthwhile sum of demon lifespan on hand was enough for now.

Situations like Song Prefecture’s were rare.

In provinces with any real strength behind them, governance was generally managed well enough — Shen Yi had spent so many days waiting, had even gone out of his way to ask several Demon Suppression Generals directly, and still hadn’t turned up anything promising.

Generals like Jiang Yuanhua, keeping a constant eye on the demon king every moment of the day, were the exception rather than the rule.

Most Martial Immortals at the mid-tier and above only needed to sit in the General’s residence — their reputation for violence alone was enough to keep the demons in check.

For Shen Yi’s purposes, this was far from ideal.

But he didn’t feel particularly put out by it. Situations as dire as Song Prefecture’s were better kept to a minimum, all things considered.

“Let’s go.”

Shen Yi brought Lin Baixi out of the central offices, and found the carriage parked at the roadside.

He stopped, cupped his fists with genuine sincerity. “Shen Yi greets General Chen.”

“Subordinate Chen Qiankun greets the Inspector.”

The old man climbed down from the carriage and returned the salute. Each calling the other by their respective title, no one stepping on anyone’s toes.

In just this brief time at the War Temple, he’d heard Shen Yi’s name come up so many times from various people that it had given him a great deal to reflect on.

The young man now wore the blue-green robe of a Custodian, and yet remained as composed as ever — Chen Qiankun looked at that familiar expression and felt himself carried back to Qingfeng Mountain.

The two of them met each other’s eyes, gave quiet laughs, and shook their heads, dispensing with the formalities entirely.

“Why are you still sleeping in the carriage?”

Shen Yi did the rough math on how long the refinement had taken — two days at minimum, by his estimate — and the old general had apparently spent the entire time in the carriage.

“I was waiting for you.”

Chen Qiankun glanced sideways at Lin Baixi and waved her off.

The girl looked over curiously, but obediently moved herself out of earshot.

Once it was just the two of them.

Chen Qiankun’s brow furrowed tight in an instant, his expression turning grave. “Actually, General You sent this old man to find you and Jiang Yuanhua. He wanted to ask if either of you had heard anything from Lizhou’s Implement Sect — they suddenly sent a letter…”

“Saying they’d located a Silver Moon Cold Lotus.”

The old general’s eyes held a note of puzzlement. “This old man doesn’t know what that thing is, but I’m told it’s a treasure Mixed Origin Grandmasters prize highly — especially sought after by those who condense their path infant through cold intent.”

“…”

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow. “You should’ve been able to see through that.”

A Mixed Origin Grandmaster. Cold intent path infant. They might as well have just said it was prepared specifically for Jiang Qiulan.

The problem being — who knew she’d broken through to Mixed Origin?

“We did.”

Chen Qiankun nodded. “But she went anyway. You know as well as I do — the only person in all of Qingzhou who can talk her out of anything is you. No one else.”

He sighed. “That boy You Longtao — he doesn’t have the first trace of a senior brother’s authority.”

“Alright. The two of you settle in somewhere first.” Shen Yi’s expression didn’t shift.

The worry knotted in Chen Qiankun’s chest loosened considerably.

This young man — you couldn’t explain it, but somehow he always made people feel that things would be fine.

Shen Yi said his goodbyes to the two of them and made his way toward the War Temple’s Yi section. Clearly, what General Chen and Madam Lin had each described were the same matter.

Convenient to deal with both at once.

A Silver Moon Cold Lotus… Shen Yi had a rough idea what that was.

The General had mentioned once that a Perfected Master from Xuanguang Cave had traded with the War Temple’s Ancestor for a crystal treasure-fruit, using it to complete his path infant’s heart and step into the mid-tier of Mixed Origin.

Jiang Qiulan, who had also condensed her path infant through cold intent, would surely want to investigate the moment she heard of something like this.

He wondered whether his own Heaven-Devouring demon infant counted as a cold-type.

His divine spirit had already broken through its realm.

Shen Yi looked at the blood-red path infant in his qi sea. It was time to start tracking down resources for himself as well.

Even if the information turned out to be false, it was worth taking a look.

Especially since he’d gathered so many miscellaneous Mixed Origin techniques along the way — he might as well put the panel to work with a sharper-minded demon to help process them.

He stepped into the Yi section.

The hour was late, but the Lin couple hadn’t gone back inside. They were waiting in the courtyard.

“Inspector.” Both rose and nodded in greeting.

“I’d be grateful if you’d both come along with me.” Shen Yi had no idea where Lizhou actually was, and needed someone to show him the way.

“We’ve been prepared.”

The husband and wife each gave their longsword a slight lift. They’d heard enough about this Commander Shen’s temperament by now to have anticipated this perfectly well.

“Shall I arrange horses?” Shen Yi asked offhandedly.

The couple looked at each other, and smiled. “No need to worry over that, Commander Shen. We are Implement Sect.”

As they spoke, each produced a small white cloud from somewhere on their person.

“Commander Shen, please take mine — my wife and I can share.” Lin Qingyang gave a mild smile. Speak of anything else and their Implement Sect might fall short, but speak of treasure artifacts, and even the War Temple’s armory might not match their reserves.

These two white clouds were both high-grade artifacts — among the most prized objects anywhere in Great Qian.

“No need. I have my own.”

Beneath Shen Yi’s feet, a red demon cloud began to gather, its crimson presence surging through the courtyard.

Beside it, the two white clouds looked like harmless wisps of cotton.

“…”

Lin Qingyang watched Commander Shen streak up into the sky in an instant, and froze for a moment.

What their Inspector was riding clearly hadn’t come from the Implement Sect’s workshop… and the more he looked at it, the more it resembled something out of the Thousand Demon Den.

“Something he took from a slain demon, I imagine.”

Madam Lin mounted her cloud and followed, giving her husband a look that said plainly — don’t ask.

An object like this, even within the Thousand Demon Den itself, wouldn’t have been available to just anyone.

Lin Qingyang nodded in understanding, and the three of them vanished together into the night sky.

Inside the War Temple armory’s small loft.

Wu Dao’an crouched in the corner, looking at Senior Brother Zhu, who was currently facing the wall in silent contemplation. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Go… away.” Zhu Jue turned silently to face a different wall.

“I only wanted to ask about Junior Brother Shen’s progress.” Wu Dao’an moved his face closer.

At that, Zhu Jue shot him a glare, seemed to take it as a personal affront, gathered up his skeleton, and walked out of the loft entirely.

“What’s gotten into you?”

Wu Dao’an stood up, bewildered. He was just asking.

And besides — Zhu Jue’s speech was still halting, but it was different from before. Where once he’d been staring into the void with no particular feeling attached to it, now he seemed genuinely absorbed in something. His temper had grown considerably sharper, too.

“Without you I still know how to do my own thing. I’ll go ask Junior Brother Shen myself.”

Wu Dao’an stepped out of the loft.

He was genuinely curious — with sufficient accumulated faith at his disposal, what could Shen Yi actually accomplish?

With that thought, the old man picked up his pace toward the Jia section.

He stood before the firmly closed door.

His expression softened with warmth. “Junior Brother Shen, are you asleep? I’ve come to check on you.”

“Junior Brother Shen?”

“Hello?”

(End of Chapter 239)