Biochemical Martial Arts: Supreme Heavenly Venerate

Lin Rui didn't know if it was just a psychological illusion, but after receiving the prompt from the Battle Spirit Ring, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Nevertheless, he suppressed his emotions and received his next visitor in the private room of the inn, Tang Wenlan, the High Priest of the Guang Ming Holy Church.

This person had wanted to meet with him several days ago, but Lin Rui had been too busy to make time.

It wasn't until today, when Lin Rui had gone out to meet with Xue Lingxue, that he decided to take the opportunity to meet with the leader of the Guang Ming Holy Church as well.

Tang Wenlan had also brought him a generous gift: a total of three lotus seeds of the Bright Holy Lotus, capable of strengthening the Yuan force of the Bright series and enhancing physical quality.

This gift was Tang Wenlan's way of expressing gratitude for Lin Rui's care for the countless poor citizens and dockworkers of Jinggang since his appointment. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire

When the demonic dragon had blocked the river, Lin Rui had, with the assistance of the Guang Ming Holy Church, released two months' worth of grain from the county government's granary to relieve the people of Jinggang.

Although his intention was to stabilize public sentiment, the fact was that the demonic dragon, which had caused havoc for only half a month, was driven away.

The Guang Ming Holy Church had not lifted a finger throughout the ordeal, yet it ended up gaining even more followers.

In addition, since taking office, Lin Rui had successively taken down the market supervisor eunuch Wang Zhenli and the demonic dragon, thereby restoring the smooth operation of Jinggang's water transport, to the benefit of all its people.

Lin Rui gladly accepted the gift with a smile, for the three lotus seeds could increase the physical quality and True Qi index of his foreign body by about 30 points each, saving him a great deal of time.

However, the next matter Tang Wenlan mentioned made Lin Rui's heart tighten.

"There is another matter I must ask of you, sir," Tang Wenlan said with a solemn expression, "Recently, an edict from our headquarters has informed us that Xu Zhe, the fifth Saint Heir of our Guang Ming Holy Church, has perished in the district of Nanhu Festival Town.

The headquarters is taking this matter very seriously. They have dispatched a 'Metropolitan High Priest' to investigate and have ordered all our local branches to fully investigate the fifth Saint Heir's whereabouts and determine the cause of his death."

Lin Rui narrowed his eyes and asked without revealing anything on his face, "Such a matter has occurred? But what does it have to do with me?"

The 'Metropolitan High Priest' of the Guang Ming Holy Church were all masters of the Seventh Realm, immediately making him feel the pressure.

Nevertheless, the district under the jurisdiction of Nanhu Festival Town was vast, encompassing seven states including the sandbanks and covering an area of 2.3 million square kilometers.

With such an extensive range, the Guang Ming Holy Church should not be able to trace the matter to him for the time being.

Tang Wenlan forced a wry smile, "We hope to ask for your help in utilizing the internal resources of the Imperial City Department to assist in locating this Saint Heir's whereabouts and his last known position."

"This—"

Lin Rui frowned deeply, "Your Guang Ming Holy Church is officially designated as a heretical church. My private dealings with you are already a violation of imperial law."

The key was, he couldn't afford to reveal his own identity.

However, in the next instant, he saw a flash of golden light.

Tang Wenlan had actually taken five bright golden ingots from within his sleeve.

Judging by their weight, they were 50 taels of divine gold each, totaling 250 taels.

On Tianji Star, there was no superstition about the number '250,' so there was no need to avoid this particular number.

"Please do us this favor!"

Tang Wenlan pleaded with his hands clasped together, his expression sincere, "The Imperial City Department should have records of the whereabouts of important figures in our church. All your Excellency needs to do is to extract the records concerning Xu Zhe for us. Rest assured, as a Sanctified one of our church, we will not break the rules and disclose a single word to the outside world."

Lin Rui 'hmm'd thoughtfully, gesturing for Blood Blade at his side to take the gold, his face the very picture of righteousness, "This matter does not go against my conscience nor does it undermine my duties. I will arrange to pull the records as soon as possible. However, this will take some time. Please be patient, High Priest Tang, and wait for my news."

250 taels of divine gold, which was 25,000 taels of demon silver and, when converted to Federation currency, amounted to 25 million. This showed that the Guang Ming Holy Church was very sincere.

Lin Rui thought to himself that with such a sum, he could buy the information from any defense officer in the district of Nanhu Festival Town.

So instead of letting someone else earn that divine gold, it would be better for him to take it himself and control the situation of the case more effectively.

Tang Wenlan left after expressing his thousands of thanks, while Blood Blade cradled the five gold ingots in her hands, looking at Lin Rui with an unusual gaze.

She wasn't afraid of retaliation from the Guang Ming Holy Church; rather, she felt uneasy about the money they had taken.

The third guest Lin Rui received was Li Dan, the prefect of the market authority.

Since both were officials of the imperial court, there was no need for them to meet so secretly outside.

However, these were the days when the market authority divided their profits, so it was still best to avoid the staff in the offices of the Imperial City Department.

Although the majority of the people in Wang City were recruited by Lin Rui and the place was run as tightly as a drum,

it was hard to guarantee that there weren't any spies from above among them. In matters like this, it was better to be cautious and not leave any leverage for others to use.

Li Dan brought Lin Rui a pleasant surprise: the profits of the market authority for the month had reached a massive 45,000 taels of demon silver.

Lin Rui could not help but look at Li Dan with utter astonishment, "Why is it so much this month?"

"That's exactly the amount," Li Dan smiled faintly, "At the beginning of your tenure, Your Excellency allowed over two hundred merchant ships from Jinggang to set sail. Now, some of these ships have returned, and because the price of Divine Heart tea is soaring in the capital, these ship owners have all made a killing, with extremely high profits."

Lin Rui was inwardly thrilled, thinking to himself how fast these merchant ships were.

Wang City was tens of thousands of miles away from Luojing, yet these merchant ships were able to make round trips within two months, highlighting their impressive speed.

The Eastern Republic did not have such capabilities in ancient times.

"Now, only a small fraction has returned, less than a quarter. Next month will bring the bulk of the profit."

Li Dan then took out a stack of silver notes and placed them before Lin Rui, "In addition, there are various tributes from Wang City's major businesses to show their respect to Your Excellency."

Lin Rui glanced at the stack of silver notes, his expression growing even more astonished, "Why would Mr. Li do this?"

The stack of silver notes weighed about 15,000 taels of magic silver.

Why would he suddenly offer a tribute again?

When he had taken office before, these businesses had already paid once; the next payments were supposed to be together with the profits.

Lin Dan smiled and gave a respectful bow, "Ever since the sir took office, you have dredged the rivers, expelled demon dragons, and pacified evil spirits, allowing our citizens in Wang City County to live in peace and prosperity, and all trades to thrive. Therefore, after discussion among the various major business owners of Jing Port, they entrusted me to present this token of appreciation to express our gratitude for the sir's hard work these past two months."

In reality, he had heard rumors that Lin, the Defence Envoy, might very well be transferred to the capital city to become a high disciple of the Third Divine Envoy and would be entrusted with an important task!

Thus, Lin Dan specially rallied these business managers to gather this sum of money in advance to curry favor with Lin Twelve.

The business managers were all too pleased, for if Lin, the Defence Envoy, once entered the capital to take charge of significant power, he could better care for their interests.

It is known that foreign merchant ships are often discriminated against in the capital city, so if they had a high-ranking official from the Imperial City Division looking out for them, their future entries into the capital would be much less troublesome.

Upon hearing this, Lin Rui inwardly lamented at the deplorable and vile officialdom of Tianji Star.

These business managers really went too far; he was merely performing his duties normally, yet they saw fit to gather money to thank him?

Nevertheless, he still signaled for the Blood Blade Warrior beside him to accept the money with a critical attitude.

There was no choice; such was the way of Tianji Star, and Lin Rui, as a different kind of human traveler, could only choose to conform and blend in.

In order to unite his colleagues and conceal himself, he couldn't afford not to accept.

Afterward, Lin Rui met with several more people, all prominent figures from the many guilds of Wang City County.

The businesses in Jing Port were all related to river transportation, but here in Wang City, there were other trades like rice merchants, ivory traders, transportation services, and taverns.

Beyond that, Lin Rui met with several local wealthy gentry and altogether added another ten thousand taels of magic silver to his coffers.

Along with his earlier gains, Lin Rui had amassed almost 100,000 taels of magic silver, plus two 'Heavenly Lotus Essence Needles' worth a billion each.

This was exactly why Lin Rui dared to invest a whopping 2.8 billion federal coins to build that base.

For someone like Old Fei, a fugitive on the emperor's wanted list, making money was somewhat difficult, but for him, the Imperial City Division Defence Envoy, wanting money was just a matter of speaking a word.

If he desired, he could even make a fortune in a single day.

But just then, Lin Rui received a 'Hundred Thousand Li Flying Letter' sent by Meng Weiyun.

Along with the flying letter came a piece of paper bearing a message and a jade token engraved with the seal script character for 'dragon'.

After reading the contents of the message, his brows slightly furrowed, a mix of joy and regret filling him.

"Sister, you are leaving so soon?"

The intention in Meng Weiyun's letter was that she had received an urgent mission from above and must leave immediately. Thus, she wouldn't meet him to say farewell. She sincerely conveyed her gratitude to him, thanking Lin Rui for the care he'd shown her over the past twenty days.

At the same time, Meng Weiyun also mentioned her mentor, the Third Divine Envoy, who had already received the 'Divine Heart Clearing Spirit Pill' and was very pleased with Lin Rui.

The Third Divine Envoy thought him a promising pupil and had decided to formally take Lin Rui as a disciple.

The token that was sent along with the letter was indeed the seal of his discipleship.

Therefore, they could now officially refer to each other as brother and sister. Meng Weiyun specially reminded him that he should henceforth avoid contact with any other sects' teachings.

Lin Rui now only needed an official ceremony to become a disciple, and he must ensure nothing went wrong before that.

Moreover, Meng Weiyun hinted that the mentor was working hard to secure opportunities for him. It was very likely that upon entering the capital, Lin Rui would take charge of an important department within the Imperial City Division. He must make every effort to improve himself before entering the capital and be prepared.

Lin Rui felt a strong sense of reluctance about Meng Weiyun's departure.

After Qin Yan's mansion, Meng Weiyun had been helping him to condense his martial intent, insisting on touching foreheads with him every day, which allowed him to make rapid progress in the understanding of martial arts.

And now, just a few days later, Meng Weiyun was leaving?

He thought about it — her injuries should not have fully healed yet, right? Now, could she ensure her safety on her own against a Sixth Realm expert?

Lin Rui then looked at the words of the letter again, falling into contemplation.

I am about to take charge of an important department in the Imperial City Division? Since the Third Divine Envoy had revealed this in the letter to Meng Weiyun, there must be a great deal of certainty, mustn't there?

Could it be that the grand model's predictive results of the Security Bureau might actually come to pass, and I am about to become the Commanding Envoy of the Assassination Bureau?

Now that he'd come to think of it, Xue Lingxue should have already sought instructions from that General Zhou, hadn't she?

Just sending a message using a quantum relay device, why were there still no results?

He didn't know that at this very moment, just a block away, Xue Lingxue was waiting anxiously with a pale face for General Zhou's reply.

She had hesitated and wasn't sure for a long time after leaving the tavern before deciding to convey Lin Twelve's words accurately to General Zhou.

Feeling heartbroken and on the verge of tears, she wondered if General Zhou would agree to such an absurd matter. If General Zhou agreed, what was she supposed to do?

She gritted her teeth in irritation, feeling that this Lin fellow was just too bullying.

Just then, she saw the reply from Zhou Yunfei.