Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

After months of expansion, the layout of Hidden Dragon Temple had drastically changed.

With support from Chief Zhang and the security office of Ping'an County, Qing Yunzi began extensive construction and even took in a batch of clever orphans and children from good families to act as outer sect disciples. Hidden Dragon Temple finally shed its look of having only a few stray cats.

Qing Feng and Ming Yue got their wish and rose in status, becoming the equivalent of great-uncles, and gradually began to settle down, starting to teach the newly admitted disciples to chant the Daoist scriptures.

Inside the main hall.

Chief Zhang and Lin Zhengyi were both present.

Now, Lin Zhengyi was already the deputy head of a thousand-household office.

Both men had deeply furrowed brows.

"The Worshippers of the Fire God are coming on strong. Today, the commoners working on the construction site were beaten and threatened by some unknown people from outside the area when they returned home. Old Huang asked me to pass on a message: they're too scared to continue working for Hidden Dragon Temple until this is resolved."

"Qing Yunzi, Uncle-Master, perhaps you should hand over the jade dagger you found by accident to those people from the Worshippers of the Fire God," Chief Zhang suggested helplessly.

"Right, some families of the good children have also received threats and attacks; they've decided to leave Hidden Dragon Temple."

Lin Zhengyi also sighed, "I'm in a difficult position to take action on this matter, despite Yi Taoist's high ranking on the Dragon and Tiger List, ensuring that the Worshippers of the Fire God dare not openly attack you brothers. But they have powerful backing."

"Behind the Worshippers of the Fire God stands the largest sect within the domain of Mingguang Prefecture, the Dark Fire Cult's branch, and these people have True Person Realm experts supporting them.

The security office of Ping'an County really can't play a big role in this affair; at most, we can help Hidden Dragon Temple with gathering some intelligence."

"I share the same view as Chief Zhang. Qing Yunzi, you should hand over that jade dagger to the Worshippers of the Fire God tomorrow. If you delay further, I'm afraid their demands will only get worse, and they won't be as mild as they have been."

Qing Yunzi, after months of experience, had lost most of his youthful naïveté. Apart from his persistent squint, his entire demeanor had transformed significantly, and the mana condensed within him revealed that he had, in a remarkably short time, broken through to the early stages of the Qi Refinement Realm.

Indeed, he was worthy of being the successor Bai Yunzi had in mind.

It wasn't just his cultivation speed and growth that were incredibly fast.

Qing Yunzi felt frustrated. After thinking it over, he bowed to Chief Zhang and Lin Zhengyi and said, "An honest man is not guilty of holding a treasure."

"Qing Yunzi knows what to do now. Thank you both for this time."

Chief Zhang and Lin Zhengyi insisted it was nothing.

"Daoist brother, sometimes the situation is stronger than the man. We can only bow our heads. As for the few outer sect disciples who died or were injured, we can only ask you to mourn."

Lin Zhengyi stood up to offer his condolences before departing.

Just as Qing Yunzi was about to reply, suddenly the door to the hall flung open, and a tall and imposing figure strode in.

"My foolish junior brothers, your revered Senior Brother is back, hahaha!"

"Have you missed your Senior Brother?"

"Brother Lin, what were you talking about just now? Who's mourning?"

Yi Chen had arrived, laughing heartily with his arms outstretched as he walked toward everyone.

The atmosphere instantly warmed up.

"Senior Brother, you're finally back," Qing Yunzi's voice also started to get excited, as if he had found his pillar of strength, a tremendous weight seemingly lifted from his shoulders.

"Master, you're back at last. Some people are about to crap on top of our Hidden Dragon Temple's head," Chief Zhang promptly started to complain.

"Yi Taoist, you've returned," Lin Zhengyi's expression was complicated.

If before he held any thoughts of catching up to Yi Chen, now he had completely given up.

Shortly after Yi Chen left, with the help of the resources awarded by the security office after the Longevity God incident, and the support of 'my thousand-household father,' he had successfully broken through to the Qi Refinement Realm.

He had thought he could someday match the tall Daoist, but before long, news arrived that Yi Taoist had ascended the Dragon and Tiger List. After some time, the intelligence that Yi Chen had forcefully slain the sixteenth-ranked tyrant with the saber also reached his ears.

The scale of this progress was simply beyond his belief.

Lin Zhenbei was stunned for a while before accepting the fact.

Yi Taoist was incredibly forbearing.

Such power must have been achieved long ago, yet he always held back, focused on the Dao, not pursuing fame, devoted to cultivation, and even, to sully his name, went to Treasure Street to sell Kingly Chickens~

The actions of a profound person are indeed unfathomable.

Who would have thought that Hidden Dragon Temple, as inconspicuous as it was, concealed such a young and powerful True Person Realm expert.

Hidden Dragon Temple, true to its name, indeed harbored a True Dragon!

Bai Yunzi, the Daoist master in life, boasted privately that his leading disciple had extraordinary talent, and it was certainly no empty boast!

"Brother Lin, thank you for looking after Hidden Dragon Temple while I was away."

"In a few days, I will come to drink with you. First, tell me, what about this mourning? Where the hell are Qing Feng and Ming Yue? Where are my two little junior brothers?"

"Don't tell me Qing Feng and Ming Yue are gone?"

Yi Chen glanced around as if he thought of something, then suddenly, he bristled, with anger surging and a room filled with killing intent.

It was as if an ancient ferocious beast had descended upon the earth.

Under this intimidation, Chief Zhang actually tumbled onto his backside.

Qing Yunzi and Lin Zhengyi were both trembling in fear.

It was not for lack of will, but the crushing disparity between levels of existence.

They were completely out of their league.

"Yi Taoist, calm down, calm down."

"Qing Feng and Ming Yue are fine, sleeping at the back, and they've grown fatter."

Lin Zhengyi wiped the sweat from his brow and couldn't help but think, so this is the frightening Yi Taoist who powerfully killed the bully with the saber?

Too terrifying.

Having beaten sixteen of them, I can't imagine how terrifying the top ten heroes on the Dragon Tiger List must be.

If Yi Chen were aware of Lin Zhengyi's thoughts at this moment, he would surely sigh that Fengyun County really is backwater, with poor connectivity.

Hearing Lin Zhengyi speak, Yi Chen suddenly reined in the overflowing killing intent.

As long as the junior brothers are unharmed, there's no big problem, no need to fuss.
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Right now, he's someone who drinks with the master of the Red Flame Army and Feng Linsu, the commander in charge of the Jiangbei Circuit; what's his status? A small Mingguang Prefecture, there are few things he couldn't handle.

As Lin Zhengyi continued to explain, Yi Chen came to understand why these people were having a nighttime discussion here.

The incident happened three days ago when Qing Yunzi, deep in meditation, decided to take a stroll down Treasure Street, the very street where Yi Chen previously sold the Tyrant Chicken, and chanced upon a street vendor who seemed like a country scholar,

He saw that the vendor had a jade dagger covered in mud that appeared to be quite extraordinary, and casually bargained to buy it for two hundred taels.

However, somehow this reached the ears of the Minor Sect Master of the Fire-worshipping Sect. Knowing about the existence of the jade dagger, they first tried bribery, and then resorted to outright intimidation.

Today, they even mobilized a group of people to smash the construction site of the Hidden Dragon Temple's expansion and injured several recently recruited outer disciples, issuing a final ultimatum. They declared that if they came again the next day, they would not be so polite.

Three of the outer disciples even succumbed to their grave injuries and died.

"The Fire-worshipping Sect," Yi Chen slowly uttered the words.

He remembered now; this force belonged to the sect of the young man and woman who perished previously at the Yang Family Fort, two small fish.

"Yi Taoist, it's not that I, Lin Zhengyi, am not being diligent; it's just that they were unstoppable. That Fire-worshipping Sect is a branch of the Myriad Fires Cult, a major power in Mingguang Prefecture. Just today, the Fire-worshipping Sect sent as many as eight priests from the Qi Refinement Realm to come here."

"The eight of them with eight cranes, truly unstoppable."

"Fortunately, the Fire-worshipping Sect is also aware of Taoist Yi's formidable reputation for slaying the Tyrant Blade, not daring to go too far." Lin Zhengyi said, adding the last part in case Yi Chen would blame him.

Upon hearing this, Yi Chen's voice suddenly turned icy.

"The Fire-worshipping Sect has quite the nerve to oppress my Hidden Dragon Temple this way."

"Eight people with eight cranes, what a grand display of power."

"Tomorrow, your poor Taoist will meet these people and discuss the pros and cons in detail."

After sending Lin Zhengyi and his senior disciple, Chief Zhang, away, Yi Chen closed the door and began to converse with Qing Yunzi.

The reason he didn't go straight to the Fire-worshipping Sect to kill them tonight was that he smelled a conspiracy.

After all, he was always cautious, and could not help but think one step further.

Ever since the Yan Family sent an assassin last time, they have not made another move, and he suspected that this jade dagger incident was a trap set by the Yan Family.

Damn it, how many times had he strolled through Treasure Street? How could he not know the quality of goods there?

They were all charlatans, looking for ways to add value to their products.

How did the minor sect master of the Fire-worshipping Sect come to know about the junior brother's purchase of this jade dagger and even come to demand it?

Yi Chen couldn't help but consider the implications.

Given the influence of the Yan family from the capital, inciting a smaller faction to take risks on their behalf was not an impossible thing.

He just didn't know what other trump card they might be holding against him.

"Junior brother, there's more to it than meets the eye. You don't know, our master has an enemy from the capital."

"..."

Omitting the part where their master Bai Yunzi had asked him to deliver a message to Piao Xue, Yi Chen told his junior brother all that he had learned about their master's situation.

Unconsciously, a dish of sunflower seeds appeared on their table.

As Qing Yunzi cracked seeds and squinted, his pupils suddenly shrank: "Master once had such grand achievements? That Piao Xue lady must be Her Highness the Princess, truly remarkable."

"Indeed, master really did great. The situation is as it stands now, junior brother. The jade dagger you bought is just a pretext, definitely a fake; surely, it is Yan Family making a move behind the scenes."

"Where in the world could there be such coincidences? I understand Treasure Street's nuances too well, junior brother, you're just too green, no one knows Treasure Street better than I do!"

"Senior brother, can it be? This jade dagger that I inadvertently picked up, seems indeed to be rather extraordinary. Look, it's incredibly sturdy, even with my mana, I can't leave a single scratch on it."

Qing Yunzi sneaked out to take an 18-centimeter-long jade dagger from a corner of the backyard and handed it to Yi Chen.

As soon as the jade dagger was in hand, a stream of information suddenly came into Yi Chen's sight.

[Contact with special item, Deep Red Points +180]

"Holy shit!" Yi Chen couldn't help but his pupils dilate sharply.

This was the real deal.

The amount of Deep Red Points contained within was something he had never seen in his life.

Most likely, this item had an extraordinary origin.

As he swept his suspicious gaze over Qing Yunzi three times, a wave of jealousy welled up inside Yi Chen.

Could his junior brother be a child of fortune? Stumbling upon such a treasure on Treasure Street for just two hundred taels.

Damn, so frustrating!

Who knows how many times he inspected Treasure Street for business and came back with nothing.

"Senior brother, this is genuine, right?" Qing Yunzi said softly.

Yi Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, it's genuine!"

"Senior brother, I didn't expect the Yan Family to attack our Hidden Dragon Temple with such vicious means, actually using a real artifact to lure the greed of nearby forces, so insidious."

"That's how it is. Senior brother, I'm merely courting disaster by holding this jade dagger. It's better if you take it," Qing Yunzi said earnestly, gazing into Yi Chen's face.