Two days later.

On the winding official mountain road, a series of ox carts moved steadily towards Qingchuan Prefecture.

Zuo Han, clad in a black cloak, gazed into the distance ahead.

Standing beside him were others from the Thousand Stone Sect, along with Sun Chaoyue and others who had come together.

"Mr. Zuo, how's the situation?" Zhang Yunqi of the Rebel Sect coughed a few times and stepped forward to ask in a low voice. His injuries had not healed completely and had damaged his lung meridian.

"No problem. After several consecutive attacks, they have also suffered great losses and should have retreated." Zuo Han shook his head in response.

This group, first encountered an attack on their way to the Great Capital.

Then, after getting the news in the Great Capital of Yue Dewen's death, everyone was shocked and hurried to Qingchuan Prefecture.

On the way, this time, there was more than one group of attackers.

"The first two groups and the subsequent two groups should not be the same. It seems the lord has many troubles." Zuo Han said in a deep voice.

"If nothing is happening, what use would we be?" Zhang Yunqi smiled.

"True," Zuo Han agreed, patting him on the shoulder, "You're quite good. Follow the lord well, and you might live a few decades longer."

What he meant was vague, but Zhang Yunqi was very familiar with these matters and naturally understood instantly.

He realized Zuo Han was referring to worshiping gods.

He thanked quietly, but in his heart, he knew he would never engage in such worship.

This world... worshiping gods seems glamorous, but within it....

The convoy slowly went over a hill. As nightfall approached.

Finally, a wide and bustling city gradually appeared below.

The entire city looked like a large white spot, covering the surrounding dark green land.

Further away to one side, was the blue sea and sky, with sea birds soaring.

"We're finally here!!"

Zuo Han leaped lightly onto a tree branch and gazed at the full scene ahead.

"Qingchuan Prefecture.... this time.... things are different...."

In the past, when he led the Thousand Stone Sect, they lived a life similar to nomadic peoples, except nomads relied on livestock and plunder.

While they relied purely on plunder.

Pillaging disobedient and malicious merchants and officials.

When they ran out of money, they would rob; whatever they wanted, they would take.

If people resisted, they would kill them.

So the Thousand Stone Sect had few members before, partly because they suffered considerable losses during plundering.

And also because such a model could not support many members.

But now...

Zuo Han took a deep breath, a smile appearing on his face.

"Lord, it's been a long time, Zuo is back with everyone!"

He suddenly said aloud.

The voice carried far, resonating with a faint echo.

"Uncle Zuo."

At this time, a tall and burly man, leading a team, quickly approached along the official road.

It was Zhang Rongfang who had come with people to welcome them.

He wore a genuine smile, looking up towards the convoy. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"The journey was long, everyone has worked hard! Lodging and a feast are prepared, everyone can eat, drink and rest for a few days first."

"Lord, there's no need for such formality!"

"Serving the lord is our wish!"

"We pledge to follow the lord to death!"

"We are all the lord's retainers, just let us know if there's anything the lord needs!"

A number of people responded one after another.

Whether it was the Rebel Sect or the Thousand Stone Sect, having enjoyed extensive resource and financial investment, they had long regarded Zhang Rongfang as their only leader.

Although they had been traveling constantly, the daily expenditure on wealth and resources never stopped.

The group would take medicine daily, watching their strength increase swiftly.

This kind of treatment, with other forces, the resources to support a few hundred people might sustain thousands.

Only someone as generous and magnificent as the Daoist Zhang Ying could be so gracious and open-handed.

"Alright then, as members of our Agarwood Palace, today, we shall drink until drunk or until dawn!" Zhang Rongfang beamed, spreading his arms.

He had waited all these days, finally, finally having enough of his own men to use.

During the days spent in Qingchuan Prefecture, apart from intimidatingly gathering some subordinates, others completely ignored him, feigning compliance and secretly going against him.

And he couldn't directly act, because those people were essentially all connected with the Twelve Sect Mansions.

A slight problem would bring a myriad of connections knocking at his door.

Even Grandmaster Ning Hongli had sent word through her descendants.

It annoyed him endlessly.

But now....

Zhang Rongfang and Zuo Han exchanged a glance, immediately, Zuo Han understood there was an important matter to discuss.

Half an hour later.

With everything arranged properly, everyone was eating and drinking heartily at Zhang Rongfang's mansion, resting and adjusting.

In a small courtyard within the mansion.

Zhang Rongfang stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the lotus flowers in the small pond, silent.

He was waiting for someone.

Zuo Han slowly entered from the yard gate, cupping his fists.

"Crown Prince."

"Uncle Zuo, I've been waiting for you for some time." Zhang Rongfang turned around. "The situation here in Qingchuan Prefecture is complicated, it's the fundamental place for our Great Dao Teaching. The surrounding Twelve Sect Mansions are extremely powerful, so we must act with extreme caution."

"This Zuo knows something about it. Our Holy Gate was taken advantage of by the Great Dao Teaching back then, which led to our collapse." Zuo Han nodded seriously.

Having lived through that war in the past, no one understood the true power of the Great Dao Teaching better than him.

"Originally, I thought the Jade Void Palace of the time had been suppressed by the Spirit Court, vanishing without a trace, but unexpectedly, they were secretly developing here!" Zuo Han felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

"Old Zuo, there are many grandmasters here, but recently, the Jade Void Palace is up to something big. From what I know, they've divided out quite a bit of their forces, and not many are left to guard the area." Zhang Rongfang didn't pay mind to Zuo Han's reflective sentiment, speaking directly.

"What does the Crown Prince intend to do?" Zuo Han's heart stirred, understanding the purpose of Zhang Rongfang asking him over alone.

"Currently among the experts in residence at the Jade Void Palace, only Grandmaster Shangguan Feihua remains, ruling with regulations, so it's best that we, too, act according to principles. As long as identities are not exposed, everything will be fine.

"But I'm here, also because of Yue Shi, and I've offended someone..."

Zhang Rongfang slowly explained the situation concerning Shang Dingye.

As the story was told, Zuo Han's eyes narrowed even further.

"So what about the aftermath? The Crown Prince means..."

"Blame it on the Righteous Alliance," Zhang Rongfang replied. "As long as there's no evidence, no one knows what power is behind the Righteous Alliance. So many of them have been killed; they're bound to seek revenge. So, in retaliation, having one or two Grandmasters die is only to be expected. But..."

He sighed.

"But we must be careful, we absolutely cannot let this person escape. This time we're likely going to move for real, Uncle Zuo."

"The Grandmaster of Jade Void Palace... is certainly not easy to deal with." Zuo Han nodded solemnly, "However... if we operate like this..."

His eyes turned; a person always honest and sincere, he surprisingly quickly set up a simple scheme.

His words made Zhang Rongfang's eyes light up.

"But... such a plan exposes you to too much risk, Uncle Zuo." Zhang Rongfang said earnestly.

"Serving the Crown Prince, that doesn't count for much," Zuo Han shook his head. "With such a decision, the Crown Prince's safety is the greatest guarantee."

Zhang Rongfang sighed deeply and nodded slightly.

"Alright, let's go with Uncle Zuo's method then!"

"So, when does the Crown Prince intend to act?" Zuo Han asked.

*

*

*

The returning team arrived at Qingchuan Prefecture shortly thereafter.

At this time, the largest restaurant in the city - Jiangsong Pavilion.

In the top-tier Cloud Mist Residence suite.

Shang Dingye carefully held his chopsticks, eating his lunch bit by bit.

On the large round table before him, there were over a hundred dishes, chicken, duck, fish, goose, cow, sheep, monkey, deer, all sorts of rare mountain and seafood, everything was available.

"Grandmaster Shang," a very respectful female voice called clearly outside the suite door.

"What is it?" Shang Dingye slowly swallowed the beef in his mouth and picked up a silk cloth to gently wipe his mouth.

"Zhang Ying Daoist has just gone outside the city, bringing back a large group of his followers from Citong. They seem to be in high spirits," the woman said in a deep voice.

"Come in and say it." Shang Dingye clapped his hands.

"Yes."

The door opened slowly, and a beautiful woman dressed in a green skirt quickly entered the room, standing respectfully by Shang Dingye's side with her head lowered.

She was one of the managers for the Shang family in Qingchuan.

The whole restaurant was actually owned by the Shang family.

She was naturally part of it.

"Continue." Shang Dingye didn't glance at her.

Beauty, to him, was something he'd long grown tired of playing with; nowadays he was only interested in various tastes.

Nothing to do normally, he preferred to immerse himself in recipe studies, learning how to make delicious dishes.

"Yes," the woman nodded, "Additionally, there's something else; those few people you instructed us to find. With identifiable characteristics, we found thirteen groups. Among them, survivors from previous clearing actions, we have two groups.

Their addresses are confirmed, but they're temporary, could change anytime, should we capture them immediately?"

"Oh? Found them?" Shang Dingye showed interest in this.

It had been many years since he last paid attention to a few ants so much; if it weren't for that damned Zhang Ying causing trouble, he'd never have cared about a few waste he could easily crush in the past.

"Yes, Grandmaster, if we are to capture them now, we must act swiftly," the woman said.

"The two groups, both are an old man paired with a beautiful woman. The first group, the man is called Zhao Yunfei, the woman called Qi Xiang.

The second group, the man is called Zhang Xuan, the woman is called Xiao Qingying."

"Zhao Yunfei? Zhang Xuan?" Shang Dingye recalled hearing that old man shout Rongfang... previously....

It was obviously Zhang Ying, yet he shouted Rongfang....

There must be a secret hidden within....between Zhang Ying and Zhang Rongfang, these two names....

Crunch.

Suddenly, a slight noise came from outside the right wall.

"Who!?" Shang Dingye's eye turned harshly, looking in that direction.

Among the guards outside, a master turned into a shadow, rushing into the adjacent room.

Boom!

In less than two seconds, the person was thrown out as they went in.

A body sprayed blood halfway through the air, breaking into two pieces before hitting the ground.

The restaurant instantly erupted in screams.

"Such audacity!"

Shang Dingye's ears twitched, hearing a dull sound in the adjacent room, someone broke the window and jumped down from the third floor.

The master who had rushed in earlier was already at Ninth Grade level, yet was instantly killed.

This shows the strength of the person next door.

"Trying to escape in front of me!?"

Without hesitation, Shang Dingye also leaped and crashed into the side window.

Thud.

The wooden window burst open, he too leapt from the third floor, landing.

After a heavy thud upon landing, Shang Dingye immediately charged towards the man.

But that man's body technique was extremely fast, only slightly slower than him.

One pursues, one flees, quickly they rushed out of the bustling city zone, heading towards the outskirts.

'Trying to deliberately lure me?' Shang Dingye, with his keen experience, reacted instantly.

Yet he was unfazed, the strength he displayed to outsiders was just a fraction of his real strength.

In fact, no one knew, his hidden strength was far greater than what showed on the surface.

Though the three tier levels of a Grandmaster couldn't determine strength or weakness, he had long reached the highest Full Moon before worshiping the gods.

Waning Moon, Crescent Moon, Full Moon, only Full Moon can maintain peak condition constantly.

So...

If anyone thought they could sneak and ambush him directly, then they were gravely mistaken!

Because....

He had used this tactic to counter-kill several opponents already.