"Ever since I ran into the Dragon Maiden in Yunlong City, we haven’t had any contact."


    Han answered truthfully.


    He had nothing to hide, nor anything to be ashamed of.


    To his surprise, Lu Qingmo said, "If you have the time, you should reach out to her."


    "..."


    Aunt Mo, do you realize you’re pushing me straight into the dragon’s maw?


    She added, "You could discuss the recent events in Heiyun Town with her."


    Han’s mind stirred at those words. There was more to this than she was saying.


    "What’s happening in Heiyun Town—perhaps the Yunjiang Dragon Palace is unaware of it. Giving them a heads-up wouldn’t hurt."


    "Understood." Han grasped Lu Qingmo’s intention—she wanted him to establish communication with the Dragon Palace.


    "I’ll reach out to her soon."


    Sigh. How was this any different from sending me off to use my charm for diplomacy?


    Aunt Mo, you’ll regret this. You’re personally handing me over!


    Han put away Dai Lin’s spatial ring and went off to train.


    Advancing to the Daylight Realm didn’t mean he could no longer refine Lunar Essence. He absolutely could.


    Lower realms couldn’t access the power of higher realms in advance, but the reverse wasn’t restricted.


    Meanwhile, Lu Qingmo glanced at Han before contemplating which Dao technique to imprint for him.


    An offensive technique? A defensive one?


    Or perhaps something life-preserving?


    The Mirror of Imprinting had been an unexpected boon. She had to make the most of it.


    <hr>


    By dawn, Han left the peach grove and strolled through town, noticing official notices plastered all over by the town’s administrative office.


    It was about Left Tianzheng’s initiative—he was actively recruiting and expanding the Heiyun Guard.


    Since he first proposed the idea, the guard’s ranks had swelled significantly.


    Now, their numbers surpassed those of both the Ghost Division and the Divine Martial Division combined.


    After all, the two divisions were selective and rarely accepted rogue cultivators, whereas Left Tianzheng welcomed anyone with open arms.


    As long as you didn’t appear outright demonic, a brief inquiry about your background was all it took to join. No verification whatsoever.


    It was practically an open-door policy.


    As a result, the Heiyun Guard, despite its imposing size, was a mixed bag—likely harboring fugitives and individuals with ulterior motives.


    Han felt uneasy. With such a composition, once these recruits entered Heishan, they were more likely to abuse their power than maintain order.


    Rather than bringing peace, they might plunge Heishan—and even Heiyun Town—into deeper chaos.


    Officially, the Heiyun Guard was a government-sanctioned force. If ill-intentioned individuals used that status for their own agenda, the consequences could be dire.


    "What exactly is Left Tianzheng thinking..." Han pondered.


    He refused to believe that Left Tianzheng—or those around him—were blind to the dangers of unchecked recruitment.


    They were deliberately ignoring the risks, even enabling them.


    But Left Tianzheng was a high-ranking imperial envoy from Yujing. Unless he lost his mind, no one could stop him from doing as he pleased.


    The two divisions could refuse his orders, but expecting him to heed Lu Qingmo and the others was wishful thinking.


    <hr>


    At the martial hall, Han brought up his concerns, and Shen Long immediately agreed.


    "You’re absolutely right," Shen Long said.


    "I’ve heard from some friends in the Heiyun Guard—many of the new recruits act with ruthless aggression, nothing like proper law enforcers."


    "Some even hail from the same region. Off the record, they’ve told us that certain individuals among them already had notorious reputations back home. They’re not good people."


    "I really don’t understand why Left Tianzheng is hiring them."


    "Brother, are there any outsiders in your squad?" Han asked.


    Shen Long shook his head. "No. The mixed units of the Heiyun factions mainly handle town affairs."


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    "The squads made up mostly of outsiders are being sent directly into Heishan by Left Tianzheng."


    Su Chang’an and the others nodded—they were in the same position.


    The Heiyun Guard was originally meant to stabilize Heiyun Town. While Left Tianzheng had grander ambitions now, the town itself still required protection.


    Since Shen Long’s group didn’t want to go into Heishan, they were assigned to local defense—a benefit for those aligned with Heiyun’s major factions.


    "Tenglong Martial Hall played it smart. They technically responded to Left Tianzheng’s call, but barely sent anyone into Heishan."


    Shen Long smirked. "They know how dangerous prolonged operations in Heishan can be."


    "By the way, every Heiyun Guard member entering Heishan receives a special token from Left Tianzheng."


    "What kind of token?" Han asked.


    "According to him, it’s for identity verification—to prevent imposters within Heishan."


    "Only those with the token are deemed trustworthy."


    "Some cultivators examined the tokens and confirmed they contain Daoist inscriptions, allowing them to sense and recognize each other."


    Han frowned. First, the sensory artifacts from Shen Long’s last expedition, and now these tokens.


    Left Tianzheng was meticulously preparing for something—his focus on detection and identification was extensive.


    Such a large batch of tokens had to have been pre-prepared in Yujing. He had planned this far in advance.


    Was all of this part of a greater scheme?


    Unfortunately, Shen Long and his men weren’t going into Heishan, so Han had no access to a token for study.


    <hr>


    "Enough about that man." Bai Ruoyue’s face twisted in disgust.


    "His repulsive behavior has been spreading like wildfire lately."


    Over the past days, more and more people had come to understand the imperial envoy’s ways.


    The esteemed official from Yujing was neither corrupt nor tyrannical. He was fair in rewards and punishments. However, when it came to personal pleasures, he indulged in excess—especially in matters of the flesh.


    And his tastes were… disturbing.


    He treated his partners like mere playthings.


    Scandalous rumors about him had a strong audience, but they also bred contempt—especially from people like Bai Ruoyue.


    <hr>


    After some time, Han left Heiyun Town and arrived at the banks of the Yunjiang River.


    He scanned the surroundings. No one was nearby.


    Taking out a conch shell, he tossed it onto the water.


    "Ao Xuanwei?"


    Han called into the shell.


    It was an enchanted conch—placing it in water enabled communication with the Dragon Maiden.


    Essentially a crude version of a sound-transmission device.


    The conch shimmered briefly before a voice emerged.


    "Han?" The Dragon Maiden sounded surprised.


    "You’re the one reaching out to me?"


    All because of Aunt Mo’s orders.


    Han got straight to the point, wasting no time on pleasantries.


    "Did you hear? An imperial envoy has arrived in Black Cloud Town."


    "Yeah, I heard. His name is Zuo Tianzheng, right?"


    "That’s him."


    Han nodded to himself. It seemed that the Yunjiang Dragon Palace was well-informed about worldly affairs.


    He proceeded to share some details with the Dragon Maiden.


    After listening, she replied, "We''ve gathered some information on Zuo Tianzheng. His background and experiences are well-documented."


    "Wait a moment."


    With that, the conch suddenly leaped from the river''s surface and landed back on Han.


    Uh… Did she just hang up on me?


    Han sighed and dived into Yunjiang, deciding to pass the time by searching for aquatic spiritual plants.


    However, to his surprise, even after exhausting the duration of his Water-Avoiding Pearl, there was still no response from the Dragon Maiden.


    The Water-Avoiding Pearl was a peculiar artifact—it functioned without requiring Han to channel any power into it. But even if he did, its duration wouldn’t extend. The same applied to the Poison-Avoiding Pearl.


    These two artifacts were completely independent, unaffected by their wielder—unlike any other treasures Han possessed.


    As he gazed at the vast river, he began to wonder if the Dragon Maiden had simply forgotten about him.


    Just as he was about to leave, she finally appeared.


    Rather than using the conch to communicate, she had come in person.


    No wonder it took so long.


    "I''m embarrassed to trouble you over something so trivial," Han remarked.


    The Dragon Maiden smiled. "I was just in Yunlong City, not far from here."


    She stepped onto the riverbank, and the two of them began strolling along the water’s edge.


    "You must know that Zuo Tianzheng once saved the Qi Emperor," she said.


    Han nodded. "Yeah, I’ve heard."


    "There are rumors in the capital that before that assassination attempt, Zuo Tianzheng was considered a prodigy," she continued.


    "Though not among the most legendary geniuses, he was expected to reach the True Blood Realm."


    Han raised an eyebrow. "The True Blood Realm? But that assassination happened years ago, and now he’s only at the peak of the Bone Refinement stage."


    Even back when Lu Qingmo was in the capital, she had heard of this event, which meant it had been quite some time.


    Reaching the True Blood Realm was a major achievement.


    After all, a provincial Ghost God Bureau chief was usually only at the Yin Spirit stage, while a commander of the Dingwu Bureau was typically in the True Blood Realm.


    Being capable of such progress meant Zuo Tianzheng was, without a doubt, a talent to be reckoned with.


    "But after that incident, he faded into obscurity," the Dragon Maiden said, shaking her head.


    "There are whispers that protecting the Qi Emperor damaged his body, leaving him with an irreversible flaw that made further cultivation extremely difficult."


    "He disappeared from the public eye for quite some time afterward."


    "A physical defect?" Han frowned. "But he looks perfectly fine—no missing limbs or anything."


    The Dragon Maiden shook her head again. "Losing a limb is just the most obvious form of impairment—it’s not the only kind."


    "The human body is incredibly intricate. Beyond the visible flesh, countless internal structures are equally indispensable. If even one is damaged, it can severely hinder martial potential and future growth."


    "I once met someone who was born without a liver. His life was filled with immense difficulties. If he had tried to practice martial arts, his internal energy cultivation would have been forever incomplete, making Bone Refinement nearly impossible."


    Han was stunned. "Wait, someone was born without a liver? Shouldn’t they have died at birth?"


    "He survived thanks to powerful Daoist techniques and rare treasures. Later, he scoured the world for miraculous medicines and managed to restore his missing organ."


    "…"


    Defying fate itself.


    Han pondered for a moment. "That sounds similar to when a soul’s essence is tainted."


    The Dragon Maiden glanced at him. "There’s a difference. When a soul is tainted, something foreign is added. But when the body is flawed, something is missing."


    "Still, both have a profound impact on one''s future."


    She then added, "By the way, this isn’t Zuo Tianzheng’s first time leaving the capital as an imperial envoy."


    Han’s eyes narrowed.


    "Our investigations show that he has left the capital multiple times before," she said.


    "And every single place he visited had one thing in common—they were all sites of extraordinary fortune and hidden treasures."


    "While none of them were quite as exceptional as Black Mountain, they were still remarkable in their own right."


    Realization dawned on Han. "So he’s looking for something?"


    The Dragon Palace''s intelligence was as thorough as ever.


    If that were the case, then many of Zuo Tianzheng’s seemingly questionable actions could be explained.


    Even those identity-sensing tokens he issued to the Black Cloud Guards might not have been just for verifying credentials.


    "Exactly." The Dragon Maiden nodded.


    "If the rumors about his physical defect are true, then his repeated expeditions to treasure-filled lands are likely his way of searching for a cure."


    Han''s mind spun with possibilities.


    If this was all true, then could the treasure Zuo Tianzheng sought be useful to Aunt Mo as well?