His Excellency the Clear Broth Magistrate Has Arrived

Blazing flames flickered with an eerie green glow.

Two distinct types of beast fire danced through Ye Shu's hands, yet they remained separate, coexisting in perfect harmony. Every movement he made carried an easy, effortless grace. The firelight cast shadows across his handsome face, lending him an unexpected air of grandmaster dignity.

Mu Xi, seated beside him, propped her chin on her hand and watched in silence.

As the ancients said, there's nothing more attractive than a man in deep concentration.

At this moment, Ye Shu in the firelight—still wearing that tattered hemp robe, face still smudged with dirt—had something about his focused profile, his steady hands, and the way the flames flowed fluidly between his fingers that genuinely made him look somewhat transcendent and otherworldly.

"I didn't think this guy could clean up so well when he actually applied himself," Mu Xi muttered under her breath.

Actually, she always felt this guy reminded her of someone. It was partly why she'd chosen to work with him in the first place.

But how could that be?

That person was long dead...

"Ah..."

Mu Xi let out a soft sigh, her gaze turning complicated. Thinking of that person, she couldn't tell whether she should hate him or resent him.

But honestly, that man owed her nothing.

She stared at Ye Shu's face and murmured quietly to herself.

"If only you were him..."

"Shi Bei?"

Only a fool would think that was a real name—after all, there had never been a surname starting with "Shi" in this world.

But false names often carried hidden truths.

Mu Xi mulled over the name "Shi Bei," vaguely feeling that this guy might have chosen it for some special reason, but after thinking it over for a while without arriving at any conclusion, she simply gave up.

"You absolutely have to succeed," she said, pressing her palms together in a prayer-like gesture. "Whether my master can recover his cultivation depends entirely on you."

"..."

Ye Shu didn't reply, clearly already lost in the alchemy. The quiet ancient forest was filled with nothing but the sound of burning flames.

Meanwhile—Jiuyou Immortal Palace.

Compared to the silence of the forest, this place was especially rowdy. Several hermit clans and holy lands, each sending their self-proclaimed elite young prodigies, were already battling with tremendous ferocity.

"Mo Yu! Hand over the treasures of the Immortal Palace!!!"

Yan Lie's eyes were bloodshot, flames cloaking his body, spirit fire coiling around him. Behind him, the heirs of several great families stood shoulder to shoulder, pressing aggressively forward, blocking the Mo family inside the passageway.

"I've told you a hundred times, the inheritance of the Immortal Palace isn't on me! What the hell do you want me to hand over?!"

Mo Yu roared back in fury.

After Mo Shisan had left, he hadn't even had a chance to explore the palace before Yan Lie and his crew came charging in and cornered him. The two sides had come to blows the moment they met.

They'd been fighting for what felt like an eternity.

The other side had no intention of letting them explore the ruins—their motto was simply: if we can't have it, neither can you.

By now, both sides bore wounds, but the hostility showed no sign of fading.

"Not on you?"

Yan Lie let out a cold laugh. "The Mo family entered this Immortal Palace first. You're telling me you gained nothing? Who do you think you're fooling? Do you take me for an idiot?"

Hearing this, Mo Yu was so angry he nearly vomited blood.

Everything had been swept away by Mo Shisan. Now that the man was gone from the ruins, and Mo Yu himself had gained nothing, he couldn't very well say, "The inheritance was already taken by a disciple of a branch family, and I kicked him out of the ruins," could he?

That would only make things even worse!

Mo Yu took a deep breath, suppressing his fury. "I'll say it one more time: I don't have the inheritance!"

At that, the people behind Yan Lie snickered one after another.

Clearly, none of them believed him.

"No inheritance?"

Yan Lie raised an eyebrow, his tone cold and hard. "Since Young Master Mo insists he doesn't have it, why not lower your weapons and let us search you? If there's nothing, we'll naturally apologize."

At this, Mo Yu's face instantly turned ice-cold.

Handing over his storage pouch to be searched? This wasn't about suspicion anymore—it was outright humiliation!

He barked, "You're going too far!"

"That's right, we are," Yan Lie and his companions exchanged glances, bursting into loud laughter. "Even if Young Master Mo is supremely skilled, against all of us together, I doubt you'll fare well."

"Yan Lie, do you truly think I have no other options?"

Mo Yu stared coldly at the arrogant Yan Lie. "Be mindful—thirty years east, thirty years west. Never bully a young man just because he's down!"

"Then show me what you've got," Yan Lie sneered.

"Fine! Watch closely!"

With a thunderous shout, Mo Yu yanked a yellowed talisman from his chest, radiating a shocking surge of spiritual energy.

The next moment, light exploded!

Blinding white radiance engulfed the entire tunnel, shrouding everyone's vision in a sea of white.

By the time the others opened their eyes, there was no trace of Mo Yu.

"Damn it!"

Yan Lie slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a three-foot-deep crater. Through gritted teeth, he hissed, "That bastard got away!"

Meanwhile, above the desert.

A flash of white light arced through the air, and the Mo family party appeared disheveled at the entrance of the Immortal Palace.

Mo Yu's face was so dark it looked ready to drip water.

That talisman just now had been one of his trump cards—his final life-saving measures—and he'd been forced to waste it here!

"Young Master Mo..." The other Mo family disciples looked at him with worried expressions. "What do we do now?"

"Our best move is to retreat and come back another day."

Without a moment's hesitation, Mo Yu made the call to fight another time.

But just as he was about to turn and leave, he noticed something strange about the sand beneath his feet.

The next instant—

Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh!

Countless blade shadows filled the sky and earth, cocooning them in a deadly cage. At the same time, vivid images of carnal pleasure flooded the minds of everyone present.

"Damn! It's a formation!"

"When did this happen?!"

In an instant, Mo Yu realized they'd walked into a trap.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Several Mo family disciples, still trapped in the illusion, were sliced apart by the sword light converging from the void, reduced to bursts of blood mist without even a scream.

"Shit!"

Mo Yu's eyes split wide with rage, and he could only roar once more:

"System! POUR IN THE POINTS!!!"

By the time Yan Lie and his group emerged, all they could see was the devastated desert—blood-soaked sand, shredded cloth scraps scattered everywhere.

"...What happened here?"

They all halted, frowning deeply.

"It's a formation. Someone set up an ambush outside while we were inside the ruins. If we'd come out just a little earlier, that might have been us lying here right now."

"Despicable."

Yan Lie snorted coldly, his expression dark.

Regardless of the reason, the feeling of being outmaneuvered was deeply unpleasant—especially when they'd left empty-handed, and the time limit on the ruins was nearly spent.

This meant they'd likely have to return with nothing.

How could they possibly accept that?

Just then, frantic shouts rang out from the distance: "Young Master! Young Master! You're finally out!"

Everyone looked up.

A group of savages clad in animal skins and garments woven from grass and leaves came stumbling over from afar, tears streaming down their faces: "Young masters, you must seek justice for us!"

"Not you all?"

Several young masters from the great families rubbed their eyes, only then realizing that this ragged bunch was none other than their own clan disciples sent out to plunder resources—except now they looked utterly disheveled, no different from mountain savages.

"What sort of game are you lot playing here?"

The young masters exchanged bewildered glances, thoroughly confused by the spectacle.

"No, young masters!" The savages wailed with mournful faces. "Recently, a pair of male and female bandits have appeared in the ruins. While you were away, they've been running amok and causing chaos in the ruins. We... we fell prey to their wicked hands!"

Hearing this, Yan Lie and the others exchanged looks.

"Is there such a thing? Take us there to see! Are the people of our hidden clans so easily bullied by just anyone?"