"I just want to quietly tend to my field, why do they have to disturb my life?"

After getting the special light orb from the spiritual field, Lu Xuan started to think about living a peaceful life. He no longer wanted to fight with countless wandering cultivators for a fleeting chance. This is why he had previously turned down Zhang Hong and the invitation from the Spiritual Plant Cultivators of the Hundred Herbs Hall to explore a secret realm.

On ordinary days, he was friendly with others and rarely went out. However, since Wang Shan was possessed by an evil spirit, it could disrupt his currently calm life, so Lu Xuan had to try to solve this issue himself.

"Who should I report Wang Shan to?"

"It has to be someone stronger than him and not too close to him."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Xuan remembered that Wang Shan had once cursed one of his superiors while they were drinking together. He had considered using connections from the Hundred Herbs Hall to resolve this, but ultimately decided against it. After all, he had just started cooperating with them, and his status was low. He had no significant achievements to show and didn't know anyone important. The only person he was friendly with, Steward He, didn't have a high position either.

"One more thing to keep in mind: I must hide my identity well to avoid being implicated if the report fails."

With a target in mind, Lu Xuan quietly gathered information and began preparing to take action.

In Linyang Market Town, at the Law Enforcement Hall in the northern district, there was a huge building covering more than ten acres, filled with rich spiritual energy and a variety of strange flowers and herbs.

Ling Peng sat at a table, flipping through a book on artifact refining. He preferred quietness, so he chose an office in a courtyard on the side of the Law Enforcement Hall. Outside, a lush spiritual wood was planted, and he would often look at it to relax his eyes.

He was one of the few high-level Qi Refining cultivators in the Law Enforcement Hall. Most of the time, he just stayed in the hall and only intervened when there was a large-scale invasion of evil spirits.

Suddenly, he let out a soft "huh" as a shield covered in gray-black scales flew out from his storage bag, swirling around him. At that moment, a golden stream of light shot into the room like an arrow.

With a "ding," to Ling Peng's surprise, the golden light did not rush at him but instead struck the beam of the room, lingering there.

"Who is so bold as to attack a cultivator from the Law Enforcement Hall?"

A hint of anger appeared on Ling Peng's face as the shield flew around him, and he activated his spiritual power to its maximum.

After a few breaths, there was no movement outside. Ling Peng, puzzled, looked at the golden sword energy on the beam.

"The sword energy hasn't dissipated for so long, which shows that the cultivator behind it has remarkable skill in the sword path."

Ling Peng sighed and noticed a piece of white paper, palm-sized, pinned to the beam by the golden sword energy. He dispersed the golden energy and used a technique to bring the paper floating in front of him.

The paper had two lines of messy handwriting, clearly intentional.

"Wang Shan may be contaminated by evil spirits, and the one responsible for the inspection, Tan Xiaodong, is likely covering for him."

Ling Peng read the lines softly. Suddenly, a dark red flame appeared beneath the paper, burning it to ashes.

"Is the information on this paper true or just a prank?"

"I remember Wang Shan is a mid-level Qi Refining cultivator, at the fifth level. If even he is contaminated by evil spirits, then the Law Enforcement Hall could be in trouble."

"The chance of this being a prank is very low."

He looked at the shallow marks left by the golden sword energy on the beam and thought to himself.

"The sword energy used by the person behind this was silent, even my high-level spiritual awareness only detected it upon getting close. The energy lingered for a long time but left only a faint mark."

"This shows that the person has been immersed in the sword path for at least ten years, mastering the sword energy to a small or even great success level. Their cultivation level is likely high-level Qi Refining, as it would be quite difficult for a mid-level Qi Refining cultivator to achieve such sword skills."

"So, I need to investigate and keep an eye on these two."

Ling Peng made a secret decision. He leaped and landed on a red flying sword, circling the Law Enforcement Hall but found no suspicious individuals.

Not far away, Lu Xuan walked slowly on the bluestone road. Before long, a powerful spiritual awareness swept over him. Thanks to the Concealment Technique, Lu Xuan only revealed a third-level Qi Refining cultivation, and the awareness found nothing unusual, quickly vanishing.

Lu Xuan walked at a normal pace, showing no signs of panic.

"Using the Gengjin Sword Art at a great success level to send such a message, the mid-level Qi Refining cultivator related to Wang Shan will surely take my warning seriously, at least paying more attention to Wang Shan."

"As for Tan Xiaodong, who swallowed my spirit stones and still wasn't satisfied, I’ll set a trap for him. When the time is right, I can crush him."

Lu Xuan reviewed his reporting action. With the help of the Concealment Technique, he had silently approached the target cultivator, used the Gengjin Sword Art to deliver the warning, and disguised himself as a third-level Qi Refining cultivator to avoid possible scrutiny.

"Now, let's see if this has any effect."

At this point, whether Wang Shan was contaminated by evil spirits or not, Lu Xuan could only remain calm and watch how things developed.

"Spirit Firefly Grass, Red Cloud Pine, Sword Grass, hurry up and mature."

He returned to his courtyard, looking at the dozens of Spirit Firefly Grass in his spiritual field that were nearly mature, as well as five Red Cloud Pines that were growing larger and darker, and the straight Sword Grass that stood like blades. He felt much more at ease.

"As long as the spiritual plants mature, I can keep building my strength. By then, even if the evil spirit inside Wang Shan wants to harm me, I can handle it myself."

At the edge of the Spiritual Spring Pool, a Cloud Stepping Leopard cub dug up a strange worm from somewhere. It dropped the worm and, while three Red Whiskered Carps fought in the spring, it swiftly snatched the worm back and pulled out a Carp by its whiskers.

The whiskers stretched in the air, making the Red Whiskered Carp bounce up and down below.

"I told you not to catch fish, yet you still won't listen! Do you want to be punished?!"

Seeing this, Lu Xuan couldn't help but give the Cloud Stepping Leopard cub's pointy ears a gentle smack.

The cub, looking indifferent, released the Red Whiskered Carp back into the spring and walked aside, fiddling with the half-dead worm.

Lu Xuan worried that the cub might be upset after being hit and focused his thoughts on it.

"Ow~~ I got petted by my master again today~~"

"This little guy..."

Lu Xuan chuckled, realizing that the Leopard cub had caught the Carp to get his attention, even if it meant getting a hit, it was better than not being touched all day.

He suddenly had an idea and approached the Straw Puppet that was patrolling the spiritual field.

The Straw Puppet walked in the same slow manner, circling the spiritual field.

"After absorbing the grass spirit essence, the Straw Puppet has changed quite a bit, even developing some spiritual awareness. I wonder what its current state is."

Curious, Lu Xuan focused his mind on the gray-black body of the Straw Puppet.

"Guard the spiritual field!"

...

The same phrases echoed in Lu Xuan's mind.

(End of Chapter)