The sun emerged from the horizon, and its rays illuminated the ground. Everywhere they touched, darkness dissipated, and light spread in all directions.
The streets of the county capital also became lively.
Xu Qing walked on the way to work while sensing the Fifth Heavenly Palace within him.
The emperor-level cultivation art's tattoo was still there, and the enhancement to his combat strength didn't disappear because Golden Crow Refines All Life had fused into the Fifth Heavenly Palace.
This emperor-level cultivation art still possessed the power of a palace.
However, its might was clearly greater, and it was the same for the Fifth Heavenly Palace.
It could even be said that if he met someone who also possessed five Heavenly Palaces, and if both sides were to compare from the most basic perspective without looking at any cultivation techniques or magic treasure fragments, even the most stunning and outstanding individual from the myriad races would not have an edge over him.
If they were someone below the outstanding talents, Xu Qing would far surpass them.
This was because any of his Heavenly Palaces was earth-shattering. They might not be unparalleled in the world but they weren't much inferior.
The life palaces formed by the two life lanterns, the palace formed by the Poison Restriction Pill, the Purple Moon Heavenly Palace, and the Golden Crow Dragon Carriage Heavenly Palace.
This was the foundation Xu Qing had formed in his journey to here.
He had risked his life to obtain each of them.
It was a rare occurrence for a person's strength to suddenly emerge. More often than not, strength was developed through gradual accumulation.
Xu Qing was like this.
That was why he could cross realms to fight.
At that moment, Xu Qing was in a very good mood. When he passed by a breakfast stall, the familiar smell reminded him of the fried dough sticks he used to eat at the Seven Blood Eyes.
"I wonder when I can return."
Xu Qing reminisced inwardly and turned his gaze towards the Yinghuang Province. He missed Old Master Seventh and the ancestor Xue Lianzi, as well as the breakfast shop in the Seven Blood Eyes.
Xu Qing retracted his gaze and walked toward the breakfast shop here. He sat down and ordered a serving. After he ate it, a satisfied expression appeared on his face. Although the taste wasn't as good as the one in his memory, it was still alright.
While he was eating breakfast, the little boy squatted not far away and looked at Xu Qing eagerly.
As though it felt very bored, it sized up the surroundings and looked at the bustling streets. As it looked, its gaze suddenly froze and landed on a two-story building not far away.
At the window of the building, there appeared to be a figure who had been standing there earlier, staring at Xu Qing with a resentful gaze.
The little boy was curious and disappeared.
When it appeared, it was already in the building. It saw a very beautiful woman reprimanding a youth.
"Trash, not only did Xu Qing obtain the edict bearer token, but he also became a Pawn of the Prison Department. You're actually in an administrative post, organizing documents!"
"And, you're actually calmly accepting it. Where's your pride as the number one genius in the Yinghuang Province? Why didn't you look for your grandmaster?!"
The person who was reprimanded was Zhang Siyun.
The woman in the little boy's eyes was naturally Zhang Siyun's mother, Yao Yunhui.
Because her identity was too sensitive to head to the Sword Holding Palace and there were some things that couldn't be said on a jade slip, she invited Zhang Siyun's grandmaster who was looking for Zhang Siyun to meet here today. However, on the way, she received a voice transmission from her family telling her about the warning from the Sword Holding Palace's Palace Master.
Her family also solemnly warned her not to provoke the Sword Holding Palace.
This made Yao Yunhui feel very uncomfortable. When she saw Xu Qing earlier, her disgust towards him grew even stronger. As a result, when she looked at her son, anger welled up inside her.
Zhang Siyun lowered his head and hated Xu Qing even more. Every time his mother compared Xu Qing to him, the hostility in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
In reality, he had looked for Grandmaster but the other party had looked at him strangely. He didn't know why but he didn't dare to mention it in the face of his mother's anger and could only silently endure it.
In addition, he actually felt that his work of organizing the documents wasn't completely useless. At the very least, in the past month, he had found a few places where others had recorded wrongly and had even received praise from the department.
However, he knew that he couldn't say it.
'It was better in Yinghuang Province.' Zhang Siyun sighed softly inwardly.
As she cursed, Yao Yunhui suddenly took out a voice transmission jade slip. Soon after, her expression became even more gloomy, and in the end, she crushed the jade slip.
"You have work to do? We clearly made an appointment a few days ago, but you're making excuses now? Is it because you heard about the decree issued by the Sword Holding Palace's Palace Master?!"
"The people from the Grand Affairs Immortal Sect are all spineless and extremely stupid!" Yao Yunhui's expression turned ugly as she rebuked angrily.
Zhang Siyun sighed inwardly and spoke softly.
"Mother…"
"Scram!" Yao Yunhui said coldly.
Zhang Siyun fell silent. After a long time, he stood up and bowed to his mother before turning to leave. His expression became increasingly lonely and he hated Xu Qing even more.
As he walked on the streets for a while, his body suddenly convulsed and he felt dizzy. He quickly leaned against the wall beside him to support himself.
The outline of a red moon flashed in his eyes and a sinister expression appeared on his face, but it disappeared in an instant.
It took him a long time to recover.
"Is there a problem with the cultivation art? This is the seventh time I am feeling such dizziness." Zhang Siyun's expression was ugly. He pondered for a moment and continued walking away.
In the pavilion, the little boy didn't bother with Zhang Siyun who had left.
It stood beside Yao Yunhui and its attention was on the other party. It curiously sized her up and a look of contemplation appeared in its eyes, as though it was analyzing this woman's malice toward Xu Qing.
Yao Yunhui sat there and all the anger on her face disappeared at this moment. She picked up the lotus seed soup on the table and took a sip.
Her movements were very elegant, as though she wasn't the one who had lost her composure earlier.
