Chapter 40: Heroes Ranking

The Heavenly Journey Sword Sect incident, in the eyes of informed people, was of unparalleled importance. It signaled that the struggle for succession had entered a white-hot, hands-on stage.

The Princess was nearly killed, and Qi Wang was demoted to a commoner. The situation was dynamic and volatile.

However, ordinary people were unaware of the intricate relationship between the Heavenly Journey Sword Sect and the imperial family. Their attention was instead focused on another matter.

The Ho family's sixth young master had been investigating an old residence murder case in Xia Zhou. Somehow, he uncovered that the city lord, Xu Bingkun, was colluding with demons. The sixth young master bravely resisted and died at the hands of demons. His left and right guards, fearing punishment, killed the other guards and fled.

This could also be considered one of the most attention-grabbing events in recent years.

Not because a city lord colluded with demons, as such incidents were actually quite common; nor because of the number of deaths, which was far fewer than in the Heavenly Journey Sword Sect incident.

But because a direct descendant of the powerful and prosperous Ho family, a prominent and influential clan, had been killed. This hadn't happened in many years...

Many ordinary people dying didn't attract as much attention as the death of one Ho young master.

The head of the Ho family, Ho Xingyuan, angrily smashed an antique porcelain vase at home. "Those bastards! How did Xia Zhou protect little six!"

The surrounding Ho family members stood silently, their eyes fixed on their noses, and their noses on their hearts. No one dared to make a sound.

Ever since Ho Xingyuan was granted the title of first-class Zhenyuan Hou, the old Grand Tutor Ho had passed the position of family head to him and was in a semi-retired state. At this moment, the old Grand Tutor Ho leaned in his chair, squinting his eyes as he watched his son's angry outburst. After a long pause, he slowly opened his mouth to interrupt. "Xia Zhou reported the full story. What do you all think?"

Ho Xingyuan angrily said, "Obviously impossible! Although little six wasn't capable, he was very loyal to the Ho Lei brothers. How could they have plotted his death?"

Grand Tutor Ho calmly said, "If the pill matter were to leak, wouldn't the temptation be huge?"

Ho Xingyuan fell silent.

Although it was impossible for the Ho family members themselves to leak the pill matter to the outside world, they knew how some of their less intelligent descendants operated. Several of them had hidden the pills with their shadow guards, thinking it was safer this way, but they hadn't considered that the shadow guards could also leak secrets.

Once the pill matter leaked, anything could happen; it wouldn't be strange for the Ho family to be raided.

The so-called "sweet potato proposal" was just the fuse that brought the Ho family into the capital. What truly allowed Grand Tutor Ho to regain favor was the great merit of curing His Majesty seven or eight tenths after he suffered serious injuries from the Demon Emperor that year, under the pretext of one ancestral immortal pill.

If it were known that the Ho family didn't have just one immortal pill, but a pill furnace, and that the so-called one ancestral immortal pill was refined years ago and its efficacy wasn't even as good as what Ho Yu's body had now... then the Ho family would be doomed.

Thinking that this matter might have leaked, Ho Xingyuan didn't even have the energy to be angry. He furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time, then said in a low voice, "If they truly coveted the pill and did this, we probably can't publicize it. We can only swallow the bitter loss."

"Perhaps they also saw through that we dare not publicize it..." Grand Tutor Ho sighed, "Little six resisted demons and bravely sacrificed. With this posthumous title, it's not in vain. It's not suitable to create more incidents... Of course, no matter how we outwardly acknowledge it, this matter cannot be solely based on Xia Zhou's words. We must at least investigate it carefully. Xingyuan, select a capable person to take over this city lord position. This time, be more vigilant..."

Ho Xingyuan was somewhat hesitant. "Xu Bingkun was our recommendation. Now that he's stirred up such a big mess, His Majesty is furious. It's likely that the new city lord of Xia Zhou won't be willing to use our people again..."

"Whom His Majesty uses is His Majesty's business. Can't you influence it? Moreover, we are just seeking justice for the child, not doing anything illegal."

"Yes."

"In addition... is that Lu Xingzhou truly little seven or not..."

Ho Xingyuan looked a little embarrassed. "This matter... Shall I send people to investigate again?"

Grand Tutor Ho ignored him, speaking in a low voice as if to himself. "He and the people in the hall below are mixed together... If it's true..."

Ho Xingyuan narrowed his eyes, understanding his father's meaning. The crowd in the hall looked at each other, with various expressions.

The Ho family didn't know who Shen Tang was before, but this time, with the matter of Qi Wang's abolition, it was truly difficult not to know. In the current situation, in the short term, truly no one dared to openly deal with Shen Tang. Even other princes who wanted to deal with him would probably only be able to secretly suppress him through some gang struggles, let alone them.

If Ho Shang and Shen Tang were mixed together, then the deductions of future changes...

"If he is truly little seven..." Grand Tutor Ho sighed, "First, let people contact him to see if it's possible to resolve his hatred. If not..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Ho Xingyuan knew what he meant and nodded. "I understand."

Grand Tutor Ho looked around at his sons and grandsons in the hall and said coldly, "Regardless of why little six truly died... In any case, whoever still has the pill with their shadow guards, all retrieve them, and dispose of the shadow guards."

The crowd bowed and saluted. "Yes."

...

"Why won't they let me return to the capital!" Sheng Yuan Yao lost her temper at the subordinates sent by her father from the Town Demon Division. "Not to mention my hard work in consecutively breaking several major cases here, he also has to consider how many risks I've taken in Xia Zhou during this short period. Am I still his biological child!"

As she said this, Sheng Yuan Yao felt a little guilty.

Regarding the several major cases, the credit for her case-breaking was difficult to evaluate. For the Ho family servant murder case, she concluded as Ho Shang did, but the result was that "Ho Shang" was wandering right under her nose, and their relationship was still quite good; for the case of the Ho family guard and Liu Qingcang's death, that conclusion was entirely fabricated; then there was the Ho Yu case, from the reason for Ho Yu's arrival to the cause of Ho Yu's death, she could almost be considered one of the murderers.

What was worth praising was actually uncovering the city lord's secret demon-raising case and fighting against demons without retreating, finally obtaining the demon corpse and returning. But this most boast-worthy credit was groundlessly divided by Ho Yu, who didn't do anything at all. At least now everyone's discussion focus was all on Ho Yu, and it had nothing to do with her.

What a mess... She really didn't want to be involved anymore. It would be better to return to the capital to follow orders. At least there wouldn't be so many entanglements.

The subordinate said helplessly, "Miss, you've only been here for less than a month. How can you just go back? There are no such duty rules in the world."

"Stop with this nonsense. Whether this kind of rule counts or not is up to him. Have they used reasons like 'sufficient credit' and so on less? My accumulated credits are enough for promotion!" Sheng Yuan Yao said angrily, "What one month? Do you know how I spent this one month?"

"Uh..." The subordinate lowered his voice. "Miss, Ho Six died here. Everyone more or less has to bear some responsibility..."

Sheng Yuan Yao exploded. "Are you going to suppress my credit? This old lady painstakingly and hard-fought demons, with her head hanging on her belt! What business is it of ours that Ho Yu waste!"

"No, no, at most it's delayed, just not to provoke the Ho family at this juncture."

Sheng Yuan Yao was furious, but she also knew this was very normal. It was good if her credit wasn't cut.

The subordinate added, "In addition, the capital just issued a decree. You perhaps don't know..."

Sheng Yuan Yao pricked up her ears. "What's the gossip?"

"His Majesty issued a decree to protect the Heavenly Journey Sword Sect."

Sheng Yuan Yao was puzzled for a moment. "Then what?"

The subordinate's voice was even lower. "Shen Shi Merchant House is actually the Heavenly Journey Sword Sect."

Sheng Yuan Yao: "!"

"Your father didn't dare tell you before, afraid that you were young and couldn't keep secrets. Now he can say... I think mostly Shen Shi Merchant House themselves will change back to the signboard of the Heavenly Journey Sword Sect in the next few days."

Sheng Yuan Yao paced back and forth, very conflicted. "Their gossip is really a lot ah..."

"There will definitely be many ups and downs in the future. We don't know the specific inside story, but your father adult definitely knows. Since your father still thinks it is beneficial for Miss to stay in Xia Zhou, then it must be truly beneficial."

"Alright then." The biggest hobby of eating gossip finally still covered other entanglements. Sheng Yuan Yao coldly snorted. "Anyway, Lu Xingzhou owes me several favors, counting back and forth. If I can't do things, I'll just find him to do them."

Saying so, Sheng Yuan Yao grabbed a book and directly went out to find Lu Xingzhou. "Originally, there was something I needed to find him for."

Arriving at Shen Shi Merchant House, the guards didn't dare stop Sheng Yuan Yao. Sheng Yuan Yao went straight in. Lu Xingzhou was indeed in the pill room refining pills.

What surprised people was that the one assisting him was not A Nuo, but unexpectedly Du Gu Qing Li standing straight behind, guarding.

Sheng Yuan Yao almost wanted to ask when they hooked up, but seeing the calm appearance of the two, she refrained from asking. She only said euphemistically, "Where is A Nuo?"

"Shen Tang went to find Liu Yan Er. Neither of them knew each other. A Nuo is familiar with her, so she took her there as an introduction."

"So you exchanged, transferring Miss Du Gu to protect you?"

"Yes."

Sheng Yuan Yao felt strange. This was inside Shen Shi Merchant House. Why were you so guarded? Was refining pills that important?

Refining pills was indeed important. This was the pill Lu Xingzhou was refining to cure his leg.

Theoretically, the first batch to be refined should be bone recovery pills to first fix the bones, then connect the tendons, and finally restore the muscles.

But the difficulty of other pills was higher. Now Lu Xingzhou was still trying his hand for the first time, and he had refined the simplest tendon-connecting pill.

Lu Xingzhou was truly more troublesome than Shen Tang because he broke his leg when he was very young, and his leg had lacked growth over the years. Now even the bones were deformed. Even if they were connected well, he would still need extra medicine to stimulate bone growth and make it grow to a matching degree, which was extremely difficult. Finally, the restoration of the ten-year atrophied muscles was equally extremely troublesome. He didn't know if that fruit, as the main material responsible for so many things, would be enough.

So Lu Xingzhou's mind was always very focused. When Sheng Yuan Yao came, he couldn't even divide his attention. He only casually asked, "Commander Sheng, what noble business brings you here?"

Sheng Yuan Yao said, "You know that the Town Demon Division is also responsible for compiling a list of strong people in the world, right? The Heroes List, the Demons List."

"I know. It's quite regrettable that there's no Absolute Beauty List. It would be more interesting to gossip about that..."

Sheng Yuan Yao: "...That makes some sense."

Lu Xingzhou added, "Anyway, this has nothing to do with us, right? I'm merely a seventh-rank..."

"Your cultivation is average, but Miss Du Gu is not yet eighteen and is a fifth-rank upper level. She should have long ago entered the new show list on the Heroes List. Being unknown to people has always been the Town Demon Division's negligence. And you, a nineteen-year-old seventh-rank upper level pill master, are also qualified to enter the sub-lists of various professions."

Du Gu Qing Li said, "I won't enter the list. Will you forcibly put me on it?"

"Yes." Sheng Yuan Yao said, "There are so many demonic path cultivators. We may not go and ask for their opinions. We list them directly based on battle records. It's good that we are familiar, so I came to inform you. Besides Miss Du Gu, there's also A Nuo, which is even more ridiculous..."

Du Gu Qing Li said, "Does the Town Demon Division listen to the imperial family or me?"

Sheng Yuan Yao said honestly, "Naturally, it listens."

"Then go back. Later there will be a princess's oral decree telling you not to list me."

Sheng Yuan Yao: "?"

Lu Xingzhou suddenly interjected, "I, Lu, support the work of the Town Demon Division. You can put me on the pill master sub-list."

Sheng Yuan Yao felt that Lu Xingzhou was very considerate, and her mood improved a little. "You've always hidden your skills before. Why aren't you hiding anymore?"

"I can't help it. Now I'm sold to Shen Shi Merchant House... Having a famous pill master on the list is a useful signboard for a merchant house, beneficial for subsequent development."

Sheng Yuan Yao was expressionless.

So you weren't giving me face, you were giving it to Shen Tang.