Having retreated from the Mirage of Great Void, Jiang Wang had in these past few days climbed to seventy-first place amongst the inner mansion cultivators on the Sword Discourse Stage. It seemed he would soon be able to cross blades with Zuo Guangshu in a matched battle.

With his current soul strength, exploring his inner mansion was even faster. He had already opened over three hundred inner mansions. He had discovered two secret treasuries in the process, but neither suited his needs, so he lightly let them pass.

Another way to quickly increase his strength in a short time was to inscribe instantaneous Dao techniques within his inner mansions.

Each inner mansion offered only one chance to inscribe an instantaneous Dao technique. Great cultivators generally avoided techniques that too many people knew. In such choices, “rarity” was more valuable than “power.”

Because no matter how powerful a Dao technique was, it could be cracked if studied extensively.

Jiang Wang had earlier inscribed the Flame Flower and the Five Qi Binding Tiger when he condensed the Grand and Minor Circulations in the Tongtian Palace. One was a gift from Dong A, and the other from Chong Xuansheng. Back then, he lacked resources and had no room to be picky when encountering exquisite Dao techniques.

But later, Jiang Wang grew rapidly, becoming stronger in a solid and fast manner, and gradually gained the right to be selective.

There was a saying in the world of cultivation, “Opening a mansion is like opening another palace.”

In addition to adding a new source of power to the human body, each inner mansion opened also allowed the inscription of an instantaneous Dao technique.

Jiang Wang had carefully chosen the Decaying Wood Art when he opened his first inner mansion, which was a highly targeted Dao technique, but that’s another matter. The choice of Dao technique for the second inner mansion was naturally very important.

Some Dao techniques, when thoroughly researched, could have their activation time shortened as much as possible, but even if they approached a single breath, they were still inferior to instantaneous techniques.

In a battle between experts, life and death often hung on a single breath.

But worthy and rare Dao techniques were hard to come by.

Aside from diligent cultivation, Jiang Wang had also repeatedly researched with Chong Xuansheng on how to save Zhu Biqiong, formulating many plans and making numerous preparations. However, without personally observing the Near Sea Islands, he could not make a final decision.

Early one morning, Chong Xuansheng cheerfully shouted outside Jiang Wang’s door, “Brother Wang! Someone’s looking for you!”

Jiang Wang paused his exploration of his inner mansion and walked outside, asking, “Who is it?”

Chong Xuansheng’s voice was mischievous, “It’s a woman!”

Jiang Wang opened the door and saw three people standing side by side outside.

The fat Chong Xuansheng, the black-armored Fourteenth… and Lin Youxie, wearing a cyan kerchief.

Jiang Wang immediately wanted to close the door. He had a headache just seeing this Azure Badge now.

“Lord Jiang!” She even greeted him enthusiastically.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” Chong Xuansheng said sarcastically from the side, “I didn’t realize you were so popular, Little Jiang. Your romantic debts have come calling! When did you two meet?”

Jiang Wang glanced helplessly at Fourteenth, as if to say – aren’t you going to do something?

Unfortunately, Fourteenth stared straight ahead, and his expression was hidden beneath his black helmet.

Lin Youxie smiled and looked at Chong Xuansheng, her expression very calm, “Young Master Chong, we have a purely professional relationship.”

Jiang Wang was afraid that Chong Xuansheng would say something reckless without understanding the situation, which would only cause trouble. Zheng Shangming had warned him that Lin Youxie did not lack backing and was not easy to provoke.

Therefore, he quickly said, “Head Constable Lin! What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“Lord,” Lin Youxie cupped her hands, “Have you forgotten your mission?”

She added a reminder, “The Golden Needle Sect.”

Jiang Wang immediately felt a sense of foreboding, “This official has my own plans for this matter and will depart soon… This has nothing to do with Head Constable Lin, does it?”

“How can it not?” Lin Youxie smiled, a bright smile that revealed her white teeth, “This case is precisely what this humble official and Lord Jiang are jointly responsible for!”

“…This official was not aware of this matter.”

Lin Youxie smiled, revealing a piece of paper, “This is the seal of the Capital Patrol Office, with the Grand Commandant of the Northern Garrison’s seal on it. Lord Jiang can inspect it.”

“Let me take a look!” Chong Xuansheng suddenly reached out his fat hand from the side.

Of course, he wouldn’t be as clueless as Jiang Wang feared. In fact, he had already sent someone to investigate when Lin Youxie arrived. His interjections now were simply to prevent this woman from affecting Jiang Wang’s trip to the Near Sea Islands.

Lin Youxie didn’t avoid him, allowing him to take the document, only smiling and saying, “A reminder to Young Master Chong, destroying official documents is a serious crime. Also, I can get as many of these documents as I want.”

“Head Constable Lin, rest assured, this young master’s hands have always been very steady!” Chong Xuansheng was not embarrassed by having his intentions exposed, and even smiled broadly.

He looked at it seriously before passing it to Jiang Wang, “It seems to be genuine.”

Of course, it was genuine.

With the connections and background that made Zheng Shangming wary of Lin Youxie, obtaining such a document was not difficult.

However, as the person being bothered, Jiang Wang couldn’t help but feel helpless.

“…This official can handle it myself,” he said.

“Lord Jiang is a genius! Of course, you can! Even the Yama of Hell could not escape your eyes, let alone a mere traitor of the Golden Needle Sect?” Lin Youxie said confidently, “This humble official is just here to learn!”

…Jiang Wang really regretted having taken credit for tracking down the Yama of Hell.

There was no need to mention King Guang of Qin or King Jiang of Chu. What was the point?

Now Lin Youxie had found a way to hold it over him, using it as an excuse at every turn.

“This is the first Azure Badge mission that this official is facing alone, can you let this official handle it myself?” Jiang Wang’s tone was already somewhat softened.

He really didn’t want to get along with such a shrewd Azure Badge constable as Lin Youxie. He wouldn’t be too happy if any of his secrets were dug out.

But Lin Youxie only smiled, completely ignoring his plea, “This humble official has been waiting for several days, seeing that Lord Jiang has not taken any action, so I came to inquire. Of course, Lord has your own ideas, this humble official can depart at any time, and will definitely follow Lord closely to learn.”

No agreement could be reached…

Jiang Wang had a terrible headache.

He still couldn’t figure out how he had been targeted by Lin Youxie.

“Ahem!” Chong Xuansheng cleared his throat, “Brother Jiang Wang, handling cases like this, it’s inevitable to go to some places with complex information. For example, Red Sleeve Manor, Heavenly Fragrance Cloud Pavilion, and so on, you may have to go around to gather intelligence! Sometimes it may be more convenient to be alone.”

He was giving Jiang Wang an idea. He wanted Jiang Wang to use places like brothels to make Lin Youxie retreat in the face of difficulty.

“It doesn’t matter.” Before Jiang Wang could speak, Lin Youxie had already taken over the topic with a smile.

“This humble official has been handling cases for many years, where haven’t I been? What scenes haven’t I seen? Lord Jiang can go ahead and gather information.”

She deliberately emphasized ‘gather information’.

“This humble official will just learn from the side!”

This female Azure Badge was completely impervious to persuasion, and seemed to be far more ‘experienced’ than Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang knew that he couldn’t avoid it, and couldn’t help but sigh, “You must go with me?”

“It is my duty, this humble official will not shirk it!” Lin Youxie said meaningfully.

Jiang Wang stared at her for a while, and made a decision, “Alright! There’s no time like the present, then we’ll depart today!”

Anyway, what needed to be discussed had been discussed, and what needed to be prepared had been prepared, there was no need to wait any longer in Linzi.

Lin Youxie only smiled, showing no fear, “As you command!”

Chong Xuansheng looked at Fourteenth, and found that Fourteenth was also looking at him. In the end, he didn’t say anything more.

He trusted Jiang Wang’s decision, just as Jiang Wang trusted that leaving everything else to him would be without problems.

On the last day of February, Jiang Wang, a Fourth-Rank Azure Badge of Great Qi, set off for the Near Sea Islands to handle the Golden Needle Sect case.

His companion was Lin Youxie, a Fifth-Rank Azure Badge Constable.