Madam Chu's current cultivation had completely stabilized at the Soul Realm.
The gray-robed elder might already be at the peak of the Fourth Realm, but under the consumption of Li Mu's two Earth-rank Fu-lu, his blood essence was greatly damaged, and his magic power was less than 10%. Madam Chu was enough to deal with him.
Li Mu put away the stack of Fu-lu in his hand. This was actually the reason why cultivators from other sects rarely provoked the disciples of the Fu-lu School.
For hundreds and thousands of years, the Fu-lu School's research on Fu-lu had reached the peak.
They knew how to use the Fu-lu to activate the power of heaven and earth, or seal the divine abilities of their elders in the Fu-lu, and use it to fight the enemy at the critical moment.
This way, the enemy seemed to be facing the disciples of the Fu-lu School, but in fact, they were facing the experts of the Fu-lu School.
If it weren't for the fact that the higher the level of the Fu-lu, the more precious the materials needed and the lower the success rate of the talisman, even if the Fu-lu School gathered the strength of the entire sect, they couldn't draw more than a few Heaven-rank Fu-lu in a year. The position of the head of the Six Dao Sects wouldn't have been taken by Xuanzong.
Madam Chu quickly returned, and the gray-robed elder was only left with his essence soul.
The elder's essence soul was scattered, and he was extremely terrified. He couldn't help but say, "Spare me, spare me, my lord!"
Li Mu asked again, "Who asked you to kill me?"
The elder hurriedly explained, "I only received a mission. I don't know who the mastermind is …"
Li Mu had always been in the North County. If he had offended anyone or any faction, the Demon Sect was one. After all, Master Qianhuan and Chu Jiang Of Gojoseon had died directly or indirectly in his hands. However, only a few people knew about these two matters. If the Demon Sect wanted to settle the score, they would look for the county governor, deputy, and lieutenant. They wouldn't find Li Mu.
Other than that, he had only offended the old party of the imperial court.
The brother of the County Magistrate of Yang County's wife, an assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was a member of the old party.
The incident in Yang County was caused by Li Mu, and because of Li Mu, the Old Party's plot failed. It was very likely that the Old Party would secretly send assassins to deal with Li Mu.
If Xiao Chen were to ask, he would not be able to get any information out of this old man.
Li Mu glanced at him and said to Madam Chu, "Search his soul."
Madam Chu shook her head and said, "His skills are higher than mine. I can't search his soul."
Li Mu: "Don't worry, I'll teach you."
Under normal circumstances, soul-searching was something that could only be done by cultivators searching mortals. High-level cultivators would search low-level cultivators. However, this was not absolute. It was possible to make an exception using some evil methods.
Li Mu would never show mercy to those who wanted to kill him.
He erased the old man's consciousness and taught Madam Chu the Demon Sect's soul-searching method from Master Thousand Illusions' memories.
Madam Chu took a deep breath and sucked the old man's consciousness into her body. Madam Chu entered Baiyi. Li Mu glanced at the four puppets that could no longer move and put them into the Flask World. Then, he walked in the direction of the county city.
When he was about to reach the city gate, Madam Chu sent some information she obtained from the soul-searching to Li Mu through Baiyi.
Such an image appeared in Li Mu's mind.
It was the gray-robed old man's perspective. A black-robed figure stood in front of the old man and said in a hoarse voice, "This little bailiff from the North County made my master very unhappy. I'll give you half of what you want first. After the matter is done, I'll give you the other half …"
Li Mu could not see the face of the black figure clearly. He could only see that his back was a little hunched and his voice was older.
It was impossible to know his identity from this information, but Madam Chu found out his background from the gray-robed old man's memories.
The gray-robed old man came from the Divine Capital of the Middle County, where the Great Zhou's imperial court was located. It was obvious who ordered him to do this.
The county government.
Li Mu placed the four puppets in the courtyard. The three officials' expressions were unpleasant.
For some reason, County Chief Lin, County Minister Chen, and County Lieutenant Shen were all in the county government today.
County Chief Lin asked, "Did you find out who did this?"
Li Mu shook his head and said, "These are just puppets without consciousness. The real assassin is dead. I didn't find out who ordered him to do this. I only know that he came from the Divine Capital and was ordered to assassinate me in the North County."
"The Divine Capital …" County Minister Chen's face darkened. He said, "Have they become so daring?"
County Lieutenant Shen said leisurely, "It seems that His Majesty's public opinion rose because of the incident in Yang County. Some people in the old party are very dissatisfied. They sent people to assassinate you from thousands of miles away. Fortunately, they underestimated you and did not send a Creation Realm assassin …"
After going to Mount Baiyun, Li Mu now had the Golden Armor Talisman. Even if a Creation Realm expert came, they would only be sending their heads to him.
However, although some people in the old party were dissatisfied with him, in the end, Li Mu was just a small constable. Those people would not be willing to waste more resources on him, so it was unlikely that they would send a Creation realm expert.
County Chief Lin said, "I will report this to His Majesty."
Then, he took out a jade bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Li Mu. He said, "His Majesty's messenger has just arrived in the North County. There is a Creation Pill in this bottle. It is His Majesty's reward for you."
Li Mu had seen the name Creation Pill several times in various ancient books.
This pill was of the upper grade of the heaven class. It took the creation of heaven and earth and could bring the dead back to life. No matter how serious the injury was, whether it was the body, the soul, or the Primordial Spirit, as long as there was still a breath left, this pill could heal all injuries in the body and the Primordial Spirit. It was one of the top pills.
Having this pill was equivalent to having a second life.
If Li Mu had this pill back then, Xiao Bai's grandmother would not have left her.
However, even though this pill had heaven-defying effects, the materials used to make this pill were extremely rare. Many of the treasures couldn't be found in the Ancestral State. Some grew in the Ghost Region of Youdu, some grew in the Country of Demons, and some grew in the depths of the four seas. There were also some unique items that could only be found in other continents. It took a lot of effort and cost to gather all of them.
Not only were the materials hard to gather, but the difficulty of making this pill was also very high. It was already very rare for the top alchemy masters of the Danding Sect to succeed once in ten attempts.
Due to various reasons, the Creation Pill was very rare. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a priceless treasure. Li Mu had only heard of it in books. He had never seen it before.
He eagerly opened the jade bottle. A refreshing medicinal fragrance overflowed from the bottle. Li Mu noticed that County Governor Lin and the other two involuntarily swallowed their saliva.
Li Mu immediately put it into the Flask Heaven's Space. This Creation Pill was the most precious thing he had at the moment. Li Mu felt that it was a loss to let them take a whiff of the pill's fragrance.
Her Majesty was indeed generous. She had rewarded him with a Creation Pill for the incident in Yang County. What he had done for the county city was a thousand times more valuable than what he had done for Yang County. What would she reward him with?
Li Mu thought about it and realized that with his knowledge, he could not imagine it at all.
He looked at County Governor Lin, waiting for him to reveal the answer.
County Governor Lin felt uncomfortable under his gaze. He asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"No."
"Then why are you staring at me?"
Li Mu asked, "Didn't Her Majesty reward me for the incident in Chu Jiang Of Gojoseon?"
County Governor Lin was surprised. "Didn't she already reward you with a Creation Pill?"
Li Mu was surprised. "Isn't the Creation Pill due to Yang County's contribution?"
"Yang County …" County Governor Lin realized that Li Mu had made two great contributions in a short period of time. He explained, "This Creation Pill is Her Majesty's reward for saving tens of thousands of people in the county city. Her Majesty also has another reward for Yang County."
Li Mu had thought that Her Majesty the Empress was shrewd enough to want to reward him with both merits. Now, it looked like he had been narrow-minded and had underestimated Her Majesty the Empress's breadth of mind.
He asked expectantly, "What's the other reward? Heaven-grade Fu-lu or Heaven-grade magic treasure?"
"Neither." County Governor Lin shook his head. He looked at Li Mu and said, "Congratulations, Li Mu. You're going to be promoted."
"Promoted?"
Li Mu was stunned. He had been in the county government for two or three months and had been promoted from a small constable to a chief constable. In the county government, only three officials were above him.
He said in disbelief, "Her Majesty wants me to be a County Governor?"
"In your dreams. You've never been to the Academy and you want to be an official …" County Governor Shen glanced at him and said, "Her Majesty wants you to go to Shen Du and be the chief constable of the county government."
Shen Du was the county city of Zhong County and also the capital of the Great Zhou.
The county government's jurisdiction was within Shen Du. It was smaller than the county government in North County. The county government was in charge of 13 counties in North County. The county government was only in charge of matters within Shen Du.
In this way, Li Mu was not promoted. He was demoted.
However, the rank of an official was different in the capital. The chief constable of the county government was not lower than the county magistrate of Yangqiu.
The problem was that Li Mu did not want to go so far away. In the county government, he could visit Liu Hanyan once a month. If he went to Shen Du, he might not even see her once in half a year.
Furthermore, Shen Du was the base of the old party. He was far away in North County and they dared to send assassins. If he went to Zhong County, wouldn't those people eat him alive?
County Governor Lin seemed to see his worry. He said, "You're not worried about your safety. They only dare to use some tricks because you're far away in North County. When they're in front of Her Majesty, they don't dare to act rashly. They're afraid that Her Majesty will have something on them …"
Li Mu was not worried about his safety. Unless they sent a cultivator of the sixth realm, Li Mu would be able to kill one of them.
The problem was that this was not in his plans for the future.
Shen Du was a place of trouble. Li Mu was unfamiliar with the place. Although there might be more opportunities and cultivation resources, there would be more danger. He did not want to be involved in the political struggle between the old party and the new party.
Li Mu looked at County Governor Lin and asked, "Can I not go?"
County Governor Lin sighed and said, "In life, there are many things that are beyond one's control. Whether you're willing or not, you can't change the fact that you're already Her Majesty's man. The old party has already noticed you. Even if you don't go to Shen Du, trouble will follow …"
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