Half a month had passed since the Zhou Chu incident.
In the morning, Li Mu, who was sitting cross-legged on his bed, slowly opened his eyes. A golden light flashed in his eyes.
Although he had been preparing to cultivate both Buddhism and Taoism, he had spent more than ninety percent of his time cultivating under the guidance of Taoism. He had very little time to recite scriptures and practice Buddhism.
Especially after entering the Spirit Concentrating realm, the growth of his mana had slowed down. He had spent all his time cultivating Taoism.
Now, his Taoist cultivation had reached the third realm, but his Buddhist cultivation had only barely broken through the first realm last night.
The first realm of Buddhism was called Breakthrough. It meant that Buddhist disciples could see through the mortal world and enter into Buddhism. This realm required the cultivation of the six senses.
Now, Li Mu's six senses had been perfected. He did not need to use any supernatural powers to hear the conversation between the butcher and the waiter in the teahouse a few streets away. Through his sense of smell, he could easily distinguish the various smells in the air and trace them back to their source. In a way, he already had the innate supernatural powers of some monsters.
Some monsters were born with a keen sense of hearing and smell. Although humans were suitable for cultivation, they were far inferior to monsters in terms of innate supernatural powers.
Li Qing had once advised him that only by cultivating one of the two sects of Buddhism and Daoism could one attain a profound level.
At that time, Li Mu did not feel anything. Now, he finally realized that a person's energy was limited. Even if he was talented in both Buddhism and Taoism, it was impossible to cultivate both to a high level.
The realms after Buddhism required even more time. His next cultivation focus was on how to break through to the Transcendent Realm as soon as possible.
After the Zhou Chu incident, Zhang Chun was unexpectedly promoted again. He was promoted from Divine Capital Deputy to Divine Capital Magistrate. He was now the leader of the Divine Capital yamen.
Not only that, His Majesty did not appoint a Divine Capital Deputy or Divine Capital Magistrate. In other words, he was in charge of this huge yamen alone. No one could order him around anymore.
Li Mu was still the constable of the Divine Capital yamen. He was an official, not an official. Although officials and officials were both civil servants of the Great Zhou and were paid by the state, there was a clear distinction between the two.
There were no harsh requirements to become an official of Great Zhou.
Officials were generally appointed by local officials, or their sons would inherit their father's business. As long as their family background was clean and they had not committed any crimes within three generations, they would have the qualifications to become a glorious official of the Great Zhou.
But officials were different.
The lowest ranking official in Great Zhou, even if it was just a small county magistrate, still needed to receive a few years of formal education in the academy. Only after a few years would they have the qualifications to enter the imperial court as an official.
This was a rule set by Emperor Wen in order to clean up the chaos in Great Zhou's officialdom and improve the quality of the officials as a whole. At that time, this measure indeed played a very big role.
At that time, the imperial court was full of nepotism, and the officials formed cliques to pursue personal interests. The morality and ability of the officials were mixed. The appearance of the Academy greatly improved the situation.
If one wanted to become an official in the imperial court, one had to learn the thoughts of the sages in the academies, cultivate one's morals, and learn how to govern a country and cultivate. For a long time, the academies had sent countless talents to the imperial court.
This rule had been passed down since the time of Emperor Wen and had been used to this day. Even if the emperor wanted to promote someone, he had to let that person undergo tempering in the academies.
Emperor Wen's rule had a far-reaching impact. In the hearts of the people and officials of Great Zhou, Emperor Wen had a very high status. The successive emperors of Great Zhou did not dare to break the rules set by him.
In Li Mu's view, this Emperor Wen was really far-sighted. Although this method was different from the imperial examination, it was also very advanced compared to the previous system of selecting officials.
Of course, even if Emperor Wen was called a sage, there were still things that he did not expect.
For example, the nature of the Academy had changed greatly from when it was first established.
The deans of the four academies were all Transcendents. In the Academy, there were countless experts in the middle realm. Although they were far from the four sects and six schools, they were still an incomparably powerful force.
The officials of Great Zhou could only be born from the Academy. The status of the Academy gradually became higher and higher, and even had a tendency to surpass the imperial court.
Whether it was the Xiao Royal Family that wanted to regain their glory or the Zhou Family that wanted to replace them, to facilitate this major event, they could not do without the support of the Academy.
Li Mu had never thought of becoming an official, so he did not need to go to the Academy to further his studies. Based on what he had seen in Shen 'du, becoming an official might not be a good thing.
Under the protection of the Empress, being a minor official was much more comfortable than being an official.
There was no need for Li Mu to worry about national affairs. All he needed to do was to bring Xiao Bai around the streets of the Divine Capital every day to ensure that there were no crimes or disturbances in his jurisdiction. That was enough for him to fulfill his duty.
After Zhou Chu's incident, his status in the hearts of the people had risen to the peak.
This allowed him to obtain willpower from the people of Shen 'du without deliberately doing anything. With this speed, it was not impossible for him to advance to the Abhijina level within a year.
After Zhou Chu's incident, the Zhou Family's reputation in Shen 'du was not greatly affected.
Although Zhou Chu had committed a heinous crime, the Zhou Family's handling of this matter did not make the people feel disgusted.
There were many disciples of the Zhou Family, and Zhou Chu was only one of them. Other than Zhou Chu, the other disciples of the Zhou Family did not have any misdeeds. In comparison, the Xiao Royal Family's performance in Shen 'du was even worse.
In the past few hundred years, they had been the masters of the Great Zhou Dynasty and Shen 'du. Although they had been suppressed by the Zhou Family for a short period of time, the sense of superiority in their bones could not be erased.
Li Mu counted with his fingers. He had not been in Shen 'du for long, but he had offended the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, the Xiao Family, the Zhou Family, and the Academy. Other than the Academy, he had offended almost everyone he could.
Li Mu had already offended the Xiao Family and its old clique before he came to Shen 'du. When he pushed for the abolition of the Substitute Crime Silver, he had also beaten up the children of many officials in the Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Justice, Taichang Temple, and the three provinces and six ministries. With Zhou Chu's incident, he had also offended the Zhou Family. He was only missing the Academy to become the public enemy of Shen' du.
Among the common people, the situation was the exact opposite.
Li Mu was now very popular among the common people. He could go to the small restaurants on the street, to the brothels and taverns. As long as he wanted to, he could buy food, use, and entertainment for free.
When he passed by the brothels, the brothel keeper ran out countless times, bringing along many girls. They all winked at Li Mu and said coquettishly, "Constable Li, come in …"
Xiao Bai was so scared that she did not care about the candied haws in her mouth. She ran over and hugged Li Mu's arm, holding her head high and chest out in front of them.
Ever since Liu Hanyan went to Mount Baiyun to cultivate, she had been strictly carrying out the task given to her by Liu Hanyan. She did not allow any other seductress to appear beside Li Mu.
These girls from the brothels were naturally her main targets of protection.
The brothel keeper glanced at Xiao Bai and said to Li Mu, "Constable Li, why are you so shy? The girls are not charging you …"
Li Mu waved his hand. "Next time, next time …"
The yamen had its own rules. In order to prevent officials from being corrupt, they could not eat or take the common people's food for free. They could not go to the brothels during the day. Of course, going to the brothels during the day was also forbidden.
There were countless eyes in Luoyang staring at Li Mu. He had to be careful with his words and actions. He could not give anyone a chance to take advantage of him.
Xiao Bai was still hugging Li Mu's arm tightly. She said, "Sister Liu said that when you come to Luoyang, you can't fool around. You can't go to that kind of place …"
He was the one who saved the little fox, but she had become Liu Hanyan's spy. Li Mu looked at her and asked, "If I go to that kind of place, will you tell Sister Liu?"
Xiao Bai nodded without hesitation. She said, "I promise Sister Liu!"
Li Mu asked again, "If I don't let you tell her, will you listen to Sister Liu or me?"
This question made Xiao Bai stop chewing on the candied hawthorn. She muttered, "I, I …"
After a while, she lowered her head and said softly, "I, I will listen to you, Benefactor."
Li Mu was comforted. Xiao Bai's answer proved that she was still his caring little girl. Even if she made a mistake, she would help him hide it. Who would not like a little girl like her?
Of course, Li Mu would not make such a mistake. He just wanted to tease Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai lowered her head and hesitated for a while. Then she looked up and said, "Benefactor, if you want, Xiao Bai can do it too. I have already turned into a human …"
Li Mu patted her head and said, "I'm joking. I won't go to that kind of place …"
He knew very well that before Xiao Bai transformed, she was prepared to give herself to him at any time. However, she was placed by Liu Hanyan to keep an eye on Li Mu. If she betrayed Liu Hanyan and stole from him, how could the two of them be good sisters in the future?
Although Xiao Bai was indeed very attractive, Li Mu would not lose the big picture for a small gain. He would not be greedy for a moment of pleasure and bury the fuse for a future Asura Battlefield.
After receiving Li Mu's promise, the girl became happy again. She happily held onto Li Mu's arm and turned back to stick out her tongue in the direction of the brothel.
Along the way, Li Mu bought some snacks for Xiao Bai. He was about to return to the yamen when his gaze inadvertently swept across the front. His gaze suddenly froze.
Two figures walked past on the street in front of him.
The two of them, one old and one young, did not see Li Mu.
Li Mu did not recognize the young man. His gaze swept past him and stopped on the old man.
This was the first time Li Mu saw this old man, but his figure overlapped with a figure in Li Mu's memory.
To be precise, it was the memory of the assassin that Li Mu had obtained from Madam Chu in the North County.
This old man was the one who had hired the assassin to assassinate Li Mu in the North County.
He followed behind the young man step by step. It was obvious that the young man was the leader. In this way, the mastermind behind the assassination in the North County was about to be revealed.
In the Shendu yamen, Li Mu reached out and swiped the void. The image of a young man appeared in the air.
Wang Wu looked at the image and said in shock, "No way, boss. You just killed Zhou Chuchu and now you've provoked Zhou Chen?"
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