The Price of Divine Power

That evening, the Pi County magistrate enjoyed himself thoroughly with the food and entertainment, sleeping all the way until the sun was high in the sky without waking.

It was only when he learned that Li Huowang was about to leave that he came to see him off, his head still muddled with the previous night's drink, accompanied by his wife and children.

"Reverend One, safe travels. I will certainly report yesterday's events to my superiors in full detail. May your future be bright, and may your journey be smooth!"

Yang Hongzhi clasped his hands and bowed repeatedly toward Li Huowang, a smile fixed on his face, even as blood continued to seep from the wound on his chin.

Whatever he might truly be thinking, the posture he displayed left no room for anyone to find fault.

Hearing this, Gouwa, standing among the crowd, pursed his lips in disdain. Yang Hongzhi's words were smooth enough, but when it came to Li Huowang's departure, he offered nothing of substance.

"Magistrate Yang, could you issue me a travel permit? Mine was soaked through by the wine last night."

Through Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang had learned that this place was different from others. The Great Liang Empire was vast, with many cities, and many rules as well.

In small places it was fine, but in some of the larger cities, without a travel permit, you couldn't even enter the gates.

Though such small matters wouldn't truly trouble Li Huowang, it wasn't worth making Bai Lingmiao climb over walls every single time just for this.

"A travel permit? Yes, yes, yes!"

The problem of Pi County was resolved, and his official cap was saved. Issuing a few travel permits was utterly trivial.

Now that the trouble was gone, it was only natural to send this plague god on his way as quickly as possible.

As the local magistrate, Magistrate Yang put on a proper show for the people of Pi County. He saw them off for three or four li before finally turning back with reluctant reluctance.

"So eager to send us off, you'd think he was seeing off his own father. But he didn't even bother to give us some travel money for the road." The scholar spat heavily onto the ground, his face twisted with disgust.

"Smack!" The copper tobacco pipe, still smoldering with embers, struck him directly across the mouth.

Li Huowang couldn't be bothered with the affairs of the Lü family. His mind was entirely occupied with the conversation he'd had with the Debt-Credit Peddler the night before.

He had finally taken the first step, making contact with the Supervisory Heavenly Office. But that step had been excruciatingly difficult.

The other party had only said he would go back and report. He hadn't said yes, and he hadn't said no. There was no telling how they would respond.

To be safe, he had best prepare for both possibilities.

If they simply refused, that would be one thing. But what he feared most was that this fellow might be a Zuowandao in disguise—that was the most lethal possibility.

The monk beside him reached out and touched the copper coin mask on Li Huowang's face.

"Don't worry, it's fine. You haven't taken this thing off even when you slept these past few days. They won't discover you're a Heart-Element."

"As long as they don't find out, we still have a way out."

The monk's reassurance brought Li Huowang no peace of mind. Relying solely on a mask to conceal his identity was far too reckless.

He still needed to find another method quickly, to add another layer of insurance to his identity, in order to guarantee his safety.

What the monk had said earlier was indeed true: as long as no one discovered he was a Heart-Element, there was always a way out.

"What matters most is strength. With enough strength, none of these things would be a problem."

The travel permit wasn't just a pass; it was also a temporary identity. With this document, Li Huowang and his group could be considered half-citizens of Great Liang.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang—" In an ordinary large village in Liang, someone was performing an opera.

As Gouwa beat the gong relentlessly, Lü Juren, dressed as a young male lead, pushed aside the curtain and walked to the front of the stage, beginning his song.

This newly composed opera thrilled the tenant farmers below the stage. They tossed grains and reward money onto the stage.

Some half-grown youths even threw a basket of loaches onto the stage, startling Luo Juan, who was dressed as a beggar, drawing peals of laughter from the audience.

By the muddy roadside, Lü Zhuangyuan stood with a smile, counting coppers one by one with Zhao Wu.

Li Huowang, watching from the side, was inwardly surprised at the sight of the copper coins already strung on a rope beside Zhao Wu on the cart.

Ever since the Lü family troupe had changed its style, they were earning far more than before. As their patron, Li Huowang was entitled to half of it.

Now, the Lü family troupe might not be a goose that laid golden eggs, but it was at least a goose that laid double-yolked eggs—and those double-yolked eggs would keep coming.

"Hey, little brother Zhao Wu! The accounts all match up. We've made some money, so let's eat well tonight! Tonight we'll have loaches stuffed with tofu!"

The loaches were already on hand. When Lü Zhuangyuan said "eat well," he simply meant buying some tofu from the village.

But after spending this much time together, Li Huowang already knew the man's temperament. "Captain Lü, I didn't see the scholar during the performance earlier?"

At the mention of his youngest son, Lü Zhuangyuan, who had been all smiles, immediately let his face fall.

"Him? Forget it. Even if that brat actually learns some divine power, I doubt I can count on him to see me to my grave. In the future, I'll have to rely on our little tongsheng here. Isn't that right, my precious grandson?"

Watching Lü Zhuangyuan as he bounced his grandson on his knee, Li Huowang walked toward a large rock in the distance. Lü Xiucai was practicing there.

As he drew closer, Li Huowang could hear the scholar chanting his incantation. "Purple ether clear and bright, vast ether primal true, descending and responding, all gathered in the void—seize!"

The copper coins laid out in a row on the stone in front of him snapped together instantly with a sharp sound.

Then, with a stamp of his foot, the coins snapped again, flipping over and separating once more.

After practicing for so long, relying entirely on rote memorization without recognizing a single character, Lü Xiucai had truly learned it.

Seeing him, Li Huowang finally understood just how much suffering Danyangzi must have endured to reach the level he had before his death.

"Master!"

"Not bad. How have you been feeling lately?" As Li Huowang asked this, he carefully observed the other man's demeanor.

"Great! Couldn't be better!"

Having felt the touch of divine power, Lü Xiucai's face was radiant, his voice booming. He was a completely different person from the past.

Li Huowang felt a mix of disappointment and relief.

Disappointment because it seemed his earlier speculation had been off. Compared to other sects, the Luo Sect's technique didn't appear to have driven out the violent energy in Lü Xiucai's character.

And relief because, having practiced this far, Lü Xiucai still showed no ill effects at all.

This proved that the technique hadn't been booby-trapped by a Nascent Soul. He could begin practicing it himself.

"Good that you've learned it well. But why aren't you helping your father with the opera?"

At these words, Lü Xiucai's face twisted with extreme contempt. "I'm a man of divine power now. You expect me to go back and huddle with them among the lowly classes?"

Hearing this, Li Huowang couldn't help but frown. Truth be told, the Lü Xiucai of now was truly insufferable. He hadn't even made his fortune yet, and he was already looking down on his own father and elder brother.

But the scholar was destined to be disappointed. His so-called divine power was meant to be used with the bronze coin sword. He had only learned a technique to command the sword, but without the sword itself, the technique was utterly useless.