I Grind to Martial Saint

Han Yuan thought for a moment, then turned to look at Shang Yuan, who had yet to say a word.

”Your turn to talk.”

Faced with Han Yuan’s gaze, Shang Yuan was terrified, his voice trembling. ”I know about as much as Senior Sister Yu... We were sent down the mountain this time to get some training experience with our senior brother.”

”So I only know the minor details. Only Senior Brother Liang Tian knew the full story.”

Han Yuan’s eyes flickered. He asked, ”Now that I’ve killed Liang Tian, will the Spirit Sun Sect get word of it?”

Yu Cuicui thought for a moment before shaking her head. ”It shouldn’t be that fast... Our Sect is located deep in the mountains and rarely has contact with the outside world.”

”Four of us came down the mountain. Two died at your hands, and now you have Shang Yuan and me under your control.”

”The Sect probably won’t be able to react that quickly...”

”They’d never expect our senior brother to meet his match in Cangshui County.”

”But if we don’t return to the Sect for a long time... it will eventually raise suspicion.”

”As for how long that would take, I can’t say for sure,” Yu Cuicui said.

Han Yuan frowned and asked, ”Then how many Innate Experts does your Spirit Sun Sect have?”

Seeing that Yu Cuicui had answered so many questions, Shang Yuan, wanting to prove his own usefulness, quickly chimed in. ”Director Han, our Sect has a total of three Innate Experts: Sect Leader Hong Pengtian, Grand Elder Yang Fanyu, and Vice Sect Leader Kong Wenbin. Besides them, we also have more than twenty Elders at the Gang Essence Realm.”

Hearing these numbers, Han Yuan sucked in a sharp breath.

A force of this scale was so great that even the Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau couldn’t hope to compare.

’With the world in upheaval, all sorts of monsters are crawling out of the woodwork,’ Han Yuan thought to himself.

He knew there were likely many other reclusive sects like the Spirit Sun Sect.

Now, with the world in upheaval, they were bound to emerge one after another.

With so many powerful factions appearing, the world was destined to become even more chaotic.

Han Yuan asked a few more questions about the Spirit Sun Sect, then waved his hand, gesturing for the Demon Exterminators to take Yu Cuicui and Shang Yuan away and hand them over to Old Yan.

’These two are both experts of the True Qi Realm. They won’t be easy to control. I’ll have to let Old Yan use his methods on them.’

「A short while later.」

Zhai Mu strode into the main hall, having finished dealing with the aftermath.

”Director... this Spirit Sun Sect is no small fry... How should we handle this?” Zhai Mu asked in a low voice.

”We’ll handle it the way it needs to be handled. Are you suggesting we should be afraid of them?” Han Yuan chuckled.

”But they have Innate Grandmasters... If they come looking for us...” Zhai Mu’s brow furrowed deeply.

They had dealt with Liang Tian, yes, but behind him was a much larger power.

Compared to a faction like that, the Cangshui Celestial Observation Bureau was like an ant facing an elephant.

”Don’t worry... The Spirit Sun Sect won’t be able to react that quickly.”

”For the next few days, I want you to keep a close watch on the area around Cangshui County Town. Send out all our men. If you catch wind of anything, report to me immediately!”

Han Yuan wasn’t the least bit flustered.

His mind was now completely focused on the Spiritual Land that was about to emerge.

”Understood.” Zhai Mu nodded.

”Right, send a confidential message to the Jianghe Province Celestial Observation Bureau.”

”Report our situation here truthfully... and make a special inquiry about the origins of this Spirit Sun Sect,” Han Yuan ordered.

”Director, to be honest, even if the Jianghe Province Celestial Observation Bureau finds out, they’ll just play dumb,” Zhai Mu said with a wry smile.

”I’m not expecting them to stick their necks out for us.”

”I just want to know more about this Spirit Sun Sect,” Han Yuan said calmly.

Understanding dawned on Zhai Mu. He cupped his fist in salute and left.

Han Yuan also left the main hall, heading for the Celestial Phenomenon Hall.

As he arrived at the Celestial Phenomenon Hall, he saw Yu Cuicui and Shang Yuan being led out by more than a dozen Demon Exterminators.

To his surprise, Han Yuan couldn’t sense any fluctuations of Inner Qi from them at all.

Not only that, but their eyes were completely vacant, as if they had lost their consciousness.

To Han Yuan, they looked like two walking corpses.

A Demon Exterminator stepped forward and said, ”Director Han, Supervisor Yan has completely dissipated their True Qi. He also cast a Forbidden Technique on them, shattering their minds. He can now control their very lives and deaths at will.”

’So Old Yan has methods like this...’ Han Yuan was somewhat surprised.

’Still, this is for the best. With their minds shattered, they won’t be able to stir up any trouble.’

He gave an order. ”Lock them in the underground dungeon for now. Keep them under heavy guard!”

The Observatory did have its own dungeons, which were normally maintained by the Black Death Hall.

They were rarely used, but this time they would finally serve their purpose.

”Yes, sir!” the Demon Exterminator replied in a heavy voice.

After saying a word of thanks for their hard work, Han Yuan walked into the Celestial Phenomenon Hall.

Old Yan wasn’t surprised to see Han Yuan come in. He had long expected him.

”Director Han, I actually don’t know much about the Spirit Sun Sect.”

”You’ll probably have to ask the Jianghe Celestial Observation Bureau about them.”

Old Yan picked up his ever-present wine gourd and took a swig of aged wine.

This time, however, he had clearly misunderstood the reason for Han Yuan’s visit.

”I came this time to ask about the emergence of the Spiritual Land,” Han Yuan said with a smile.

”The emergence of a Spiritual Land?” Old Yan blinked, stunned.

Given his personality, his motto had always been ”the less trouble, the better.”

That was why he hadn’t asked any questions when he used his methods on Yu Cuicui and Shang Yuan, which in turn was why he knew nothing about it.

”Yes, the emergence of a Spiritual Land.”

”The people from the Spirit Sun Sect came here for it.”

Han Yuan relayed what he had learned from the two captives.

”The emergence of a Spiritual Land...”

”A Spiritual Land is actually emerging right here, in our territory?!”