Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 280
>Chapter Title: Technique (Extra for Alliance Leader morgenrote!!)
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That night, the Pi County magistrate ate and played to his heart's content, not waking until the sun was high in the sky.
When he learned that Li Huowang was leaving, he dragged his hungover head out of bed and brought his wife and children to see him off.
"Daoist, safe travels! I'll definitely report yesterday's events in detail to my superiors. I wish you a bright future and smooth sailing all the way!"
The smiling Yang Hongzhi kept cupping his hands toward Li Huowang, even as blood still seeped from the wound on his chin.
No matter what he was thinking deep down, his outward display was impeccable—no one could find fault with it.
Hearing this, Gouwa in the crowd pursed his lips. Yang Hongzhi talked a good game, but when it came to Li Huowang's departure, he hadn't offered anything substantial.
"County Magistrate Yang, could you issue some travel permits? Mine got soaked in wine last night and fell apart."
Through Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang knew that unlike other places, the Great Liang Dynasty was vast with many cities, and thus many rules.
Small towns were fine, but some big cities wouldn't even let you in without a travel permit.
Though this minor issue wouldn't stump Li Huowang, he didn't want Bai Lingmiao climbing walls every time just for this.
"Travel permits? Of course, of course!"
With the Pi County matter resolved and his official hat secure, issuing a few travel permits was nothing.
The trouble was gone—now he just needed to hurry this plague god on his way.
As the local parent official, in the eyes of the Pi County folk, Magistrate Yang had put on a full show, seeing them off a full three or four li before reluctantly turning back.
"He's seeing us off so diligently—folks who don't know might think he was sending off his own father. No idea about tossing some travel funds our way for the dads here."
Lv Xiucai spat viciously onto the ground, his expression full of disgust.
"Smack!" A copper tobacco pipe with glowing embers smacked right onto his mouth.
Li Huowang had no time for the Lv family drama—his mind was entirely on his conversation with that knife-seller last night.
He'd finally taken the first step, making contact with the Bureau of Surveillance God—but it had been an agonizing step.
The man had only said he'd report back—neither yes nor no—and who knew how they'd respond.
To be safe, he needed to prepare for both possibilities.
If they just said no, fine. But what he feared most was that the guy was a Sitting Oblivion Dao impostor—that would be fatal.
The monk beside him reached out and touched the copper coin mask on Li Huowang's face.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine. These past few days, you haven't even taken it off to sleep—they won't discover you're a heart spirit."
"As long as they don't find out, we have a way out."
The monk's reassurance didn't ease Li Huowang's mind at all. Relying solely on the mask to hide his identity felt far too risky.
He needed to quickly find other ways to add layers of protection to his identity, to ensure his safety.
The monk had been right about one thing: as long as no one realized he was a heart spirit, he still had options.
"Most importantly, it's all about strength. With enough power, none of this matters."
The travel permit wasn't just a pass—it also served as a temporary identity. With it, Li Huowang and the others could at least count as half-Great Liang citizens.
"Clang clang clang clang~~" In a typical Great Liang village, someone was performing opera.
As Gouwa banged the gong nonstop, Lv Juren—dressed as a handsome young lead—parted the curtain and stepped forward to sing.
The newly adapted opera had the tenant farmers below the stage hooked, tossing grain and copper coins up onto the platform.
Some half-grown boys even hurled a basket of loaches onto the stage, startling the beggar-costumed Luo Jinhua into a jump and drawing roars of laughter from the crowd.
By the muddy roadside, the grinning Lv Zhuangyuan was counting copper coins one by one with Zhao Wu.
Li Huowang glanced at the strings of coins piled up beside Zhao Wu on the carriage, surprise stirring in his heart.
Ever since the Lv Family Troupe switched up their singing style, their earnings had soared—doubled, at least. And as the boss, he got half of it.
The Lv Family Troupe might not be a golden goose, but it was reliably laying double-yolk eggs now—and it wouldn't stop.
"Hey! Brother Zhao Wu, accounts all square now, eh? We've made some money—let's eat well tonight! Loaches drilling tofu!!"
The loaches were ready at hand; Lv Zhuangyuan's idea of "eating well" was just buying some tofu from the village.
But after all this time together, Li Huowang knew the man's temperament. "Troupe Leader Lv, how come I didn't see Xiucai during the performance earlier?"
At mention of his youngest son, Lv Zhuangyuan's beaming face instantly fell.
"Him? Forget it. Even if that boy masters some divine ability, he won't be there to see me off in my old age. In the end, it'll all be up to our little Tongsheng here, right, my precious grandson?"
Watching Lv Zhuangyuan play with his grandson, Li Huowang headed toward a large boulder in the distance, where Lv Xiucai was practicing.
As he drew closer, Li Huowang heard the scholar chanting his incantation: “Violet qi, clear and radiant—vast primordial true qi descends! All resonances gather within the Void!”
The copper coins laid out in rows on the rock before him snapped together in an instant.
With a fierce stamp of his foot, they flipped over and spread apart again with another snap.
After all this practice, through sheer rote memorization despite not knowing a single character, Lv Xiucai had actually learned it.
Seeing him, Li Huowang finally understood just how much suffering Danyangzi must have endured to reach the level he'd achieved before death.
"Master!"
"Not bad. How have you been feeling lately?"
Li Huowang watched the other's expression closely as he asked.
"Never better! Absolutely fantastic!"
Lv Xiucai, now convinced he'd mastered a divine ability, glowed with vigor, his voice booming—a total transformation from his former self.
Li Huowang felt a mix of disappointment and relief.
Disappointment, because his earlier guess seemed off—unlike other sects, the Rascals' techniques apparently hadn't purged the baleful energy from Lv Xiucai.
Relief, because after practicing this far, nothing had gone wrong with him at all.
That proved the technique wasn't laced with any infant-spirit traps. He could start cultivating it himself.
"Good, as long as you're making progress. But why aren't you helping your father with the opera?"
At that, Lv Xiucai’s face twisted in utter contempt. "I'm a master of divine abilities now—am I supposed to go back to huddling with them as some lowly ninth-rate performer?"
Li Huowang frowned at that. Truth be told, Lv Xiucai was downright grating now. He hadn't even turned things around yet, and already he was looking down on his father and brother.
But he was destined for disappointment—this so-called divine ability was meant for use with the copper coin sword. Without the sword, the technique was utterly useless.
(End of chapter)