A flicker of joy appeared on the woman’s face.
Chu Lingguang could casually summon his Potential Power, which meant he was quite strong. He was exactly the kind of person she was looking for.
"Greetings... Sir."
But when she entered the room and bowed to Chu Lingguang, she was a bit taken aback to see he was only in his early twenties.
In fact, Chu Lingguang wasn’t even twenty years old yet.
His mature appearance was due to his time stationed at Black Bear Island, where the daily wind and sun had weathered him into his current state.
"Miss, what can I do for you?"
Chu Lingguang asked.
"If I may be so bold, Sir, are you an official of the Fifth Grade or higher?"
the woman inquired.
According to the rules, someone receiving Chu Lingguang’s level of treatment at a posthouse should be at least a fourth-grade official. But how could someone so young possess such authority, unless he was one of the Royal Family and Relatives?
"I am not."
Chu Lingguang was currently a Senior Fifth Grade official. It was only because of his merit in wiping out the pirates, combined with his status as an Advanced Scholar and a stellar record, that he was able to achieve such a rank at his age.
"My apologies for the disturbance."
Disappointment washed over the woman’s face. She bowed to Chu Lingguang, clutched her wooden box, and turned to leave. On her way out, she carefully closed the door to his room and the gate to his courtyard.
Chu Lingguang extended his Spiritual Sense to cover the woman. Her aura was in disarray, a clear sign of an internal injury. The wooden box in her arms seemed to be something important that she was protecting with her life.
Only an official of the Fourth Grade or higher could help her with her matter, which was why she left so disappointed upon learning he wasn’t of sufficient rank.
Chu Lingguang didn’t try to stop her.
His journey to take up his post at Wolf Valley Pass was on a tight schedule, and he couldn’t afford delays. Besides, the woman was unwilling to say more, so why should he press her?
It was best to avoid a situation where he couldn’t help and only ended up attracting trouble for himself.
Chu Lingguang immediately immersed himself in his cultivation.
When traveling, safety was paramount.
He activated the Divine Breath Technique, allowing himself to merge with everything in the posthouse. Even if a Spiritual Power from a Sea of Consciousness of the same level were to scan the area, it would not easily discover him.
This aura-concealing Skill, at its peak, was superior to the Mixed Element Skill.
It was a reward Chu Lingguang had received for his merits in wiping out the pirates, reorganizing military discipline, and earning the gratitude of the common people.
With the help of the Great Cang Heart Method and his Favor Points, he had already cultivated this aura-concealing Skill to its absolute peak. He could enter the Divine Breath state at any time, making his aura disappear from the senses of others.
Unless his opponent’s Spiritual Power far exceeded his own, it would be extremely difficult to find him from a distance.
In the Divine Breath state.
Chu Lingguang could seemingly feel every subtle movement, as if the very earth were breathing.
「Deep in the night.」
After stabilizing her aura, the woman with the wooden box left the posthouse under the cover of darkness, riding a warhorse north.
’The wooden box is emitting a strange fluctuation?’ Chu Lingguang opened his eyes and thought.
He took out the red gems from his bag—the ones he had found in the pirate chief’s stone cave in Xiazigou. Each of these gems could release a Consciousness Attack Power. Only when placed in a special cloth pouch would that power be blocked.
For some time now, Chu Lingguang had been studying the red gems and the strange pouch whenever he had a spare moment.
He had tried directing the fluctuations of his Sea of Consciousness Power at the pouch. He clearly felt his power rebound as if hitting a vortex. Trying to penetrate the pouch was simply impossible with his current Sea of Consciousness Power.
’That wooden box must be like this pouch in my hand, capable of blocking special fluctuations.’
’I wonder if those mysterious Mind Masters could use their Mind Power to pierce through this pouch, or the wooden box that woman is carrying?’
Chu Lingguang muttered to himself.
He had tried to use his Spiritual Power to probe the contents of the woman’s wooden box, but just like with his pouch, his Spiritual Power had been repelled.
「The next morning」, after eating and drinking his fill, Chu Lingguang mounted his Little Red Horse and continued on his journey.
Aided by his Consciousness Manipulation Power, the Little Red Horse moved with incredible speed. It crossed mountains and ridges, finally carrying Chu Lingguang out of Chishui Prefecture and into the next, Divine Land Mansion, before nightfall.
Without Liu Ziyun’s arrangements, when Chu Lingguang arrived at the posthouse, he could only receive the standard accommodations for his rank. He even had to present his Literary Decree and Identity Token to ensure no one was impersonating an official to take advantage of the posthouse’s services.
THUD!
Chu Lingguang had just handed the Little Red Horse over to the posthouse staff and hadn’t even made it to his room to rest when a figure with a chaotic aura collapsed at the entrance.
Chu Lingguang took a closer look.
It was the same woman who had come looking for him the previous night. The wooden box was still in her hands, but she now had two sword wounds on her body. She had clearly been in another armed fight on the road and had barely managed to break through an encirclement.
"Miss, this is a posthouse for traveling officials to rest. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed."
A member of the posthouse staff stepped forward and said.
"I am a government official, too."
the woman said, getting to her feet.
She didn’t forget to glance behind her, as if something was in pursuit.
She presented her Identity Token.
Chu Lingguang discovered the woman was an Official.
The Great Yuan Local Government has Military Commanders responsible for protecting the integrity of the territory, as well as the three shifts of government constables to manage the population and maintain public order.
Wang Chao, who was previously a Chief Constable at the County Yamen, had been one of these government constables.
An Official was a Seventh Grade position.
They commanded a group of Chiefs, and under each Chief was a large number of constables. Their usual duties included guarding storehouses or prisons, escorting shipments of silver taels, or accompanying officials to their new posts.