Chapter Twenty-Five: The Ninth-Rank Daoist (Please keep reading and recommend!)

The yamen officer glared furiously at Su Ye, his desire to shout thwarted by the invisible hand gripping his throat so tightly he could not make a sound.

The surrounding officers recoiled at Su Ye’s sudden action. The inhuman method he wielded left terror etched across their faces.

“Master Xu, please, act quickly and capture Su Ye!” Their gazes all turned to Daoist Xu, even the officer suspended in Su Ye’s grasp twisting his head with difficulty to look at him, his eyes filled with desperate pleading.

“Silence, all of you!”

Daoist Xu’s cold rebuke rang out. He regarded Su Ye with a profound gaze and spoke gravely, “Fellow Daoist Su, why stoop to quarrel with mere mortals? I am here on the orders of Master Bai Song to invite you to the county office.”

Daoist Xu was himself a cultivator of the First Realm. The moment he saw Su Ye, he recognized that Su Ye, too, was a First Realm cultivator—and the spotted cat in Su Ye’s arms was likewise a beast of equal strength.

In the Su family’s domain, he was no match for Su Ye.

These officers were fools to have dared speak so insolently; it was only right that Su Ye taught them a lesson. Yet, as these officers had accompanied him from the county office, for the sake of his own reputation, he could not let them come to harm.

Having invoked Master Bai Song’s name, Daoist Xu looked at Su Ye with utmost composure, certain that upon hearing such a name, Su Ye would not dare behave so wildly.

With a flick of his wrist, Su Ye tossed the unconscious officer to the ground, then looked to Daoist Xu and asked with a smile, “And who is this Master Bai Song? Is he very powerful? If he summons me to the county office and I simply obey, wouldn’t that make me look rather spineless?”

He had truly never heard the name before, but for a First Realm cultivator to speak with such respect, this Bai Song must possess considerable power.

“Could he be a Daoist who has entered the ranked grades?”

Su Ye pondered. Since coming to this world, he had encountered many evil cultivators, but none who had entered the official ranks. A ranked cultivator was something he had yet to see.

“You mean to say you’ve never heard of Master Bai Song? He is a cultivator of the Ninth Rank! You are to follow me to the county office at once to meet him. If you anger the master, it is you who will suffer the consequences!” Daoist Xu’s voice grew cold.

“Go back and tell Master Bai Song: if he wishes to see me, let him come to the Su family in person!”

Su Ye felt no fear of Master Bai Song, not even if the man was a Ninth Rank cultivator.

For all his vaunted rank, Bai Song remained sequestered in the county of Jinhua; most likely, he was a practitioner of some unorthodox path. Even if he had attained the Ninth Rank, his true strength was unlikely to be overwhelming.

Su Ye himself had reached the peak of the First Realm—just a step away from entering the ranks. Even if he could not defeat Bai Song now, it was hardly certain that Bai Song could harm him.

“How dare you, Su Ye!” Daoist Xu stared at him in shock, unable to believe Su Ye dared to show such disregard for Master Bai Song.

“Enough nonsense. You know you’re no match for me. Take your men and leave the Su household at once—unless you wish for me to drag you out myself.” The smile vanished from Su Ye’s face; his gaze turned icy as he fixed Daoist Xu in place.

Though fury burned in his heart under Su Ye’s cold stare, Daoist Xu no longer dared to argue. He knew he stood no chance. After a moment’s calculation, he abandoned all pretense and swiftly led his bewildered officers away from the Su residence.

“What will you do now, Su Ye? Are you truly unafraid of Master Bai Song? He’s a cultivator of the Ninth Rank!” The little cat’s voice was low and serious.

The cat had spent enough time with Su Ye to know his strength was formidable, but Bai Song’s Ninth Rank cultivation was not something a mere First Realm practitioner could match.

“There’s no need for concern. Even if Bai Song truly is Ninth Rank, his strength can’t be that fearsome, or he would not have hidden away in Jinhua all this time,” Su Ye replied, his expression relaxed and untroubled.

Bai Song’s actions clearly aimed at the Su family’s wealth. Zhao Bai suspected that, aside from the county magistrate’s schemes, the prominent families of Jinhua were also involved.

If he managed to defeat Bai Song, word would spread quickly—and then, he believed, no one else in Jinhua would dare covet the Su family’s fortunes.

“Be careful, then. If Master Bai Song turns out to be too powerful, don’t expect me to stay and help you,” the little cat muttered softly.

Most of the vicious energy within him had already been dispelled, so it would no longer trouble him.

He had not left yet only because Su Ye kept assigning him tasks. However, if Su Ye truly angered a mighty cultivator like Bai Song, he would not remain at his side.

Su Ye gently patted the cat’s furry head and said nothing more.

Nearby, Zhou Quan breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Su Ye dispatch the unruly officers from the county office so effortlessly; his respect for Su Ye deepened.

“Uncle Zhou, any news on those herbs I asked you to collect recently?” Su Ye inquired softly.

He sought herbs like ginseng and lingzhi—common enough, but excellent materials for crafting talismanic medicines.

Such herbs were ideal for making talismanic concoctions, but they came with a steep price. Even Bai Song, with his Ninth Rank cultivation, would benefit from them; that was why he had urged the county officers to cause trouble for the Su family.

His goal was the same as that of Jinhua’s wealthy clans: to seize a share of the Su family’s assets now that Su Ren and the others were dead and the household mired in chaos.

“My young master, we have managed to acquire some of the herbs you listed—they are now kept in the medicine storeroom. Would you like to inspect them now?” At the mention of this, Zhou Quan’s face lit with a smile.

As the wealthiest family in Jinhua, the Su clan controlled immense resources and a vast network of contacts.

Those who did business with the Su family cared little who stood at its head, so long as their profits remained unaffected. Thus, when Su Ye issued his order to search for herbs, the Su family’s servants immediately set out to procure what he needed.

“Let’s go to the medicine storeroom and take a look,” Su Ye replied with a gentle smile, following Zhou Quan to where the herbs were kept.