"Why treat you this way?" Chen Nan sneered, "Clan Leader Ma, you don't seriously believe I'm a magnanimous person, do you?"
"Stop messing around!"
"It was decided the moment you and your family repeatedly targeted me during the Yin Messenger assessment."
"We were destined to be mortal enemies."
Ma Sanyuan's face contorted with rage, "So, you've been using us all along?"
"That's not entirely accurate..." Chen Nan paused to gather his thoughts, "I didn't intend to use your family; I merely planned to eliminate you when the opportunity arose."
"But you repeatedly showed me kindness..."
"And gave me so much..."
"How could I possibly refuse?"
"Would I even be human if I did?"
"So, I simply went with the flow."
Ma Sanyuan spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes burning with intense killing intent, "I've lived for so many years, and this is the first time I've encountered someone as sinister and cunning as you!"
"Chen Nan, you will meet a terrible end."
"Even if you kill me, the Imperial Tutor will avenge my son and me."
Chen Nan chuckled, "Ma Sanyuan, do you truly believe that the influential figure behind you would dispatch someone to kill me over a pawn like yourself?"
"Don't be so presumptuous!"
"The imperial court has issued three urgent dispatches."
"Instructing me to expedite the trial of your family's gunpowder smuggling case."
"This means,"
"Those behind you aren't concerned with whether your family was wrongly accused."
"They simply want you dead."
"Do you understand now?"
Ma Sanyuan was struck as if by lightning.
He remained stunned for a long time.
He had yearned to live.
He had yearned for Chen Nan to clear his and his son's names.
But he had overlooked one crucial point.
This case involved heavy casualties and had extremely serious repercussions.
It was bound to affect the status of the influential figure behind him.
That person would surely be disappointed in him.
Under such disappointment, discarding a mere chess piece like him would be insignificant.
Ma Sanyuan clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with furious killing intent, "Chen Nan, even if you intend to kill me, you'd better gauge your own strength!"
"Today, even if I die, I, Ma Sanyuan, will drag you, you beast, down with me!"
With a furious roar.
A terrifying surge of Yin energy erupted from within Ma Sanyuan.
He seemed like a reborn demon god.
The distant Wu Jiu and others felt an almost suffocating pressure.
After all, they were ordinary mortals.
They could hardly withstand the aura of a cultivator at the Huaxing realm.
It was fortunate that Wu Jiu and the others had been constables for many years and had experienced some perilous situations.
The new constables would likely have soiled themselves.
"Die!"
Ma Sanyuan let out an enraged roar.
Like a streak of rainbow light.
He instantly appeared before Chen Nan.
His fist was imbued with dense Yin energy.
It carried a destructive force.
Although Chen Nan had reached the Huaxing realm.
He himself was a peak expert of the Huaxing realm.
He was confident of killing Chen Nan on the spot.
At this critical juncture.
Chen Nan decisively punched out, gripping Ma Sanyuan's fist in his palm.
"What?"
Ma Sanyuan's pupils trembled violently.
A tempest of shock surged within him.
He was a peak expert of the Huaxing realm.
And Chen Nan was only at the eighth layer of the Huaxing realm.
There was a full realm difference between them.
Moreover, he had been in the Huaxing realm for many years, possessing profound cultivation.
Yet, he never dreamed.
That Chen Nan could so easily block his furious strike.
And appear so calm while doing so.
At this moment.
A sense of inexplicable dread arose in his heart.
After all, only three months ago, Chen Nan was still a cultivator at the Caiyin realm.
Who could have believed.
That in just three months, he could rival a peak expert of the Huaxing realm?
Even witnessing it firsthand, it was hard to believe.
Before he could recover from his shock.
Intense pain shot through his fist.
Then, Chen Nan angrily raised his right leg, striking Ma Sanyuan squarely in the chest.
Sending him flying back over ten meters.
Blood gushed from his mouth.
Ma Jun, standing by, was completely dumbfounded.
He had expected his father to kill Chen Nan.
But he never imagined.
That his father's strength would be so formidable.
Chen Nan strode forward, exuding an imposing aura even without anger, "Ma Sanyuan, your Ma family illegally trafficked prohibited goods for the imperial court, resulting in fifty deaths on the spot and over two hundred severely injured."
"Your crimes are heinous!"
"Now you have harmed Yin Messengers and attempted to break out of prison."
"As the Governor of the Water Transport Department, I, Chen Nan, cannot allow you to escape!"
"Today, I shall execute you and your son according to the law!"
As he spoke.
He appeared before Ma Jun.
A long saber materialized in his hand.
He raised the saber furiously, and under Ma Sanyuan's horrified, enraged, and despairing gaze, it descended!
*Splat!*
Accompanied by a spray of scarlet blood.
Ma Jun's head was severed from his body.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
Ma Sanyuan's eyes were about to burst from their sockets. He had never expected his son to die tragically before his eyes.
The powerlessness and self-blame.
The pain of a parent outliving their child drove him to lose all reason.
*Thwack!*
The saber in Chen Nan's hand flew out, piercing Ma Sanyuan's chest.
Nailing him to the prison wall at the entrance.
Although the Ma father and son were dead.
Chen Nan knew.
They were merely scapegoats.
Although he desperately wanted to find the real culprits.
And bring justice to those fifty deceased victims.
However, at this moment.
He did not have the time or energy to investigate the matter further.
His goal was to enter Guangling Prefecture.
After all, Han Zongyuan had previously stated.
Only by entering Guangling Prefecture would one have one foot in Fengdu City.
And only by entering Fengdu City.
Could he enter the eighteen layers of hell and meet Empress Houtu.
And return the Human Realm and the Beast Realm to her.
Thus averting the end of the Three Realms returning to chaos.
"You all clean up this place. I'm going to the county yamen to report."
The Ma father and son were dead.
It was time for him to return to the county yamen and inform Han Zongyuan of the case's progress.
The night was deep.
Han Zongyuan, however, had not rested.
He was awaiting news of the case.
Upon learning that the Ma father and son had harmed Yin Messengers and attempted to escape, only to be executed on the spot by Chen Nan, Han Zongyuan stated, "This is the best possible outcome."
"What about you?"
"What are your plans?"
"Will you remain in Tongcheng, or continue heading north to Guangling Prefecture?"
Chen Nan did not hide his intentions, "I wish to go to Guangling Prefecture."
Han Zongyuan nodded slightly, "I will recommend you in my memorial to the throne."
"However, based on my understanding of Guangling Prefecture."
"Even if you go there, you may not be heavily utilized."
Chen Nan smiled, "Even if I'm not heavily utilized, I can focus my energy on cultivation."
Han Zongyuan nodded in agreement, then said, "If you can cultivate to the Ghost King realm, you can be directly promoted to a ninth-grade Yin Messenger."
Chen Nan's breathing quickened, "As long as I can cultivate to the Ghost King realm, I can be directly promoted to a ninth-grade Yin Messenger?"
Han Zongyuan affirmed, "Although there is such a regulation, no one in history has reached the Ghost King realm through personal ability alone."
Chen Nan's eyes gleamed.
Could I be the first person in history to do so?