"At last, it’s here."
Seeing the two letters, An Jing finally breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down, but after thinking carefully that he had been occupying Linjiang City for almost two months, he couldn’t help but click his tongue again, "They should have come a long time ago! The Bright Mirror Sect is one thing, but is the Da Chen government really ignoring the Northern Border?"
To tell the truth, if An Jing himself were an official of the Da Chen government, knowing that a new City Lord, who had claimed a Divine Mandate previously, had suddenly appeared in Linjiang City and started ruling it officially, he would have definitely contacted the other party at the first opportunity.
Whether it was to acknowledge him and incorporate him into their system, or to declare his rule illegal and send someone to replace him, these were actions they should have taken—at the very least, there should have been some movement from Da Chen’s side, instead of staying motionless as if dead after talking with the Dragon Martial General for a few minutes.
It’s unlikely that the entire government of the Northern Border lacked a supreme leader and was so internally chaotic that it turned into a group of headless flies, right? A state-level government might be excusable, but what about the Daoist Residence? The larger domain? The Town King?
Moreover, the letter was directly issued in the name of the Town King—could it be that this Town King is just a figurehead without any reliable subordinates?"
With these doubts, An Jing first opened the letter from the Virtuous King.
The content was sparse and ordinary, merely the Virtuous King inquiring under his own name how An Jing was doing, stating that he had just learned of An Jing’s movements and the situation in Linjiang City, mentioned the hardships of the people of Linjiang City, and casually recognized and encouraged An Jing’s rule over Linjiang City, appreciating An Jing as a virtuous and benevolent good man of the Northern Border.
At the end, the Virtuous King remarked that a messenger would come to discuss details about Linjiang City and An Jing after some time, and he also personally encouraged An Jing to continue his cultivation and become a pillar of Da Chen.
"...How could it really be a letter written by the Virtuous King himself?"
After reading it, An Jing was dumbfounded, "Could it be that the Virtuous King really has no one else? His way of speaking is just like Ruohui..."
"No surprise there." Subdue Evil, who had seen much of the world, said, "In the old days, the royal families under the Sects were all kinds of strange; enjoying writing letters themselves wasn’t unusual, and some even liked to go on incognito trips to snack around."
Shaking his head slightly, An Jing opened the letter from the Bright Mirror Sect—ha, it was actually written by the sect elder Wuchen Zi. It was a great blessing to receive letters personally from two Manifesting Holy True Lords.
Wuchen Zi’s letter was very brief, simply stating that he was the mentor of Mingguang Dust and was aware of An Jing’s relationship with Mingguang Dust. He understood An Jing’s current situation, so he was not demanding that An Jing immediately return to the Bright Mirror Sect. However, as An Jing was a true disciple of the Bright Mirror Sect True Lord (Mingguang Dust now enjoyed the status of Manifesting Holy within the sect), the sect’s resources for cultivation would not be lacking, so traders from the Bright Mirror Sect would arrive in a few days.
In the caravan, there would be essential Bright Mirror Sect true transmission scriptures that An Jing urgently needed, as well as many cultivation resources; by that time, An Jing could try to study them, and he would use certain methods to teach remotely.
"This is good. My sect elder is quite reliable."
An Jing nodded in approval; Wuchen Zi truly deserved to be his sect elder, more solid than the Virtuous King who was all rhetoric without benefits, directly sending scriptures and cultivating resources that were exactly what he needed most.
Xuanyuan Pure Light could indeed advance the progress of cultivation techniques, but how to elevate his spiritual power was also an issue. It felt somewhat wasteful to use Xuanyuan Pure Light for that too since, with An Jing’s talent, just a little resource could vastly speed up his power catching up to his realm. Now having the resources, An Jing could use all his Xuanyuan Pure Light to push his realm.
As for the scriptures... An Jing was also looking forward to the cultivation techniques of the Bright Mirror Sect. This was the ’Mysterious Technique’ even praised by Subdue Evil; he already had Taibai Luminous Godly Ban as a foundation, the universally adaptable Grasping Heavenly Moment and Son of Heaven Method, and now needed some more profound techniques to enrich his combat capabilities.
After stashing away the two letters, An Jing looked toward Xu Tai, "Who delivered these?"
"The letter from the Virtuous King just appeared out of nowhere on your desk, while the one from the Bright Mirror Sect emerged from a mirror."
Xu Tai spoke with a hint of nervousness—having graduated from the Martial Arts Academy, he instinctively revered high-ranking officials of the Da Chen government, and as a martial artist, he deeply respected a powerful martial artist like Wuchen Zi.
It was quite normal for An Jing to receive attention from both parties, especially Wuchen Zi, given the mentor-disciple relationship, but the letter from the Virtuous King signified one thing: An Jing was about to be officially recognized.
Or to put it another way, the temporary City Lord was turning permanent!
How could he not be careful, how could he not be nervous?
An Jing lowered his eyes thoughtfully, "It seems that although the Bright Mirror Sect has withdrawn all martial artists from within Da Chen, their methods are still present—truly fascinating. If I can learn this ’transference through mirrors’ skill in the future, many things will become much more convenient."
However, obviously, this means of transference also has many limitations; it’s highly likely that only messages and letters can be sent in this way. Otherwise, why not just transmit the scriptures and resources directly through the mirror?
—It seems I need to expedite the eradication of Demon Shedding.
After reflecting, An Jing knew in his heart that he must resolve the issues at the Primordial Spirit Cave before the people from the Virtuous King’s side arrived, lest the site where the fragments of Subdue Evil were located receive too much attention.
"Let’s prepare." He instructed Xu Tai, "Organize a few warehouses, then clean up the streets... and fix the arrow towers on the city walls."