Immortal Dao is dead, I am the mastermind behind it all.

"Open the door! Guardians of the Way!"

A middle-aged man with a scraggly beard kicked open the door of the Cape Chamber of Commerce.

He was followed by two guard dogs from the Guardian of the Way.

"Oh, sir, please sit down, please sit down!"

As if he had known this in advance, Cen Bolang got up to greet him with a grin.

Before the person even arrived, three standard-issue longswords gleaming with silver light were already positioned at the edge of the counter.

On the uniforms of the Guardians of the Righteousness Bureau, the four seal characters "Acting on Behalf of Heaven" gleamed coldly in the candlelight. The leading Tiger Guard stood with his hand on his sword, his brows furrowed: "Cen Bolang, someone has reported you for smuggling demon cores. Routine search today."

Cen Bolang was dressed in a brocade robe, with a fair face and no beard. He had a squinty eye and a sly smile, looking exactly like a slick and unscrupulous merchant.

Far from being afraid, he took out three low-grade spirit stones from his sleeve and pushed them in front of the man: "Lord Tiger Guard, you jest. Everyone in Langya Prefecture knows that I, Cen Bolang, am a legitimate businessman. Look, these imported porcelain bowls are still drying here."

The Tiger Guards did not move. As usual, they used the Demon-Searching Talisman to search Cen Boliang's personal storage space, but found it empty.

The guards searched the attic, cellar, and warehouse, even scanning every inch of the walls with demon-sniffing talismans, but in the end they only found some ordinary spiritual materials and a few diary entries.

"Boss, no." The two dog guards beside him shook their heads at the tiger guard.

Cen Bolang laughed even harder, completely unrestrained.

Tiger Guard flipped through the ledger, his fingertip pausing on the page for "Acquisition of Demon Beast Fur": "Last week you acquired five hundred fox demon pelts from Kongsang County. The pelts are all there, but where are the demon cores?"

"Hey, you're not familiar with this." Cen Bolang started counting on his fingers. "The fox demon skin needs to be tanned, and the demon cores have to be dug out in advance, otherwise the spiritual energy will seep into the fur and affect the price. I sold all those cores to the Construction Department over there. Look, this is the receipt from the Construction Department. Last Wednesday, three thousand low-grade spirit stones, not a penny less."

The personal seal of the deputy director of the Construction Department was clearly visible on the receipt he handed over.

Tiger Guard stared into Cen Bolang's eyes, trying to find a flaw in his smiling expression.

However, all those words ultimately boiled down to one sentence: "Let's wrap up."

The smile on Cen Bolang's face faded slightly only after the three figures disappeared around the street corner.

After returning to the counter, he gently pressed his fingertip on the vase on the shelf, and the shelf slowly opened, revealing the hidden passage in the middle.

The secret passage was already packed with colorful demon cores.

With the slightest touch, the demon core instantly rolled out like pearls from a broken string.

A massive amount of demon cores fell to the ground, making a crisp sound, and actually gathered into a small, flowing river of light on the ground. The eerie light meandered along the cracks in the bricks, much like a starry river in the dark night.

Cen Bolang slowly stored the demon cores into his storage ring.

He had long ago wrapped the demon cores that had not yet been sent away with a concealment talisman and hidden them in his own merchant guild's spiritual material reserve.

But who could have imagined that the search area of ​​the Guardian Division would include his warehouse, so they had to temporarily move to a hidden door.

"Trying to fight me? The Guardians of the Way are still too green." Cen Bolang chuckled, crossing his legs.

He fiddled with the porcelain bowl in his hands, rubbing the surface of the porcelain until it was smooth and rounded.

It perfectly reflected his thin, paper-like body.

…………

Kongsang County, Juxian Pavilion.

This place was originally a winery, but now it has gathered young people from all over the country, all of whom are candidates for the county examination.

As the saying goes, one should enjoy life to the fullest when things are going well, and not let the golden goblet face the moon empty. Wine naturally became a symbol and spiritual sustenance for these scholars.

Among the group of people drinking, one elegant young man had the highest cultivation level, having even reached the Transcendent Realm.

"Outrageous! This is a time of national crisis, how can there be such despicable people! For a little personal gain, they abandon the safety of their own kind!"

Jiang Zhiqi flew into a rage and smashed the wine glass in his hand on the ground.

His action attracted the attention of the other candidates at Juxianxuan.

"Fellow Daoist is right. The morale of the troops at the front has been ruined by these maggots!" A man in blue robes echoed.

"Alas, I should have taken the position of inspector back then. The inspector's post was for inspecting the injustices in the state! Exposing those maggots to the light of day!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhiqi glanced at him, for this was exactly what he had been thinking.

"Fellow Daoist, you are a man of exceptional talent. May I ask your esteemed name?"

"I am Ren Wuchang, and I will not change my name or surname." Shen Yi clasped his hands in a fist and introduced himself.

The token of the deputy director of the Construction Department gleamed on his waist.

…………

"Very good, Shen Yi has also made contact with the Jiang family."

After Shen Yi entered Kongsang County, his Biyang magic power indeed triggered Xu Mingxuan's plot.

Just like in his previous life, he became the deputy director of the Construction Department.

This time, however, Shen Moyan had enough spirit stones, so Xu Mingxuan directly transferred the official position to him, instead of letting him work under Xu Mingxuan's name.

This attitude was also Gao Sheng's indirect way of greeting the Biyang Sword Sect behind Shen Moyan.

Shen Moyan was naturally more than happy to accept it.

"As for Cen Bolang, he must have already been caught."

"Hopefully he can figure something out."

Cen Bolang is a cunning old fox and won't get caught, but Shen Moyan is different. As far as demonic arts are concerned, he'd better not appear in front of the Guardian of the Way.

The Cape Chamber of Commerce is located 30,000 meters underground.

Biyang's magical power transformed into a ball of light, illuminating the path ahead.

Shen Moyan sat in a small boat, drifting on the dark, sunless river in the cave.

Inside the cave, the pitch-black river stretched as far as the eye could see.

Beside the small boat, one can sometimes see floating, decaying corpses, whose origins are unclear.

This is the connection that Cen Bolang introduced.

Instead of using the teleportation array, they took an ancient, abandoned interdimensional route.

Because it has been abandoned for a long time, it is somewhat risky. When ferrying people, one may fall into a spatial vortex and get lost in an extraterrestrial dimension.

Shen Moyan was leaving the territory of Yu'e County on his way to find the ferryman.

He paid the deposit, and the ferryman should be waiting for him at the agreed-upon location.

"There's still some distance to the pier, so let's take this time to take stock of our gains."

Shen Moyan has already converted most of the 18.8 million spirit stones he earned into Fortune Points.

He then transferred his consciousness into Wanbao.com.

A dazzling array of goods came into his view.

"The Alchemy Master's Notes" is a collection of insights gained from the life of a grandmaster of alchemy.

Buy with 30,000 Fuyuan points.

The "Thousand Winds Talisman" contains the methods for making a thousand talismans. If one has enough magical power, one can draw talismans in mid-air and create magic from nothingness.

Only 20,000 Fortune Points, buy it!

The Record of Various Weapons contains detailed information on the crafting of a series of magical artifacts, including puppets, swords, and armor.

With only 50,000 Fortune Points, I'll buy, buy, buy!

Hesitating even for a moment would be disrespectful to the more than 18 million spirit stones.

While browsing Wanbao.com, Shen Moyan's mind raced among the numerous products, making selections with great enjoyment.

Suddenly, a particular item caught his attention.

"Hiss—, Wanbao.com actually has this kind of thing." Shen Moyan gasped when he saw the product.

Ginseng.

This is a transformation of the old immortal path by a person with spiritual roots who "accidentally" went astray and "inadvertently" began cultivating. For cultivators of the Xiandao path, it is a great tonic.

After thinking about it for a moment, Shen Moyan smiled dismissively.

What a convenient excuse for "accidentally" cultivating! It seems the Holy Court is quite the respectable bunch.

"Let's see how much it costs... 500 spirit stones per plant, I'll buy it!!"

Shen Moyan didn't even blink before placing the order; his Yi Mo Hu had been hungry for a long time.

Shen Moyan bought more than 10,000 portions at once, all of which were high-quality ginseng.

Goods arrive at your account at lightning speed.

Shen Moyan opened his Heavenly Demon Eyes and carefully compared the items he bought online with those he acquired offline.

The conclusion is that, in terms of sheer strength, one of the Wanbao online stores can even surpass five or six of the Dongshan City nursery stores.

"As expected, the Holy Court really knows how to play the game."

Shen Moyan didn't want to think about it too much, since thinking about it would only lead to petty and self-serving matters anyway.