Qiu Zu: From an apprentice in a medicine shop to an immortal ancestor.

The Demon Suppression Division was a crucial government office, filled with experts, each with sharp ears and eyes, and extremely perceptive.

When Lin Shoulong and Qiu Zhen fought, the clash of their stellar energy and blade aura overturned the house, creating a commotion that attracted countless onlookers.

Not to mention, someone had arrived from mid-air, directly calling out the name of the Demon Suppression Division's Deputy Commander, appearing to be questioning and challenging them. Numerous Demon Suppression martial artists and officers grabbed their weapons.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Bold madman, how dare you trespass into the Demon Suppression Division!"

In an instant, it was as if boiling water had been poured into an ant nest, and the entire Demon Suppression Division was in turmoil.

However, the Demon Suppression martial artists were unaware of the truth and did not dare to act rashly. Each of them put on a show of strength, shouting fiercely, but no one dared to actually attack the white figure in the sky.

Martial artists were not cultivators of immortality.

Even the most brilliant lightness skills and movement techniques could only achieve temporary aerial movement. The expert who could fly through the air was clearly not an ordinary person.

Moreover, the person had come to question them, and without knowing the truth, no one acted rashly.

An Jishi saw that the Demon Suppression martial artists were outwardly fierce but inwardly timid, and he completely disregarded them. His gaze fell on Lin Shoulong, and seeing that he was silent, he looked down from above and asked again:

"Lin Shoulong, tell me, who gave you the guts to use the Martial God Orb on my disciple without any evidence!"

His voice was like thunder, shaking the Demon Suppression Division with a deafening roar.

A powerful aura, like a violent storm, swept over Lin Shoulong.

"This, I..."

Lin Shoulong's expression turned pale.

A man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree.

Back when An Jishi was a dazzling talent who caused a sensation in Changle Prefecture, he was just an ignorant teenager. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he grew up listening to An Jishi's legendary stories.

As his martial arts cultivation improved and he became a Xiantian True Stellar martial artist, he gradually became "disenchanted" with An Jishi.

After all, An Jishi was now only a "Xiantian Inner Scenery martial artist," just one minor realm higher than him. In reality, the gap between him and An Jishi was not that great.

However, at this moment, facing An Jishi's martial arts suppression and pressure, he was so overwhelmed that he could not breathe. Only then did he realize that he had made a terrible mistake.

The name of Little Grandmaster An was truly well-deserved.

"This, Alchemist An, I was handling the case according to the rules, I..."

Lin Shoulong felt inexplicably weak. At this moment, where was his previous arrogance and strength when facing Qiu Zhen and others? He stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

In fact, he was also in the wrong and could not say anything.

He had been caught red-handed, so what could he argue?

He could fool ordinary people, but trying to deceive Little Grandmaster An would undoubtedly provoke him, intensify the conflict, and make things even worse.

"A fine example of handling a case according to the rules."

An Jishi snorted coldly, and just as he was about to say something, his gaze swept over.

"Alchemist An, please calm your anger! This is a misunderstanding!"

Inside the Demon Suppression Division, a figure soared into the sky, also flying into the air and standing alongside An Jishi.

It was Wei Tanzhi, the head of the Changle Prefecture Demon Suppression Division.

At this moment, Wei Tanzhi put on a "belatedly aware" appearance, looked around, and his gaze fell on Lin Shoulong and Qiu Zhen in the courtyard. Knowing the truth, he frowned and asked:

"Shoulong, what is going on here?"

Seeing Wei Tanzhi step forward, Lin Shoulong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed his lead, trying to explain:

"It's a misunderstanding. Divine Doctor Qiu happens to be related to a few clues. I was just trying to scare him a little and didn't really want to use the [Martial God Orb]. Now that the truth has come out, there was a misunderstanding about Divine Doctor Qiu. He has become a Xiantian martial artist, so it's impossible for him to be a demon or evil spirit. It was my mistake in handling the case. I am willing to apologize to Brother Qiu and even offer to bear the burden of guilt!"

Lin Shoulong was very astute and did not dare to completely absolve himself of responsibility at once, lest he intensify the conflict.

Therefore, he described his tyrannical and forced interrogation as "scaring" in order to excuse himself.

He naturally knew how to handle this situation.

"You villainous thing!"

Wei Tanzhi flew into a rage and reprimanded Lin Shoulong:

"How can you handle a case like this? Divine Doctor Qiu came specifically to treat illnesses and exorcise evil for our Demon Suppression Division. How can you rely on rumors and baseless clues to take action against Divine Doctor Qiu? It's simply outrageous!"

Wei Tanzhi pointed at Lin Shoulong's nose and scolded him repeatedly, making Lin Shoulong look like a dog with its head covered in blood.

The severity of his words was extremely rare in the entire Demon Suppression Division.

Inside the Demon Suppression Division, the crowd was stirred up. The Demon Suppression martial artists who had gathered around heard Wei Tanzhi's reprimand of Lin Shoulong and learned the whole story. They looked at each other, very embarrassed, and awkwardly withdrew their weapons, lowering their heads, feeling guilty and embarrassed.

Speaking of which, most of the martial artists in the Demon Suppression Division had dealt with Qiu Zhen in the past year and were very impressed with the superb medical skills of Little Divine Doctor Qiu. They had a good relationship with him on weekdays.

Now, Divine Doctor Qiu had come specifically to treat illnesses and exorcise evil for the brothers in the Demon Suppression Division, and you had detained him and subjected him to private torture without solid evidence...

Although the Demon Suppression Division had always handled cases this way, it also depended on the target. Little Divine Doctor Qiu was different; he was half one of their own.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the Demon Suppression Division changed. Many people secretly cursed Lin Shoulong for messing things up and making the brothers in the Demon Suppression Division lose face.

"Heh heh, enough, Young Master Wei."

An Jishi snorted coldly, a look of contempt on his face.

He did not care about worldly affairs and was indifferent to fame, but that did not mean he did not understand the intricacies of the government office.

The Demon Suppression Division always took its cases and punishments seriously. How could there be any talk of "scaring"?

An Jishi looked at Qiu Zhen and said:

"Little Zhen, tell me, what happened just now?"

Seeing An Jishi so strongly standing up for him, Qiu Zhen was quite moved. He did not hesitate and refuted Lin Shoulong's explanation:

"Master, Deputy Commander Lin condensed stellar energy into a claw to capture me. If I hadn't become a Xiantian martial artist and unleashed blade aura to break his move, I'm afraid I would have been subdued by him immediately and forced into the [Martial God Orb]. He clearly took action; there was no 'scaring' involved."

Just now, An Jishi had addressed Qiu Zhen as "disciple" instead of student. Qiu Zhen immediately understood Alchemist An's intentions and quickly seized the opportunity.

There was a difference between a disciple and a student.

Once a teacher, always a father.

In this world, the relationship between a teacher and disciple was second only to the relationship between a ruler and his subjects, and a father and his son.

As a master, An Jishi had a justified reason to stand up for Qiu Zhen.

Seeing Qiu Zhen call him master, An Jishi was very satisfied and nodded slightly. His expression was unkind as he looked at Wei Tanzhi and Lin Shoulong:

"Stop pretending and thinking of playing the trick of turning big problems into small ones and small problems into nothing! This matter is not so simple!"

"My disciple has a great destiny and is extremely talented. You wanted to force him into the [Martial God Orb], which would not only damage his original energy but also, if things went wrong, ruin his foundation. Who can bear the responsibility? Will you, Lin Shoulong, be responsible, or will you, Young Master Wei, be responsible?"

"This..."

Wei Tanzhi and Lin Shoulong were speechless, feeling depressed.

However, now that things had come to this, regrets were useless. They understood that they had to give an explanation, or things might be difficult to handle.

Wei Tanzhi took a deep breath and said:

"Alchemist An, please rest assured, I will definitely give you an explanation. Not only will Deputy Commander Lin personally come to apologize, but I will also report to the imperial court and propose to dismiss Deputy Commander Lin from his post and let him be suspended from duty for reflection. Subsequently, the imperial court will further punish him."

As soon as this was said, the crowd in the Demon Suppression Division began to discuss, very surprised.

Deputy Commander Lin was actually going to be dismissed?

Under normal circumstances, the commander of the Demon Suppression Division did not have the power to appoint or dismiss the deputy commander. They only had the power to make proposals, and the higher-ups would fully consider the主管's opinion.

If the deputy commander committed a crime, Wei Tanzhi would report to the imperial court to dismiss him. Once the procedure was followed, it would not be a light internal "punishment." Everything would be recorded, which would have a significant impact on Lin Shoulong's future.

Lin Shoulong's expression changed slightly when he heard Wei Tanzhi's words.

Obviously, he had not expected things to be so serious. In order to appease Alchemist An, Wei Tanzhi was actually going to sacrifice him and make him take the blame.

Of course, although he was unhappy, Lin Shoulong did not say anything on the surface. He could only take the blame.

He could only hope that Wei Tanzhi had good character and would not abandon him after crossing the river, and that he could help him get reinstated in the future.

With this thought, Lin Shoulong took a deep breath and cupped his fist in salute:

"This subordinate will accept whatever punishment is given!"

"Mm!"

Seeing that Lin Shoulong was sensible, Wei Tanzhi was very satisfied. Immediately, he smiled and looked at An Jishi and Qiu Zhen:

"Divine Doctor Qiu, what do you think?"

Qiu Zhen's expression remained unchanged, but he sneered inwardly.

They were all cunning old foxes, trying to play tricks on me.

As a person with two lifetimes, his experience far surpassed that of his peers. How could he not know the intricacies involved?

At first glance, it seemed that Lin Shoulong had attacked him, but in reality, it was not so. He possessed a great destiny and had a master-disciple relationship with Alchemist An. How would Lin Shoulong dare to act on his own initiative?

Lin Shoulong's background was not too prominent, and he could never change his cautious nature.

Only a son of a noble family like Wei Tanzhi, who came from a meritorious family, would act recklessly.

On the surface, it was Lin Shoulong who took action, but in reality, it was probably Wei Tanzhi who secretly instructed him. He was the mastermind.

And now, Wei Tanzhi was putting all the blame on Lin Shoulong. On the surface, the "punishment" was severe enough, but in reality, it was also "light."

Dismissal was nothing more than that; it was not a big deal.

Lin Shoulong's dismissal and reprimand from the imperial court seemed like a loss at first glance, but in reality, it might be a "gain" for him.

After all, Lin Shoulong had been wronged. With Wei Tanzhi's family background, if he used his influence to help him, Lin Shoulong might be able to turn misfortune into a blessing and truly become Wei Tanzhi's own man, advancing further in both his official career and his martial path.

In other words, the Demon Suppression Division's seemingly sincere explanation was not "sincere" at all.

Speaking of which, this was also the reason why the Demon Suppression Division was so unscrupulous on weekdays.

They had the backing of the imperial court and had independent law enforcement powers that transcended the judiciary. Even if their methods were a bit tyrannical on weekdays, outsiders could only condemn them and could not retaliate.

If Qiu Zhen was just an ordinary commoner, then Lin Shoulong's sentence "just scaring him" would have been enough to deceive him.

This time, it was only because Alchemist An had stepped forward that there was a decent explanation.

Although Qiu Zhen felt resentful, he also understood that his strength was not enough to reason with the Demon Suppression Division, and he could not vent his inner frustration.

Immediately, Qiu Zhen looked at An Jishi:

"Master, what do you think?"

An Jishi seemed to have guessed Qiu Zhen's thoughts and laughed loudly:

"Little Zhen, we martial artists seek to have our thoughts unhindered and live a magnificent life. How can we let rules and regulations bind us!"

After laughing, An Jishi looked at Wei Tanzhi and Lin Shoulong and pointed at them:

"One leg from each of you. Will you do it yourselves, or will I do it myself!"