Chapter 5: The Recruitment of the Six Doors

“Sir, these heterodox beings are neither killed nor destroyed. If they commit evil, what are we to do?”

“If they cannot be killed, what else can we do?”

“Indeed, these heterodox beings grow rapidly and can even break through the limits of martial cultivation. When that time comes, whose world will this be—the humans’ or theirs?”

At the onset of the heterodox invasion, the natives could suppress them with their deep-rooted strength. But if the heterodox grow and surpass them, how will they respond then?

A whole army of heterodox warriors, all first-rank martial artists, immortal and indestructible—just imagining it is terrifying.

The wealthy merchants and gentry present were all filled with worry about the future.

“Everyone, do you still remember the latter half of the inscription?”

“Heaven’s Dao gives birth, the Three Teachings return.”

“What is Heaven’s Dao? What are the Three Teachings?”

“Don’t think that the matters of gods and Buddhas are false.”

“The transmission of the Three Teachings has never been broken.”

“The imperial court has always preserved that legacy, waiting for Heaven’s Dao to manifest, to ascend the Heavenly Path and continue it anew. Then, the people of our Great Yong will also be able to break through the limits of martial cultivation.”

“Moreover…”

“Do the heterodox have ‘Xiaoyuan’?”

“We in Wangyou County have our Xiaoyuan, and that is enough.”

“My Xiaoyuan is invincible in the world.”

Suddenly, Chen Ke stood up and declared loudly,

“Right, we have the Chief Constable.”

“The Chief Constable is invincible in the world.”

“Those mere heterodox, whether dragons or tigers, if they come to Wangyou County, they will all have to bow to me.”

“Chief Constable, we are counting on you.”

“Huh?”

“So arrogant?”

“Invincible in the world?”

Lu Yuan was momentarily stunned.

Then he glanced at his data panel.

Hmm.

Being invincible in the world didn’t seem so wrong.

At least for now, no one’s stats surpassed his.

“I spit on that.”

“Old Chen, you shameless scoundrel.”

“What do you mean ‘your Xiaoyuan’?”

“That’s my son, dammit. His surname is Lu.”

Old Lu slammed the table and stood up, glaring at Chen Ke in displeasure.

That old fellow was trying to steal his son.

Shameless.

“Xiaoyuan, don’t mind this old man, eat your meal.”

…

At the same time, in Heishan City, three hundred miles from Wangyou County.

The six-door gate constables responsible for pursuing Black Star Scar received a secret letter from the capital.

“Another transfer order.”

“Is Lord Han mad?”

“Is Lu Yuan really indispensable?”

“Just a rustic mountain villager, what’s the big deal?”

“And they want us to come in person.”

“Lord Han must be losing his mind.”

The constable complaining about Lord Han being senile was a third-rank constable of the Six-Door Gate.

The Six-Door Gate’s constable ranks are Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow. Yellow rank is the lowest, but even then, a Yellow-ranked constable is at least a fifth-rank martial artist, while Mysterious rank is fourth-rank.

Earth rank constables are third-rank martial artists. With such strength, even if not serving the imperial court, they could establish sects and become local masters in the martial world.

Heaven rank constables are the hardest to attain.

The number of Heaven-rank constables in the Six-Door Gate is limited to nine.

Besides meeting the minimum requirement of second-rank, one needs sufficient merits and strength. After accumulating enough merits, one can challenge a Heaven-rank constable; the winner holds the Heaven rank, and the loser is demoted to Earth rank.

The competition is fierce.

Correspondingly, Heaven-rank constables wield great power.

Though the Six-Door Gate’s ranks aren’t high, their authority is considerable, comparable to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

More importantly, Heaven-rank constables have noble titles.

Those who serve as Heaven-rank constables for over ten years are granted noble titles by the imperial court, one of the reasons they willingly serve.

Above the Heaven-rank constable are two positions.

One is the “God Catcher,” the highest leader of the Six-Door Gate, commanding all constables, appointed personally by the emperor, possessing extraordinary strength, and one of the rare first-rank martial artists in the Great Yong Dynasty.

The other is the head of the Three Judicial Offices—Ministry of Justice, Court of Judicial Review, and Censorate—a civil official jointly recommended by the three departments, serving as deputy to the God Catcher and handling administrative affairs.

This official holds the highest rank within the Six-Door Gate.

The Six-Door Gate is a martial office that has always valued martial prowess and paid little heed to civil officials.

Among the many departments of Great Yong, only the Six-Door Gate dares to call their superiors senile.

“Luo Zhou, you’re being insolent.”

“The transfer of Lu Yuan was jointly decided by the God Catcher and Lord Han. It’s not up to you, a mere Earth-rank constable, to question it.”

“If you have objections, address the God Catcher directly. Don’t keep whining like a nagging woman.”

“You’re just jealous of Lu Yuan.”

As the Heaven-rank constable leading this mission, Li Changge was utterly annoyed by Luo Zhou’s incessant nagging.

From the moment they received the task to their journey here, Luo Zhou behaved like a grumbling shrew, more irritating than his own tigress of a mother.

This woman was simply jealous of Lu Yuan’s treatment.

In fact, the imperial court had been paying attention to Lu Yuan for a long time.

Around the 27th year of the Heavenly Mandate era, when Lu Yuan was twelve, he tore through the three mountains and six strongholds, annihilating 1,200 mountain bandits, displaying terrifying combat power, which caught the attention of the Six-Door Gate.

At that time, they wanted to transfer Lu Yuan, but the local county magistrate refused on the grounds of his youth.

If it had been an ordinary seventh-rank magistrate, who would dare refuse the Six-Door Gate’s order?

They investigated and found that the magistrate of Wangyou County hailed from the Chen family in the capital.

They had no choice but to relent.

Until five years ago.

Lu Yuan’s fame once again echoed throughout Great Yong.

They once again planned to transfer him.

To confirm Lu Yuan’s actual combat power, a Heaven-rank constable from the Six-Door Gate was sent personally to investigate the sect ruins on Qingcheng Mountain.

From the ruined mountain gate and the survivors’ accounts, the Six-Door Gate’s desire for Lu Yuan reached its peak.

Lu Yuan was definitely second-rank, perhaps even higher.

There was no doubt about it.

Since then, transfer orders for Lu Yuan came like falling leaves, countless and continuous.

Every month, even every week, a transfer order would arrive from the Six-Door Gate.

Yet, their orders met with no response.

Even Lord Han, through his connections, only received indifferent refusals.

This troubled the God Catcher greatly.

If Lu Yuan were an ordinary second-rank martial artist, the God Catcher wouldn’t be so concerned. But Lu Yuan was only fifteen then, and the destruction he caused far exceeded that of a second-rank.

He was a prodigy destined to break through the limitations of martial cultivation.

Having such a figure stationed in the capital meant peace for the realm and for Great Yong.

Because of this, the God Catcher and Lord Han convinced the emperor to unprecedentedly establish a tenth Heaven-rank constable position for Lu Yuan, personally appointing Li Changge, the Heaven-rank constable, to bring the commission to Wangyou County.

As for capturing Black Star Scar, that was merely a pretext—a justification.

Their true target had always been Lu Yuan.

With just a nod from Lu Yuan, he would become the Six-Door Gate’s tenth Heaven-rank constable.

A life of glory and endless riches awaited him.

Naturally, this treatment sparked dissatisfaction among some.

Luo Zhou was just one of them.

Of course, Li Changge had no complaints.

He wholeheartedly approved of the God Catcher and Lord Han’s decision.

Because—

Li Changge himself was the Heaven-rank constable who had investigated the Qingcheng Mountain ruins five years ago.

He personally witnessed the main peak of Qingcheng Mountain shattered in half.

That was second-rank?

And only fifteen years old?

…