"Uncle, it’s tens of thousands of miles from our home here, how did you come to see me?" Little Dumpling shook his head, showing disbelief.

"It’s not tens of thousands of miles!" Jiang Ning chuckled and continued, "Your uncle has the Wind God Leg and can travel tens of thousands of miles in a day!"

"I don’t believe it!" Little Dumpling heard Jiang Ning’s exaggerated claim and immediately shook his head repeatedly, his head swinging like a pendulum: "Uncle is boasting, how far is tens of thousands of miles? How could Uncle be that fast!"

Jiang Ning chuckled again and ruffled her hair, "Don’t worry, uncle will find time to see you!"

"Then I trust uncle!" Little Dumpling looked up at Jiang Ning.

In her small perspective, Jiang Ning’s figure looked particularly tall.

At this moment, Jiang Ning looked towards Liuu Wanwan and Jiang Li.

"Big brother, sister-in-law, you should stop here! I must set off now!"

"Okay!" Jiang Li nodded.

"Ah Ning, be careful on the road!" Liuu Wanwan advised.

"Don’t worry, sister-in-law!" Jiang Ning smiled.

Then he looked at Su Qingying, who stood silently by.

"I entrust my family to you!" Jiang Ning said.

Su Qingying nodded slowly.

In front of Jiang Ning’s family, she was not as casual as usual, appearing rather silent.

But when she nodded, her gaze was firm, showing extraordinary seriousness.

"Thank you!" Jiang Ning said.

Then his gaze fell on Jiang Yiming.

"Little uncle!" Jiang Yiming lowered his head.

"Lift your head!" Jiang Ning said.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yiming immediately lifted his head and met Jiang Ning’s eyes.

"As a Martial Artist, never lower your head!" Jiang Ning said.

"Little uncle, I will remember!" Jiang Yiming nodded heavily, his eyes filled with determination.

Jiang Ning nodded and continued, "On the day of the year’s end, I will personally test your Martial Arts progress, I hope you won’t disappoint me!"

"I won’t, little uncle!" Jiang Yiming nodded heavily.

"Good!" Jiang Ning nodded, then took out a small ceramic bottle: "Drink it."

Jiang Yiming took the small ceramic bottle from Jiang Ning’s hand without any hesitation and drank it in one gulp.

"Big brother, sister-in-law, I’m off!" Jiang Ning said.

The two nodded.

The next moment.

Jiang Ning’s figure moved and disappeared in front of everyone.

At this moment, with his mastery of the Taixu Yin Yang Sword, he could almost integrate into the first layer of space.

Walking all the way, unimpeded, no matter what walls, trees, mountains, or rocks lay ahead, he could go directly through them without any collision.

There was not even any resistance ahead to slow him down.

Air resistance was nearly non-existent for him.

This way, his speed surged directly.

In just a moment, he passed through a quarter of the city and reached the city gate.

Passing through the city gate, after leaving the Royal Capital, he hesitated no longer.

His figure flickered, then disappeared from where he stood.

At this moment, he rose straight into the sky, roaming the heavens and earth.

His speed was so fast it already far exceeded the speed of breaking the sound barrier.

After a few breaths, he turned back to look.

Only to see the massive, undulating grand city wall of the Royal Capital look small behind him.

"With this speed, traveling back and forth between the Royal Capital and Dongling City is much more convenient!"

At this time, he also felt the recovery speed of his internal consumption was far beyond before.

Breathing in and out secretly aligned with the rhythm of heaven and earth, his body continuously absorbed the energy between heaven and earth to restore his own consumption.

Although it couldn’t balance, it greatly increased his endurance.

"I should reach Dongling City around noon!"

He muttered silently in his heart.

...

Quarter past noon.

A figure suddenly appeared at the city gate of Dongling City.

The persistent snow from the night had already stopped in the morning.

Now a round sun was hanging high in the sky.

But even with the warm sun high above, there was no sign of the snow melting.

It indicated the current temperature was quite low.

"Another cold winter, I wonder how Dongling City is doing now?" A thought arose in his mind.

Then he headed towards the city gate.

The soldiers under the city gate, who were dozing off, were initially stunned upon seeing Jiang Ning approach.

Because they knew the mountains had long been closed by snow, and ordinary people simply couldn’t walk outside.

The cold wilderness, no one would choose this time to walk in the wild.

Suddenly, someone panicked, and the long spear leaning against the city wall fell heavily onto the stone bricks, instantly startling the soldiers guarding the city gate.

"Marquis!" The soldier who first spotted Jiang Ning immediately shouted loudly with all his strength.

In an instant, the soldiers at the city gates looked at Jiang Ning with a serious expression.

"Marquis!"

"Greetings to the Marquis!!"

"..."

They all saluted.

The Dongling Marquis, Jiang Ning, had already been announced through special means a few days ago, spreading early throughout Dongling City.

Because now the entire Dongling County belonged to the fiefdom of Dongling Marquis Jiang Ning.

Within the fiefdom, Dongling Marquis Jiang Ning held absolute power.

Life and death, appointments and dismissals of officials, were just a matter of his word.

Initially, when they heard this news, they instinctively didn’t believe it.

Dongling County Patrol Envoy Jiang Ning, his great name had long resounded like thunder in their ears.

It had already spread throughout the city that Jiang Ning went to the royal capital to participate in the Martial Arts Examination.

But no matter how outstanding, at most he would just win the title of Martial Champion, as for being enfeoffed as a marquis?

That was a title of nobility.

To be enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed as a minister, the goal of a Literary Champion is to become a minister, while the goal of a Martial Champion is to be enfeoffed as a marquis. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

It is the ultimate pursuit of both Literary and Martial Champions, the pursuit of a lifetime.

But not to be enfeoffed with a noble title now.

Yet with the official reports announced in the city, even if they didn’t believe it, they had to believe it.

Now Dongling City and Dongling County already belonged to Dongling Marquis Jiang Ning, with the surname Jiang.

They now belonged to the personal domain of Dongling Marquis Jiang Ning.

Supported by the court, yet belonging to the private, belonging to Dongling Marquis.

Looking at the soldiers at the city gates, Jiang Ning nodded.

"Do not be careless!" he said.

"Yes, Marquis!!"

"Yes, Marquis!!"

"..."

The soldiers guarding the city immediately responded loudly and energetically.

At this moment.

From the resting room at the gate, an armored adjutant walked out quickly, the clinking of his armor creating a series of metallic sounds.

"Greetings to the Marquis!" He glanced at Jiang Ning, hurriedly lifting one hand to hold the long sword at his waist while kneeling on one knee to salute.

Jiang Ning glanced over the armor on his body, shining brightly and neatly arranged, and looked at the long sword he held, hanging upright.

Then he nodded: "Do not neglect your duties!"

"Yes, Marquis!" The armored adjutant’s voice was loud and clear, not yet hollowed out by indulgence.

Jiang Ning nodded again, and proceeded into the city.

After entering the city, his eyes first fell upon the notice at the city gate.

Though several yards away, with one glance, he clearly saw what the posted notice was about.

It was precisely the announcement that he was now the Dongling Marquis, with Dongling County as his fiefdom.

From now on, all the common folk in Dongling County were his subjects.

From now on, half of the tax revenue from Dongling County would go into his hands, with the rest submitted to the national treasury.

He also knew that the regular salaries of the officials in the county were supported by the court, while only those additionally appointed were supported by the Marquis Mansion.

At this moment, he understood why as soon as he arrived at the city gate, he was recognized by the soldiers guarding the city as the newly enfeoffed Dongling Marquis of Great Xia.

"That’s indeed better, saves some trouble!" He chuckled, then walked towards his home, quietly observing the buildings on both sides of the road.

Though the buildings were still the same, his mindset was different.

This was his fiefdom, his territory, all belonging to him personally.

Along the way, there weren’t many pedestrians.

Because the weather cleared up, many residents went out to start shopping.

All the way, he noticed that the current Dongling City was far better than he had originally expected.

No frozen corpses lined the road, and the pedestrians’ complexions were decent, without the hunger of refugees.

"Seems like my father-in-law Wang Shouyi is quite competent!" he mused to himself, feeling a bit more at ease.

This past year, though he hadn’t participated in the governance of people’s livelihoods, he knew that as the Prefectural Governor of Dongling County, Wang Shouyi was quite capable.

Recently, without knowing where he acquired it, a large sum of money was brought in, and a considerable amount of grain was transported from outside continually.

As he continued on, he soon arrived at the Nu River.

The river water still surged, the varying terrain creating a strong momentum that kept the Nu River from freezing even in winter.

As soon as he stepped into the East District, his eyes suddenly tightened.

After the upgrade of Fire Eye, even without initiating the Fire Eye phenomenon, he could see the flow of certain energies between heaven and earth.

With just one look, he noticed something unusual in the direction of his home.