Well, Emperor Bai's excitement was quite useful; at least it dispelled the immature aspects of Gu Chengming's thoughts.
The Great Qian imperial family's desire for control over public opinion and intelligence was extremely strong. If he rashly handed over something like the All Wonders Same Source Method, which could construct a 'lawless land,' even if Director Zhou could tolerate it, would the Emperor?
If the imperial family judged him to be an uncontrollable hidden danger, then even as a Wenjian Sect disciple, he would likely invite disaster.
"Indeed, I was a bit too hasty."
Gu Chengming shook his head inwardly, though the All Wonders Same Source Method grew even more excited.
【The All Wonders Same Source Method is not discouraged by your concerns】
【It thinks, what skill is there in promoting something openly? To weave a silent web in the shadow of every inch of dragon qi in the capital's underground, where imperial surveillance is tightest, and secretly accumulate power...】
【Does this not fit its imagination of a mastermind behind the scenes even better?】
【It strongly suggests we go solo and not let the Night Guard Division get involved. If we’re going to do it, we’ll be the shadow emperor of the Great Qian underground!】
【Hundred Bones Resonating strongly agrees!】
Gu Chengming: "..."
It seemed this cultivation art had been suppressed for too long and had become somewhat obsessed.
After temporarily calming the two rowdy arts with words, Gu Chengming sighed.
While he could indeed try, now was not the time, and he could not be the public face of it.
As for the future, he would have to wait for a suitable opportunity.
The next morning, at the Night Guard Division.
Inside Vice Commander Liu's office, the aroma of tea drifted.
"Chengming, you really made that group from the Demon-Slaying Bureau lose face this time."
Vice Commander Liu set down his teacup and looked at Gu Chengming sitting opposite him. While his tone carried a bit of satisfaction, it was also laced with a trace of worry.
"The leader of the demon slayers yesterday, named Zhao Tieyi, is a veteran of the Demon-Slaying Bureau."
"He has a cultivation of the Second Realm, Late Stage. Although he has no hope of reaching the third realm, his Spirit-Locking Saber Technique is extremely experienced, and he is somewhat famous in the capital."
"Although the Demon-Slaying Bureau is under the Ministry of Justice and seems a step below our Night Guard Division, you must understand..."
Vice Commander Liu tapped his finger lightly on the desk, musing, "The Night Guard Division follows an elite force approach; we have few members and only handle major cases. But the Demon-Slaying Bureau... it is a behemoth spread across all thirteen circuits of Great Qian, with eyes and ears even in the county offices."
"Their internal factions are numerous, and their relationships are complex. This case at the Elegant Garden clearly involved the interests of a certain internal faction, or perhaps they wanted to use it to show loyalty to someone."
Speaking to this point, Vice Commander Liu sighed.
"By ruining their good business, they won't dare do anything to you on the surface since they were in the wrong, but privately, this grudge has been formed."
Gu Chengming had long expected this and nodded.
Vice Commander Liu thought for a moment and then cautioned, "In any case, for the foreseeable future, if people from the Demon-Slaying Bureau look for you privately—whether it's for a talk or a provocation—you needn't pay them any mind."
"If they truly dare to get pushy and cause trouble, don't be in a rush to act." He pointed to the waist token at Gu Chengming's hip. "Use the Night Patrol Token to notify me immediately. This is the Night Guard Division; our people are not for outsiders to order around. My skills might not be the greatest, but after so many years in the division, I can still hold the fort for you."
Hearing this, Gu Chengming felt a warmth in his heart and cupped his hands. "Thank you for the reminder, Commander Liu."
With the serious business concluded, the atmosphere relaxed considerably.
Recalling his predicament while chasing the death soldier the previous night, Gu Chengming took the opportunity to speak up.
"By the way, Commander, I've been on the job for some time now. After these few cases, it seems the merits in my waist token have accumulated quite a bit. I wonder what the procedures are in the division for exchanging merits for techniques or treasures?"
"Merits?"
Vice Commander Liu froze for a moment, then slapped his forehead and laughed loudly. "Oh, look at my memory! I was so busy worrying about the Demon-Slaying Bureau giving you trouble that I completely forgot about this!"
"You've slain two third realm evils plus a second realm corpse demon right after joining... tsk tsk, those merits are probably richer than many veterans who have worked for three to five years!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
Vice Commander Liu stood up and heroically put an arm around Gu Chengming's shoulder. "I'll take you to the Jicheng Hall right now! You're a wealthy man in our division now; it's time to turn those merits into real combat power!"
The Jicheng Hall was located in an independent grotto in the back mountains of the Night Guard Division.
Unlike the solemn and murderous atmosphere of the front hall, this place was exceptionally quiet. Two massive bronze gates, three zhang high, were tightly closed. Carved upon the gates were not auspicious beasts like the Bi'an or Qilin, but countless open eyes, symbolizing 'Monitoring the world, merits and faults are recorded.'
"This is the Jicheng Hall, the foundation of our Night Guard Division."
Vice Commander Liu pointed at the bronze gates, his tone carrying a hint of pride.
"In the hundreds of years since Great Qian was founded, this place has the most complete collection of the world's treasures, rare manuscripts, and divine weapons, second only to the imperial inner treasury and the Demon-Slaying Bureau's Yuntai Exchange."
"As long as your merits are sufficient, you can pick anything inside. You can even find copies of secret techniques from some sects here."
As Vice Commander Liu presented his token, the heavy bronze gates slowly opened with a teeth-gritting grinding sound.
A stale air mixed with the scent of ink and the rust of weapons wafted toward them.
Gu Chengming stepped inside and saw a massive hall arranged in a circular fashion.
In the center of the hall, a giant night-luminescent pearl was suspended, casting a soft glow on the tiers of shelves surrounding it.
On the left were bookshelves, dense with jade slips flickering with various spiritual lights. On the right were weapon racks—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and hooks—each radiating a chilling glint.
In the deepest part of the hall, several small stone chambers sealed by restrictions were vaguely visible; those clearly stored higher-grade treasures.
"This place is divided into four vaults: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow."
Vice Commander Liu introduced, "The Yellow Vault mostly contains basic pills and standard equipment. The Black Vault has some ingenious arts and second realm dharma artifacts. The Earth Vault holds third realm treasures and rare manuscripts. As for the Heaven Vault..."
He shook his head. "Wait until you reach my position before thinking about the Heaven Vault."
After saying that, the Vice Commander stole a glance at Gu Chengming, feeling strangely satisfied to show off in front of him.
Gu Chengming didn't mind and said, "Please lead the way, Commander. I want to visit the Earth Vault to find a suitable escape art."
Vice Commander Liu had no objection and, with a wave of his hand, led Gu Chengming through layers of restrictions.
Compared to the Black Vault outside, the space in the Earth Vault was much smaller, but the heavy sense of pressure increased geometrically.
The surrounding walls were embedded with spirit-sealing stones that could block spiritual sense probes. Every row of shelves was enveloped in a faint flowing light, which was a spirit-nourishing array to prevent the treasures from losing their spiritual nature.
Any single item here would be enough to make rogue cultivators outside fight to the death for it.
Gu Chengming did not stop before the third realm dharma artifacts radiating treasure light; instead, he walked straight to the area storing technique jade slips.
His goal was clear—escape arts.
His fingers brushed over jade slips one by one, and the interface in his sea of consciousness flickered accordingly.
"'Wind-Treading Walk,' second realm high-grade..."
"'Shrinking the Earth to an Inch (Fragment),' third realm low-grade..."
Gu Chengming looked through them, his brow furrowing slightly.
There were indeed many good things in the Earth Vault, but most had extremely demanding cultivation thresholds and high attribute requirements.
Gu Chengming looked at over a dozen escape arts in a row, and his frown deepened.
The items in the Earth Vault were good, but the thresholds were truly high.
Most superior escape arts required extremely high 'Agility' attributes, generally above 15 points, with some even requiring 18.
Although his Agility and Constitution had increased through the tempering of Hundred Bones Resonating, his Agility attribute was currently only ten points, still a significant distance from the threshold for these escape arts.
Just as he was about to give up on this row, a final jade slip caught his attention.
Gu Chengming reached out, and the jade slip landed in his palm.
His spiritual sense probed inside, and a line of ancient characters entered his mind—
【Red Dust Phantom Step】
"This is..." Gu Chengming's heart stirred.
Looking closely at the introduction, the origin of this escape art was quite interesting. It did not come from any prestigious orthodox sect, but was created three hundred years ago by a romantic eccentric who was born in the Demon-Slaying Bureau yet frequented the pleasure quarters.
This method emphasized 'Entering the red dust, as if in a dream or illusion.'
Moving with this method, one's form was like a dream, able to use the desires of the red dust to mask killing intent, while also being able to erupt with startling speed in an extremely short time.
When practiced to Great Achievement, one could even create red dust phantoms that were hard to distinguish from the real body, bewildering an opponent's mind.
【Note: Although this method is wondrous, it is very easy to succumb to qi deviation; it must not be practiced by those without firm determination. Furthermore, because its style leans toward the feminine and treacherous, it is often viewed as a heterodox path by orthodox cultivators.】
Simultaneously, the attributes required for cultivation appeared before Gu Chengming's eyes:
【Charm: 19 points (Core requirement; the higher the Charm, the more realistic the phantoms and the more agile the movement)】
【Agility: 11 points】
Seeing these attribute requirements, Gu Chengming almost couldn't stop himself from laughing aloud.
"There's actually such a good thing?"
Usually, a second realm peak-grade escape art would require at least 16 points in Agility.
But this Red Dust Phantom Step took an unconventional path, shifting the bulk of the attribute requirements to 'Charm.'
Gu Chengming glanced at his own Charm attribute, which was as high as 25 points. Well, the Charm requirement was met.
Then he looked at his Agility attribute... only one point short.
This gap could be closed by simply farming Emperor Bai's favor for a while longer. And...
Gu Chengming's heart stirred.
This escape art originated from the Demon-Slaying Bureau; could it form a bond with his monster-trapping sword art?
"Ahem."
At that moment, Vice Commander Liu, who had been following him, seemed to notice Gu Chengming's unusual reaction and leaned in.
Upon seeing the name and origin on the jade slip, Vice Commander Liu's brow instantly twisted into a deep scowl.
"Red Dust Phantom Step?"
This kid just slapped the Demon-Slaying Bureau's face, and now he was turning around to learn their signature skill?
And seeing his enchanted expression, he was clearly genuinely interested.
"This won't do..."
Vice Commander Liu muttered to himself.
This Little Gu was valued by Director Zhou and was a rare talent no matter where he was placed. If he practiced this escape art and grew closer to the people of the Demon-Slaying Bureau in the future—or was even talked into joining them because of this art's origins—what then?
After all, the Demon-Slaying Bureau was famous for recruiting such 'heterodox' talents.
Vice Commander Liu unobtrusively stepped between Gu Chengming and that jade slip.
"This escape art is good, but it is after all an outsider's path."
"Our Night Guard Division emphasizes bold and powerful movements. Come, come, the Commander will recommend some of our division's top escape arts for you."
Saying this, he forcefully pulled Gu Chengming to another row of shelves, pointing at several jade slips radiating fierce auras, and introduced them enthusiastically:
"Look at this one, the 'Sea Patrol Art.' Once used, waves rise beneath your feet, creating a magnificent momentum. At Great Achievement, you can even manifest a Yaksha avatar and crush mountains!"
Gu Chengming glanced at the requirements: 【Agility 19, Strength 15】
"..." He gave a polite smile.
"Not to your liking? Then look at this!"
Vice Commander Liu picked up another one: "Seven Stars Treading the Big Dipper Step."
Gu Chengming looked at the requirements again: 【Agility 18, Constitution 17】
"..."
He silently withdrew his gaze and ultimately chose the Red Dust Phantom Step.
Seeing that Gu Chengming had made up his mind, Vice Commander Liu wanted to persuade him that this art was difficult to master, but the moment he saw Gu Chengming's face, he swallowed his words.
Vice Commander Liu sighed with some regret; after all, what suited one best was indeed the best.
"Fine, since you've made up your mind, then this is it."
He stopped agonizing and instead began calculating for Gu Chengming.
"However, if you want to exchange for this technique, having the manual isn't enough."
"Practicing this Red Dust Phantom Step requires a special pill called the Phantom Spirit Pill to stimulate the soul and condense the phantoms. If you buy them from a pill pavilion outside, a single one would cost an astronomical price."
"While we have them here in the Jicheng Hall, buying them individually isn't cost-effective."
Vice Commander Liu pointed to a small mark next to the jade slip.
"According to the division's rules, if you exchange for the cultivation resources required by the technique along with the manual itself, you can save twenty percent of the merits."
"I see that while your current merits are enough for the manual, you might be a little short if you add the subsequent pills."
"It might be better not to rush the exchange. Wait a while, accumulate some more, and take the whole set at once. It saves merits and ensures the continuity of your cultivation."
Gu Chengming pondered this.
He was still one point short in his Agility attribute; even if he got the manual, he couldn't practice it yet.
He might as well use this time to hunt down a couple more evils, gather the attribute points, and accumulate enough merits to do it all in one go.
"Thank you for the advice, Commander. I will do as you say."
Gu Chengming followed the suggestion and placed the jade slip back into the light orb, having already sentenced several second realm evils around the capital to death.
After leaving the Jicheng Hall, Gu Chengming did not go straight back to his courtyard.
Instead, he turned toward the Night Guard Division's refinery.
"It is time."
Gu Chengming recalled what Yu Wenqiu had said on the flying boat.
This sword was a second realm peak-grade embryo; it only appeared as first realm because its paths were sealed. Now that his cultivation was sufficient, he only needed to find a skilled master smith to open the meridian patterns inside the blade to let its edge be revealed once more.
The fires in the Night Guard Division's refinery never went out.
Although most of the craftsmen here were mortals or low-level cultivators, because they were backed by the Great Qian imperial family, they possessed many unique forging secrets and extreme skill.
Gu Chengming found a gray-haired veteran master. When the old man took the Tinglan Sword, his cloudy old eyes instantly lit up.
"A fine sword! A fine embryo!"
The old master stroked the blade with love, as if caressing a lover's skin. "This forging style... is from the Wenjian Sect's Cangjian Pavilion? This 'Sealed Meridian, Hidden Edge' craftsmanship—I haven't seen it in decades."
"Can it be unsealed?" Gu Chengming asked.
"I can! Of course I can!"
The old master laughed loudly and rolled up his sleeves, revealing two muscular arms. "If it were anyone else, they'd have to carefully grind it for a month. But here... as long as you're willing to pay the price to use the Earth Fire Spirit Vein for tempering, I guarantee you'll see a brand new fine sword in less than three hours!"
Without a word, Gu Chengming pulled out a bag of spirit stones.
Three hours later.
Clang—!
"It is done!"
The old master was drenched in sweat. With iron tongs, he gripped the longsword that had just come out of the furnace and plunged it into the prepared quenching pool.
Sizzle—
White mist rose.
As the mist dissipated, Gu Chengming reached out.
Buzz!
The longsword leaped into his palm automatically, as if it possessed a spirit.
Second realm peak-grade—Dharma Sword, Tinglan.
Gu Chengming gripped the hilt, feeling no further barrier between the true essence in his body and the blade. With a thought, the sword's edge hummed, feeling like an extension of his arm.
"A fine sword."
Gu Chengming praised sincerely.
However, just as he was about to sheathe the sword.
The familiar Sword Chess system interface suddenly popped up before his eyes. Immediately after, a brand new, gray bond entry slowly emerged on the side of the board.
【New Bond: Dharma Sword】
【Bond / Dharma Sword (1/3): Ride the wind on a sword, take a head from a thousand miles. When you simultaneously equip or control three or more 'Dharma Sword' class weapons, the 'Sword Formation' prototype is activated.】
【Sword Formation Effect: Your spiritual sense can simultaneously control multiple flying swords. For every additional Dharma Sword, the attack frequency and agility of the flying swords increase by 10%, and all Dharma Swords share sword intent bonuses.】
"?"
Gu Chengming looked at this description, and a question mark slowly appeared over his head.
Rate on N.U.
