Chapter 178

The next day, Zhang Jian heard some good news.

Shi Lun passed the examination for a position at the Cultural and Sports Hall, successfully securing the post and thus able to remain in Haojing.

For this, Shi Lun was exceptionally pleased; having three years of experience observing various departments, even if he were later posted to an official position elsewhere, his ceiling would be higher.

In his joy, after nightfall, Shi Lun set out a banquet in Zhuangyuan Ju, inviting many of his peers.

That night, many of the newly successful jinshi drank until they were roaring drunk.

Some were distressed and disheartened for failing to obtain a hall position, while others, having successfully secured the post, were simply overjoyed; all drank heartily, and naturally became easily intoxicated.

"Wine does not intoxicate people; people intoxicate themselves!"

Zhang Jian smiled faintly; most of these newly successful jinshi were deeply passionate and emotional at heart.

However, there were also some seasoned individuals, or those of noble birth, who could control their emotions; after drinking their fill, with the support of close family members, they staggered away.

"Brother Zhang, I sometimes truly envy you—no matter the atmosphere, you always manage to stay sober!"

At that moment, Shi Lun belched, his face flushed red.

Zhang Jian smiled faintly and merely said.

"Having drunk too much, one naturally sobers up!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Lun glanced at Zhang Jian; at that moment, he seemed to have suddenly become much clearer-headed.

"Brother Zhang, do you know that the young lady of the He family is to be married in a few days?"

"The young lady of the He family?"

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered.

Shi Lun sighed: "It is He Yansha, the young lady of the He family!"

"Who knows how Brother Zhan Shi will feel upon hearing this—his heart may well be torn apart!"

"As expected!"

Zhang Jian, however, was not surprised.

This He Yansha is also an extraordinary woman, but such an extraordinary woman could not possibly withstand familial pressure, abandon her parents and siblings, and elope alone.

Born into a family like the Zhangs, Zhang Jian could more keenly feel the societal constraints on young men and women.

Even the petty landlord class might be tolerable, but if a great family were to allow such clandestine unions, it would be a tremendous scandal, affecting the official prospects of fathers and elder brothers, and also impacting the marriage prospects of sisters.

In the broader context of virtue as primary and punishment as auxiliary, moral cultivation is of utmost importance.

It is also the first impression one gives to others.

Similar to the union of his mother Qi Ruoying and Zhang Yi, it actually belongs to the shocking and unconventional.

Under the night sky, the newly successful jinshi who had drunk heavily staggered about; before curfew, they gradually dispersed.

But as soon as they stepped out of Zhuangyuan Ju, Zhang Jian's expression shifted; he let Zhang Lu and others depart on their own, while he himself silently followed the shadow of a narrow lane.

In a shadow not far away, a figure shrouded in black aura hid in the darkness, a pair of crimson eyes fixedly watching the patrolling soldiers on the street.

His gaze greedily swept over these soldiers, but upon sensing the faint divine power fluctuations around them, he withdrew his gaze, ultimately fixing it on some of the drunken solitary drinkers emerging from the tavern.

Especially the young, solitary patrons.

Upon locking onto a figure staggering out of the tavern, his form seemed to glide along the ground, moving soundlessly in low flight.

It was a young martial artist, his vital essence and blood intensely concentrated!

He wore silk robes of fine quality, appearing to be doing quite well!

Yet this young martial artist provoked such intense greed in the dark figure's eyes that he did not notice another shadow silently drifting behind his head.

But in an instant he sensed something amiss, a vague feeling; the black-clad shadow instinctively turned his head, yet saw no one.

This strange situation even caused the black-clad figure's heart to grow cold; usually his appearance would make prey panic and flee.

But today he felt the same sensation.

And when he turned back, his expression startled even more—the 'prey' he had locked onto had vanished.

This caused his face to change color, black aura surging around him as he prepared to transform into a black wind and flee—yet a palm appeared out of thin air, descending from the silver moon in an instant, striking his heavenly spirit cap; in that moment, his form seemed like black air utterly dissolving into ash upon that jade-white palm, leaving only a wisp of dark soul seized deep within the palm.

Facing that indifferent gaze, the soul of the black-clad figure at that moment had faint traces of blood light in its pupils.

"Blood-Refining Demon Technique, Blood Shadow Demon Sect?"

Seeing this omen, Zhang Jian's form slowly emerged from beneath the moonlight; his eyes held something unusual.

The Blood Shadow Demon Sect is a legitimate demonic sect.

This is not some heretical side path.

It is a major sect affiliated with the demonic path, though it cannot compare to things like the Nie Sect, Xuan Mo Sect, Tai Yin Demon Palace, Mi Mo Sect, or Asura Demon Dao; yet the power of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect is far from trivial.

However, the sect's influence originally should have lain outside the borders of the Great Qian, in the Great Chu territories.

Zhang Jian felt a hint of astonishment in his heart.

The figure before him was not an official disciple of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, but merely a blood shadow puppet—created by subduing part of a martial artist's or alien's extraordinary talent, or a cultivator, imprisoning their soul to forge this puppet.

Its purpose might simply be to cause chaos, or to gather essence and blood.

Zhang Jian's eyes held something strange.

Although the Great Qian court is in turbulent times, the dragon and tiger qi still flourish in its prime; how could these demonic sect disciples dare to run amok in Haojing City?

"Is it merely to cause destruction?"

Zhang Jian was unwilling to believe that.

He had heard the True Monarch Slay Demons mention that demonic cultivators, due to their hasty and profit-driven techniques, often have twisted personalities and usually act only for profit.

"Could there be some secret in the capital capable of attracting these demonic sect people?"

Zhang Jian felt a hint of curiosity, but given his heavy workload, he was unwilling to invite trouble lightly—he merely dispatched a few blood shadow puppets to avoid endangering his family.

After making a round and eliminating several blood shadow puppets, his expression shifted slightly; he gazed toward the depths of Haojing City, in the direction of the Iron Brush Judge's Temple.

Suddenly, he heard a violent explosion, accompanied by the sound of a divine office shattering.

"That place is..."

Zhang Jian's gaze fell upon it, and there was some astonishment in his eyes.

That place is the shrine of the Iron Brush Judge, who was a founding civil official of the state dynasty; due to his integrity and impartiality, he was ennobled as the Iron Brush Judge, and he is also an official of Haojing—this is a deity of extraordinary divine power.

But if Zhang Jian did not missee, in that instant he had his divine office seized, and his entire soul was taken away.

Zhang Jian's eyes showed some fluctuation.

These demonic path powerhouses—one could say they are recklessly bold, daring even to provoke the state gods' Dao.

However, Zhang Jian also knows that the domain of the state gods' Dao lies only in the secular world, and its foundation can only take root where people dwell; those demonic cultivators mostly enter and leave the barbaric wilds, and in the depths of the barbaric wilds, having left the gods of the divine office, they indeed dare not lightly provoke them.

They have the capital to act recklessly!

As far as the eye can see, Zhang Jian already saw divine light streaking down from above Haojing City, rushing toward the Martial Judge's shrine.

Yet in his spiritual pupils, he could see an extremely fine demonic qi, flying swiftly toward the direction where he was!