Chapter 223: Mid-Realm Wu Xian, Taking Office at the Main government office

"Just practicing according to the cultivation method — is it really that hard?"

"It's not like I'm creating my own martial art."

Shen Yi felt the growing confusion piling up in his mind and gently rubbed his temples.

Vast amounts of demon lifespan drained away at tremendous speed.

He finally sensed the Yin God within his qi sea beginning to change.

【Year 793, you begin to feel that perhaps this cultivation method only ever offered a line of thought to begin with — there was never a correct answer, or perhaps every answer was correct; rather than idle speculation, you might as well try practicing it first】

In an instant, the boundless white mist was mobilized once more.

They all poured into the Yin God, flowing slowly within along a profound and mysterious trajectory.

But the entire circulation was not smooth — on the contrary, it appeared extremely clumsy and halting.

There were even moments when, halfway through circulation, it suddenly changed direction.

【Year 2900, you keep feeling something is off, as though you just made a mistake, and so for the umpteenth time you change your line of thought】

"……"

Shen Yi stared silently at the panel prompt and sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, what was being tormented was the Yin God and not himself — practicing the method like this, he'd eventually be driven into qi deviation.

Forget it, just consider it practice.

The vast incense and vow power finally began to lessen.

What it bought in exchange was a Yin God condensed as though solid.

It still sat cross-legged, its features growing ever clearer, but its expression grew increasingly indifferent — as though it had drifted far from the mortal world, broken free of the dust and clamor of life, becoming more and more like a divine statue upon an altar.

The most obvious change was a ring of auspicious clouds now circling at its side.

The white mist was still condensing, faintly showing a tendency to coalesce into a second ring of auspicious clouds, but then suddenly the change stopped, and it continued to maintain its mist-like state.

Shen Yi instinctively glanced at the incense and vow power and found roughly one-third remaining.

Lowering his gaze to the panel, he realized the demon lifespan had been exhausted……

【Year 4736, you had long since broken through to mid-realm Wu Xian; just as you touched the bottleneck of a higher realm, you suddenly sensed your lifespan nearing its end, and could not help but feel a sense of wasted years, letting out a quiet sigh to yourself……】

【Wu Xian · Three-Element Ascension Method: Minor Completion】

"Hiss!"

Shen Yi suddenly clamped a hand over his forehead, as though he had personally crossed an endless abyss and was about to reach the far shore when his strength suddenly gave out, leaving him to fall in despair — so close, yet with no chance left at all.

He struggled to steady his heavy breathing and looked helplessly at another line of text.

【Remaining Lifespan: 2956 years】

What was exhausted was the demon lifespan, not his own — what was there to sigh over?

After breaking through the Slain Hunyuan Realm, his lifespan had increased by a full two thousand years; he was barely past twenty now, in the prime of youth and vigor — how could he be affected by such an emotion?

Shen Yi quickly recovered his composure and continued pretending to be a wooden post.

He released Lady Qinghua and stuffed her into the Yin God.

The next moment, a tall, slender figure wreathed in white mist appeared within the room, auspicious clouds circling about its body — every inch an immortal descending to the mortal world.

The overwhelming aura swept outward, nearly making Shen Yi unable to resist opening his eyes to look.

"My Lord's dharma body is simply too overwhelming — this Qinghua can hardly bear it……"

Lady Qinghua's voice sounded once more within his mind.

A demon soul condensed over ten thousand years was now actually beginning to complain.

"……"

Shen Yi used his divine sense to touch the connection between himself and Qinghua, then forcibly linked with her.

He summoned the thought of opening his eyes once more.

The young man sitting upright on the bed did not move; the Yin God standing with arms at its sides within the room slowly opened its eyes, its already indifferent face gaining several more degrees of cold severity.

"Huff."

It was Shen Yi's first time controlling the Yin God, and he looked at his own fleshly body with a faint sense of novelty.

Qinghua had not lied — this Yin God body was indeed a touch too powerful; the demon soul was comparatively frail, and every movement carried a sluggish, stiff feeling.

He looked at the auspicious clouds at his side.

For some reason, he thought of the three cloud patterns on the uniform of a Captain of the Zhen Mo Si.

Perhaps the reason cloud patterns were used as a symbol was also because of this Three-Element Ascension Method — one ring of auspicious clouds signified a mid-realm Wu Xian; when three cloud patterns gathered together, it represented the ability to condense a Golden Body dharma aspect, slay demons and suppress evil, and protect the Great Qian.

"I'll make do with it for now and swap it out later."

Shen Yi handed control back to Qinghua and returned to his own body.

There were no stronger demons available now — he could only make do for the time being.

"Swap?"

Lady Qinghua was somewhat startled, but did not dare ask further.

Could it be that her master's divine ability had already grown so powerful that even the Yin God could be swapped out?

Could it be that he meant to swap her……

At this thought, Lady Qinghua suddenly stepped forward timidly and carefully began kneading Shen Yi's shoulders.

The Yin God could mobilize incense and vow power; though it did no good to the fleshly body, it felt warm and rather comfortable.

Shen Yi had already been somewhat worn out by the emotional feedback from several thousand years of deduction.

He did not refuse.

Senior Brother Wu had said every Wu Xian had his quirks — so if he happened to enjoy using his Yin God to massage his fleshly body, it didn't seem all that strange.

As long as he communicated through his mind, no one would ever realize this "living" fleshly body was actually "alive."

"When no one is around, change your appearance."

Shen Yi stole a glance at that face and felt a chill run down his spine.

"Qinghua obeys."

The white mist beside the Yin God curled slightly, instantly transforming into the likeness of Lady Qinghua—just a minor illusion made of incense and vow power, nothing difficult.

She had once been a renowned Demon King in her domain, never having served anyone before, so her technique was somewhat clumsy. Fortunately, Shen Yi wasn't picky.

They rested briefly for a night.

The next morning.

Shen Yi recalled the Yin God, then placed Lady Qinghua back into the panel as well. After all, this was under the eyes of a Transformation of Spirit Realm cultivator—better to be cautious.

The demon's lifespan was spent; staying in the Martial Shrine any longer held no meaning.

He stepped toward the outside of the courtyard.

Perhaps because it was early morning, there were quite a few more people in the Yi Courtyard, all chatting idly in the courtyard.

That pair of Bai Shan lovers seemed to hold extremely high status. Though they spoke little, everyone else, no matter the topic, had to ask for their opinion.

At this moment, he suddenly rose and smiled: "Young Mr., please stay."

The middle-aged man held a sword sheath in his hand and gave a slight cupped-fist salute: "I am Lin Qingyang of the Qi Sect of Lizhou. This is my wife. May I ask your esteemed surname, Mr.?"

Lizhou Qi Sect.

A supreme-grade treasure?

Shen Yi slowly halted his steps and nodded politely: "No need for formality—Shen Yi."

Hearing their exchange, the other disciples of the Yi Courtyard all fell silent and cupped their fists toward the young man in greeting.

Though the other party looked young, since he had entered the Jia Courtyard, he was a seedling with the potential to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm. By status, as a disciple of the Martial Shrine, he was also their Master.

"Are you heading out? Is there anything we might help with?" Lady Lin said with a smile.

"Going to sit in on duty."

Shen Yi replied briefly, then took his leave of the crowd.

Though the supreme-grade treasure made his fingers itch, it wouldn't run away sitting there. Right now, the demon's lifespan was more important.

Sit in on duty? Watching Shen Yi walk away, the crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

He had just entered the Martial Shrine and surely received a cultivation method, yet instead of focusing on cultivation, he went to sit in on duty—what kind of duty? Could it be that he still held a post at the imperial court?

……

The Martial Shrine stood tall, flanked by two General Bureaus on either side.

Even early in the morning, many people had gathered here.

Some to collect rewards, some to undergo the Martial Shrine's tempering, and some to return and report on their duties.

Shen Yi looked at the long queue and walked straight in, drawing many people's attention.

"Not wearing the regulation uniform—which province's Regional Commander is this?"

The few people at the front looked over in surprise.

A Regional Commander cutting in line—that didn't count as cutting in line.

But then, they saw Liu Kun inside the counter suddenly push aside the Zhen Mo General in front of him and leap up from his chair, his posture as straight as a long spear.

"Lord Shen, what brings you here?"

"Where is my seat?"

Shen Yi walked behind the counter. Liu Kun froze for a moment, then hurriedly pointed to the partitioned room beside him: "This subordinate will take you there right away."

"No need, carry on."

Shen Yi walked over unhurriedly and lifted the curtain to step inside.

"……"

Liu Kun swallowed hard and instinctively turned to look at the Zhen Mo Si crowd in line.

Sure enough, the expressions on those faces had all changed.

Even though Liu Kun hadn't announced the position, they weren't fools—how could they not understand what was happening before their eyes?

After many years, the Zhen Mo Si had finally gained another Inspector.

"Oh no!"

Liu Kun secretly pinched himself. He had always been sharp in his work, yet had stumbled here.

He had thought he saw the situation clearly—that this Lord Shen had been pushed up by Lord Wu to "draw empty salary"—and so had made no preparations at all.

Who knew the man would actually come to the General Bureau to show off.

Now that so many people had seen it…how could he possibly stop it!

The Zhen Mo Si of the nine provinces had long suffered from the demon scourge—who among them didn't have grievances?

If Lord Shen lost face over this, he himself would likely suffer greatly.

"All of you, quiet down and line up properly!"

He gritted his teeth and slammed the counter hard, finally drawing their gazes back, though the murmuring could not be stopped from spreading.

At the very back of the line.

A middle-aged man draped in black armor walked over from afar, then stood still. Letting his companion Hu Chui there, he merely occasionally returned a smile, his eyes filled with an unshakable anxiety and sorrow.

"Brother Zhang, not to criticize you, but what's good about staying in Songzhou? You should have followed my example and come to the Martial Shrine long ago—no shortage of precious medicines and cultivation methods, and you get to meet many experts."

Jiang He patted his shoulder with a smile: "Just yesterday, I met another extraordinary prodigy from Outside Qingzhou. The man is a peak Core Formation cultivator who entered the Yi Courtyard, young in age, and at first glance has the bearing of a Slain Hunyuan Sect master. I exchanged a few moves with that Brother Shen and gained quite a bit—my realm has grown considerably."

"Congratulations, Brother Jiang." Zhang Xuan forced a smile. The other man could address himself, a Zhen Mo Si General, as a brother purely on his martial-arts-world identity, relying on that deceiving mouth of his. If he believed him one more time, he'd be a fool.

Just then, the faint murmur of conversation finally spread.

Even a few demon hunters came over from their side—they were best at gathering information—and one of them even called out a name directly.

"I have a student I know at the Wumiao — that man is the Regional Commander of Outside Qingzhou, surnamed Shen. He arrived at the Imperial City just yesterday and has already been promoted to Deputy Inspector!"

The shouting drifted into Zhang Xuan's ears.

He stood dumbfounded for a long while, rubbing his ears in disbelief: "Inspector… Inspector…"

As if remembering something, Zhang Xuan suddenly turned and grabbed his companion's hand: "Brother Jiang, you just said you had made the acquaintance of a prodigy from Outside Qingzhou, also surnamed Shen — could it be… could you introduce me to him…"

If this time the man surnamed Jiang had not been Hu Chui bragging, and really did have that connection, then if he could invite an Inspector back—

Zhang Xuan's breathing grew heavy.

"Uh."

Jiang He licked his lips, his body suddenly going somewhat stiff: "Maybe I remembered wrong, probably some other surname…"

Looking at Zhang Xuan's burning expression, he showed a bitter look: "I'll do my best, alright, but don't get your hopes too high."

Acquaintance, my ass — he only knew the name.

Besides, this Inspector might not be quite what Zhang Xuan imagined; the other party wasn't a Slain Hunyuan Sect master, otherwise why would he even be entering the Wumiao.

(End of chapter)