Chapter 42: The Jianghu of Qingzhou

Lying on the bed, Shen Yi tried to circulate his inner breath along that mysterious trajectory.

Immediately after, an intense sensation of being hollowed out swept over him, as if a whale were swallowing the sea while he himself was only a small pond... no, merely a cup of water.

The feeling was so terrifying that Shen Yi quickly stopped circulating his breath.

He had finally experienced the helplessness he himself had suffered during the martial arts deduction.

A martial artist of the initial realm absorbs the breath of heaven and earth very slowly.

The inner breath within the twelve great acupoints is more like principal savings—ordinarily, only the interest is needed to sustain basic martial arts use.

Even martial arts of the initial realm like the Blood Sha Saber Art consumed very little inner breath.

But once the loss grew too great, it was equivalent to damaging the root, and would require a great deal of time to make up for.

And in this deduction, every time he used this Four Harmony True Gang, he would waste several years of time re-accumulating it—a simply inhuman torment for an ordinary martial artist.

Shen Yi recalled the earlier transformation of inner breath into jade dew.

No wonder one had to condense the breath of heaven and earth into liquid—otherwise, how could one possibly bear the cost?

"Could it be that one practices it but dares not use it, only keeping it as a life-risking trump card, and once used, one can only sit and wait for death?"

Shen Yi's brow furrowed slightly, and then he seemed to recall something.

He looked at the Wind Thunder Demon-Subduing True Resolution on his panel.

This thing had never yielded any result from deduction—no matter how much demon lifespan he threw in, there was no response, like a bottomless money-swallowing pit.

All it did was dumbly draw breath from heaven and earth.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi's brow smoothed out. Wasn't this perfect? It could replenish his own consumption, and at the same time let him try to deduce something new—spending one sum to buy two goods.

Based on prior experience, fully replenishing the twelve great acupoints once required roughly five years.

If he used his own life, it certainly wouldn't be worth it—after all, after breaking through the initial realm, he would only have forty-six years of lifespan left. But using demon lifespan to solve an urgent need, and then seeking a method of advancement, was still feasible.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 391 years】

Shen Yi suppressed the urge to go outside and try it, forcing himself to close his eyes.

Knowing the true power of one's moves inside out was certainly important, but there was no need to disturb people's sweet dreams late at night—how unkind that would be.

Perhaps because he had not slept the night before, today he fell asleep extremely quickly.

The flatbreads here were warm, the cured meat was chewy, the bed board was hard, the woman was soft—everything felt so real.

Images of corpses flashed through his mind, demons gulping down flesh and blood in great bites.

Shen Yi unconsciously clenched his fingers. With so many martial arts at his side, he finally no longer had to numb his thoughts with "this life was picked up for free," and he had gained the courage to draw his blade against demons.

Using the excuse of a life that wouldn't last long to act tough and fight was certainly useful, but it wouldn't last.

Living a second life was like waking from a great dream.

When the roosters crowed, Shen Yi opened his eyes on time, walked out to breathe in the morning dew, and instantly felt refreshed and at ease all over.

"Up so early today?"

Lin Baiwei stretched her body, walking from the back courtyard into the house, and looked outside curiously.

"Morning."

Shen Yi turned his head, a rare trace of a smile in his eyes.

"Did you pick up money or something?" Lin Baiwei shook her head suspiciously.

"More or less."

Shen Yi withdrew his gaze, went back inside, and changed into clean clothes.

Counting the days, there were still over twenty days until the Zhen Mo Si inspection.

Using this time to plug the gaps and shore up the weak points, getting a good assignment shouldn't be a problem.

His current strength was more than enough for self-defense in Bai Yunxian, but one always had to fear accidents.

Take Lin Baiwei, for example—she could casually transcribe a Jade Liquid Realm martial art, which was a completely different matter from simply producing a martial art manual; the former meant she had once personally practiced it.

Before her acupoints were sealed, she should have been considerably stronger than his current self.

Bad luck was still bad luck.

With such a cautionary example parading before his eyes every day, Shen Yi had no choice but to be cautious.

To survive in these troubled times, joining a decent faction was absolutely the best choice—both martial arts and resources would be guaranteed.

Even if one day he truly got caught by a demon, the other party would still have to consider his background, leaving some room for maneuver.

Shen Yi went out and bought two portions of breakfast to bring back.

He finished in three or four bites, then headed toward the duty office.

Walking along the road, Shen Yi suddenly slowed his pace and glanced to the side.

The young man propping up a candy-figure pole lowered his eyes and fawned with a smile: "Sir, you also have a taste for sweets? How about taking two sticks to try?"

Shen Yi shook his head and resumed his stride: "Sorry, I don't have any silver on me."

A candy figure sold by a wandering martial artist—he wouldn't dare eat it.

As for why the other party had appeared in Bai Yunxian, Shen Yi didn't want to ask more; he was just an officer responsible for demons, not a city patrol guard.

All sorts of people came and went—perhaps one could run into a few strange ones every day.

It was just that his eyesight hadn't been sharp enough before to notice.

Stepping into the duty office courtyard right on time, Shen Yi saw Zhang the Butcher had already begun training several people at the crack of dawn. Zhang Dahu rubbed his waist, snatched up his saber in a panic, and ran: "I-I-I... patrol the streets..."

Zhang the Butcher didn't make things difficult for this scoundrel either: "He's old, and there's no future to speak of. You three don't slack off... How dare you glare at me! Ungrateful wretch—if you can get into the Zhen Mo Si, your parents will have to bring cured meat to thank me."

Saying so, he kicked the Niu brothers in the waist twice in a row: "Raise your hands higher. A proper Demon-Subduing Saber Art, and you two make it look like putting on a opera performance."

"My job as an officer is going just fine, I don't want to climb higher. Dealing with demons costs lives," Niu Er grimaced and complained.

"You've really had it too easy for too long," Zhang the Butcher said coldly with a sneer: "Just last May, Sanshui County was taken over by the Zhen Mo Si. Over ten Captains were sent to hold the line, and in three days they swept through the demon mountain. Over two hundred soldiers died, and more than eighty demons were slain. You think it's like here, where commoners die before the officers do?"

"The death compensation is only forty taels of silver, but if you carry the name of the Zhen Mo Si—even if it's just as a reserve— that amount of silver is no more than two months' stipend for you."

Hearing this, the Niu brothers silently calculated an account in their hearts, and the hands wielding the blades gradually grew stronger.

"Even ordinary constables are recruited?" Shen Yi walked into the courtyard, somewhat curious.

"Otherwise, why pass down the three demon-subduing martial arts?" Zhang the Butcher saw it was him and smiled: "As long as, within the allotted time, one cultivates all three to minor completion, or any one of them to major completion, there's a chance of being selected. In at most ten or twenty years, they can use medicinal baths to literally soak this group into the Initial Realm."

"Do you know how terrifying it is that Initial Realm martial masters sprout up batch after batch, like planting rice?"

The more Zhang the Butcher spoke, the redder his eyes grew, as if he were extremely resentful of Zhen Mo Si's extravagance.

"If there really were that many people, why would they still look so short-handed?" Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, not quite believing it.

"You've never cut rice? They grow in batches, and fall in batches." Zhang the Butcher rolled his eyes, drew his palm across his neck twice, then continued:

"If it's someone with even greater aptitude, like that demon hunter taken in as a disciple ten years ago by the Outside Qingzhou Commander of Zhen Mo Si — ten years! I was still standing post, practicing fists, and hauling water, while she took precious medicines as meals, reached perfection of the Jade Liquid Realm, and slaughtered demons as easily as pigs and dogs with sword-qi."

"Hiss, an illegitimate child?" Even someone as steady as Shen Yi couldn't help clicking his tongue in surprise.

"An illegitimate child would be better." Zhang the Butcher suddenly became much more dejected, waving his hand: "You don't understand demon hunters. As the saying goes, they eat the fullest meals and take the worst beatings. Not only does it demand extremely high talent, it also requires a steady temperament — able to endure loneliness and bear hardship."

"Going alone for thousands of li to seek out demons and explore mysteries, serving as Zhen Mo Si's eyes and ears — half of the Daqian Dynasty's demon-bounties were taken down by them."

(End of chapter)