He could clearly feel it: the strength in one arm had soared from five hundred jin to an utterly inconceivable level.
Four thousand jin!
Was this the mighty power of the Golden Bell Shield at the thirteenth level of mastery?
This was fucking beyond the scope of the Body Tempering Realm.
An ordinary True Meridian Realm martial artist, after opening one or two meridians, would only possess around a thousand jin of strength in one arm.
His pure physical strength was now enough to crush most martial artists who had just entered the True Meridian Realm.
Unfortunately, he was not truly in the True Meridian Realm yet.
Shen Che's thoughts settled on the system panel.
The martial path consisted of Body Tempering, True Meridian, Yuan Gang, and Innate.
The Body Tempering Realm tempered the flesh and built abundant blood and vitality.
The hallmark of the True Meridian Realm was cultivating the first wisp of true qi within the body, then using it to open the twelve primary meridians.
He possessed strength alone, yet had no method for cultivating true qi. He could only be considered an unusual "half-step True Meridian."
[Golden Bell Shield (Thirteenth Level) (Temporarily Cannot Be Upgraded)]
The words on the panel set his thoughts racing.
Temporarily could not be upgraded?
Was it because this cultivation technique had already reached its limit, or because his own realm was restricting its advancement?
Could this system allow cultivation techniques to break through their original shackles?
Shen Che buried the thought deep in his heart and steadied his mind.
He pushed open the profound iron gate and formally stepped into the second level of the Demon Suppressing Prison.
The demonic aura around him, enough to suffocate Body Tempering Realm martial artists, now felt like a spring breeze brushing his face. He felt not the slightest discomfort.
The immense blood and vitality produced by his perfected Golden Bell Shield automatically formed protective qi around his body, repelling all sinister and evil energies.
The second level was much the same as the first, except the profound iron bars of the cells were thicker, and the runes inscribed upon them were denser.
Most of the demonic beasts here were General-level Demonic Beasts, corresponding to the Human Race's True Meridian Realm.
He casually swept his gaze around.
In the cell to his left, a three-eyed Demon Wolf had been beheaded, its corpse still warm.
Shen Che walked over.
[Ding! Detecting absorbable time energy. Absorb?] [Absorption successful. Time Value obtained: 80.]
Shen Che's breathing halted for an instant.
Eighty points!
The Time Value provided by a General-level Demonic Beast was several times, even more than ten times, what those cannon fodder creatures on the first level had given.
He looked toward the next cell.
A Human-Faced Strange Bird had been severed at the waist, its green blood smeared all over the walls.
[Absorption successful. Time Value obtained: 100.]
Another hundred points!
He had struck it rich.
This second level was simply a slab of fat dripping with oil.
Shen Che wasted no more time. He quickened his pace and began his pleasant journey of "picking up trash."
Like a ghost, he moved through one corridor after another.
Whenever he passed a cell containing the corpse of a demonic beast, he stopped without the slightest hesitation.
[Absorption successful. Time Value obtained: 65.] [Absorption successful. Time Value obtained: 120.] [Absorption successful. Time Value obtained: 90.]
The system notifications rang out one after another, while the Time Value on his panel soared all the way up.
He even passed a cell where a Probationary Demon Suppressor was locked in a bitter battle with a leopard demon.
The disciple was panting heavily, several wounds staining his body, while the leopard demon remained as fierce as ever.
Shen Che did not intervene. He merely passed by quietly.
The Demon Suppression Division's assessment meant that one bore one's own life and death.
He was no saint.
Before long, he had swept through the entire second level.
The data on his character panel had been completely renewed.
[Time Value: 600]
Including the fifty points left over from upgrading the Golden Bell Shield, he had gained a full five hundred and fifty Time Value on the second level.
This haul had been outrageously profitable.
Shen Che stood at the end of the second level. Before him was the entrance to the third level.
It was also a profound iron gate, but it was heavier than the entrance to the second level, and the runes carved upon it emitted a faint blood-red glow.
The moment he stood before it, a palpitating dread rising from the depths of his soul surged over him.
Behind the door, it seemed as though an ancient ferocious beast was imprisoned. The mere aura leaking out while it slept was enough to stir ripples in his protective qi.
He could not enter this place.
He estimated that even with the Golden Bell Shield at mastery, if he truly forced his way inside, his fate would not be much better than that of those cannon fodder.
Besides, the one-hour assembly deadline set by Supervisor Chen Xiao was nearly up.
There was no need to throw himself away over an unknown risk.
Take what was good and stop while ahead.
Shen Che lingered no longer and turned back along the path he had come.
When he returned to the entrance of the first level of the Demon Suppressing Prison, most of the Probationary Demon Suppressors had already gathered there.
Many were injured and pale-faced. Several were covered head to toe in blood, looking as though they had narrowly escaped a calamity.
Of course, quite a few were unharmed, their expressions carrying a hint of self-satisfaction at having completed the task.
Supervisor Chen Xiao stood at the stone stairway like an iron tower, his face expressionless.
Shen Che's arrival drew everyone's attention.
He was far too clean.
His robes were neat, his aura steady. Not only was there no blood on him, there was not even a speck of dust.
He looked less like someone who had killed a demonic beast and more like someone who had taken a stroll through a backyard garden.
Chen Xiao's brows twisted together as he sniffed the air.
"You went to the second level?"
His voice was not loud, yet it rang clearly in every person's ears.
What?
The second level?
The crowd erupted in an uproar. Their gazes toward Shen Che filled with shock and doubt.
Was this some kind of joke? Was that a place they could enter? The demonic aura alone could crush a person.
"Yes, sir."
Shen Che did not hide it and admitted it calmly.
There was no way to conceal it. The concentration of demonic aura clinging to him was on an entirely different level from those who had only moved about on the first floor.
Chen Xiao sized him up from head to toe.
"You weren't injured?"
"No."
"Interesting."
For the first time, a different expression appeared on Chen Xiao's stern face.
He did not ask what Shen Che had done on the second level. Instead, he turned toward the others.
"Remember how you felt tonight."
"The third level of the Demon Suppressing Prison holds great demonic beasts capable of contending with Innate Realm experts."
"If you want to live a little longer, then train like your fucking lives depend on it!"
With that, he waved a hand.
"The assessment is over. Dismissed. Gather at the martial arts grounds tomorrow at the hour of the dragon."
As though granted a pardon, the crowd turned and left one after another. From time to time, someone looked back at Shen Che with a complicated expression.
Shen Che ignored those probing stares and followed the crowd out of the Demon Suppressing Prison.
According to the Demon Suppression Division's rules, every Probationary Demon Suppressor who passed the assessment would be assigned a separate residence.
Shen Che returned to his own small courtyard and shut the gate.
He eagerly opened the system panel.
[Host: Shen Che] [Time Value: 610] [Techniques:] [Black Tiger Saber Technique (Second Level) +] [Golden Bell Shield (Thirteenth Level) (Temporarily Cannot Be Upgraded)]
His defense was already maxed out. Next, it was time to raise his damage output.
His consciousness focused on the plus sign behind the Black Tiger Saber Technique.
[Consume 10 Time Value to raise the Black Tiger Saber Technique to the third level?]
"Yes."
[Consume 10 Time Value to raise the Black Tiger Saber Technique to the fourth level?]
"Yes."
[Consume 10 Time Value to raise the Black Tiger Saber Technique to the fifth level?]
"Yes."
The first three upgrades passed without a ripple, as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
When he prepared to upgrade it to the sixth level, the system notification changed.
[Consume 100 Time Value to raise the Black Tiger Saber Technique to the sixth level?]
It actually required one hundred Time Value to go from the fifth level to mastery of the sixth.
"Yes!"
Shen Che did not hesitate.
The instant the thought fell, an insight wholly different from the one he had gained while upgrading the Golden Bell Shield surged into his mind.
It was as though he had once stood in a deserted valley, swinging his saber day after day, year after year.
Spring departed and autumn came. Cold and heat alternated.
The saber in his hand went from clumsy to practiced, from practiced to proficient, then from proficient to perfect.
He experienced decades of arduous cultivation, as constant as a single day.
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