The next day.
In a private room on the second floor of Laifu Restaurant.
Chen Fan and Lu Xuening sat together, eating and chatting.
"I've already learned some information about what you asked me to look into yesterday."
"The owner of that secondary residence near the County Magistrate Estate is a wealthy merchant surnamed Wang from Dragon Abyss Prefecture City. He dealt in medicinal herbs, and since Ping An County is close to Black Mountain, which produces abundant medicinal herbs, he often came here to purchase them. Over time, he bought a secondary residence as a place to rest his feet."
"However, Master Wang hasn't come to Ping An County for several years, so that secondary residence has been left vacant."
Lu Xuening said.
"So that means no one should be living in that secondary residence now?"
Chen Fan asked.
"At any rate, Master Wang hasn't put the residence up for sale or rent through a broker. As for whether he permitted someone else to live there, that's unclear."
Lu Xuening thought for a moment before answering.
"Since that's the case, are you interested in paying that secondary residence a night visit tonight?"
Chen Fan looked at Lu Xuening and made the suggestion.
He could go alone, but having someone with him meant they could watch each other's backs. He was not so arrogant as to believe himself invincible throughout Ping An County.
"No problem."
Lu Xuening nodded at that.
"By the way, do you know how strong the Three Demons of Black Mountain mentioned by County Commandant Liu are—the Tiger Demon Mountain Lord, the Howling Moon Wolf Demon, and the Three-Eyed Ape Demon?"
Chen Fan asked. Since County Commandant Liu and even Brocade Guard Chief Squad Leader Li Mo feared those three demons so greatly, it proved that their strength was anything but ordinary. With Ping An County's current power, it would be difficult to resist those three great demons.
"I don't know their exact strength, but wild great demons without inheritances can almost never break through to the Divine Aperture Realm. At most, they can cultivate to the great perfection of the Divine Treasury Realm."
"Moreover, because the Demon Race comes in different kinds, even those at the peak Divine Treasury Realm can differ as greatly as heaven and earth in strength. But under normal circumstances, humans of the same realm are no match for them."
"After all, compared to the Demon Race, human physiques are naturally frail. Unless one is a genius martial artist who has mastered powerful cultivation methods and martial techniques, defeating a demon of the same realm is actually very difficult."
"So the Three Demons of Black Mountain are enough to rival three human Divine Aperture Realm martial artists. With Ping An County's current strength, no one can stand against the three of them. That's why those people from the county yamen and the Brocade Guard fear them so much!"
Lu Xuening spoke with a trace of emotion.
Ping An County was a remote border county and already rather weak. With Black Mountain nearby and three great demons eyeing it like tigers watching their prey, it was no wonder the county yamen and the Brocade Guard had colluded with them. If they had truly clashed head-on, they would likely have long since been killed by the three demons.
Yet the three demons also did not dare slaughter Ping An County at will. Ping An County belonged to Dragon Abyss Prefecture, and if they dared butcher the entire county clean, Dragon Abyss Prefecture would certainly send Divine Aperture Realm martial artists to utterly slay them.
They and Ping An County were now in a state of dynamic balance. Under such circumstances, Dragon Abyss Prefecture could not possibly send people down to slay demons and exterminate evil.
After all, Dragon Abyss Prefecture had demons and fiends of its own to suppress. Every Divine Aperture Realm martial artist was a strategic resource and could not be deployed lightly!
"Comparable to Divine Aperture Realm martial artists?"
Chen Fan pondered inwardly.
The Great Zhou Dynasty controlled cultivation methods with particular strictness. Ordinary people simply had no way to obtain them.
To acquire cultivation methods, one either had to join a martial sect, seek refuge with an ancient Aristocratic Clan, pay an exorbitant apprenticeship fee to study martial arts at a martial academy, or join certain departments of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Martial sects valued aptitude and treasured their own cultivation methods as dearly as a broom they refused to throw away. They would not lightly impart them to anyone but inner disciples of proven family background.
Ancient Aristocratic Clans relied on bloodline ties. Those who were not clan descendants would find it difficult to obtain cultivation methods even if they sought refuge with them.
As for studying martial arts at a martial academy, first, it took a long time—three years of menial work, three years as an apprentice, and three years before graduation. At the very least, it required nearly a decade.
The money spent each year was an astronomical sum. Forget ordinary families; even middle-class households could not bear it.
Moreover, most martial arts taught in martial academies were exceedingly superficial cultivation methods.
They might only be health-preserving techniques for building strength and cultivating one's body and temperament, or perhaps methods that only trained the skin. In any case, they were extremely shallow.
If the Body Tempering Fist was considered a cultivation method found on every street corner, then the skills taught in martial academies did not even deserve to be called cultivation methods. They were utter trash.
The Great Zhou Dynasty suppressed the four directions, and its strength far surpassed that of ancient Aristocratic Clans and martial sects. All such forces survived by breathing the air beneath the Great Zhou Dynasty's nose. The Great Zhou Dynasty was the greatest martial sect, while the Zhou imperial clan was the greatest Aristocratic Clan.
Therefore, within the Great Zhou Dynasty's sphere of influence, joining its official forces was the best route for learning martial arts and obtaining cultivation methods.
At present, there were several ways to join the Great Zhou Dynasty's official forces and obtain martial cultivation methods: joining the yamen, enlisting in the army, or entering privileged departments like the Brocade Guard.
Among them, privileged departments such as the Brocade Guard, Dragon Protector Guard, Nine Gates, Surveillance Bureau, Celestial Observatory, and the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Factories offered the most convenient access to cultivation methods.
Take Chen Fan, for example. He had joined the Brocade Guard at fifteen, and without rendering a single meritorious service, he was able to cultivate the complete Divine Treasury Realm method, the Body Tempering Fist.
After accumulating merit points for half a year, he could exchange them for another technique, the Blade Draw Slash.
That was almost impossible in other official forces.
In most other official forces, one had to work first and eat afterward. Without rendering merit, one would absolutely not be granted cultivation methods.
Though the Brocade Guard was generous, their work was all the sort of business where one licked blood from a blade's edge. Moreover, the martial arts they learned within the Brocade Guard could not be privately passed on to others.
This was an oath made when one accepted a cultivation method inheritance. Those who accepted profound martial arts inheritances might even be placed under restrictions to prevent the methods from being leaked.
Furthermore, the entire Brocade Guard Precinct in Ping An County possessed only the two martial arts manuals, the Body Tempering Fist and the Blade Draw Slash. Other counties were probably the same.
Even the cultivation methods taught to constables in the yamen were those same two.
To switch to more advanced cultivation methods, one had to go to Dragon Abyss Prefecture. It was said that Dragon Abyss Prefecture possessed Divine Aperture Realm cultivation methods, which could allow martial artists at the great perfection of the Divine Treasury Realm to open their own acupoints, communicate with the world's primordial qi, and become Divine Aperture Realm martial artists.
Chen Fan had now cultivated to the great perfection of the Divine Treasury Realm, but because he lacked a Divine Aperture Realm cultivation method, he could not break through to the Divine Aperture Realm.
However, he had already deduced the Body Tempering Fist into the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist. Though it too was a Divine Treasury Realm cultivation method, it was vastly more powerful than the Body Tempering Fist.
If he recultivated the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist, his strength could rise further. Since he could not advance vertically, he could broaden horizontally instead. That was also a path to increasing his strength!
"Captain Lu, do you have a Divine Aperture Realm cultivation method?"
Chen Fan asked.
"Yes."
"But restrictions bind it, so I cannot teach it to you. You are in the Brocade Guard, so you naturally know about cultivation method inheritances."
"What, are you already considering breaking through to the Divine Aperture Realm?"
"With your talent and strength, once you join me in clearing all the demons and fiends from Ping An County, you will certainly be promoted to a Brocade Guard Hundred Household."
"At that time, it will not be a problem for you to use your Brocade Guard merit points to exchange for a Divine Aperture Realm cultivation method at the Dragon Abyss Prefecture Brocade Guard Thousand Household."
"If you truly cannot wait, then as long as you display your talent and strength, it is not impossible to go directly to the Brocade Guard Thousand Household and borrow a Divine Aperture Realm cultivation method in advance."
"After all, our Great Zhou Dynasty treats martial arts geniuses with particular favor. When it comes to breaking through realms, no one will deliberately trip you up."
Lu Xuening glanced at Chen Fan as she spoke.
Before you continue