Brocade Guard Precinct.
Chen Fan's residence.
By the time Chen Fan returned to the Brocade Guard Precinct, the eastern sky had already begun to pale like a fish's belly. After his strength had improved, going without sleep for a night was nothing to him.
With no trace of drowsiness, he opened the Attribute Panel with a thought, deciding to raise his strength a little.
Ever since he had deduced the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist last time, he had yet to cultivate it!
Yesterday afternoon, killing seven Wolf Demons in Black Bear Gulch Village had brought him more than seven hundred years of Demonkin Lifespan.
Together with the one hundred and seventy-seven years of Demonkin Lifespan he had gained from killing the White Ape and his two subordinates at Wangchun Pavilion, he had now accumulated nine hundred and fifty-seven years of Demonkin Lifespan!
Name: Chen Fan Realm: Divine Treasury Realm (Fifth Stage: Marrow Asura) Techniques: "Body Tempering Fist" (Mastered), "Blade Draw Slash" (Mastered), "Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist" (Not Initiated) Current Remaining Lifespan: Fifty-eight years Current Demonkin Lifespan: Nine hundred and fifty-seven years
"Though they are both Divine Treasury Realm techniques, the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist is far superior in grade to the Body Tempering Fist. If I use the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist to recultivate the Divine Treasury Realm in place of the Body Tempering Fist, my strength may improve further."
"Ping An County is fraught with danger now, with demonkin running rampant. Cao De also sees me as a thorn in his eye and a splinter in his flesh. Today, he will likely announce my appointment as Chief Squad Leader. There is no telling whether he might make trouble for me as Sun Jian did."
"Though everyone says he has perfected the fifth stage of the Divine Treasury Realm, who does not keep a trick up their sleeve? Perhaps he has already become a Divine Aperture Realm martial artist."
"So I must become even stronger!"
"Since that is the case, let the deduction begin!"
With a thought, Chen Fan began pouring Demonkin Lifespan into the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist for a Martial Dao deduction.
In the first year, you began learning the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist. Since it had been deduced from the Body Tempering Fist according to your own circumstances, and you already possessed considerable attainments in the Martial Dao, you quickly gained entry into it!
In the third year, after diligent cultivation, you finally brought the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist to the level of Minor Accomplishment. You felt your strength and physical toughness increase.
In the tenth year, you continued practicing the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist without pause. Then, one day, a sudden impulse struck your heart, and you abruptly gained enlightenment, breaking through to the level of Major Accomplishment. Your body underwent a tremendous improvement; you were now as robust as the cub of a ferocious beast!
In the twentieth year, you continued practicing the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist, but hindered by your aptitude, you remained unable to cultivate it to perfection.
In the thirtieth year, you still made no progress. You felt like a foolish child prone to crying, and whenever you practiced the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist, your head would start buzzing.
In the fiftieth year, you had begun to give up on yourself, feeling that this was enough. The Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist at Major Accomplishment had already made you invincible within the Divine Treasury Realm. Even demonkin of the same realm could be easily slain by you. Yet deep down, you remained utterly unwilling to accept it.
In the hundredth year, you still gritted your teeth and persevered. You remembered that if the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist could be cultivated to perfection, it would allow you to communicate with the primordial energy of heaven and earth, using that energy as a millstone to temper and strengthen yourself, ultimately condensing an Innate Body!
In the two-hundredth year, while persisting in your cultivation of the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist, you suddenly felt a wisp of mysterious energy enter your body. Immediately afterward, more and more of that mysterious energy flowed into you. You understood—this was the primordial energy of heaven and earth.
That primordial energy continuously tempered your body. In the end, you reached the realms of strength refined into threads, skin refined into bronze, flesh refined into a bell, bones refined into iron, tendons refined into steel, blood refined into mercury, marrow refined into frost, organs refined into vessels, viscera refined into jade, and meridians refined into membranes. You named them the Martial Dao Ten Stages, surpassing the traditional five stages of the Divine Treasury Realm!
At last, your body completed its transformation and condensed an Innate Body. Your aptitude also improved, and the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist reached perfection!
Remaining Demonkin Lifespan: Seven hundred and fifty-seven years!
Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes. Countless insights from fist practice surged into his mind. With every breath he took, he could stir the primordial energy of heaven and earth, and his body felt as though it had reached the absolute limit it could withstand.
Right now, he felt that he could kill martial artists of the same realm with a single punch—even demonkin of the same realm!
"The current me is terrifyingly strong!"
Chen Fan rose to his feet like a flood dragon and savage beast awakening, his entire body brimming with a dreadful oppressive force!
With his current strength, even if Cao De were a Divine Aperture Realm martial artist, even if Cao De truly meant to make trouble for him, he would have no fear at all!
"Time to report for roll call!"
Chen Fan got up, donned his Flying Fish Robe, strapped an Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist, pushed open the door, and headed straight for the front courtyard of the Brocade Guard Precinct.
When the people of the Brocade Guard Precinct saw him, they all nodded politely, though that politeness carried a faint distance.
Yesterday, he had overwhelmed Squad Leader Sun Jian, publicly slapped Chief Squad Leader Li Mo in the face, and was even set to take over Chief Squad Leader Huang Chengyue's position.
That position was highly sensitive. It had originally been reserved for Sun Jian, after all. Sun Jian was Li Mo's capable assistant, and Li Mo was Cao De's right-hand man.
But Chen Fan was clearly not of one heart with Centurion Cao. Yet his qualifications were right there for all to see, and with Chief Squad Leader Huang Chengyue's recommendation, he was more qualified than Sun Jian to serve as Chief Squad Leader.
It could be said that he and Huang Chengyue had put on a double act before all the Brocade Guards yesterday, directly leaving Cao De, who had yet to show himself, suspended over the fire.
If Cao De agreed to let him serve as Chief Squad Leader, it would be the same as inviting trouble for himself. If Cao De refused to let Chen Fan serve as Chief Squad Leader, it would be the same as grinding the Brocade Guard's rules into the dirt.
It would also indirectly prove that the entire Brocade Guard Precinct was his personal court, where whoever he wanted promoted would be promoted.
That would thoroughly chill the hearts of all the Brocade Guards.
"By Centurion's order, emergency assembly at the Martial Arts Field!"
Once roll call had ended, none of the Brocade Guards went out on assignments. Instead, they all gathered at the Martial Arts Field.
Cao De sat in the stands of the Martial Arts Field, while Chief Squad Leader Li Mo stood beside him, pouring tea and serving water.
As the direct person in charge of the Ping An County Brocade Guard Precinct, the original owner of this body had seen Centurion Cao on certain occasions.
But since Chen Fan had transmigrated, this was his first time seeing Cao De himself.
Cao De had a full chin marked by a scar, a high forehead but a low nose bridge, and a hooked nose. His face was broad, pale, and plump, and he was not tall. He wore a smile whenever he looked at anyone, yet that smile was not warm at all. Instead, it seemed somewhat gloomy.
Those familiar with him called him the Smiling Tiger behind his back!
The sweeter the smile, the deeper the schemes; the deeper the concealment, the crueler the methods. The duller the eyes, the more ruthless the heart!
That was Cao De!
"Which one is Chen Fan?"
"Come up here and let me have a look!"
Cao De lightly took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and looked amiably at the gathered Brocade Guards beneath the stands as he spoke.
"This subordinate is Chen Fan. Greetings, Centurion!"
Upon hearing that, Chen Fan strode onto the stands with the gait of a dragon and tiger, clasped his fists, and replied in a ringing voice.
"Fine clothes and a spirited horse, a young talent. Neither humble nor overbearing, neither arrogant nor impetuous."
"Good!"
"Very good!"
"Our Brocade Guard needs talents like you!"
"I heard that yesterday, you killed seven Wolf Demons in Black Bear Gulch Village, accumulating ten thousand great merits, and that you also broke through to the fifth stage of the Divine Treasury Realm. Early this morning, Old Huang came to see me and asked to resign, wishing for you to take over his post as Chief Squad Leader. What are your thoughts on the matter?" Cao De said with narrowed eyes, looking at Chen Fan with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
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