The Imperial Guard advanced by earning merit points through missions. Merit points could also be exchanged for secret manuals.
The Great Shang Dynasty Armory encompassed everything, containing every martial arts manual imaginable. The capable rose, while the weak fell.
"I want to see the missions from the past three days."
Su Changqing stepped forward, took out his Deputy Centurion badge, and spoke calmly.
The attendant disciple froze for a moment, then hurriedly rose to his feet. It was his first time seeing a Deputy Centurion without a single person accompanying him.
He took out a booklet from the records at the side and handed it to Su Changqing.
"All missions from the past three days are here."
Su Changqing examined it carefully.
"Patrol Anyang Street. Ten merit points."
"Investigate East Factory's Eighteen Levels of Hell. Three hundred merit points..."
"Pursue and kill the notorious Scarlet Blood Scholar. He is skilled in Yin-Yang Steps, enjoys drinking, and has long stayed at Youlan Pavilion seeking women. He is exceedingly lustful, adept with the flexible sword, and exceptionally fast. One hundred and eighty merit points."
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed slightly before he swiftly decided, "I'll take this mission."
The Imperial Guard excelled at assassination, investigation, and gathering intelligence. Scarlet Blood Scholar had once slaughtered an entire family in a single night before leaving unhurriedly. He was skilled in Yin-Yang Steps and moved like a ghost.
Yet the Imperial Guard had investigated every detail with perfect clarity.
They even knew his exact location. This showed just how terrifying the Imperial Guard was.
"Very well, Centurion Su. I'll register it for you immediately," the attendant disciple said with a nod.
"Wait, I'll take that mission!"
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out. Su Changqing turned to look.
The man appeared to be around twenty years old, tall and imposing, with an extraordinary heroic air. A Spring Embroidered Saber hung at his waist, and several people followed beside him.
Ye Ronghuo, True Qi Second Layer.
The opportunity Su Changqing had seen lay with this man.
"Is this the backlash of an opportunity?"
Su Changqing frowned slightly as he pondered inwardly.
Everyone's Life Script, even a villain's, contained events that were predestined.
But he could inspect Life Scripts, so naturally he could alter them.
And altering them would bring backlash from the other party, causing conflict between them.
He was destined to be a natural-born villain. If he did not seize opportunities, he would die.
"I already took the mission to hunt Scarlet Blood Scholar."
Su Changqing watched him and spoke calmly.
"You offended Chen Mo and Iron Claw Flying Shadow earlier. Do you intend to offend me as well?" Ye Ronghuo sneered coldly at Su Changqing, his eyes bright and sharp.
"Ye Ronghuo is already fairly strong. But he has a younger brother named Ye Tian, the true prodigy of our Imperial Guard!"
An Imperial Guard officer nearby sighed softly.
Ye Tian, an Imperial Guard Centurion at the True Qi Seventh Layer. He was the renowned prodigy of the Imperial Guard, a peerless genius.
"I've already taken this mission, and it has been registered. What exactly do you plan to do?"
Su Changqing had naturally heard this, yet his expression did not change in the slightest as he looked at Ye Ronghuo and asked.
"Those two are nothing. If you offend me, that is truly courting death!"
"Give me this mission, cripple both your arms, and leave the Suppression Bureau. Then you may yet live!"
Ye Ronghuo stared at the mission booklet in Su Changqing's hand, his heart cold and indifferent.
Once a mission had been accepted, no one else could take it unless Su Changqing voluntarily gave it up or failed.
The Shaolin Temple's Muscle Tendon Pill was famed throughout the land. It could transform one's aptitude and had much the same effect as Enlightenment Tea Leaves.
Su Changqing had still been weighing his options, but upon hearing that, he immediately laughed and turned to leave.
"Even if I gave up the mission now and handed it to you, I would have already offended you. Since that's the case, why should I give it to you?"
"What do I have to fear!"
Su Changqing laughed loudly, then abruptly turned and strode out of the hall without sparing Ye Ronghuo another glance.
"That brat deserves to die! He's utterly stubborn." Ye Ronghuo's face instantly turned cold.
He had originally intended to take this mission, but Su Changqing had beaten him to it.
"Old Ye, if you hadn't told him to cripple both his arms, he might actually have given it to you."
An Imperial Guard officer in the distance rose to his feet and chuckled.
"He is merely at the Body Refinement Ninth Layer, alone and without any subordinates. How could he possibly kill Scarlet Blood Scholar?"
"Once he fails the mission and dies, the mission will still be mine!"
Ye Ronghuo's gaze was icy. His hatred for Su Changqing deepened, his killing intent as vast as the sea. He flicked his sleeve and departed.
Every Imperial Guard Centurion had an independent courtyard. Su Changqing was inside his own room.
There was only a table and chair within, with no other furnishings.
He sat cross-legged, silently pondering.
Everyone, even villains, had their own opportunities.
In truth, within that particular opportunity, he was the protagonist, because Heaven had decreed that opportunity to be his.
Yet Su Changqing seized opportunities across the world, making enemies of villains and protagonists alike. In the future, he was destined to become a great villain.
Either he would become unmatched beneath the heavens, or he would die in the streets.
He had sensed this long ago.
Su Changqing's gaze was firm. He cultivated in the courtyard, practiced Tyrant Saber, tempered himself, and trained in three martial arts manuals.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
Beneath a towering banyan tree in the courtyard, its branches lush with leaves, a youth in black stood atop a branch, bending it beneath his weight.
His eyes were slightly closed, his body bent like a drawn bow, Frost Snow Saber in hand.
Suddenly, Su Changqing opened his eyes. All his true qi poured into the blade, which rang sharply.
He slashed downward.
The blade swept through the air, and flakes of frost and snow blossomed.
The power of this strike was terrifying. His saber roared like a fierce tiger, Blade Aura scattering in every direction with a piercing howl through the air.
"The first strike of Tyrant Saber, Death God Slash!"
After sitting in seclusion for three days without leaving even once, he had not only broken through to the first layer of true qi.
Tyrant Saber had also reached its first strike.
Tyrant Saber consisted of three strikes: Death God Slash, Heartless Slash, and God-Slaying Slash!
Only then was this the true might of Tyrant Saber.
After packing his things and preparing to leave, he suddenly remembered something and casually crushed a piece of bluestone pavement.
Eagle Claw Technique was sinister and domineering. Like a millstone, it ground the stone into powder, which he slipped into his pocket.
If one met an enemy one could not defeat, throw lime powder. This was the supreme method.
He was determined to obtain the Muscle Tendon Pill hidden where Scarlet Blood Scholar was staying.
Youlan Pavilion was a place for pleasure-seeking, one of Chang'an City's three great entertainment quarters.
Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were all found there. Nobles, wealthy officials, travelers, and poets all came here.
There were refined courtesans who sold their art but not themselves, skilled in singing and music. There were also daughters of officials and noblewomen forced by circumstance to sell their bodies for a living.
The night was bright and the stars sparse. Along the Chang'an River, ripples shimmered softly beneath dozens of red boats, their red lanterns hanging high and their lights blazing brightly.
Countless people came and went here, seeking a night of spring pleasure.
Su Changqing strode over with a long saber at his waist. He was not wearing a Flying Fish Robe, but rather a white robe, white as snow, elegant and handsome as jade.
"Oh my, where did such a noble young master come from? Hurry inside."
The madam's eyes lit up as she hurriedly pulled Su Changqing indoors.
Young masters this handsome were the most popular. The cold gleam of the Frost Snow Saber at his waist and the costly scabbard made it obvious that this young lad had money.
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