Golden Finger

As evening descended, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a faint golden hue over everything in the courtyard.

Xia Qi'an and Xiao Cao sat before a stone table, enjoying a peaceful dinner.

On the table lay a plate of pickles, three steamed buns, and two bowls of thin rice porridge – simple and unpretentious.

This month, Xia Qi'an had needed a large intake of meat to train his martial arts, and his expenses had been like flowing water.

The fifty taels of silver he'd originally had was now almost gone.

Once his joining the Wei Dao Si was confirmed, he absolutely had to find a way to earn some money.

Otherwise, in a few more days, his household would be unable to put food on the table.

"Rustle, rustle."

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the elm tree beside the courtyard.

Xia Qi'an looked up and saw a slender woman with short hair standing on a branch, observing him.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a peculiar smiling face mask that obscured her features.

"Little brother... I was wondering when you'd notice me!"

Seeing that Xia Qi'an hadn't spotted her, the woman couldn't wait any longer and deliberately made a sound.

"Uh... Esteemed sister... are you a Snake Guard from the Wei Dao Si?"

Xia Qi'an had actually seen her long ago.

With his Crimson Pupils active, the Bloodline Power of martial artists appeared like a large furnace in his eyes.

It was hard for him not to notice.

But Xia Qi'an didn't want to expose his special abilities for the moment, so he simply pretended not to see her.

"Sister, have you had dinner yet? Would you like to come down and join us?"

The woman gently shook her head and said with a soft smile, "No... no... the food at your place is too poor, I couldn't possibly eat it!"

"Hehe!"

Xia Qi'an chuckled awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

"I've been sent by Lord Chu to assess you!"

The woman's tone shifted, cutting straight to the chase.

In response, Xia Qi'an directly asked, "If I want to officially join the Wei Dao Si, what procedures do I need to go through?"

"You are currently considered a probationary member of the Wei Dao Si. To become a formal member, you must pass an internal assessment and selection!"

"However, before that, I need to introduce you to the organizational structure of the Wei Dao Si!"

"The Wei Dao Si is internally divided into four divisions: Kirin, Tiger, Hound, and Snake."

"New recruits are typically assigned to the Hound Guard or Snake Guard based on their cultivation, special skills, etc."

"The duties of the Hound Guard are quite similar to those of constables in secular dynasties; they are public law enforcement officers who require considerable martial prowess."

As for the Snake Guard, they are skilled in various unconventional arts. Talents in hidden weapons, poisons, medicine, gu arts, and business are generally assigned to the Snake Guard. They are mostly responsible for intelligence gathering.

"Therefore, the Hound Guard and Snake Guard are also the largest departments within the Wei Dao Si."

"The Tiger Guard are personnel dedicated to combat, specializing in dealing with powerful demons."

"However, the Tiger Guard are also selected from the Hound and Snake Guards. They have the authority to dispatch members of the Hound and Snake Guards."

"The Kirin Guard oversees an entire province, encompassing all Wei Dao Si members, including the Tiger, Hound, and Snake Guards."

"They are the highest authority within the Wei Dao Si of that province."

Seeing Xia Qi'an listening intently, the woman asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

"Are there martial arts techniques and resources provided?"

Xia Qi'an was only concerned about these matters at the moment.

The woman was not surprised by this, as most martial artists joined the Wei Dao Si for these very reasons. She replied, "Naturally! You only need to complete missions issued by the Wei Dao Si to earn contribution points, which can then be exchanged for techniques and cultivation resources."

"Understood."

Xia Qi'an nodded in agreement.

"Any other questions?" the woman continued.

"When will my assessment begin? What will it entail?"

"This assessment is also your first official mission! Upon completion, you will also receive corresponding merit points as a reward!"

"Ten miles south of the city, there is a haunted house. Investigations have revealed that four Fierce Ghosts are lurking within. You must go and eliminate them." With that, the woman handed Xia Qi'an a scroll and a mission token.

The scroll contained detailed information about the haunted house and the origins of the Fierce Ghosts.

"After completing the mission! Report to the Wei Dao Si branch and give my name, and I will personally verify it! My name is Liu Qing!"

"Becoming a member of the Wei Dao Si is hardly a good job! Facing missions with a nine-in-ten chance of death is commonplace! You'd best take care of yourself..."

With that, Liu Qing retreated, as if merging into the darkness, and disappeared.

It should have left by now.

The next day at noon, the sun was shining brightly.

Xia Qi'an quickly finished his lunch and then rushed to the haunted house in the south of the city without delay. To be safe, he specifically chose noon, when the yang energy was at its peak.

After all, he had no experience dealing with oddities and was truly unsure of himself.

Therefore, he had spent the night preparing items like dog's blood, virgin boy's urine, donkey hooves, and glutinous rice, just to ease his mind.

However, when Xia Qi'an saw the dilapidated haunted house, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

In his eyes, black mist was constantly emanating from the house, its aura of overwhelming resentment seeming as though it would rip the roof off.

This scene intensified the unease in his heart.

According to the mission scroll, this house was originally the summer villa of a wealthy man surnamed Wang.

A few years ago, his entire family of four had inexplicably hanged themselves overnight.

And a few days prior, two habitual thieves had mistakenly broken in. One was had his insides hollowed out by a fierce ghost, while the other's intestines spilled out onto the ground. He had only been discovered after struggling to escape the estate.

This led to Xia Qi'an's current assessment mission.

Xia Qi'an took a few deep breaths and swaggered into the house.

With the enhancement of his Crimson Pupils, he had already figured out the situation within the house.

He could even clearly see the four lone spirits drifting on the roof beams through the building.

The world in his eyes was like having an x-ray vision when playing games in his previous life – everything was under his control.

It was precisely because of this that he had the confidence to enter the house so brazenly.

Upon reaching the entrance to the inner courtyard, Xia Qi'an forcefully pushed open the large door. With a bucket of dog's blood in his left hand and a gourd ladle in his right, he splashed it out like raindrops in the four cardinal directions.

"Ah!"

In an instant, the previously silent house erupted with ghostly wails, followed by several piercing screams.

Xia Qi'an clearly saw the dog's blood burning the fierce ghosts it touched, causing black smoke to sizzle from their bodies.

The methods fierce ghosts used to harm people were nothing more than first terrifying them until their minds were exhausted, then exploiting their weakness to take their lives.

However, these methods were useless against Xia Qi'an. Since he could see them from the start, he naturally wouldn't be scared.

Still, although dog's blood had a restraining effect on fierce ghosts, it couldn't kill them.

Therefore, Xia Qi'an needed to find another way.

Fortunately, Xia Qi'an was well-prepared, and the remaining virgin boy's urine and glutinous rice also came in handy.

In this way, weakening the strength of these four fierce ghosts first was always a good thing.

Martial artists primarily relied on their own Bloodline Power to fight against oddities.

Demons and oddities were all born from Turbid Qi.

They could only be annihilated by martial artists dispelling the Turbid Qi with their own Bloodline Power.

Seeing that the time was right, Xia Qi'an immediately activated his own Bloodline Power.

He swung his fists, which glowed with a faint golden light, and attacked the fierce ghost that had been forced into a corner by the virgin boy's urine like a sudden storm.

With a "poof" sound, his fist landed squarely on the ghost's face.

With just one punch, the hanged ghost, which looked elderly, was dispersed and vanished into a mass of Turbid Qi.

However, this mass of Turbid Qi did not disappear. Instead, it was drawn to Xia Qi'an's eyes and, like a great whale absorbing water, was sucked into his pupils.

This sudden change greatly surprised Xia Qi'an.

His own eyes could actually absorb Turbid Qi. He wondered if it was a blessing or a curse!

But the facts proved his worries were unnecessary.

After absorbing the Turbid Qi, the Crimson Pupils converted the foul energy into pure Bloodline Power.

In the blink of an eye, his blood energy surged like a raging tide, growing at an astonishing rate. This increase was equivalent to at least several months of arduous cultivation.

Such a heaven-defying ability made Xia Qi'an ecstatic.

Could it be that as long as he continuously killed demons and absorbed Turbid Qi, he could rapidly improve his martial arts realm?