This discovery was like a miraculous elixir, causing the fear Xia Qi'an had felt toward demons and other strange entities to melt away like snow and ice.
He even felt a faint sense of impatience, like a hungry wolf spotting its prey.
In his eyes, the three remaining hanging ghosts were no longer terrifying monsters, but three masses of pure qi and blood, glowing brightly.
"Hahaha! Where else can you hide? Hehehe... I want you to help me cultivate!"
Xia Qi'an had completely abandoned his initial caution. He let out excited, strange cries that echoed through the residence.
Then, like a gust of wind, he chased the hanging ghosts as they darted around the house, as if playing an exhilarating game of pursuit with them.
For a time, the whole residence was in uproar, with "chickens flying and dogs leaping," and the scene was absurdly comical.
The hanging ghosts had no way to escape the residence. In the end, Xia Qi'an found every one of them and dispersed their souls with a single punch each.
After absorbing the Turbid Qi, Xia Qi'an's qi-and-blood value rose considerably again.
This single mission had yielded as much qi and blood as completing three blood exchanges.
In the Blood Refining Realm, the more blood exchanges one completed, the more stable one's martial foundation became.
He had heard that martial artists in the Blood Refining Realm could exchange their blood at most nine times, but he had never heard of many people actually achieving it.
Still, Xia Qi'an felt that he could challenge that record.
What could he do? He was a man with a cheat!
After completing the mission, Xia Qi'an left with an expression of lingering dissatisfaction.
Not long after he departed, a Way Dao Bureau Snake Guard emerged like a ghost from the darkness in a corner.
Just like Liu Qing, who had assigned him his previous mission, this Snake Guard wore the same style of mask. The only difference was that this mask bore a crying expression, making it even more sinister.
The crying-faced Snake Guard swiftly took out paper and brush and finished writing his evaluation of Xia Qi'an's mission in a single flourish.
Born with heterochromia; suspected of possessing a special innate talent!
Brave and combative, born with divine strength!
Slow-witted; suspected to be a reckless brawler.
Overall evaluation: Upper Grade B. A promising candidate.
After returning to Jinling City, Xia Qi'an hurried straight to the Way Dao Bureau and returned the mission token.
He then went directly home and waited quietly for news.
The people of the Way Dao Bureau had always been elusive and mysterious. Unless they revealed themselves of their own accord, Xia Qi'an found it difficult to track them down.
Still, he firmly believed that the Way Dao Bureau would send someone soon.
That was because, during the mission, he had keenly sensed a Snake Guard following him like his shadow and observing him from the darkness.
Thus, he concluded that the Way Dao Bureau must already have received the news.
Sure enough, half an hour later,
a masked Snake Guard arrived at Xia Qi'an's home.
"Your assessment was successful! Pack your things and come with me immediately! Don't ask too many questions..."
The Snake Guard stated his purpose bluntly.
"I still have a five-year-old younger sister at home... Could you let me arrange things for her first?"
Xia Qi'an did not know how long he would be gone, and he was somewhat worried about the young Xiao Cao.
"There is no need to worry... The Way Dao Bureau will send someone to look after her. Our bureau has always treated the families of its members well!"
Clearly, this Snake Guard already regarded Xia Qi'an as a colleague.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Xia Qi'an was completely reassured.
Afterward, he repeatedly instructed Xiao Cao to stay obediently at home and wait for him to return.
He told Xiao Cao that, during this period, people from the Way Dao Bureau would deliver food and daily necessities.
Fortunately, Xiao Cao had always been well-behaved and obedient, and Xia Qi'an knew she certainly would not run off.
Besides, with people from the Way Dao Bureau looking after her, there should be no need to worry about Xiao Cao's safety.
After saying goodbye to Xiao Cao, Xia Qi'an boarded an accompanying carriage with the Snake Guard who had come for him.
The carriage traveled onward, finally reaching its destination half a day later.
According to the accompanying Snake Guard, the purpose of Xia Qi'an's journey was to attend the training camp for newly recruited members of the Way Dao Bureau.
As a tightly organized and massive martial artist organization, the Way Dao Bureau imposed strict requirements on new recruits. They had to undergo systematic training before they could officially become members of the Way Dao Bureau.
The purpose of the training was not only to teach systematic martial cultivation knowledge, but also to cover this world's history, the customs and cultures of various nations, and knowledge related to all kinds of demons and other strange entities.
The training camp was located in an unnamed deep valley.
In the open ground of the valley stood several simple tents.
Clearly, Xia Qi'an was not the only person attending the training camp.
Along the way, he had made a rough estimate. More than ninety people were attending the new-recruit training camp, and these tents served as their temporary residences.
Under the Snake Guard's guidance, Xia Qi'an first went to the affairs officer and collected the black wooden plaque assigned to him. The number "ninety-three" was carved into it, marking his identification number in the training camp.
He was then assigned to a tent at the very edge of the valley.
According to the rules, six people shared a single tent. Since there were ninety-three people in this training camp, the tent assigned to Xia Qi'an housed only three people, including himself.
Seeing a newcomer arrive, a slender man with an extraordinary bearing and a high ponytail clasped his hands and said, "I am Wang Xie of the Jinling Wang Clan. May I ask where you are from, brother?"
Xia Qi'an had never heard of the Jinling Wang Clan, but after a brief thought, he realized it must be some prominent aristocratic clan.
He returned the salute and said, "Jinling, Lishan County—Xia Qi'an. Greetings, Brother Wang!"
"Lishan County? The Lishan County that was struck by the floods? I thought you were some young master from a prestigious family... So you're just the son of a refugee!"
After hearing Xia Qi'an introduce himself, another young man in the tent, with a slightly portly build, cut in. His tone was filled with disdain for Xia Qi'an's origins.
Xia Qi'an ignored him and merely smiled.
Seeing that the atmosphere was turning awkward, Wang Xie hurriedly smoothed things over. "This is Yang Wei of the Longyuan Yang Clan."
He then turned to Yang Wei and said, "Brother Yang... We'll be colleagues from now on, and we may even have to help each other... Don't let this damage our harmony!"
But Yang Wei's tone remained cutting. "If I, Yang Wei, ever fall so low that I need help from a refugee, I might as well die!"
"Brother Yang, watch your words!..." Wang Xie had wanted to dissuade him, but he did not know how.
"Hey... fatty... Are you deliberately picking a fight?"
Xia Qi'an was not without a temper either, and his tone turned cold.
"I am!..."
"What did you call me?... Brat! Are you looking to die?"
Yang Wei hated being called fatty more than anything.
Those words were like a spark dropped into a powder keg, and he instantly flew into a rage.
If another scion of an aristocratic clan had called him that, he might have let it go.
But Xia Qi'an was merely a refugee, yet he had dared to call him fatty. How could Yang Wei not be furious?
"Brat... I advise you to kneel and apologize at once. Otherwise, I'll cripple you today!"
Yang Wei had been lounging leisurely on his bedroll, but now he sprang to his feet.
His face had flushed red with anger, and he glared viciously at Xia Qi'an.
"In your dreams! You were the one who provoked me first, and you still want me to kneel and apologize? Is your brain broken?"
Xia Qi'an remained unmoved, his face filled with disdain.
"You... you..."
"You filthy commoner... I'll cripple you today..."
With that, Yang Wei lunged straight at Xia Qi'an like a tiger pouncing on its prey.
It was obvious that Yang Wei had truly been driven into a rage.
Otherwise, he would not have charged at Xia Qi'an in such a street-brawl fashion, completely forgetting even the stance of a martial artist.
Seeing this, Xia Qi'an instantly became furious as well. He shouted, "You dead fatty! You want to fight, is that it? Fine... I've never been afraid of anyone in a brawl!"
He yanked the bundle from his shoulder and hurled it heavily to the ground.
Then he lowered his head and slammed it into the charging Yang Wei.
Xia Qi'an had followed the old blacksmith and worked the forge since childhood, so he had a fair amount of strength.
Moreover, he had been ostracized in the village from a young age, and brawling had long been an everyday occurrence for him.
After only two or three exchanges, Yang Wei had already taken several solid punches to the face, leaving his left cheek swollen like a pig's head.
Then Xia Qi'an flipped his portly body onto the ground and pinned him down firmly.
Xia Qi'an was swift and ferocious, with the strength of an ox. When it came to fighting, how could a pampered scion of an aristocratic clan like Yang Wei possibly be his match?
"It hurts... It hurts..."
"I give in... I give in..."
"I take back... I take back what I said..."
Yang Wei's fat face was pressed firmly into the ground, nearly squashed out of shape. With a mouthful of dust, he mumbled his plea for mercy.
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