Receiving Merit Arts, Visiting the Brothel

Chapter 5: Receiving a Martial Art, Heading to the Brothel

After receiving his reward money, Bai Yan headed to the Scripture Pavilion.

The Scripture Pavilion, also known as the Secret Armory, was located in the central area of the Northern Commandery Investigation Bureau, a nine-story structure.

Within its walls were countless treasures, including but not limited to martial arts manuals, divine weapons, and elixirs.

Using these stolen martial arts manuals, the Great Yu Dynasty had extensively trained the court's enforcers to dominate the martial world.

Among these organizations, the Imperial Guard, Six Doors, and Eastern Depot were the three most powerful.

Some of the experts within these agencies were terrifying enough to make renowned martial artists flee at the mere mention of their names, and even grandmaster-level ancestors dared not provoke them.

Bai Yan arrived at the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion and saw only four Imperial Guard squads patrolling outside, totaling no more than a hundred men.

However, Bai Yan knew these were merely the visible guards; the hidden security forces were likely ten times more numerous.

Over the years, many martial arts experts had attempted to steal divine martial arts manuals from the Scripture Pavilion.

But every single one of them had died within its walls, with no one ever managing to escape alive.

If one truly wished to learn the martial arts housed within, the only ways were to sell oneself into service with the Imperial Guard or to harden one's heart and castrate oneself to join the Eastern Depot.

The Eastern Depot also possessed its own secret armory, containing divine martial arts manuals comparable to those of the Imperial Guard, and even some unique techniques only the Eastern Depot could teach.

Bai Yan approached the main entrance of the Scripture Pavilion, where two Imperial Guard soldiers immediately stopped him.

"This is a restricted area. Unauthorized entry is forbidden."

Bai Yan presented his Brigade Leader token:

"Newly appointed Brigade Leader Bai Yan, ordered by Battalion Commander Zheng Haihan to collect a Rank 3 martial art. Please grant me passage."

The two Imperial Guard soldiers glanced at the token, confirmed its authenticity, then clasped their fists in salute and said respectfully:

"You may enter, sir."

One of them added a reminder:

"Rank 3 martial arts are on the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion. Please remember not to wander into floors above the third."

"Thank you."

Bai Yan nodded slightly and stepped into the Scripture Pavilion.

Inside, rows of circular bookshelves met his gaze, laden with innumerable tomes.

Martial arts manuals were divided into nine ranks, with Rank 1 being the lowest and Rank 9 the highest. Martial arts above Rank 9 were known as Heavenly Walking Martial Arts, which were exceedingly rare.

This was the first floor, housing only introductory martial arts for beginners or Rank 1 techniques—commonplace stuff.

Only newcomers to the Imperial Guard or Enforcers who had never practiced martial arts would be interested in these.

The first and second floors were unguarded. Bai Yan only found a guarding elder on the third floor.

The elder appeared to be a scruffy man in his sixties or seventies, clad in ragged hemp clothing, disheveled, and holding a gourd. He was drunk, his cheeks and nose flushed red, and he lay on a bench, snoring loudly.

On the table before him were catalogs of martial arts, but they were arranged haphazardly, suggesting they hadn't been organized in many years.

Hearing Bai Yan's footsteps, the guarding elder slightly opened his eyes.

He cast a hazy glance, then closed his eyes again, leaving behind a sentence:

"The catalog is on the table. Find the manual you want yourself; they all have descriptions. Once you've chosen... tell me... hic~~"

A drunken hiccup filled the air with the stench of alcohol, making Bai Yan frown slightly.

Honestly, while Bai Yan knew the guarding elder was not weak, his current state was truly unappealing to Bai Yan; he was too slovenly.

Shaking his head, Bai Yan picked up a catalog from the table and casually flipped through a few pages.

Sword techniques, saber techniques, palm techniques, finger techniques, internal energy, hidden weapons...

All sorts of martial arts, diverse and comprehensive.

The sheer quantity was immense; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say there were at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand.

Although Rank 3 martial arts weren't legendary divine arts, the fact that so many had been collected demonstrated the formidable strength of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Bai Yan possessed a system, so he wasn't particularly interested in the martial arts manuals in the Scripture Pavilion.

After a brief look, he casually selected a martial art called Three Gang Saber Art to complement his Spring Embroidered Saber.

He was still using the Eight Gates Golden Lock Saber his father had taught him, which was a common Rank 2 martial art in the martial world and focused primarily on defense.

The Three Gang Saber Art was superior to the Eight Gates Golden Lock Saber.

It consisted of only three moves.

Heavenly Gang, Earthly Gang, and Coiling Dragon.

The first two moves were explosive, with powerful and fierce saber strikes, emphasizing overwhelming force.

The final move, however, emphasized speed, following a nimble path, completely different from the first two moves.

Bai Yan possessed the thirteen layers of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art, imbuing each move with unparalleled divine strength. Combined with his max-level Lightning-Fast Movement Steps, his speed was incredibly swift.

Although the Three Gang Saber Art was of a lower rank, it was relatively suitable for him.

This short period was enough for a transition. In the future, the system would reward him with high-level saber techniques and divine arts. If that didn't work out, he could always use the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

He went to the bookshelf, found the original manual for the Three Gang Saber Art, copied it, and then had the old man guarding the pavilion register it.

"You know the rules, right?"

"The manual can only be cultivated by yourself and cannot be taught to others. Violators will be imprisoned for minor offenses and have their martial arts crippled for severe ones."

The old man guarding the pavilion said sleepily without looking up.

"I know."

"Let me remind you again, don't underestimate the Three Gang Saber Art just because it's not a high-grade technique. Its style is proper and it complements this cultivation art well. It's easy to learn but difficult to master, especially the last move, 'Coiling Dragon.' When you draw your saber, it's accompanied by a dragon's roar, swift as a silken banner. To achieve..."

The old man chattered on, but Bai Yan had already turned and was heading downstairs.

He happened to hear the old man mention the dragon's roar and felt a bit curious.

Bai Yan knew of techniques that produced a dragon's roar; the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms he possessed had such a divine quality.

But the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms was an ultimate martial art, while the Three Gang Saber Art was merely a third-grade technique. Did this third-grade technique have some other special characteristic?

Bai Yan drew his saber at his waist half an inch and simultaneously tried to channel his true essence to activate the Three Gang Saber Art.

The next moment.

"ROOOOAR—!"

Indeed, there was a dragon's roar!

Bai Yan quickly sheathed his saber. He only tested it briefly; if he had truly drawn his saber here, the situation would have changed.

The dragon's roar was very brief, almost instantaneous, but it didn't escape the ears of the elder guarding the pavilion.

He suddenly opened his eyes, the drowsiness completely gone. He looked in the direction Bai Yan had gone downstairs and muttered to himself:

"This kid has already reached minor accomplishment just by reading the manual once..."

"Strange, truly strange."

As soon as Bai Yan exited the Scripture Pavilion.

He ran into Ren Hong and Li Kaiyao, who were walking towards him.

Upon seeing Bai Yan, the two immediately bowed: "Greetings, sir."

Bai Yan smiled and asked, "Did you receive your reward money?"

The two smiled and scratched their heads, "We did, and we thank you for your care, sir."

"Oh, right. We'd like to invite you to Qionghua Pavilion for a gathering. We hope you'll accept."

Ren Hong and Li Kaiyao had completely pledged their allegiance to Bai Yan, so they wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen their relationship with him.

Bai Yan smiled and said, "I'll treat you. Let's not go to Qionghua Pavilion. Let's go directly to Baiwei Tower. I'll host tonight."

"It's not just you two. Brigade Leader Zhao and Brigade Leader Song will also be there. We'll have a lively gathering together."