Massive Haul

"Demon Lifespan..."

Shen Lin stood where he was. After murmuring those words, he fell silent for a long while.

So...

This system could not only consume his own lifespan, but also seize the lifespans of demons and devils through Slaying Demons and Exterminating Devils, using them in place of his own lifespan for deduction...

With a bitter smile, Shen Lin shook his head, casting aside his useless regret. Looking at the seventy-two years of Demon Lifespan on the panel, he felt deeply moved.

A lowly demon that had not even opened its meridians could actually live for a hundred and fifty years.

Yet though he was clearly a level stronger than it in combat, his lifespan had not increased in the slightest.

The remaining lifespan field on the panel still read one year.

Moreover, the system prompt just now contained a particularly important piece of information.

Killed Sapient Mantis Demon, not yet in the Innate Realm...

The Innate Realm should be his next realm.

It seemed the Innate Realm might be a dividing line. If he could cultivate to that realm, perhaps his lifespan would increase.

With that thought, Shen Lin willed it, pouring all the Demon Lifespan he had just acquired into cultivating the Blood Battle Saber Technique.

There was no use saving the stuff anyway. It was better to raise his strength as quickly as possible.

In the twentieth year, day after day and year after year, you tirelessly practiced the Blood Battle Saber Technique. Using Blood Qi Power, you slowly struck at your second meridian until you finally opened it completely. The Blood Qi Power in your body doubled out of thin air, and your strength rose once more.

In the twenty-fifth year, you discovered that your cultivation progress had become extremely slow. It seemed that relying solely on the Blood Qi Power within your body to open meridians was not the optimal path for martial cultivation.

You gained a flash of insight. If you had the aid of heavenly and earthly spiritual treasures, precious medicines, and spiritual plants, your cultivation progress might accelerate considerably.

Unfortunately, there were no spiritual treasures at hand. You could only rely on the Blood Qi Power in your body to grind away at it bit by bit.

In the seventieth year, dripping water pierced stone. Through your unrelenting effort, you finally opened your third meridian. Your entire being underwent a rebirth, and your strength could no longer be spoken of in the same breath as before. With a casual punch, you could shatter rock.

In the seventy-second year, your cultivation made no progress at all over two years. No matter how you practiced the Blood Battle Saber Technique, you could not sense the existence of a fourth meridian.

Vaguely, you sensed the shackles of the Blood Battle Saber Technique and decided to improve this cultivation method.

Deduction complete!

Shen Lin slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

Seventy-two years of cultivation experience flowed through his mind. Shen Lin felt that the long saber in his hand now moved like an extension of his arm. He did not even need to deliberately strike; his body's instincts alone could unleash the most powerful slash.

At the same time, he sensed the changes in his body.

Vigorous Blood Qi Power surged through his three meridians. The formidable strength it brought made him feel that, even without his steel saber, he could tear the previous Mantis Demon to pieces with his bare hands.

What he found somewhat regrettable was that the remaining lifespan field on his panel still read one year.

Seventy-two years of Demon Lifespan had not even touched the edge of the Innate Realm.

Thinking of the final line on the panel, Shen Lin's expression grew somewhat grave.

It seemed that the Blood Battle Saber Technique could at most allow him to open three meridians.

Judging by the system's final line, if he wished to keep growing stronger, he would have to spend lifespan on deduction to improve the Blood Battle Saber Technique.

But that would certainly require a vast amount of Demon Lifespan.

Still, it was not as though there were no other ways.

The Blood Battle Saber Technique was an extremely basic martial art, originally taught by the Great Wei Dynasty to frontier soldiers to temper their bodies.

He could simply switch to another cultivation method or martial art. That should allow him to break through the shackles of the Blood Battle Saber Technique and open the fourth meridian, or even further meridians beyond it.

He simply did not know how many meridians he would need to open if he wanted to advance further.

Opening just these three meridians had cost Shen Lin more than a hundred years of lifespan.

His future cultivation would inevitably consume countless years of Demon Lifespan... Wait!

Shen Lin, who had been shaking his head helplessly, suddenly froze as he recalled the insight he had gained during the deduction.

Even with the system's deduction, it had taken him over a hundred years to open three meridians.

Then even if others possessed better aptitude than him, the time they needed probably would not be much less.

After all, during the system's deduction, he had been free of distractions, devoting his entire mind to cultivation.

But in reality, how many people possessed such perseverance?

Therefore, Martial Artists must have some unique tricks to their cultivation.

Otherwise, how could those Martial Artists of legend, who flew through the skies and fled across the earth, split mountains with fist and palm, possibly reach such realms before their lifespans ran out?

After thinking for a while, he suddenly recalled the old man at the County Yamen who had taught them the Blood Battle Saber Technique. Some time ago, the old man had abruptly changed his miserly ways and treated them constables to a round of wine and women.

At the time, someone who liked stirring up trouble had asked what happy occasion it was that had made such an iron rooster pluck its feathers.

The answer was that the prefectural authorities had issued him a Meridian-Opening Pill.

Shen Lin had not paid attention to any of that at the time. He had only been busy engaging in deep exchanges with the young ladies.

Now that he thought about it, that so-called Meridian-Opening Pill might be a cultivation resource.

And such a cultivation resource was surely difficult to obtain and extremely valuable...

With that in mind, he stopped standing there foolishly and began searching through the room.

Whether it was martial arts more advanced than the Blood Battle Saber Technique or cultivation resources such as Meridian-Opening Pills, both were extraordinarily precious and would certainly require a great deal of money.

And right now, he had an opportunity.

The Mantis Demon had killed many people, so it must have acquired plenty of spoils.

The constables of Qiulin County all knew how terrifying demons and devils were, yet their desire for Slaying Demons and Exterminating Devils had not diminished in the slightest.

That was because after killing demons and devils, they could take the corpses to the Demon Suppression Division in the prefectural authorities and exchange them for many benefits.

At the same time, the private hoard of demons and devils was also a windfall.

Sometimes, it might not even be worth less than the rewards from the Demon Suppression Division.

Sure enough, after searching for a while, Shen Lin found a wooden chest beneath the bed.

Once he opened it, the gleaming light made the corners of Shen Lin's mouth nearly split open in a grin.

Ten silver ingots lay inside, stacked in neat rows.

Five hundred taels of silver!

Qiulin County's chief official, Lin Youwei, a court-appointed county magistrate of Principal Seventh Rank, earned only three or four hundred taels of silver in salary over an entire year.

These days, five hundred taels of silver could even buy two residences in the county seat.

And that was not all. In one corner beside the silver ingots lay seven or eight pieces of jewelry.

Jade bangles, gold and silver hairpins, pearl necklaces...

Shen Lin did not know the prices of these items, but they were surely worth no less than the silver ingots beside them.

"We've struck it rich..."

Shen Lin rubbed his hands together. Looking at the inconveniently heavy wooden chest, he decided to find a cloth sack and transfer the valuables.

The instant that thought surfaced, he paused, as though he had remembered something, and turned toward the burlap sack the Mantis Demon had carried in.

He got up and walked to the sack. With a light turn of the steel saber in his hand, he cut it open.

After lifting the sack open, Shen Lin confirmed his suspicion.

"Kong Yu! Wake up!"

After Shen Lin patted him for a while, Kong Yu's brows twitched slightly on his pale face, and he slowly opened his eyes.

For this case, Shen Lin and the others had come in a group of seven.

Their squad leader, Sun Zhi, had separated from them midway, saying he had discovered new clues and that they should split up.

Of the rest, only Shen Lin and this fellow had survived.

The reason was simple.

Old Shen here was a famously handsome young man throughout the surrounding villages, and Kong Yu was not bad either.

Relying on that face of his, Kong Yu had married into one of Qiulin County's leading wealthy households and landed a cushy post as a yamen runner.

The first thing he did upon waking was search for the Mantis Demon.

Only when he saw the wreckage scattered across the floor did he let out a long breath.

He looked at Shen Lin with a complicated expression and said, "Brother Shen, impressive methods..."

Originally, he had thought that after Shen Lin had been tormented to death by the demon, it would be his turn next. He had been overcome with grief.

But judging from the final exchange he had heard before passing out—the flirtatious sounds between Shen Lin and that demon...

It was hard to say who had tormented whom.