Ranked Martial Arts

"What kind of idiot is this, treating our County Yamen like his own home?"

"Hey, that's Cheng Shanhe, a retainer for the Li Family. He's always been clueless, his brain turned to muscle from practicing martial arts."

Inside the prison, Shen Lin and Hu Dongxing seemed to be whispering, but their voices were so loud they could be heard outside the cells.

Not far away, Cheng Shanhe stood leaning against the wall, veins bulging on his forehead. But in the end, he just snorted and managed to suppress his anger.

Seeing this, Hu Dongxing shook his head with a hint of regret.

He had hoped that a few provocations would make the guy lose control and cause trouble.

That way, he could officially kick him out.

Sighing, County Lieutenant Hu turned to Shen Lin and asked, "Why are you at the County Yamen in the middle of the night?"

"Ah, my cat at home is too clingy, so I came out for some fresh air. As I was walking, I ran into that guy's disciple. He actually drew his sword on me inside the County Yamen..."

Seeing Shen Lin's indignant look, anyone would think he had suffered a great injustice.

Hu Dongxing said speechlessly, "You... but I've disliked that guy for a long time. You did well this time, I'm very satisfied."

Shen Lin grinned, then asked with some confusion, "County Lieutenant Hu, what's going on? That guy has another Meridian Opening Realm expert with him, and they aren't even from our County Yamen, are they?"

At the mention of this, Hu Dongxing's face fell slightly. He said in a low voice, "After the incident where the Demonic Cultivator was silenced last time, the County Magistrate was very displeased with me. This time, we caught an important figure, and he didn't trust me to guard him, so he invited retainers from the Li Family and the Zhang Family to help secure the prison."

"Who's this important figure?"

Shen Lin asked, feigning curiosity.

Hu Dongxing pointed towards the depths of the prison and sighed with emotion.

"That flying thief who caused quite a stir!"

Shen Lin turned to look, and saw the person tied to the wooden frame had disheveled hair and his head was bowed, so his face was unclear. He couldn't help but ask, "This flying thief... is he an outsider?"

Hu Dongxing's expression was strange as he whispered, "An insider!"

At this moment, the person in the prison seemed to wake up and slowly raised his head, allowing Shen Lin to see his face clearly.

Shen Lin was stunned.

"Inspector Cheng???"

Although he had accepted Purple Crystal's commission to investigate, Purple Crystal hadn't actually told him the identity of the captured person.

His so-called subordinate was actually Qiulin County's Inspector, Cheng Yi, who was in the Meridian Opening Realm.

Cheng Yi was in charge of the Patrol Inspection Division. Not only was his cultivation at the Meridian Opening Realm, but his status was also not much different from Hu Dongxing's.

Someone like this... was the flying thief???

No wonder Hu Dongxing's expression had been so complicated earlier.

"Can you confirm it?"

Shen Lin asked quietly.

Hu Dongxing also lowered his voice, "Caught red-handed!"

"Sigh!"

Shen Lin sighed, then changed the subject, starting to speak up for Hu Dongxing.

"The County Magistrate is also... no matter what, they aren't our own people, are they? Our prison, what business do they have here?"

Hu Dongxing's face was bitter and helpless. "It's nothing, really. After all, I didn't handle things well before, letting that Demonic Cultivator be silenced right before my eyes."

"Even so, you shouldn't let these outsiders stay in our prison. If anything were to happen, can that guy's brain be relied upon? They even share the same surname, who knows if they have some hidden family relationship..."

"Shen! I've tolerated you for a long time!!!"

Cheng Shanhe finally couldn't stand it anymore and roared, about to make a move.

In the end, it was another Meridian Opening Realm retainer who persuaded him and led him away.

Shen Lin pouted and said to Hu Dongxing, "Just thinking about having to see his face every day in the County Yamen makes me sick."

Hu Dongxing shook his head. "It won't come to that! Cheng Yi will be executed tomorrow."

Shen Lin narrowed his eyes and pretended to be surprised. "So soon?"

"The wealthy households that were robbed are pushing for it, and the County Magistrate doesn't dare to delay. They interrogated him all day today but didn't get any useful information, so they've decided to execute him tomorrow."

"Didn't get any information?" Shen Lin asked curiously. "Are there no others behind him?"

Hu Dongxing shook his head helplessly. "Cheng Yi is a tough man! We used all our methods, and he didn't even groan once."

He sighed, then changed the subject. "The County Magistrate is also afraid that there are people behind him, so executing him early is actually a way to see if his associates will reveal themselves."

Shen Lin chuckled. "The execution ground tomorrow must be heavily guarded."

"Naturally!"

After chatting for a while longer, Shen Lin yawned and said goodbye to Hu Dongxing before leaving.

Before leaving the County Yamen, he casually inquired about his surroundings and noticed that the candlelight in several houses around the County Yamen had not yet been extinguished.

Not only the execution ground tomorrow, but the County Yamen's prison today was also under strict guard.

Creak~

Seeing Shen Lin push the door open, Zi Jing immediately went to greet him, asking anxiously, "How is it? Is the person still alive?"

Shen Lin nodded, but didn't speak. Instead, he stared directly at Zi Jing.

Zi Jing was stunned at first, then as if she'd thought of something, she gritted her teeth and said, "The Meridian-Opening Pill, I desperately need it, so I can't give it to you. But after this is done, I can give you a martial art."

As if afraid Shen Lin wouldn't agree, she quickly added, "It's not just any martial art, it's a Profound-grade High-rank Martial Art."

"Profound-grade High-rank?"

Shen Lin was a bit confused. Martial arts had different grades?

Understanding Shen Lin's doubt, Zi Jing continued to explain, "Once you reach the Innate Realm and successfully absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, you'll find that the martial arts powered by vital energy are no longer strong enough. Martial arts that rely on the spiritual energy within the Innate Realm are called Ranked Martial Arts. Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow – Heaven-grade is the highest, Yellow-grade is the lowest!"

Shen Lin hadn't really known this before, but after Zi Jing's explanation, it seemed that martial arts were better than the Meridian-Opening Pill.

After all, he possessed over seven hundred years of demon lifespan. Even without the Meridian-Opening Pill, he should be able to break through the remaining two meridians.

However, he currently had no way to obtain these so-called Ranked Martial Arts.

Thinking of this, he slowly nodded, agreeing to Zi Jing's terms, and then said, "Get ready, we'll depart in a while!"

"We're acting tonight?"

Zi Jing was a little confused.

This was too sudden. She hadn't had time to arrange many things.

"Acting tomorrow night is also fine, and it will be simpler, provided you know the art of resurrection."

Zi Jing's pupils contracted, and she asked in surprise, "They're executing tomorrow?"

Seeing Shen Lin nod, she immediately understood his idea.

Although acting tonight was a bit rushed, it was simpler than attempting a rescue in broad daylight tomorrow.

Looking at the sky, Shen Lin said, "You should have other people. Go out immediately and have them cause some commotion in the city in an hour to draw away some of the County Yamen's personnel. Hurry up, we'll meet at the County Yamen in half an hour."

Seeing Zi Jing nod and leave, he got up and walked towards the study.

He also needed to make some preparations.