"Little brother, hold out your hand," Shangguan Qingxue suddenly said to Lu Siye.
"What are you going to do?" Lu Siye asked warily.
"Don't worry, little brother. I mean you no harm. I just want to test your aptitude," Shangguan Qingxue explained with a smile.
She was curious because Lu Siye had been immune to her bewitchment earlier.
Although she had only used a fraction of her strength when casting the spell, it still wasn't something an ordinary person could resist. Only someone with a powerful soul could avoid being affected by her bewitchment.
Yet ever since she'd arrived, she hadn't sensed any trace of cultivation in Lu Siye.
That meant his soul was naturally powerful. And generally speaking, the stronger someone's soul was from birth, the greater their talent for cultivation.
So her actions were simply a result of her desire to nurture a promising talent.
Lu Siye didn't know what the beautiful woman in front of him was thinking.
But he knew that if she wanted to harm him, she could do so without him ever noticing. She wouldn't need to go about it like this.
Once he was sure she meant him no harm, Lu Siye cooperatively held out his hand.
Shangguan Qingxue took his hand and pulled a palm-sized Bagua Mirror from somewhere, placing it in his palm.
"Close your eyes and relax your mind." Shangguan Qingxue channeled the True Qi within her body into the Bagua Mirror in his hand and spoke softly.
The Bagua Mirror in Lu Siye's hand began to glow faintly. After a dozen or so seconds, the Li Trigram lit up with a faint red glow, followed by a faint golden glow from the Qian Trigram. Both dimmed again in less than ten seconds.
A trace of surprise showed in Shangguan Qingxue's eyes. She'd tested people's aptitude for years, and had never met anyone with such poor talent.
Lu Siye felt the Bagua Mirror being taken from his hand and quickly opened his eyes. "How's my aptitude?"
"Little brother, I think martial arts would suit you better," Shangguan Qingxue said tactfully.
At eight in the morning, Lu Siye stood dazed outside the Public Security Bureau, a cup of soy milk and some fried dough sticks in his hands.
After a night of fantastical events, his head was still spinning.
First, the tower-like captain of the Metal Unit, Meng Jianmin, had told him he had no talent for cultivation. Then Meng Jianmin had tested his physique and told him he was a once-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy.
Then he'd explained all the benefits of joining the Town Demon Suppression Division: a monthly base salary of 100,000 with no strings attached, the most generous home-buying benefits, and cultivation manuals provided by the division.
All the jargon had left Lu Siye reeling.
After thinking it over, he decided that although he had a system, he needed to torment ghosts to earn Fear Points. Joining the Town Demon Suppression Division should make it easier to get information about ghosts.
That way, he wouldn't have to spend every day analyzing murder cases and trying to figure out whether ghosts were behind them.
So after considering it, Lu Siye agreed to join the Town Demon Suppression Division.
The other man then installed the Town Watch APP on his phone, making him a probationary member of the division on the spot.
Then he handed him a thin copy of the Body Tempering Art, saying it was an introductory manual for martial arts and telling him to practice diligently.
He also gave him a bonus of 7,000 yuan, saying it was a reward for killing the Takeout Ghost the previous night.
The idea that killing ghosts could earn him money made Lu Siye's eyes light up. He'd been fretting over not having a job or any income.
He'd just discovered a new path to wealth.
After that, Lu Siye spent the night at the Police Station.
In the morning, the enthusiastic officers stuffed a cup of soy milk and several fried dough sticks into his hands, then enthusiastically ushered him out.
After finishing his breakfast, Lu Siye unlocked a shared bike by the roadside and headed toward Tongjiang Residential Complex.
As he neared the complex, Lu Siye passed a roadside stall selling pirated martial arts novels. On a whim, he stopped.
Looking at the dozen or so pirated novels laid out on a woven plastic sack, he suddenly thought of his system.
"System, can you strengthen a martial arts manual from a wuxia novel?" Lu Siye asked silently.
"Yes! But it can only strengthen a technique if the description in the book is sufficiently detailed." The system's cold, emotionless voice sounded like music to his ears.
"Then can you strengthen a cultivation manual from a xianxia novel?" he hurriedly asked.
"No!" The system's voice was as merciless as ever.
He was a little disappointed, but he didn't let it get him down. You had to be content with what you had.
He quickly got off the shared bike and crouched in front of the gray-haired vendor.
He picked up the top book, glanced through it, then asked, "Boss, how much are these books?"
"Fifty each. No haggling!" The boss held up five thin, bony fingers.
Lu Siye looked at the book in his hand, I Crossed into The Return of the Condor Heroes and Conquered the World. The text was quite clear, and there were even illustrations of martial arts techniques. It looked like the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
"System, can you strengthen one like this?" Lu Siye asked silently.
"Yes!"
"Thirty each. If that works, I'll take the whole lot," Lu Siye said grandly with a sweeping wave of his hand.
"Deal!" The boss immediately agreed, his wrinkled face blooming into a chrysanthemum-like grin.
Damn! I offered too much!
Judging by the boss's expression, Lu Siye knew he'd definitely lost out.
After paying by phone and picking up the pirated martial arts novels in a plastic bag, Lu Siye hurried toward Tongjiang Residential Complex.
He left the shared bike at the nearest parking spot outside the complex, then set off across the road with the bag of pirated novels in hand.
He couldn't wait to try out the system's strengthening function.
Suddenly, a screech of brakes rang out. A black BMW stopped less than twenty centimeters from him.
The BMW's driver hurried out and came over to Lu Siye, looking at him anxiously.
"Hey, are you okay? Did I hit you?" The driver's face was deathly pale, and cold sweat covered his forehead. He'd obviously been badly frightened.
"I'm fine!" Lu Siye shook his head.
He'd crossed the road without paying attention to his surroundings. He couldn't blame the driver.
"That's good! That's good!" The driver wiped away his cold sweat and got back into the car.
Lu Siye glanced at the young woman in the BMW's passenger seat, who was staring fixedly at him. She was probably the driver's wife.
Her face was just as pale. She looked badly shaken, too.
Lu Siye scratched his head awkwardly and watched them drive away.
A polite man with money—no wonder he had a beautiful wife.
After that little scare, Lu Siye was much more cautious. A few minutes later, he made it safely back to his room.
In the living room, Lu Siye eagerly pulled I Crossed into The Return of the Condor Heroes and Conquered the World from the pile and spread it open on the table. He silently commanded, "Strengthen!"
"Would the host like to spend 20 Fear Points to strengthen I Crossed into The Return of the Condor Heroes and Conquered the World?"
"Yes!" Lu Siye answered firmly.
The pirated novel on the table began to shake as if possessed.
The pages flipped rapidly. The characters, people, and paragraphs on them seemed to come alive, shining with a brilliant, golden, almost divine radiance. One by one, the words broke apart and reassembled; individual strokes rearranged themselves. It was as fast as a TV show played at thirty-two times normal speed.
Two minutes later, the strengthening was nearly complete, and the light began to fade.
"Ding! Strengthening successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the first level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill."
"The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill! Only the first level? No wonder it cost so few Fear Points. So that's what you were up to." Lu Siye couldn't help complaining.
He knew of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill. It came from a Jin Yong wuxia novel and was a martial art featured in The Return of the Condor Heroes.
It was an extraordinary, peerless secret manual recorded in the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra, the supreme guardian skill of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. It had thirteen levels. Its external techniques could make one's palm strikes fearsomely powerful and forceful. Each level mastered added the strength of one dragon and one elephant; after mastering the tenth, one would possess the strength of ten dragons and ten elephants.
Buddhism greatly revered dragons and elephants.
They believed that among creatures of the water, dragons were the strongest, and among creatures of the land, elephants were the strongest. So they often used them as a metaphor for those who practiced with fierce determination and possessed extraordinary ability.
The Mahaparinirvana Sutra, scroll two: "World-Honored One, I have now joined the great dragon-elephant bodhisattvas and mahāsattvas in severing all bonds and defilements."
Wang Bo of the Tang dynasty, in Preface to the Record of the Four-Part Vinaya School: "When the clouds of both extremes have dispersed, only then can one know the supreme truth of reality; when the winds of the ten directions blow, only then can one recognize the preciousness of suchness. May those robed in black, the dragon-elephants, uphold what is bright and just."
Luo Yin of the Tang dynasty, in After the Fire at Ganlu Temple: "I thought only ghosts and gods could guard things, never knowing the dragon-elephants themselves would turn to ash."
Even these few words passed down from the ancients showed just how highly Buddhism revered dragons and elephants.
Lu Siye hadn't expected a single pirated novel to bring him such a wonderful surprise.
He eagerly picked up the book. Its original title had been replaced by five large, gilded characters: Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
Lu Siye opened the first page and began reading the introduction to the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
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