Get bigger! Get bigger!

Clang!

The golden bead, now shattered into several pieces, fell to the ground, dull and lusterless.

Anyone who saw it would never believe that the magnificent spectacle from moments ago had appeared from this little golden bead.

"This..." Ning Xiu stared at the sky with a complicated expression. At times, understanding dawned in his mind; at others, his thoughts grew muddled and confused.

The long scroll of golden characters formed from the golden rain just now—if Ning Xiu wasn't mistaken, its contents must have been some kind of cultivation technique.

Presumably, some great Buddhist master had preserved his insights into a cultivation technique inside this Six-Word Golden Bead, waiting for someone to activate it. Then they could witness the wondrous vision and comprehend it for themselves.

Judging by the state of the golden bead, that spectacle could clearly appear only once. Its true purpose certainly wasn't for someone like Ning Xiu to activate it casually.

Otherwise, if it fell into the hands of someone with poor comprehension and no spiritual aptitude, they would have no way to grasp anything from the scroll of golden characters.

They would only waste such a tremendous opportunity.

Fortunately, while Ning Xiu wasn't an unparalleled prodigy, he wasn't ordinary either. He had indeed sensed the presence of a cultivation technique within the scroll of golden characters.

The only regret was that the scroll had lasted far too briefly. Ning Xiu hadn't been able to comprehend the entire technique in one go.

He could only memorize the characters first, to make sure he didn't end up with an incomplete technique.

Fortunately, Ning Xiu wasn't fighting alone. As soon as he summoned the Proficiency Panel, he saw that a brand-new cultivation technique had appeared on it.

Pure Yang Extreme Fist: Ninth Layer (41/5000) (+)

Golden Bell Shield: Ninth Layer (12/5000) (+)

Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique: Fifth Layer (21/3000) (+)

Great Sun Profound Scripture: Ninth Layer (9/5000) (+)

Heavenly King Vajra Art: Not Initiated (0/1000) (+)

Universal Proficiency: 5200

Seeing the new technique on the Proficiency Panel, Ning Xiu couldn't help but feel surprised. This was the first time he'd seen a technique that required 1,000 proficiency just to begin learning.

Without the help of Universal Proficiency, he'd probably have to spend half a year cultivating diligently before he could get started on this technique.

From this, it was clear that the power and origins of this Heavenly King Vajra Art were no ordinary matter.

Ning Xiu immediately spent 3,000 Universal Proficiency on the Heavenly King Vajra Art. He wanted to see what effects this mysterious technique had.

Heavenly King Vajra Art: Not Initiated (0/1000) → Heavenly King Vajra Art: First Layer (0/2000)

Heavenly King Vajra Art: First Layer (0/2000) → Heavenly King Vajra Art: Second Layer (0/3000)

The instant it reached the first layer, Ning Xiu felt an itchy, prickling sensation spread throughout his body. It was as if countless ants were crawling around inside him, biting at him.

The bone-deep itch was even more tormenting than torture. It made him feel as though he couldn't live or die.

Ning Xiu gritted his teeth and barely endured it for a short while before an intense pain erupted inside him, as if his bones, tendons, and muscles were being wrenched apart.

He couldn't stop himself from collapsing face-down onto the ground. Cold sweat poured from his entire body, and before long, it had soaked a large patch of earth.

Had anyone else been there, they would have seen Ning Xiu's body begin to grow taller and larger.

His limbs stretched a full foot longer, while his rib cage, waist, pelvis, shoulders, and skull all expanded in proportion.

That kept Ning Xiu's body from looking too deformed and unbalanced as his limbs grew longer.

In Great Shang, three chi made one meter, by Ning Xiu's reckoning.

In other words, one chi was about 0.33 meters.

Ning Xiu had already stood five and a half chi tall. Now that he'd grown another chi, he was over two meters tall, reaching more than six chi.

Anywhere he went, he could be considered a giant, towering head and shoulders above the crowd and looking down on everyone.

However, because his body had grown larger, Ning Xiu's once-muscular frame had become emaciated and gaunt.

Anyone who didn't know better would think the man had gone days without food, leaving him in this state.

The night breeze brushed past. Ning Xiu, who had been lying motionless on the ground, finally stirred.

His tall, thin body suddenly began to shrink. In the space of a few blinks, it had returned to its original size.

If not for his clothes, which had been stretched and torn, even Ning Xiu wouldn't have believed what had just happened to his body.

"This body-tempering technique is something I've never heard of or seen before!" Ning Xiu slowly came back to his senses and struggled to his feet, exclaiming in shock.

The Heavenly King Vajra Art was a Buddhist body-tempering divine art. After cultivating it, one's body could expand in defiance of the rules of skeletal growth.

Growing the body by a chi upon reaching the second layer was only its initial effect. If Ning Xiu continued to advance, his body could stretch without limit, and his strength would increase accordingly.

At the same time, the practitioner could control the transformation between an enlarged body and its normal size with just a thought.

Anyone capable of creating such a technique had to be a great Buddhist master, possessing unfathomable strength and imagination.

"Getting the Six-Word Golden Bead containing the Heavenly King Vajra Art was a stroke of fate. I just don't know why this Buddhist golden bead ended up in the hands of that Demon Person from the Black Heaven Gate."

Ning Xiu was deeply puzzled, but there was no way he could figure out the reasons behind it. So he gave up on investigating further.

Looking at his tattered clothes, Ning Xiu shook his head helplessly. Then he walked to the gong by the prison entrance and struck it hard.

The gong rang loudly and shrilly through the night. Ning Xiu didn't need to go looking for anyone; the constables and yamen runners would soon come hurrying at the sound.

They would deal with the carnage inside the prison.

The next day.

As dawn broke, the people of Wendeng County poured out of their homes and began another day of making a living.

Ordinary Wendeng County carried on with the same peaceful routine as always.

"I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I really saw a Vajra, a huge one!"

"Dear, where would a Vajra come from in our county? You must've been muddled from sleep."

"It's true! There was golden rain, and lotuses! The whole sky over Wendeng County turned golden, and that Vajra sat cross-legged in the sky with a Buddhist pestle in his hand. It was even bigger than all of Wendeng County!"

At the fishmonger Su Yong's house, Su Yong lay in bed with both legs wrapped tightly in bandages. His face, swathed in bruised cloth, was so swollen it was hardly recognizable.

Even so, he kept insisting on what he'd seen the previous night when he'd gotten up to relieve himself.

Su Yong's wife, who was boiling medicine nearby, shook her head helplessly. She was both exasperated and amused.

How could a perfectly healthy grown man get up in the middle of the night to use the latrine and fall? And how could he have fallen so badly?

When people asked him how it happened, he wouldn't give a proper explanation. Instead, he stubbornly insisted that he'd seen golden rain over the whole city, golden lotuses springing from the ground, and a Vajra descending from the heavens.

Wasn't that just sleep talking?

If a Vajra that enormous had appeared above Wendeng County, why hadn't anyone else said a word about it? Could such an extraordinary sight really have been visible only to old Su?

Who did he think he was, a reincarnated spirit child?

No matter how Su Yong explained it, nobody believed him. Everyone thought his fall had been too embarrassing to explain, so he'd made up such an absurd, outlandish story.

And so the matter went no further.

After waiting in the yamen all night, Ren Qianxing finally returned with his two puppets.

He also brought good news: he'd identified and destroyed every puppet double in the county.

The Demon Person skilled in puppetry no longer had any hidden tricks left in Wendeng County. The threat had been completely eliminated.

Ning Xiu breathed a huge sigh of relief. Since the problem had been solved and he'd captured the Demon Person involved, it was time to send the two Demon Persons back to the capital.

As long as the Demon Persons remained locked up in the Wendeng County yamen, Ning Xiu couldn't let his guard down for even a day. Keeping watch for too long was exhausting.

Once they were delivered to the Demon Subduing Bureau and handed over to other Demon Subduing Captains, everything that followed would have nothing to do with him. He could finally extricate himself from the whole affair.

He had Dong Fu send for two specially made prisoner wagons. With one Demon Person locked in each, Ning Xiu and Ren Qianxing made their plans.

They would act quickly and head back to the capital with the Demon Persons that very day, without further delay.

But before leaving, Ning Xiu still had one more thing to do: go to Huang Mansion and retrieve his hammer.

After obtaining the Heavenly King Vajra Art, Ning Xiu felt that it would be difficult to find another weapon as suited to him as the Drum Beating Golden Hammer in the near future.

In his normal state, wielding the Drum Beating Golden Hammer might look a little incongruous.

But once he used the Heavenly King Vajra Art, the image would fit together naturally in an instant. A big fellow was meant to wield a heavy weapon like this.

Ning Xiu went to Huang Mansion alone. As soon as Huang You heard he was there, he hurried out to greet him.

His father had been reinstated, and Huang You knew that Ning Xiu had arranged it behind the scenes. He couldn't afford to neglect a benefactor like that.

"Lord Ning, where have you been these past few days? I was hoping to show you Wendeng County's three great specialties and let you experience all the county has to offer."

Huang You ran up to Ning Xiu with a beaming smile, looking exceedingly friendly.

"Mr. Huang, you're too kind. I've accomplished what I came to Wendeng County for. I have a lot of official business, so I'll be heading back to the capital today," Ning Xiu said.

"Ah?! This... isn't that too rushed? Lord Ning, why not stay for a meal before you go? That way, I can play host."

Ning Xiu smiled. "No, time is short, and I can't afford to waste a moment. I appreciate your kindness, Mr. Huang. Next time you visit Chaotian Capital, I'll give you the chance to spend a fortune on me. We'll let it go for today."

"Ah..." Huang You froze. Was there something strange about that remark?

But he didn't dare go against Ning Xiu's wishes, so he could only reply, "Of course, Lord Ning. I'll be sure to."

Ning Xiu returned to the room where he'd stayed, picked up the Weng Jin Hammer, and left Huang Mansion without wasting another breath.

He hadn't been away from Chaotian Capital for long, but he was already eager to return.

As agreed, Ren Qianxing had long been waiting outside Wendeng County's gate with two specially made prisoner wagons and the Spirit Gathering Banner.

When he saw Ning Xiu swagger out of the county gate with the imposing Weng Jin Hammer slung over his shoulder, Ren Qianxing couldn't help looking a little surprised.

No matter how hard he thought about it, he never would have guessed that this was the weapon Ning Xiu used.

"Brother Ning, you really do give people a shock. Who would've thought that someone who looks like a quiet scholar would wield a weapon like that?" Ren Qianxing said with a smile as Ning Xiu approached.

"That's exactly the effect I'm after. Brother Ren, you joined the Demon Subduing Bureau before I did. Have you ever met any Demon Subduing Captains in the bureau who were skilled with hammers?" Ning Xiu took the reins of one of the prisoner wagons from Ren Qianxing and led the horse onto the southern official road.

Ren Qianxing rode after him and replied, "I don't know much about Iron Horse Rank Demon Subduing Captains. Among the Bronze Leopard Rank, though, I know one called the Army Breaker Hammer King. He's the leader of the second Bronze Leopard team. As for the ranks above that, the Silver Tiger Rank, I don't know. Those people are like dragons, seldom seen from head to tail. There's barely any information about them."

"Army Breaker Hammer King?" Ning Xiu asked, puzzled. "Does this person not have a name?"

"Most Demon Subduing Captains who make it to Bronze Leopard Rank in the bureau are seasoned, battle-hardened experts between sixth and fourth grade. People remember the fame they've earned through their strength more than what their names are."

"Fame..." Ning Xiu grew interested. "Then, Brother Ren, do you know what the leader of my sixth team is known as?"

"You mean Lord Su's reputation? Let me think. I think it was called..." Ren Qianxing pondered for a long while, and Ning Xiu watched him with eager anticipation the whole time.

Who would've thought that Ren Qianxing would scratch his head and laugh sheepishly at the end? "Sorry. For some reason, I can't seem to remember right now."

Ning Xiu was speechless. "You... you might as well not have tried. You've just left me hanging."

The journey between Wendeng County and Chaotian Capital took just over an hour at a gallop.

But since Ning Xiu was carrying a 320-jin Weng Jin Hammer, it slowed the horses down somewhat.

After spending three times longer on the road than usual, the magnificent scarlet walls of Chaotian Capital finally appeared on the horizon at the end of the official road.

Wherever Demon Subduing Captains went, they received the full support of the local authorities and soldiers. When the gate guards saw Ren Qianxing approaching Chaotian Capital in his Mysterious Silver Lock Armor with two prisoner wagons, they immediately sent a soldier to lead his horse.

Unlike ordinary people, who had to wait in line to enter the city, he could go straight through the side gate reserved for the authorities. It was a privilege indeed.

Once they were inside Chaotian Capital, the Demon Persons could no longer escape. Ning Xiu finally let his guard down along the way and couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.

When they reached the entrance to the Demon Subduing Bureau, Ren Qianxing glanced at the Weng Jin Hammer on Ning Xiu's shoulder and suddenly said:

"Brother Ning, your hammer looks fearsome and imposing, but it's far too inconvenient to carry. If you ever have a mission that takes you far away, this hammer won't just be useless to you; it'll become a burden."

"I know. I just don't know how to solve that problem yet," Ning Xiu said.

Back when he was still in Champion Camp, Ning Xiu had already looked into it. This world didn't seem to have any such divine artifacts as storage pouches or spatial rings.

So carrying things around was nothing but a burden for martial artists.

Seeing Ning Xiu sigh, Ren Qianxing said mysteriously, "I know a place that can solve this problem for you, Brother Ning. If you have time, you can visit the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion inside the bureau."

Ning Xiu had heard of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion. It seemed to be a building inside the Demon Subduing Bureau.

But Ning Xiu had only recently joined the Demon Subduing Bureau and hadn't visited the place yet.

Hearing Ren Qianxing mention it now, he figured there had to be more to it than met the eye. Perhaps it really did have some remarkable secrets.

So Ning Xiu nodded. "Thank you for the guidance, Brother Ren. I'll be sure to visit the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion when I have time."

They drove the wagons to the entrance of the Demon Subduing Prison. Soon, a jailer came out and skillfully escorted the two Demon Persons from the wagons into the prison.