Grow! Grow!

Clink!

The golden bead, now shattered into several pieces, fell to the ground, its brilliance extinguished, appearing plain and unadorned.

Anyone who saw it would absolutely not believe that the spectacular phenomenon just witnessed was produced by this single golden bead.

"This..." Ning Xiu looked at the sky with a complex expression, his mind sometimes filled with sudden enlightenment, other times clouded and confused.

The golden characters that had transformed from the golden rain, if Ning Xiu's guess was correct, were a form of cultivation technique.

It was likely that some great Buddhist or Daoist master had left their cultivation insights within this Six-Word Golden Bead, waiting for someone to unlock it, allowing them to witness a wondrous phenomenon and comprehend it on their own.

Judging by the state of the golden bead, the wondrous phenomenon it displayed could clearly only happen once. Its true purpose was certainly not for someone like Ning Xiu to casually activate it.

Otherwise, if someone with poor comprehension and no innate talent encountered it, they wouldn't be able to glean anything from the golden characters.

They would only be wasting such a massive opportunity.

Fortunately, Ning Xiu's comprehension wasn't that of a peerless heavenly prodigy, but he wasn't ordinary either. He had indeed perceived the existence of a cultivation technique from the golden characters.

However, it was regrettable that due to the extremely short duration of the golden characters, Ning Xiu couldn't fully comprehend the entire technique in one go.

He could only jot down the characters first to ensure he wouldn't end up with an incomplete cultivation method.

Fortunately, Ning Xiu wasn't fighting alone. As he summoned his 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 yet entered (0/1000)](+)

Universal Proficiency: 5200

Ning Xiu couldn't help but be surprised by the new cultivation technique that appeared on his proficiency panel. It was the first time he had seen a technique that required 1000 points of proficiency just to enter.

Without the help of Universal Proficiency, he would have to spend half a year of arduous cultivation to achieve entry into this technique.

This indicated that the power and origin of this Heavenly King Vajra Art were definitely not simple.

Directly adding 3000 points of Universal Proficiency to the Heavenly King Vajra Art, Ning Xiu wanted to see what effects this mysterious technique truly had.

[Heavenly King Vajra Art: Not yet entered (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 moment he advanced to the first layer, Ning Xiu felt a tingling and itchy sensation all over his body, as if countless ants and insects were crawling and biting within him.

This bone-deep itch was more torturous than any form of torture, truly making one wish for death but unable to find it.

Ning Xiu gritted his teeth and endured it for a short while before a violent tearing pain in his bones, tendons, and muscles erupted within him.

It caused Ning Xiu to involuntarily collapse onto the ground, cold sweat pouring down his body, soaking a large patch of the ground in no time.

If anyone were present, they would be able to visibly see Ning Xiu's body begin to grow and expand.

His limbs extended by a foot each, while his chest cavity, waist, hips, shoulders, and skull all enlarged proportionally.

This allowed Ning Xiu's elongated body to not appear too deformed or disproportionate.

In the Great Shang measurement system, three feet was equivalent to one meter in Ning Xiu's memory.

This meant one foot was approximately 0.33 meters.

Ning Xiu, who was already five and a half feet tall, now extended by another foot, his height directly exceeding two meters, reaching over six feet.

In any place, he could be considered a behemoth, standing out from the crowd, looking down upon everyone.

However, due to the increase in his body size, Ning Xiu's originally well-built muscular physique became extremely gaunt and emaciated.

An uninformed observer might think this fellow had been starved for days without food, leading to this appearance.

As the night wind blew, Ning Xiu, lying motionlessly on the ground, finally stirred.

His tall and thin body suddenly began to contract, and within a few blinks of an eye, it returned to its previous normal size.

If not for his clothes being torn from being stretched, even Ning Xiu himself wouldn't believe the changes his body had undergone.

"This kind of body-refining technique is truly unheard of and unseen!" Ning Xiu slowly regained his senses, struggling to get up from the ground, exclaiming in extreme shock.

The Heavenly King Vajra Art, a divine Buddhist body-refining technique, could cause the body to expand in a way that defied the rules of bone growth.

This increase of one foot in body size upon reaching the second layer was merely the initial effect. If he continued to advance, Ning Xiu's body would extend without limit, and his strength would also be correspondingly enhanced.

Furthermore, both the enlargement of his body and the return to normal size could be controlled at the cultivator's will.

The person who could create such a technique must have been a great Buddhist or Daoist master, with unfathomable strength and imagination.

"It is a fortunate coincidence that I obtained the Six-Word Golden Bead containing the Heavenly King Vajra Art. I just don't understand why this Buddhist golden bead fell into the hands of those demon people from the Black Heaven Gate."

Ning Xiu was very puzzled, but the reasons behind this matter were clearly beyond his ability to guess, so he gave up on further investigation.

Looking at his tattered clothes, Ning Xiu shook his head helplessly, then walked to the gong at the prison entrance and struck it forcefully.

The gong's sound was loud and piercing in the night. Ning Xiu didn't need to search for anyone; the constables and yamen runners who heard the sound would quickly rush over.

to handle the brutal situation inside the prison.

The next day.

As dawn broke, the common folk of Wendeng County went out to start their day's livelihood.

The ordinary Wendeng County continued its usual, uneventful life.

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

"Husband, where would our county have a Vajra? You must have been dreaming."

"It's true, there was golden rain, lotuses, the entire sky of Wendeng County turned golden. That Vajra was sitting cross-legged in the sky holding a vajra pestle, larger than the whole of Wendeng County!"

In the fish vendor Su Yong's home, Su Yong, whose legs were heavily bandaged, lay on the bed. Even though his face was wrapped in gauze, it was swollen beyond recognition.

He still stubbornly mumbled about what he had seen and heard when he got up in the middle of the night.

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

A perfectly healthy grown man, getting up in the middle of the night to use the privy, and falling so badly.

When asked how he fell, he wouldn't give a proper reason, insisting instead that he saw golden rain covering the city, golden lotuses emerging from the ground, and a Vajra descending from the heavens.

Wasn't he just confused from sleep?

If such a large Vajra statue had indeed appeared in the sky above Wendeng County, why hadn't anyone else mentioned it? Could such a phenomenon only be seen by him, Old Su?

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

No matter how Su Yong explained, no one believed him. They all assumed his fall was due to an embarrassing reason, and he had fabricated such an absurd and bizarre story to cover it up.

Thus, there was no further discussion.

After waiting in the yamen for an entire night, Ren Qianxing and his two puppets finally returned.

And they brought good news: all the puppet avatars in the county had been identified and destroyed by him.

The demon who was skilled with puppets no longer had any hidden moves in Wendeng County, and the hidden danger was completely cleared.

This greatly relieved Ning Xiu. Since the problem was solved and he had captured the involved demons, it was time to escort the two demons back to the capital.

As long as the demons were imprisoned in the Wendeng yamen, Ning Xiu couldn't relax his vigilance, and it was tiring to keep it up for too long.

Once they were handed over to the Demon Subduing Bureau and other Demon Subduing Captains, everything that followed would be unrelated to him, and he would be completely free from this incident.

Ning Xiu and Ren Qianxing agreed to have Dong Fu arrange for two specially made prisoner transport carts, with each demon confined in one.

They decided to act quickly and set off for the capital with the demons today, without further delay.

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

After acquiring the Heavenly King Vajra Art, Ning Xiu felt that for a while, he would be hard-pressed to find a weapon more suitable for him than the Drum Beating Golden Hammer.

In his normal state, wielding the Drum Beating Golden Hammer might appear somewhat out of place.

But once he unleashed the Heavenly King Vajra Art, the visual effect would instantly become incredibly natural and harmonious; a large person should use such a heavy weapon.

Arriving alone at Huang Mansion, Huang You, upon hearing the news, immediately rushed out to greet Ning Xiu.

He knew that his father's reinstatement was all due to Ning Xiu's behind-the-scenes efforts, so he naturally couldn't neglect such a benefactor.

"Lord Ning, where have you been these past few days? I was planning to show you the three special features of Wendeng County and let you experience the charm of our county."

Huang You ran up to Ning Xiu with a smile, acting extremely friendly.

"Young Master Huang is too kind. My purpose in coming to Wendeng County has been achieved, and due to official duties, I must depart for the capital today," Ning Xiu said.

"Ah?! This, this is too sudden. Why don't you stay for a meal before you go, Lord Ning? Let me host you."

Ning Xiu smiled, "No, time is of the essence, not a moment can be delayed. I'll remember your kind offer, Young Master Huang. When you come to Chaotian Capital next time, I will definitely give you the opportunity to treat me generously. Today, I'll have to pass."

"Ah..." Huang You was stunned. Did something in those words sound a bit strange?

However, he dared not defy Ning Xiu's wishes and could only reply, "Alright, Lord Ning. I certainly will."

After returning to the room where he had stayed and picking up the Golden Hammer, Ning Xiu left Huang Mansion without a moment's delay.

Although he hadn't been away from Chaotian Capital for many days, he was eager to return.

As agreed, Ren Qianxing had already been waiting outside the Wendeng County gate for a long time with the two special prisoner transport carts and the Spirit Gathering Banner.

When Ren Qianxing saw Ning Xiu emerge from the Wendeng County gate, swaggering with a rather imposing Golden Hammer on his shoulder, his expression couldn't help but show a bit of surprise.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't fathom that Ning Xiu's weapon would be this.

"Brother Ning, the contrast you present is quite striking. Who would have thought that with your appearance resembling a refined scholar, you would wield such a weapon?" Ren Qianxing said with a smile as Ning Xiu approached.

"That's exactly the effect I want. Brother Ren, you've been in the Demon Subduing Bureau longer than I have. Have you ever seen any Demon Subduing Captains in the Bureau who are skilled with hammers?" Ning Xiu took the reins of a horse pulling a prisoner cart from Ren Qianxing and began leading the horse towards the southern official path.

Ren Qianxing rode his horse to catch up and replied, "I'm not familiar with the Iron Horse Rank Demon Subduing Captains, but I do know of a 'Army Breaker Hammer King' at the Bronze Leopard Rank. He's the captain of Bronze Leopard Team Two. Further up, at the Silver Tiger Rank, I don't know. Those individuals are like dragons that appear and disappear without a trace, and even their information is scarce."

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

"Most Demon Subduing Captains who survive to the Bronze Leopard Rank have experienced countless battles and are experts from the sixth to the fourth rank. People remember the reputation they've earned through their strength, not their names."

"Fame..." Ning Xiu's interest was piqued at the mention of fame, and he asked, "Brother Ren, do you know the reputation of the captain of the team I'm in?"

"You mean Lord Su's reputation? Let me think, it seems to be called..." Ren Qianxing pondered for a long time, while Ning Xiu watched him with full anticipation the entire time.

Unexpectedly, Ren Qianxing finally scratched his head and said with an embarrassed smile, "My apologies, I can't recall it for some reason right now."

Ning Xiu was speechless. "You... it would have been better if you hadn't thought about it at all. This is just teasing me."

The journey between Wendeng County and Chaotian Capital, if one traveled at a gallop, would only take a little over an hour.

However, because Ning Xiu was carrying a Drum Beating Golden Hammer weighing three hundred and twenty pounds, it somewhat affected the horse's travel speed.

After spending three times the usual travel time, the magnificent and spectacular crimson city walls of Chaotian Capital finally appeared on the horizon at the end of the Official Path.

Demon Subduing Captains always received the full assistance of local government and soldiers wherever they went. When the city gate guards saw Ren Qianxing, clad in Mysterious Silver Lock Armor, approaching the Chaotian Capital city gate with two prisoner carts, immediately, a guard ran forward to lead his horse and guide him. Unlike other commoners, he didn't have to wait in line to enter the city. He could directly enter through the side gate reserved for government officials, enjoying all the privileges.

Once inside Chaotian Capital, the demons had nowhere to escape. Ning Xiu's vigilance, which had been maintained all along the way, finally relaxed, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

When they arrived outside the Demon Subduing Bureau, Ren Qianxing looked at the Drum Beating Golden Hammer Ning Xiu was carrying on his shoulder and suddenly said to Ning Xiu:

"Brother Ning, although your hammer looks mighty and domineering, it's incredibly inconvenient to carry. If you have any missions that require long-distance travel, this hammer won't help you; instead, it will become a burden."

"I'm aware of that, but I currently don't know of any way to solve this problem," Ning Xiu replied.

When he was still in the Champion Camp, Ning Xiu had already investigated. It seemed that there were no divine artifacts like storage bags or spatial rings in this world.

Therefore, carrying items on their person was entirely a burden for martial artists.

Seeing Ning Xiu sigh, Ren Qianxing said mysteriously, "I do know of a place that can solve your problem, Brother Ning. If you have time, you can go and check out the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion within the Bureau."

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

However, Ning Xiu had only joined the Demon Subduing Bureau recently and hadn't been to that place yet.

But hearing Ren Qianxing mention it now, he figured this place must be extraordinary, and perhaps it truly held some powerful secrets.

So, Ning Xiu nodded and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Ren. I will definitely visit the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion when I have time."

The two of them drove the carriage to the entrance of the Demon Subduing Prison. Soon, jailers came out and skillfully escorted the two demons from the prisoner carts into the great prison.