Joining the Demon Extermination Society

"At last, we've arrived."

After nearly a month of arduous travel, Bi Changsheng and the others had finally reached the prefectural capital of Ningyun Prefecture. In truth, this was because Bi Changsheng had deliberately slowed their pace. Had they traveled at full speed, a few days would have been enough.

Looking at the majestic city before him, Bi Changsheng could only marvel that it was worthy of being a prefectural capital. Compared to a small county town like Lin'an City, it was as different as heaven and earth.

After queuing to enter the city, Bi Changsheng encountered a surging tide of people. Martial artists were everywhere among them, nothing like the scarcity of martial artists in Lin'an City.

On their first day in Lin'an City, Bi Changsheng and the others first found an inn to settle down in. The next day, through a broker's introduction, they purchased a street-facing shop in a corner of Gold-Sprinkled Street, the street in Ningyun Prefecture where martial artists gathered.

Though it was only a corner shop, it still cost Bi Changsheng three hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver—roughly equivalent to a small half of one of the three great powers' assets in Lin'an City.

After this expense, the silver in Bi Changsheng's possession had shrunk to under a million taels, leaving him with only nine hundred and eighty thousand taels.

The location of the shop Bi Changsheng bought was not particularly good, but it was spacious enough. Besides the two-story storefront in front, it had a large rear courtyard. Apart from several large rooms, it had everything it should: a kitchen, latrine, and more.

The courtyard itself was also very large. Besides the broad courtyard paved with stone bricks, there was also a sizeable patch of wasteland where things could be grown.

After a day of busy work, Bi Changsheng and the other two finally settled down in Ningyun City.

As for why he had bought a shop, it was related to Bi Changsheng's plans for his own cultivation after obtaining Cen Xiuqi's Alchemy Legacy. But it was still far too early for any of that.

That night, Bi Changsheng sat in a reclining chair, slowly reading aloud from the Taiyin Qi Condensation Method.

In the days since acquiring the Cultivation Techniques, Bi Changsheng had naturally tried cultivating both of them. Unfortunately, no matter what he tried, he could not successfully take the first step into either technique.

Others might have thought that Bi Changsheng's inability to begin the techniques was because he lacked spiritual roots. Yet Bi Changsheng believed it was more likely due to this body itself. When he cultivated according to the methods recorded in the Cultivation Techniques, he could sense the spiritual energy of the outside world—and sensed it extremely quickly at that. He simply could not draw that spiritual energy into his body and refine it into mana.

"This body's absolute physique is anything but simple."

Bi Changsheng once again sighed inwardly. This body not only could not practice martial arts through ordinary means, it had even cut off his path to immortality.

Having reached this conclusion, Bi Changsheng was neither discouraged nor did he entertain any thought of giving up the path of cultivation. After all, the martial path came to an end at the Condensing Gang Realm, while the path of immortality was the great road to heaven in this world.

Since the ordinary road could not be traveled, he would simply blaze another trail, just as he had done with martial arts. He simply had no idea yet how to forge that new path. His understanding of cultivation was still far too shallow.

And even if the path of immortality remained forever barred to him, Bi Changsheng could choose to open up the road ahead for martial artists and turn martial arts into a great road to heaven as well.

For others, that might be exceedingly difficult, because they did not have enough time.

But Bi Changsheng, who possessed the Longevity Dao Fruit, had enough time to do these things—whether it was studying how to carve out another path into immortality, or how to open the road ahead for martial artists.

In Bi Changsheng's heart, whether it was cultivating immortality or practicing martial arts, he would not give up either path.

A long life always needed a few goals.

As for why Bi Changsheng still took out the Cultivation Techniques to study despite being unable to cultivate them, it was because when he had first begun examining the two techniques, he would read through them aloud several times in order to understand their meaning. While reciting the Taiyin Qi Condensation Method, Little Black at his side had shown intense interest. Yet it had shown no reaction at all to the Basic Breathing Condensing Qi Method.

After seeing this, whenever Bi Changsheng had free time, he would read the Taiyin Qi Condensation Method aloud to Little Black. Unexpectedly, as time passed, Little Black actually entered a meditative state whenever Bi Changsheng recited it and began cultivating.

Now, Little Black lay beside Bi Changsheng. Listening to his recitation of the Taiyin Qi Condensation Method, it had entered a meditative state. Faintly, wisps of moonlight were absorbed into its body with every breath it took.

After finishing his recitation, Bi Changsheng looked at Little Black, already immersed in cultivation beside him, and could not help but laugh helplessly. One might tend flowers with all one's heart only for them not to bloom, yet stick a willow branch into the ground without a thought and find it flourishing into shade.

Little Black was now entering meditation faster and faster. Before long, it would surely be able to cultivate on its own, without needing Bi Changsheng to read the technique aloud to it anymore.

With Little Black as a precedent, Bi Changsheng had also wanted Uncle Fu and Liu Zhengqing to give it a try. However, neither showed any interest. Uncle Fu said he was too old to toss himself about any further, while Liu Zhengqing said he preferred practicing martial arts.

So Bi Changsheng did not force them and let them be. The techniques were in his hands anyway. If they changed their minds, they could come find him at any time.

The next day, Bi Changsheng once again disguised himself as the Middle-aged Man and headed out.

Bi Changsheng had come to Ningyun City not only to stay away from trouble, but also to seek the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law.

Now that they had settled down in Ningyun City, it was time to begin seeking the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law.

Bi Changsheng followed the street all the way to the busiest stretch of Gold-Sprinkled Street. There, amid the flourishing street, an extravagant tower stood out with exceptional prominence. On its signboard were three words: Demon Extermination Society.

This was the Ningyun City branch of the Demon Extermination Society. It was precisely because of the Demon Extermination Society's presence that Gold-Sprinkled Street was so prosperous.

Bi Changsheng entered the first floor of the Demon Extermination Society. At this time, quite a few people were already coming and going within. Judging from their builds and bearing, Bi Changsheng determined that the vast majority were probably martial artists.

The Demon Extermination Society differed from other factions. Besides training martial artists of their own, they also accepted other martial artists into their ranks, somewhat like the mercenary guilds of Bi Changsheng's previous life.

After joining, other martial artists could post and accept missions through the Demon Extermination Society. Completing missions earned them rewards or contribution points.

Contribution points could then be exchanged for treasures from the Demon Extermination Society's treasury. This was one of the important reasons that drew other martial artists to join it.

It was precisely because so many martial artists had joined that the Demon Extermination Society had become one of Great Gan's ten greatest powers in barely more than twenty years.

Thus, the first-floor hall of the Demon Extermination Society had many service windows. Quite a few people stood in line before them, and Bi Changsheng casually chose one with fewer people and joined the queue.

"Hello, sir. What business would you like to handle?"

It was soon Bi Changsheng's turn. A young woman spoke to him with a professional smile.

"I want to join the Demon Extermination Society."

The young woman had Bi Changsheng undergo a simple test. After confirming that he possessed the strength of a martial artist, she began processing the formalities for him. This was also one of the Demon Extermination Society's characteristics: it did not scrutinize the background or Cultivation Level of martial artists joining its ranks.

However, Bi Changsheng guessed that the Demon Extermination Society could estimate a person's approximate strength based on the missions they completed.

"Please wait a moment, sir."

The young woman took out a token and inserted it into a slot. At once, a blank screen of light appeared atop the counter. This was clearly a magical artifact, and an auxiliary magical artifact of no low grade at that.

"What a lavish display. No wonder the Demon Extermination Society developed so quickly," Bi Changsheng thought.

"May I ask your name, sir?"

"Ximen Xue."

The young girl only found the name somewhat familiar, but gave it no further thought. After a few operations, two lines of text appeared on the blank light screen. One was the name he had just given; the other showed his contribution points as zero.

"May I ask how many contribution points Yellow Heaven Cult Elder Chen Pengfei is worth?"

After successfully joining the Demon Extermination Society, Bi Changsheng asked the young girl. Before this, he had learned that the Demon Extermination Society had issued bounty missions for every high-ranking member of the Yellow Heaven Cult, with exceedingly generous rewards.

"Yellow Heaven Cult Elder Chen Pengfei..."

All of a sudden, the girl made the connection and cried out in shock:

"Are you Senior Ximen Xue, the one who slew Yellow Heaven Cult late-stage True Qi Realm Elder Chen Pengfei with a single sword strike in Lin'an City?"

The moment she spoke, everyone in the hall turned to look at Bi Changsheng before the window.