Leave It to Me!

Li Nuo slept exceptionally soundly.

When he opened his eyes and saw that it was already broad daylight, Li Nuo sprang out of bed and cried out, "Oh no, I'm going to be late!"

It was not until he saw the two figures standing by his bed that Li Nuo froze slightly, then realized that he would never have to attend that class again.

A Maid soaked a towel in hot water, wrung it dry, and said gently, "Young Master, this servant will help you wash up."

Seeing that she seemed about to wipe his face for him, Li Nuo hurriedly took the towel and said, "I'll do it myself, I'll do it myself..."

He had been accustomed to independence since childhood. He truly was not used to being waited on by others.

After he carelessly wiped his face, the Maid took the towel away. Then another little Maid with chubby cheeks said, "Young Master, be good, open your mouth. This servant will clean your teeth, or worms will grow in them..."

What was with "Young Master, be good, open your mouth"? It was like coaxing a child—Li Nuo soon realized that in the eyes of the Maids and servants of the manor, the fool he had been was probably no different from a child.

"I can do it myself."

Li Nuo took from her a thing about two fingers long, jade-green and white all over, with some kind of animal hair at its tip. It was probably a toothbrush. There was also a white paste with a fresh fragrance on it.

This thing was probably used no differently from toothbrushes in later generations. After Li Nuo finished brushing his teeth, the little Maid brought him mouth-rinsing water. Once he had washed up, Li Nuo sat before a bronze mirror and looked at the reflection within.

What a coincidence. Two people from different worlds not only shared the same name, but even looked exactly alike. That gave Li Nuo some comfort. Even after transmigrating, he still had that handsome, familiar face of his.

The chubby-cheeked little Maid stood behind him and combed his hair. Li Nuo could handle other things himself, but faced with that flowing head of long hair, he truly had no idea what to do.

The little Maid was highly skilled. She quickly tied up his hair in a topknot and inserted a jade hairpin. Before long, a graceful young gentleman appeared before the mirror.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Li Nuo casually asked, "What time is it now?"

The little Maid replied, "In answer to Young Master, it has just passed noon. Would you like to have lunch now?"

Only then did Li Nuo learn that he had slept all the way until noon. A sense of urgency immediately rose in his heart. He did not have much Lifespan left to begin with, yet he had wasted an entire morning for nothing. He had no mind to keep staying at home.

Very soon, under Steward Wu's direction, several servants brought the dishes to Li Nuo's room. It was merely lunch for one person, yet there were a full eight dishes and a soup—four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, complete in color, aroma, and flavor. In the twenty-first century, he had eaten takeout every day, yet had never lived this well...

Li Nuo looked at Steward Wu and asked, "Steward Wu, have you eaten? Sit down and eat with me."

Steward Wu said with a smile, "Thank you, Young Master. This old servant has already eaten."

There was no time to waste. Li Nuo said nothing more, picked up his chopsticks, and made short work of lunch. After wiping his mouth with the handkerchief the little Maid offered him, he said, "Tell the kitchen not to make so many dishes from now on. Two dishes will be enough when it's just me. Also, Young Madam left her purse in my room. Go return it to her later..."

After arranging all that, he said to Steward Wu, "Come on, we're going out."

Steward Wu was startled. "Going out again? Where to?"

A short while later, in the front courtyard of Li Manor, Li Nuo looked at Steward Wu, then at the four Grey-robed old men behind him. He looked back and forth, then asked uncertainly, "Just the few of you? Isn't that a little short-handed?"

Yesterday, Li Nuo had thought the procession of dozens following him was far too extravagant, but there was no need for things to be this shabby today, was there?

Of the four Grey-robed old men, one lacked his left arm, one lacked his right arm, one was blind in his left eye, and one was blind in his right eye. None of them looked particularly reliable. Li Nuo seriously doubted whether they could protect him.

It was not that he had picked up the Eldest Young Master's habits after only one day here. This world was simply far too dangerous.

Even now, recalling that arrow aimed at his head made cold sweat break out on him.

Steward Wu chuckled and said, "Rest assured, Young Master. Though we are old, our legs still work well enough. If any blind assassin comes looking for trouble, so long as he is below the Fifth Realm, we guarantee he will come but never return. Even if he is a Fifth Realm Grandmaster, we can keep him occupied and make sure not a single hair on Young Master's head is harmed..."

Li Nuo still was not reassured. "What if it's the Sixth Realm?"

"If it's the Sixth Realm..." Steward Wu coughed lightly and said, "Rest assured, Young Master. Even on the road to the Yellow Springs, this old servant will wait upon you properly..."

Li Nuo understood. If the assassin was Sixth Realm, every one of them would die.

As for martial arts, he had only heard Steward Wu mention things like Thousand Jun Strength, Control Objects with Qi, and Pluck Flowers and Leaves to wound people. He still had no concrete understanding of just how formidable each realm was.

On the way to the Chang'an County Office, Li Nuo took the chance to ask about it.

According to Steward Wu, martial arts in this world were divided into seven realms.

The First Realm was Body Sculpting, focused primarily on tempering the body. A Body Sculpting Realm practitioner possessed far greater strength than an ordinary person. The Second Realm was Inner Breath, where the rudiments of True Qi formed within the body. With Inner Breath's enhancement, one's strength increased further. The Third Realm was True Qi. At this realm, Inner Breath condensed into True Qi. True Qi could be attached to weapons, easily splitting gold and shattering stone, or cover the body to form a True Qi barrier. Upon reaching this realm in martial cultivation, one could wound people with Pluck Flowers and Leaves, and become impervious to blades and spears like the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt.

To Li Nuo, the Body Sculpting, Inner Breath, and True Qi Realms still did not surpass the scope of ordinary wuxia novels.

But at the Fourth Realm, the Object Control Realm Steward Wu had mentioned, the True Qi within the body became vast beyond measure. It could even leave the body, allowing one to take objects from afar, kill with flying swords, and fly through the air. Its power far surpassed the first three realms.

Steward Wu, the four Grey-robed old men, and his Wife were all in this realm.

The True Qi Realm was also the final destination that the vast majority of Martial Dao geniuses could reach in their lifetimes.

The Fifth Realm of martial arts was called the Grandmaster Realm. There was no fundamental difference between the Fifth and Fourth Realms. The difference was that a martial Grandmaster's True Qi was as vast as the sea, and their mastery over True Qi had reached the pinnacle. They could even condense it into weapons. Their martial techniques had likewise reached their peak, and they possessed the ability to found a sect and establish a school.

Most leaders and sect masters of the great martial schools today were in this realm.

The difficulty of advancing through the martial realms varied. It was not necessarily true that advancement grew harder the higher one went. From Body Sculpting to Inner Breath, and from Inner Breath to True Qi, there were major bottlenecks, with roughly a ten percent chance of breaking through. But if one could cultivate to the True Qi Realm, there was a fifty percent chance of advancing to the Object Control Realm.

From the Fourth Realm of Object Control to the Fifth Realm of Grandmaster, it was no longer a matter of bodily talent or effort. What was tested more was comprehension. It was also the greatest threshold among the earlier realms. The advancement rate plummeted to roughly one or two out of a hundred.

At the Sixth Realm of martial arts, one could initially draw upon the power of heaven and earth. Even the most ordinary moves could possess world-shaking might in their hands. At this realm, one was no longer bound by techniques, but gradually came into contact with the origin of martial arts. Even throughout all of Great Xia, there were not many Sixth Realm experts.

That was why, when Li Nuo mentioned the Sixth Realm, Steward Wu so readily invited him to journey together to the Yellow Springs. No matter how strong the first five realms were, they could still be overwhelmed by human-wave tactics. But upon reaching the Sixth Realm, where one could wield the power of heaven and earth, simple human-wave tactics could no longer contend with them. Hence the saying: below the Sixth Realm, all were ants.

As for the Seventh Realm, it had always been a legendary existence since ancient times, shrouded in mystery. Few accounts of the Seventh Realm had been passed down. At present, no one in Great Xia or the other nations had been heard of reaching that realm, and Steward Wu did not know much about it either.

Li Nuo could forget about the path of martial arts. Steward Wu had cultivated for an entire lifetime and still stopped at the Fourth Realm, which already counted as exceptionally talented. Li Nuo did not possess even the slightest talent, so he could only seek another path.

Fortunately, the Legalist school did not care about talent. As long as he judged enough cases, it was not impossible for him to catch up in a short time.

They soon arrived at the Chang'an County Office. The constables standing guard at the entrance already recognized Li Nuo. One of them jogged over and respectfully led him inside. Li Nuo noticed that the county office was especially lively today. From far away, he could see people filling the Court Hall and its surroundings. The entire county office was a noisy uproar, with quite a few constables and runners maintaining order.

"Sir, it's already past lunchtime. When are you going to let us go home?"

"That's right. Catching the murderer is fine, but you can't hold up so many people's business, can you?"

"If you won't let us leave, the yamen could at least provide us a meal! I haven't even eaten breakfast!"

"This Official still has to return to the yamen! If official business is delayed, can Lord Pei bear the responsibility?"

The courtyard was packed with people. They all spoke at once, shouting and clamoring until it made one's head ache. Li Nuo asked the constable, "What happened?"

The constable sighed and said helplessly, "A Murder Case occurred in the county last night. A Wealthy Merchant was murdered in his home. It happened to be his Fiftieth Birthday yesterday, and quite a few guests stayed the night at his residence. We had no choice but to bring them all to the county office. Master has been questioning them all morning..."

"A Murder Case!"

Li Nuo's spirits jolted at once upon hearing that.

A mere theft case had given him six extra days to live.

If he could solve a Murder Case, wouldn't he soar straight into the heavens?

With that thought, he took three steps as two and nearly ran through the crowd to the entrance of the Court Hall. Seeing that the Magistrate of Chang'an's Court Rapper was about to fall, Li Nuo thought he had already found the murderer. His heart tightened, and he shouted, "Stop! Leave it to me!"