Breakthrough and Cultivation Resources

With the cultivation manual the old man had given him, Shen Lin hurried home.

Although his predecessor had earned a fair amount of money through both legitimate and shady means, he had spent most of it helping young ladies in need. As a result, his home was rather shabby.

Weeds covered the courtyard, a chunk was missing from the gate, and the rooms were a complete mess.

Shen Lin had gotten a substantial sum from the Mantis Demon. Even after handing some of it out as compensation to the families of his fallen comrades, he still had close to a thousand taels of silver on him.

That was more than enough to move into a large, three-courtyard residence and even hire a few maids.

But at the moment, he had no time to think about any of that. His mind was entirely on cultivation.

Sitting on the steps, he opened the martial arts manual the old man had given him.

Wild Wind Sword Technique

Stir the winds and raise the waves, and bloodshed is sure to follow!

I stood atop a mountain peak and observed the invisible gale, then grasped the way of the wind and created this sword technique. Each strike may slash, thrust, chop, or sweep, its force like a sudden storm, leaving the enemy no time to defend.

With this sword technique, I have slain countless foes and never suffered defeat.

Judging by the introduction on the first page, the Wild Wind Sword Technique seemed to have an extraordinary origin. It was clearly a first-rate martial art.

But beneath that passage, a line of crooked writing dragged its grandeur straight into the gutter.

<What a load of crap. Didn't I kill you? This sword technique's nothing special. Don't learn it!>

Shen Lin shook his head, speechless.

Clearly, the creator of this undefeated sword technique had met his first defeat at the hands of his opponent—and died by that opponent's hand. What was more, his killer thought little of the technique.

Oh, well. It wasn't as if he had any better techniques right now.

Shen Lin shook his head and turned the page, studying the manual carefully.

After a long while, he let out a breath and closed the book.

At the same time, the system's voice rang out in his mind.

[You have learned the martial art Wild Wind Sword Technique. Would you like to spend lifespan to simulate its development?]

Shen Lin hesitated, but in the end decided to give it a try.

After all, he had already pushed the Blood Battle Saber Technique to its limit. To take it further, he would have to improve it and create a new technique of his own.

Who knew how many years of demon lifespan that would take?

As for the Wild Wind Sword Technique, Master Yuan had said it was somewhat better than the Blood Battle Saber Technique, so it had to offer him some benefit.

As he pondered, he focused his thoughts, and the panel unfolded rapidly before his eyes.

[Year one: You begin practicing the Wild Wind Sword Technique. The martial experience you gained from practicing the Blood Battle Saber Technique proves invaluable, and you make rapid progress. In just one year, you reach the minor mastery stage.]

[Year five: You swing your sword without pause, feeling the breeze stirred by each stroke. You seem to sense the creator's thoughts. Wild Wind Sword Technique, great mastery!]

[Year twelve: As you practice through wind and rain, the sword in your hand seems to become one with you. Each stroke is like a howling gale. Wild Wind Sword Technique, perfection!]

[Year fifteen: After perfecting the sword technique, you continue to practice and discover that your qi and blood are gathering at specific points in your body. Drawing on your experience with the Blood Battle Saber Technique, you realize these must be new meridians.

After careful observation, you discover that the Wild Wind Sword Technique involves four meridians. Two of them were already opened while you practiced the Blood Battle Saber Technique, but you still find two new ones.]

[Year forty-eight: You successfully open one meridian. Your qi and blood surge again, and your strength rises to another level.]

[Year fifty-two: You try to open a fifth meridian in one go, but even as your qi and blood batter against it, the blocked meridian remains as immovable as a mountain.]

Wild Wind Sword Technique, perfection!

Shen Lin slowly opened his eyes, excitement shining in them.

Although he had used up all the demon lifespan he gained from killing the Ape Demon, his rewards were substantial.

Different techniques corresponded to different meridians. The Wild Wind Sword Technique was more advanced than the Blood Battle Saber Technique and involved four meridians.

Two of them overlapped with the Blood Battle Saber Technique's meridians, but he had still discovered two new ones and opened one of them. Shen Lin was more than satisfied.

At that moment, he felt his qi and blood surging through him, and strength coursed through his entire body.

His strength had increased greatly, but that brought a new problem with it.

Shen Lin frowned, thinking over the last line on the system panel.

Opening the fifth meridian had become even harder. With his current qi and blood, each attempt made little progress.

He estimated that at this rate, it would take at least a hundred years to open the fifth meridian.

A hundred years. He would have to kill two more demons like the Ape Demon from before.

He could only hope that Sun Zhi would prove useful.

He woke early the next morning.

Warriors who had developed qi and blood had abundant energy and did not need much sleep to recover.

But Shen Lin had so much on his mind that he had still slept poorly. With dark circles under his eyes, he got up, bought a few buns on the street, and ate them before heading to the County Office.

"Chief Qian, have there been any leads on demons lately?"

He found the head of the Criminal Affairs Office, hoping to find some demons to kill as soon as possible.

Chief Qian shook his head. "Where would we find so many demons? Sigh..."

He sighed as he looked over the case files in his hands, his face clouded with worry.

Then he looked up at Shen Lin tentatively. "Brother Shen, there's a serious case here. Would you be interested in..."

If Shen Lin were still the man he used to be, Chief Qian wouldn't have been so courteous. He would simply have assigned him the work.

But now that Shen Lin had become a warrior, even though he was still under Chief Qian's jurisdiction, his strength demanded respect. Chief Qian had to discuss matters with him first.

Curious, Shen Lin asked, "What case? Is it related to demons?"

"Not demons, a Flying Thief!" Chief Qian shook his head. "Somewhere along the way, a master burglar came to town. Several wealthy households have already had their valuables stolen."

"Why not just send a few constables to investigate? It's only a thief."

Chief Qian grimaced at Shen Lin's question. "The problem is, this isn't an ordinary thief. The households that were robbed are all prominent families in Qiulin County, and they have plenty of guards.

"Take the Wang Family and the Zhao Family, for instance. Both have warriors of their own.

"Last night, the thief hit the Lu Family. They're one of the five wealthiest families in the county and have three warrior guards. But this morning, they discovered one of those warriors had gone missing. They searched for ages before finding his body—with a single sword thrust through his throat!"

At that, Shen Lin understood why Chief Qian wanted him to take charge.

This Flying Thief had to be a warrior who had developed qi and blood.

Ordinary constables really couldn't handle him.

Unfortunately, Shen Lin had no interest in cases unrelated to demons.

After politely declining Chief Qian, he was about to leave when something occurred to him. "Why not ask one of the other squad leaders? Head Constable Sun, for instance—hasn't he been free lately?"

"Old Wu needs to recover from his injuries, and I sent the others out of the county. Your Head Constable Sun just received cultivation resources from the Demon Suppression Bureau in the provincial capital. He rushed home to start cultivating."

Shen Lin paused, but his expression did not change. "I see. Then I'll be off, Chief Qian."

After walking out of the room, he stopped and slowly turned to look to one side.

That was the direction of Sun Zhi's home.

"Cultivation resources... Ha."