[Cloud Rolling Saber: Forged from flowing-cloud iron, it was tough and sharp, able to cut through iron and slice gold with ease. 10 Contribution Points.] [Shadow Severing Step: A movement technique. Once mastered, the body moved like a phantom, darting about while leaving only severed shadows behind. 3 Contribution Points.] [Eagle Claw Technique: Fierce and ruthless, its strikes swift and tearing. Using a unique method, it tempered both hands until, at its peak, one could rip apart the flesh and hide of demons with bare hands. 30 Contribution Points.]
Besides the Meridian Unblocking Pills, there were plenty of other items on the list.
Weapons, martial arts, and even a unique reward caught Shen Lin's eye.
[The Youzhou Demon Suppression Bureau Vice Commander will make one move. 1000 Contribution Points.]
After mulling it over for a while, Shen Lin sighed. "Once the Demon Suppression Bureau sends word, help me choose two Meridian Unblocking Pills and the Shadow Severing Step technique. If there are any points left over, you can keep them."
"Yes!"
Sun Zhi nodded and got to his feet.
Watching him leave, Shen Lin seemed lost in thought. He murmured, "Whether it's martial arts or Meridian Unblocking Pills, I'll need plenty of demons. Head Constable Sun, don't let me down...",
After a whole night of fussing, the sky was gradually brightening. Shen Lin didn't rest, but took out the Meridian Unblocking Pill Miss Zijing had given him earlier.
He studied it carefully and compared it with the Meridian Unblocking Pill he had received from Sun Zhi. Once he confirmed it was fine, Shen Lin drew a deep breath and began his simulation again.
He had already simulated the Qingqiu Body Tempering Technique to perfection, and the results had indeed been excellent.
His strengthened body could even withstand a direct blow from an iron sword.
Now it was time to break through the two meridians associated with the Qingqiu Body Tempering Technique.
[In the first year, with the help of two Meridian Unblocking Pills, the Qi and Blood Force in your body surged forward like a breaking flood, and you opened the sixth meridian in one go. You even managed to open half of the seventh.]
[In the seventy-fifth year, without the help of Meridian Unblocking Pills, you could only slowly grind away, using your Qi and Blood Force bit by bit to strike at the blocked meridian. At last, that year, you successfully opened the seventh meridian.]
[In the hundredth year, you continued simulating the Qingqiu Body Tempering Technique when a sudden insight came to you. You seemed to understand what kind of energy you needed for the next stage of body tempering. It was a special aura found everywhere between heaven and earth. If you drew it into your meridians, you would surely break through your current realm and discover a new world.
Just as you were about to break through, a sudden realization came to you from somewhere beyond. You stopped the process.]
The seventh meridian, open!
[Shen Lin] [Martial Arts Mastered: Blood Battle Saber Technique (Perfection), Wild Wind Sword Technique (Perfection), Qingqiu Body Tempering Technique (Perfection)] [Cultivation Techniques Mastered: None] [Remaining Lifespan: One Year] [Demon Lifespan: One Hundred and Eighty-Seven Years]
He had spent another hundred years of demon lifespan, yet Shen Lin was now exceptionally excited.
The insights from those hundred years flooded into his mind, sending his understanding of cultivation soaring.
This simulation had not only opened his seventh meridian and raised his Qi and Blood Force to another level, but had also shown him how to break through to Xiantian.
Now, if he focused and sensed carefully, he could feel strands of that special aura between heaven and earth. With a mere thought, he could draw it into his meridians and break through with ease.
But during the simulation, he had decisively stopped the process.
He could sense that if he broke through to Xiantian just like that, his meridians would become fixed. Aside from the seven he had already opened, he would never be able to open any of the others.
Though Shen Lin came from humble origins and, unlike Sun Zhi and the others, didn't know that it was best to open as many meridians as possible before breaking through to Xiantian, hundreds of years of simulations had given him his own insights into martial cultivation.
The more meridians one opened, the more martial arts one could master.
That was an insight he had gained from somewhere deep within.
Since he could now break through to Xiantian whenever he wished and extend his lifespan, the pressing danger was gone. Naturally, the more meridians he opened, the better.
Shen Lin took a deep breath, stood, and stretched.
His next goal was crystal clear.
He would acquire more martial arts and find the locations of the five remaining meridians.
Slaying demons would earn him demon lifespan and also let him exchange for Meridian Unblocking Pills from the Demon Suppression Bureau.
Over the next week, Shen Lin became extremely diligent, spending all day at the County Office waiting for cases.
Unfortunately, not a single case involved demons.
The biggest case he came across was a dismemberment.
At first, Shen Lin had thought a demon hiding in the county town was responsible.
But after going to great lengths to solve the case, he discovered a serial killer who had committed several murders.
Previously, whenever old unsolved cases were cracked, everyone at the County Office had praised Shen Lin.
After collecting his reward from the County Office, Shen Lin returned to the office, brewed a pot of tea, and sighed.
As expected, demons weren't something one could just stumble upon.
Otherwise, Sun Zhi wouldn't have worked with demons in the first place.
Shen Lin did know of one place where demons gathered.
He had learned the location of Black Wind Stronghold from the wolf demon in the Opening Meridians Realm.
But Black Wind Stronghold was the biggest demon lair in Qiulin County.
It was full of powerful demons. If Shen Lin went there alone, he'd be delivering himself right to their door.
Yet reporting it to the County Office and joining forces with everyone in Qiulin County to slay the demons wasn't very practical either.
Putting aside how many demons Shen Lin would get to kill if they worked together, many people at the County Office had private ties to those demons, based on what he'd seen so far.
He feared that if he reported Black Wind Stronghold's location, the demons would have moved somewhere else by the time he turned around.
It wasn't as if that had never happened.
Shen Lin remembered one time when a constable at the County Office accidentally discovered Black Wind Stronghold's location and reported it.
But when a large force arrived, all they found was an empty stronghold.
Not long after, that constable was found dead by suicide, with thirteen knife wounds in his back.
There had to be someone in the upper ranks of the County Office colluding with those demons.
As Shen Lin mulled it over, his ears suddenly twitched, and he turned toward the door.
A moment later, a soft knock sounded.
"Brother Shen..."
"Come in, Head Constable Sun!"
Before the other man could ask, Shen Lin spoke first.
He had recognized Sun Zhi from the sound of his footsteps.
Sun Zhi pushed the door open and walked in.
The moment Shen Lin saw the wooden box in his hands, his eyes lit up.
"The Demon Suppression Bureau's reward came through!"
Sun Zhi's words confirmed Shen Lin's guess. He eagerly opened the wooden box.
The Meridian Unblocking Pills and Shadow Severing Step were finally his!
Seeing Shen Lin's excitement, Sun Zhi tactfully bowed and started to back away. Just as he was about to leave, Shen Lin called out to him.
"Head Constable Sun, wait a moment."
Shen Lin smiled at him. "You've been recovering for quite a while. I imagine your injuries are almost healed, right? Can we get back to our great work of slaying demons?"
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