The next day.
In a private room on the second floor of Laifu Restaurant.
Chen Fan and Lu Xuenning sat together, eating and chatting.
"I've gotten some information about the matter you asked me to look into yesterday."
"The owner of the separate courtyard near the County Magistrate's Residence is a wealthy merchant surnamed Wang from Longyuan Prefecture City. He deals in medicinal herbs, and Ping'an County is close to Black Mountain, which produces them in abundance. So he often comes to Ping'an County to buy herbs. After a while, he bought a separate courtyard as a place to rest."
"But Master Wang hasn't been back to Ping'an County in several years, so the courtyard has been left vacant."
Lu Xuenning explained.
"So that means nobody should be living there now, right?"
Chen Fan asked.
"At any rate, Master Wang hasn't put the courtyard up for sale or rent through a broker. Whether he's given someone else permission to stay there, though, I don't know."
Lu Xuenning thought for a moment, then replied.
"In that case, would you be interested in checking out that courtyard tonight?"
Chen Fan glanced at Lu Xuenning and made the suggestion.
He could go alone, of course, but having someone along meant they could watch each other's backs. He wasn't so arrogant as to think himself invincible throughout Ping'an County.
"No problem."
Lu Xuenning nodded.
"By the way, do you know how powerful the Black Mountain Three Demons are—the Tiger Demon Mountain Lord, Wolf Demon Howling Moon, and Ape Demon Three Eyes that Constable Liu mentioned yesterday?"
Chen Fan asked. If even Constable Liu and Jinyiwei Zongqi Officer Li Mo were so wary of the three demons, then they must be formidable. With Ping'an County's current strength, it would be difficult to stand against these three Great Demons.
"I don't know their exact strength, but wild demons without a legacy can hardly break through to the Spirit Aperture Realm. At most, they can cultivate to Spirit Concealment Realm Great Perfection."
"And since demons come in different kinds, even those at the same Spirit Concealment Realm Peak can vary enormously in strength. But in general, a Human Race Martial Artist at the same realm isn't their match."
"Compared to the Demon Race, the Human Race is born with weaker bodies. Unless a Martial Artist is a genius who has mastered powerful Cultivation Methods and martial skills, it's very difficult to defeat a demon at the same realm."
"So the Black Mountain Three Demons are each a match for a Human Race Martial Artist in the Spirit Aperture Realm. No one in Ping'an County can take on all three, which is why the people in the Government Office and the Jinyiwei fear them so much!"
Lu Xuenning spoke with a touch of exasperation.
Ping'an County was a small border county with little strength to begin with, and it lay close to Black Mountain, with Three Great Demons lurking nearby. No wonder the Government Office and the Jinyiwei had to collude with them. If they'd tried to fight the demons head-on, they would have been killed long ago.
But the three demons didn't dare slaughter Ping'an County at will, either. Ping'an County belonged to Longyuan Prefecture. If the demons wiped out the entire county, Longyuan Prefecture would surely send a Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artist to hunt them down and kill them.
For now, they and Ping'an County were locked in a delicate balance. Under these circumstances, Longyuan Prefecture wouldn't send anyone to eradicate the demons.
After all, Longyuan Prefecture had its own Demonic Creatures to suppress. Every Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artist was a strategic resource, not to be deployed lightly!
"A match for Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artists?"
Chen Fan pondered in silence.
The Great Zhou Dynasty strictly controlled Cultivation Methods. Ordinary people had no way of obtaining one.
To get a Cultivation Method, one had to join a martial sect, pledge oneself to a Millennial Noble Family, pay a hefty fee to become an apprentice at a Martial Arts School, or join one of the Great Zhou Dynasty's official organizations.
Martial sects prized talent and hoarded their Cultivation Methods. They wouldn't impart them lightly to anyone but an inner disciple of spotless family background.
Millennial Noble Families relied on blood ties. Even if you pledged yourself to one, you'd have little chance of obtaining a Cultivation Method unless you were born into the family.
As for learning at a Martial Arts School, it took a long time: three years doing odd jobs, three years as an apprentice, and three years before you could graduate. You'd need at least a decade before you learned a Cultivation Method.
The annual fees were astronomical. Ordinary families couldn't afford them, and neither could most middle-class families.
Besides, most of the martial arts taught at Martial Arts Schools were extremely crude Cultivation Methods.
They might teach nothing more than strength training or health exercises for cultivating the body and mind. They might only teach a method for training the skin. In any case, they were all crude.
If Body Tempering Fist was a Cultivation Method found on every street corner, then the martial arts taught at Martial Arts Schools didn't even deserve to be called Cultivation Methods. They were low-grade rubbish.
The Great Zhou Dynasty ruled over all directions and was far more powerful than the Millennial Noble Families and martial sects. Those powers all depended on the Great Zhou Dynasty for their survival. The Great Zhou Dynasty was the greatest martial sect, and the Zhou Imperial Family was the greatest noble family.
Therefore, within the Great Zhou Dynasty's sphere of influence, joining an official Great Zhou organization was the best way to learn martial arts and obtain Cultivation Methods.
There were several ways to obtain martial arts Cultivation Methods through the Great Zhou Dynasty's official organizations: join a Government Office, enlist in the army, or join a privileged organization like the Jinyiwei.
Among them, privileged organizations such as the Jinyiwei, Dragon Guard, Nine Gates, Censorate, Imperial Observatory, and Four Bureaus of East, West, South, and North offered the easiest access to Cultivation Methods.
Take Chen Fan, for example. He'd joined the Jinyiwei at fifteen, and even without earning a single Merit Point, he could cultivate the complete Spirit Concealment Realm Cultivation Method, Body Tempering Fist.
After accumulating Merit Points for half a year, he could exchange them for another martial art, Draw Sword Slash.
That was practically impossible in other official organizations.
Most other official organizations made you work before you ate. If you hadn't earned merit, they absolutely wouldn't grant you a Cultivation Method.
The Jinyiwei might be generous, but their work was the kind that had you living by the blade. And the martial arts they learned within the Jinyiwei couldn't be taught to anyone else without permission.
This oath was sworn when they received a Cultivation Method. If they received a profound martial arts legacy, they might even have a restriction placed on them to prevent the method from being passed on.
Besides, the Jinyiwei Baihu Office in all of Ping'an County only had these two martial arts manuals: Body Tempering Fist and Draw Sword Slash. Other counties were probably the same.
Even the Cultivation Methods taught to constables by the Government Office were these two.
To exchange them for more advanced Cultivation Methods, one had to go to Longyuan Prefecture. They said that Longyuan Prefecture had Spirit Aperture Realm Cultivation Methods that could help Martial Artists at Spirit Concealment Realm Great Perfection open their own acupoints, connect with the world's primordial energy, and become Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artists.
Chen Fan had already cultivated to Spirit Concealment Realm Great Perfection, but without a Spirit Aperture Realm Cultivation Method, he couldn't break through.
However, he'd already used deduction to turn Body Tempering Fist into Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc Fist. It was still a Spirit Concealment Realm Cultivation Method, but it was far more powerful than Body Tempering Fist.
If he started cultivating Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc Fist from scratch, he could still improve his strength. If he couldn't advance vertically, he could broaden his strength horizontally. That was another way to grow stronger!
"Head Constable Lu, do you have a Spirit Aperture Realm Cultivation Method?"
Chen Fan asked.
"I do."
"But it's bound by a restriction, so I can't teach it to you. You're Jinyiwei, so you know how these Cultivation Method legacies work."
"What, are you already thinking about breaking through to the Spirit Aperture Realm?"
"With your talent and strength, once we've cleared all the Demonic Creatures from Ping'an County together, you'll certainly be promoted to Jinyiwei Baihu."
"By then, you'll have no trouble using your Merit Points within the Jinyiwei to exchange for a Spirit Aperture Realm Cultivation Method at the Longyuan Prefecture Jinyiwei Commander's Office."
"If you can't wait, just show them your talent and strength. It's not impossible to get an advance on a Spirit Aperture Realm Cultivation Method from the Jinyiwei Commander's Office."
"After all, our Great Zhou Dynasty gives martial arts geniuses special consideration. No one will deliberately trip you up when it comes to advancing your realm."
Lu Xuenning looked at Chen Fan and spoke.
Before you continue