Promise, Rebirth

Shen Yi grabbed Niu Ben by the ankle and dragged him from the doorway to the bed as if hauling a sack, leaving a long trail of blood beneath him.

Niu Ben kept making muffled whimpering sounds.

Tears flooded his bull-like eyes as though a dam had burst, as if he were begging Shen Yi for mercy.

Shen Yi ignored him and muttered in a low voice:

"You like whipping people, huh?"

Smack!

The whip came down, and Niu Ben suddenly curled up and rolled about.

Smack!

"You wanted to try something special, huh?"

Niu Ben continued floundering on the spot.

Smack!

"Is this special enough now? Enough of a surprise?"

Shen Yi roared through gritted teeth, venting his fury.

The whip in his hand lashed down again and again, turning Niu Ben's pale, fatty flesh into bloody welts.

After beating him for a while.

Niu Ben's body no longer flailed wildly. His face had gone the color of wilted vegetables, and he was already at death's door.

Shen Yi planted a foot on Niu Ben's face.

He reached out and pulled out the Wild Goose Saber.

Niu Ben no longer had the strength to scream. Trembling, he said:

"Y-you... how... are you... so strong..."

Squelch!

Shen Yi paid him no heed and chopped off Niu Ben's other arm with one stroke. He muttered, "I swore an oath. Scum like you..."

"When you fall into my hands..."

Squelch! Shen Yi brought the blade down once more, severing Niu Ben's left leg. "I will definitely have you..."

Another stroke, and his right leg fell away.

"...torn apart by five horses!"

Shen Yi spoke through clenched teeth. Raising his blade for the final strike, he cut Niu Ben's head clean off.

Huff.

He let out a long breath.

It was finally over.

Shen Yi looked at the floor, where blood flowed like a river amid utter chaos.

He actually felt a little sick.

Over the past half month, he had seen beggars frozen or starved to death by the roadside, but this was the first time he had killed someone since crossing over.

In truth, Niu Ben had already died when Shen Yi chopped off his right leg. Then Shen Yi heard the system notification:

Slain an Entry Realm martial artist. Obtained secluded cultivation time: eight months.

But Shen Yi had to fulfill his promise to tear Niu Ben apart with five horses, and fulfill the promise he had made to himself as well!

He had to adapt to this cannibalistic chaotic age as quickly as possible. From this day onward, Shen Yi would cut off his past self and become a new man!

Shen Yi walked to the wardrobe in the corner of the bedroom.

After opening it, he rummaged through it for a while.

He picked out a relatively clean-looking red gauze dress.

He tore off a strip and used it to bandage his left hand, which had been punctured when he grabbed the whip barehanded, stopping the bleeding.

Then he sank his consciousness into the light screen in his mind:

Host: Shen Yi

Cultivation: Entry Realm

Martial arts: Wind Severing Saber Technique (Hall-Entering), Bone Dislocation Hand (Beginner)

Secluded cultivation: 1 year

Having resolved the immediate crisis.

Shen Yi could finally calm down and think about the system, martial arts, and the path he would take in the future.

He definitely could not return to the Pacification Office.

He, Niu Ben, Xu Ping, and Liu Fang had been one unit. With the other three missing and only him returning, he would be walking straight into a trap.

Naturally, he could not remain in the city either.

Though the imperial court was muddleheaded, military preparedness lax, and corrupt officials as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river.

The Pacification Office still carried considerable prestige, and it was highly skilled at searching for and apprehending people. If he stayed in the city, the Brocade Guard would find him sooner or later.

Fortunately, the Pacification Office was not the sole dominant force in this world.

Out in the countryside, gangs and great sects stood in abundance. Bandits and mountain brigands gathered in forests, while wandering heroes wielding swords through chaotic times were praised again and again.

Free and unrestrained!

That was the life Shen Yi yearned for!

And what Shen Yi could rely on now was his system and the martial arts he already possessed.

At present, he knew two sets of martial arts.

One was the Wind Severing Blade, and the other was the Bone Dislocation Hand.

Both martial arts were mandatory for joining the Pacification Office, taught by dedicated instructors responsible for passing on techniques.

Though the moves of both martial arts were simple.

They were easy to learn but difficult to master.

It was said that these techniques had been personally created by the General of Divine Might, who had once swept across the realm, so that soldiers could quickly get started with them.

At the same time, training them would allow one to firmly lay a solid foundation.

Later, the Pacification Office obtained these two martial arts through an exchange and likewise made them mandatory introductory techniques.

Their quality as martial arts revealed the clue as well.

The Wind Severing Blade and Bone Dislocation Hand were both Second-Class Realm martial arts. While they could not compare to innate-grade techniques or supreme arts that pointed directly toward the Heavenly Man Realm.

They were not worthless, low-grade trash either. Just as the Pacification Office had said when teaching them, they were well suited for building foundations.

For Shen Yi's current level, these two techniques would be enough for him for a while.

Of course, that only relieved the urgent danger before his eyes.

As shown by the system, although Shen Yi's Wind Severing Saber Technique had reached the Hall-Entering stage, his blood and qi coursing like a dragon and his blade swift as the wind.

His cultivation was still only at the Entry Realm.

Shen Yi first needed an internal cultivation manual and had to cultivate internal energy before he could reach the threshold of the Entry Realm in terms of his foundation.

Only then could he truly step onto the path of martial arts, eventually breaking through the innate, becoming a grandmaster, and even shattering the void.

According to what the Pacification Office instructors had previously taught.

There were twelve realms in the path of martial arts toward the divine.

The five Acquired realms: Entry Realm, Third-Rate, Second-Class Realm, First-Class Realm, and Acquired Realm.

The four Innate realms: Innate, Outer Aura, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster.

The three Heavenly Man realms: Heaven-Human Unity, Terrestrial Immortal, and the mysterious, unfathomable Shattering the Void Realm.

However, that was merely a classification based on actual cultivation.

Cultivation did not represent combat strength. The outcome of a battle depended not only on the depth of one's cultivation...

It also relied on weapons and techniques, the mutual generation and restraint of forces, experience against enemies, one's state of mind, and talent for life-and-death combat, among other things.

It was rare, but not impossible, for an Entry Realm martial artist to kill one at the Entry Realm, for a First-Class Realm fighter to defeat an Acquired Realm one, or for an Acquired Realm fighter to suppress an Innate Realm one.

Including internal cultivation, the level of comprehension for any martial art could also be roughly divided into five stages: Beginner, Minor Accomplishment, Hall-Entering, Major Accomplishment, and Perfection.

With Shen Yi's current Hall-Entering Wind Severing Saber Technique, it was not impossible for him to kill an Entry Realm expert.

But in any case.

An internal cultivation inheritance was indispensable in the long run.

The Pacification Office certainly had such things.

But they were not for constables like Shen Yi and the others. Only Black Guard of Squad Leader rank or above were qualified to receive instruction in them.

At that thought, inspiration suddenly flashed through Shen Yi's mind.

He immediately went to search through the clothes Niu Ben had taken off. Niu Ben's uncle was Squad Leader Cui Kui, so perhaps...

Yet Shen Yi was soon disappointed.

Aside from a pouch of copper coins and broken silver.

Niu Ben had no other valuable belongings on him.

Thinking about it, who would carry martial arts manuals around when going out to play with women? Niu Ben was not the diligent type.

But Shen Yi's heart stirred.

As the saying went, one could not catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den.

He immediately dragged Liu Fang's corpse from outside the alley into the main house, then searched Xu Ping and Liu Fang for silver and pocketed it all.

Then Shen Yi locked the main house and courtyard gate tightly, tossing the key into the roadside drainage canal.

That way.

From now until the matter came to light tomorrow.

He had time to move freely through the city.

Shen Yi immediately took advantage of the night.

He hurried back beneath the moon.

Shen Yi and the others were stationed at the Pacification Office's Southern District branch, where every constable was provided with a single-person dormitory.

And Shen Yi was going to Niu Ben's residence.

If Cui Kui had secretly given his nephew extra instruction, then the manual had to be hidden in Niu Ben's room.

He entered through the branch office gates.

The old gatekeeper was sleeping soundly in his little room, saving Shen Yi the trouble of explaining himself.

In the dead of night, not a soul could be seen within the branch office.

One hand resting on his saber hilt, Shen Yi raced toward Niu Ben's residence, making only faint rustling sounds.

Before long.

Shen Yi arrived at a small independent courtyard.

Ordinarily, Pacification Office captains were not qualified to live in independent courtyards.

Of course, Niu Ben had connections in the branch office. This showed that Cui Kui truly treated his nephew well.

With a creak, Shen Yi pushed open the door and entered.

He raised his head to look at the deep night sky, then headed straight into the largest central main house.

He began searching carefully.