Qin Family Leads by Example

The man wore the uniform of the guard corps.

His steps were steady as he walked, clearly a martial artist who had entered the realm.

His hand carried a black cloth-wrapped bundle.

Qin Jiu's gaze fell upon it.

His expression shifted slightly.

"Put the thing in the pavilion for now."

"Huang Jing, it's your turn next."

He wasn't in a hurry to take the Yin Underworld Soil back; instead, he turned to look at Huang Jing beside him.

The latter, hearing this, glanced at Qin Xudong.

"Go all out."

Qin Xudong seemed to know what he wanted to ask and said in a deep voice, "The family head is born with divine strength. If I didn't have such a deep reserve of inner energy, I would have lost the moment we first clashed."

He didn't hold back these words.

If Qin Jiu's strength hadn't reached that level, it would be one thing.

But to still underestimate him now would be a true disrespect to Qin Jiu.

Huang Jing listened, his expression turning serious.

"Family head, forgive my offense."

He carried his blade before Qin Jiu and bowed, then took a deep breath. The thick blood energy within him roiled, and a strange force transmitted to the long blade, causing it to emit a clear, ringing hum on its own.

Seeing this, Qin Jiu let out a slight breath.

He dared not show the slightest contempt.

Both of these men were martial artists nearing the Second Refining stage, their inner energy extremely dense. Although Qin Xudong had seemed to be on the defensive earlier, that was only because he hadn't taken the fight seriously from the start, losing the initiative in the exchange.

And now, Huang Jing.

He was like a starving tiger descending the mountain, his aura turning ferocious to the extreme.

"Wum—"

Without any warning.

Huang Jing's long blade suddenly swept out.

The blade light was chilling, seizing the soul.

Qin Jiu circulated his blood energy and force, his knotted muscles instantly swelling against his clothes, and he met the attack head-on without the slightest thought of dodging.

"Clang, clang—"

The two exchanged over a dozen moves in an instant.

Huang Jing's expression shifted dramatically.

Even with his mental preparation, under this direct collision, the hand holding the blade trembled uncontrollably.

It wasn't from the shock of inner energy.

But from an overwhelming, irresistible brute force.

Just as Qin Xudong had said, if he hadn't possessed such deep inner energy, his weapon would have been shaken from his hand in the very first clash.

"Wait..."

Huang Jing's eyelids suddenly twitched.

He noticed that from the blade opposite him, a faint force was traveling along the weapon, fiercely plunging into his wrist.

"This is... inner energy?!"

Huang Jing's pupils contracted sharply.

He hurriedly channeled his own inner energy to neutralize it.

But in that moment of distraction.

Qin Jiu suddenly closed in to three feet, reversed his long blade, and struck Huang Jing's wrist with the pommel. At the same time, he delivered an Iron Mountain Lean into Huang Jing's shoulder, sending him flying backward, his long blade knocked from his hand.

"It seems I'm not worth Master Huang's full effort."

Looking at Huang Jing sitting on the ground, Qin Jiu spoke flatly, his words carrying a hint of sarcasm.

Huang Jing, hearing this.

Immediately flushed red with embarrassment.

He hadn't expected that a single small opening would be seized by Qin Jiu, leading to his clean defeat in less than half an hour of combat.

"Enough."

"You two come back tomorrow."

"But I don't want to see this happen again."

Qin Jiu said calmly, then turned his head to look at Wang Yue: "Uncle Wang, give each of them a bottle of Bone Forging Pills."

"Yes."

Wang Yue took out two bottles of pills.

He handed one bottle to each of them, then first dismissed the two men.

Afterward, he looked at Qin Jiu.

"How does the young master feel?"

"I can't put it into words."

Qin Jiu shook his head slightly.

The exchange with the two Second Refining martial artists just now—to be honest, he hadn't felt much. First, the two weren't in good condition, mostly forced into a hasty fight, so it was hard to say how much of their true skill they'd used. Second, with the power boost from the Snake Demon Python Tendon, techniques seemed to have become... less important?

He furrowed his brows slightly.

Wang Yue smiled at the sight and said: "In truth, most life-or-death fights are just like what you faced earlier."

"No one knows the other's true strength."

"At the first move, you only aim to kill."

"That's why people in the martial world don't bother with rules. As long as you can kill, whether it's ganging up, poisoning, shooting from the shadows, or any other dirty trick, nothing is off the table. As for techniques, they only become the deciding factor when two fighters of the same level meet. Take this old servant—whether against Huang Jing and his companion, or a Three Refinements martial master, one punch is enough to kill."

"No need for any techniques."

"In fact, training and killing are two different things."

"Martial arts combat methods are just techniques passed down by predecessors for killing. In this regard, the young master still needs to hone himself carefully. Those two are an excellent whetstone. As for actual combat experience, no amount of talk compares to seeing real blood."

Hearing these words.

Qin Jiu nodded thoughtfully.

He could grasp Wang Yue's meaning—essentially, he shouldn't be bound by techniques. Whether it was overwhelming force overcoming skill or shooting from the shadows, the ultimate goal was to kill.

After all, in a one-on-one fight, anything could happen.

Like Huang Jing's distraction just now.

He could have been dealt with in a more efficient way...

His eyes gradually lit up.

At the Qin Mansion Martial Arts Arena.

Qin Xudong returned with a dark face the whole way.

Huang Jing grinned through the pain and said: "Brother, what's with you? Why the long face all the way?"

"What do you think?"

Qin Xudong gritted his teeth: "I told you so clearly."

"Why did you keep underestimating him?"

"Oh, come on, brother."

Huang Jing said helplessly: "Do you really think I wasn't taking it seriously? Do you know..."

He spoke while glancing around, then lowered his voice: "Do you know that the family head has already generated inner force and stepped into Second Refining? You didn't make that clear beforehand, so when I went up, I was caught off guard by his inner force. I had to divert my own inner force to neutralize it, and that gave the family head an opening."

"What?!"

Qin Xudong looked up in shock.

Then a wave of dread washed over him.

His mouth hung open, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Think it over yourself."

Huang Jing patted him on the shoulder and said: "I still have to handle the tasks the family head assigned the other day, so I won't stick around to chat with you."

With that, he shook his head, hummed a little tune, and walked out of the Qin Mansion gate.

Then he swayed his way toward the Patrol Office.

The former Patrol Office.

Now had a new plaque hanging above its door.

Huang Jing stepped inside and, familiar with the place, went straight to an office where a figure was hunched over a desk, recording something.

"Brother Feng Yuan..."

"You're here?"

The man looked up, a warm smile spreading across his face.

He was none other than Feng Yuan, the Scribe of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

"Brother Huang, wait a moment—I'll have someone brew a pot of hot tea, and we can chat properly for a while."

"No need. The matter is pressing."

Huang Jing raised a hand to stop him. "The family head is still waiting for a reply."

"Fair enough."

Feng Yuan gestured for him to sit.

Then he took out the documents, his expression turning solemn.

"Yesterday, through the County Magistrate and Commander Fu's review, Qin Jingming and the other two Qin family martial artists have all been inducted into the Demon Suppression Bureau. And the County Office, considering that the Qin family set an example in the demon suppression efforts, has decreed that from now on, the Qin family need no longer allocate personnel to our bureau."