The One-Year Term Nears Its End

Liu Chang's death.

It made Shen Changqing fully understand that the mortality rate within the Demon Suppression Bureau was no joke.

The scent of blood that had once seemed somewhat distant from him now lingered around him, impossible to disperse.

Within the Demon Suppression Bureau,

other Demon Exorcists could die, and Liu Chang could die as well.

Though the Meridian Passage Realm was not weak, before life and death, it had no right to decide anything.

For a time,

the pressure on Shen Changqing greatly increased.

After returning from the Demon Suppression Prison, he simply stopped going to the Archive Pavilion. He returned directly to his residence and began a new round of secluded cultivation.

Over ten months,

Shen Changqing had entered the Archive Pavilion no fewer than fifty or sixty times.

He had memorized all the materials worth reading and all the martial arts worth learning until he knew them by heart.

What remained

held no value for further study.

Unless he could enter the second floor of the Archive Pavilion.

But only official Demon Exorcists were qualified to enter the Archive Pavilion's second floor. Probationary Demon Exorcists could only circle around on the first floor.

With the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art, Pure Yang Art, Seven-Kill Saber Art, and Iron Sand Palm—four martial arts in all—Shen Changqing felt that was more or less enough.

After all, a person's energy was limited.

Being able to focus on several martial arts at once already occupied all one's time.

However, the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had already broken through to the unprecedented fifteenth level. Further progress could not be achieved through bitter cultivation alone; it could only be advanced through Kill Value.

That being the case,

Shen Changqing only needed to cultivate three martial arts.

Among them,

he prioritized the Pure Yang Art.

Practice techniques but not qi, and you would reach old age with nothing to show for it.

True qi was the foundation of one's realm and the source of a Demon Exorcist's strength.

If one's true qi was powerful enough, one could beat others to death barehanded.

Conversely,

the Seven-Kill Saber Art and Iron Sand Palm were both auxiliary methods in disguise.

"Within two months, the Pure Yang Art must break through to the seventh level. It would be best if it could reach the eighth. The second level of the Seven-Kill Saber Art is nearly my limit; without actual combat, it will be difficult to improve further.

"As for the Iron Sand Palm, it still has some room to rise."

Shen Changqing made a plan for his future cultivation.

For now, he would first break through in the Pure Yang Art. Then he could make another breakthrough in Iron Sand Palm as well.

The Seven-Kill Saber Art

was a martial art centered on actual combat. It was divided into seven levels, each successive level adding considerable power.

But without real combat as a foundation, reaching the second level through bitter cultivation alone was already no easy feat.

As for Iron Sand Palm, Shen Changqing was confident he could improve it.

After making his decision,

he remained in his small courtyard. Unless necessary, he did not take a single step outside.

During the first month,

Jiang Zuo came by several times.

His purpose was merely to issue assignments, and the two did not speak much.

Shen Changqing was unfamiliar with Jiang Zuo, and he was not the warm and outgoing sort, so he would not take the initiative to chat with him.

That newly appointed manager of the Yellow Division Demon Exorcist Court seemed to be the same.

Therefore,

neither of them was much for empty talk.

It was only after Jiang Zuo came to issue assignments more frequently that the two gradually became more acquainted.

Once they were familiar enough,

Shen Changqing deliberately asked about the cause of Liu Chang's death and received the answer from Jiang Zuo.

Not only that,

he also learned some other information from Jiang Zuo.

"A Baleful-Rank Specter!"

Shen Changqing murmured softly.

The thing that had killed Liu Chang was a Baleful-Rank Specter. Baleful-Rank Specters stood above Grievance-Rank Specters and were even more powerful existences.

In the 382nd year of Great Qin, in the second month,

specters brought chaos to the world, forming a vast natural calamity that left living beings suffering and dying everywhere.

To stabilize the situation,

the Demon Suppression Bureau dispatched numerous Demon Exorcists to various places to quell the disasters. For a time, many specters were suppressed, preventing the calamity from spreading further.

Though much of the disaster had been quelled, the Demon Suppression Bureau had also paid an enormous price.

Many Demon Exorcists had died at the hands of specters. Liu Chang was one of them.

Because of this,

the Demon Suppression Bureau had developed a major shortage and had no choice but to recruit suitable people from all over to replenish its ranks.

Thinking of the many unfamiliar faces in the Yellow Division Demon Exorcist Court lately, Shen Changqing understood at once.

"If even the Demon Suppression Bureau in the capital is like this, then the Demon Suppression Bureaus elsewhere must have suffered even greater losses!" Shen Changqing sighed.

The Great Qin Demon Suppression Bureau

was the collective name for all Demon Suppression Bureaus.

In truth,

apart from the Demon Suppression Bureau in the capital, every important prefectural city throughout Great Qin had a Demon Suppression Bureau to protect peace in its region.

Great Qin's territory was vast.

If the only Demon Suppression Bureau existed in the capital, disasters in other places could not possibly be dealt with at the first opportunity.

Given how quickly demons and specters killed,

even a delay of one or two days would result in losses too immense to calculate.

For that reason,

Demon Suppression Bureaus had been established throughout Great Qin.

It was simply that the Demon Suppression Bureaus in all regions took the one in the capital as their head.

From Jiang Zuo, Shen Changqing came to understand just how dire Great Qin's situation was. A single specter calamity had caused the deaths of many Demon Exorcists.

Although he was currently only a probationary Demon Exorcist, and it seemed to have little effect on him,

in truth,

if the time came when there was no road left to retreat upon,

even probationary Demon Exorcists would have to step forward.

When the nest overturned, no egg remained intact.

If the specters truly reached an uncontrollable stage, Shen Changqing felt that he would have no chance of surviving either.

"Ha..."

With a sigh, Shen Changqing settled his mind and began another round of cultivation.

His Pure Yang Art had already broken through to the seventh level.

In other words,

Shen Changqing's realm had officially stepped from the Meridian Opening Mid-Stage into the Meridian Opening Late-Stage.

Though it was only a small breakthrough of one level,

when Shen Changqing made the breakthrough, he discovered that the seventh level of Pure Yang True Qi was far more vigorous than the sixth.

Not only that,

even in terms of quality, it had undergone a tremendous change.

Previously, when he struck a wooden post with Pure Yang True Qi, he could only leave behind a scorched palm print. But now, striking the post with Pure Yang True Qi could nearly burn straight through it.

If it were a body of flesh and blood,

Shen Changqing believed that with one blow of Pure Yang True Qi, unless one had mastered the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art to perfection, one would be crippled even if not killed.

As someone who had been in the Demon Suppression Bureau for nearly a year,

he had also figured out many things.

Take the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art, for example. Many cultivated it, but not a single person had truly cultivated the martial art to perfection.

Because bringing an external art to perfection required time that could never be accomplished in a single year.

Many probationary Demon Exorcists used the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art to build their foundations. Once the time was about right, they directly switched cultivation methods to break into the Meridian Opening Realm.

Not to mention probationary Demon Exorcists.

Even among official Demon Exorcists, Shen Changqing estimated that few would cultivate the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art to perfection.

After all, a foundational external art was not worth pouring immense effort into.

Without reaching perfection, one could never understand just how many benefits the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art could bring after it was mastered completely.

However,

if the time wasted on external arts were instead spent cultivating internal arts, one could gain quite a lot as well.

The gains and losses involved depended entirely on the individual.

Now that the Pure Yang Art had broken through to the seventh level, what Shen Changqing needed to do was continue breaking through upward.

There was not much time left.

There was no hope for the ninth level.

But he had some confidence in breaking through to the eighth.

Very soon,

a night passed.

The sun rose in the morning, driving away all darkness.

Shen Changqing deliberately walked into the courtyard. Facing the direction of the rising sun, he followed the circulation route of the Pure Yang Art and began a new round of cultivation.

"Breathe! Inhale!"

His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

Suddenly,

a faint purple glow stirred at the horizon.

Shen Changqing opened his mouth and directly swallowed the Purple Qi.

Purple Qi entered his abdomen!

At once, the Pure Yang True Qi began to tremble.

The Pure Yang Art's original circulation seemed to receive some powerful stimulation and suddenly accelerated greatly.

Rumble! Rumble!

True qi flowed through his meridians. Faintly, the sound of rushing river water rose, then surged toward a certain point.

Once!

Twice!

With every impact, Shen Changqing's face twisted slightly, as though he were enduring tremendous pain. Even his body began to tremble faintly.

As time passed,

sweat had already formed on his forehead.

Half an hour later, Shen Changqing's body suddenly shook. It was as if something had shattered, producing a faint sound.

Immediately afterward,

the sound grew louder and louder, like a rushing river.

"Phew!"

Shen Changqing opened his tightly shut eyes.

He had broken through!

The eighth level of the Pure Yang Art that had troubled him for so long had finally been broken through.

At this realm,

he was only one step away from reaching the Meridian Opening Limit.

His successful breakthrough immediately eased the mind Shen Changqing had suppressed for so long.

"Eighth level Pure Yang Art, Meridian Opening Late-Stage, plus the fifteenth level of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art—my overall strength can be considered at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm. The only thing I lack is actual combat experience!"

The most obvious benefit of mastering an external art was a massive increase in defense, while all aspects of physical ability also soared in a straight line.

Not to mention

that the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had already surpassed its thirteen-level limit and broken through to the fifteenth level.

Combined with the eighth level of the Pure Yang Art,

Shen Changqing estimated that there was a great chance he could utterly crush martial artists in the Meridian Passage Realm.

But an estimate was only an estimate.

Without putting it into practice, he could not be completely certain.

Suppressing his joy over the breakthrough, Shen Changqing looked at his panel.

Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art, fifteenth level!

Pure Yang Art, eighth level!

Seven-Kill Saber Art, second level!

Iron Sand Palm, second level!

Iron Sand Palm had five levels in total, slightly fewer than the Seven-Kill Saber Art's seven levels, but a martial art's power was determined by the level one had attained.

If Iron Sand Palm were truly brought to the fifth level of perfection, it might not necessarily be weaker than the Seven-Kill Saber Art at the seventh level of perfection.

In roughly a year's time,

he had gone from mastering not a single martial art to mastering four. It would not be an exaggeration to say that his current strength qualified him to sweep through the Meridian Opening Realm.

Shen Changqing was quite satisfied with this.

"A probationary Demon Suppression Bureau envoy only gets one year of leeway. If I remember correctly, it has been more than eleven months since I entered the Demon Suppression Bureau. When the next mission comes, I should become an official Demon Suppression Bureau envoy—"

At that thought,

his heart grew somewhat fervent.