The Bloodstained Executioner

Raising it from the third layer to the eighth had consumed a total of twenty points of killing value.

Looking at the remaining twelve points of killing value,

Shen Changqing did not use them again.

Focusing his mind, he stirred the Heavenly Martial True Qi within his dantian. At once, a thick and powerful force rose up, and a thin layer of astral qi condensed over the surface of his body, extending roughly a foot around him.

"Heavenly Martial Astral Qi!"

Seeing the pale white aura shield, Shen Changqing understood that this was the Heavenly Martial Astral Qi born after this martial art had broken into the innate realm.

The martial art was named Heavenly Martial Astral Qi for that very reason.

"The innate realm is divided into inner astral qi and outer astral qi."

"The Heavenly Martial Astral Qi I have now is somewhat similar to outer astral qi, but compared with true outer astral qi, I wonder which is stronger and which is weaker."

Looking at that layer of astral qi, Shen Changqing smiled faintly.

Heavenly Martial Astral Qi.

Breaking through to the eighth layer meant entering the innate realm. Once it reached perfection, he could directly step into the outer astral qi realm.

When that time came,

the combination of outer astral qi and Heavenly Martial Astral Qi would bring his defenses to a shocking level.

At that moment,

the Heavenly Martial True Qi in his dantian clashed with his Pure Yang True Qi, neither side willing to yield.

That tremor

wiped the smile from Shen Changqing's face.

"I forgot. Once different true qi reach the same tier, they create an incompatible conflict."

His mind sank once more.

Shen Changqing connected with the two streams of true qi and barely suppressed them.

Thus,

the problem of conflicting true qi was temporarily resolved.

"As long as I don't use true qi recklessly, there shouldn't be any trouble." Shen Changqing mused. Then he looked up at the sky. The eastern horizon was already showing the pale white belly of dawn.

Shi Qingsheng, who had gone out to find people, had returned as well.

Not all the constables remained stationed at the yamen; they rotated shifts each day.

That was precisely why

the constables in the yamen had not been wiped out last night.

Seeing Shi Qingsheng return, Shen Changqing immediately said, "Prepare some food to replenish blood and qi at once. Send it all to my room!"

"Yes!"

Though puzzled, Shi Qingsheng still answered respectfully.

Afterward,

Shen Changqing looked at all the constables. "Some of you remain here on guard. There must not be the slightest mistake. The rest of you, deal with the corpses in the yamen."

"We obey!"

Although the constables were terrified upon seeing Hong Cheng's corpse, they accepted the order without deceit.

After giving his instructions,

Shen Changqing returned directly to his room.

Day had broken. That demonic being that had escaped had likely gone back to report. Leaving a few constables to stand guard here should not cause any major problems.

Half an hour later,

Shi Qingsheng delivered everything.

The many foods that replenished blood and qi filled the table to the brim.

With no one around,

Shen Changqing had no need for restraint. He grabbed the food and began wolfing it down.

His blood and qi had been depleted.

All he needed to do was replenish them.

Very quickly, Shen Changqing swept through more than half the food on the table.

Focusing his mind,

he began the next round of improvements.

This time, however, the target was not Heavenly Martial Astral Qi, but the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art.

The fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art could provide enough blood and qi to enter the innate realm directly, but for advancement beyond the innate realm, it was somewhat lacking.

If he continued raising Heavenly Martial Astral Qi

without strengthening the foundation of his blood and qi,

Shen Changqing feared that before he could replenish it in time, that force would suck him dry like a desiccated corpse.

Having made his decision,

his killing value dropped from twelve to seven, and the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art directly transformed to the sixteenth layer.

In an instant,

his tendons and bones rang in unison.

A surging force of blood and qi erupted from somewhere within his body.

The wound on his back immediately began to itch.

Shen Changqing reached back and touched it, only to find scabs flaking away.

Thus,

the improvement of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art came to an end.

But at the same time, a faint hunger swept over him, making Shen Changqing's expression tighten slightly.

"Hunger?"

"The improvement of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art also consumes energy!"

He had always believed that body-hardening arts differed from internal arts, and that improving them would not consume anything. After all, his past improvements had never brought any great depletion.

But now,

hunger had struck.

That proved that the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art also had a cost.

The difference was that

the earlier improvements had not consumed much energy. Since Shen Changqing had not paid close attention, he had overlooked it.

The breakthrough from the fifteenth to the sixteenth layer was another great transformation, so naturally, the consumption increased.

Not to mention anything else,

the fact that the killing value cost had risen from three points to five made it obvious enough.

Fortunately,

the food on the table had not all been eaten. Those foods meant to replenish blood and qi could also stave off hunger without any issue.

Immediately,

Shen Changqing ate nearly half of what remained on the table.

That hunger immediately vanished.

Looking at the panel,

Shen Changqing entered the next round of improvements.

Four points of killing value were consumed.

Heavenly Martial Astral Qi rose directly from the eighth layer to the ninth.

A powerful suction force rose from his dantian. In an instant, more than half the blood and qi throughout his body was drained away. From the outside, Shen Changqing's bloodless, pallid face was clearly visible.

Without hesitation,

Shen Changqing hurriedly grabbed everything remaining on the table and stuffed it all into his mouth.

His true qi ground away at it,

continuously converting all that food into blood and qi.

Only then

was some of the deficit replenished.

"Phew!"

Shen Changqing let out a long breath. Looking at the remaining three points of killing value, he did not use them again.

There was no helping it.

Even the cheapest improvement now required four points of killing value. Even if he wanted to use those three points, there was nowhere suitable to spend them.

"The ninth layer of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi has completely surpassed the eleventh layer of the Pure Yang Art!"

"With that, I can use Heavenly Martial Astral Qi to begin devouring the Pure Yang True Qi."

Shen Changqing came to the bed and immediately sat down cross-legged.

The conflict between the true qi was a serious matter and had to be resolved at once.

The eighth layer of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi had merely been equal to the Pure Yang True Qi and could not devour it, but the ninth layer of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi posed no such problem.

Focusing his mind,

Shen Changqing controlled the Heavenly Martial Astral Qi and sent it to devour the Pure Yang True Qi.

Under normal circumstances,

although Heavenly Martial Astral Qi was a notch stronger than Pure Yang True Qi, devouring it all would not have been easy.

But with Shen Changqing acting as the main force, the Pure Yang True Qi suffered a direct devastating blow.

At the beginning,

the Pure Yang True Qi could still struggle a little, but as more and more Heavenly Martial True Qi refined it, one side waxed while the other waned, and the devouring speed increased considerably.

After two hours,

the Pure Yang True Qi was devoured completely.

Thus,

the Heavenly Martial True Qi had grown incomparably powerful.

Then, under Shen Changqing's control, it surged toward the other meridians and acupoints in his body.

Rumble, rumble!

The rushing true qi surged like the vast, roiling waters of a great river, the thunder of towering waves ringing without end.

As the Heavenly Martial True Qi broke through,

the temperature in the room also climbed in a straight line.

Who knew how much time had passed

before someone knocked on the door.

Knock, knock!

Shen Changqing immediately ceased his cultivation. "Who is it!"

"My lord, noon is approaching. The Zhao Family will be beheaded in the eastern city today, and you are required to oversee the execution!"

Shi Qingsheng's voice came from outside.

Oversee the execution?

Shen Changqing remembered the matter as well.

"I understand!"

"This subordinate takes his leave!" Shi Qingsheng said. Then Shen Changqing heard his footsteps recede.

After the other man left,

he turned his attention back to himself.

Name: Shen Changqing

Faction: Great Qin Demon Suppression Bureau

Identity: Yellow Rank Demon Suppression Envoy

Martial Arts: Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art (Sixteenth Layer, cannot be improved), Heavenly Martial Astral Qi (Eleventh Layer, cannot be improved), Seven-Kill Saber Art (Second Layer), Iron Sand Palm (Second Layer)

Killing: 3

The words "Pure Yang Art" had completely vanished from the panel. Although Shen Changqing still retained the memories of the Pure Yang Art in his mind, there was simply no way to display it on the panel.

"Once the Pure Yang True Qi was devoured, does that mean the Pure Yang Art was permanently consumed?"

"No. I retain the memories of the Pure Yang Art, which means I can still cultivate it again. But it isn't displayed on the panel, proving that I can no longer use killing value to improve the Pure Yang Art!"

Looking at the panel's attributes, Shen Changqing gained a little more understanding of this golden finger.

A martial art

could only appear on the panel once.

Once a martial art was discarded, it would never appear on the panel again.

He could cultivate it according to his memories, but there was no way to take the shortcut again.

As for that,

Shen Changqing could accept it.

Although the Pure Yang Art was gone, the innate-level Pure Yang True Qi had nourished the Heavenly Martial True Qi, directly raising Heavenly Martial Astral Qi from the ninth layer to the eleventh.

Eleventh-layer Heavenly Martial Astral Qi

was already close to the point of perfecting Heavenly Martial Astral Qi.

Once Heavenly Martial Astral Qi reached perfection at the twelfth layer, he would completely step into the outer astral qi realm.

"And besides—"

"The Pure Yang Art has not vanished completely!"

Shen Changqing extended a hand. True qi surged within, and his palm immediately turned crimson, like a red-hot branding iron.

Having devoured the Pure Yang True Qi,

the Heavenly Martial True Qi itself had also taken on the attributes of Pure Yang True Qi.

That searing heat was the best proof.

Such a gain

was a completely unexpected delight.

"The greatest advantage of Pure Yang True Qi lies in its restraint over demons and evil creatures. Now that advantage has been grafted onto Heavenly Martial True Qi, Heavenly Martial True Qi will likewise have a powerful restraining effect on demons and evil creatures.

"In that case, sacrificing the Pure Yang True Qi was an absolutely massive profit!"

Shen Changqing smiled.

Heavenly Martial Astral Qi had increased by two levels, saving him ten points of Slaughter Value. On top of that, his true qi had gained the Pure Yang effect, greatly increasing its power.

Compared to before,

his strength had improved considerably.

Getting down from the bed,

Shen Changqing took out the official uniform Shi Qingsheng had given him and changed into it.

Standing before the mirror, he looked at himself wearing a black gauze cap and found himself somewhat valiant.

"I do look rather impressive, but even in an official's uniform, I may not necessarily be a righteous magistrate reborn. I might just as easily be a bloodstained executioner!"