Change Techniques! Promotion! Demon Traces!

The next day, at dawn.

Wisps of mist drifted over Qingxi County, washed in a faint rosy glow by the morning light.

Some hurried along on foot, some called out enthusiastically to sell their wares, while others led children as they ate freshly baked flatbreads.

If he had not slain a demon only last night, Mu Yang would not have believed that the worlds inside and outside the city could differ so greatly.

After pausing briefly, Mu Yang carried a burlap sack stained with a hint of dark red in one hand and entered the city.

Had he been an ordinary person, the guards at the gate would inevitably have stopped him for questioning.

But Mu Yang was a constable who had gone out on patrol. The gate guards merely assumed he was carrying a freshly slaughtered old hen and did not pay him much mind.

Inside the County Office Constabulary.

A faint scent of tobacco lingered in the room.

Several constables dressed in black short outfits huddled together, clutching yellowed long cards as they played the Leaf Card Game that had become all the rage among common folk.

"Old Fang, quit dawdling and play your card! Today, I'm definitely winning back all the silver I lost!"

"Give it a rest, Old Ye. You say that every time, but when haven't you lost until the sky and earth turned upside down? Watch out, or one day your wife won't let you through the door."

Amid their joking and laughter, Mu Yang walked in, a burlap sack in hand and a flatbread in his mouth.

"Mu Yang's back. What've you got there, an old hen?"

Having just lost a round, Old Ye angrily tossed his leaf cards onto the table. Puffing on Golden Silk Tobacco, he looked toward the sack in Mu Yang's hand.

These days, being a constable was not exactly a lofty profession.

Still, it was work for the County Office. It was perfectly normal to pick up a few benefits while out on patrol now and then.

But why did that smell not resemble chicken blood?

Old Ye took a puff of Golden Silk Tobacco and thought to himself.

Old Fang, who had just won a round, sniffed the air. His expression abruptly changed, and he could not help crying out, "Little Mu, this... this wouldn't be a demon, would it?"

At those words, everyone around them was startled. Mu Yang was likewise taken aback.

He had long known that Old Fang possessed a keen nose and could smell things ordinary people could not, but he had not expected him to detect demon blood even through the burlap sack.

Since that was the case, Mu Yang did not hide it any longer and directly opened the sack.

The matter of exchanging demon kills for merit could not be concealed, nor was there any reason to conceal it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the sack was untied, revealing a massive Rat Demon head. Its green vertical pupils were still half-open, its fangs bared—an utterly terrifying sight.

"Damn, it really is a demon!"

"Judging by its size, could it be ranked?"

"Mu Yang? Th-this was killed by you?"

The entire constabulary instantly erupted. Several constables familiar with Mu Yang crowded around, their faces filled with disbelief.

There were quite a few constables in Qingxi County with ranked cultivation, but those who had records of slaying demons could be counted on one hand.

They were either current squad leaders or retired squad leaders.

Yet Mu Yang had been a newcomer three months ago, one who had not even begun the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique. And today, he had slain a demon?

"Mu Yang, did you really kill this?"

Just then, a rough voice sounded from the doorway. A burly man with a tiger's back and bear's waist, standing over seven feet tall, strode quickly over.

Wu Cai, Mu Yang's superior, was one of Qingxi County's four squad leaders, and one of the few constables with inherited martial arts who did not primarily cultivate the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique.

"I ran into it while patrolling Huang Village last night. I killed it along the way," Mu Yang said.

"Along the way?"

That calm tone, as though he had merely slaughtered a chicken, made Wu Cai's eye twitch.

By his years of experience, this Rat Demon was likely a ranked demon beast. Killing it would naturally pose no problem for him.

But... Mu Yang?

Wu Cai carefully scrutinized Mu Yang several times.

He remembered that Mu Yang had only joined the constabulary three months ago and cultivated nothing more than the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique issued to all constables. Yet he had already developed qi and blood and entered the ranks.

Judging from how clean his clothes were, he likely had not even fallen into a bitter fight.

In three months, he had gone from a novice who had not even crossed the threshold to entering the Skin and Flesh Realm, and had personally slain a first-rank Rat Demon!

Our Qingxi County has produced a martial arts genius!

"Good lad! As expected of a man under me, Wu Cai!" Wu Cai grinned broadly and happily patted Mu Yang on the shoulder.

"Come on. Clerk Liu happens to be on duty. I'll take you to claim your merit points right away. With the achievement of killing a ranked Rat Demon, getting you a squad leader position shouldn't be difficult." Wu Cai excitedly pulled Mu Yang outside.

Having personally trained up a squad leader, Wu Cai felt his face shine with pride.

Led by Wu Cai, Mu Yang soon arrived at Clerk Liu's workplace with the Rat Demon head.

Clerk Liu was a lean middle-aged man with a short mustache at the corners of his mouth.

At the moment, he was bent over a redwood desk, his brows tightly furrowed as he annotated something.

As the man in charge of logistics, he had always worn a stern expression and never smiled.

But when he learned that Mu Yang had slain a demon—and that he had joined the constabulary merely three months ago—a flicker of surprise immediately appeared on his composed face.

After verifying that the Rat Demon had indeed entered the ranks, he swept his brush across the record. Mu Yang's account immediately gained one hundred and fifty merit points, fifty more than anticipated.

"This is the exchange catalog. For silver, one merit point can be exchanged for one tael. But I suggest you first take a look at the martial arts."

Perhaps because Mu Yang was still young, Clerk Liu deliberately added that extra advice.

"Thank you for the guidance, Clerk Liu!"

Though Mu Yang had already intended to do so, he still offered his thanks.

Afterward, he immediately began examining the martial arts available for exchange within the County Office.

There were many low-grade martial arts, but their quality varied wildly. The Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique he cultivated was already among the finest low-grade martial arts.

Otherwise, it would not have been used as the martial art taught to every constable.

As for mid-grade martial arts, the storehouse contained more than ten varieties, covering blade techniques, sword techniques, spear techniques, movement techniques, grappling arts, fist techniques, and more.

Their prices ranged from eighty merit points to sixty merit points.

They were considerably cheaper than Mu Yang had expected.

After thinking it over, Mu Yang chose two of them.

The eighty-merit-point mid-grade blade art, the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique, and the seventy-merit-point mid-grade movement art, Three-Breath Lightness.

The former was an advanced version of the low-grade Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique. It was likewise powerful and heavy, but even more formidable.

The latter was a martial art that increased movement speed by altering one's breathing rhythm.

Unlike the Dragon-Subduing Blade Technique and Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique, Three-Breath Lightness did not divide proficiency into Beginner, Lesser Mastery, Greater Mastery, and Perfection.

Instead, it was divided into three breaths.

First Breath: Lightness, Second Breath: Momentum, Third Breath: Fullness.

So-called Lightness meant that once one had achieved success in cultivation, one could circulate qi and blood and adjust one's breathing, thereby lightening the body and increasing speed, greatly reducing the physical exertion of traveling.

The higher the proficiency, the better the lightness effect.

At Perfection, one could even tread upon snow without leaving a trace.

Second Breath: Momentum built upon First Breath: Lightness by accelerating one's breathing, driving one's speed to its limit and allowing one to continue forward at maximum speed until qi and blood were completely depleted.

As for Third Breath: Fullness, it was the most difficult technique within Three-Breath Lightness.

It required one to forcibly accelerate one's breathing rhythm atop Second Breath: Momentum, hasten the circulation of qi and blood, and erupt with speed beyond one's limits.

For that reason, this technique inflicted a certain degree of damage upon the body. Those without powerful physiques could not use it for long.

It could be said that Three-Breath Lightness was a powerful martial art that combined long-distance travel with short-range bursts. If not for its excessively harsh cultivation requirements, it would not be worth only seventy merit points.

However, none of that had anything to do with Mu Yang.

When he cultivated martial arts, he never cared whether they were difficult. He only cared whether they were powerful!

Equipment Slot, let me see your limits!