After leaving Wei Wushuang's office, Mei Ye didn't head straight to the library. Instead, he went to the mission center.
People hurried back and forth through the corridor, their footsteps swift. No one dared speak loudly.
Wen Li, a mission-center clerk, typed away with dark circles under her eyes. Forms were piled so high on her desk they nearly blocked her view, and her keyboard clattered nonstop.
When she saw Mei Ye, she gave him a wry smile.
"How many cultists did you kill?"
The mission center was where people accepted missions, reported their contributions, and collected their rewards.
For the past few days, she'd been registering the Demon-Suppressing Guards' contributions. She was so busy her bones were about to fall apart.
"About twenty-three."
Mei Ye thought for a moment.
"Twenty-three?"
Wen Li's pen froze in midair. She looked up at him, staring straight at him in amazement. "Did you go on a killing spree?"
"I just picked on the weak," Mei Ye said with a smile. "As for witnesses, my comrades at the time were..."
He named the Demon-Suppressing Guards who had fought beside him earlier.
"Okay. I'll verify that later."
Wen Li's fingers flew across the keys, and the figures on the screen refreshed line by line. "You also caught two cultists earlier, right?"
"That's right. Two cultists who were going to dig up someone's grave."
"Hmm... let me calculate... about 11,682 yuan. Does that work for you?"
"That's fine."
Mei Ye didn't dwell on how small the reward was. The country was in turmoil, and the situation was grim. For public servants—especially low-ranking soldiers and clerks—having their wages docked was the least of their problems.
"Once everything's verified, the reward will be deposited into your account within three days. Thank you for your contribution to Jiangbei City."
Wen Li recited a stock phrase.
But beneath her formulaic smile, Mei Ye caught a trace of surprise on her face.
Was it because his predecessor had been so useless?
Mei Ye wondered, then simply thanked her.
He left the mission center at once and went to the library.
The iron door on the west side of the building was cold and heavy, painted dark gray.
At the library, he pressed a special access card against the reader. It beeped softly, and the door hinges turned with a dull scraping sound.
The doors swung open. Rows of bookshelves stretched one after another, and the air carried the dry, musty smell of old paper.
Surrounded by books and manuscripts, Mei Ye carefully browsed the shelves.
[Recorded Eight Trigrams Palm!] [Recorded Cloud-Ladder Step!] [Recorded Taiji Sword!]
The library didn't actually have many martial arts manuals.
Many were offshoots of well-known martial arts.
For example, health exercises based on the Eight Trigrams, or movement routines based on Taiji.
They were all studies from the old era, of little use to martial artists in the new century.
Mei Ye couldn't understand why they kept books for ordinary people like these.
Did filling the library make the Demon-Suppressing Guards feel proud of their own heritage?
Shaking his head, Mei Ye finally spotted a book that looked worthwhile.
He took it down, running his fingertips over the cover as the pages rustled.
[Recorded Evil-Breaking Blade!]
"Trash..."
Mei Ye pursed his lips. With a plain name like that and a cover caked in dust, it was obviously common fare.
[Recorded Demon-Slaying Blade!]
He picked up another book, a thread-bound volume in an antique style. Its illustrations were vivid, and it even helpfully included links to related videos.
"This one... seems like it would go well with Vast Blade Art."
Mei Ye remembered that when he'd first arrived in this world, the panel had said it could fuse martial arts.
It was just that until today, he hadn't learned enough martial arts to meet the requirements.
[Current Martial Arts: Neat Blade Art (Mastery) Wind-Treading Step (Mastery) Qi Gathering Realm・Vast Blade Art (Mastery)]
Mei Ye brought up the panel and looked at the newly added Demon-Slaying Blade. He focused his thoughts.
The next moment, the Demon-Slaying Blade moved with his intent, coming into contact with Vast Blade Art.
[Compatibility: 65%]
"Sixty-five percent..."
Mei Ye pondered for a moment. The figure was neither high nor low, indicating how difficult the fusion would be.
"It probably scales with Merit Points."
[Current Merit Points: 4624]
Mei Ye glanced at his Merit Points and felt reassured.
Though he'd spent some Merit Points on Wind-Treading Step and the Evil-Suppressing and Demon-Subduing Art while fighting Epstein, he still had plenty left.
[Fuse? Fusion cost: 5700 Merit Points]
Mei Ye's eyelid twitched. He felt he'd been happy too soon.
Why did fusing martial arts cost so many Merit Points? If the compatibility were lower, would it take an astronomical amount?
"I'd better be more careful."
He put the Demon-Slaying Blade back on the shelf, then slowly made his way to another section, searching for suitable martial arts.
Although the library didn't have many martial arts manuals, checking them all and testing their compatibility one by one still took a lot of time. [Sunlight slanted in through the high windows, and the shadows on the floor had crept a long way.]
After searching for a while, he finally found the manuals with the highest compatibility.
[Eighteen Arhat Hands] [Golden Bell Shield] [Zen Mind Meditation] [Eighteen Arhat Hands + Golden Bell Shield + Zen Mind Meditation] [Compatibility: 95%!]
"These are all Buddhist arts, aren't they..."
Mei Ye sucked in a sharp breath.
He'd searched for ages, thinking there was nothing good in the library.
But he hadn't expected it to be hiding three body-tempering arts.
"Still, why does the government have Buddhist martial arts...? Did they steal them?"
Mei Ye scratched his head, suddenly thinking that seemed very possible.
He'd looked through the contents of all three manuals. Their pages showed monks practicing boxing and meditating, the illustrations rendered in rough, archaic strokes.
Every punch landed with full force. Power came first!
"Are they trying to turn me into a muscle-bound beast..."
Mei Ye smiled wryly.
[Fusion cost: 4500 Merit Points]
"Four thousand five hundred..."
Not too much, not too little. It was a pretty good deal.
Mei Ye considered it.
But spending all those Merit Points made him wince.
"Forget it. This is a necessary investment..."
Mei Ye told himself, then brought the three manuals together.
[Fuse? Fusion cost: 4500 Merit Points]
"Fuse."
Mei Ye murmured inwardly.
[Fusing...] [Eighteen Arhat Hands + Zen Mind Meditation + Golden Bell Shield...] [Fusion successful!] [Qi Gathering Realm・Rare・Glazed Treasure Body Art!]
A martial art he'd never heard of before had been born: a body-tempering technique forged from Buddhist arts refined countless times.
Countless training routes and tricks for channeling force flowed into his mind, as clear as if he'd practiced them for over a decade.
Mei Ye was overjoyed.
"My investment really paid off! With enough strength, I can break through any technique!"
Glazed Treasure Body Art combined the essence of stance training, palm techniques, visualization, and more. Rooted in Zen, it used Buddhist principles to master the body and relied on Buddhist medicinal tempering as the key to forging an unparalleled physique. Its strength could reach ten thousand jun, its body could withstand a landslide, and it excelled at both offense and defense. Few at the same level could rival it!
[Glazed Treasure Body Art (Not Yet Initiated)]
Mei Ye focused his thoughts and channeled Merit Points into it.
[Glazed Treasure Body Art, First Layer!]
At the first layer, his skin gained a faint golden-glass sheen. Ordinary weapons could barely harm him, and demons and monsters would struggle to approach.
The instant he completed the first layer of Glazed Treasure Body Art, Mei Ye felt vitality surge through his blood. His physique hadn't changed much, yet he'd grown noticeably stronger, as if he'd become a giant ball of light.
"Whoosh—!"
Mei Ye threw a light punch. The sound of it tearing through the air shattered the library's silence. The pages rustled, as if trembling in awe.
"My strength has definitely increased quite a bit..."
Mei Ye's expression relaxed. Since his strength had begun to improve, nothing had pleased him more.
In truth, after becoming an ordinary martial artist,
he'd considered relying on the Demon Suppression Bureau's vast resources. Should he sell his services to his superiors in exchange for their support?
But power, at its core, was the ability to compel others to obey.
As long as he could suppress every enemy,
he could naturally choose whether to obey his superiors.
Mei Ye clenched his fist. He was almost certain that his strength had increased by a great deal. Combined with his Vast Blade Art,
if the cultists showed up again, he could reap lives by the dozen with ease.
"Evil heretics, I've already found the meaning of your lives..."
A glint flashed in Mei Ye's eyes. His Merit Points were all spent, and he didn't have enough money to buy the medicinal ingredients he needed to train.
He had to go kill monsters!
"Do you have any missions with especially high rewards that would suit me?"
When he arrived at the mission center, Mei Ye got straight to the point and asked Wen Li.
"Please wait a moment..."
Wen Li searched through the data. A moment later, her expression turned mechanical as her fingers danced across the luminous screen. The blue glow made her face look stiff.
"I've found a mission for you. Its preliminary rating is C-class."
"How much is the reward?"
"Two thousand."
"I'll take it!"
Mei Ye answered at once. The medicinal ingredients needed for Glazed Treasure Body Art were expensive, so he needed to save as much money as he could.
"I recommend forming a team to investigate.
"There's been a series of disappearances at a high school. Our analysis suggests there's probably a monster on the premises... We don't know how strong it is, but it shouldn't be underestimated."
Wen Li looked at the mission details and spoke politely.
"No need. I can handle it alone."
Mei Ye shook his head. If he brought other people along to help, wouldn't he have to split the two thousand yuan with them?
Wen Li readily went along with it. "All right. Good luck. I've marked it for you."
"Here's the information on the high school." Wen Li picked up a stack of papers from a nearby table and handed them to Mei Ye. "But I still recommend you just make an initial report. None of these missions should be taken lightly."
"Thanks."
Mei Ye nodded. It was hard to tell whether he'd listened to Wen Li's warning.
He took the documents, tucked them under his arm, and left the Demon Suppression Bureau. Following the address Wen Li had given him, he headed for a certain high school.
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