A Menial's Work

Zhou Ping'an swallowed a Demon Blood Pill. The instant it dissolved, a tyrannical force surged through his body.

"What domineering medicinal power. As expected of a pill refined from demon blood." Zhou Ping'an was overjoyed and hurriedly circulated the Dragon Transformation Art to absorb the vast medicinal energy.

The foundation of the Dragon Transformation Art was to temper true dragon power!

This true dragon power differed from the inner force of human martial artists. It required neither meridians nor a dantian; true dragon power was stored within flesh and blood.

Activating true dragon power could unleash unimaginably tremendous strength in an instant.

As long as one condensed a wisp of true dragon power, one had entered the Acquired Realm.

One wisp of true dragon power meant the first level of the Acquired Realm. After that, every further level required twice as much true dragon power.

The second level of the Acquired Realm required two wisps, the third required four, and so on. To enter the tenth level of the Acquired Realm, one needed five hundred and twelve wisps of true dragon power.

As for entering the Innate Realm, the threshold was one thousand wisps of true dragon power.

The Scale-Bone Snake Demon had cultivated for over three thousand years, yet it had only reached the fourth level of the Acquired Realm. At most, it possessed fifteen wisps of true dragon power. One could well imagine just how slow demons cultivated.

Zhou Ping'an focused his mind and circulated the Dragon Transformation Art with all his strength. Under his guidance, the medicinal power of the Demon Blood Pill flowed through his limbs and bones, and faint dragon roars seemed to echo within his chest.

The flesh throughout his body was transforming at an astonishing speed.

Zhou Ping'an was delighted. The Dragon Transformation Art worked even better with pills than he had imagined. The feeling of his strength rapidly rising was addictive.

Yet after only the time it took to drink a cup of tea, that feeling came to an abrupt halt!

Zhou Ping'an's mouth twitched. The Dragon Transformation Art consumed far too much. One Demon Blood Pill had only lasted the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

By that calculation, even if he used the remaining two Demon Blood Pills, he still would not be able to reach the first level of the Acquired Realm.

Under normal circumstances, three Demon Blood Pills were enough for a martial artist to enter the first level of the Acquired Realm. Some exceptionally gifted individuals could even reach the second level.

Zhou Ping'an estimated that he would need at least ten Demon Blood Pills to enter the first level of the Acquired Realm.

One Demon Blood Pill was worth one hundred taels of gold. Ten of them meant one thousand taels of gold!

This was gold, not silver!

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, a normal family of three only spent four or five taels of silver a year.

Zhou Ping'an could not help sucking in a cold breath. They said scholarship impoverished while martial arts enriched, but the expense of practicing martial arts was simply outrageous, wasn't it?

"I need to find a way to make money." Zhou Ping'an rubbed his chin.

Over the following days, aside from feeding the Scale-Bone Snake Demon a chicken every other day, Zhou Ping'an spent all his remaining time cultivating in his room.

Ten days later, Zhang San finally returned from his trip to cultivate the Rikunzi Divine Art. Compared to the high spirits he had displayed when leaving, Zhang San now looked somewhat listless, and he carried the scent of cosmetics.

"Uncle Zhang, you reek of cosmetics. Did you soak in a vat of powder?" Zhou Ping'an said speechlessly.

"Hehe, children shouldn't pry into adults' affairs." Zhang San grinned smugly.

"You're... feeding the Scale-Bone Snake Demon?"

Zhang San saw the hen Zhou Ping'an was carrying. Good heavens, that hen was little more than skin and bones, weighing barely two jin. One chicken every two days—wasn't that going to starve the Scale-Bone Snake Demon mad?

"Mm. This snake demon has been rather disobedient, so I cut its rations a little." Zhou Ping'an nodded.

"Young people these days, each one is more frightening than the last." Zhang San shook his head with a smile.

He had initially worried that Zhou Ping'an, being young, might feel pity for these demons. Now, it seemed his worries had been entirely unnecessary. This boy was even more ruthless than he was. The Scale-Bone Snake Demon had truly suffered blood-soaked misfortune by falling into this boy's hands.

As soon as Zhou Ping'an entered the Scale-Bone Snake Demon's cell, he heard Zhang San boasting.

"You have no idea how Old Zhang spent those ten days. At Spring Embroidery Pavilion, bedding a hundred women a day..."

Zhou Ping'an shook his head and drove those scenes of fluttering warblers and swallows from his mind.

"Awwooo, awwwooo!" The moment the Scale-Bone Snake Demon saw Zhou Ping'an, it let out a miserable howl. No other reason—it was starving.

It had thought that with a newcomer taking over, its good days had come. Who would have thought the newcomer would be even crueler, giving it only one chicken every two days, and one so skinny it did not even have a trace of fat?

Heavens above, when had the Scale-Bone Snake Demon ever suffered such abuse? Even under the living King of Hell, Zhang San, it could eat a big fat pig every two days.

"Awwooo!" The Scale-Bone Snake Demon cried, and it cried bitterly. It felt as though its great-grandmother was calling for it.

"What the hell are you howling for? Didn't I give you a chicken?" Zhou Ping'an snorted.

Although the Dragon Transformation Art was indeed an extraordinary body-tempering technique, the Scale-Bone Snake Demon harbored ill intentions. Naturally, Zhou Ping'an had no pleasant expression for it.

"One chicken? I only get one chicken every two days. It's nowhere near enough. I'm about to starve to death," the Scale-Bone Snake Demon wailed.

"Nothing I can do. The Demon-Slaying Bureau has been short on funds lately. This is all there is." Zhou Ping'an spread his hands.

"Don't leave! Hey, hey, hey, don't go! I have treasure, I have treasure!" the Scale-Bone Snake Demon shouted.

Zhou Ping'an's lips curled upward. It had surrendered already? It seemed this Scale-Bone Snake Demon was nothing much after all.

"Go on, tell me what treasure you have. If it's ordinary junk, don't take it out and embarrass yourself." Zhou Ping'an snorted.

Though the Scale-Bone Snake Demon wanted nothing more than to swallow Zhou Ping'an whole, for the sake of staying alive, it could only force a fawning smile.

"How could it be? A thousand-year ginseng! That's good stuff. It strengthens the foundation, replenishes vitality, prolongs life, and is an exceptionally rare spiritual medicine for martial artists!" The Scale-Bone Snake Demon chuckled.

"Just one stalk of thousand-year ginseng? At most, I'll give you one big fat pig." Zhou Ping'an said flatly.

"I... fuck..." The Scale-Bone Snake Demon nearly burst into curses.

A thousand-year ginseng was spiritual medicine. Selling it casually would fetch thousands of taels of gold, while a big fat pig was worth at most one or two taels of silver. This little brat was black-hearted beyond belief.

"This... might be a little..." The Scale-Bone Snake Demon still wanted to haggle.

Zhou Ping'an simply turned and left. It still had the mind to bargain, which meant it was not hungry enough.

As the door closed, the Scale-Bone Snake Demon began howling in agony.

Two days later, when Zhou Ping'an returned with a small quail, the Scale-Bone Snake Demon panicked. This little brat truly intended to starve it to death.

"One fat pig it is, then." The Scale-Bone Snake Demon cried.

"The location. Don't play tricks, and I don't want anything too far away." Zhou Ping'an snorted.

"It's near the Capital City." The Scale-Bone Snake Demon told Zhou Ping'an where it had hidden the thousand-year ginseng.

Zhou Ping'an immediately took the address to Zhang San, who was chatting nonsense with Ma Er. "Uncle Zhang, this is the location of the thousand-year ginseng I interrogated out of it."

Zhang San nodded. "Got it. Leave this to me. Once the thousand-year ginseng arrives, you'll get a share."

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang!" Zhou Ping'an rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Ping'an, don't actually starve that Scale-Bone Snake Demon to death. It has only been locked up for a little over a decade and still has plenty of good things on it. It would be a waste if it starved to death like this," Ma Er reminded him.

"Understood. I was only trying to scare it. I didn't expect the Scale-Bone Snake Demon to be so cowardly. It couldn't take it after only a dozen days."

"Take a look at who used to manage that Scale-Bone Snake Demon." Zhang San raised his brows smugly.

Two days later, a stalk of thousand-year ginseng was delivered to Zhou Ping'an's room.

Zhou Ping'an had intended to split the thousand-year ginseng equally with Zhang San and Ma Er, but neither wanted it. It was merely a stalk of thousand-year ginseng; neither thought much of it.

Zhou Ping'an had the entire stalk of thousand-year ginseng to himself. The young man who delivered the ginseng nearly drooled with envy at the sight.

That youth was Nie Wushuang, the son of the Marquis of Yong'an. At merely fifteen years old, he was already a martial artist at the third level of the Acquired Realm. The Marquis of Yong'an had exhausted all his connections to send his son into the Demon-Slaying Bureau as an errand runner.

Although Nie Wushuang and Zhou Ping'an held the same status, everyone knew that being a menial in the Demon-Slaying Bureau's prison was a lucrative post. Not only was the salary high, but one could also obtain benefits from demons. It was countless times better than running all over outside, sleeping in the open and dining in the wind.

Unfortunately, menial posts in the Demon-Slaying Bureau's prison were only given to descendants of those who had rendered meritorious service to the Demon-Slaying Bureau. Even as the Marquis of Yong'an's son, he did not have that privilege.

If he sacrificed himself for the Demon-Slaying Bureau, however, his descendants would have that privilege.

"Pah, pah, pah! Who cares? This young marquis will become a demon slayer through his own strength!" Nie Wushuang snorted.

Zhou Ping'an also kept his promise and delivered a big fat pig to the Scale-Bone Snake Demon.

Whenever Zhou Ping'an encountered problems while cultivating the Dragon Transformation Art, he would also ask the Scale-Bone Snake Demon.

Having learned from its previous mistake, the Scale-Bone Snake Demon no longer dared to play any tricks. It feared Zhou Ping'an would make things difficult for it. It had no desire to experience that feeling of being so hungry its chest clung to its back a second time.

The Scale-Bone Snake Demon truly deserved to be an old demon that had lived for more than three thousand years. Its understanding of the Dragon Transformation Art had reached the point of perfection.

At last, one year later, Zhou Ping'an broke through!

As a wisp of true dragon power formed within his body and coursed through his limbs and bones, Zhou Ping'an officially entered the first level of the Acquired Realm.

"Hahahaha! I finally broke through, I finally broke through!" Zhou Ping'an jumped about excitedly in the prison.

The Scale-Bone Snake Demon curled its lips disdainfully. With a stalk of thousand-year ginseng and three Demon Blood Pills every month, even a pig could break through to the first level of the Acquired Realm.

But the Scale-Bone Snake Demon wisely kept its mouth shut. It even offered fawning congratulations, its words so nauseating that even it could not stand them.

But it had no choice. It had to serve this little ancestor well, or if its food was cut off, it would not even have time to cry.

"Mm, you know what's what. I'll give you a cow tomorrow!" In his excellent mood, Zhou Ping'an generously gave the Scale-Bone Snake Demon an extra meal.

The Scale-Bone Snake Demon was overjoyed. "Thank you, Lord Zhou!"

"Hah!" Zhou Ping'an gave a fierce shout. Dragon roars echoed from within his body as he suddenly exerted force with both arms.

Yet the iron door did not budge in the slightest!

Zhou Ping'an scratched his head awkwardly. His arms now had at least ten thousand jin of strength, yet he still could not move this iron door. The road of cultivation was long, and the burden heavy.