Beginning Cultivation—Swallow the Sun, Refine the Form Activated!!

The yin soldiers on the official road froze in place for only a moment before scattering like smoke blown apart by the wind. Their lingering souls turned into specks of fluorescent light and sank back into the depths of the earth veins.

The howls that had blanketed the sky and the clashing of spears vanished abruptly. Only the rustling of wind through the branches remained in the forest.

Yan Tao and the other three remained in their sword-blocking stances, dazed for a long while before finally coming back to themselves.

"The yin soldiers... dispersed?" Wang Lei's hand, clutching a talisman, was still stiff, his voice full of disbelief.

Meng Yao was the first to react. Bracing her sword tip against the ground, she caught her breath. "Wang Defa is dead."

That single sentence jolted everyone awake.

There was only one possibility for the earth-vein yin soldiers to lose control and collapse so instantly—their controller's soul had been utterly destroyed.

Yan Tao tightened his grip on his saber and was the first to head for the dense forest. "Come on. Let's go take a look."

The four passed through charred, withered trees. Along the way lay the carbonized corpses of the Black-Wind Twin Fiends, a horrific sight.

The closer they came to the cave, the thicker the scent of scorching became. When they reached the entrance, Xu Jin happened to walk out at an unhurried pace.

His expression was as calm as ever, as though he had merely taken a stroll inside rather than slain an evil cultivator of the Grandmaster realm.

"Brother Xu!" Yan Tao hurried forward, his gaze swiftly sweeping over Xu Jin's body. Only after seeing that he was unharmed did he let out a breath. "Wang Defa, he..."

"Dead." Xu Jin answered casually, then flicked his fingers toward several other directions in the woods.

Several streaks of white light shot away. A few short screams soon rang out in the distance. The remaining Profound Yin Hall disciples, who had intended to pick up the spoils, were all cleaned out.

The four looked at the charred corpses strewn across the ground, then at the composed figure at the cave entrance. The shock in their hearts could not be suppressed.

That had been a Grandmaster realm cultivator.

Wang Defa had run rampant through the western outskirts for years and escaped unscathed even from several Demon Suppression Bureau encirclements. Yet he had been killed by a trainee who charged into the formation alone?

Just then, urgent hoofbeats suddenly sounded in the distance. More than ten Demon Suppression Bureau patrol riders came galloping over in a cloud of dust.

The squad leader at the front pressed a hand to his saber hilt, his face taut. "The Sha Qi monitoring compass triggered the highest alert half an hour ago. Captain Yan, you—"

Before he could finish, his gaze swept across the scene, and his voice caught abruptly in his throat.

Three curled, charred remains. Earth-vein cracks burned white across the ground. The corpse at the cave entrance, its chest pierced through, its robes embroidered with the insignia of a Profound Yin Hall elder...

"Wang Defa?" the squad leader cried out. He leaped off his horse and rushed forward. After confirming the corpse's identity, he drew in a sharp breath. "Profound Yin Hall's Wang Defa?"

Yan Tao nodded and pointed at Xu Jin beside him. "Brother Xu charged through the formation and took his head. One sword decided the battle."

The patrol squad all turned to look at Xu Jin. Their eyes fell upon the trainee bronze badge on his shoulder, and their pupils contracted sharply. They looked at one another, unable to speak.

Based on the intensity of the spell fluctuations shown by the monitoring compass, they had assumed it was the result of at least three or four official demon slayers fighting desperately together. Who could have imagined that the one behind such a massive commotion was actually a trainee?

That ruthless ferocity in his attacks surpassed even the veteran members of the Extermination Faction in the office.

The patrol squad quickly took over the scene, and the tense atmosphere gradually eased.

Leaning against a tree trunk, Yan Tao grinned and teased, "Brother Xu, this battle has truly made your name. Our cultivation circles love giving formidable people nicknames. Your Molten-Gold Sword Aura counters yin filth, and you never leave any room when you strike. In a few days, evil cultivators across the prefecture will take a detour the moment they hear your name."

"A nickname?" Xu Jin paused as he wiped his sword.

"Of course." Meng Yao took over, the wound on her shoulder already freshly bandaged.

"Anyone who makes a name for themselves in the prefecture has a resounding title. Your Molten-Gold Sword Aura cuts through yin evils like mowing grass. It'll spread faster than anyone's."

Lin Yue dug out a clean spare set of fitted clothes from her pack and held them out to Xu Jin. "Brother Xu, your outer robe is stained with blood. Change into these first. It'll also draw less attention on the way back to the city, so ordinary people won't stare."

Xu Jin accepted the clothes and thanked her. The taut feeling of having fought for their lives only moments ago dissipated completely amid a few casual exchanges between colleagues.

The aftermath was handled quickly.

Following Bureau protocol, the patrol squad cleared away the bodies, erased the traces of spellwork, and publicly claimed that bandits blocking the road had been wiped out by government troops.

The people of the nearby villages and towns took it as an ordinary bandit problem, and it stirred not the slightest ripple.

Yet among the prefecture's supernatural circles, the news spread as swiftly as though it had grown wings.

After all, every branch office had records of the Sha Qi monitoring compass hitting its highest alert. There was no way to conceal it.

Then, with the patrol squad adding fuel to the flames upon their return, word that "a Demon Suppression Bureau trainee had slain a Profound Yin Hall Grandmaster alone" spread through the prefecture's cultivation world in less than half a day.

No one knew who had started it, but before long, the title "Molten-Gold Yama" began circulating through the circles.

With blazing yang-fire Molten-Gold Sword Aura in hand, he specialized in suppressing yin filth and evil spirits;

He struck ruthlessly and rarely left his enemies whole corpses.

Previously, Xu Jin had merely been a somewhat well-known top-grade Class A newcomer within the Western Office. People from other branch offices might not even have heard of him.

After this battle, even disciples of righteous clans and independent cultivators from unorthodox paths remembered him.

No one regarded him as an ordinary trainee any longer. A ruthless figure capable of slaying a Grandmaster across realms—among the entire prefecture's younger generation, there was not a second one to be found.

By the time the group returned to the Demon Suppression Bureau's Western Office, it was nearly noon.

The moment they stepped through the courtyard gate, Commander Li's attendant was already waiting beneath the corridor. Upon seeing Xu Jin, he said, "Brother Xu, Commander Li requests your presence in the study."

Inside the study, reports lay neatly arranged on the desk: spell fluctuation records submitted by the patrol squad, disturbance reports from nearby villages and towns, and the battle report on the clearing of the western outskirts stronghold. It was a thick stack.

Commander Li sat behind the desk, tapping the top disturbance report with his fingertips. Getting straight to the point, he said, "According to Bureau rules, supernatural practitioners who recklessly use large-scale spells near populated areas must be suspended for three days of self-reflection and submit a written report explaining the full circumstances to headquarters."

Xu Jin stood straight. "This subordinate understands the rules. But the remaining Profound Yin Hall remnants have not been eliminated. This subordinate requests permission to remain on duty."

Commander Li looked up at him, undisguised appreciation in his eyes.

He had always valued talent. Xu Jin's achievements in the western outskirts battle had far exceeded expectations; suspending him for self-reflection would only delay matters.

Taking the opportunity, he pushed over another dossier with a blue cover. "I'll suppress the matter of your suspension and record it as merits and faults offsetting each other. There happens to be a new assignment. If you're willing to take it, it'll count as making up for your mistake through service."

"The western outskirts stronghold has been destroyed, Wang Defa has been executed, and the patrol squad is enough to handle the remaining cleanup. There's no need to keep anyone stationed there." Commander Li tapped the blue dossier with a fingertip.

"The Green-Mud Ferry patrol district south of the prefectural city has suffered a string of incidents recently. Cargo ships have been vanishing one after another, cries are often heard from the ferry at midnight, and three boat-owning households have already had family members dragged into the river by water ghosts. The official demon slayer previously responsible for that patrol district went to investigate last month and has not been heard from since."

He raised his eyes to Xu Jin, his tone solemn. "I'm making an exception to appoint you patrol inspector of Green-Mud Ferry. You will receive the salary and benefits of an official demon slayer, remain stationed in the patrol district, and may choose one partner to accompany you. Do you dare accept?"

Xu Jin picked up the dossier and flipped through two pages. His gaze quickly landed on a small note at the end—yin Sha Qi remnants had been found at the disappearance scenes, suspected to be connected to an outer Profound Yin Hall stronghold.

Am I butting heads with Profound Yin Hall now?

"This subordinate accepts." He closed the dossier. "I choose Wang Lei as my partner."

Commander Li nodded his approval. "Fine. Tomorrow, go to the mission hall to receive Green-Mud Ferry's jurisdiction files, topographical maps, and all the disappearance case records. You may set out for your post the day after tomorrow. Green-Mud Ferry is laced with waterways and crowded with temples and shrines. It is not as easy to traverse as the western outskirts hills. Be careful in all things."

Xu Jin bowed to accept the order, then withdrew from the study.

After returning to his private courtyard, Xu Jin first had someone deliver a message to Yan Tao, asking him to make introductions and convert the miscellaneous yin-cultivation materials and baleful corpse remains brought back this time into contribution points, all credited under Wang Lei's name.

After settling those trivial matters, he closed the courtyard gate and began cultivating.

Swallow the Sun, Refine the Form—activate!!!

For ordinary cultivators at the Intent-Comprehension realm, they first had to spend years nourishing their bodies and tempering their meridians. Only once their flesh could withstand the repeated scouring of astral qi could they gradually condense it. The progress was as slow as carrying water to fill a vat, accumulating it bucket by bucket.

But Xu Jin was different.

Swallow the Sun, Refine the Form operated around the clock. The strength of his body had long surpassed cultivators of the same realm, and his meridians were broad and resilient. There was no need to spend more time tempering and nourishing them.

Now, condensing astral qi was like opening a canal to draw in a river. His cultivation efficiency was several times that of an ordinary cultivator.