Demon-Subduing Three Blades

The streets bustled, with townspeople coming and going without end.

Many days had passed since Qin An killed Clerk Wang.

Qin An sat on his bed, feeling the sunlight through the window, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

Mist gathered into a line of text that floated in midair.

[Dancer Lv. 3 (0/400): Your dancing has grown more graceful.]

[Talent: Mastery of Qi Concealment Realm movement techniques]

That morning, Qin An had finally raised Dancer to level three.

The condition for advancing was difficult: Qin An had to choreograph a coherent dance himself.

It took him two full days to meet the requirement.

Just as Qin An had expected, the talent unlocked at level three was indeed related to movement techniques.

Qin An took out Azure Bird Leap and leafed through it carefully. Once he was certain he had missed nothing, he placed it in a brazier and burned it to ashes.

It was a habit of his.

Keeping a cultivation manual close by could invite disaster if the wrong person saw it.

With the situation so dangerous, Qin An had to eliminate every potential source of trouble to keep himself safe.

"Time to practice."

Qin An closed his eyes, and every movement of Azure Bird Leap surfaced in his mind.

As its name suggested, Azure Bird Leap made its user as light as a bird. Whether leaping into the air or darting and weaving, every movement was featherlight.

Following Azure Bird Leap's circulation route, Qin An guided Qi into his feet and stepped forward.

Like a nimble wild goose, he darted around the room. It took him less than the time needed to burn a stick of incense to go from awkward to practiced.

Mist gathered into words.

[You practiced Azure Bird Leap, triggering the Dancer Talent.]

[Azure Bird Leap (Perfected)]

The words vanished with a boom, turning into a flood of information that poured into his mind.

Qin An stopped moving and closed his eyes to concentrate.

After a few breaths, Qin An opened his eyes, having fully mastered Azure Bird Leap.

Body like an azure bird, rising on the wind.

Qin An shifted his footing and vanished from where he stood.

Outside the room.

Chen Chun gripped a long blade and practiced his blade technique, his expression intent.

His injuries had healed completely, but he did not dare relax in the slightest. Every moment, he worked to improve himself.

But he did not have Qin An's talent, and his progress was limited.

As Chen Chun swung his blade, he suddenly heard a rush of wind behind him. He turned on instinct and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"How did you get here?"

At some point, Qin An had appeared behind Chen Chun and was watching him calmly.

Cold sweat broke out all over Chen Chun.

A movement technique!

He knew Qin An must have practiced the technique obtained from Captain Zheng.

Qin An's room was a fair distance away, yet Chen Chun had not caught so much as a trace of his approach.

If Qin An attacked now, Chen Chun would likely die in an instant without even knowing how.

But...

Shouldn't he have only just started learning that technique?

How had he learned it so quickly?

Chen Chun did not know, so he put it all down to Qin An's terrifying talent.

Little Ding County had produced someone like Qin An. Whether that was a blessing or a curse, he could not say.

"Come on," Qin An said simply. "Let's eat."

Chen Chun snapped out of it, hurriedly sheathed his blade, and followed Qin An, a trace of resignation in his eyes.

Here was a man of extraordinary talent who was also fiercely disciplined.

He not only shut himself away to train; he even kept to a routine for meals. It was almost hard to believe.

The two went out and sat down at a food stall.

Several constables spotted Qin An and hurried away on instinct, not daring to face him.

Chen Chun took in their expressions and popped a fried dumpling into his mouth. "Bullies when they can, cowards when they can't."

Qin An glanced at them. "How do we leave Ding County?"

Chen Chun's chopsticks froze slightly in his hand. He shook his head. "It's difficult. To leave Ding County, we'd have to cross the territory of the Two Monster Factions, watch out for the magistrate making a move, and deal with the River Blade Sect, which is thick as thieves with the Yamen."

He knew what Qin An meant, but putting it into action would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Qin An ate a fried dumpling and fell into thought.

There were two ways to break the deadlock.

The first was to find a way to get Chen Chun to Ling Prefecture, but that would be harder than reaching the heavens.

The second was for Qin An to rise above everyone in Ding County and cut straight through every obstacle before him.

Compared with the first, Qin An thought the second actually sounded easier.

"When we get back, give me the Evil Extermination Division's blade technique too," Qin An said evenly.

Chen Chun gave a rueful smile. "First a cultivation technique, now a blade technique. I really don't know what'll happen to us if the Evil Extermination Division finds out."

Besides his family's Wind-Splitting Blade Technique, he also knew a blade technique from the Evil Extermination Division.

With the situation so dire, Chen Chun knew Qin An was the only one he could rely on.

He was simply worried that the Evil Extermination Division would hold them accountable later.

Qin An wiped the grease from his lips. "Better than dying right now."

Chen Chun sighed and agreed.

After they finished eating, they prepared to leave.

Just then, Qin An felt someone's gaze sweep over him and calmly turned his head.

On the street not far away, a middle-aged man dressed in silk was watching him.

A Short Blade hung at the man's waist. His face was fair, but a vicious glint showed in his eyes.

Chen Chun paused. "Sect Leader Liu of the River Blade Sect?"

As he spoke, Sect Leader Liu turned and left the street, disappearing from sight.

Qin An narrowed his eyes. "Interesting."

He had not expected to run into Sect Leader Liu here.

It seemed the magistrate was making a move.

He did not need to think hard to know that move was aimed at him.

"Let's go home."

Qin An rose, paid the bill, and headed for the house.

Grave-faced, Chen Chun followed quietly behind him.

Before long, the two disappeared down the street.

Back home, Qin An asked Chen Chun for the Evil Extermination Division's blade technique.

Chen Chun scratched his head. "The Evil Extermination Division's cultivation techniques have to be destroyed once learned. I can only recite it to you."

Qin An nodded. "That's fine."

Whether Chen Chun recited it or handed him a manual did not matter. What mattered was getting the blade technique.

Chen Chun began to recite.

After the time it took to burn two sticks of incense, Qin An had memorized everything. He went into his room, shut the door behind him, and began practicing with the Sharp Knife according to Chen Chun's instructions.

The Evil Extermination Division's blade technique was also at the Qi Concealment Realm. It was called Demon-Subduing Three Blades.

Though it had only three moves, each held three variations, making its possibilities seemingly endless.

As Qin An performed it, mist gradually gathered into words.

[You practiced Demon-Subduing Three Blades, triggering your talent for mastery of Qi Concealment Realm blade techniques.]

[Demon-Subduing Three Blades (Perfected)]

The mist did not immediately disperse. New words appeared beneath it.

[You possess both Wind-Breaking Goose Blade Technique and Demon-Subduing Three Blades, and seek to combine the strengths of both.]

[After consuming a great deal of blood vitality, you failed to fuse them.]

[You lamented that your Butcher Talent was insufficient and abandoned the attempt.]

Weakness washed through him. The blood vitality he had recently restored had been depleted a little.

Qin An frowned. My Butcher Talent is holding me back.

He had burned through blood vitality just now and gained nothing.

I'll level up the Butcher Profession first and see if level four brings anything new.

Qin An made up his mind to open the shop tomorrow.