Cold Source Cultivation Method

Zhao Jinsheng was certain he had not seen wrong.

The River Blade Sect excelled in saber techniques, and Zhao Jinsheng stood among its finest disciples.

The man who had just passed him carried himself unremarkably, yet he had the unmistakable air of someone who practiced the saber.

Only another saber practitioner could sense it.

He must have stumbled into a chance encounter.

One glance was enough to tell Zhao Jinsheng that the man dressed like an ordinary citizen and bore none of the air of the martial world.

No one from the martial world would settle down in a little place like Ding County.

If the man knew some saber technique but was not from the martial world, he must have come by it through sheer luck.

Such things were not rare in the martial world, but a chance encounter did not send someone soaring to the heavens as storybooks claimed.

An innocent man could be condemned for carrying a precious jade.

Most of them died miserable deaths.

If he has a saber technique, won't it fall right into my hands? Zhao Jinsheng could barely contain his excitement.

Only someone who belonged to a faction like his knew how precious cultivation methods were.

Though he was one of the River Blade Sect's finest, he was still an outsider to its ruling family. To gain more benefits, he needed a great deal of Merits.

Now an opportunity lay before him. Fueled by drink, Zhao Jinsheng threw caution aside and, as if guided by a ghost, followed Qin An into the alley.

After returning home, Qin An hung the Bell back in place.

He planned to turn in early and conserve his energy, then visit the bookshop again tomorrow to read.

Chen Chun's house had been pitch-black when he returned. Qin An guessed Chen Chun was not home yet.

An Undercover Agent of the Evil Extermination Division naturally had duties to attend to. Besides, the Coffin Shop was an ill-omened place, so no one paid much attention to Chen Chun's frequent absences.

After tidying up a little, Qin An prepared for bed.

It was already late at night when a sudden knock sounded at the door.

Qin An frowned slightly and looked toward the door. Instead of answering, he took up the Sharp Knife and hid behind it.

Since the incident with the Sow Demon, Qin An had grown increasingly cautious.

He only knew Chen Chun in Ding County. If Chen Chun had come, he would have called out first.

Since the visitor had said nothing, it was someone other than Chen Chun.

A visitor in the dead of night could only mean trouble.

The house fell silent.

After a while, the knocking stopped.

In the moonlight, a flash of gleaming steel slipped through the crack in the door.

Qin An's gaze sharpened.

It was a blade.

The blade slowly rose until it pressed against the door bar.

Most houses in Ding County had only a single door bar. Qin An knew what the person outside intended.

He wanted to enter the house without a sound.

Qin An frowned. There's none of that icy Killing Intent, and he's using a blade. I don't think I've crossed paths with him before.

He could sense no Killing Intent, so the visitor was probably not a demon.

And since he was using a blade, Qin An figured he was human.

But Qin An had no idea who he was. He had never gone around provoking people.

As he thought this, the blade kept shifting from side to side.

Before long, it pushed the door bar aside.

A young man slipped quietly inside.

The moment he entered, he struck the Bell at his feet.

Jingle, jingle.

In the dark, the ringing sounded piercingly loud.

Zhao Jinsheng had been intent on surveying the room, and the Bell startled him.

Before he could react, he heard a rush of air behind him.

Qin An struck with his saber.

He did not care who the man was. Anyone who came uninvited in the dead of night was an intruder.

For his own safety, he had decided to strike.

The Sharp Knife tore through the air with a violent crack, driving straight toward Zhao Jinsheng's back.

It was aimed at his heart. If it struck, not even an immortal could save him.

Qi flowed along the Sharp Knife, lending it another burst of speed.

Every hair on Zhao Jinsheng's body stood on end. The crack beside his ear left cold sweat across his forehead.

At the last instant, Zhao Jinsheng reversed his grip and brought his saber behind his back.

Clang!

The Sharp Knife struck the saber squarely, steel ringing against steel.

The tremendous force sent Zhao Jinsheng stumbling. He used the momentum to take several steps forward, then turned to look back.

"Just as I thought! You know a saber technique but have no cultivation method. You're an ordinary man who stumbled into a chance encounter!"

Zhao Jinsheng's eyes shone. He raised his saber and chopped down at Qin An's head. "That chance encounter is mine now!"

He had not been mistaken. The qi behind Qin An's strike had told him that Qin An had learned only a saber technique.

He really was an ordinary man who knew nothing else.

Techniques alone had their limits. A cultivation method was the foundation of advancement.

What could an ordinary man do even if he had obtained a saber technique?

How far could he possibly train it?

"Today, you die to my Water Shadow Saber Technique. I've reached the minor accomplishment stage with it, so you can rest easy in your grave."

Zhao Jinsheng licked his lips and sneered. Putting strength into his right arm, he slashed at Qin An's neck.

Distorted shadows appeared along the saber, as though water flowed over its surface.

The River Blade Sect was famed for the Water Shadow Saber Technique. When its wielder struck, he turned qi into water that could cling to an opponent's weapon.

His opponent was merely a commoner. With no experience, he was bound to raise his blade to block.

Once the water caught his weapon, he would be prey on a chopping block, helpless beneath Zhao Jinsheng's blade.

Zhao Jinsheng was already imagining the glorious moment when he claimed the saber manual.

But at that moment, the Sharp Knife in Qin An's hand grew a fraction faster.

Though Qin An had struck second, his blade arrived first. It swept from right to left across Zhao Jinsheng's neck.

A chill spread across Zhao Jinsheng's throat. He touched it without thinking, then looked down to find his palm covered in blood.

"You..."

With his throat cut, his voice came out like air wheezing through a broken bellows.

Expressionless, Qin An reversed his grip and drove the Sharp Knife into Zhao Jinsheng's chest.

Blood spilled everywhere, splattering across the floor.

In the moonlight, Zhao Jinsheng saw Qin An's expressionless face, and a chill gripped his heart.

I've kicked an iron plate.

Qin An had no cultivation method to bolster him, but his saber technique was far beyond minor accomplishment.

A cultivation method was the foundation, but techniques mattered just as much in a fight.

A man with technique but no cultivation method would indeed be stuck at Qi Concealment for life.

But Zhao Jinsheng himself was only in the Qi Concealment Realm.

His saber technique had reached minor accomplishment. His opponent's had reached perfection.

How could he fight that?

Qin An remained expressionless as he kicked Zhao Jinsheng in the abdomen.

Zhao Jinsheng's body slid off the Sharp Knife, rolled several times across the floor, then lay still.

Qin An crouched down. After confirming Zhao Jinsheng was dead, he wiped the blood from the Sharp Knife with Zhao Jinsheng's clothes.

It was an old habit from his days as a butcher. After every slaughter, he cleaned his knife. It was his livelihood, after all.

As he wiped, Qin An thought, It's not really any different from slaughtering a pig.

He felt he had grown used to it. At least he no longer felt like vomiting.

After cleaning the knife, Qin An looked at the body on the floor. He thought for a moment, then searched it.

In his previous life, whenever Qin An read a novel where the protagonist killed an enemy without searching the body, he thought it was a foolish thing to do.

Qin An did not consider himself a fool, so of course he searched.

After looking through Zhao Jinsheng's belongings, Qin An found a book tucked against his chest.

By moonlight and lamplight, Qin An made out the words on its cover.

"Cold Source Cultivation Method."