Four-Unity True Qi

Baiyun County, West Street.

Shen Yi turned to face the others. "You can all go now. Head home and get some rest."

Tonight had been a disaster that had come out of nowhere for them.

Especially for Zhang Dahu. He had once thrown his weight around the county and enjoyed nothing but smooth sailing. He'd only just begun to rein himself in, yet one of his colleagues had nearly hacked him to pieces.

"Safe travels, Lord Shen."

Chen Ji and the others cupped their hands in salute.

Butcher Zhang opened his mouth, about to continue with his earlier question.

"I wasn't holding back. I just rarely spar with people, so I had some insights." Shen Yi rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a little exasperated.

"That's more like it." Butcher Zhang smacked his lips, finally recovering a little of his confidence.

After seeing them off, Shen Yi ambled toward his own little house.

Now that the dog demon and Old Ape had both been put down, their cultivation might not have been much to speak of, but they had posed the greatest threat to Baiyun County.

The days ahead would surely be much easier for him.

He reached his door and raised a hand to knock. Then he glanced at the deep night and lowered it.

She should be asleep by now, right?

Lin Baiwei sat at the table, carefully copying out martial arts manuals.

Only her tightly clenched left hand betrayed her worry.

At first, she had only meant to placate that bastard of a constable and keep herself alive.

Who could have guessed that, over the past while, he had hardly ever come home in clean clothes? Lin Baiwei's opinion of him had gradually changed.

In this troubled age, anyone willing to slay demons was probably not a bad person.

But what had happened last night had stirred a trace of anger in her.

Was the vast county of Baiyun really relying on one man alone to hold back the demons? The slightest slip, and blades were drawn against him!

Lin Baiwei washed the demon blood from his clothes herself every day.

Surely she knew whether Shen Yi was the kind of lazy man who knew of danger and said nothing.

Besides, this assignment had never been reasonable in the first place.

"You're back?"

At the sound of the door opening, delight flashed across Lin Baiwei's pretty face. She stood and looked over.

Shen Yi paused, then nodded. He took off his outer robe and set it on the cabinet, then picked up the papers on the table and began leafing through them. "This much?"

"Martial arts of the Jade Liquid Realm involve the meridians, acupoints, and the circulation of your breath and Jade Dew. They can't be compared with ordinary martial arts. Don't rush. Let me check them a few more times so I can make sure there are no mistakes."

Lin Baiwei gave a brief explanation. Seeing that he was uninjured, she relaxed a little. "Wash up. I'll go heat some food for you."

"No need. I don't have much of an appetite."

Though Shen Yi seemed to leaf through the pages at random, delight welled in his eyes.

A brand-new notification had appeared on his panel.

[Jade Liquid Four-Unity True Qi (Not Yet Initiated)]

There might not be a single Jade Liquid Realm martial art in all of Baiyun County, and now one lay quietly in his hands.

"Even among martial arts of the Jade Liquid Realm, this is an exceptionally rare and overbearing method. Only those with deep foundations can use it casually. It isn't very suited to your current situation, but for now, it's all I can offer."

Lin Baiwei went into the kitchen, but still reminded him, "Martial arts must be practiced step by step."

A little later, she set a bowl of reheated meat stew and a large bowl of rice on the table. "My master used to say that no matter how much blood you've seen or how horrific the sights you've witnessed, you still have to eat."

Lin Baiwei, who had always denied having a master, spoke of one without a trace of hesitation tonight.

Shen Yi pressed his lips together, then accepted her kindness. He picked up his chopsticks, stirred the tender meat into the rice, and polished it off in a few quick bites.

The warmth of the food drove the gloom from his heart.

Shen Yi tipped all the broth into his stomach and rubbed his belly, satisfied.

Seeing that, Lin Baiwei's lips curved slightly. She gathered the dishes and left the room.

Once silence settled over the room, Shen Yi climbed into bed and opened his panel again.

Four-Unity True Qi wasn't an internal art, and it didn't sound like it had anything to do with blades or swords.

So what made it overbearing?

[Remaining Demon Lifespan: 651 years]

Shen Yi didn't rush to begin deriving the art. Instead, he took out three Beast Essences, taken from the tiger demon and the ape demon.

He held one in his mouth, and the demon lifespan poured into Four-Unity True Qi.

[Year 1: You force yourself to practice a Jade Liquid Realm method, painstakingly breaking down its obscure writing while absorbing the tiger demon's Beast Essence.]

[Year 3: You finally understand the martial art. The Beast Essence has long since been absorbed, and all the breath in your first acupoint has turned into Jade Dew.]

[Year 29: You gain an initial understanding of the so-called Four-Unity: Heaven, Earth, Man, and Self. You successfully take the first step, "breath and body in unity." Four-Unity True Qi reaches the entry level.]

[Year 32: Your progress is slow, mainly because the breath in your body is insufficient to support this martial art. Every attempt exhausts the reserves in all your acupoints.]

Shen Yi stopped the infusion and put the second Beast Essence in his mouth.

[Year 43: With the ape demon's Beast Essence to help you, your breath recovers faster. You also gain insight into the Heart Ape. After practicing for a long time, you break through to minor mastery of Four-Unity True Qi.]

[Year 72: Once again, you realize the importance of talent and precious medicines. The former slows your progress; the latter leaves you unable to make up for it through sheer diligence.]

Seeing this, Shen Yi didn't hesitate. He swallowed the third Beast Essence.

[Year 94: Four-Unity True Qi reaches great mastery. A wave of your hand sends a rain of astral energy across the sky, making you seem like an earthly immortal. But only you know that a single wave of your hand has cost you years of accumulated reserves.]

[Year 130: After years without the slightest progress, you feel the pain. Practicing martial arts is no longer a matter of effort bringing reward. What you don't understand, you don't understand; what you can't comprehend, you can't comprehend... You gradually begin to blame fate and everyone around you.]

[Year 190: Eroded by the passage of time, you lose the urge to complain. You quietly fill your acupoints and refine Jade Dew, waiting for your next attempt.]

[Year 260: You rise in a daze. No sudden enlightenment comes; you have simply made the same move tens of thousands of times. This time, there is a slight change. Your numb thoughts cannot even tell what caused it.]

[Four-Unity True Qi, perfected!]

[Remaining Demon Beast Essence: 391 years]

Shen Yi's eyes were blank for a moment.

That immense pressure, knowing what to do without knowing why, succeeding only to fall into even greater confusion, all those emotions tangled together and flashed through his mind in an instant...

And yet it somehow made his stomach clench, as though he wanted to vomit up his innards.

Fortunately, he returned to normal in a flash.

"Whew."

Shen Yi rubbed his face.

Practicing martial arts wasn't all that different from working and studying in his previous life.

Getting started, learning the basics, memorizing a few key formulas—that wasn't hard. But perfection meant knowing it backward and forward, mastering it completely, even digesting an entire book until you understood every last thing in it. Anyone who could reach that level was a master in their field.

Only someone like him, with such powerful assistance, would dare hope to perfect every martial art he learned.

Once the useless emotions had faded, all that remained in his mind was everything he had learned about this Jade Liquid Realm martial art.

[Jade Liquid Four-Unity True Qi (Perfected)]

[Initial Realm Heart Ape: You know the habits of ape-type demons like the back of your hand and can climb mountains as easily as walking on level ground. Your progress with footwork martial arts increases.]