Becoming a Full Inspector

Near midnight.

Chen Jue sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes and mouth lightly closed, like a stone embryo molded from clay.

Within his body, he silently circulated the "Flowing Water Essence Gathering Technique," using his qi and blood as a river chariot as he strove to transport the "northern water qi," at its most active during the midnight hour, between heaven and earth.

However, he had only just learned the five internal arts of the Little Five-Element Art. Whether drawing qi into his body or moving the river chariot, he could not do so quickly.

And the Reward for Diligence arrived at a fixed time each day.

It would not be delayed simply because Chen Jue still needed a little more time to condense his second strand of Five-Element true qi.

[Over the past day, you meditated for 8 hours, practiced the Six Directions Saber Art 20 times, and consumed two High-Grade Qi-Nourishing Capsules...]

[Today's evaluation: Up before dawn and late to bed, diligent from morning to night. Reward for Diligence Index: 2 (3).]

[Reward settlement]

[Additionally gained the true qi earned from 16 hours of meditation. True Qi Realm, First Layer (1.6% → 4.8%)]

[Additionally gained the qi and blood earned from four Qi-Nourishing Capsules. Qi and Blood Value (115.9% → 117.5%)]

[Additionally gained the experience of performing the Six Directions Saber Art 40 times. Proficiency increased to (1930/10000)]

A small amount of insight into the circulation of internal arts, along with the steadily accumulating experience of the Six Directions Saber Art, followed the golden threads descending from the golden book into Chen Jue's mind.

His experience in circulating internal arts had increased!

The additional memories of sixteen hours of "perfect" cultivation gave Chen Jue an ideal reference point, abruptly increasing the speed at which he circulated the five internal arts by ten percent.

Do not underestimate that ten percent.

Applied to reality, it reduced the five hours he had needed to refine a strand of Five-Element true qi to just four and a half hours.

And the half hour saved was enough for him to practice the Six Directions Saber Art three more times.

That was very important to Chen Jue. He was a man determined to become a master of time management.

Beyond that, Chen Jue discovered that his qi and blood realm had become a fixed concept—"Qi and Blood Value."

Only after communicating with the Diligence Rewards Log did he understand that it was a "reference coefficient," measured against the normal quantity of qi and blood possessed by martial artists of the same realm.

In other words, his current qi and blood already exceeded that of ordinary martial artists by 17.5%!

This was an unconventional conceptual coefficient.

It meant that whether it was the speed at which his dantian furnace refined spiritual qi, his efficiency in drawing qi into his body, or his river chariot's transport, all surpassed ordinary martial artists by 17.5%.

Moreover, his abundant qi and blood would bring greater heat and pressure to his dantian furnace.

As a result, the Five-Element essence qi Chen Jue condensed would be even purer and more flawless than that cultivated by martial artists with the same innate bones!

Qi and blood were also the source of a human body's strength. Such an off-the-charts qi and blood value naturally created extraordinary "innate divine strength."

Chen Jue had only just entered the first layer of the True Qi Realm, yet his physical strength could already rival that of a martial artist at the third layer of the True Qi Realm.

If Qi and Blood Value can increase without limit, then for martial artists, isn't that another kind of improvement to one's innate bones?

What a pity there are only twenty-four hours in a day. Otherwise, no matter what, I'd add the Primordial Stance Art to my cultivation plan as well...

While his thoughts ran wild, Chen Jue transported the final strand of "northern water qi" into his dantian furnace.

The five qi refined together, and the fifth strand of Five-Element true qi was born.

Having finished the day's cultivation, Master Chen lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

During the day, he had killed three scions of powerful clans who had been spying on his cousin.

Although the crisis had temporarily been resolved, its source remained, making it hard for him to rest easy.

Chen Jue calculated that, at his current cultivation speed, he would advance to the second layer of the True Qi Realm in roughly twenty days.

With the Little Five-Element Art as his foundation, that speed was by no means slow.

But if he searched his heart, would the strength of merely the second layer of the True Qi Realm truly be enough to sever outsiders' covetous gazes toward his cousin?

Chen Jue thought it was doubtful.

So he had to take pills—and real first-tier pills for the True Qi Realm...

Once I become a full inspector and obtain official Patrol Inspectorate status, my loan limit will definitely rise another step.

As they say, with no one to support my ambition to reach the azure clouds, I shall borrow my way up the mountain peak myself...

Chen Jue rubbed the spirit stone in his hand, which had only one-fifth of its spiritual power left, took a deep breath, and forced himself to stop thinking.

Staying up late was detrimental to cultivation. Only by relaxing one's mind and entering deep sleep could a martial artist's essence, qi, and spirit fully recover.

The next morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Chen Jue rose and tidied himself up, strapped a standard-issue saber at his waist, and left home in a black patrol inspector's robe.

There were quite a few procedures for becoming a full inspector. He needed to get to headquarters early to avoid standing in line and having the process drag on.

As soon as Chen Jue reached the garrison, he saw the seven patrol inspectors of the fourth squad getting out of a patrol car with their arms slung around one another's shoulders.

These people had obviously drunk heavily the night before. Even the driver looked thoroughly drunk.

A pack of vermin. Sooner or later, I'll crush you all...

The thought that the money they had spent on drinking might very well have been extorted from him made anger surge in Chen Jue's heart.

That bastard Zhang Wei is ruthless and black-hearted, and the fourth squad is full of relatives, friends, and old associates he planted there.

Making enemies with someone like that, if I don't find a way to pin him down for good, will truly leave me uneasy...

Chen Jue had only just entered the garrison, yet he was already considering many things.

When the elevator reached the fifth floor, he happened upon a young woman from headquarters opening the door with her fingerprint.

"Hello, I'm intern Chen Jue. I was fortunate enough to break through the day before yesterday, and I've come to register for full inspector status."

The young woman appeared to be twenty-four or twenty-five. She wore a white satin long-sleeved blouse paired with a hip-hugging pencil skirt, while matte black stockings outlined the smooth, beautiful lines of her legs. Alongside her youthful beauty, she possessed the crisp competence of a professional woman.

She looked Chen Jue up and down with appreciation, then casually pointed toward the sofa outside the director's office.

"Sit and wait for a while. There's still an hour before official work hours, but Director Tang usually arrives forty or fifty minutes early."

Chen Jue thanked her, and she casually poured him a cup of tea in a paper cup.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Tang Shuo arrived early, dressed in a neat and formal manner.

"Not bad. You broke through on your first attempt."

Tang Shuo led Chen Jue into his office. While praising him, he took out a stack of documents and rapidly marked them with his pen.

"I prepared your confirmation documents in advance. You only need to sign them."

Tang Shuo handed the documents to Chen Jue, allowing him to check for omissions and fill in any gaps before signing them.

Meanwhile, Tang Shuo logged into the Patrol Inspectorate's internal network and reviewed Chen Jue's personal information.

"You're actually cultivating the Zong family's Little Five-Element Art?" Tang Shuo was somewhat surprised.

As far as he knew, Chen Jue's father had been something of a man, but he had died young and left behind no inheritance.

Chen Jue's mother was merely an ordinary teacher.

For a family that could be called "utterly impoverished," let alone cultivating the Little Five-Element Art, even cultivating an ordinary three-attribute internal art carried the risk of running out of resources.

He turned to look at the clear-eyed young man and thought, Just as expected—newborn calves fear no tigers.

"It was recommended by an administrator. Among the many middle-grade internal arts, it was ranked first."

Chen Jue's eyes were innocent and guileless, like a lamb that had been tricked without even realizing it.

"Heh. Those scum at the City Patrol Office really don't have even a shred of responsibility."

For once, a flicker of emotion and mockery appeared on Tang Shuo's stern face.

He looked at Chen Jue and advised him, "Think carefully again. Did the administrator who recommended the Little Five-Element Art to you ever actually say that the Little Five-Element Art was a middle-grade art?"

"If he did, then congratulations. You can demand five hundred thousand in compensation from him."

Chen Jue froze at those words. He carefully recalled what had happened yesterday morning, and his expression immediately darkened.

"He only said that middle-grade arts could be selected on the second floor. He never said that the Five-Element Art was a middle-grade art."

"Exactly." Tang Shuo laughed. "Every year, there are plenty of people cheated by them at the Patrol Inspectorate. This year's sucker just happened to be you."

"..."

Chen Jue was speechless. It felt as though there were no good people left in this world.

"Director, then what rank is this Little Five-Element Art exactly?" he asked curiously.

Tang Shuo glanced at Chen Jue, printed out the "Employment Confirmation Letter," and handed it to him to sign.

"The Little Five-Element Art came from the Linjiang Clan, and the Zong family is one of Linjiang's four first-rank powerful clans. What rank do you think the internal art their family uses for the first three realms would be?"

"Could it be a high-grade internal art?" Chen Jue looked shocked, while inwardly, he was overjoyed.

It seemed he had stumbled into a treasure by accident!

Tang Shuo looked at him with a smile that was not quite a smile. He neither confirmed nor denied it, leaving the suspense for Chen Jue's imagination.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Director Tang took the garrison's official seal from the safe and stamped Chen Jue's documents with it in succession, then scanned and uploaded them to the internal system.

"Congratulations. You have officially become a full patrol inspector."

"You are currently at the first layer of the True Qi Realm, corresponding to the rank of Level-One Clerk."

"Since you hold a martial post, your base salary rises to seven thousand credits. Add the rank bonus of N times one thousand, plus half your salary subsidized out of the Zong family's own pocket..."

"Your monthly salary should come to around twelve thousand... Tsk, that's basically on par with your uncle He Yuanshan's salary."

Chen Jue asked in surprise, "The Zong family even subsidizes martial artists cultivating the Little Five-Element Art? What are they after?"

"For nine generations above them, every member of the Zong family has been female. What do you think they're after? Ordinary people's money? Or ordinary people's power?"

Having understood Tang Shuo's meaning, Chen Jue's entire body went numb again.

If he could, he truly wanted to send regards to the mother of yesterday's administrator.

But before he could speak again, Tang Shuo had already tossed him a badge representing a full patrol inspector.

"The patrol inspector uniforms in the warehouse don't have your size for now. If you have time this afternoon, come over to be measured and fitted."

"Your business here is finished. You can leave."

Chen Jue stood there blankly, wanting to speak but stopping himself, as though he regretted having cultivated the Little Five-Element Art.

But since Tang Shuo had already issued an order to see him out, he could only take the badge and walk out of headquarters with his head hanging low.

Yet once he left headquarters, beneath that dejected mask, the corners of his mouth nearly split all the way to his ears from his smile.

In other people's eyes, the Little Five-Element Art was a bottomless pit that devoured resources.

And the Zong family's subsidy was barely better than nothing—a cup of water against a blazing cartload of firewood.

But he was different. Heaven rewarded diligence, and he was the most diligent of all!

The flaws others saw were all advantages in his eyes.

If possible, he even hoped the Little Five-Element Art was a top-tier internal art, so that he could leap like a fish through the dragon gate and soar to the highest heights!