Graceful as a startled swan, elegant as a soaring dragon

Please choose a direction

The familiar words appeared once again, and Zhou An waited patiently.

After a while, the words before him faded, replaced by new ones.

Vajra Leg: Strength +1, Destruction +1.

Soaring Dragon Steps: Speed +1, Evasion +1.

The two options appeared before him. Zhou An stroked his chin and fell into thought.

These two options were rather interesting. They took completely opposite paths.

One was called Vajra Leg, granting Strength +1 and Destruction +1.

It was obvious from the wording alone that he had trained running into a leg technique.

And it was an exceptionally fierce leg technique. It not only increased strength, but also destruction.

Object Juggling had also increased the Destruction attribute back then, allowing him to juggle Chef Liu to death alive.

Vajra Leg had the same bonus, so its power needed no explanation.

But it offered no speed. Not even a little.

The second option, Soaring Dragon Steps, was a genuine movement technique. It not only granted Speed +1, but also Evasion +1.

Zhou An pondered between the two options for a long time before ultimately choosing Soaring Dragon Steps.

His reasons for choosing Soaring Dragon Steps were simple.

First, he had to choose based on the original Speed +1. Only then would it best fit the rules of proficiency.

Second, he truly needed a movement technique.

Aside from the Butchering Ox Skill, he also had Object Juggling for offense. Those two skills were already more than enough.

Only by gaining another movement technique could he gain another trump card.

With so few skills at present, making up for his weaknesses was the most important thing.

With that in mind, Zhou An chose Soaring Dragon Steps.

Once he made his choice, the words before him changed.

Soaring Dragon Steps lv.3 (Speed +2, Evasion +1): 1/40000

A flood of information poured into his mind, and the flow of qi within Zhou An grew stronger once more.

His qi, originally as thick as two fingers, became as thick as three.

It might not have looked like much, but when used, this qi had undergone a genuine qualitative change.

Zhou An closed his eyes and absorbed the information in his mind before opening them again.

He had already grasped the essentials of Soaring Dragon Steps.

Soaring Dragon Steps emphasized only eight words.

—Graceful as a startled swan, elegant as a soaring dragon.

It used incredibly subtle changes in airflow to evade attacks.

And it was not slow. It could even be called extremely fast.

The bonus brought by Speed +2 could not be underestimated.

A simple example would do.

If Zhou An had his back to an enemy and the enemy threw a hidden weapon at him—

He would not need to turn around at all.

When the hidden weapon was about to strike him, he could alter his body through the changes in airflow caused by it and evade it.

"Let's try it."

Zhou An lowered his head, picked up a pebble from the ground, and casually threw it at the wall behind him without looking back.

The pebble struck the wall and rebounded, flying straight for Zhou An's back.

Qi circulated within Zhou An's body. When the pebble approached his back, he sensed its presence through the vibrations it stirred in the air.

Then Zhou An shifted slightly to the side, narrowly avoiding it.

The entire process was exceedingly mysterious.

Zhou An could sense the subtlest changes and use them to make the most appropriate movements.

And his movements were extraordinarily natural.

Graceful as a startled swan, elegant as a soaring dragon.

He had brought those eight words to their utmost limit.

This really is an excellent skill, Zhou An thought.

That round of testing and choosing had wasted quite a bit of time.

Zhou An estimated that it was nearly time for roll call.

He did not linger. He returned home, washed up, ate breakfast outside, and arrived at the yamen once more.

The yamen was the same as usual, and their street patrols had not stopped lately.

After roll call, Zhou An went out to patrol the streets with Yu Hang again.

At noon, the two ate something outside.

Recently, Yu Hang had been in low spirits.

The closer the Imperial Examination drew, the more gloomy he became.

Zhou An knew well that his childhood friend was not in a good state of mind.

He had already said all he could to persuade him. Yu Hang could only adjust himself.

If he adjusted well, he could rise in one leap through the Imperial Examination. If not, he could only try again next year.

"Don't think too much." Zhou An patted Yu Hang's shoulder and offered another word of comfort.

Yu Hang took a bite of food and gave a helpless laugh. "Old Zhou, I don't want to, either. But it keeps spinning around in my head. Forget it, don't comfort me anymore. I'll take it slowly myself."

Some things did not disappear simply because one refused to think about them.

Hearing that, Zhou An stopped trying to comfort him.

After they finished eating, the two took a short walk before continuing their street patrol.

They did not return to the yamen until they were nearly off duty.

"We're not on night patrol tonight. How about we get something good to eat?" Seeing that Yu Hang was still gloomy, Zhou An made a suggestion.

Yu Hang thought it made sense. His mood had indeed been too tense lately, and relaxing a little would be good.

Besides, being with Zhou An was safe. With such a mysterious expert around, if people from the Beast Cult came, blood would be spilled.

Staying in the yamen every night was far too stifling.

With that thought, Yu Hang nodded.

"Let's go. We'll buy some groceries now."

There was no street patrol that night anyway.

The two planned to head back, buy a few dishes, and have a good meal.

With their arms around each other's shoulders, they laughingly greeted the passing constables and prepared to leave.

But before they could step out, Head Constable Xie, who had just entered, stopped them.

"Something urgent has come up. Don't leave yet. Wait in the yamen. I'll come over shortly."

After saying that, Head Constable Xie hurried toward the rear courtyard.

His steps were quick and urgent.

The rear courtyard was where the County Magistrate lived.

Recently, the County Magistrate had been in seclusion, dealing with matters concerning the selection. Zhou An had never seen him.

Now that Head Constable Xie was rushing over, there had to be something major to report—and only the County Magistrate could make the decision.

Yu Hang nudged Zhou An with his elbow and whispered, "Old Zhou, something huge must have happened!"

Zhou An said helplessly, "Anyone with eyes can see that. Come on, looks like tonight's dinner is off."

Since Head Constable Xie had stopped them, the two gave up on their meal and returned to the room with their arms around each other's shoulders.

At that moment, the room was already packed with constables, all of them discussing the matter.

They had also received Head Constable Xie's message.

All the constables gathering like this was practically unheard of except in the case of major events, so everyone was extremely curious.

Zhou An guessed it might be related to the Beast Cult.

So many days had passed in perfect calm.

Zhou An did not believe that the Demon Suppression Division would not investigate and crack down on the Beast Cult.

The calm on the surface concealed surging undercurrents.

All the constables being summoned today meant those undercurrents had finally built to the point of eruption.

He waited patiently.

After about half an hour, Head Constable Xie's voice came from outside.

"Everyone, come out. There is an urgent matter."

Upon hearing the call, the constables immediately stopped talking and streamed out of the room into the courtyard.