Martial Arts and the Dossier

Lin Nan's words rang out with conviction, prompting Yan Jingqiu and Yan Ling, mother and daughter, to exchange a glance.

They both felt that there was something seriously wrong with this man.

"Cough, cough, cough. In that case, from today onward, you are a member of True Yang Temple's demon-hunting team!"

Yan Jingqiu took an iron token from her robes, engraved with the three characters: "Demon-Hunting Team."

"Ling'er, teach this young friend the basics—cultivation techniques, taboos, martial knowledge, and so on. I'll come by tomorrow to give him a lesson."

With that, Yan Jingqiu turned and left, leaving Yan Ling alone with Lin Nan.

Yan Ling briefly introduced the general situation, then led Lin Nan to the rear courtyard of True Yang Temple to rest.

"Now that you've joined the demon-hunting team, you must complete missions at regular intervals. True Yang Temple differs from other martial schools; there is no monthly wage. The only benefits are a limited monthly supply of meat to replenish your blood and qi, as well as one lesson from the temple master each month. Rest up first. Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

After giving him a few instructions, Yan Ling stuffed two small booklets into his hands and left as well.

After tidying up his room and eating some dried rations, Lin Nan washed down several small pieces of Taisui Flesh with water.

He then completed a simple set of Origin-Revering Stance exercises. Only after seeing the number on the progress bar move did he sit on the bed in satisfaction and open the booklets.

The first booklet detailed the realms beyond that of a martial warrior, as well as how one should enter the next realm after fully tempering one's sinews and bones.

He quickly flipped it open.

The realm after a blood-and-qi martial warrior was known as the martial master realm.

The three realms of martial masters were the Viscera Realm, the Unpolished Jade Realm, and the Courage and Spirit Realm.

Once a martial warrior had fully tempered their sinews and bones, their only remaining weakness was their internal organs.

The first booklet recorded methods for tempering the five viscera and six bowels, cleansing the foul qi accumulated within them.

When the five viscera and six bowels circulated blood and qi freely, unified as one, one entered the Unpolished Jade Realm.

Beyond Unpolished Jade came Courage and Spirit. At that stage, cultivation was no longer merely about the physical body; it also involved one's martial will.

Lin Nan closed the booklet, suddenly enlightened. Many points he had previously failed to understand now became clear at a touch.

He could not help but sigh inwardly. Coming here had truly been the right choice. This booklet alone would probably fetch an unimaginable price in the outer city.

Yet here at True Yang Temple, it was treated like an introductory manual.

Still, Lin Nan guessed that such things could not be widely circulated. Otherwise, given True Yang Sect's current straitened circumstances, they would likely have sold them long ago for money.

Next, he opened the second booklet. Printed upon it were the four words: Great Qian Dossier.

Lin Nan casually flipped through a few pages, and his expression gradually turned grave.

Besides some of True Yang Temple's history, the dossier also contained one bizarre case after another.

[Bizarre Case One: In the third year of Kaibao, Great Qian, all 671 people and animals in Fengluo Village vanished into thin air overnight, leaving the village entirely empty. The authorities dispatched ten elite constables into the mountains to investigate. All went missing.]

[Bizarre Case Two: In the fifth year of Kaibao, Great Qian, the governor of Jizhou Prefecture underwent a strange transformation in his old age. Scarlet, stiff hair grew all over his body, and ominous abnormalities appeared in his later years. The servants in his residence disappeared one after another, their whereabouts unknown.]

[Bizarre Case Three: In the fifteenth year of Jingyan, Great Qian, the sky over Lin'an City, Cangzhou Prefecture, turned an eerie red for three days and nights. Foul-smelling blood rain fell from the heavens. Anyone touched by the blood rain suffered inch-by-inch decay of flesh, exposing white bones as they wailed without end before dying miserably. The blood rain only receded on its own after three days.]

[Bizarre Case Four: In the seventeenth year of Jingyan, Great Qian, the chief constable of Songyuan City vanished without cause from his residence late at night. No trace of him could be found anywhere in the house, only a pure white lotus-patterned mark on the ground. The authorities sent out two successive groups of constables to investigate. Upon returning, all had bloodshot eyes and crazed minds.]

The dossier also contained much knowledge about evil entities.

Since Great Qian's founding, when its founding emperor slew the White Snake and rose in rebellion, bizarre incidents had continued one after another. The traces of demons and evil entities seemed never to have disappeared, and appeared to be growing ever more severe.

The dossier also stated that Great Qian controlled very little territory in reality. Much of the world remained unexplored, filled with danger and mystery.

Closing the booklet, Lin Nan let out a soft sigh.

For a moment, he could not tell whether this was a world belonging to humans or a world belonging to demons and evil entities.

In such a world, even martial warriors struggled to move forward as though walking on thin ice, let alone ordinary people.

The next day, dawn had only just broken.

When Lin Nan woke, Yan Jingqiu was somehow already standing in his room, watching him with a smile.

That gaze made his scalp tingle. Lin Nan hurriedly rose and cupped his fists in salute. "Good morning, Master!"

"How did you sleep on your first day here?" Yan Jingqiu asked with a beaming smile.

This young man before her was the only fresh blood True Yang Temple had received in the past three years.

She had deliberately risen early today to check on him, afraid that the disciple she had finally managed to recruit might run away in advance. Such things had happened before.

"Reporting to Master, it was quite good," Lin Nan answered.

Though True Yang Temple was located in a valley, it was remarkably quiet, unlike the noisy nights of the outer city.

"That's good." Yan Jingqiu tossed him a leather-bound booklet.

Lin Nan caught it and examined it carefully. The five words True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique were written on its cover.

"There are three cultivation techniques practiced at True Yang Temple. The demon-hunting team practices the True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique. Unlike ordinary stance arts, this technique tempers not only blood and flesh, but also requires one to absorb the daylight of dawn and noon to cultivate one's inner breath. Once the stance art is mastered, when paired with the Thirty-Six Forms of True Yang Evil-Breaking Fist, it possesses tremendous killing power against demons and evil entities."

Yan Jingqiu wore a smile throughout. Unlike the calculating smile of Hall Master Xie, hers was gentle, as if she truly were an elder patiently guiding a junior.

"I have learned that you previously cultivated the low-grade ordinary martial art, the Spirit Serpent Art, from Black Serpent Martial School. Its attributes differ from those of the True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique, so changing to this technique will take some time. There is no need to rush."

Yan Jingqiu raised her hand and flicked out a thread of force with her finger.

To Lin Nan's surprise, that thread of force carried a faint glow, like that of an oil lamp.

"The True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique has three levels: Morning Dawn, Zenith, and Setting Glow..."

Yan Jingqiu explained the details of the True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique to Lin Nan bit by bit.

Under her instruction, Lin Nan gradually grasped its key points. His understanding of martial arts was no longer limited to stance exercises, and he gained a deeper level of insight.

Before long, the sun had set and dusk had fallen.

Without realizing it, she had taught for an entire afternoon.

"Is there anything else you want to ask?" Yan Jingqiu dusted off her Daoist robes and prepared to rise and leave.

Lin Nan suddenly thought of something. He hesitated for a moment before finally asking.

"Master, do you know of Withered Locust Village?"

"Withered Locust Village?"

Gritting his teeth, Lin Nan briefly recounted what had happened in Withered Locust Village that day, only concealing the matter of the bronze cup.

Fortunately, after hearing him out, Yan Jingqiu did not forget his words like everyone else had. Instead, her brows furrowed slightly.

"If I am not mistaken, you must have encountered a third-rank evil entity."

"A third-rank evil entity?"

"Correct. First-rank evil entities are commonly called demon ghosts, the most common being Corpse Ghosts and the like. Second-rank evil entities are known as fiend ghosts, born from immense resentment. Such ghosts possess extremely potent yin evil qi and are particularly suppressive toward martial warriors..."

"...As for third-rank evil entities, they are known as ghost binders. Ordinary blood and qi cannot wear them down at all. They are objects of great evil and possess the innate ability to obscure cognition. Ordinary people and martial warriors alike will instinctively ignore them, automatically filtering out their existence. Only martial masters of the Unpolished Jade Realm who have initially cultivated martial awareness can resist them."

A third-rank evil entity, with an innate ability to obscure cognition.

After hearing that, Lin Nan could only marvel.

After finishing, Yan Jingqiu's face showed a trace of doubt. "As I recall, there should not be such a high-ranking evil entity in the western outskirts outside the city. An ancient tomb? Could there be some other hidden circumstances?"

Time flew by, and three months passed.

Lin Nan once again devoted himself wholeheartedly to martial cultivation. The stance art of the True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique was quite different, requiring him to greet the dawn at the hour of the tiger each day and refine the True Yang Origin Qi within his dantian.

With repeated practice and the experience he had gained from his previous two sets of stance arts, Lin Nan quickly entered the martial warrior stage of the True Yang Illuminating Origin Technique.

Just as he was about to spend all the silver Zhou Gu had obtained from selling ancient books,

the sixth demon-hunting squad of True Yang Temple, to which he belonged, finally received a mission.