I Want It All!

Chen Xu strode into the collection hall. How could he fail to catch the hidden meaning in the hunchbacked old man's words? "Just pick something within ten minutes. Once you're done, leave quickly."

But Chen Xu did not want just one martial art manual. He wanted them all!

He pulled out a book from the very edge of the wooden shelf. As soon as the martial art's name appeared on the panel after he finished reading it, he immediately opened the next one.

There were eight martial arts manuals in total, and Chen Xu claimed them all in less than four minutes.

He swept his gaze around. Most of the items were antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. Chen Jing had not shown herself either, which meant there was nothing else here worth his time.

"Mr. Chen, have you finished choosing?" The man's gaze fell on Chen Xu's hands, wanting to see which martial art manual he had selected.

Chen Xu casually showed him one of the books, then slipped it into the backpack he had left by the door.

He had asked Old Wu for the backpack to carry the deep-blue ore. He could not keep lugging around a tattered piece of cloth forever.

"This is your Refining Liquid. Please keep it safe." Uncle Zhuang took the gift box containing the Refining Liquid from an attendant and respectfully presented it with both hands.

After taking the gift box, Chen Xu naturally had no interest in returning to the reception room to sit around. He headed for the red-lacquered gates, intending to leave.

"The master is back!" Someone shouted, and the entire residence immediately became much noisier.

Nie Hongmiao was over sixty, yet there was no trace of age on his skin. The gold insignia on his dark-blue military uniform gleamed brilliantly.

"A court official of fifth rank or above... his martial strength probably isn't something to underestimate." Chen Xu's gaze settled on Nie Hongmiao as he made his assessment.

But what did that have to do with him? All he wanted now was to head to the Martial Pavilion in Peace Prefecture City and make a haul of spiritual energy.

He had heard that every county-level deputy pavilion master and above received a monthly subsidy of Refining Liquid from the upper-level Martial Pavilion. Even a mosquito's leg was still meat.

As Chen Xu walked through the eastern district of Peace Prefecture City, he could clearly feel the gap between it and Jinning Commandery.

More precisely, Jinning Commandery was also part of Peace Prefecture City, a subordinate commandery of the prefectural city.

Generally speaking, prefectural cities were the highest rank among Great Abyss's ordinary cities. The core city of each of Great Abyss's thirteen prefectures was unquestionably the foremost city of that prefecture.

Cities at the capital level did not belong to any prefecture. Across all of Great Abyss, there were only three such strategic-level cities.

Great Abyss's capital, Abyss Capital; Sea Capital, independent overseas and guarding against the Federation; and Culture Capital, where cutting-edge technology was researched and Great Abyss's finest talents gathered.

As he walked, a display screen on a building suddenly switched from an advertisement to a news broadcast. The host wore a grave expression.

"We interrupt with an urgent report: residents of the western district have discovered another female corpse in an alley.

"Based on preliminary judgment, she had been dead for several hours. She may have been assaulted before her death. This is already the fifth serious incident this week. We urge all citizens to minimize going out at night in the near future.

"The Martial Pavilion and military have jointly issued a statement. They will definitely capture the killer within three days, bring the criminal to justice, and restore peace to the prefectural city."

The urgent news broadcast immediately drew the attention of pedestrians. Upon hearing that another person had died, they could not help discussing it.

Word had long spread that someone in Peace Prefecture City had been hunting down lone pedestrians at night. What ordinary citizens found most incomprehensible was that, despite the city's formidable defensive forces, they had not even figured out what the killer looked like.

"Uncle Zuo, the murderer must be a martial arts expert." The somewhat immature-looking underage girl looked at the middle-aged man beside her, who was around forty and dressed entirely in cheap street-market clothes.

Uncle Zuo did not answer. Instead, he asked, "Why do you think that?"

The bodies had all been censored. He wanted to know how his Holy Maiden had come to that conclusion.

"I saw one of the women who died when I came out alone once. As far as I know, she was one of the coaches at Great Abyss Women's Martial Arts Academy. I have a good memory. As long as I have some impression of someone, I can recognize them by their build and outline."

"Photographic memory?" Chen Xu's gaze landed on the girl. She was petite and not especially stunning at first glance, but the more one looked at her, the more pleasing she became.

The middle-aged man beside her had slack muscles and looked no different from the vast majority of ordinary people. Yet Chen Xu felt an inexplicable sense of oppression, as if the man before him was not an ordinary middle-aged man, but a ferocious beast feigning sleep.

"As expected of Peace Prefecture City. Martial Artists who are rarely seen in Jinning Commandery show up not long after arriving here." Chen Xu stroked his chin thoughtfully, then stopped paying attention to the news and headed toward the Martial Pavilion.

Uncle Zuo noticed a subtle gaze sweep over him. When he looked over, it had already vanished into the bustling crowd.

He gently patted Xu Qing on the shoulder. "All right, it's time for us to go back."

This child was not exceptionally gifted, but he had always seen her diligence. As long as she kept it up, under the guidance of a [Martial Momentum] expert like him, entering the [Martial Form] realm within three years would not be an overly difficult goal.

After entering [Martial Form], with the Wheel-turning Holy Church's full support, reaching [Martial Momentum] before the age of forty would be far from an impossible dream.

A [Martial Momentum] expert in their thirties could absolutely be called a "genius" in the martial arts world.

Provided a [Martial Momentum] expert had no hidden injuries and suffered no disasters or calamities, they could live to one hundred and fifty. She might not lack the chance to explore that legendary realm in the future. After all, fewer than a hundred people in today's martial arts world had stepped into that realm. They were extraordinary figures standing at the pinnacle of martial arts.

Peace Prefecture City Martial Pavilion.

The fifty-story pavilion towered over the most prosperous area of Peace Prefecture City. It had consumed immense manpower and resources and taken nearly four years to complete.

The first thirty floors were open for sightseeing and to the public, while the remaining twenty floors could only be entered by internal Martial Pavilion personnel.

After presenting his Martial Pavilion credentials, Chen Xu was invited into the VIP room to await the chief steward of Peace Prefecture City's Martial Pavilion, who would personally receive him.

A deputy pavilion master from a commandery city was not qualified to have a deputy pavilion master from a prefectural city greet him. Usually, a Martial Pavilion chief steward of the same rank handled the reception.

Less than two minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, I've heard so much about you. My surname is Sha. Just call me Steward Sha."

Steward Sha had a beer belly and a beaming smile.

Anyone who could hold a management position in the Martial Pavilion had to possess martial skills. Chen Xu reckoned Steward Sha had probably not trained in a very long time. Could he still retain even a tenth of his former strength?

"Steward Sha, I came here mainly because of Qianshui Commandery. Secondly..."

Seeing his expression, how could Steward Sha, who had occupied the chief steward position for more than a decade, fail to understand? "I'll have someone fetch it right away: the court's reward for newly promoted deputy pavilion masters of the Martial Pavilion.

"As for Qianshui Commandery, Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, please do not worry. The moment we received the news, Deputy Pavilion Master Yue was sent over to take charge. Judging by the time, barring any accidents, he should be arriving in Qianshui Commandery soon.

"Does Deputy Pavilion Master Chen have any other important business? If not, allow me to host you tonight. I hope you'll honor me with your presence."