Nine Syllable Mantra Seal

"If you don't want to die, cooperate obediently."

Zhou Qing's words were like ice, making the constable he pointed at shudder involuntarily.

The constable's body trembled, his eyes full of terror. Faced with Zhou Qing's demand, he did not dare refuse and could only say in a quavering voice, "O... Okay!"

The surrounding constables did not dare step forward to stop him either.

On the way to the armory.

A constable returned from Zhou Manor to the county office, bringing dreadful news.

"What? All three Eagle Wolf Guard lords are dead?"

Upon hearing this news, the atmosphere in the county office instantly froze.

Three Eagle Wolf Guards, one of whom had even been a First-rate Martial Artist, had all died at Zhou Qing's hands. It was simply unbelievable.

"Th... How is that possible?"

The constables in the county office all found it inconceivable.

"H... How exactly did he do it?"

One constable muttered, his voice filled with shock.

They truly could not imagine how Zhou Qing had accomplished such a thing.

Yet the facts lay before them, leaving them no choice but to believe.

The registrar who had just entered the county office upon receiving the news heard this dreadful report and immediately greased the soles of his feet, fleeing without looking back as though he had never come to the county office at all.

This registrar knew full well that he was merely a lowly Second-rate Martial Artist. How could he dare provoke an unparalleled fiend capable of killing the Red Wolf Deputy Commander of the Eagle Wolf Guard?

He secretly rejoiced that he had arrived late.

Otherwise, if he had come into conflict with Zhou Qing, he would already have been a corpse.

Zhou Qing did not care what these people thought of him. At this moment, he had already arrived at the county office armory.

Inside the county office armory.

Besides martial arts manuals, there were all manner of weapons.

Zhou Qing had someone bring him a large burlap sack. Whether the martial arts manuals would be useful to him or not, he packed them all up first.

"Good saber!"

Then Zhou Qing walked to the weapon rack where the treasured sabers were stored and picked out a saber gleaming with cold light.

He picked up the treasured saber and gave it a few test swings. The saber light flashed like lightning, and the faint sound of it slicing through the air sent a chill down one's spine.

It truly was a rare and excellent saber!

This treasured saber had been forged from Mysterious Iron. Not only was its edge razor-sharp, but its blade was incomparably hard.

Even a First-rate Martial Artist would find it difficult to damage it by force.

"Not bad!"

Zhou Qing nodded in satisfaction.

This Mysterious Iron Saber was far superior to the saber he had been using.

With this Mysterious Iron Saber, its killing power would increase by several tenths. Zhou Qing put the saber away, then carried the sack filled with martial arts manuals out of the armory.

"That baleful star has finally left!"

Seeing Zhou Qing finally depart, the constables all breathed a sigh of relief.

They secretly rejoiced that this baleful star had not made things difficult for them. Otherwise, their little lives might not have been safe.

Zhou Qing had even dared to kill the Eagle Wolf Guard and the County Magistrate, let alone insignificant constables like them. Fortunately, all the constables had enough sense. Not one of them was so single-minded as to rush up and fight Zhou Qing to the death.

If they angered Zhou Qing, that baleful star, they would all die.

Before leaving the county town.

Zhou Qing returned to Zhou Manor once more and filled a sack with silver ingots. After making sure no one was following him, he went to the home of the jailer, Liu Shan.

However, he did not meet Liu Shan. He left the silver behind and departed. He did not fear the court's wanted notice, but Liu Shan was different.

Liu Shan was merely a lowly jailer. He had family and ties that bound him. Zhou Qing knew full well that too much contact with Liu Shan would only drag the other man down.

In any case, the silver he left behind was not in whole ingots, but broken silver he had crushed apart. Altogether, it amounted to several hundred taels. Hidden somewhere and spent slowly, it would be enough to live in comfort for a lifetime. This was his repayment for the kindness shown to him in the dungeon.

After finishing all this, Zhou Qing left the county town.

He raced several dozen li in one stretch, only stopping when he reached an abandoned mountain god temple. He poured out the martial arts manuals from the burlap sack.

There were fifty-six manuals in total.

Among these martial arts manuals, only nine were Internal Arts. The rest were all martial techniques: fist techniques, palm techniques, saber techniques, sword techniques, spear techniques, and more.

Most of the martial arts were merely third-rate. Of the Internal Arts, only two had reached the second-rate level, while there were thirteen second-rate martial techniques.

"Gale Nine Waves."

From among the second-rate martial techniques, Zhou Qing first selected this saber technique called "Gale Nine Waves."

The moves of this saber technique were simple.

It focused on stacking speed and strength.

When cultivated to perfection, this saber technique could instantly unleash nine slashes. Moreover, all nine slashes would strike the same point, each slash stronger than the last.

By the ninth slash, it could erupt with three times one's own strength. The saber aura would be like a raging wind and torrential rain, sharp and unstoppable.

Although Gale Nine Waves was a second-rate martial technique, in the hands of a warrior with great strength, the power it unleashed—apart from attacks of Power of Momentum infused with spiritual will—was enough to rival first-rate martial techniques.

Or rather, this saber technique was exceptionally suited to body-refining martial artists.

"Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art," "Illusion Demon Movement Technique."

Next, Zhou Qing selected two more martial arts manuals.

Of these two manuals, the Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art was a lightness skill. When cultivated to perfection, the body would be as light as flying catkins, fluttering through thin mist like drifting smoke. One moved like a bat and took shape like a ghost, coming without a shadow and going without a trace.

Swallow Dips Water was a lightness skill for short-range bursts and could not be sustained for long, whereas the Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art could be used for long journeys.

The Illusion Demon Movement Technique was a movement-type martial technique that could be used in battle. Its changes were unpredictable, and the body moved like a ghost, killing invisibly. When cultivated to perfection, it could produce nine phantom images to confuse opponents.

The Internal Art Zhou Qing chose was the "Golden Gang Art."

The Golden Gang Art was a metal-element Internal Art. The Internal Art cultivated from it had only one characteristic.

That was—Golden Edge.

Once a martial artist cultivated the Golden Gang Art, infusing the inner force it produced into their fists would make those fists incomparably sharp, easily tearing through armor. Upon reaching the peak of the second-rate realm, even heavy armor could be shattered.

If infused into a weapon, its sharpness would become even greater.

The Golden Gang Art, Gale Nine Waves, Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art, and Illusion Demon Movement Technique—these were the four martial arts Zhou Qing chose to cultivate.

Besides these, there was also the "Nine Syllable Mantra Seal."

The Nine Syllable Mantra Seal was divided into nine seals, each possessing a special ability. If complete, it would be a first-rate martial technique, but the Nine Syllable Mantra Seal in Zhou Qing's hands was incomplete, containing only three seals.

The three seals recorded in the Nine Character True Word Seal Fragment in Zhou Qing's possession were the Lin Character Immovable Wisdom King Seal, the Bing Character Great Vajra Wheel Seal, and the Dou Character Outer Lion Seal.

The Immovable Wisdom King Seal specialized in defense.

Once unleashed, it could gather all the inner force in one's body to form a Vajra barrier for protection, possessing absolute defense. Only force ten times greater could break it by force.

Its flaw was that it consumed an immense amount of inner force and prevented movement.

The Great Vajra Wheel Seal specialized in attack. It could compress inner force to unleash an ultimate attack. A Second-rate Martial Artist could gather qi at their fingertips and pierce through Mysterious Iron.

Its flaw was likewise its immense consumption of inner force.

The Outer Lion Seal could stimulate one's potential.

By burning qi, blood, and inner force, it could instantly multiply one's power severalfold. However, if one's physique was not strong enough, the body would enter a period of weakness after using it.