Surprise and Regret

In the living room.

The prismatic light of the Spirit-Gathering Formation beside Yang Wenqing cast him in the image of an immortal from legend.

Ten minutes passed quietly. Then, a searing pain far beyond his expectations suddenly struck. Even the Foundation-Stabilizing Formation could not suppress it, and Yang Wenqing lasted no more than three seconds before crying out.

He immediately stopped cultivating.

"Just as I thought..."

Yang Wenqing's discouragement flashed by in an instant, and he quickly calmed down to think.

This was because his physical foundation was not strong enough. Forcing himself to cultivate would likely damage his foundation. Ordinary cultivators had to follow the prescribed steps one by one precisely because their bodies could not withstand the infusion of spiritual energy. Forced cultivation could lead to one's body exploding, or even turning one into a puddle of flesh and blood.

Then he recalled how the Golden Core had previously nourished his skin, blood, and internal organs, and decided to try cultivating the first four refinements together using that same method.

This had been one of his planned alternatives all along. He had merely been unwilling to give up, wanting to try starting directly from the fifth refinement like the geniuses described in the records.

Yang Wenqing began channeling spiritual energy to repair his damaged meridians. The process lasted an hour. Once his injuries had settled, he began cultivating according to his backup plan.

His consciousness sank completely into that wondrous Golden Core World. Here, his control over himself had reached its peak; with the slightest shift of thought, the spiritual energy coursing through his body obeyed as readily as his own limbs.

He intended to divide his attention four ways here and simultaneously advance the first four refinements of the Ninefold Refinement Method.

Soon, beneath the Golden Core World's clear projection, the vast spiritual energy was exquisitely divided into four streams with different properties:

The main current of spiritual energy still followed the method of Bones and Muscles Resonance, tempering his bones and muscles again and again, producing muffled thunderous rumbles.

At the same time, an extremely fine and gentle strand of spiritual energy split off. Following the paths recorded in the secret method, it softly and continuously swept beneath the skin across his body. Under this unique stimulation, his skin seemed to be gently stretched by invisible hands.

Another stream of spiritual energy silently merged into his surging blood. Accompanying the powerful beat of his heart, it drove his blood to circulate faster, making it increasingly heavy and giving it the faint luster and sense of power of flowing lead and mercury.

The last stream, and also the gentlest, seeped slowly into his five organs and six viscera like spring rain nourishing all things. It mildly stimulated their vitality and washed away the tiny lingering ailments accumulated over the years.

At first, controlling four streams of spiritual energy at once was like keeping four unsteady threads suspended in the air. Several times, the spiritual energy nearly went out of control, but fortunately, the Golden Core World assisted him.

Yet after a long while, Yang Wenqing, deep in meditation, frowned slightly.

Controlling four streams of spiritual energy at once was like steering four small boats through a storm. It consumed tremendous mental energy, and the spiritual energy occasionally became disordered. He realized that trying to do too much would only make him less effective. If he forcibly maintained all four lines at once, he would likely achieve half the results for twice the effort, perhaps even lose all his previous gains, because he still needed to guide spiritual energy to repair the damaged areas.

With thoughts racing, Yang Wenqing decisively adjusted his strategy. He gave up on the second, third, and fourth refinements, focusing primarily on the first. Once the Golden Core World absorbed the overflowing spiritual energy and sent it back against his body, he would guide that backlash within the Golden Core World.

In an instant, his taut mind suddenly relaxed, and his cultivation became much smoother!

Another three hours passed. When Yang Wenqing sensed that the damage within his body had reached its limit, he decisively stopped cultivating and began channeling spiritual energy to repair his injured muscles and bones. Another hour passed like this.

"Though it isn't as ideal as I expected, my cultivation speed should still advance by leaps and bounds this way. Perhaps I can break through to the fourth refinement in a few years. Then I can try taking the police commissioner exam, and this speed isn't much slower than those geniuses either."

"Besides, if I can buy the spiritual medicines that complement cultivation at each Qi Refining Stage, this pace can become even faster!"

Yang Wenqing exhaled. After so many years of development, the secret methods of the Qi Refining Stage had identified the best spiritual medicine for every refinement. Unfortunately, he could not afford them. Ever since he had been old enough to understand, he had been trying to find ways to make more money. But in a small place like this, all profitable avenues had long been carved up. Other methods demanded too much energy, and even if he made them bigger, he would only become some important figure's front man.

Clearing away those unnecessary thoughts, Yang Wenqing steadied himself and took out the Azure Edge shortsword.

A Qi Refinement Practitioner's flying sword needed to be nourished day and night with its owner's spiritual energy before it could be wielded as naturally as an arm in battle. He extended his right hand and gently gripped the cold hilt. The mild spiritual energy inside him slowly flowed into the blade like a stream.

This was painstaking work. It would take at least several months, perhaps more than a year, before the flying sword could truly connect with his intent and meet the preliminary requirements for practicing the Sword-Controlling Art.

He was not impatient. He shut down the bracelet's Spirit-Gathering Formation and used ordinary Qi Refining methods, meditating while nourishing the flying sword. Before he knew it, he had entered meditation.

Time slipped away amid the quiet nourishment. Only when the sky outside his window began to pale with dawn did Yang Wenqing slowly finish his cultivation. After laying the shortsword flat across his knees and inspecting it once, he put it away.

He then rose and cast a Dust-Cleansing Technique on himself. After checking the Foundation-Stabilizing Formation's consumption, he went to his desk and began inscribing today's batch of talisman papers. These would become his primary source of income in the future.

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The chill beyond the window had long faded, and the warm spring sun made people feel languid.

Over the past month, Yang Wenqing and Third Squad had been handling disputes among the Public Security Offices in the various districts under the branch bureau. For example, the East City and West City Public Security Stations had clashed in a brawl over unclear jurisdictional boundaries. In another case, the Public Security Offices of two towns had taken their dispute to the branch bureau over credit for capturing a fugitive criminal.

These cases were neither major nor minor, yet each involved many parties and was exceedingly complicated.

Yang Wenqing's main duty was to lead Wu Yan and Liu Qin as they negotiated among the various parties, gathered evidence, and mediated. Relying on his solid knowledge of regulations from the Security Academy and his increasingly composed bearing, he handled these wrangling cases in an orderly fashion.

Every successfully mediated case added a merit entry for Third Squad to the case file. Though the merits were small, they were steady. There were also some red envelopes and gifts, which added up to more than five thousand in income for Third Squad's fund. This eased his finances somewhat. More importantly, he gained a deeper understanding of the tangled network of relationships within the county town.

He also gradually came to understand that Third Squad's role within the Major Crimes Unit was more akin to a stabilizing force for handling internal major cases and complicated regional cases. It was completely different from First Squad and Second Squad, which primarily handled covert major cases outside the city and often had to cooperate with the Operations Division in combat.

As for cultivation, he had not slackened in the slightest. By drawing and selling talisman papers, he finally saved enough money. Through the connections provided by Deputy Director Gao, he purchased a new piece of Radiant Jade from within the city defense system for ten thousand yuan, replacing the old jade in his Spirit-Gathering Bracelet, whose glow had already dimmed.

He had also never interrupted his work of nourishing the Azure Edge shortsword. Each day, he soaked it in his own spiritual energy. The thread of connection between him and the blade had become much clearer, though it was still far from being able to truly control it in battle.

That morning, Yang Wenqing was on duty in Third Squad's office as usual. Near noon, Deputy Commander Gao's stern voice sounded from the communication formation in his badge. "Get to Forest No. 19, ten li east of the city, immediately. A spiritual energy disturbance has occurred there."

Yang Wenqing immediately stood and called to Wu Yan, who was maintaining his pistol, "Old Wu, come with me." Then he instructed Liu Rong, whom he had just recruited into Third Squad, "You and Liu Qin stay in the office. Without orders, don't go anywhere for now."