The Royal Attendant Hall

"This humble general, Wu Xintai, pays his respects to the army supervisor."

Before the gates of the [Black Armor Battalion], Wang Ping studied the armored, armed officer before him, then shifted his gaze to the imposing military camp.

Impressive indeed.

To Wang Ping, the officer was not particularly strong—an Inner Force Martial Master at most. Yet an inexplicable aura of power surrounded him.

When he quieted his mind and listened, he could hear that this power came from the camp behind the officer. More than five hundred men breathed as one, wind and thunder lying dormant among them. It was as though this were no military camp, but an ancient beast crouching upon the earth. Eventually, the image even took shape before his eyes.

Just like the constables at the county office... no, stronger!

After all, the county office only had a little over a hundred constables, while this camp had at least five times that number. Naturally, the divine intent and military might they formed far surpassed the former's.

At that thought, Wang Ping swiftly reached a conclusion.

This man is stronger than Xu Bingzheng too.

With this five-hundred-man camp supporting him, even if he's only an Inner Force Martial Master, killing Xu Bingzheng in a real fight would scarcely be harder than slaughtering a chicken.

That was a good thing.

After all, he held the bronze command tally bestowed by the emperor himself, along with an imperial decree. The stronger the [Black Armor Battalion] was, the better it actually served him.

Seen in that light, becoming an official did have its merits.

"No need for such ceremony."

Wang Ping smiled faintly and reached out to help Wu Xintai rise. "Though I bear a heavy responsibility, I'm newly arrived here. I'll have to rely on you from now on, General."

"You're too kind..."

Wu Xintai's eyes brightened slightly at that. Recognizing the goodwill in Wang Ping's words, he spoke with greater warmth, and the atmosphere between them quickly grew cordial.

Even so, Wu Xintai could not help muttering inwardly:

This Golden Cavalry Guard... doesn't seem all that strong.

An Inner Force Martial Master with a lesser celestial circuit body? He isn't even a Titled Martial Master. Could he be some noble family's young master, sent here specifically to gild his credentials?

On a small hillside outside the [Black Armor Battalion].

As Wang Ping entered the [Black Armor Battalion], two figures standing here, overlooking the tents, took in every word and gesture exchanged between him and Wu Xintai.

The two differed in appearance and dress. One had long arms, a narrow waist, and a pointed, monkeylike face. Holding a coiling-dragon staff, he looked at first glance like a tavern or inn attendant. The other had narrow eyes and bared sharp teeth when he smiled, radiating viciousness without doing a thing.

"...Well?"

The monkey-faced man spoke first. "A Golden Cavalry Guard. Using someone with that status as a stone to probe the waters should be more than enough."

Then he suddenly chuckled.

"A Golden Cavalry Guard, one of the emperor's own guards."

"Do you think that boy really believes His Majesty would entrust such a heavy responsibility entirely to a Martial Master who hasn't even earned a title?"

"Perhaps. But it isn't up to him."

The vicious-looking man said coolly, "Whether he discovers the truth or not, he still has to do his job. Otherwise, he'll be deceiving the sovereign and defying orders. There's little difference either way."

"True enough."

The monkey-faced man's expression grew slightly solemn. "Regardless, the waters in Longxing County run deep. Otherwise, neither the Imperial Academy nor His Majesty would have turned their attention here."

"Of course they run deep."

The vicious-looking man said gravely, "I investigated beforehand. This was where the previous dynasty's founding emperor first rose to power. That's how it earned the name Longxing—'where the dragon rose.'"

"The previous dynasty? Great Rebellion?"

The monkey-faced man frowned. "No wonder His Majesty is so concerned... does that mean some of the previous dynasty's destiny still lingers in Longxing County?"

"Very likely." The vicious-looking man nodded. "At the very least, the Imperial Academy knows about it, and so do those Transcendents. That's why they came here specifically to build the [Spirit Wandering Temple]. The two sides must have reached some agreement, intending to use the dynastic destiny here for something they dare not disclose."

"There's also the White Lotus Sect."

Recalling the files he had read earlier, the monkey-faced man's expression turned grave. "This sect isn't an ordinary band of rebels. An aberration may be backing them."

"The [Compassionate Mother of Life]?"

The vicious-looking man shook his head. "I've never heard of an aberration by that name... though it could be one that changed its name after being placed on a wanted list."

"Either way, we must stay on guard."

"That's why we need this Golden Cavalry Guard. With the decree and command tally in hand, he'll be bait cast into Longxing County to hook whoever is behind this."

"When that happens, it'll be time for our Attendant Hall to act."

As those words fell, both men raised their heads.

Their gazes landed on Longxing County's town. Cooking smoke rose endlessly within it, and voices filled the air. It was like a broad lake so calm that not a single ripple disturbed its surface.

Beneath that lake, however, hidden currents surged.

That was why they needed to throw in a stone and test its depths!

Inside the [Black Armor Battalion].

Several soldiers deftly made Wang Ping's bed, then carefully cleaned the quarters, setting up a reasonably quiet tent for him.

Only once everything was arranged did Wu Xintai step forward and ask softly:

"Lord Wang, do you have any further instructions?"

At that, Wang Ping recalled that he did indeed need help with something. He immediately leaned closer to Wu Xintai and asked quietly, "Are there any martial arts in this camp?"

"...Martial arts?"

Wu Xintai froze, then nodded reflexively. "Of course. But the arts in our camp certainly fall far short of yours in sophistication, my lord..."

Wang Ping naturally knew that. Like the constables, Golden Cavalry Guards had martial arts provided with their position, even including an Inner-Force Cultivation-Body Diagram. But he had already looked through them; none compared to the [Sky Roc Dragon-Seizing Physique Diagram]. Such worthless cultivation bodies were of no use to him now.

After all, he intended to cultivate immortality.

And based on his previous life's experience, once he began immortal cultivation, any insufficiently high-grade inner-force cultivation body would simply be converted away in the process.

In other words, he either had to forgo cultivating inner force and a cultivation body altogether, or practice only the very best.

The [Black Armor Battalion] obviously lacked such resources, however, so Wang Ping had never expected them to offer him any profound inner-force martial arts.

He wanted a different kind of martial art.

"Unranked martial arts."

Wang Ping explained, "I want a selection of unranked martial arts. The kind that don't rely on weapons, but use the flesh itself as a weapon."

Then he demonstrated with the [Iron Ox Skill].

Wu Xintai was utterly bewildered. He could not understand why Wang Ping wanted unranked martial arts. After all, there was a reason they were called unranked.

First came the difficulty of training. Tempering a weapon and tempering the flesh were entirely different things. The former was an external object, something one could work without restraint; iron and steel only grew stronger through tempering. The latter was flesh and blood, with limits that demanded careful nurturing. Otherwise, one would only be inviting suffering.

Under such circumstances, the difficulty of training immediately soared.

On top of that, progress was slower. The body needed time to recover, after all, and vast stretches of time were wasted in the back-and-forth.

Finally, their power was nothing special either.

Although unranked martial arts could also condense martial methods, these were generally limited and could only cover part of the body. Their effects fell far short of orthodox martial arts.

High difficulty, heavy expenditure, poor power.

With those three factors combined, the returns bore no proportion to the investment. Over time, naturally, no one wanted to practice unranked martial arts anymore.

But that was a mortal's way of thinking.

For me, unranked martial arts might instead be a broad road straight to heaven!

In Wang Ping's view, though the Great Shun Court's Martial Dao fell far short of the Immortal Dao, it possessed at least one truly distinctive feature of immense value.

[Martial methods].

The [martial methods] that could only be condensed to augment oneself after bringing a martial art to complete perfection—those were the most valuable part of Great Shun's Martial Dao in Wang Ping's eyes.

The reason was simple:

The strength of the body doesn't affect the augmentation they provide. Viewed that way, their bonus is actually an independent multiplier.

That was crucial!

According to the Immortal Sect's cultivation system, I'm currently in the first tribulation realm. In this realm, I must face the human tribulation head-on and successively condense four cultivation traits.

Spirit-communing thought, the perfectly sealed true body, Cosmic Circulation Breath Intake, and the Qi-Manifesting Technique—these four cultivation traits allowed cultivators to truly transcend mortality. In his previous life, he had only cultivated half a perfectly sealed true body, yet his physical strength had already matched an Inner Force Martial Master's. If he gained the martial-method enhancements of an entire set of unranked martial arts on top of that...

How strong could he become?

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if he gained a large number of unranked martial methods to strengthen his physique, surely cultivating the perfectly sealed true body would become easier?

After all, this was the exalted independent multiplier.

Of course, this was still only Wang Ping's conjecture. But he felt it was worth testing. If it actually worked, he would reap a tremendous windfall!

Before long, Wu Xintai left the tent, still puzzled.

"He wants unranked martial arts?"

Outside the tent, the monkey-faced man stood shoulder to shoulder with the vicious-looking man. Though patrolling soldiers surrounded them, not a single one noticed them.

"Interesting."

The monkey-faced man chuckled. "It seems he's already realized he's bait. He's even discovered that our Attendant Hall is arranging things behind the scenes."

"He's asking for compensation."

The vicious-looking man shook his head. "The ignorant know no fear. Pay him no mind."

"I rather like that ambition."

The monkey-faced man lowered his head and said quietly, "Besides, he asked specifically for unranked martial arts, nothing else. That means he only wants a chance to qualify."

"In that case, what harm is there in giving him one?"

"Don't forget, [Pig] died in Qingping Town just a few days ago. The Attendant Hall is one member short. This is precisely the time to recruit outsiders and welcome outstanding talent."

"And as a Golden Cavalry Guard, his background is clean enough."

With that, the monkey-faced man strode forward and lifted the tent flap as though no one else were there. Smiling, he said, "Boy, the unranked martial arts you wanted are here."

"...Who are you!?"

Inside the tent, Wang Ping jerked his head up, his pupils contracting sharply. Until the other man spoke, he had not sensed his presence at all.

Not even with his spirit sense!

In an instant, Wang Ping's muscles tensed, and the [Heavenly Roc Force] circulated through his body. He stared straight at the man before him, his shock not stopping him from searching for a countermeasure:

Martial arts... they're probably not worth mentioning against this man. He feels even more formidable than Xu Bingzheng. But I still have spells. [Qi Suppression] lets me recover quickly, [Soul Seizure] can shake his mind, and there's [Life Thief]. As long as my hand touches him, I can devour his life essence.

Wang Ping's thoughts raced, and relief welled up in him:

Fortunately, I waited out [Otherworldly Celestial Demon]'s seven-day cooldown before coming here. If I truly have no way out, fighting to the death is still an option...

At that thought, Wang Ping lowered his stance slightly.

"Relax, boy."

The monkey-faced man waved a hand and said casually, "I'm [Monkey], and this is [Dog]. As you guessed, we're from the Attendant Hall."

At those words, Wang Ping immediately lowered his eyes.

What is he talking about? The Attendant Hall?

Wang Ping immediately began digging through his predecessor's memories. Soon, among memories that resembled background lore, he found his answer: the Royal Attendant Hall, directly subordinate to the emperor!

Supposedly, the Attendant Hall had been established by the founding emperor and maintained twelve members, ordered according to the twelve earthly branches. The first six were all Grandmasters standing at the pinnacle of the Martial Dao. Though the latter six were not Grandmasters, they were still Titled Martial Masters comparable to those at the top of the Weapon Ranking. Every one of them possessed unfathomable martial prowess.

What are experts like these doing here?

And judging by his tone, he thinks I knew about them? But there's nothing in my predecessor's memories. Has he misunderstood? Why?

Wang Ping's mind was a blur. With no idea how to answer, he simply sighed, letting a trace of helpless hesitation show on his face, as though there were things he wanted to say but could not.

He understood well that silence was golden.

At a time like this, he ought to keep quiet and play the expert. If these two saw through him, he might miss an important clue.

Besides, clever people would fill in the blanks themselves.

Sure enough, Monkey paid no mind to Wang Ping's lack of an answer and continued, "You're clever and well informed. Your terms aren't excessive either."

Then he took a booklet from inside his robes.

Wang Ping looked closely, his gaze quickly settling on the forceful, sweeping characters on its cover: [Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong]?

"This is the qualification you wanted."

Monkey smiled. "It's a closely guarded secret of the Royal Attendant Hall. Of its thirteen martial arts, you must master at least seven before you qualify to join the Attendant Hall."

"I've given you the opportunity. Whether you succeed is up to you."

"And it'll add some weight to the stone that you are, letting you make a bigger splash in Longxing County's muddy waters instead of simply sinking."

"Well? Do you want it?"

At this point, Monkey's smile grew increasingly enigmatic. Behind him, Dog also raised his eyes toward Wang Ping, a hint of appraisal in his gaze.

The [Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong] was indeed a reward.

But meat pies did not fall from the sky. Behind this reward lay enormous risks. Once he accepted it, there would be no avoiding Longxing County's muddy waters.

For a mere Inner Force Martial Master, one careless move could leave him dead without even an intact corpse.

If he refused, at least he would still have a chance to extricate himself.

Whether one possessed the courage to confront difficulties, even without fearing death—that was the Attendant Hall's true selection criterion. It would never tolerate cowardice.

"Then thank you, senior."

In the next instant, Wang Ping accepted the martial arts manual from Monkey without the slightest hesitation, as though he regarded it as nothing more than a tremendous opportunity someone was giving him for free.

He showed no concern at all for the risks behind it.

Watching Wang Ping, both Monkey and Dog could not help showing surprise. If this behavior was not stupidity, it could only mean—

He isn't afraid to die?

Why not?