Royal Attendant Hall

"General Wu Xintai pays his respects to Inspector Wang."

Before the gates of the Black Armor Battalion, Wang Ping sized up the armored, weapon-bearing general before him, then shifted his gaze to the towering military camp.

Formidable indeed.

In Wang Ping's eyes, the general before him was not particularly strong—at most, an Inner Force Martial Master—yet there was an indescribable bearing about him.

If he calmed himself and listened closely, he could hear that bearing emanating from the military camp behind the man. The breathing of over five hundred people had merged into one, lying dormant within like wind and thunder. It was as though this were not a military camp, but an ancient behemoth crouching upon the earth. In the end, it even formed an illusion before his eyes.

"Like the constables at the county yamen... no, stronger!"

After all, the county yamen had only a little over a hundred constables, while this military camp before him had at least five times that number. The Divine Intent and military might it formed naturally far surpassed the former.

With that thought, Wang Ping swiftly came to a conclusion.

"This man is stronger than Xu Bingzheng too."

"With the support of this five-hundred-man camp, even if he is only an Inner Force Martial Master, actually fighting him would make killing Xu Bingzheng no harder than killing a chicken."

This was a good thing.

After all, he held the bronze military tally bestowed by the Son of Heaven, along with an imperial decree. The stronger the Black Armor Battalion was, the more beneficial it would be to him.

Looking at it this way, being an official was not entirely without its merits.

"No need for such ceremony."

Wang Ping smiled faintly and reached out to help Wu Xintai up. "Though this official bears a heavy duty, I have only just arrived. I will have to rely on you, General, from now on."

"Not at all, not at all..."

Wu Xintai's eyes brightened slightly at this. He caught the goodwill in Wang Ping's words, and his tone immediately grew warmer. The atmosphere between them quickly became harmonious as well.

Even so, Wu Xintai could not help muttering inwardly:

"This Golden Cavalry Guard... does not seem very strong."

"An Inner Force Martial Master, with a Lesser Celestial Circuit Body? He is not even a Titled Martial Master. Could he be some young master from a prominent household who came here specifically to gild himself?"

Outside the Black Armor Battalion, atop a small hill.

Just as Wang Ping entered the Black Armor Battalion, every word and action between him and Wu Xintai was clearly seen by the two figures standing there and overlooking the camp.

The two were dressed differently and looked nothing alike. One had ape-like arms and a wasp waist, with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks. He carried a coiling-dragon staff in one hand and, at first glance, looked like a waiter from an inn. The other had long, narrow eyes, and when he smiled, sharp fangs showed. Without doing anything at all, he gave off a fierce and vicious air.

"...What do you think?"

The pointed-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man spoke first. "A Golden Cavalry Guard. Using such an identity as a stone to test the waters should be weighty enough."

After saying that, he suddenly chuckled.

"A Golden Cavalry Guard, an imperial bodyguard."

"Tell me, could that brat really think His Majesty would entrust such a grave task entirely to a Martial Master who has not even earned a title?"

"Perhaps. But whether he realizes it or not is not up to him."

The vicious man said blandly, "Whether he has discovered the truth or not, he still has to do what must be done. Otherwise, he will be deceiving the sovereign and defying orders. There is no real difference either way."

"True enough."

The pointed-mouthed man's expression darkened slightly. "No matter what, the waters of Longxing County run deep. Otherwise, neither the Imperial Academy nor His Majesty would have cast their eyes here."

"Of course they run deep."

The vicious man said in a low voice, "I investigated beforehand. This place was where the founding emperor of the previous dynasty rose to power. That is why it received the name Longxing."

"The previous dynasty? The Great Rebellion?"

The pointed-mouthed man frowned. "No wonder His Majesty is paying such close attention... In that case, could there still be remnants of the previous dynasty's Destiny within Longxing County?"

"Very likely." The vicious man nodded. "At the very least, the Imperial Academy knows this. Those Transcendents know it as well, which is why they specifically came here and built a Spirit Wandering Temple. Both sides must have reached some sort of agreement, intending to use the court's Destiny here for something unspeakable."

"And the White Lotus Sect."

Recalling the dossiers he had previously examined, the pointed-mouthed man grew solemn. "This sect is no ordinary band of rebels. There seems to be an Aberration behind it."

"[Venerable Mother of Eternal Life]?"

The vicious man shook his head. "I have never heard of such an Aberration before... though it may be an Aberration that changed its name after being hunted down."

"No matter what, we must guard against it."

"That is why we need this Golden Cavalry Guard. He will carry the imperial decree and military tally into Longxing County as bait, drawing out the people behind the curtain."

"Only then will it be time for our Attendant Hall to act."

As his words fell, the two raised their heads together.

Their gazes landed on Longxing County's city. Cooking smoke rose endlessly from within, and human voices roared like a cauldron, as though it were a broad lake so tranquil that not even the faintest ripple could form.

Yet beneath that lake, undercurrents surged.

That was why they needed to cast a stone to test the waters, to see just how deep this lake truly was!

Inside the Black Armor Battalion.

Several soldiers expertly arranged Wang Ping's bed, then carefully tidied the room again, clearing out a fairly quiet tent for him.

After they had finished bustling about, Wu Xintai stepped forward and asked in a low voice:

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

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping truly did have something he needed help with. He immediately leaned close to Wu Xintai and whispered, "Does this camp have any low-grade martial arts?"

"...Martial arts?"

Wu Xintai froze for a moment, then instinctively nodded. "Of course we do, but the cultivation methods in our camp certainly cannot compare to yours, my lord..."

Wang Ping naturally understood that. Just like the constables, the identity of Golden Cavalry Guard came with its own martial arts, even including an Inner-Force Cultivation-Body Diagram. Yet he had examined them earlier, and none could compare with the Sky Roc Dragon-Seizing Physique Diagram. Such trash cultivation bodies were utterly useless to him now.

After all, he intended to cultivate immortality.

And according to his experience from his previous life, once he began cultivating immortality, any Inner Force cultivation body of insufficient grade would be directly transformed during the process.

In other words, he either practiced no Inner Force and cultivated no cultivation body at all, or he had to practice only the very best.

The Black Armor Battalion clearly did not have such conditions, so Wang Ping had not expected them to bring out any profound Inner Force martial arts for him.

What he wanted was another kind of martial art.

"Low-grade martial arts."

Wang Ping explained, "I want a batch of low-grade martial arts—the kind that do not rely on weapons, but use one's own body as a weapon."

As he spoke, he even used the Iron Ox Skill as an example.

Wu Xintai was completely baffled. He could not understand at all why Wang Ping wanted low-grade martial arts, for they were called low-grade for a reason.

First was the difficulty of cultivation. Tempering a weapon and tempering one's body were entirely different concepts. The former was an external object that could be forged at will; objects of gold and iron only grew stronger the more they were tempered. The latter, however, was flesh and blood. It had limits and needed careful care, otherwise one would simply be asking for trouble.

Under such circumstances, the difficulty of cultivation naturally soared first.

Second, the speed of cultivation dropped as well. After all, the body needed time to recover. Going back and forth like this, vast amounts of time were simply wasted away.

Finally, their power was nothing impressive.

Though low-grade martial arts could likewise condense military methods, they were generally limited, could only cover part of the body, and were far inferior to orthodox martial arts.

High difficulty, great consumption, poor power.

With all three factors piled together, the gains were utterly disproportionate to the cost. As time passed, naturally no one was willing to practice low-grade martial arts anymore.

But that was the thinking of mortals.

"To me, low-grade martial arts are instead a great path leading to the heavens!"

In Wang Ping's view, although the Martial Dao of the Great Shun Court was far inferior to the immortal path, it possessed at least one extremely special thing of immense value.

[Military methods].

The military methods that could only be condensed after cultivating martial arts to Great Perfection, strengthening one's own body—these were the most valuable things in the Great Shun Martial Dao in Wang Ping's eyes.

The reason was simple:

"This thing does not have its enhancement affected by the strength or weakness of the body. From that perspective, its enhancement belongs to an independent multiplier."

That was crucial!

"According to the cultivation system of the Immortal Sect, I am currently in the First Tribulation Realm. In this realm, one must directly face the Human Tribulation and gradually condense four cultivation traits."

Spirit-Communing Thought, Perfectly Sealed True Body, Cosmic Circulation Breath Intake, and Qi-Manifesting Technique. These four cultivation traits allowed cultivators to truly transcend mortal life. In his previous life, he had only cultivated half a Perfectly Sealed True Body, yet his physical strength had already been no weaker than an Inner Force Martial Master's. If he gained the military-method enhancement of a complete set of low-grade martial arts as well...

Just how strong could he become?

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if he obtained the military methods of a large number of low-grade martial arts to strengthen his physique, the difficulty of cultivating the Perfectly Sealed True Body should decrease as well, should it not?

After all, this was a noble independent multiplier.

Of course, this was only Wang Ping's conjecture for now. Still, he believed it was worth testing. If it truly worked, then he would have made a tremendous profit this time!

Before long, Wu Xintai left the tent with his doubts.

"He wants low-grade martial arts?"

Outside the tent, the pointed-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man stood shoulder to shoulder with the vicious man. Though soldiers patrolled all around them, not a single one noticed their presence.

"Interesting."

The pointed-mouthed man chuckled. "It seems he has already realized that he is bait. He has even realized that our Attendant Hall is the one setting the board behind the scenes."

"He is demanding payment."

The vicious man shook his head. "The ignorant are fearless. There is no need to pay attention to him."

"I rather like that ambition."

The pointed-mouthed man lowered his head and said faintly, "And he did not ask for anything else. He asked for low-grade martial arts, which means he only wants a qualification."

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

"Do not forget, Pig died in Qingping Town some days ago. The Attendant Hall is short one member, and this is precisely the time for us to recruit openly and gather outstanding talents."

"A Golden Cavalry Guard, and his family background is fairly clean as well."

Having said that, the pointed-mouthed man strode forward, lifted the tent flap as though no one else were around, and smiled. "Brat, the low-grade martial arts you wanted have arrived."

"...Who are you!?"

Inside the tent, Wang Ping abruptly looked up, his pupils shrinking sharply. Before the other man spoke, he had not sensed the man's presence at all.

Not even with his Spirit Sense!

In an instant, Wang Ping's muscles tensed. Heavenly Roc Force circulated within him as he stared fixedly at the man before him. Amid his shock, he did not forget to consider countermeasures.

"Martial arts... before this man, they are likely beneath mention. He feels even more terrifying than Xu Bingzheng. But I still have spells. Qi Suppression can recover quickly, Soul Seizure can shake the mind, and there is Thief of Life. As long as my hand touches him, I can devour his Life Essence."

Wang Ping thought at lightning speed, while inwardly feeling deeply fortunate.

"Fortunately, before coming here, I already waited out the seven-day cooldown of the Otherworldly Celestial Demon. If there truly is no way out, risking everything in a desperate fight is still an option..."

With that thought, Wang Ping lowered his body slightly.

"Relax, brat."

The pointed-mouthed man waved a hand and said casually, "My name is Monkey, and this one is Dog. As you guessed, we are from the Attendant Hall."

As his words fell, Wang Ping immediately lowered his gaze.

"What is he talking about? The Attendant Hall?"

Wang Ping immediately dug through the memories of this body's former owner. Very quickly, he found the answer amid memories that resembled background settings: the Attendant Hall directly under the Son of Heaven—the Royal Attendant Hall!

It was said that the Attendant Hall had been established by the founding emperor. It permanently maintained twelve members, arranged according to the order of the twelve earthly branches. The first six were all Grandmaster experts standing at the peak of the Martial Dao. Though the latter six were not Grandmasters, they could rival the foremost Titled Martial Masters on the Weapon Ranking. Every one of their martial arts was unfathomable.

Why would such experts be here?

And judging from his tone, he thinks I know they exist? But the former owner's memories do not contain that. Did he misunderstand? Why did he misunderstand?

Wang Ping's mind was a blur. He had no idea how to answer, so he simply sighed and let a helpless expression of hesitation appear on his face.

He deeply understood the principle that silence was golden.

At a time like this, he should say nothing and pretend to be an expert. Otherwise, if the two before him saw through him, he might miss an important clue.

Besides, clever people would fill in the blanks themselves.

Sure enough, seeing that Wang Ping did not answer, Monkey did not mind and continued, "You are very clever, and your information network is quite good. The condition you asked for is not excessive."

As he spoke, he took a booklet from his robes.

Wang Ping fixed his eyes on it, and his gaze soon fell upon the cover, upon the large characters written in strokes like iron paintings and silver hooks: Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong?

"This is the qualification you wanted."

Monkey smiled. "As an untransmitted secret of the Royal Attendant Hall, there are thirteen martial arts. You must cultivate at least seven to earn the qualification to join the Attendant Hall."

"I have given you the opportunity. Whether you succeed depends on yourself."

"Incidentally, it will add some weight to you, this stone. That way, you can stir up greater waves in the muddy waters of Longxing County, instead of sinking too easily."

"Well? Do you want it?"

As Monkey spoke, his smile grew ever more inscrutable. Dog, standing behind him, also raised his eyes to look at Wang Ping, a trace of appraisal appearing in them.

Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong was indeed a benefit.

But pies did not fall from the sky. Behind this benefit lay immense danger, because once he accepted it, he would certainly be unable to avoid the muddy waters of Longxing County.

For a mere Inner Force Martial Master, one careless step could leave him without even a whole corpse.

If he did not accept it, he would at least still have hope of extricating himself.

Whether he had the courage to meet hardship head-on, even without fearing death—this was the true criterion by which the Attendant Hall selected people. The Attendant Hall would never tolerate cowardice.

"Then I thank you, Senior."

The next moment, without the slightest hesitation, Wang Ping accepted the martial arts manual from Monkey's hand, as though he regarded it only as a great opportunity freely given by someone.

He showed no concern whatsoever for the risks behind it.

Looking at Wang Ping, both Monkey and Dog could not help showing unusual expressions. If such conduct was not stupidity, then it could only mean—

"He is not afraid of death?"

Why was he unafraid?