A woman in black stood on the eaves.
Looking up from where he stood, Lin Yuan could not make out her face at all.
All he could see were two rounded curves.
Her clothes stretched taut over their astonishing contours.
Lin Yuan's eyelid twitched.
"Who are you?"
A soft laugh came from the rooftop.
"Don't be nervous. Big sister means you no harm."
Something whistled through the air.
A black iron token was tossed down from the eaves.
Lin Yuan raised his hand and caught it in midair.
The iron token felt heavy in his hand, its front engraved with the character for "imperial."
The woman's distinctly mature voice drifted down from overhead again.
"My name is Shen Qing, a captain of the Dragon Guard responsible for inspecting all of Ping'an County."
Lin Yuan's breath caught.
The Dragon Guard.
One of the Wu Dynasty's three renowned imperial security services.
Its duties were much like those of the Brocade Guard in his memories.
Lin Yuan tensed all over. A whole stretch of corpses lay behind him.
His right hand pressed firmly against his saber hilt, his expression taut.
"Are you planning to arrest me, Captain Shen?"
Shen Qing chuckled, utterly unconcerned.
A few pieces of scum deserved death and more.
She took a black-bound booklet from her waist.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of turning pages rang through the quiet night.
"Lin Yuan, a concubine-born son of the Lin family. Banished to Blackstone Town at six, entered the Wu Family Medicine Hall at ten. Overall assessment: unremarkable."
Lin Yuan's face darkened.
"You investigated me?"
Shen Qing ignored his question entirely and took out a charcoal pencil, reading aloud as she wrote.
"Eighteen years old. Killed the north city captain and eight soldiers in an alley. Suspected cultivation: body tempering perfection. Assessment: average talent."
Lin Yuan's brow twitched.
Body tempering perfection at eighteen, and this woman called that merely average talent?
Click.
Shen Qing closed the black booklet.
"Relax. I'm not targeting you. Everyone in the Lin household has a file."
Lin Yuan keenly caught the key point.
"You're investigating the Lin household? Is something wrong with them?"
"The Lin household has recently been buying grain and iron ore in large quantities. Both are strictly controlled by the imperial court."
"The crucial point is that I haven't found out where those goods went."
Lin Yuan was startled.
What exactly was that bitch Zhao Yan trying to do?
On the rooftop, Shen Qing changed tack.
"Would you happen to have any leads, little brother Lin?"
Since she had gotten to the bottom of the Lin family's affairs, she knew that Lin Yuan was not on the same side as the Lin household.
Lin Yuan fell silent.
He had only entered the city tonight. Where was he supposed to find leads?
Still.
There were plenty of suspicious points already at hand.
He recalled the information Lin Jiu had revealed earlier.
"Among the bandits who ambushed and killed Lin Dafu below Black Wind Mountain that day, there were hardened soldiers mixed in."
Shen Qing's brows knitted tightly.
Hardened soldiers?
Deserters from the north, or someone's private troops?
This information was crucial.
It looked like she would have to investigate Black Wind Mountain tonight!
"Anything else?"
Shen Qing sounded somewhat expectant.
Lin Yuan spoke tentatively.
"Wuya?"
"What???"
Shen Qing's face was full of question marks.
Lin Yuan shook his head in disappointment. It seemed Shen Qing could not unravel that mystery either.
"No. That's all I know."
"All right, then."
Shen Qing cupped her fist toward him below.
"Thank you. If you find any other leads, take that token to Wang's Tea House in the east of the city. They'll contact me."
With that, Shen Qing lightly pushed off with her toes and soared into the air.
At the very instant she turned, the moonlight happened to illuminate her face.
Lin Yuan craned his neck, frozen in place.
She wore her hair in a high ponytail and had a small face, round almond-shaped eyes, a soft lip line, and youthful features.
That mature older-sister voice paired with such a youthful baby face made the mismatch absolute.
Within a few bounds, Shen Qing had crossed several courtyard walls and vanished completely.
Lin Yuan put away the token. Without delaying any longer, he lowered his head and hurried away.
Heavenly Delight Inn.
Inside a guest room on the second floor, the oil lamp burned dimly.
The door was gently pushed open, and Lin Yuan slipped inside.
Leaning against the headboard, Lin Jiu heard the movement and immediately opened his eyes.
His face was as pale as paper, and his whole body had grown considerably thinner.
Seeing that Lin Yuan was unharmed, his suspended heart finally settled, and he let out a long, stale breath.
Master Wu, seated at the table, twitched his nose.
A faint scent of blood hung in the air.
The old man glanced at Lin Yuan but did not probe further.
Lin Yuan took a sip of tea and turned toward Lin Jiu on the bed.
"Uncle Jiu, how are you doing?"
Lin Jiu smiled and thumped his chest.
"I won't die."
Master Wu suddenly sighed.
"His blood essence is severely depleted throughout his body. Besides century-old ginseng, I'm afraid he'll need a powerful dose of medicine."
"What medicine?"
"A Qi and Blood Pill."
As its name suggested, the Qi and Blood Pill was a pill used by first-grade Qi and Blood Realm martial artists in their cultivation.
It was even rarer than the Body Tempering Pill.
Before tonight, Lin Yuan would probably have been genuinely troubled.
But now that he had a connection to Shen Qing, obtaining a Qi and Blood Pill presumably would not be difficult.
"Young master, please don't trouble yourself. I can still hold on."
Lin Jiu spoke weakly.
Lin Yuan waved a hand.
"I'll go buy century-old ginseng tomorrow. Just focus on recovering."
Lin Yuan seemed to remember something.
"Right, Uncle Jiu, what secret art did you use?"
The scene he had witnessed during the day had been truly stunning. Lin Yuan had coveted it for quite some time.
Lin Jiu propped himself upright.
"It's the Lin family's inherited secret art, the Life-Severing Saber. It burns blood essence to unleash several times the power."
Lin Jiu held nothing back. After catching his breath, he began explaining it word by word.
About the time it took to drink a cup of tea passed.
A red light flashed before Lin Yuan's eyes.
[Martial arts: Life-Severing Saber (uninitiated 1/20)]
He rubbed his chin, muttering inwardly.
The Army-Breaking Saber Art only needed five proficiency points to reach initiation.
The Life-Severing Saber actually needed twenty proficiency points.
Did that mean the Life-Severing Saber was stronger than the Army-Breaking Saber Art?
"Master, are cultivation arts divided into grades?"
Lin Yuan turned toward Master Wu beside him.
Master Wu paused, then shook his head to indicate he did not know.
Although the Wu family possessed an internal refinement method, their principal inheritance was medicine, and their knowledge of the martial path was limited.
Lin Jiu picked up the thread.
"Martial arts are divided into four tiers: heaven, earth, human, and mortal. According to the master, this Life-Severing Saber is a human-tier martial art."
Understanding dawned on Lin Yuan.
Viewed that way, the Army-Breaking Saber Art was probably only a mortal-tier martial art.
But although the Life-Severing Saber was powerful, it had a fatal flaw.
It required burning blood essence as the price. The more blood essence lost, the greater its power.
Lin Jiu, a robust man at body tempering major accomplishment, had nearly drained himself dry simply by using this saber art.
If only that flaw could be remedied.
Although the Army-Breaking Saber Art was mortal-tier, its strengths lay in its sweeping, expansive moves and its complete lack of side effects.
Staring at the blood-red screen before him, Lin Yuan suddenly had a bold idea.
Could he combine the two saber arts, using the strengths of one to make up for the weaknesses of the other?
The hour of the rat had passed, and his daily epiphany had already refreshed.
Let's do it!
Acting on the thought, Lin Yuan immediately lifted the hem of his clothes and sat cross-legged.
Seeing his posture, Master Wu and Lin Jiu assumed he was comprehending the Life-Severing Saber and both fell silent.
Lin Yuan closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, his expression turning focused.
Epiphany.
Activate!
Boom!
A thunderclap rang out in his mind.
Lin Yuan felt as though he were caught in a whirlpool.
The next moment.
He slowly opened his eyes to a boundless expanse of white mist.
What was this?
An epiphany space?
Lin Yuan froze for a moment. This epiphany was particularly different.