Lu Guan tightened his grip on the saber hilt, and the insights and understanding earned through thirty years of sweat came flooding in.
In a fleeting instant, he went from a complete novice in saber techniques to a veteran steeped in the art for thirty years.
It was as though man and saber had become one: the saber was him, and he was the saber.
"Like this."
Lu Guan's figure shifted, his saber following his intent.
There were no heavy, powerful blows or flashy movements, only a light, effortless swing.
The broken half-saber swept through the curtain of rain. Wherever it passed, the rain parted soundlessly, retreating far away as though in awe of a god.
The next second, the White Bone Demon's body of refined iron split in two as though it were tofu.
A smooth, even cut opened from shoulder to hip. The two sections of white bone toppled to either side, crashing onto the flagstones.
What the hell?
On the ground, the half-severed White Bone Demon was dumbfounded.
The eerie green flames in its eye sockets flickered, reflecting Lu Guan's silhouette as he stood with his saber lowered.
They had been trading blows just moments ago. How had he suddenly become a completely different person?
A boot appeared in its vision, splashing through a puddle to stop before it.
Then saber light flashed.
Its thoughts stopped forever at that moment.
[Perfected Qi and Blood Realm White Bone Demon, seventy years of cultivation, poor aptitude, thirty years of effective cultivation extracted]
Lu Guan did not pause. He stepped over the white bones and walked toward the three-courtyard residence before him.
He raised his foot and smashed the door.
Boom!
Zhou Jie was crouching on the floor, clutching a heavy bundle.
Seeing the familiar figure suddenly burst in, he sprang to his feet. Recalling that hair-raising saber strike not long ago, he was so terrified his eyes nearly split at the corners.
"It's you?!"
"Sister Demon, save me!"
Zhou Jie hurriedly cried out, pinning his hopes on the heavily made-up woman who had not yet gone far hearing his pleas for help.
As far as he knew, that White Bone Demon was his last life-saving straw.
Saber light flashed, and his voice abruptly ceased.
Zhou Jie stopped thinking. Fear, tension, and all such feelings were gone.
As he lay dying, he recalled his uncle's words.
How could he leave his own life to another person's passing whim?
Yet at this very moment, his realization came too late.
No-to be precise, Lu Guan had struck too soon.
This man... never left a grudge overnight!
"Thud."
His head hit the floor. A mist of blood shot into the air, dousing the candle flames in the hall.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Lu Guan flicked the blood from his saber, then, feeling it was not clean enough, wiped it on Zhou Jie's corpse.
Only once he was satisfied did he sheath it.
This was his first time killing a person.
He was surprisingly calm. It felt no different from slaying those two White Bone Demons.
If he had to name a difference, the White Bone Demons were probably harder, offering resistance to his blade, while Zhou Jie was softer. His bones broke at a touch, and there was more blood.
In his eyes, some people were no different from demons.
The human heart was unfathomable, even more so than demons. Hadn't even demons become blades in such people's hands, aimed at him, a fellow "human"?
Lu Guan shook his head. Looking at the packed gold, silver, and valuables, he casually picked them up and hefted their weight. They were certainly heavy.
People said that when a man was about to die, his words turned kind.
In this case, when a man was about to die, his deeds turned kind.
It even saved him the trouble of packing them himself.
"These... should be enough to have a better saber forged, right?"
After all, always using a broken saber was no way to go on.
Recalling the scene from that morning, Lu Guan narrowed his eyes, a barely perceptible vicious glint flashing through them.
True Qi!
Above the Qi and Blood Realm lay the True Qi Realm.
What was True Qi?
Only after Qi and Blood reached their utmost abundance, were compressed into the Dantian, and produced a sense of Qi could it be born.
It was that Commandant Zhou who had intervened, sending a strand of True Qi through the air to break his blade and save Zhou Jie's life.
Lu Guan had already completed the step of compressing his Qi and Blood into his Dantian.
Within his Dantian, his Qi and Blood were so dense they seemed tangible, churning and surging like a volcano poised to erupt.
Yet he had never managed to find the doorway to that so-called "sense of Qi."
Without a corresponding internal cultivation method, Lu Guan knew his own limits when it came to comprehending it himself.
The panel's information had already proven that he was merely an ordinary person, not a freak blessed with extraordinary talent. He probably would not comprehend a sense of Qi even if he pondered it until his death.
"Earn merit, exchange it!"
This was the established process in the Demon Suppression Bureau.
To climb another level, he needed to make outstanding contributions.
And the best proof was slaying demons and exterminating devils!
The rain stopped. It had come in haste and left in haste, leaving only a ground strewn with chaos.
With one hand resting on his saber and the other carrying the gold, silver, and valuables, Lu Guan vanished into the boundless night.
The next day, at the Demon Suppression Bureau.
Looking at the corpse laid out in the small hall, Zhou Kaishan's face turned ashen.
Severed in one stroke. Clean and decisive.
"It was that brat."
Though he had no evidence, Zhou Kaishan was utterly certain in his heart. The killer had to be Lu Guan!
Outside the small hall, a group of Demon Suppression Bureau officers gathered together, all staring at the corpse in disbelief.
They dared not enter, crowding beneath the corridor eaves and craning their necks to peer inside.
The commandant's own nephew had actually died at a demon's hands within Qianqiu County-and had met a gruesome death in his own home!
The reason for that deduction was the skeleton of a White Bone Demon found not far from the scene.
The preliminary assessment identified it as a demon at the perfected Qi and Blood Realm.
In Qianqiu County, that realm meant it stood at the very peak, aside from the few True Qi Realm experts.
Why would a demon like that sneak into the county specifically to kill a trainee officer?
And after killing him, why had it died inexplicably in the street?
All of it was like a mass of shadows hanging over the officers' heads.
Zhou Jie had died today. There was no guarantee it would not be one of them tomorrow.
"Something's happened. Disaster is coming."
Zhao Tielin's brows were tightly furrowed. As a veteran officer, he keenly sensed the wind filling the tower before a mountain storm.
Qianqiu County had enjoyed peace for a long time. Apart from people occasionally disappearing, there had been almost no trace of demons.
Something was clearly wrong with this turn of events.
Could White Bone Mountain be planning to attack the county town? Had they gone mad?
Although the White Bone Demon King was a great demon of the True Qi Realm, it was not as though the county lacked True Qi Realm experts.
Commandant Zhou, right before them, was one genuine True Qi Realm expert.
Moreover, his mastery of the Demon Suppression Bureau's martial arts was unfathomably profound. In terms of strength, the White Bone Demon King was nowhere near his match.
"Lad, remember not to stick your neck out when trouble comes. Avoid it if you can."
The middle-aged man cautioned Lu Guan beside him, "The skies over Qianqiu County... are about to change."
Hearing this, Lu Guan nodded. "Understood, Uncle Zhao."
The next second, his gaze met Zhou Kaishan's.
The burly commandant was expressionless, but deep anger lurked in the depths of his eyes, as though he were silently questioning Lu Guan.
Why? I had already let him leave, yet you still had to kill him?
Couldn't you even wait one night?
However worthless he might have been, he was still my nephew.
"Demons from White Bone Mountain have secretly infiltrated the county. There may be a plot. We need more men watching them."
Zhou Kaishan spoke in a low voice, looking at Lu Guan. The corners of his mouth slowly rose into a savage smile.
"Lu Guan, you will join the first squad and follow Chief Banner Officer Wu in keeping watch over White Bone Mountain."
"Choose a day to depart."
He took a step forward and looked down at the youth, his gaze like a hawk locking onto its prey.
"A young man ought to brim with spirit and ambition."
Zhou Kaishan's voice echoed through the hall, cold and sinister, as though pronouncing Lu Guan's death sentence:
"I... look forward to seeing you earn merit and make your mark."
White Bone Mountain was the burial ground Zhou Kaishan had chosen for Lu Guan.