Life-and-Death Duel

His internal organs were unharmed. His muscles and bones were somewhat bruised, and his meridians were slightly congested, but it was all within normal bounds. He really would recover after a couple of days' rest.

Even so, Lu Feng took a healing pill from his robes and put it in Chen Hu's mouth.

"Take it. I'll help you circulate your cultivation."

Chen Hu wanted to say something, but a look from Lu Feng stopped him.

He obediently closed his mouth and sat cross-legged.

Lu Feng went behind him, pressed both palms against his back, and slowly channeled Nei Jin into him.

An hour later,

Chen Hu moved his arm, a trace of surprise appearing on his face.

"I'm better already? Lu Feng, what cultivation realm are you at now? How come the Nei Jin you gave me felt so much more potent than Patrol Envoy Li Mu's?"

"It's a little stronger." Lu Feng sat down opposite him.

"I should be able to advance to Demon-Slaying Envoy before long. When the time comes, apply to transfer over to my side."

"Really?!"

Chen Hu's eyes lit up.

"That's great! I've wanted to leave for a long-"

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

The knocking cut him off. It was heavy and anything but polite.

Chen Hu's expression changed instantly.

He quickly motioned for Lu Feng to be quiet and said in a low voice:

"Someone's looking for me. Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

With that, he hurried to the door, pulled it open, and squeezed outside, quickly closing it behind him.

Inside, Lu Feng picked up the teacup on the table and brought it to his lips, but did not drink.

Through the thin wooden door, every word of the conversation outside reached his ears.

"Brother Rui, what brings you here?" Chen Hu's voice was very low, with a hint of guilt.

"What brings me here?"

Another voice, half a head taller than Chen Hu's, spoke in an aggressive tone.

"Two hundred merit points. Pay me back."

"Brother Rui, could you give me a few more days? I'll definitely pay you back in a few days!"

"No. You're facing Lin Shan on the life-and-death platform tomorrow. If you die tomorrow, who am I supposed to collect from?"

Lu Feng's hand stopped in midair, the teacup still in it.

A life-and-death duel. Lin Shan.

A moment later, Chen Hu pushed the door open and came back in, wearing a carefree smile.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. A colleague needed me for something."

Lu Feng looked at him.

Chen Hu grew a little uncomfortable under his gaze and scratched his head. He was about to change the subject when Lu Feng spoke.

"A life-and-death duel. Why didn't you tell me about something this big?"

Chen Hu's smile froze on his face.

He opened his mouth to explain, but when he met Lu Feng's eyes, calm to the point of being almost cold, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

He lowered his head, and only after a long while did he say in a muffled voice, "Don't worry. Lin Shan is only at Early Ming Jin. I'm already at Late Ming Jin. He can't possibly be a match for me. I'm certain to win this life-and-death duel."

"If he dared to sign up for a life-and-death duel, he must have something up his sleeve."

Lu Feng stood up, his voice very calm.

Chen Hu fell silent.

Lu Feng said no more by way of a lecture. He walked over to Chen Hu and seized him by the wrist.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"The Merit Hall."

Without waiting for Chen Hu to answer, he pulled him outside.

The Demon-Slaying Bureau's Merit Hall was divided into different areas by rank.

Demon-Slaying Guards could only exchange merit points in the basic area on the outskirts. Farther in, Demon-Slaying Envoys had a dedicated exchange pavilion.

Beyond that was a central area only commandants and those of their rank could enter. It was said that any one of the cultivation techniques or pills displayed inside would take an ordinary Demon-Slaying Guard a lifetime of saving merit points to afford.

Lu Feng led Chen Hu straight into the armory in the Demon-Slaying Guard area.

Chen Hu stopped at the entrance, unable to take another step.

Weapons racks covered an entire wall: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and tridents gleamed with a cold light, packed tightly together as far as the eye could see.

He picked up a long saber and slowly ran his fingertips along its spine, feeling the bone-piercing chill from its edge. Then he carefully put it back and picked up the next one.

Lu Feng did not rush him, leaning against the doorframe as he waited.

After looking at several, Chen Hu stopped in front of a long saber. He gripped its hilt and weighed it in his hand again and again, looking rather pleased.

"That one, then," Lu Feng said.

Chen Hu's eyes lit up at first, but when his gaze fell on the price tag beneath the rack, the smile instantly vanished from his face.

"This one's too expensive! A thousand merit points!"

He reached for the saber he had taken a liking to earlier. "This one's good enough. Five hundred merit points. It'll do."

Lu Feng held his wrist.

"This one. Don't stand on ceremony with me. You can pay the merit points back over time."

"This many merit points are nothing to me."

Several Demon-Slaying Guards nearby who were choosing weapons turned at his words. Their gazes swept over the Demon-Slaying Guard uniform Lu Feng wore, and they curled their lips before turning back.

Another man boasting without thinking.

Lu Feng paid their looks no mind.

He took the saber to the attendant's desk and handed over his token. The merit points were deducted, swift and straightforward.

Chen Hu took the new saber. A thousand merit points.

It had taken him months to save the two hundred he owed. To him, this saber was not merely expensive; it was a luxury.

"Stop staring. There's more to buy." Lu Feng patted him on the shoulder and headed toward the pill area.

This time, Chen Hu did not hesitate for long.

He walked back and forth past the rows of pill racks twice before stopping in front of a wooden plaque and picking up a small jade bottle.

A Jin Burst Pill.

After taking it, one could forcibly raise one's cultivation by one minor realm for a short time.

But the side effect was just as clear: once the medicinal effect wore off, one's cultivation would fall back by one minor realm.

Many cultivators at Ming Jin Perfection could not save enough merit points for a Meridian-Unblocking Pill even after most of a lifetime. With no hope of breaking through to Nei Jin, they would buy a Jin Burst Pill instead.

Even if it lasted only the time it took an incense stick to burn, they still wanted to know what Nei Jin felt like.

Besides, after falling back and cultivating their way up again, their understanding of the breakthrough would deepen a little, so it was not necessarily a purely bad thing.

Jin Burst Pills were not expensive, at fifty merit points each, and within a Demon-Slaying Guard's means.

Chen Hu gripped the jade bottle and turned to look at Lu Feng.

"This one."

Lu Feng nodded. "Wait for me here."

He went alone to the second-tier pill area farther inside.

When he returned a moment later, he had a small white jade bottle in his hand.

He handed the bottle to Chen Hu.

Chen Hu took it and pulled out the stopper. One glance inside, and his expression changed.

"A Jin Origin Pill?!" He shoved the stopper back in and pushed the bottle toward Lu Feng. "I can't accept this!"

He was no longer the country constable who had just come from Lin'an City, ignorant of everything.

The last time Lu Feng had given him a Jin Origin Pill, he had not known what it was. All he knew was that his cultivation had jumped two minor realms after he took it.

Later, he had gone to the pill pavilion specifically to look it up. A Jin Origin Pill was a second-grade pill, worth a thousand merit points apiece.

A thousand merit points.

He had saved for months, yet still had to grit his teeth before he could bear to buy a Jin Burst Pill for fifty merit points.

What did a thousand merit points mean? It was everything he could save in several years without eating or drinking.

"Just in case."

Lu Feng did not take it. He pressed the jade bottle back into Chen Hu's palm.

"I told you, these merit points are nothing to me!"

"Focus on breaking through. Get ready for tomorrow's fight to the death."

Chen Hu clutched the jade bottle. After a long while, he finally raised his head. His eyes were a little red, but there were no tears.

"I won't say anything more. If I can stay alive tomorrow, this life is yours."

"What would I want your life for?" Lu Feng turned and walked toward the exit. "Just stay alive."

The two left the Merit Hall and returned to their respective lodgings.