32: System upgrade, martial arts integration

In Chu Jiang's courtyard.

Su Yaner, dressed in a pale purple dress, moved lightly through the room.

In the few days since entering the city, her appearance had completely changed, evolving from a Cinderella into a graceful young woman.

Her eyes were bright, and a faint smile played on her lips.

She walked slowly in front of Chu Jiang with a gentle smile on her face.

She first spread a velvet rug on the floor, then brought over a bronze-colored foot basin.

As she added hot water, she tested the temperature with her hand.

Su Yaner curtsied slightly and said softly, "Young Master, it is time to wash your feet."

Chu Jiang nodded and placed his feet into the basin.

He had no choice; at first, he had refused, but he could not resist her warm insistence.

Her hands, as delicate as young shoots, stirred the water gently, allowing the hot water to evenly envelop his feet.

Feeling this captivating touch, Chu Jiang felt his whole body relax.

It was no wonder that people in his past life loved foot washing so much; there was a reason for it.

This girl, she had only been in the city for a few days.

She learned things so quickly; she was already a qualified maid.

"Damn it, I've really become a wealthy landlord."

Just at this moment.

Someone walked in from outside.

"My Lord, you certainly have refined tastes!" Zhang Sanbao said with a smile, carrying a large box.

Su Yaner sensibly took the foot basin and retreated; every time this fatty came, it was to discuss important matters with Lord Chu.

Chu Jiang took a sip of tea and asked, "What news do you have this time?"

"Your joining the Demon Suppression Division has been specially approved by the higher-ups. Your position is Chief Banner Officer, ranked at the seventh grade. There is no need to go through the standard procedures. These are your induction items."

"Two sets of Qilin garments, a token, a Demon Suppression Blade, and some miscellaneous items."

Zhang Sanbao pointed at the items in the box and said with a smile.

The Qilin garments were the unique attire of the Demon Suppression Division, which only Demon Suppression Guards could wear.

After Chu Jiang opened the box, he was stunned by the craftsmanship of the Qilin garment; it was damn cool.

"Appointing me as a Demon Suppression Guard Chief Banner Officer right after joining, I must be in charge of dozens of people, right?"

It had to be said that the Demon Suppression Division was truly bold in its appointments, promoting a newcomer who had just joined and had no achievements directly to Chief Banner Officer.

He had thought he would have to start as an ordinary Demon Suppression Guard and rise step by step.

Zhang Sanbao gave an awkward smile and said, "My Lord, the Demon Suppression Division is currently short-handed, and there is no one available for you to command yet, but the higher-ups have temporarily transferred me under your command."

Chu Jiang was stunned for a moment. Good grief, he was basically a commander with no troops.

He could only mobilize one person, and it was only temporary?

"There is one more thing: the White Stone County Magistrate has gone missing."

Chu Jiang: "Li Feng from the Demon Hunting Division is dead, the County Vice-Magistrate and the Clerk have been arrested, and the Magistrate has gone missing..."

What was going on with White Stone County? The high-level officials were either killed or arrested, and even the Magistrate had gone missing. He remembered that this Magistrate hadn't been in office for long.

"I asked Hu Yijiang and Liu Kong, and they said they were taken away by their Hall Master a month ago. The major affairs in the county were basically decided by those two," Zhang Sanbao said in a deep voice.

"Now, the higher-ups want you to temporarily take over the military and political power of the entire county while waiting for a new Magistrate to take office."

Currently, the four power centers of White Stone County were dead, arrested, or missing. The entire county government was in a state of semi-paralysis, with no leader.

Someone had to take control of the situation temporarily.

"Fine."

Chu Jiang agreed without refusal; as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.

The high-level officials had been wiped out, leaving only him; he had no other choice.

His power was now terrifyingly large.

Holding both the positions of County Magistrate and the person in charge of the Demon Hunting Division, he could be considered the Peak of power in White Stone County.

The two chatted for a while longer, and then Zhang Sanbao left the courtyard.

Chu Jiang looked at the large box; there were quite a few things inside.

Besides the Qilin garments, token, and Demon Suppression Blade, there were also some miscellaneous books.

"Demon Suppression Division Introductory Guide"

"Demon and Monster Catalog"

"Five Thousand Years of the Demon Suppression Division"

"The Fall of the Dynasty"

...

There were seven or eight books in total, and just finishing them would take quite a bit of effort.

Since he had nothing to do these days, Chu Jiang calmed his mind and began to study these books carefully.

It gave him his first understanding of this world.

"This introductory guide explains the Rank divisions of the Demon Suppression Division very clearly, as well as matters regarding accepting missions and the use of contribution points..."

Chu Jiang flipped through it casually and then picked up another book, "Demon and Monster Catalog." This book was bizarre; it recorded over a thousand types of demons and monsters, each with different habits and strange appearances.

Among the thousands of types, the Hundred Clans were the main body, with the Royal Clans held in high esteem; there were seven major Royal Clans in total.

Every demon with Royal Clan Bloodline had extraordinary talents, and their abilities were all different.

Chu Jiang stayed in the room for several days, fascinated by this bizarre world.

When Chu Jiang was preparing to sleep at night, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Ding, System upgrade complete!"

Chu Jiang: You promised forty-eight hours; look how long it has been?

It's seriously overdue, okay.

The System's voice sounded in his mind again: "There was a glitch in the program, so it was overdue."

"You can talk now?"

Chu Jiang was a bit surprised; the attribute panel had always been an inanimate object, only playing messages when he killed a demon.

However, this time the panel did not respond to Chu Jiang.

"It can talk, but only one sentence." Chu Jiang shook his head and looked at the upgraded attribute panel.

[Grandmaster Martial Art · Wind and Thunder Vajra Body (Minor Achievement)]

[Vajra Martial Art · Blood Sabre Manual (Major Achievement)]

[Acquired Martial Art · Breeze Art (Transcendent)]

[Acquired Martial Art · Demon Suppression Blade Technique (Transcendent)]

...

[demon life essence: 998 years]

[Lifespan: 120 years]

...

Two functions were added.

One was the Martial Arts Fusion module, and the other was the Demon Inspection module.

"There are multiple Acquired Martial Arts available for Fusion. Do you wish to fuse them?"

Chu Jiang smiled slightly, looking at the martial arts before him with excitement and anticipation.

"Fuse Demon Suppression Blade Technique and Meteor Blade!"

[Fusing Martial Arts: Demon Suppression Blade Technique (Transcendent), Meteor Blade (Transcendent)]

[Martial Art Fusion Successful — Innate Martial Art · Demon Suppression Star-Slaying Blade (Perfection), consumed 10 years of demon life essence]

"Fuse Mighty Fist and Great Strength Vajra Palm!"

[Fusing...]

[Martial Art Fusion Successful — Vajra Martial Art · Vajra Divine Palm (Perfection), consumed 20 years of demon life essence]

"Fuse Demon Suppression Star-Slaying Blade and Blood Sabre Manual!"

[Fusing...]

[Martial Art Fusion Successful — Grandmaster Martial Art (Pseudo) · Blood Blade Divine Manual (Minor Achievement), consumed 30 years of Lifespan]

"Fuse Golden Sun Skill and Wind and Thunder Vajra Body!"

[Fusing...]

[Martial Art Fusion Successful — Grandmaster Martial Art · Wind and Thunder Vajra Body (Minor Achievement), Wind and Thunder Vajra Body mutated, imbued with Thunder and Fire power, consumed 40 years of Lifespan]

...

The series of martial arts Fusions left Chu Jiang dazzled and ecstatic.

The fused Vajra Divine Palm combined all the Moves into one, transforming into a heaven-shaking palm strike, with its power increased by more than several times.

In the Blood Blade Divine Manual, the Moves hadn't changed, but the power had increased significantly, and the attribute of suppressing demons was greatly enhanced.

As for the Wind and Thunder Vajra Body, its Fusion with the Golden Sun Skill didn't show significant changes.

Perhaps the difference in Realm between the two was too large; one was Acquired level, the other was Grandmaster level, so even if they fused, it was just icing on the cake.

Breeze Art was not fused.

This Martial Arts Fusion module only allowed Fusion of martial arts with similar attributes.

There were no Fusion targets right now.

It could only be shelved for now.

"Fusing Golden Sun Skill and Wind and Thunder Vajra Body was a bit of a loss."

Chu Jiang had fused a few times and figured out a bit of the logic.

The Lifespan consumed for fusing martial arts depended on the one with the higher Realm.

However, it was still a huge profit.

If he used martial arts deduction, what could forty years do? Nothing at all.

As for the Demon Inspection module, it allowed him to inspect the opponent's strength before battling a demon, provided it did not exceed his own by two major Realms.

It was also a divine skill.

It could avoid some sneaky bastards hiding their Realms to cause trouble.

They might think they could play the pig to eat the tiger, but in reality, they had already been seen through.

This System upgrade was not bad.

[demon life essence: 898 years]

After unlocking the Martial Arts Fusion module, Chu Jiang instantly felt that his demon life essence was not enough.

If he had a few more martial arts manuals, his current amount of demon life essence wouldn't be enough to spend.

Unfortunately, in the current White Stone County, the demons had already run away.

Knock, knock, knock, knock...

"My Lord, someone is causing trouble in the city, demanding to see you by name!"

A knock suddenly came from outside the door.