6: Regain martial arts

Chu Jiang was silent in his heart.

The people under his predecessor were used to bullying the commoners all day long, so it was good for them to be disciplined.

"There is no rush for this matter. Where in our White Stone County can one find Cultivation Techniques?" Chu Jiang asked.

"Huh?" Zhang Liancai thought he had misheard. Usually, upon hearing such news, wouldn't he immediately go to deal with the provocateurs? Had he changed his nature today?

Ever since Lord Chu got involved with demons, he basically didn't care much about the Dao of martial arts. He was either eating, molesting decent women, or gambling heavily.

"My Lord, as far as this subordinate knows, the Meteor Blade of the Zhao family in the east of the city and the Mighty Fist of the Greedy Wolf Martial Hall in the west have some merits."

"They are just a bit better than street stall goods and are not on the same level as the Cultivation Techniques in our Demon Hunting Division." Zhang Liancai muttered to himself while answering honestly. He really couldn't figure out why Lord Chu was so abnormal today.

Perhaps this Lord Chu was just acting on a whim.

After all, similar situations had happened before. Often, within three days, he would lose interest, and everything would return to the lazy state of the past.

Chu Jiang was also helpless about this. After all, things like Cultivation Techniques were scarce resources no matter where they were placed. Especially Advanced Cultivation Techniques, which were basically secret inheritances.

The Demon Hunting Division only possessed two Cultivation Techniques—the Demon Suppression Blade and the Gathering Yang Skill. Since there was no other way, he had to take a different path.

If he wanted to obtain more Advanced Cultivation Techniques, there was actually one other path: to become the person in charge of the Demon Hunting Division, the decision-maker.

However, this was somewhat difficult. Unless the current person in charge was transferred or died, he would not have the opportunity to ascend to that position.

"Alright, you may withdraw!" Chu Jiang said.

"My Lord, what about that brat Liu Guangwu? Are we just going to let it go?" Zhang Liancai sensed that Chu Jiang did not seem to want to stand up for them and became a bit anxious. That brat had swollen his eyes; this was unbearable.

"Get lost, we will talk about it later!"

This guy was pushing his luck. Chu Jiang ignored him and stood up from the desk, preparing to leave the Demon Hunting Division.

Hearing this, Zhang Liancai felt helpless. It seemed he would have to swallow this bitter pill this time. Wait, no, hold on...

As a lackey who always tried to guess the intentions of his superior, he immediately understood the meaning.

"This subordinate will get lost right away, hehe!"

Zhang Liancai left the Demon Hunting Division with a cheeky grin and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

With such an obvious hint, no more needed to be said. The Lord was still the same Lord; he truly hadn't changed at all.

"This time, I will make you pay!" Zhang Liancai cursed silently in his heart.

...

An incense stick of time later.

Chu Jiang arrived at the Zhao family residence.

"Lord Chu, you want to learn our Zhao family's Meteor Blade?" A cry of surprise rang out from within the Zhao family residence, the person's face full of disbelief.

Chu Jiang: "Yes."

When the head of the Zhao family heard this news, he was both shocked and angry.

Although their Zhao family's Meteor Blade was not an Advanced Cultivation Technique, it was only passed down to direct descendants and never taught to outsiders. Now that this plague had come to ask for it, he feared causing trouble if he didn't give it.

"What, does the Zhao family head have difficulties?" Chu Jiang sneered and continued, "Rest assured, I won't take it for free. I will buy it with silver!"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Since Lord Chu wants to learn, I will pass the Meteor Blade on to you. As for the silver, forget it. Consider it my contribution to the great cause of demon extermination in White Stone County!" The Zhao family head responded hurriedly.

Right now, this was the only path he could give him. Otherwise, with Lord Chu's methods, if he were to stuff a demon into his bed while he was sleeping at night, he would really have nowhere to voice his grievances.

Soon, Chu Jiang obtained the complete manual for the Meteor Blade from the Zhao family head.

Chu Jiang was beaming with joy upon receiving the manual. The fact that he could obtain this manual so easily had something to do with the formidable reputation his predecessor had established.

After all, if others didn't provoke him, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to just attack.

Leaving the Zhao family, Chu Jiang went directly to the Greedy Wolf Martial Hall.

The master of the Greedy Wolf Martial Hall was even more direct. Hearing that Chu Jiang wanted to learn the Mighty Fist, he taught it to him without a second word. Fearing that Chu Jiang wouldn't understand the cultivation, he even demonstrated the force-generating techniques of the Mighty Fist on the spot.

Chu Jiang left satisfied; he now had two new martial arts in his hands.

Of course, he paid for them both. Even if they didn't accept it, Chu Jiang forced it into their hands.

He was lacking in everything now, except for silver. Although his predecessor was a spendthrift, he still left behind nearly a thousand taels of silver.

In this world, the purchasing power of silver was very strong. One tael of white silver was enough for an ordinary person's expenses for a year. It was enough for him to squander.

Chu Jiang arrived at his home, a two-courtyard compound with a total of seven rooms. It was exquisitely furnished, but strangely, his predecessor had not hired any maids. He was the only one in the whole house.

However, he soon figured it out. Given his predecessor's special identity, having to deal with demons, if someone were to leak it, it would bring him trouble.

His dealings with demons were conducted in the shadows. They had to remain hidden underwater and could not see the light of day.

Because of his caution, for many years, he had never been caught with concrete evidence. It was all hearsay, and no one had ever actually seen him conspiring with demons.

Chu Jiang looked at the panel, which now had two additional martial arts.

[Acquired Martial Art · Meteor Blade (Not Initiated)]

[Acquired Martial Art · Mighty Fist (Not Initiated)]

As for Acquired Martial Arts, as long as one trained to Major Achievement, one could basically cause damage to some weaker demons.

Of course, if it were the strength of the Pig Demon that Chu Jiang killed yesterday, even training an Acquired Martial Art to Perfection would only be serving as a snack for the demon.

As for the level of the Sheep Demon, among the demons near White Stone County, it belonged to the top tier. Except for Innate experts who could easily kill it, anyone else who went would just be providing it with a snack.

[You begin to Cultivate the Mighty Fist. You recall the force-generating techniques taught to you by the martial hall master. You Cultivate painstakingly, and in the third year, you reach Initiation.]

[You feel as if you have divine assistance, and in the fifth year, the Mighty Fist reaches Minor Achievement.]

[Just when you think the Mighty Fist will soon reach Major Achievement, an accident occurs. There is a force-generating point you haven't clarified, and you are stuck without a Breakthrough. You ponder in vain and can only continue to persist until the thirteenth year.]

[In the fifteenth year, whether it is heaven's pity or a sudden enlightenment, you finally master the trick and enter Major Achievement.]

[In the twenty-second year, you step into the Perfection Realm.]

[Thirty years later, your Mighty Fist reaches a force of a thousand catties, entering the Transcendent Realm.]

Chu Jiang couldn't help but clench his fist, feeling it filled with explosive power.

He went into the courtyard and punched a large tree. "Bang!"

The fierce fist wind crackled, leaving a bowl-sized fist mark on the large tree. Looking at the depth, it was about three inches.

He had only tried it superficially and it had such power; the lethality of the Mighty Fist after entering the Transcendent Realm was too fierce.

Chu Jiang composed his mind, continued to inject Lifespan, and began to deduce the next martial art.

[You begin to Cultivate the Meteor Blade. The Transcendent Demon Suppression Blade gives you decent attainments in blade techniques, and in just one year, you enter the Minor Achievement Realm.]

[In the third year, the Meteor Blade reaches Major Achievement.]

[In the fifth year, you have thoroughly mastered every move and style of the Meteor Blade, and you step into the Perfection Realm.]

[In the seventh year, the Meteor Blade, after your polishing, breaks through once again. The originally cumbersome nine styles are simplified into three, advancing to the Transcendent Realm.]

[demon life essence: 83 years]

Chu Jiang opened his eyes again and found that his Physical Body strength had further increased, but it was still a bit short of the Perfection Realm of the tenth stage of the Physical Body.

At the tenth stage of the Physical Body, the increase from Acquired Martial Arts is better than nothing, especially for these Cultivation Techniques that have just reached the level of Acquired Martial Arts; the improvement is very small.

Although his Realm did not break through, his combat power increased by at least 30% compared to before.

In a battle between Acquired and Innate experts, even if ten people at the Perfection of the Physical Body besieged an Innate Martial Artist, the Innate Martial Artist would not only be able to handle it with ease but could also easily kill most of them.

Unless they played a war of attrition and waited for the Innate expert's True Qi to be exhausted, it was not impossible to have a chance.

And Chu Jiang. With four Transcendent martial arts, almost no one in the Physical Body Realm could achieve his level.

In the Physical Body Realm, he could already claim supremacy and could even fight against Innate experts.

"Refreshing!" Chu Jiang was greatly delighted. For a short time, no one could threaten him.