“Don’t underestimate my Iron Bull Technique.”
Liu Ye shook the manual in his hand as he explained, “Do you know what state of mind is best suited for crossing the threshold of 【Three Demonic Sabers of Yama】?”
Hearing this, Wang Ping fell deep into thought.
According to Liu Ye, the first move of 【Three Demonic Sabers of Yama】 to master upon crossing the threshold was called 【Greed】. During practice, one would suffer the impact of this emotion’s saber intent.
What state of mind could counter that?
Suddenly, a spark of realization flashed in Wang Ping’s mind. “A state of mind… and it’s related to the Iron Bull Technique… Could it be that brief moment of mental clarity right after doing that?”
“…You kid, you really are sharp.”
Liu Ye nodded and said, “Exactly. In that brief window, a man is practically devoid of all desires. It’s the perfect counter to the saber intent of 【Greed】.”
“In other words, the more times you enter that state of mental clarity, the stronger your resistance to 【Greed】 becomes. Your cultivation speed will increase, and the risks of crossing the threshold will plummet… And my 【Iron Bull Technique】 is an unparalleled peerless technique that allows you to experience that clarity multiple times without harming your body!”
Wang Ping was incredibly tempted.
Of course, he wasn’t a lecher. The main point was exactly what Liu Ye said—this 【Iron Bull Technique】 would help him rapidly master 【Three Demonic Sabers of Yama】.
Moreover, there was an even more crucial reason:
This technique might also help me cultivate the 【Desire Realm Innate Method】!
This secret art derived from the 【Scripture of Paranirmitavaśavartin Governing the Desire Realm】 was actually very simple to cultivate. In short, it required doing ‘exercises’ with other people.
The secret art has 108 positions. Completing them all constitutes one Minor Circulation cycle. After every Minor Circulation cycle, you must switch to a different partner and start again.
Defeating 108 people consecutively constitutes one Major Circulation cycle.
The moment you can complete one Major Circulation cycle without rest is the moment you master it and become a 【Desire Realm Deva】.
Once he became a 【Desire Realm Deva】, not only could he sense the emotions and thoughts of others, he could even slightly manipulate them. He could even condense the 【Spiritual Sense】 exclusive to cultivators. Wang Ping had coveted these numerous miraculous abilities for a long time, but the cultivation requirements were simply too harsh. It wasn’t meant for humans to practice at all.
But now, he saw hope.
If I practice the 【Iron Bull Technique】 to perfection, could the resulting technique, 【Golden Spear Never Falls】, withstand the toll of the 【Desire Realm Innate Method】?
Maybe it could!
Thinking of this, Wang Ping became determined to get the 【Iron Bull Technique】. However, he quickly realized a rather awkward problem.
He was broke.
He had just used more than half of the salary provided by his constable identity to bribe Liu Ye. The remaining money wasn’t enough to buy a martial arts manual, no matter how he stretched it.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Ping could only force a bitter smile. “I apologize for making a fool of myself, Master Liu, but I am truly strapped for cash right now. How about you quote a price first and give me a few days to gather the funds… Or, could you sell it to me on credit? I’ll slowly pay you back, with interest, from my monthly salary.”
Hearing this, Liu Ye burst into laughter.
“Little Wang, that’s not right. Do you think I’m the kind of person who only sees money?”
Aren’t you?
Wang Ping cursed internally. However, the next second, Liu Ye waved his hand grandly and shoved the 【Iron Bull Technique】 manual right into Wang Ping’s chest.
“Alright, take it.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t want money. Let’s barter. If you acquire any new martial arts in the future, secretly hand them over to me, and we’ll call it even.”
“How about it?”
Hearing this, Wang Ping, who had been baffled a moment ago, instantly understood the old constable’s scheme.
He’s quite a good judge of character. He thinks I might take Head Constable Chen’s task in the future and obtain that middle-tier martial art as a reward. So, he wants to use the 【Iron Bull Technique】 to trade for my future middle-tier martial art? This way, he reaps the benefits without taking any risks…
Thinking of this, Wang Ping’s attitude drastically shifted.
“Brother Liu, if you put it that way… the price is no longer what it was just now.”
Liu Ye: “……..”
This brat really has a boundless future. One second it’s ‘Master Liu’, the next it’s ‘Brother Liu’. He flips faster than an old veteran like me.
After a moment of silence, Liu Ye lowered his voice. “How much do you want?”
Wang Ping held up five fingers. “Five hundred taels.”
“Are you robbing me!?”
Liu Ye instantly grew agitated. “Five hundred taels? Even Shou Chong’s bounty isn’t that fucking much! How much is our monthly salary? I can’t believe you had the nerve to ask for that!”
Hearing this, Wang Ping shook his head helplessly. “I don’t have a choice. After all, Brother Liu, while your 【Iron Bull Technique】 is good, it requires practical application to improve. But I’m penniless right now. Even if I want to practice, I really can’t afford to pay. I can’t exactly go around defiling innocent women, right?”
Liu Ye breathed a sigh of relief.
“Idiot! Is the 【Iron Bull Technique】 so rigid and inflexible? Who said practical application requires another person? Do you not use your hands normally?”
Wang Ping: “…….”
Of course he understood such a basic workaround. The problem was that while the 【Iron Bull Technique】 could use this method, the 【Desire Realm Innate Method】 absolutely required a real person.
So he dug his heels in.
“Five hundred taels. Not a penny less!”
“You…”
Liu Ye narrowed his eyes. But soon, they relaxed. Thinking carefully, he suddenly remembered that the young man in front of him seemed to be a virgin, right?
Young, hot-blooded, wanting a taste of the real thing… it was perfectly normal.
“…Fine, fine.”
With this realization, Liu Ye shifted the topic. “I don’t have money. But if you just want practical experience… I have some connections at the Danfeng Brothel in the city.”
“Go there, drop my name to the madam, Lady Feng, and tell her you are practicing the 【Iron Bull Technique】. She will naturally arrange for you to practice.”
Hearing this, Wang Ping looked at Liu Ye as if he were a god descending from heaven.
Did that mean he could get it for free?
Although Liu Ye spoke vaguely, how could Wang Ping not understand? Without a doubt, Master Liu had a stake in the Danfeng Brothel; otherwise, how could he make such an offer?
Thinking of this, Wang Ping immediately cupped his hands. “Many thanks, Master Liu!”
“What about those five hundred taels…?”
“Just a joke!”
Liu Ye nodded in satisfaction. He wasn’t worried about Wang Ping backing out in the future. After all, it was an unclassified martial art; even if the deal fell through, he wouldn’t lose much.
But if it succeeded, he would make a massive profit!
After all, from what he knew, Lord Chen’s family martial art was brought straight from the Divine Constable Bureau’s headquarters in the capital. It had a massive background!
………..
Despite receiving the opportunity for freebies, Wang Ping didn’t set off immediately.
As he said before, he wasn’t a lecher. His reason for practicing the 【Iron Bull Technique】 and the 【Desire Realm Innate Method】 was purely for a better future.
“It’s a mere 【Iron Bull Technique】 that I can practice with my hand. Going out for practical application is a huge waste. Even if I master it, so what? The real prize is the next one!”
The 【Desire Realm Innate Method】.
This immortal cultivation secret art was the one with a truly massive demand for practical application. Speaking bluntly, mastering this method could probably bankrupt an entire brothel.
“Although Liu Ye made it sound nice just now, if I actually went to free-ride to cultivate the 【Desire Realm Innate Method】, the resulting losses would definitely make him back out immediately. Then all my efforts would be wasted… So the best method is to quietly train the 【Iron Bull Technique】 to the realm of Great Perfection first.”
“Once I have the blessing of the 【Golden Spear Never Falls】 technique, then I’ll go free-ride.”
“While they haven’t realized what’s happening, I’ll push through in one go and directly master the 【Desire Realm Innate Method】. By then, he’ll have no choice but to swallow the loss in silence.”
To achieve this, he still needed to endure for now.
Of course, if he could pay, none of these would be problems.
Thinking of this, Wang Ping, having just returned home, couldn’t help but ransack his place, carefully sorting through all his savings before decisively shaking his head.
“Whether I can pay or not doesn’t really matter.”
“Ultimately, I keep myself clean and honest. I am not a lecherous person. How could I degrade myself by visiting such a foul place for no good reason?”
Saying so, Wang Ping closed the doors and windows, and brought out the tissues.
The night was long. He prepared to fake it with his hands, practicing the 【Iron Bull Technique】 bitterly throughout the night until the sun was high in the sky, aiming for perfection at the fastest speed possible!
…………
A pitch-black, windy night. The perfect night for murder.
The night wind howled. The sun was hidden, and three bright moons hung high, but dark clouds obscured their light, casting only deep, unfathomable shadows.
“Who goes there!”
With a shout, a patrolling constable within the Longxing County yamen raised his lantern, peering into the shadows of a corner. Yet, illuminated by the light, there was no one.
“What’s wrong?” asked another patrolling constable.
“Nothing. I probably just saw things.”
The constable holding the lantern smiled bitterly. “You know how it is. It hasn’t been peaceful these past few years. I’m getting paranoid, seeing those rebels in every shadow.”
The others smiled bitterly as well.
It wasn’t just Longxing County. Across the entire Changle Commandery, and even the vast Jizhou (sub-prefecture), various rebel factions were springing up like mushrooms after rain. The world had long fallen into chaos.
“Alright, stop letting your imagination run wild.”
“We’re just going through the motions. If a true expert snuck in, we wouldn’t spot them anyway. The Lord will handle the pursuit when the time comes.”
“True enough…”
As they spoke, this patrol squad drifted further away. Yet, none of them noticed that a person had quietly materialized behind them.
This person was Xie Shi.
However, unlike ordinary people, this Eldest Senior Brother of the White Lotus Cult had suppressed his breathing, heartbeat, and even footsteps until all sound approached absolute zero.
This was clearly a martial art. He silently trailed the patrol squad, his figure hidden in the darkness, moving from the outside of the yamen all the way into the inner compound. Along the way, he crossed paths with several patrol squads, yet miraculously, not a single person noticed his presence; they all simply overlooked him.
He only made his move when he neared the inner yamen.
The rustling of his movement blended with the night wind, failing to alert anyone as he stepped into the inner yamen.
Before him lay a main hall.
Inside the hall, dozens of weapons, large and small, were displayed. Some were sabers and spears, others staffs and clubs—all were fine weapon once renowned in the region.
Xie Shi’s gaze instantly locked onto the center of the main hall.
There, on the largest table, rested an exquisitely crafted throwing knife, gleaming with silver light. Its blade radiated like flowing moonlight, exuding a chilling aura.
The 【Lotus Blade】!
Found it…
Xie Shi gritted his teeth. Despite being only a step away from the goal of his trip, he dared not step forward, let alone enter the main hall before him.
The pitch-black hall with its wide-open doors seemed to transform into a giant beast with a gaping maw, waiting for him to throw himself into its trap.
That old fogey just used me to scout.
He and that Head Constable Chen in the yamen have a tacit understanding. Both were Internal Force Masters and were on the verge of earning their honorary titles. How could I possibly interfere in their clash…
With this thought, Xie Shi instantly wanted to retreat.
Finding out where the 【Lotus Blade】 was kept was enough to report back to Shou Chong. He didn’t even earn that much in a month; why risk his life?
However, the moment Xie Shi took a step back from the inner yamen…
“Leaving so soon?”
A calm voice drifted over on the evening breeze. From the shadows of the main hall where numerous weapons were displayed, a cold-looking man stepped out.
“Chen Haoyan… This is bad!”
In an instant, Xie Shi’s expression twisted in terror. He didn’t dare respond to Chen Haoyan’s words. He stomped his foot heavily, instantly shattering the ground beneath him.
A terrifying tremor radiated outwards from him in all directions, as if an earth dragon were turning over. Leveraging the massive recoil from that stomp, he instantly vanished, transforming into a dark blur sprinting out of the yamen in the blink of an eye.
The sheer momentum was already astonishing.
However, the next second, a resonant, hearty laugh overpowered all the noise. Like a needle calming the sea, it instantly quelled all the chaos.
“External perfection? That old fogey sure knows how to teach his disciples.”
“But if he wants the 【Lotus Blade】 back, tell him to come fetch it himself.”
Inside the main hall, Chen Haoyan gripped a massive bow with his right hand and a long arrow with his left. Boundless flowing light surged from his palm, converging on the arrowhead.
Sensing something, Xie Shi glanced back and nearly lost his wits in terror.
Master said this thief hails from the Divine Constable Bureau in the capital. Not only has he received their true legacy, but the internal force he’s cultivated is beyond the reach of ordinary men…
I’m doomed!
BOOM!
The next second, with a deafening roar, Chen Haoyan drew the bow to a full moon. The arrow tore through the air, creating a visible shockwave that exploded from deep within the yamen.
Following that, a streak of white light ripped apart the night sky.
Like thunder shattering darkness, the sound preceded the lightning flash. It appeared and vanished in an instant, instantly shooting the fleeing Xie Shi right out of the sky.
“Ah!”
With a miserable shriek, scarlet blood sprayed through the air. Xie Shi’s figure plummeted straight into the county town, vanishing into the depths of the night in an instant.
Clang, Clang!
Having shot down Xie Shi with a single arrow, Chen Haoyan stood imposing with his bow. He then drew his ox-tail saber and pointed it towards the sky. His resonant voice echoed under the night sky:
“The White Lotus rebel scum has launched a night raid on the yamen! Committing treason against their superiors—everyone has the right to execute them!”
“Pass down my orders! Search the entire city! Anyone who provides clues about this thief will be rewarded with ten taels of silver! Whoever beheads this thief will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver! Anyone harboring this thief will have their entire clan exterminated!”
(End of Chapter)