“Commander Wu Xintai greets the Military Supervisor.”
Before the gates of the 【Black Armor Battalion】, Wang Ping sized up the fully armed and armored martial general before him. He then shifted his gaze toward the towering military encampment.
Impressive.
In Wang Ping’s eyes, the martial general before him wasn’t particularly strong—at most, an Internal Force Master. However, there was an inexplicable aura about him.
If one focused, they could hear that this aura emanated from the military encampment behind him. The breathing of over five hundred men merged into one, settling like dormant wind and thunder. It felt as if this wasn’t a military camp at all, but a primordial behemoth crouching upon the earth. To Wang Ping, it even began to form a visual illusion.
It’s like the constables at the county office… No, stronger!
After all, there were only about a hundred constables at the county office, while this military encampment had at least five times that number. The divine intent and martial prowess it generated naturally far surpassed the former.
Thinking of this, Wang Ping quickly made his judgment.
This man is also stronger than Xu Bingzheng.
With the backing of this five-hundred-man battalion, even if he only possesses the cultivation of an Internal Force Master, killing Xu Bingzheng wouldn’t be much harder than killing a chicken.
This was a good thing.
After all, he held the Emperor’s bestowed bronze military tally and the imperial decree. The stronger the 【Black Armor Battalion】 was, the more beneficial it was to him.
From this perspective, being an official wasn’t entirely without its merits.
“No need for formalities.”
Wang Ping smiled faintly and reached out to help Wu Xintai up. “Although this official bears a heavy responsibility, I am a newcomer. I will have to rely on the General from now on.”
“You are too kind…”
Hearing this, Wu Xintai’s eyes lit up slightly. He caught the goodwill in Wang Ping’s words, and his tone immediately grew warmer, quickly harmonizing the atmosphere between them.
Despite this, Wu Xintai couldn’t help but mutter inwardly:
This Gilded Cavalry Guard… doesn’t seem very strong.
An Internal Force Master with a Lesser Heavenly Circulation body? Why isn’t he even a Titled Martial Master? Could he be some noble family’s young master taking this opportunity to pad his resume?
…
Outside the 【Black Armor Battalion】, on a small hillside.
Just as Wang Ping stepped into the 【Black Armor Battalion】, his and Wu Xintai’s every word and action were taken in by two figures standing here, overlooking the encampment.
The two men differed greatly in appearance and attire. One had the arms of an ape, a wasp-like waist, a pointed mouth, and monkey-like cheeks, holding a coiled dragon staff. At first glance, he looked like a servant boy from a tavern or inn. The other man had long, narrow eyes and exposed sharp teeth when he smiled; he exuded a sense of ruthless ferocity without even doing anything.
“…Well?”
The man with monkey-like cheeks spoke first: “A Gilded Cavalry Guard. Using this identity as a stone to test the waters should create quite a splash.”
With that, he suddenly chuckled softly:
“A Gilded Cavalry Guard, the Emperor’s imperial guard.”
“Tell me, does that kid really think His Majesty would entrust such a heavy responsibility entirely to a martial master who hasn’t even earned a title?”
“Who knows, and it’s not up to him anyway.”
The ruthless man said flatly, “Regardless of whether he discovers the truth, he must do what needs to be done. Otherwise, it’s deceiving the sovereign and disobeying orders, which makes no difference in the end.”
“True.”
The monkey-cheeked man’s expression hardened slightly. “No matter what, the waters in Longxing County run very deep. Otherwise, the Imperial Academy and His Majesty wouldn’t have cast their eyes here.”
“Of course they run deep.”
The ruthless man said in a deep voice, “I investigated beforehand. This place is where the founding Emperor of the previous dynasty rose to power, which is why it was named ‘Longxing’ (Rise of the Dragon).”
“The previous dynasty? High treason?”
The monkey-cheeked man frowned. “No wonder His Majesty is paying such close attention… Does this mean there is still residual providence of the previous dynasty in Longxing County?”
“It is highly possible.” The ruthless man nodded. “At the very least, the Imperial Academy knows this, and those Extraordinaries know it too, which is why they specifically built a 【Wandering Spirit Temple】 here. It’s likely the two sides reached some sort of agreement, intending to use the imperial providence of this place for some ulterior motive.”
“There’s also the White Lotus Cult.”
The monkey-cheeked man recalled the case files he had read previously, his expression turning solemn. “This cult isn’t a run-of-the-mill rebel group. There seems to be an evil entity behind them.”
“The 【Compassion for All Life Bodhisattva】?”
The ruthless man shook his head. “I’ve never heard of such an evil entity before… Though it could be an evil entity that changed its name after being put on a wanted list.”
“Regardless, we must remain vigilant.”
“That is why we need this Gilded Cavalry Guard. We will have him take the imperial decree and military tally and throw him into Longxing County as bait to lure out whoever is pulling the strings.”
“When that time comes, our Imperial Retainers Hall will strike.”
As his voice fell, the two men looked up simultaneously.
Their gazes landed squarely on Longxing County town. Smoke from cooking fires rose continuously in the city, and a cacophony of human voices echoed out, making it look like a vast lake, so peaceful not a single ripple could be seen.
Beneath the lake’s surface, however, hidden currents surged.
That was exactly why they needed to throw a stone to test the waters and plumb the depths of this lake!
…
Inside the 【Black Armor Battalion】.
A few soldiers skillfully prepared a bed for Wang Ping and carefully tidied up the room, clearing out a reasonably quiet tent for him.
After finishing the preparations, Wu Xintai stepped forward and spoke in a low voice:
“Lord Wang, do you have any further orders?”
Hearing this, Wang Ping realized there was indeed something he needed help with. He immediately leaned close to Wu Xintai and whispered, “Are there any martial arts in this camp?”
“…Martial arts?”
Wu Xintai was taken aback, then subconsciously nodded. “Of course there are. But the cultivation methods in my camp are definitely far less profound than Your Exellency’s martial arts…”
Wang Ping naturally knew this well. After all, just like a constable, the Gilded Cavalry Guard identity also came with its own martial arts, even an Internal Force Cultivation Diagram. But he had already taken a look—none of them could compare to the 【Heavenly Roc Capturing the Dragon Cultivation Diagram】. Such trash cultivation diagrams were entirely useless to him now.
After all, he was going to cultivate immortality.
And based on the experience from his previous life, the moment he began cultivating immortality, any internal force cultivation body that wasn’t of a sufficiently high grade would be directly converted during the process.
In other words, he either didn’t practice internal force or cultivate a body, or he had to practice the absolute best.
However, the 【Black Armor Battalion】 clearly didn’t possess such conditions, so Wang Ping didn’t expect them to provide him with any profound internal force martial arts.
What he was asking for was a different kind of martial art.
“Unorthodox martial arts.”
Wang Ping explained, “I want a batch of unorthodox martial arts. The kind that doesn’t rely on weapons, but instead uses one’s own physical body as the weapon.”
With that, he even used the 【Iron Bull Technique】 as a demonstration.
Wu Xintai was completely baffled, unable to understand Wang Ping’s reason for requesting unorthodox martial arts. After all, they were called unorthodox for a reason.
First was the difficulty of cultivation. Tempering a weapon and tempering the physical body were two completely different concepts. The former was an external object and could be forged recklessly; metal only grew stronger with tempering. The latter, however, was flesh and blood with limits. It required careful nurturing; otherwise, one would only bring suffering upon oneself.
Under these circumstances, the difficulty of cultivation naturally skyrocketed.
Second, the speed of cultivation was significantly slower, since the body required time to recover. All this back and forth wasted a massive amount of time.
Finally, their power wasn’t great either.
Although unorthodox martial arts could still condense signature techniques, they were generally limited and could only cover a portion of the physical body. Their effectiveness was far inferior to orthodox martial arts.
High difficulty, massive consumption, and poor power.
With these three factors combined, the return was completely disproportionate to the investment. Over time, naturally, no one was willing to practice unorthodox martial arts.
But this was mortal thinking.
To me, unorthodox martial arts are a great avenue to heaven!
In Wang Ping’s eyes, while the Great Shun imperial court’s martial arts were far inferior to the immortal dao, there was at least one aspect that was highly unique and held tremendous value.
【Signature techniques】.
The 【Signature techniques】 that could only be condensed to bolster oneself after mastering a martial art to great perfection—this was what Wang Ping considered the most valuable aspect of Great Shun martial arts.
The reason was simple:
The effectiveness of this buff isn’t affected by the strength or weakness of the physical body. From this perspective, its buff is an independent multiplier.
This was crucial!
According to the immortal sect’s cultivation system, I am currently at the first stage of Tribulation Transcendence. At this realm, I must face the Human Tribulation directly and continuously condense the four cultivation traits.
Spiritual Consciousness, Flawless True Body, Circulatory Breathing, and Manifesting Art Through Qi—these four cultivation traits allowed a cultivator to truly transcend the mundane. In his previous life, he had only cultivated half of a Flawless True Body, yet his physical strength was already on par with an Internal Force Master. If he were to be bolstered by a complete set of unorthodox martial art signature techniques…
Just how strong could he become?
Taking a step back, if he gained the buffs from a large number of unorthodox martial art signature techniques for his physique, the difficulty of cultivating the Flawless True Body should also decrease, right?
After all, this was a highly esteemed independent multiplier.
Of course, this was currently just Wang Ping’s conjecture. But he felt it was worth testing in practice. If it truly worked, then he would hit the jackpot this time!
Soon, Wu Xintai left the tent, his mind full of doubts.
“He wants unorthodox martial arts?”
Outside the tent, the monkey-cheeked man and the ruthless man stood side-by-side. Despite being surrounded by patrolling soldiers, not a single one noticed them.
“Interesting.”
The monkey-cheeked man chuckled softly. “It seems he has already realized he is bait, and even discovered that our Retainers Hall is behind this setup.”
“This is him asking for compensation.”
The ruthless man shook his head. “The ignorant are fearless. Ignore this man.”
“I like his ambition.”
The monkey-cheeked man lowered his head and spoke softly, “Moreover, he’s not asking for anything else, just unorthodox martial arts. This shows he merely wants qualification.”
“Since that’s the case, what’s the harm in giving him one?”
“Don’t forget, 【Hai Pig】 just died in Qingping Town a few days ago. The Hall of Imperial Retainers is short one member, making this the perfect time to recruit new blood and gather outstanding talent.”
“A Gilded Cavalry Guard, his background is clean enough.”
Saying that, the monkey-cheeked man stepped forward and threw open the tent flap as if no one was there, smiling, “Kid, the unorthodox martial arts you asked for are here.”
“…Who goes there!?”
Inside the tent, Wang Ping snapped his head up, his pupils shrinking drastically. Because until the other party spoke, he hadn’t detected their presence at all.
Not even with his spiritual sense!
In an instant, Wang Ping’s muscles tensed, and the 【Heavenly Roc Force】 circulated within him. He stared fixedly at the man before him, not forgetting to think of a countermeasure amidst his shock:
Martial arts… are likely useless against this person. The feeling he gives me is even more exaggerated than Xu Bingzheng. But I still have spiritual arts! 【Qi Ward】 can rapidly recover, 【Spirit Snatching】 can shake the mind, and I have the 【Thief of Life】. As long as my hand touches him, I can devour his life force and primal qi.
Wang Ping thought rapidly, feeling deeply grateful at the same time:
Thank goodness I waited out the seven-day cooldown for 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】 before coming here. If I’m truly pushed into a corner, fighting to the death is still an option…
At this thought, Wang Ping lowered his stance slightly.
“Take it easy, kid.”
The monkey-cheeked man waved his hand and said casually, “I am 【Shen Monkey】, and this is 【Xu Dog】. As you suspected, we are from the Retainers Hall.”
As his voice fell, Wang Ping immediately lowered his eyelids.
What is he talking about? Retainers Hall?
Wang Ping immediately began digging through his predecessor’s memories, and soon found the answer within the background setting-like memories: Under the direct command of the Emperor, the Hall of Imperial Retainers!
Legend has it that the Retainers Hall was established by the founding Emperor and permanently consisted of twelve members, arranged according to the twelve Earthly Branches.
The first six were all Grandmaster-level experts standing at the pinnacle of the martial path. Although the latter six weren’t Grandmasters, they were Titled Martial Masters capable of rivaling those at the top of the Weapon Register. Each and every one of them possessed unfathomable martial arts.
Why would such experts be here?
And judging by his tone, he thinks I know of their existence? But my predecessor’s memory didn’t contain this. Did he misunderstand? Why the misunderstanding?
Wang Ping’s mind was a blur. Having absolutely no idea how to respond, he simply let out a sigh, his face revealing a look of helpless hesitation, as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself.
He deeply understood the principle that silence is golden.
At times like this, the best course of action was to stay silent and act like a profound expert. Otherwise, if the two men before him saw through his facade, he might miss out on crucial clues.
Besides, smart people tend to fill in the blanks themselves.
Sure enough, seeing Wang Ping remain silent, Shen Monkey didn’t mind and continued, “You are very smart and well-informed. The condition you asked for is not excessive.”
Saying that, he pulled a book from his clothes.
Wang Ping focused his gaze, his eyes quickly landing on the cover of the book. Written in bold, vigorous calligraphy were the words: 【Thirteen Grand Protectors Body-Tempering Art】?
“This is the qualification you asked for.”
Shen Monkey smiled. “As a closely guarded secret of the Imperial Retainers Hall, out of the thirteen martial arts, you must master at least seven to qualify to join the Retainers Hall.”
“I’ve given you the opportunity. Whether you succeed or not depends entirely on you.”
“I’m also adding a bit of weight to your stone, so you can create a bigger splash in the muddy waters of Longxing County and avoid sinking too easily.”
“Well? Do you want it?”
At this point, Shen Monkey’s smile grew increasingly intriguing, and Xu Dog, standing behind him, also looked up at Wang Ping, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.
The 【Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong】 was indeed a boon.
But there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Behind this boon lay immense risk. By taking it, he definitely wouldn’t be able to avoid the muddy waters of Longxing County.
For a mere Internal Force Master, one careless mistake meant dying without a complete corpse.
If he didn’t take it, there was at least hope of extracting himself from the situation.
Whether one had the courage to face difficulties head-on, even fearless of death—that was the Retainers Hall’s true selection criterion. The Retainers Hall did not tolerate cowardice.
“Then I thank you, Senior.”
In the next second, Wang Ping unhesitatingly accepted the martial arts manual from Shen Monkey’s hand, acting as if he viewed the item merely as a massive fortune given out for free.
Completely heedless of the risks involved.
Watching Wang Ping, both Shen Monkey and Xu Dog couldn’t help but reveal strange expressions. If this behavior wasn’t stupidity, then it could only mean one thing—
He’s not afraid of dying?
Why wasn’t he afraid?